Category: General

I refuse to participate

November 13, 2010 8:30 pm

I was going to wait to write this post until I'd written the letters I intend to send, but I want to write this now while there is some media attention on the matter.

I refuse to participate in the TSA's X-ray backscatter devices. I refuse to participate in the TSA's "enhanced" (read: extra-invasive) pat-downs.

Given that we purchased our plane tickets for Christmas many weeks ago before the TSA changed its pat-down procedure, December will be the last time I fly on a plane until some semblance of rationality is restored to the screening process.

I put up with the normal pat-down; it was an inconvenience but no worse than being frisked at a concert. However, I won't put up with the new pat-downs.

I don't consider a full-body scan a reasonable condition for boarding a plane. I don't consider a full-body pat-down a reasonable condition for boarding a plane. I will travel by means that have sane security checks or I will not travel.

I plan to write a letter explaining my position and sending it to all the major airlines, the FAA, the TSA, and my congressional representatives. It will be sad if the only way to get this to change is to destroy the air travel industry. But apparently we need to convince some large corporations that the TSA is hurting their business.

Yes, not traveling by air will be inconvenient. But there are options. I've been looking into long-distance travel with Amtrak. You can book private bedrooms. They're not amazingly cheap, but I'm willing to travel less often and spend more if it means maintaining some semblance of my civil rights. I've already written to Amtrak explaining why they have a perfect opportunity to make me happy to travel again. I really hope they don't disappoint me.

I hope more people will join me in refusing to participate in the TSA's invasive and demeaning security checks. We are law-abiding citizens. We shouldn't be treated like criminals just to travel within our own country.

I felt completely safe boarding planes with an X-ray scan of luggage and a simple metal detector. I will feel perfectly safe returning to that level of security.

Disaster Averted!

November 7, 2010 6:19 pm

Kyle made hot chocolate this afternoon (it's rainy and dreary and wonderful today), and I was just washing the Cocoa Latte machine. (Christopher and Jenny gave it to us last year for Christmas, and we love it!) Well, the spigot comes apart into several tiny pieces for washing, and I totally dropped one down the garbage disposal. I got it back out, but then I realized I was missing the spring, too, so I kept looking in the disposal (I've never had to have my hand down one of those for so long!), but it was NOT THERE. Kyle came over to help look, though he was admittedly unsure what else he could do, but when I turned to him, I saw the spring on the counter, between the sink and myself, where I couldn't see it. HUZZAY! I didn't want to be the one responsible for breaking the hot chocolate machine. That would be sad. 🙁

cclt
But it's okay! Happy! 😀

Sorry if the facts contradict your propaganda

November 4, 2010 9:44 pm

Apparently a lot of people believe that everything wrong with the economy right now is the fault of the Democrats. In particular many people believe that the economic stimulus plan was entirely the Democrats' (and President Obama's) idea. And that if we could just get all the Democrats out of office things would be better. And if Republicans had been in control the bailout would never have happened.

As much as I enjoy bashing politicians, unfortunately this issue needs some factual correction. I now refer you to H.R. 1424, better known as the law that created the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the main body of the economic stimulus plan, a.k.a. the bailout. Most importantly I'd like to draw your attention to the votes in both the House and the Senate, as well as the signature of the president who signed the bill into law.

Senate Vote On Passage: H.R. 1424 [110th]: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008:
Democrats: 40 Y - 9 N
Republicans: 33 Y - 15 N

On Motion to Concur in Senate Amendments: H R 1424 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008:
Democrats: 172 Y - 63 N
Republicans: 91 Y - 108 N

President Signs H.R. 1424 into law:
George H. W. Bush

Also important to note to those that believe the Democrats are to blame is that the Democrats didn't have even a chance of overriding a presidential veto. You need 2/3 in both the House and Senate. In the House Democrats had 172 yes votes of 435 seats (less than 40%). In the Senate Democrats had 40 yes votes of 100 (exactly 40%). President Bush could have vetoed the bill and then it would have simply died.

Now, to be clear. The idea of bailing out the major financial institutions that created the housing mess didn't sit well with me either. But I'm under no delusion that it was the Democrats' fault.

(I promise I'll try to be done with political posts for awhile.)