Day: August 10, 2006

Yoinked from <lj user="cadhla">

Posted on By admin 4 Comments on Yoinked from <lj user="cadhla">

With regards to the kerfuffle at the airports, this has to be one of the better rants about it so far:

All you're doing is hurting whatever causes you claim to be supporting by pissing everyone the fuck off. What, do you think that eventually we'll all be flying in hospital dressing gowns with no sharp objects (potential weapons), electronic equipment (makeshift tasers), liquids (apparently, might explode), pants (modifiable into garroting equipment), books (paper cuts are bad!) or small children (they could be encouraged to scream at a frequency that jams radio transmissions, thus allowing someone to take control of the plane), and you'll be able to open a competing airline that doesn't do all this shit but runs the risk of blowing the fuck up? Because there are better business models.

None of this shit is making us safer, it's just making us crankier. Soon, we'll be able to kill and eat terrorists, just to give us something to do. My coffee will not blow up the plane. My toenail clippers will not allow me to kill a man. There are much better ways to do that, which I will not detail here, because I don't want the FBI visiting my house.

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Am I just being cynical

Posted on By admin 8 Comments on Am I just being cynical

So the UK is now at DEFCON -1, condition red, all-hands on deck which means that something somewhere is supposed to blow up.

It's currently at the point where all flights coming into Heathrow have been cancelled, hour-long delays are expected for all flights that *might* be leaving. The plot was supposed to blow up 9 (that number keeps increasing) flights headed to the US. Because of that, all hand luggage needs to be checked in the hold. You're only allowed to walk into your flight with a clear plastic bag holding your passport, keys (minus your electronic car fob), glasses (minus case) and essential sanitary and medical supplies. If you're traveling to the US, it's even worse.

Jeez, I'd prefer to cancel my flight rather than flying long-haul without a book, my ipod some earplugs and some food. All of which would not be allowed under current panic levels.

Now here's where the cynicism kicks in. Has Tony Blair taken a page from Dubya's Idiot's guide to governing by fear? The US masses are constantly being bombarded by messages of FEAR! FEAR! WAR ON TERROR! FEAR! GOD! FEAR! political kickback scandal FEAR! FEAR! WAR ON TERROR! GOD! MORALITY! FEAR! economic scandal FEAR!!!!

The department of homeland security in the US keeps the threat alert always at or above “elevated” (or 3 out of a possible 5). I'm pretty certain that it'll never be low, or even guarded. In essence, it's worthless at meaning anything useful, except to keep people worried and distracted so they can, essentially, be shafted by the powers that be.

Does the fact that this bomb plot happened now, when Swiss Tony is currently under pressure about his position on the current middle-east crisis and his government is being accused of being lapdogs to the Bush administration have any significance? Is that just the universe being its funny self again? I don't know. And that's where the cynicism kicks in…

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