The “security questions”

The “security questions” will end. Travelers won’t be asked whether they packed their bags themselves or whether the bags have been outside of their control. In 16 years, these questions have never foiled a terrorist. They’re silly, but they’re also non-intrusive. Let’s focus on the real problems that need reform!

Continue Reading »

As he swooped

As he swooped over the rich cotton fields beside the Brazos River in his crop-dusting plane last week, Sam Muse thought his biggest worry was whether he had enough insecticide aboard to finish spraying for boll weevils. THEN HE LANDED at a nearby airport and was handcuffed to await the Secret Service. Unbeknownst to him, he and his bright yellow airplane had flown into the middle of a 20-mile no-fly zone set up that morning to protect President Bush during an economic summit at nearby Baylor University. I didn’t have much sympathy for the aforementioned pilot who violated restricted airspace. I could see that it’s important to keep small planes away from the President. Then I read further in the article: The no-fly perimeter around the President’s Waco ranch ranges from 6 miles (when the…

Continue Reading »

According to Sitemeter,

According to Sitemeter, this site has gone over 2,000 unique visitors for the day and it’s not even 2pm. This is the first day we’ve topped even 1,000. Shows what an Instapundit hit and a link from a column at FoxNews will do for you! 🙂

Continue Reading »

Reader Dean Cameron pointed me

Reader Dean Cameron pointed me to the Bill of Rights – Security Edition — the Bill of Rights printed on metal. From the site: You need to get used to offering up the bill of rights for inspection and government workers need to get used to deciding if you’ll be allowed to keep the Bill of Rights with you when you travel. I don’t know any more about the site or the proprietors than that — but it tickled my funny bone.

Continue Reading »

A reader writes:I’m thrilled to

A reader writes: I’m thrilled to find the impeach Mineta stickers (through today’s Fox News Online story “Revenge of the Tweezer People.”) My next act will be to send you some dough for several stickers. I’d like to see those all over the place! I’ve absolutely had it with airports. I recently drove from DC to Indiana and to Atlanta, and found those trips much less stressful than being wand raped by some security drone who’s not even fit to flip burgers. Lots of readers are writing similar things. I agree with Instapundit: there may be a sleeper political issue here. The Dems won’t attack the only Democrat in the cabinet, so there may not be pressure on the Republicans to fire Mineta — but an independent (or at least a non-incumbent) could really make…

Continue Reading »

Another conspiracy theory. United’s

Another conspiracy theory. United’s bankruptcy threat may be strategic bluster. I’m becoming increasingly of the opinion that the talk of bankruptcy is a tool more than an assessment of the business climate. United’s employees are the biggest shareholder block. A bankruptcy would liquidate their shares. Current and past employees would see a significant chunk of their net worth wiped out. That’s a pretty good threat to use in order to wring wage concessions out of an employee group: “give up some wages or we’ll wipe out your nest egg.” Not only that, a bankruptcy proceeding would likely result in an end to the employee representation on the United board. Without those threats, there’s not much of a compelling reason for the employees to bargain while they’re under contract. With those threats, there’s a good change…

Continue Reading »