Still Not Flying This Thanksgiving

When the TSA aggrandized the terrorist threats to airport security, I rolled by eyes at the obvious attempt to manipulate public opinion.  But when the TSA inflated security measures from the sane to the ridiculous to meet the imaginary threats, I stopped flying.

Why?  Because I believe that anyone willing to give up his rights and liberties for the illusion of safety deserves neither.  Because I believe if enough people stop flying, the airlines will be effected.  No, I don't think that one person not flying will make a difference to them, but it would be rather hypocritical of me to suggest people stop flying when I still used the service.  I stopped flying because it was the one action available to me that allowed me to do whatever I could to protest the blatant violation of the 4th Amendment.

Earlier this year, the TSA stopped using the nude body scanners, due to public pressure.  But security still involves invasive pat-downs and less obnoxious body scanners.  Still, I thought about lifting my self-imposed no flying restrictions.  That is, until I read about Jonathan Corbett.

This man from Michigan sued the TSA over their ridiculous security procedures, with the first filing in 2010.  Earlier this year, someone in the court system published what was supposed to be a redacted version of a briefing.  In simple English, that means someone published text that the TSA did not want made public.

I downloaded the briefing (I love the power of the Internet!) and read through it.  Do you know what the TSA doesn't want made public?  Let me quote it for you.

No terrorist has attempted to take an explosive on board an airplane through a
U.S. airport since approximately 35 years ago. Exhibit K, "American Airlines Flight
444," Wikipedia (Last Updated Sept. 28, 2013). All of the explosives brought on board
airplanes discussed in the administrative record happened outside of the United States.
And, even on the global scale, including Middle Eastern countries with extreme civil
unrest and a high prevalence of improvised explosive devices in use on the ground,
explosives on airplanes are extremely rare. For example, the TSA analyzed hijackings
in 2007, and found 7 hijacking incidents across the globe, but none of them involved
actual explosive devices. Admin. Rec., Vol 3, Doe. 136, p. 2196 (U//FOUO).

The hijackers on 9/li had no explosives; only knives. Notwithstanding, the
government concedes that it would be difficult to have a repeat of 9/11 due to hardened cockpit doors and the willingness of passengers to challenge hijackers rather than assume a hijacking merely means a diversion to Cuba. Admin. Rec., Vol 3, Doc. 136,
p. 2197 (U//FOUO). The government also credits updated pre-flight security for that
difficulty assessment, but the assessment was written before the en masse deployment
of body scanners and before the update to the pat-down procedure. Id. Further, the
government admits that there have been no attempted domestic hijackings of any kind
in the 12 years since 9/11. Id.

This begs the question, then, of what evidence the government possesses to
rationalize that we should be so afraid of non-metallic explosives being brought aboard
flights departing from the U.S. that we must sacrifice our civil liberties. The answer:
there is none. "As of mid-201 1, terrorist threat groups present in the Homeland are not
known to be actively plotting against civil aviation targets or airports; instead, their
focus is on fundraising, recruiting, and propagandizing." Admin. Rec., Vol 3, Doc.
137, p. 2219 (U//FOUO).

Even if TSA actually did deter terrorists from passing through TSA checkpoints
with explosives with its nude body scanners and invasive pat-downs, there is no
evidence that this prevents terror rather than merely shifting the target to buses, trains,
stadiums, or even the checkpoint of the terminal. In 2011, terrorists indeed detonated
an explosive device at an airport checkpoint at Domodevo Airport in Moscow, Russia.
Exhibit L, "Domodedovo International Airport bombing," Wikipedia (Last Updated
Aug. 3 1St, 2013). By using procedures that take significantly longer than the prior metal
detector search (a few seconds per passenger), the nude body scanners (22 seconds per
passenger) and pat-downs (about 3 minutes per passenger) extend the security lines,
creating a terrorist's dream target.

To sum it up, the government knows that there is negligible chance for a terrorist attacks, that there is an even smaller chance that someone would use explosives, and that the previously used walk-through metal detectors were in fact good enough.

This is why I am still not flying.

The Braves Want to Move Where???

Last week, I read an announcement that the Atlanta Braves are building a new stadium in Cobb County. The verbiage on the announcement strongly implied that the new stadium will bring in an abundance of tax money, improve the economic conditions in the immediate area, create several high-paying jobs, and act like a cash cow for the county.  All Cobb County needs to do is contribute $300 million towards the construction costs.

I am not a baseball fan.  I don't have anything against the sport, I just don't find it interesting.  So I felt neutral on the idea of a new Braves stadium in Cobb.  But the idea of spending $300 million on a private investment?  I am not neutral on that.

My first thought on the situation was if a sports stadium is such a fantastic money maker, then why would private business want to share in the profit?  I know some stadium have done nothing but drain money from the surrounding area.  For example, Kings County in Washington is still paying on the King Dome, a structure that was demolished in 2000, but the bonds will not be paid off until 2016.  On the other side of the country, New Jersey won't finish paying off the bonds on the now demolished Meadowlands Sports Complex until 2025.

Turning to the Internet, I searched for data on the financial ramifications of a stadium on the local economy.  I found several studies that looked at several cities over various time spans.  But all the studies concluded the same thing.  In a best case scenario, a stadium manages to break even over the decades, with no discernible increase on the economic growth in the surrounding community.  Yet even in the best case scenario, a sports stadium consumes funds that could be used for more profitable opportunities.

In the worst case scenario, the stadium slows down economic growth in the surrounding community, sucks up tax dollars, and leaves the citizens with an enormous bill that requires years to pay off.

All in all, I hope the county commissioners vote either no to the stadium, or put up a public referendum.  Because I don't want to leave a $226 million legacy that future generations must pay. ($226 million was the amount remaining on the Meadowlands Sport Center in 2010.)

To Quote xkcd...

I'm Back with A Little Bit of Poetry

I've been spending the vast majority of my time these past few months editing my novel.  I must admit, I never knew that editing was such a time-intensive activity.  But I'm about three-quarters of the way through now.  Who knows, maybe I'll finish in time for Christmas?

As part of the editing, I need a new poem.  I ended up writing two poems.  Can you guess which one I used?

Poem #1:  I wished upon a star 
that blazed across the sky
I wished upon a star 
that brightened on nigh
I wished upon a star
as it fell from up high
and my wish for love and happiness
came true by and by

Poem #2:  I spent my life in mourning
                   for the life of which I dreamed
                   I wasted minutes, hours, days
                   on a sadness of the seemed
                   I used my time as a prisoner
                   chains of silence screamed
                   But now I know I chose to mourn
                   Instead of living as I deemed.

Are We Headed Into World War Three?

For the past few years, news of Syria and its civil war flitted in and out of the headlines.  Sometimes I read the news; sometimes I felt too depressed about the situation to read.  But this past month, the conflict went from an internal, civil war in one country to a potential global war, with Russia lining up on one side and the US lining up on the other.

As a fan of history, the situation reminds me of Europe before World War I.  We have groups of allies on separate sides of a conflict, each waiting for the other side to make a move.  Only now, the use of chemical weapons takes the role of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.  

Which makes me wonder - is this it?  Will we blindly ignore history and go in, guns blazing?  Russia already sent two warships to the Mediterranean Sea and Iran stated its intention to help out should the United States or the UN choose to retaliate against Syria with military force.

And I don't think we want the American military in Syria anyway.  Between 100,000 and 600,000 Iraqi civilians died when we invaded Iraq.  Almost 5,000 soldiers died in Iraqi, and over 3,000 soldiers died in Afghanistan - that means over 8,000 American soldier have died in that past 9 years.  This number doesn't include the wounded soldiers (over 50,000), the soldiers who snapped and committed suicide (hundreds every year), or the soldiers who now live with PTSD and will continue to live with it.  Forever.

Just this month, Army Staff Sergeant Bales got a life sentence for killing 16 Afghan civilians in March 2012.  I've heard people describe the man as a "cold-blooded killer", but his actions scream of a man who was pushed too much and snapped.  According to his testimony, Bales went out, killed people, ran out of ammunition, came back to the base, and told someone what he was doing.  Sane people try to hide what they are doing, if they know that they are doing something wrong.  Insane people don't feel the need to hide their actions.  In some states, that is the legal difference between sanity and insanity.

Bales represents a no-win situation - the people who died in that Afghan village deserve justice.  But Bales was not sane when he went on the massacre.  Yet he needs to be held accountable for his actions.  But who will hold accountable the federal government, who sent this man on four tours of duty in a combat zone?   Because I guarantee he would not have killed people if they didn't send him on the fourth tour of duty.

This brings me back to Syria.  How many lives are we willing to sacrifice, to condemn to death, to prove a political point?  How many lives are we willing to permanently handicap or destroy? Lives and deaths, mind you, of Americans, Syrians, Russians, Iranians, and any other country that gets involved.  

School's Back! A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Start of School

As summer rolls to an end, the call of the school bell begins to ring out all over the nation.  Here in Cobb County, students started school last week.  Cherokee County started August 1st, and I know of places elsewhere that start in the next week or two.

And as kids board their school bus, parents begin to panic.  Will my child do well this year?  Will he make friends?  Will she like her teacher? What if the teacher can't teach my child?  What if there is a bully in the classroom?  What if a gunman bursts into the school building and hunts my child down like a rabbit?  What if aliens blow up the school as a sign of their hostility?

There is a commonality among all but one of these questions:  there isn't a thing you can do to prevent the situation.  You cannot hover over your child's shoulder during the school day providing personal tutoring or helping him/her make friends and learn how to like the teacher.  Nor can you screen every person your child will meet during the school day and magically remove anyone who seems like a bully.  As for gunmen and aliens?  Chances are equal for both to show up, and in either case you cannot stop them.

The one situation you have direct control over is your child's teacher.  If your child has the misfortune to actually get a teacher that doesn't work out due to a personality conflict - a rarity in my experience - you can get your child switched to a different classroom.

Everything else is out of your direct control.  But indirectly?

You are the most important influence in your child's life at the moment, from elementary school to somewhere in middle school.  Then, you get downgraded to merely an important influence.  In any case, you can help your child not by trying to pave the road in front of him, but by teaching him how to drive.

I like this particular metaphor because it works on more than one level.  Learning to drive inside the lines equals learning how to act in a social setting.  It is inappropriate for anyone to stuff toilet paper rolls down a toilet and then flood the bathroom by repeatedly flushing the toilet.  It's also inappropriate to run around school naked or half dressed.  These are outside the line behaviors, and the vast majority of kids know this before kindergarten because their parents taught them how to drive inside the lines.

Potholes represent both choices your child has to make and things that happen outside her control.  Your child needs to learn how to make her own decisions and make her own mistakes - the earlier the better because the older your child gets the more severe the consequences.  As parents, we need to start letting kids make their own decisions at an early age without using our power to override their choose.  For example, let your kindergartner pick out which clothes to wear to school. As long as the outfit follows the school dress code, keep your mouth shut about what you think would be a better choice.  I would go so far as to discuss the dress code before the start of school, and then stay out of the way.  If your child wears shorts in the winter and freezes at recess, so be it.  No one died from getting a little cold.  If you live in a place with real snow and cold temperatures (we have neither here), maybe you discuss sending along long pants for outdoor time.  But let your child learn. Sometimes, the best way to learn is to make a mistake and then live with the consequences.

 As for bumpy roads, they represent life events that happen outside you or your child's control, events that they will have to deal with.  See another person getting bullied?  Find a wallet on the ground?  Get a flat tire on the way to school? Witness someone having a temper tantrum?  How have you taught your child to handle these situations?  And I don't necessarily mean what conversations you have with your child (though conversations are valuable).  Parents are the first and foremost role models for children; they will do as we do regardless of what we say.  

I guess this boils down to Uncle Ben's saying:  With great power comes great responsibility.  And as a parent, you have great power in your child's life.  If you panic at the thought of school, your child will panic at the thought of school.  If you belittle the teacher where your child can hear you (and remember, children have BIG ears), then your child will respect the teacher less.  And if you worry about your child passes a grade, your child will question his/her ability to pass the grade.

So use your power wisely.  Everything will work out in the end.  Really and truly.

I'm Baaaack!!!!

Hello!  I just returned from two weeks in Florida, the Sunshine State.  It rained every afternoon for 4 - 5 hours.  As for escaping the heat at home, Georgia has had one of its mildest Julys in history - only 2 days above 90F, where as the average is 15 days.  Florida got over 90 regularly.

Sigh.

The family and I did have a fantastic time just hanging out, playing Flux and Chez Cthulhu at the table and Excite Trucks on the Wii.  The kids went swimming every day, usually coming home when the pool got closed because of rain.  (Oh, the irony of that!)  

I ignored news for the past two weeks, ignored emails (I had over 700 new emails in my inbox!), and generally ignored everything online.  Now, my head is exploding with information overload!  George Zimmerman was found not guilty??!??  Anthony Weiner pops up again? (Pun intended)  A new royal baby boy? Plus storms, heat waves, explosions, unrest in Egypt, and general insanity.

As I attempt to get my head back in the game, I leave you with a fun video - Matt Mulholland covering "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk using a looper.