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Pastimes : Travel Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skywatcher who wrote (964)	11/18/2010 8:50:36 PM
From: TimF	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1521

Dear Airline, I'm Leaving You Nov 18 2010, 6:34 AM ET 350 But don't feel too bad. It's not you, it's me. Or rather, it's the TSA. I'm not going to lie. It's come between us. If I have to let someone else see me naked in order to be with you--well, I'm just not that kinky. And deep down, I don't think you are either. I think it's the TSA making you act like this. Frankly, you haven't been the same since you started running around together. But I can't put all the blame on them. I think you went along because you thought I had to have you--that I couldn't live without you. That no matter what you did, I'd stay. And it's true, you had a pretty strong hold on me. Took away the food, and I still loved you--who wanted to eat a terrible, fattening meal anyway? Narrowed the distance between the seats, and still I stayed, using my airline miles to upgrade to first class. Charge me for baggage? I'm an economics writer--I love unbundled products. So I can see where you got the idea that I'd stick by you no matter what. But the kinky stuff is just a bridge too far. I'm not saying I'll never see you again: we can still meet up for a drink, or even a quick weekend trip to California. But our days are a regular item are through. I'm writing this letter because one of my commenters pointed out that it was only fair to let you know what was going on: Especially if you've got frequent flyer status, don't forget to mail the airline and tell then you're flying amtrak...optouting is fine, but it's really only the airlines that have the clout to push back. It wouldn't be fair to just drop out of sight and not return your calls without letting you know why I was leaving. As it happens, I'm a frequent flier on American, and a pretty reliable customer of Delta and United. Or rather I was. Because like I said, I'm leaving you. In fact, I've already left. My cousin's wedding in Buffalo in October? Drove eight hours each way. Going to visit Dad in Boston over Christmas? We're taking a slow train from DC rather than subject ourselves to the increasing indignity of flying. If it's under 500 miles, I'll do anything rather than hop on a plane. And if it's over 500 miles, it had better be way over . . . or I'd better be carrying a cooler with a still-beating heart in it. I suspect there are a lot of people out there who feel the same way, and may not have blogs, so I'm urging them to put their Dear John letters right in the comments. I'll forward any Dear Airline letters that are left in the comments to the relevant airlines. Uncle Sam may not care about the minority of voters who fly often. But I'm kinda hoping that you guys do. Maybe the flame of our old romance isn't entirely out. I don't want to raise false expectations--but you might win us back. If you play your cards right. If not--well, here's looking at you, kid. From the window of the BoltBus as it cruises past Newark airport. Love, Megan theatlantic.com

To: Skywatcher who wrote (964)	11/19/2010 12:21:27 PM
From: TimF	2 Recommendations Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 1521

Forget the 'porn machines' How Israelis secure airports By MICHAEL J. TOTTEN Air travelers in the United States are now given two options at the security gate -- be groin-groped by gloved Transportation Security Administration agents, or photographed "naked" in the back-scatter X-ray device that Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic calls "the porn machine." You can thank failed "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for this one. While armies tragically tend to fight the last war, the TSA looks for the item the most recent terrorist used. After 9/11, everything sharp -- even tweezers -- was banned. Ever since Richard Reid tried and failed to light his loafers on fire, security agents have forced us to take off our shoes. British authorities rounded up terrorists who planned to bring liquid explosives on board, and we've all been prohibited from carrying shampoo through the gate ever since. Terrorists have yet to use the same weapon twice, and the TSA isn't even looking for whatever they'll try to use next. I can think of all sorts of things a person could use to wreak havoc on a plane that aren't banned. Security officials should pay less attention to objects, and more attention to people. The Israelis do. They are, out of dreadful necessity, the world's foremost experts in counterterrorism. And they couldn't care less about what your grandmother brings on a plane. Instead, officials at Ben Gurion International Airport interview everyone in line before they're even allowed to check in. And Israeli officials profile. They don't profile racially, but they profile. Israeli Arabs breeze through rather quickly, but thanks to the dozens of dubious-looking stamps in my passport -- almost half are from Lebanon and Iraq -- I get pulled off to the side for more questioning every time. And I'm a white, nominally Christian American. If they pull you aside, you had better tell them the truth. They'll ask you so many wildly unpredictable questions so quickly, you couldn't possibly invent a fake story and keep it all straight. Don't even try. They're highly trained and experienced, and they catch everyone who tries to pull something over on them. Because I fit one of their profiles, it takes me 15 or 20 minutes longer to get through the first wave of security than it does for most people. The agents make up for it, though, by escorting me to the front of the line at the metal detector. They don't put anyone into a "porn machine." There's no point. Terrorists can't penetrate that deeply into the airport. The Israeli experience isn't pleasant, exactly, and there's a lot not to like about it. It can be exasperating for those of us who are interrogated more thoroughly. The system has its advantages, though, aside from the fact that no one looks or reaches into anyone's pants. Israelis don't use security theater to make passengers feel like they're safe. They use real security measures to ensure that travelers actually are safe. Even when suicide bombers exploded themselves almost daily in Israeli cities, not a single one managed to get through that airport. Michael J. Totten is an independent foreign correspondent. His next book is "The Road to Fatima Gate: The Beirut Spring, the Rise of Hezbollah and the Iranian War Against Israel." nypost.com pajamasmedia.com