The joys of travel
Just got down right intimate with the TSA dude. It was all my pleasure. Rewards for opting out of an x-ray assault. Oh joy.
TSA to allow passengers to carry small knives on planes | Washington Post
In your “if you weren’t sure TSA is a complete dumpster-fire of an outfit” news of the day… Yes, pocket knives, small baseball bats, hockey sticks, pool cues, and other crap will be allowed back on the aeroplanes. Yet, due to the possibility I may have hidden plastique in my natty peanut butter jar, that gets literally Joe Montana-style thrown in the bin two feet from where 500 people are lined up [true story].
There has never been a more intrusive, destructive, expensive yet worthless organization than the TSA, folks.
To those who are supporting this secession bit
You need to pull your heads from your asses and wake up.
I find it a little bit grody and disheartening to read the libertarian (some, not all, of course) support of this schtick, which at this point is clearly typical GOP bullshit pandering. This is a decent example why I will never call myself a libertarian. This adherence to the republican standard is gross. I mean, I read a post earlier about record gun sales and the obligatory “THIS” response. What a fucking joke, people. This isn’t change. This is asinine, knee jerk, tittybaby reaction because of sour election results. And THIS is why people don’t take your movement seriously. A 100% complete break from the GOP is what’s needed and what IS NOT happening!
Once again, a bunch of butt hurt republicans can do nothing but bitch and gripe? How’s about you work to make positive change? How’s about you step away from your Kristol/Limbaugh/Hannity neocon, whack-ass, way-too-far right ledge and come back to reality. Fucking neat, Texas now has >26K signatures. Now what, we can secede and have more little Rick Perry/George Bush spawns running a totalitarian GOP state? I mean, my representative is Lamar Smith! Lamar fucking Smith, people! What’s he going to do to a separate Texas? That wording of “our” secession petition is completely laughable. How many Texas republicans supported GW? A black man gets elected for two terms and now they’re all up in arms about NDAA and the TSA; FUCK YOU! Where were you in 2001? Where were you over the last four years?
Look, like I said before, I’m all for making changes and I support secession where fundamental structural changes will be made afterwards. This aint it, folks. You people seriously need a reality check.
Tell me where I’m wrong.
Travel Notes
Return trip style.
While I certainly do not travel as much as the old days, I’ve successfully managed to escape the full-body-radiation-scan. Look at the outline of my bollocks all you want just find a way to do so sans x-ray penetration.
On that note I’ve also successfully bypassed security with weapons in tact and undetected: my fists of fury- deadly weapons in 49 states. I’m golden in Vermont apparently.
LAX s.u.x.! Flying into LA is depressing. The layer of smog hovering over the landscape is breathtaking…and not the Mt. Rainier kind either.
Awaiting my flight to SATX, there’s a flight to Las Vegas next door. The douchebaggery is as expected. I suppose you needn’t land in Vegas to look and act like an asshole, flight to Sin City will suffice.
To the very kind, yet clueless lady who sat next to me on this past flight, there are two separate international signs for I ain’t in the mood to chat: 1) open book or mag, or 2) headphones in/on ears. For eff’s sake I certainly shouldn’t have to resort to both measures.
Oh air travel.
Travel Notes
And other thoughts in general.
Air travel used to be awesome. Perhaps that had more to do with being a kid, but I’ll blame it on the TSA.
Houston International still sucks.
Was asked to trade my seat with an old lady so she could sit near her friend. My seat, aisle. Her seat, middle. Told her to jog off! (kidding- I switched. It did tilt me for a minute though)
Being on a plane is far too close than I ever want to be to 99.99999999999% of any human. If I can smell your dragon breath you can smell my farts- TOO CLOSE!
Speaking of farting on a plane, where fabric seats are far superior to leather. Think about it…
This I’ve pondered before. Why is it that a majority of dudes feel the need to spit in the urinal? It’s like an automatic reaction. Even in my dipping days, with a wad in, I never spit in the urinal. Not that I care, it just seems like an odd phenomenon.
Enough poopoo & ka ka for one post, eh. I’m here, on the train to Seattle. I feel better already. It’s about to pop off!
TSA PreCheck coming to Sea-Tac | Seattle Times
PreCheck for your precheck to be checked before you check-in.
Okay, if this doesn’t highlight the irrelevancy of the TSA I don’t know what will. So, let me get this straight, if you’re now a “high-mileage” customer, you’re deemed safe? Perhaps some of you? Just testing this out of course… to see if this inhibits the TSAs ability to catch all those bad guys, right? Because the TSA has a history of doing so, like here, or here???
How do you spell BOONDOGGLE? -US Government TSA.
Harms of Post-9/11 Airline Security | Bruce Schneier
Good read that sums up your TSA, more specifically, the worthless blue shirts who bollocks up your travel. It’s gross to think of how far we’ve fallen as a “free society”. Those words are a joke.
The Hipster Libertarian: Security Theater And The TSA
A Sullivan Reader writes:
Why haven’t terrorists been hitting public transportation, museums, shopping malls, movie theatres, etc? Either because there aren’t nearly as many terrorists as the security state apparatus and its apologists want us to think there are, or…
Finally have a few minutes to go back to this.
Regarding the original link and the “readers’ posts”. All of those arguments and points are entirely moot and/or unnecessary. The fact is (insert terrorist group here) doesn’t have to exist, they don’t have to attack planes, trains, or automobiles, they don’t have to have thousands of guys, nor do they have to have five guys. Some very important facts of major events over the past decade or two may be debatable in some circles. But the terrorists (and our government mind you, same, perhaps) have already won. That war was over before it started. One tragedy is enough. I will absolutely guarantee there will be another significant attack on the U.S. in the next generation or the one that follows. Ala Pearl Harbor to 9/11. Ask some the Japanese Americans about what happened after that dandy. It took a couple of generations removed to forget how much we need government’s safety blanket. I’m making no claims to anything here. Just asking questions… but my guarantee stands.
Fast forward to now, look at the country we’ve become. What civil liberties left are, not so slowly anymore, dwindling away. Why? Because of some ambiguous, albeit constant, threat to our safety? Fuck no. The intelligence reports spew the same garbage they’ve been for the last 30 years except now instead of some Ruskie, it’s some Arab. Wake up, people. I’ve said this before, look at what is the norm now just to get on an airplane to go see your grandma at Xmas…or worse yet, what she has to endure to see you. We are now allowing a bill to pass that will allow ONE PERSON to be judge, jury, and executioner, all while disregarding our Bill of Rights. How about SOPA? Could I be considered a threat with this post? Could they shut me down, send in the Army, and make me disappear? To be honest, I don’t see this happening in the near future, but the precedence has been set. Think Germany circa late 1920s, early 1930s.
The “terrorists” don’t need bombs and they don’t need people. They need only survive through the government willing to suppress it’s people for the sake of safety. So long as we buy into the “threats”, they’ll continue their win streak. Let me ask, though, who benefits? You?
/rant
Source: letterstomycountry
I’ll sleep when I’m dead…
Or on the plane rather. Day began T 0230. San Antonio to Houston to Baltimore/Washington —-> meet and pick up kiddo —-> Baltimore/Washington to San Antonio. One day whirlwind nightmare to be repeated, exactly, in 6 days. Should be fun.
***So this is new- was in line to be molested by TSA, bag and shoes on the belt. I guess I look legit enough to bypass any screening of my body. I was told to “go left”, which was to the side of the body scanner. It was just a walk through to the other side of the X-ray belt. No grabby on Jimmy! I don’t expect the same treatment at BWI. Pretty ridiculous though as I could be a “bad guy” just as well as the next poor sap.
