Nate's got an article up on TSA screening. From the last time security measures were tightened:

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes...port-security/

http://aem.cornell.edu/faculty_sites...p/JLE_6301.pdf

Really?!
Here is a quote from the article (http://www.popehat.com/2010/11/12/gr...it-the-road/):



“He started at one leg and then ran his hand up to my crotch. He cupped and patted my crotch with his palm. Other flyers were watching this happen to me. At that point I closed my eyes and started praying to the Goddess for strength. He also cupped and then squeezed my breasts. That wasn’t the worst part. He touched my face, he touched my hair, stroking me. That’s when I started crying. It was so intimate, so horrible. I feel like I was being raped. There’s no way I can fly again. I can’t do it.”

correct me if I'm wrong, however, I do believe women are patted down by women.

So, we Americans have drawn the line when it comes to the fight against terrorism! And that line is: our waistline!!

And you're not alone!!

What I believe really defines the self-righteous attitudes of Americans, is that this issue can become such a highly contested issue, receiving hours of airplay, while we remain mute about the fact that our drones kill innocent civilians, including children, every month.

Generalizing americans as a whole is maybe the most gauche thing you could do on 2+2 and in general.

Maybe.....but if the Tea Party can get organize & demonstrate in mass.

If Jon Stewart can organize in mass to promote "A return to sanity"

How come all those Americans against those drones killing innocent civilians haven't organized in mass?

I think it's fair to say they've remained mute, compared to others pressing their agendas.

EN MASSE!



and i'm certainly not defending it, but what happens to those civilians when the drones leave? personally, i'd like to see the us pull most everything back stateside and start fixing ourselves for a change, but the sad truth is war is good for business and oil only greases the war machine more.

I'm not a fan of the French

obv

Good for what business? The banks that loan us the money & the companies that make the guns & bullets?

I guess that's why the 5 permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are the 5 largest gun runners in the world.

Ah yes. The ol' "Because there's some greater injustice in the world, you're not allowed to protest this injustice" argument. Brool story co.

No Mr. Wookie.......but I give you credit for being able to spin my position as well as any politician. You da man!

yes

IDK when you started posting in politards, but gj!

Ok......well in the name of biz.......that's why we've spent all those millions on x ray machines for the airports........

So, if we can accept a few civilians, we never knew, as collateral damage, in the name of "good for biz"......what's wrong with a little xray & patdown on this side of the pond to promote biz?

HE SAID HE WASN'T DEFENDING IT JESUS UTZ

this is one of my favorite lyrics and it applies to this TSA bs:

nothing obv. the guy who ran the TSA suggested we need these devices and then left the TSA and now has a partnership with the manufacturer of these devises. through his lobby group.

now i hate all that and it sucks, but our system is too broken and corrupt at this point. i firmly believe the decline of this empire has begun and if you think about it that's quite a flameout at 300 years.

For you Thanksgiving travels

You are right. There has not been a single protest against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Americans are a bunch of hypocrites.

I know......However.........as 27offsuit so eliquently stated: "the sad truth is that war is good for business."

So, I can understand why millions were spent on the xray machines and hiring of all those TSA agents.........it's good for biz.

The War on Terror is good for biz.

So, if there has been no demonstrations, like during the Vietnam Conflict, over the killing of innocent civilians, shouldn't we do our part, in the name of "good for biz" and accept a grope or two?

The Military Industrial Complex has finally obtained what they've been praying for........a war that will never end.........until we go broke......and then they, the banks & the countries that bought our bonds, will have all the money.

I agree with you and have pretty much given up also.
However.......
Someone once said:
"A democracy gets the leadership it deserves."

Which I take as meaning: The less you participate in your political process in mass, or "en masse" as those who like the French would say, the less you deserve a government you wish you had.

What I found most interesting, was a poll I saw on t.v. a few weeks ago, so I don't have the accurate numbers, but the following is pretty damn close:

25-30% approved of the job Congress was doing, while 50% of those same people polled, approved of the job their representive representative was doing.

I can't get the damn wikipedia site to come up, even if I just type in wikipedia.org, however, I'll keep trying.

I guess these protests either don't get much of any press coverage, or I am reading/watching the wrong news outlets.

This is so true. It scares the crap out of me whenever some government agency like the TSA says they are doing what they are doing because of the current war on terror.

ffs, the war on terror is like the war on drugs, which is to say it has nothing to do with war, trivializes the actual horror that is actual war, and gives you no resolution or end--ever.

and a lot of people just eat it up.

The second question is too limited if what you want to do is answer the first. Clearly what is going on here is more than dropping the frequency of planes being blown up.