Lots of news stories today!!
First up: Rand Paul denied.
According to CNN (and a lot of other places), Sen. Rand Paul was turned away from a Nashville airport checkpoint. The body scanner went off, he refused a pat-down, and requested to be allowed to go through the scanner again. That’s not TSA policy, so they didn’t allow him to go any further and he was escorted out of the security area by local law enforcement. He says he was detained, the TSA denies it. Obviously I’m no huge fan of the TSA, and consistency is one of their huge issues. At the same time, it’s a bit gratifying to see them treat a famous person the same way they would treat anyone else. Of course, it may not be the best idea to piss off a senator during a voting session….
Readers, what are your thoughts?
Next: Southwest is going “eco-friendly”. Or is it?
Southwest is going to be rehabbing the cabins of its massive fleet of 737s, installing lighter seats covered in “fabric more durable than leather,” reducing seat recline, and using recyclable carpet installed in squares. These changes will make the aircraft much lighter, which will save $10 million in fuel costs annually. Know what it will also allow them to do? Add an extra row of seats. Which of course means less legroom and personal space. Seriously, the only thing that is eco-friendly here is the carpet. Everything else is just a way to cram even more passengers onto a plane, reducing the comfort of everyone involved. Sigh. Southwest, I am not a fan of this plan.
Finally: Priceline killing off William Shatner’s “Negotiator” character
I don’t know how I feel about this. I love William Shatner and have enjoyed his Negotiator character, but he has been around for a while…..what do you think?
I don’t see what’s so gratifying about the TSA patting down or calling law enforcement on anybody.
Not Shatner! Who could possibly replace him??
Sen. Rand Paul has been against the TSA since it’s inception. This wasn’t about a “famous” person trying to be above the law, but rather someone who’s trying to point out that people are too quick to give up their freedoms for some faux sense of security.
Ben Franklin once said, “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
TSA should be privatized. We should also take a proactive approach, not a reactive approach. When someone found out you could make bombs out of a specific liquid mix, we added liquids restrictions. When someone put a bomb in their shoe, we started telling people to take their shoes off.
What can I say about Southwest other than… I’ll miss AirTran.