The New York Times Opinion page has an excellent article by Patrick Smith entitled ‘The Airport Security Follies’:
The changes put in place following the September 11th catastrophe have been drastic, and largely of two kinds: those practical and effective, and those irrational, wasteful and pointless. — Patrick Smith, New York Times
Link to article here.
Patrick Smith writes a weekly article for Salon.com’s Ask the Pilot series.
Can anyone be this stupid?
Need more? Go here.
It’s happening more often. The stupidity of The Greatest Country In The World is being aptly demonstrated to all comers, even those from Iceland. Here’s the latest version:
During the last twenty-four hours I have probably experienced the greatest humiliation to which I have ever been subjected. During these last twenty-four hours I have been handcuffed and chained, denied the chance to sleep, been without food and drink and been confined to a place without anyone knowing my whereabouts, imprisoned. — Eva Ósk Arnardóttir, detained by Homeland Security at JFK
Link to story here.
Apparently, the woman had a previous visa infraction involving a three-week overstay in 1995, but she had been admitted uneventfully since then.
Considering the vast number of illegals that are allowed to be in the country, and that are allowed to wander around freely, I find it surprising that someone on a holiday would be subject to such intense confinement. I would guess that an airport security check is an easy bust for Homeland Security, although I’m not certain that the ensuing publicity is doing much to cement relations with Iceland.
Perhaps her real crime was being too white.