Isn't it sad when I'm thrilled by the thought of being able to (hopefully) carry my old swiss army knife again!

In this morning (11/30/05) Washington Post:

TSA Would Allow Sharp Objects on Airlines
Screeners to Focus More on Bombs
By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 30, 2005; Page A01

A new plan by the Transportation Security Administration would allow airline passengers to bring scissors and other sharp objects in their carry-on bags because the items no longer pose the greatest threat to airline security, according to sources familiar with the plans....

Screeners will not seem them as scissors, but rather as steak knifes, and you are back to square one.

just like shoes ... oh...they are more than 1 inch in thickness, mind you are wearing flip flops.

Give me a break! It's inflammatory rhetoric like this that shows everything that is wrong with the culture of public debate in today's society. Like there's going to be a bloodbath in the cabin because some guy's got a pair of scissors and a Swiss Army knife - I'll take him down myself before that happens!

"TSA needs to take a moment to reflect on why they were created in the first place -- after the world had seen how ordinary household items could create such devastation," said Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, which has more than 46,000 members. "When weapons are allowed back on board an aircraft, the pilots will be able to land the plane safety but the aisles will be running with blood."

What an absolute idiot.

She should never leave the house and do the rest of the planet a favor.

Corey, you are one of the stupidest people on the planet. You really put the "Low" in Lolo.

Deleted

Tools up to seven inches long will be allowed.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/11/30...les/index.html


How long is an ice-pick?
Or box cutter?

Foolish change.

This is a shocking breakthrough of common sense at the Transportation Slowdown Administration. Of course, I would likely print out a full color TSA bulletin prior to attempting to carry anything onboard for the first several months after this policy goes into effect just in case Orville Overzealous hasn't yet heard.

Why? Explain how someone is going to hijack an aircraft with one. Do you think all the passengers are going to just sit there and let them stab everyone?

Like hell they would! In a post 9/11-world, whoever tried something funny would see his arse summarily kicked by whoever could get their hands on him.

And besides, if everyone's allowed to carry ice picks and box cutters and whatever, it's not like the passengers will be defenceless - hey, I might just start carrying a box cutter to be able to intimidate the bad guy...

Ice picks and box cutters are not credible weapons to hijack a plane.

People with irrational fear of these items ought to stay home under the bed and never, ever venture to the mall where these items are not only permitted but are actually sold there.

Finally, there's a shred of common sense at The Second Al-Qaida, but some 'fraidy cats have to get all scared and worked up about it.

This paradigm shift didn't happen post 9/11. It happened on 9/11! This method of attack was essentially shut off during the actual hijackings themselves. Flight 93 was the famous story. The people on the Pentagon airplane knew what was happening but couldn't react fast enough. IMO, the reason the terrorists lost the element of surprise was that they underestimated the robustness of our ability to communicate. They understood the value of information warfare when they shut off transponders, but they didn't possess even an infitesimal fraction of the ability they needed in order to conduct an adequate infowar attack to maintain the element of surprise. Like it or not, bin Laden is a smart guy and he understood this; hence, his decision to scale down the attack.

If the bad guys had conducted an effective infowar effort cutting off (as a minumum) all types of voice and data communication, we may not have concluded that the attack succeeded because of the procedure to cooperate with hijackers. Then, where we would we be?

There are so many moronic concepts within the quoted material I don't know where to begin. But since Spiff duly pointed out the idiocy of the FA's statement -- hey babe, what about wine bottles that get sharp edges once it's been cracked over your stupid skull -- I'll pick on someone else. To wit:

By his logic, you have to ban full bottles of wine. However comma, I don't think he'd appreciate me testing this little hypthesis on his pumpkin head.

Wasn't this a nickname for Curly???

By his logic, it has nothing to do with airplane security - you need to install metal detectors and institute full scans at every restaraunt and bar in America where drinks are served and customer safety is at risk from drunken diners. Must we now remove all the steak knives from steak houses?

This type of garbage just serves to remind me that in any profession, fully half the people are below average. I'm guessing I know which half provided the best quotes for that article....