Stupid travel

The fake boarding pass issue has been in the news for a while now. Interestingly, it really didn't make that big of a splash. You would have thought that a security hole wide enough to drive a, well, plane through; would cause some people to really examine what's going on. Notsomuch.

If you believe that the name-check security issue is valid, then shouldn't the TSA have done something about it? But no, according the Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

"It is five years after 9/11, and we still have this enormous hole in airport security," Schumer wrote in an e-mail. "The people out there determined to do us harm are not stupid, and this loophole is a glaring opportunity for them to exploit. In this post 9/11 era, the terrorists will find our weakest link and this one is in plain sight. We have spent millions of dollars investing in screening equipment and airports security, but right now anyone forging a boarding pass, including a terrorist, is treated like a 19-year-old who makes a fake ID to buy a six-pack of beer."

OK, so this seems obvious to Chucky, but it didn't seem to occur to the TSA. HMM. Isn't this the same TSA that is having retention problems? And the GAO report last year that the private companies do a better job of screening passengers. But

The agency would like to see greater control over the general security of the nation's airports but is restricted by current limitations it would like to see changed.

Let me think: You do your job worse than the private alternative. You can't keep your people. You don't prevent OBVIOUS ways that people would use to circumvent your own security measures, and then string up the guy who blows the whistle on your stupidity. Now you want more people, money, and authority. Typical government response: Get a job, fail miserably, and ask for a raise.

The real question is how can any organization be this inept? I mean really. That the government is waste of resources is not new, but this level of failure is more of an admission that they are merely going through the motions. It makes one wonder what is the real goal of the TSA? For it surely isn't airline security.

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Joe's Problem

I understand Joseph Farah's problem. Each election cycle, we are forced to decide whether to vote, vote for someone, or vote against someone. For the past two election cycles, WND's head honcho has advocated not voting, then voting for the republicans. This time, in the Nov 1 editorial, he says (and I paraphrase) the Democrats are so bad - I'm going to hold my nose and vote Republican.

What to do, what to do, what to do????

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