I will try to gently break the news to patrons on the beach in Ipanema on my next visit, but I feel the loss may be yours rather than the man on the Copacabana �nibus.

As my choice of AA means more US transits than are strictly necessary I suppose I'll have to "endure" the "rigours" of the new program. I'm already mentally preparing myself for the torture of getting some ink on my finger and forsaking an extra 30 seconds watching the suitcases going around the luggage carousel to help make it easier to detect and/or track criminals/terrorists that enter the US. Even though it'll inconvenience me slightly I'm 100% in favour of the US VISIT program.

No insight but I'm hoping whoever is elected lets the TSA continue their excellent work. However from a global perspective I will feel a LOT safer if there is no change of administration. Just my �0.02.

BTW, who is Joe Sixpack?

Cousin of John Q. Public.

[over-inflated ego] The real loss will be the Copacabana ladies' [/over-inflated ego]


A term for "the average American". Does not necessarily even refer to one who consumes alcohol, usually has bluecollar connotations.

You might be a redneck if...

http://www.jefffoxworthy.com/realaud...redneck_if.ram

Another omen?

Today, both Texas NFL teams won and New England lost!

(Anyhow, let's forget about the election and concentrate on what is really important. The Eagles are now the only undefeated team. ^ Pittsburgh is at 6-1 -- will the Superbowl be an all Keystone State affair? ^ ^ )

... yet those aristocrats in Texas could not make money on oil or the Oilers. The oil went up and the Oilers left.

Yes, in that, they definitely can be taught something by their New England compatriots: "If you can't make money, marry it."

Patriot dreams bashed against the Steel Curtain! And the Eagles will experience the same b-slap next weekend!

Having grown up a Steelers fan in rural PA (although my adopted NFC team is the Bucs-- I'm still hoping for a PIT-TPA superbowl!)-- this was a great day!

Oh, ye of little faith!

(Oops, sorry. This is not a religious travellers forum.)

Can I be part of the Amen Choir or am I already part of it?

Only if you foreswear the Green Bay Heresy and join the Eagles' fold.

.... if and only if new Eagles land along the Potomac this coming winter.

Don't forget scrotal palpation, from the left, right, and perineal aspects.

Actually, CBP takes inkless prints.

Precisely. Yet this TSA fiasco was a bipartisan creation.

Comments have been made about the Supreme Court and travellers' civil liberties. Consider the Nevada ID case. Can someone point to a particular such case where a 5-4 majority would have changed with a more "liberal" than "conservative" justice? These issues transcend political parties. The "military tribunals for U.S. civilians" case was decided 8-1. Whatever import the Supreme Court may have, airport security is negligible or non-existent on the list when it comes to who will appoint the next justice.

There are also those who contend that the TSA would get better under a new administration, or couldn't get any worse.

In my view, those optimistic souls who believe things "couldn't get any worse" are invariably disappointed.

Is a vote for libertarians a vote against the TSA or a vote for marijuana and same-sex marriage? (By no means do I intend to hijack the thread to those topics, but to illustrate how ineffectual a so-called protest vote is.) Who knows what the protest vote means, except in your own mind?

Vote your conscience on 2 November, but harbor no illusions that your presidential choice will make any difference on the TSA abuses, the labial and scrotal palpations and breast examinations.

Fully agree. But given a choice between two evils which can triumph, I choose the lesser evil and the one that may admit their mistakes and/or amend their ways and qualify their thoughts on various matters in light of mistakes.

You are correct that the TSA abuses and other civil liberties erosions will not change in the near term regardless of which candidate -- out of the two candidates with a chance to win today -- is inaugurated in January 2005. However, one thing will change with a change in who resides at the White House -- namely, the Supreme Court appointees. One candidate is far more likely to appoint justices who will be critical of abuse by law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities and who will circumscribe the powers of such potential abusers; the other (whom is not Kerry) will do his best to appoint justices that believe that torture is fine in the name of law enforcement and that the appearance of security/security actions is more important than freedom and liberty. "Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth" and of freedom and liberty. And each of us knows which candidate's belief in authority (his and Higher) is more blind.

The choice to do wrong is not true freedom, but rather self-imposed slavery to evil.