I heard a funny announcement on the PA at London Heathrow.
Passenger [...], please return immediately to the Central Search and Security area!
I feel safer already.
In this case the passenger’s name was Abdul. I wonder if his middle-eastern name was causing him trouble again? Or was he himself the troublemaker? Or is it all just a big conspiracy misunderstanding…
Amusing nonetheless.
This article about the security measures that we have to go through before boarding an aircraft caught my eye.
The heart of the article focuses on how we, humans, continue letting ourselves be subjugated by the government with ineffective and often humiliating security measures, yet protests to this new opression are few and far between. Our newfound right to freely travel far and wide is being put to the test, and the outlook is bleak.
In questioning the effectivity of today’s airport security, the article talks about how airport staff (who are generally contracted from outside companies) rarely undergo screening and have virtually unlimited access to aircraft (where they can plant nail clippers, toothpaste and shoes). Pilots and crew (who are subject to background checks and training) on the other hand, have to suffer the same humiliation as the passengers. It is hard to find the logic.
There is more, of course, so go read it. I especially enjoyed this paragraph:
consider for a moment the hypocrisy of T.S.A.’s confiscation policy. At every concourse checkpoint you’ll see a bin or barrel brimming with contraband containers taken from passengers for having exceeded the [liquid] volume limit. Now, the assumption has to be that the materials in those containers are potentially hazardous. If not, why were they seized in the first place? But if so, why are they dumped unceremoniously into the trash? They are not quarantined or handed over to the bomb squad; they are simply thrown away. The agency seems to be saying that it knows these things are harmless. But it’s going to steal them anyway, and either you accept it or you don’t fly.
Although the focus is on the TSA which is a US agency, the same can be said for most of the world’s airports. Mostly because their policy is dictacted by the fact that everyone wants to fly to the USA, and for that, they have to follow the USA’s rules.
Read it, and weep.
2008 is the year of ten fingers. Soon you will have to leave all your ten fingerprints at the US immigration, not just your two index fingers (not thumb as the article states).
Not only that, but the data is now stored by the FBI, and used in criminal investigations, not just for immigration purposes. So by going to the states, your fingerprints automatically mingle with those of murderers and thieves.
I think the worst part is that people don’t seem to be complaining or taking this seriously. I fear the future. And here I thought I could have a nice, relaxing day, instead the world is going to hell. I should stop reading the paper.
This story on boing boing points to an editorial at Forbes about modern cities. Worth a read!
I especially liked Cory’s Snitchtown. I have serious issues with surveillance these days, and Snitchtown mirrors my thoughts 100%.
Stockholm’s subway stations are lined with cameras. I counted around 20 cameras at my station. I wonder what they do with all that footage? Wouldn’t it have been wiser to invest that money in a few more security guards to patrol the subway at night?
I personally don’t feel any safer with these cameras. And the subway is still a shithole on Friday and Saturday evening when the drunk masses come out to play.
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