I feel safer now (no saline solution in the cabin)
Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:33 pm
You've all read or heard or saw by now the latest "foiled plot" by some notorious B.I.G. bad wolves to smuggle aboard liquid explosives onto planes (or at least test this capability in a "dry run") that were bound from the UK to the US (various cities, NY, LA, etc). Very bad guys were apprehended and likely sent to Guantanamo for rendition. I'm happy for that.
I'm sure you've also read about the new rules for airplane travel. One of these is that you are allowed to have "no liquids" in your carry-on baggage. At first glance, this new Draconian policy might make sense. But let me explain a few things.
First of all, it only takes a high school level education to make most types of explosives. It's also apparent to anyone who's watched a western movie or a good cop shoot-em-up (Chuck Norris will drink gasoline and melt the terrorists with his flaming breath) that there are other types of explosives that are extremely powerful that aren't of the liquid variety. One of the most popular ones we see mentioned occasionally is Semtex, which is the trade name for C4. This is a putty but can be manufactured to be completely solid, just like a pair of shoes. A nice coat of shellac won't hurt its capability. I hope that makes everyone feel safer.
Now these old Westerns also had a very common form of solid explosive which has been manufactured since probably in the BC era (at least a couple thousand years). This simple explosive is known as "gunpowder" and it's very easy to make. Many other explosives of all forms...solid, liquid and gas...are very easy to make. When I say "very easy" I mean only two or three compounds and minimal preperation. There are other chemical compounds like thermite which are also solid and will melt a hole through anything. I repeat these are not liquid.
We get to the point where this fear-mongering by a group of wealthy powerful tycoons is replacing common sense and more importantly the very liberties that used to make Americans proud. These elite power brokers peddle fear like cocaine, feeding it to the masses in the media highways, always steering the SS USA all the way to the right. Sooner or later this fear will eat the very heart of America and all we will have left are super cops and everyone else cowering and shaking with terror.
What is terror? That word cannot even be mentioned without bringing strong and irrational emotions into play. In one definition, "terror" is a state of intense fear. I'd like to add a capital s to give it a better understanding: a State of Intense Fear (or SIF, if you like acronyms).
Now the State wants to control people to levy taxes and basically take away all human rights. The safest civilian is one in shackles. However, imprisoned people don't pay much tax (except on cigarettes and other contraband somewhat indirectly). So if you put all the people in jail, there's noone left to pay the bills. That much should be obvious.
However, when this fear-peddling reaches epidemic proportions (we're still on the way there and are arguably far from that point compared with other fear societies like late-30s Germany, for instance), we are in big trouble. When the litany of fear replaces any kind of logic or common sense, the terrorists have actually won. Now this SIF dominates all waking life, and all people talk about is how scared they are (even though they direct this fear in their own diversionary ways, like talking about baseball
*JK*).
In 1984 and Brazil (plot largely based on 1984, IMO) we have societies that are based on the State controlling events of destruction in order to maintain control and the illusion of "fighting the good fight". [ I haven't seen V for Vendetta, but all my friends insist I'd like it a lot. Let's hope I can add that to the list of "SIF classics". ] The 'I' here may also stand for Indoctrinated...as in Doctrine...as in Dogma.
There's another good word. Everyone likes dogs (well, I do), but the word Dogma is not about dogs, it's about a groundless authoritarian point of view. There's also the other definition which is very close, which is "a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church" (lifted right out of Webster's since I like their wording and it's my perogative).
So now the State of Intense Fear meets the Dogma of the Church. Right now the Church and State are merging and Sinclair Lewis (first American to win Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930) warned us:
I'm not going to cower to anyone holding a gun at my head. I don't want to be a sniffling visage on TV waiting for them to slice my throat. I'll go down fighting, with a bullet in my brain. We all have metaphorical guns to our heads when we allow the fear-peddlers to slip into our consciousness and replace our waking lives with nightmares. Complete fear immersion is the goal of the master controllers and these flag-wrapped bible-thumpers (thinly disguised as leaders) are running our good country into a fetid Hell-hole. They are helping to create this State of Intense Fear and if we don't learn to say "no fucking way, José", we are in for some really deep nasty shit. Deeper than WWII and nastier than the Gulag Archipelago. This fear game has no winners...only the subjected and the elite controllers who think they are masters but they are also slaves to their own perverse system of obscene control.
Anyhow, so I'm ruminating on these things while thinking I'm going to boycott air travel altogether. I really don't feel any safer because everyone can't bring water bottles in the cabin when I know how easy it is to build a suitcase made of thermite and just melt a hole through the cargo compartment. For a tiny minority to seeming have so much power over a majority is completely irrational -- unless, of course, that majority is in cahoots with the very people they pretend they are protecting us against.
I smell rats all over the place, and the ship is sinking and I'm not so sure how long I can tolerate being an American anymore. The things that used to make America great are all sliding down the toilet, and it seems people are too scared or stupid to want to stand up for their rights. I probably won't mind the day when we have to fly naked, but I'm not sure this is the right approach towards improving on "Civilization". I'm also not sure the super-cops aren't smoking something when they ban knives and scissors like some crazed lunatic is going to chisel his way into the cockpit (like you can't kill someone with a glass knife? Give me a break!). Of course they made cockpit doors sort of thicker, but if a group is really determined to take down a plane, there's very little we can do to stop them. We can thwart 10 or 20 attacks and of course make it much harder, but to give up all civil liberties to prevent a hijacking every decade is really not the answer. Taking away millions of bottles of saline solution is not going to stop someone from taking out a plane. They'll find other means. I'm not sure if the big-heads ever thought that the liquid flammables in the belly of the plane were much safer than the ones that are now disallowed in the cabins.
But then again, who can you trust? Who can I trust? In God We Trust? Where is God now? Is he crying or laughing at us paltry humans? So vain and so foolish, so powerful and so weak at the same time.
It is really a mess that has no solution. The answer is to just let it slide, keep an eye out but don't lose too much sleep over it. Catch the bad guys but for the love of beelzebub, please don't punish the good guys! That is what swings people over to the Dark Side and how the Terrorists recruit. By the iron hand swinging too far to the right, you end up pushing over some moderates over the edge and then you lose not just your constituency, you lose your cameraderie and indeed you can destroy society. Forcing people to unusual means to justify no possible end is completely ridiculous and makes us the laughing stock of the world.
So now Granny won't blow up the plane with her Pepto Bismol. Thank god for the really smart and good people who are protecting us from the really stupid bad people. I feel much safer now.
-Phrazz
P.S.: This message will self-destruct in 7 days.
I'm sure you've also read about the new rules for airplane travel. One of these is that you are allowed to have "no liquids" in your carry-on baggage. At first glance, this new Draconian policy might make sense. But let me explain a few things.
First of all, it only takes a high school level education to make most types of explosives. It's also apparent to anyone who's watched a western movie or a good cop shoot-em-up (Chuck Norris will drink gasoline and melt the terrorists with his flaming breath) that there are other types of explosives that are extremely powerful that aren't of the liquid variety. One of the most popular ones we see mentioned occasionally is Semtex, which is the trade name for C4. This is a putty but can be manufactured to be completely solid, just like a pair of shoes. A nice coat of shellac won't hurt its capability. I hope that makes everyone feel safer.
Now these old Westerns also had a very common form of solid explosive which has been manufactured since probably in the BC era (at least a couple thousand years). This simple explosive is known as "gunpowder" and it's very easy to make. Many other explosives of all forms...solid, liquid and gas...are very easy to make. When I say "very easy" I mean only two or three compounds and minimal preperation. There are other chemical compounds like thermite which are also solid and will melt a hole through anything. I repeat these are not liquid.
We get to the point where this fear-mongering by a group of wealthy powerful tycoons is replacing common sense and more importantly the very liberties that used to make Americans proud. These elite power brokers peddle fear like cocaine, feeding it to the masses in the media highways, always steering the SS USA all the way to the right. Sooner or later this fear will eat the very heart of America and all we will have left are super cops and everyone else cowering and shaking with terror.
What is terror? That word cannot even be mentioned without bringing strong and irrational emotions into play. In one definition, "terror" is a state of intense fear. I'd like to add a capital s to give it a better understanding: a State of Intense Fear (or SIF, if you like acronyms).
Now the State wants to control people to levy taxes and basically take away all human rights. The safest civilian is one in shackles. However, imprisoned people don't pay much tax (except on cigarettes and other contraband somewhat indirectly). So if you put all the people in jail, there's noone left to pay the bills. That much should be obvious.
However, when this fear-peddling reaches epidemic proportions (we're still on the way there and are arguably far from that point compared with other fear societies like late-30s Germany, for instance), we are in big trouble. When the litany of fear replaces any kind of logic or common sense, the terrorists have actually won. Now this SIF dominates all waking life, and all people talk about is how scared they are (even though they direct this fear in their own diversionary ways, like talking about baseball
*JK*).In 1984 and Brazil (plot largely based on 1984, IMO) we have societies that are based on the State controlling events of destruction in order to maintain control and the illusion of "fighting the good fight". [ I haven't seen V for Vendetta, but all my friends insist I'd like it a lot. Let's hope I can add that to the list of "SIF classics". ] The 'I' here may also stand for Indoctrinated...as in Doctrine...as in Dogma.
There's another good word. Everyone likes dogs (well, I do), but the word Dogma is not about dogs, it's about a groundless authoritarian point of view. There's also the other definition which is very close, which is "a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church" (lifted right out of Webster's since I like their wording and it's my perogative).
So now the State of Intense Fear meets the Dogma of the Church. Right now the Church and State are merging and Sinclair Lewis (first American to win Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930) warned us:
He was a remarkable visionary, who -- like Orwell -- warned us repeatedly of the acute self-destructive nature of American pride and religious fanaticism. Now we have fanatics whipping us into a Rainbow frenzy but where the real rainbow is a thing of divine beauty, this Neocon Rainbow helps the Terrorists achieve their goal of scaring the living fuck out of every American within earshot of a TV or eyeshot of a runway.Sinclair Lewis wrote:When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.
I'm not going to cower to anyone holding a gun at my head. I don't want to be a sniffling visage on TV waiting for them to slice my throat. I'll go down fighting, with a bullet in my brain. We all have metaphorical guns to our heads when we allow the fear-peddlers to slip into our consciousness and replace our waking lives with nightmares. Complete fear immersion is the goal of the master controllers and these flag-wrapped bible-thumpers (thinly disguised as leaders) are running our good country into a fetid Hell-hole. They are helping to create this State of Intense Fear and if we don't learn to say "no fucking way, José", we are in for some really deep nasty shit. Deeper than WWII and nastier than the Gulag Archipelago. This fear game has no winners...only the subjected and the elite controllers who think they are masters but they are also slaves to their own perverse system of obscene control.
Anyhow, so I'm ruminating on these things while thinking I'm going to boycott air travel altogether. I really don't feel any safer because everyone can't bring water bottles in the cabin when I know how easy it is to build a suitcase made of thermite and just melt a hole through the cargo compartment. For a tiny minority to seeming have so much power over a majority is completely irrational -- unless, of course, that majority is in cahoots with the very people they pretend they are protecting us against.
I smell rats all over the place, and the ship is sinking and I'm not so sure how long I can tolerate being an American anymore. The things that used to make America great are all sliding down the toilet, and it seems people are too scared or stupid to want to stand up for their rights. I probably won't mind the day when we have to fly naked, but I'm not sure this is the right approach towards improving on "Civilization". I'm also not sure the super-cops aren't smoking something when they ban knives and scissors like some crazed lunatic is going to chisel his way into the cockpit (like you can't kill someone with a glass knife? Give me a break!). Of course they made cockpit doors sort of thicker, but if a group is really determined to take down a plane, there's very little we can do to stop them. We can thwart 10 or 20 attacks and of course make it much harder, but to give up all civil liberties to prevent a hijacking every decade is really not the answer. Taking away millions of bottles of saline solution is not going to stop someone from taking out a plane. They'll find other means. I'm not sure if the big-heads ever thought that the liquid flammables in the belly of the plane were much safer than the ones that are now disallowed in the cabins.
But then again, who can you trust? Who can I trust? In God We Trust? Where is God now? Is he crying or laughing at us paltry humans? So vain and so foolish, so powerful and so weak at the same time.
It is really a mess that has no solution. The answer is to just let it slide, keep an eye out but don't lose too much sleep over it. Catch the bad guys but for the love of beelzebub, please don't punish the good guys! That is what swings people over to the Dark Side and how the Terrorists recruit. By the iron hand swinging too far to the right, you end up pushing over some moderates over the edge and then you lose not just your constituency, you lose your cameraderie and indeed you can destroy society. Forcing people to unusual means to justify no possible end is completely ridiculous and makes us the laughing stock of the world.
So now Granny won't blow up the plane with her Pepto Bismol. Thank god for the really smart and good people who are protecting us from the really stupid bad people. I feel much safer now.
-Phrazz
P.S.: This message will self-destruct in 7 days.
