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Cheers - AE

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Come fly the unfriendly sky

What have we come to when a government that likes to think of itself as the leader of the free world has its airport security drones conducting physical searches of children?


"I'm sorry mummy. I don't know what I did wrong."
You don't even need to be a parent to feel that one like a punch to the guts. How do you explain it to a child? How do you explain that they haven't done anything wrong but that the airport staff have been instructed to think they might have? How do you tell them that their own government, in its paranoia and fear of not only them out there but also those that might be them in here, has granted itself the presumption of guilt and the power to invade their personal space? How do say that this may happen every time they fly and that they have no rights in the matter, none at all? How do you explain that despite the embarrassment, shame or discomfort they may feel while being searched they have no grounds for complaint because 'the agent followed proper procedures'? Or that the way things are going there will soon be a generation that has grown up to believe this is normal and who will not make much objection when its suggested that the same thing be done at railway and bus stations? How do you tell them that they should say 'no' when you yourself are unable to?

Except, of course, you can say 'no'. You can say it simply by not going anywhere staffed by people who have been directed to think of you a a suspect to be checked, interrogated and searched. You can say it by refusing to fly anywhere unless absolutely essential, as the Drexels are now considering.
The family has changed plans for an upcoming trip: they'll be driving instead of flying.
Which is what I'd encourage everybody to do rather than meekly submit. Drive, get the train, sail, video-conference - do absolutely anything but get on a fucking plane unless there really is no alternative. And I really mean no alternative. Don't just look at the map and think that places are a long way apart so you have to fly and put up with all the crap that involves these days. Plan ahead and work out how much time is needed to go by other means, and then balance that against the aggro of flying. Sure, if I had to go to Brisbane tomorrow I'd fly, and if I had to go to New Zealand there's not much option when there's more than 2,000km of sea to cross, but if I had to be in Brisbane in a month's time I'd consider taking 3 days extra to drive there and if I needed a face-to-face on the other side of an ocean I'd loo at doing it with Skype. Anything, anything at all, to get out of the purgatory-like experience of spending time in an airport queueing up and being questioned and queueing up again and being scanned and queueing up again and being patted down, all in the knowledge, as shown by the events in Moscow back in January, that none of this makes you safe if someone has thought about bombing the security queues instead of an aircraft.

And it's saddest of all to see the Americans putting themselves through this. I rather like the bits of America I've seen - and of course like Australia the place is big enough that it should have something that appeals to nearly everybody - and I have a lot of time for Americans in general. More than two hundred years ago they went further than anyone before or since in their efforts for individual liberty, and that so many still revere the document that was written to guarantee their freedoms and is still is their highest law is something I really admire them for. But what a shame it is their government no longer pays more than lip service to it, toeing the line rather than the ideal and spirit, and spinning the idea that such egregiously intrusive measures - physically searching toddlers, for example - are needed to keep Americans safe, in spite of the fact that even Israel, surrounded by people who want it destroyed, doesn't bother with all that unnecessary and pointless crap. Despite my admiration for America and its people these days, thanks to their governments, I'm simply not willing to go there anymore.

The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave has become the land of the sheep and the home of the slave, and in a way gave away the easy victory over terrorism by changing its values and way of life in favour of a climate of fear, suspicion and never ending checks and screening. And the men responsible for it? Well, here's one of them.


I can't imagine how to explain that to a six year old child either.



Comments (7)

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I suspect you were thinking of punching the TSA agent in the guts though....
What the Many Chinned Man said, though I'd never hit a woman. Easier just to avoid going to the US if you can help it, which is a great shame. Though actually... wonder what the options are for going via Mexico or Canada.
Smoking Hot's avatar

Smoking Hot · 728 weeks ago

The security circus with it's constant performers of clowns. They infuriate me with this stupid time wasting and very expensive farce. lf terrorists were going to attack, they would ... and there's sweet fa that the circus could do about it.

Think Moscow Airport here (note how the MSM quickly buried it too). You can't stop a suicide bomber in 'arrivals' or 'departures' ... period!

Perhaps if the bomb had gone of in Moscow's departure/security circus things would be different but somehow l doubt it ... the security circus would just grow. This multi-billion (not fit for purpose) industry is obscene ... and we, the passengers, pay for it!

Mmmm , wonder if l can sell them my 'Tin Hat With Windmill'? ... works just as well as the security circus!
My recent post Exclusive! Device to protect you from UKBA- Customs- Terrorists and even ASH!
1 reply · active 728 weeks ago
Yes, and it's something people don't seem able to appreciate. These security measures by and large don't inconvenience terrorists and certainly don't make them come over all sane and peace loving. They can even make things easier, as we'll all see when eventually we get an attack on the security queue in a departures terminal somewhere. We got an inkling of that from Moscow, but as you said the lame stream media never made much of that and soon found other things to get excited about. It's already old news but someone somewhere will still be thinking about it and how they could, by their twisted standards, improve on it. I'm sure western security services are also thinking about it, and they're far more likely to be the ones who'll stop it happening than the airport drones who'll simply be shredded along with everyone else when a few wide eyed religious fanatics take out dozens, maybe hundreds, in a crowded building which is terminal in more ways than one.
John Galt's avatar

John Galt · 728 weeks ago

So how long will it be until some paedo dresses as a TSA officer, cop or other 'trusted professional' to search kids at a playground, school or whereever.

The concept of drilling your children not to talk to strangers and not to allow anyone to touch them in specific places is an unfortunate part of modern life as a parent. You don't attach the exclusion "...unless they have a government badge". That's just stupid, contradictory and open to abuse.

Kids lives are made easier by simple rules that are reasonable and easily understood. "No TV before you've done your homework", "Bed by 20:30 and lights out by 21:00", etc.

All this security theater is bullshit anyway. It's just about the state saying "We own your ass and we will decide what's right and wrong".

Funny - I don't remember voting Fascist or NAZI in the last election.
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
It's a possibility, though I feel not a strong one. These pat downs have to take place in crowded areas in front of many watching eyes and I'd imagine that your average nonce would find that off putting. Similar for searches carried out in a school etc. More worrying, and likely, is the possibility that a nonce will want to become an authority figure with access to children so they can say 'come with me' and the child probably will. Sadly that possibility will always exist and the only good news is that such people are very rare - most cops, teachers, volunteers, priests, and so on will be regular people and completely trustworthy. You're really forced to play the numbers or cut your children off from the rest of the human race.

Have to agree about the simple rules though. And it goes without saying that I'm with you on the security theatre.

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