i wish someone could tell me why it is that we need homeland security. america is no 'safer' than we were before 9/11/01. this government has been more focused on taking away the bill of rights from american citizens and taking over foreign countries than actually doing anything with homeland security- other than taking the money from the agency. i am focusing on airplane safety because that has been the most visible entity 'effected' by the useless agency. in case you hadn't heard, racial profiling, bigotry, prejudice and unwarranted hysteria is par for the coarse these days on our commercial airlines. you can find them alive and well among the hassle and useless delays that has become commonplace at all of the nation's airports. numerous news articles have focused on how easy it is to get by airport security that i am not going to bother looking them up- just google away. anyhoo- the point of this narrative is to say- this government is stockpiling even more data about you for no reason. and--- you have no access to it and you have no recourse against it. see for yourself.
cbs news- 60 minutes
Blognonymous: What's Your Terror Score?
south by southwest- what's your score?
and speaking of racial profiling, bigotry, prejudice, etc. from the republican brain trust:
michael savage- ban outright muslim immigration
michael savage- congressman swearing on quran
evil who will not be named- profiling muslims like profiling klan
hannity- swearing on quran akin to mein kampf
o'reilly- iraq not in civil war- just muslims doing what they do
10 comments:
Fortunately, we've now applied the brakes to these guys. They're still up to no good, as you wrote, but it's alot more difficult for hem now. We need to continue working on throwing this thing into reverse over the next 2years. . .
i've only flown once since 9/11 (I don't get out much)... I cannot imagine what it is like for the folks that have been tagged for greater levels of scrutiny.
I don't know how I would manage the rage this would create in me. I'd probably mouth off and miss my flight altogether.
Hey b,
Good post. I checked out some of the links. Did not have time for all.
Some shocking stuff though. alaskababy, I would recommend not mouting off. You very well could miss your flight and be fined or worse. The best thing to do if you feel you were treated unfairly is to get the name of the screener and the time of incident and location of the checkpoint, and file a complaint after the fact with the TSA. I would cc your congressperson as well.
b, you know I am a little conflicted on the screening/profiling. Still not sure if I have made up my mind. Because we are human and do make mistakes, people are going to slip by. I am not excusing it. Just saying it will happen eventually.
Hope you had a wonderful weekend.
I am sorry, but I can not click the links to the rightwing nutjobs. I have my health to consider m'dear :)
The idea of safeguarding our country (planes, trains, ports, ect...) is not such a bad idea, especially if we know some persons are looking for ways to attack.
The neo-con's choices of how to go about that is what's screwing things up, and reflects their bigoted sense of providing "security."
"Get them scared....keep them scared!" The point of a HLS is to drive home the point that suddenly, we are very insecure, like it was us who allowed those folks on those planes. Used even half assed correctly, HLS could do wonders for us.
When was the last time you saw this bunch do anything remotely close to correctly? They can't keep one city in a country the size of California safe....and they want me to believe they can keep America safe? 'S gonna have to be some other day, folks. I ain't doin' crack today.
I always wonder what it will be like when I will fly back to the Netherlands. My mom who's visiting right now had to do her fingerprints and had to have her picture taken at customs when she came. She said it makes you feel like they're treating you like a common criminal. Let's hope the Dems will pick up some backbone to reverse this nonsense but I am not very hopeful..
hope all is well with you, haven't been blogging and surfing much since my mom's been visiting,
Ingrid
It sure sounds like a democracy to me!!!
betmo, thanks for the link to South by Southwest.
I also like your thoughts about the part that bigotry plays in all this. I was struck by how some people see Jimmy Carter's new book as antisemitic, which it is not. It is merely advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Regards to you and thanks as always for your blogging.
Homeland Security has become the organized muscle of the national mafia. They cause more terror than they prevent.
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