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A fair and balanced compendium of spontaneous exclamations and excited utterances, with 22 entries on the front page. And, now, Home of the YATSASS™ Reports Yet Another True Story About Stupid Studies: • Breathing Bus Exhaust is Stressful • Depressed People May Take Drugs To Feel Better • Smart healthy people choose foods more wisely than stupid drunks • Stressed Out Moms Think Their Babies Are Annoying • People Are Groggy When They Wake Up • Airport Screeners Probably Can't Stop Spread of SARS & Flu • Study on Studies Yields Disappointment! • Lengthy Study with No Findings! A perfect YATSASS! • Making Fun Of Fat Kids Depresses Them • Drinking Highly Sugared Beverages Can Make You Fat! • Americans Prefer Safe & Effective Drugs to Unproven and Dangerous Ones • Study Shows Poor & Homeless Drink More Malt Liquor • Study on People in Studies Yields Predictable Answers, But Also Raises New Questions • Women Don't Like Getting Up to Feed the Newborn While Their Husbands Sleep Like Babies • Sperm Levels Drop With Frequent Ejaculation • People Who Don't Screw Around Get Less Clap • Swimming Can Cause Fluid Build-Up in Lungs • People Who Eat A Proper Diet are Healthier and Thinner • People who don't wet their pants feel better than people who do • Maybe Left Handed Winter Babies have More Brain Cancer, Maybe Not... • People who had nose jobs and people who didn't both like the same kind of noses • People pass more gas when they are active • Kids who spend too much time reading will get headaches • People who get drunk think others are more attractive than they do when they're sober In the old days, My thoughts were more coherent, and I could string together whole sequences of actual paragraphs! Those essays can be found here for those so interested.
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Sunday, October 19, 2003 Posted 6:00 PM
  Give them a break! In light of the discovery of box cutters, razor blades and other weapons stashed on several airliners, and the recent announcement that federal agents were able to carry such weapons on through screeners at Logan Airport in Boston, I feel compelled to comment on the apparent excellent security procedures I encountered at Logan Airport in Boston when I flew from Boston to Miami on American Airlines on Tuesday October 7, 2003 at 11:50AM. I carried a computer with accessories, and a large duffle bag to the screening gate. I was asked to remove the computer from the bag, to take off my shoes and belt, and all other metal, and to place them in baskets, which were then passed through the X-Ray machine. When I passed through the metal detector I set off an alarm, and was asked to step into an area where I was “looped” thoroughly from head to, literally, toes. The rivets in my jeans were determined to be the issue. Meanwhile, my duffle bag had been taken aside for inspection. A courteous agent, with my permission and in my presence, opened the bag, avoided several electronic devices, went immediately for my toiletries kit, opened it, deftly moved several items aside, and came up with a moustache trimming scissors which had escaped my own inspection when I was packing. The precision with which she entered the bag and found exactly what she was looking for in seconds – certainly faster than I could have produced the same item – was impressive, if not reassuring. This episode reinforced for me how difficult this inspection task must be, and how well, quickly and courteously it was done under the pressure of a torrent of incoming travelers which seemed as unending as the US Mail. It also reminded my of a truism shared with me by my Dad when I was but a kid, and which all of us should accept: “Locks keep honest people honest, and amateurs out.” Demanding 100% effectiveness from the airport screeners is simply not reasonable. While I hope that no weapons or terrorists will be on my flight – or any flight – we must all accept the fact that determined professionals will succeed from time to time. Rather than continually trying to devise an undefeatable mechanical and physical barrier, we must address this issue socially, economically, and politically. World leaders and the traveling public should take a cue from the RIAA and its doomed battle with music uploaders and downloaders. Only when we make these acts unnecessary or non-productive for the perpetrators, will we no longer suffer their consequences. © 2002-2008 Rob Falk, All Rights Reserved. All Wrongs Denied. Your mileage won't vary; it will be less. | Subscribe to Rants!
  
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