<p>Here is my solution-racial profiling and getting governmental idiocy out of airports.</p>
<p>Actually, carry-on is still okay in the US, it’s just the UK that banned all carry-ons - ever purses !!</p>
<p>But today the UK changed the rules, so I don’t have to check my purse but can return with it hanging from my tired shoulder. Yay!</p>
<p>We’ll be flying to USC tomorrow to take D to school. I can’t wait. I wish they declared HER carry-on, and made me leave her at home with us, at least for another decade or so.</p>
<p>Isn’t the use of basic chemicals something that was conceived of an old plot that was uncovered years ago? Shouldn’t the “liquid ban” have happened years ago.</p>
<p>BTW racial profiling at airports ==> use of non-Arabs as operatives.</p>
<p>Hayden–all the best with USC. My son is entering is fourth and last year. I’ve paid for this semester, and have enough for next semester without having to save anymore. YEA!!!</p>
<p>Well, since we’ve helpfully broadcasted all over every mainstream media that we do not screen most cargo that gets loaded onto passenger planes- and I’m sure Al Jezeera caught and rebroadcasted every detail - probably we can just stop worrying about the various cosmetics, infant forumlas, medicines, etc.</p>
<p>Hayden, best wishes tomorrow.</p>
<p>
Make criteria Muslim too. Look at the recent London arrests. Despite all the hullabaloo of post 9/11, they were still Pakistani men.</p>
<p>It’s ridiculous. You can’t eliminate every possible threat on an aircraft any more than you can eliminate every threat that exists in every day life.</p>
<p>These latest rules and regulations, which mainly inconvenience people (but are a terrible infringement on civil rights for people with unusual medical conditions…I have a friend who has been told that she may not be able to fly this week because she requires some medical equipment and solutions that the TSA hasn’t dealt with since last week) really are only an illusion of safety. The people with access to planes…baggage handlers, beverage and food providers, cleaners, etc. will continue to have access, and probably pose significantly greater threat than a mom with a baby bottle.</p>
<p>The world is better off with less makeup anyway. Where women get the thought that warpaint is a good thing is beyond me. I’ll take natural anytime.</p>
<p>So what’s the beef? Junk the gunk. Let your skin breathe. You’ll look better, feel better, and be able to buy more lattes with the money saved.</p>
<p>Granted, TSA seems to have a problem getting its act together on liquids but let’s give them a little time. Even if they had a policy within the first 24 hours, it’s still tough to advise every employee in every airport about every product. I’d rather TSA erred on the side of caution, especially since I have family members flying now and in the near future. I also have an autistic family member who has been unable to fly since 9/11 because it’s hard for him to comply with the increased security restrictions. It’s inconvenient and time-consuming to drive everywhere because he can’t fly, but it’s worth it if it makes all of us safer.</p>
<p>Newmassdad, it’s not the prohibition of certain cosmetic items that are disturbing, and it’s not that anyone cannot - and doesn’t live without it - that is the problem.</p>
<p>It’s the horrendous drain on security resources - mainly TSA staff - who are forced into the position of “this is banned, this is o.k., this other thing might be o.k. if X conditions apply; this thing over here is o.k. if still yet some other conditions apply, and hey, if it’s Tuesday, the rules are different still” etc. </p>
<p>This entire issue of prohibited items has simply become untethered from reason. </p>
<p>Have you been through security at airports lately and seen some of the work TSA must do? I fly on average 3/4 times a month, and, it’s an endless circus of “remove this belt, put the jackets in the baskets, take your shoes off please sir, madam I need to search your purse, please remove that bracelet, step through here please, boarding passes out please, laptops out of the bags please, place your items on the moving belt please, that lighter is not allowed please discard it in the bin sir” and so on. </p>
<p>Now, these people are going to be expected to differential between lipstick and mascara, and in the context of very busy inspection environments. While they’re hopelessly busy and all tangled up trying to see if an item is long-lasting coral spice laced with youth-promoting emolients vs. water proof extra-long ultimate black tammy-faye thickening brand, Osama-been-missing is going to casually stroll right through the screening area and board the plane with fully loaded Uzis. </p>
<p>I’m unhelpfully exaggerating of course, but, this is nutz. </p>
<p>DRJ4, I am totally with TSA. I think those poor people have an incredible job to do, and, however much we’re paying them, it’s no where near enough money. All the more reason why they should not bear the burden of inane announcements like “you can bring your mascara today”.</p>
<p>My point being - that I didn’t make very well in my last tirade - is ban it ALL, no gunk period, and instead focus on ways to help those with babies get the formula, and those who need medicine, and health related equipment on the planes. Oh and allow one book each too - heaven help the poor people who have to sit next to book-deprived Haydens on long flights. There cannot be many things worse than sitting next to another passenger who wants a book very badly, and who is not allowed to have one. Unless of course you want a book, too. </p>
<p>Oh, I almost forgot, they could look out for some terrorists too, instead of the intent peering at mascara tubes.</p>
<p>Wasn’t one of the alleged bomb plotters an ex-airport employee? If so, he would know all the vulnerabilities of the airport.</p>
<p>Dadguy, with the exception of Richard Reid (the shoe-bomber), how many non-arabs would blow themselves up?</p>
<p>I flew yesterday. After I passed through security I bought an Auntie Annie’s pretzel with a tub of icing (gel consistency). I boarded the plane with it in my purse. There was no check at the gate. I guess my icing could be as dangerous as lip gloss… I also screwed up and had a “desk toy” in my computer bag that contains liquid (one of those deals that you turn upside down and it drips liquid and spins some balls. The security check picked it up and I was willing to ditch it (probably worth $5). The agent encouraged me to go back to the ticket counter and check it by itself. So-they wrapped up my 4x4 inch toy in cardboard and baggage tape and checked it. It was the first thing that came onto the baggage carousel at the arrival end. Everyone laughed because it was so small. I was pretty impressed that it made it!</p>
<p>Tookie,</p>
<p>I don’t know. I can envision scenarios where some non-Arab is recruited for an operation. There is also the possibility of slipping something into someone else’s carry-on and retrieving it later.</p>
<p>I don’t have much of a problem giving certain people a much more thorough screening then everyone gets now. My problem is with the implication that people who don’t fit the profile would only get a perfunctory screening. I think that’s asking for trouble.</p>
<p>latetoschool - LOL. Yes, sitting next to a bookless Hayden would be a really annoying thing for anyone to have to do. My H was seriously concerned until the book ban got lifted. . . . The only thing worse that I could imagine is the time I sat next to a Jehovah’s Witness on a 5-hour flight, who saw it as his personal responsibility to evangalize me. Definitely ranks with one of my less enjoyable flight experiences. (My apologies to Jehovah’s Witnesses who do not evangalize their neighbors on planes.)</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for your good wishes for my daughter. I hope she enjoys it as much as you son obviously does, TSDad. She’s a little sad now, as she says she will miss her cat, her dog, and her boyfriend. So far it has not occurred to her to tell us she’ll miss us, and I have the very lowering thought that it is because she won’t! But I guess it’s the cycle of life, right?</p>
<p>As long as people are relating stories - </p>
<p>A number of years ago (pre-TSA) I flew back to the US from Venezuela. While there, I made a trip to Angel Falls in the jungle (very impressive area) and bought a handmade blowgun (naturally). I flew from Caracas to Miami with no problem but for the flight form Miami to San Diego, they wouldn’t let me bring the blowgun on-board even though I argued that it was just a hollow wooden tube. They had no sense of humor whatsoever and I had to check it. </p>
<p>I carried the actual darts on the plane though!!</p>
<p>Can someone explain to me why books and magazines pose a threat? I mean, really…! This is all so insane! There are countless areas of vulnerability in even the most restrictive society. As soon as every traveler is as trussed up as a christmas turkey, and not able to so much as blink without written clearance, the terrorist will move on to blowing up tunnels, or shopping malls. I’m feeling a bit discouraged and pessimistic as to our ability to keep the public safe, no matter who is in office, or how many restrictions are placed on our personal freedoms.</p>
<p>IMHO, as politically incorrect as it may sound, the only way to assure our safety is to control who enters the country.</p>
<p>Controlling who enters the country would be extremely difficult, though—especially given the incendiary political implications of forbidding entrance to people based on religious or ethnic affiliation. And we have not even begun to address the porosity of our borders. It appears to be fairly easy for persons of ill intent (or benign, for that matter) to enter the country via Mexico or Canada. And given the geographic breadth of both borders, it would be extremely difficult and costly to secure them. Once they slip into the country, it may be nearly impossible to identify and locate them. They can meld into any number of religious and ethnic communities of like affiliation, and lie low, waiting for orders to act. Great Britain certainly can attest to this. We can’t return to the shameful practice of denying people their constitutional rights and placing them in internment camps, the way we did the Japanese during WWII. There are no easy answers to this problem.</p>