"Enhanced Security" at various airports....

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

Peter Gottlieb wrote:

It's almost better to just let it run its course and get so horrifically bad
faster, so it affects more of the public sooner, and some brave leader
stands up and asks why we are hurting ourselves like this.

That strategy didn't work very well for the "war on drugs" insanity.

George Patterson
Brute force has an elegance all its own.



I think they've given up on the drug war thing as a losing battle as
appears to be chronic alcoholism and so the new culprit i which to go to
war is .... tobacco products. Now before any nasties drift in from
smokers [ciggs, pipes [*albeit 'sans' the rubber band and tin foil with
the pin holes on the bowl thing...;-)...] or cigars] , I'm still a
smoker as carried over from my former military days many moons ago [no
lectures please!] but our governor is going literally ballistic about
the thing.

An ex-smoker himself [the worst kind! Their standard motto: "I did it so
you MUST do it!"...] and notwithstanding his ongoing jihad of sorts with
the Native American sovereign nation and internet tobacco product
vendors [the gov wants his cut!], he pulled a sort of analogous Mayor
Daley II King of the Universe move and issued an Executive Order
forbidding national motor carriers [UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.] from
delivering tobacco products within the state of NY at the risk of a
$5,000 fine per occurrence although his authority does NOT extend to the
federal post office.

So too, a law was passed just weeks ago that forbids smoking in any NY
bar --or-- restaurant whether they have separate smoker rooms or
facilities or not! Whew! Suddenly, the smoker [including pipes and
cigars] folks are akin to social pariahs, crack-heads and heroin addicts
on a par with Charlie Manson and Osama bin Laden! I've never seen
anything like it YET the gov' is literally gagging on his "Well, I'm
greatly concerned about 13 year old Johnny and Janey ordering and using
tobacco products" while he concurrently desires big time that tobacco
tax and surcharge [upon surcharge upon surcharge] revenue! Who is
kidding who...or is that 'whom'....


Doc Tony

"Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo" writes:

I think they've given up on the drug war thing as a losing battle

If "they" give up on the drug war, it's just because they have new
jobs. The drug war was a way to keep a lot of people employed and
in power. The "war on terrorism" should be a decent substitute
for many.

I think it'll be a lot easier for power mongers to justify their
actions using the "war on terrorism" than the "war on drugs."

--kyler

the new culprit i which to go to
war is .... tobacco products.


In my view it's a little different, as my issue with smoking is that it is
smelly, obnoxious, filthy, and grossly inconsiderate., not only to those around
the smoker, but to those that will occupy the same space in the future (long in
the future if it's indoor). It has a big adverse aesthetic impact. I would be
pleased if smoking was banned for those reasons alone. However, if people want
to chew tobacco, or take it intravenously, I don't care.

However, we are bandying about this health thing like a mantra - another
example of society protecting us from ourselves, which makes me angry. If I
want to put MYSELF in danger, I should be able to. In fact, if I want to harm
myself, I should be able to. I should be able to choose my own risk vs.
benefit relationship and live with the consequences. Seat belt laws are
another example, and the fact that society pays for health care costs of those
that choose "wrong" does also enter into this. I could go on for many
paragraphs (but won't).

I have a lot of respect for the FAA regs inasmuch as they respect the idea that
pilots should be able to make their own (informed) risk vs. benefit decisions
on their own behalf. The rules are stricter as pilots make these decisions on
the behalf of others, as they should be. But from a safety point of view,
pilots have an enormous amount of discretion (and responsibility).

This security thing turns everything upside down. It takes advantage of the
fact that people are ill-informed, and don't really care about the consequences
of these decisions, to advance the political agenda of those in power. (have I
said anything new here? We're so afraid of our shadows that the most
effective thing terrorists could do now is throw shadows. It will shut us down
in a week.

Jose



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