punished for telling the truth! (safety questions)
Sep 20, 1999, 10:07 am
#16
Original Member
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: CH-3823 Wengen Switzerland
Programs: miles&more, MileagePlus
Posts: 27,041
phil - unconstitutional, by the way - if you can help me (argumentations) on this, I would start some correspondence with UA and US-authorities on this subject.
Sep 20, 1999, 6:39 pm
#17
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 6,790
I don't think you'll have much luck with the "unconstitutional" challenge.
1. The government isn't doing the search - it's a private party (the airline) not acting "for" the government.
2. No one is forcing you to consent to the search. Your option is to retrieve your bags and not fly.
3. In any event, the Constitution prohibits only "unreasonable" searches. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances. Given the consequences of "incidents" during air travel, the bar on what is "unreasonable" may be lower than for what would be reasonable in one's home or office.
However, feel free to try. As a friend once told me, "Today's spurious motion is tomorrow's law."
1. The government isn't doing the search - it's a private party (the airline) not acting "for" the government.
2. No one is forcing you to consent to the search. Your option is to retrieve your bags and not fly.
3. In any event, the Constitution prohibits only "unreasonable" searches. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances. Given the consequences of "incidents" during air travel, the bar on what is "unreasonable" may be lower than for what would be reasonable in one's home or office.
However, feel free to try. As a friend once told me, "Today's spurious motion is tomorrow's law."
Sep 22, 1999, 3:40 am
#18
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: In protest of Flyertalk's uncalledfor censoring of my point of view, I cancelled my InsideFlyer subscription. So long, and thanks for everything.
Posts: 3,325
My peeves are close to this topic as well. These policies are, in a word, STUPID!!
Follow me here - If I were a terrorist, wouldn't I:
be smart enough to get a fake ID?
be smart enough to lie about all of the questions?
if I were smart enough to place a bomb in a beeper or laptop, then be smart enough to make it beep or turn-on?
be clever enough o plant a bomb in your luggage without you knowing it was out of your control?
IMHO these policies have nothing whatsoever to do with safety. The airlines ask you this stuff to 1) weasel out of liability issues in the event of a disaster, and 2) ensure that you are not using someone else's ticket (the days of booking with a gender neutral initial are over). All in the name of safety. Wonderful.
Follow me here - If I were a terrorist, wouldn't I:
be smart enough to get a fake ID?
be smart enough to lie about all of the questions?
if I were smart enough to place a bomb in a beeper or laptop, then be smart enough to make it beep or turn-on?
be clever enough o plant a bomb in your luggage without you knowing it was out of your control?
IMHO these policies have nothing whatsoever to do with safety. The airlines ask you this stuff to 1) weasel out of liability issues in the event of a disaster, and 2) ensure that you are not using someone else's ticket (the days of booking with a gender neutral initial are over). All in the name of safety. Wonderful.
Sep 22, 1999, 9:06 am
#19
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: DEN, UA PE, Hilton Gold, ** Reactivate Delete Feature**
Posts: 650
NJDavid, I must say, Me Too!
I am all for safety, but don't like inefficient and just plain silly procedures. And don't even get me started about the random nature of the scanner procedure
I am all for safety, but don't like inefficient and just plain silly procedures. And don't even get me started about the random nature of the scanner procedure
Sep 22, 1999, 9:46 am
#20
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Posts: 1,976
Whilst I agree with you about the difficultiews of eliminating the 'professional' terrorist, there is a lot to be said for eliminating the 'casual' one, the 'prankster', the 'loony with a grudge'. It is easy to make explosive and to get ID. Its harder to put everything together and blow up an aeroplane. That's why it happens so rarely in the US/Europe. When was the last time a US airliner was blown up or hijacked? (The last I can think of is Lockerbie, 1988 and don't know).
Sep 22, 1999, 10:11 am
#21
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Winnipeg Canada, Cambridge England. CP - EP (R.I.P.) formerly AC-SE now lower than the lowest low.
Posts: 828
This reminds me of a story of Oscar Wilde traveling to the States, and when confronted with a form that asked "Do you intend to bear arms agains the United States of America" replied "Sole purpose of visit".
Things have'nt changed alot, as the current questions are just as pointless.
Things have'nt changed alot, as the current questions are just as pointless.
