Boxers or Briefs?

In 2001, a British citizen named Richard Reid  was on an American Airlines flight from Paris and was spotted by an alert flight attendant when he tried a light a fuse protruding from the heel of his shoe. Richard was also known as the "Shoe Bomber" and thankfully his only legacy was the TSA requirement for passengers to remove their shoes before proceeding through an airport checkpoint. There were the usual jokes speculating what the security rules would be if Mr. Reid's chemicals were hidden somewhere else.

I think that with the events last week surrounding the attempt to down a Delta 767 on approach to Detroit, the jokes are suddenly not funny anymore. Apparently the 23 year-old young man had some materials hidden down his skivvies that could be activated by a shot of catalyst from a syringe he was allowed to carry on his person for "medical reasons". The attempt failed and U.S. dodged another malicious bullet aimed at innocent travelers by yet another religious fanatic.

What is amazing is that this guy was on an intelligence list but was docile enough not to graduate to the "No-Fly" list. Expect those graduation requirements to be relaxed. Also, the perp allegedly purchased a one-way ticket with cash and had no checked luggage...on an international flight no less. This was a huge red flag even back in the '60s when Braniff 707's were being forced to Havana! Those seem like quaint times now. Some balls were dropped!

So what does this mean to the travelling public? New security procedures include: no more blankets or pillows, all passengers must remain seated during the last hour of flight with nothing in their lap, boarding gate searches, no more in-flight internet, phones or GPS location maps, a ban on the crew pointing out interesting landmarks while in flight over U.S. airspace and probably many more things that are not for the public view. All of these are nice, public gestures, but will they make a difference?

Years ago, I enjoyed air travel. Now it is like checking into Alcatraz Prison. I dread it even though I am part of the industry, I get no breaks because of that, I have to follow the rules just like anyone else. The rules will get stricter too as good-guy technology chases bad-guy technology. Take a look at the image below from one the new backscatter X-ray machines now being used at some airports. This example is much less graphic than can be found on the net, she must be wearing lead panties.

Anyway, this is where things are going. This is sad to me because I am a "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." kind of guy.  Thanks Ben Franklin, I could not have said it better myself!!