71–80 of 445 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
of all the things bothering me about Germany, this is not one of them. More the fact that nearly all shops close at 8pm and everything is closed on sunday.
It introduces a different mentality: you have to do something other than shop.
This happened to me at Heathrow in London, except there's no option to "opt-out". You either do it, or you don't fly. It's randomly selected, so although I triggered no safety protocols, I was picked out for backscatter. I was a hair's width from turning around and flying from Gatwick instead at a few hundred bucks cost (nothing compared to observing my rights) - but the engagement was too important.
This is the second time in a week I have read about people refusing to go through security scanners, and then complaining about being treated differently . You should really put yourselves into security guards' skins here; What if you were him/her? You'd observe millions of people do the same stuff day in, day out, and out of those million, a small percent would refuse to do what's required of everyone - pass the sta…
You don't have to like it, just like I don't have to like reading the endless swill of weak minded, shortsighted arguments like the brain numbingly asinine one you've just posited. What you do have, as a citizen of a country that gives it's people rights, is a moral obligation to acknowledge and respect those rights and to ensure they are administerd equally and without prejudice, even if it's hard sometimes. You do not have the right to pick and chose which rights other people can exercise, especially when you are in a position to do just that.
There is an extremely simple solution: leave. I've not lived in the US for almost two years now. I've only had to travel back twice in that time. Meanwhile, in the same time I've visited France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany multiple times. None of those travel experiences were nearly as unpleasant or stressful as my two trips to the US. Furthermore, the technology communities that are growing up in these pla…
Actually, it's not a solution. If everyone who questions such ineffective and intrusive procedures leave, the ones who imposed them on your fellow citizens win.
It's not my country, but I like it a lot. And it deeply saddens me to see what is happening to it.
Don't fly. Seriously. Aren't you tired of being stripped searched, herded like cattle, squeezed into a tin can like sardines, going 300 miles in the wrong direction to switch plans at a hub, or sitting hours in wait in your three square feet of space on the tarmac? But what to do instead? Leave a day early. Take a train. Maybe even find a co-rider heading your way and split the cost of a cabin car. Then relax and enj…
The terrorists have won. I don't think the terrorists won, they just provided the push. The commercial interests and their lobbyists have won. And by that, I mean they continue to win.
And now an exercise for the reader: do I mean the arabs, or do I mean the government and megacorporations and their lobbyists?
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Assuming it's possible to say that two images are from the same person, it would be trivial to work out specifically who that was with any frequent flyer. You'd just build up a body of images of "person 1" then cross-reference with flight records till you narrow it down to only being one possible person who had been on all those flights...
For what possible fucking reason! This is foolishness or possibly a form of mental illness.
IMO This is silly. Yeah I understand why we don't want the NSA looking into all our emails and phonecalls etc... But its a security check at an airport... This has to be one of the silliest things to get wound up about.
The terrorists have won. I don't think the terrorists won, they just provided the push. The commercial interests and their lobbyists have won. And by that, I mean they continue to win.
I don't think airport security and avoiding bombs on planes is an entirely "commercial" interest.
No terrorist is sitting there thinking "Hell yes, we've stifled their freedom! We've won!"
I can't imagine any of the airport shops cried when people were forced by policy to throw away bottled water and other drinks before entering waiting lounges. Longer security lines increase thirst and hunger too.
Board a plane with an infant and liquids are a non-issue - milk/formula, pre-boiled water, medication, etc. I've read that you can be asked to taste products you're carrying, but never had this happen. Always wondered if someone planning to asplode a plane is really going to be deterred by needing to drink a toxic substance. (Martyrdom for their infant would be a matter for the strength of their belief.)