On Sun, 29 Dec 2013 04:48:57 -0500, Warp wrote:

> Doctor John <j.g### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>> Still a little bit of training and better selection (not in that order)
>> wouldn't go amiss.
> 
> Or how about doing what every other western country is doing, and not
> being such a police state?
> 
> I know that public transportation in the US (other than air traffic)
> generally sucks, but the way that Americans could do something about the
> TSA is to vote with their feet, so-to-speak. The bus or the train might
> take a longer time, but at least you are not treated like a potential
> criminal and possibly subjected to humiliation and agression.
> It might even be cheaper.

You forget that *most* Americans are generally happy with the state of 
things, or at least aren't angry enough to do anything about it.  Many 
feel powerless to effect any change, so why bother?

But again, to call the US a "police state" is really like calling us a 
"socialist state" because we now have affordable health care.  It's 
hyperbole at the best.

I've been in US airports (recently), and I've been in European airports.  
Trust me, security here is not so different compared to some of the 
European airports.  I haven't seen cops inside our terminals carrying 
fully automatic weapons, as I did in Germany and Russia in the late 80's, 
or in the UK (OK, in the UK I don't know if they're *fully* automatic, 
but they weren't just pistols) in the early 2000's.

We have security theater.  It's an inconvenience to many, and there are a 
few high-profile abuses that make the news, but the airports in Europe 
have more actual security than we do at most of ours, and a lot of it is 
much more visible armaments.

> Imagine almost empty airports and airplanes... I'm pretty sure things
> would change quite rapidly when airlines start going bankrupt one after
> another...

That's actually been going on for years - only Southwest (and some of the 
smaller carriers) actually turn a profit.

Jim

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