Not ironic at all. It is simply a matter of giving everyone what they want.

The red states want money and vote for Republicans who know how to get it.

The blue states want higher taxes and vote for Democrats who consider that their prime aim in life.

I suppose in that sense it does make sense - but when you think that conservatives are usually harping about smaller government and self-reliance and liberals lean towards a more matronly government it is ironic...

But then hypocrisy is the crux of politics...

The Fed has given all communities a new slice of bandwidth at 4.9GHz for them and only them to use. So communities will no longer be able to blame bad communication on a mixup of radio frequencies.

Emergency response is something that communities should be involved in. Anti-terrorism however should be left to the real pros.

Funding "misdirection", yes. Staffing misdirection, thankfully, is not as skewed (although also subject, to "misallocation"). That said, there is plenty of room for improvement.

So, renew your passport, the new one doesn't have the offending stamps.

With information technology, biometrics, and adequate control of our borders, passports with stamps should be just a quaint memory.

Not necessarily. And even with perfection, the above "passport with stamps should be just a quaint memory" is not going to happen within this decade.

That is our government's fault for not spending money on available technology that would actually make our borders more secure. But such technology is not nearly the effective PR that 40,000-plus screeners looking through bags and patting down passengers provides to the occasional traveler.

That's correct.

Technology systems -- especially more transparent ones -- just don't sell well to the once-a-year traveller who are comforted by seeing a "show of force".

Yeah, just forget about John Walker Lindh were there in Afghanistan 3 or 4 years ago and he went to the prison for 20 years, am I correct? That I am hear from the information about him. He is member of Al Qaeda with terrorist network.

One more thing why TSA want bring back scissors or nail clippers? Is that okay for get through at the checkpoint onboard the aircraft? I don't have take anything sharp things onboard the aircraft and but, I know exactly the rules at TSA. Lighters will be banned for while. Become what happen with Richard Reid last 4 years ago with AA flight from CDG-MIA. He was trying to blow up with the aircraft. Some of passengers were restraining him and landed at BOS.

Yes, and he was using matches. Yet they ban lighters. That could only make sense to a government employee. Not to mention the dozen other ways a bomb could be detonated that no one could do anything about.

For the "geniuses" in Washington, "fighting the last fight" is easier. That's why we get what we get:

1. Attack on pointy objects.
2. Defence of off-on-off-on shoe carnival.
3. "Touchy-feely" security with torso/breast rubs. (The "rear rub" will start once some fat terrorist experiments with adult diapers.)

... and that's just part of the government's domestic adventures. :D

Since you seem to have all the answers, why don't you do something to change things instead of ranting on here about how things "shouldn't be". Why don't you tell us your ideas of how things should be?

The search function is an amazing tool.

GUWonder's been telling us his excellent ideas for years. ^

Why isn't he telling them to someone that can do something about it?