Could be worse. We could have been instructed to duct tape ourselved into our living rooms again.

That's the problem with woolly-brained policies: They're so silly on their face that the poor people who have to enforce them get all the brunt of frustration at the silliness. But there's nobody else to complain to about it!

Because I was soooooo going to hijack a plane with my 0.5" cuticle scissors, you know? There needs to be a policy representative standing around near the security line, just so that he can be ritually shouted at for his department's silliness.

(Possibly you could throw cuticle scissors and shampoo at him! Or would that be assault?)

Unca Sam was a little too eager...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. Army recruiter who signed up an autistic Portland teenager has been relieved of his recruiting duties and will be reassigned.

Nothing new, there, Cass. Last year, a recruiter in Ohio signed up a kid who had just walked out of a three-week stint in a psychiatric ward here in Ohio. Then he lied to the boy's parents, claiming he'd never spoken to the kid. The parents then called their congressional representative, who knew someone in the DOD. He called the recruiter who finally fessed up. Needless to say, they didn't push the kid to sign up.

This was one of the incidents leading up to a three day moratorium on recruiting last year.

Because I was soooooo going to hijack a plane with my 0.5" cuticle scissors, you know?

Well, *ita* could do it....

Could always go the El Al route:

At least six (formerly two) undercover agents accompany each international El Al flight, sitting amongst passengers whilst holstering firearms. All El Al pilots are former Israeli Air Force fighter pilots, and all El Al flight crew members are trained in hand to hand combat. In fact, most El Al employees have served in the Israeli army (since national service is compulsory in Israel).

El Al security procedures also require that all passengers be interviewed individually prior to boarding, allowing El Al staff to identify possible security threats. All passengers are classified on a basic 3 tier threat scale: Israelis and Jews are usually classified as the lowest threat, Westerners are usually classified as medium level threats, and Arabs (particularly males) are usually classified as high threat. In addition, all luggage must pass through a decompression chamber; this simulates pressures during flight which may be triggers for explosives [1]. El Al is the only airline in the world that passes all luggage through this special chamber.

The El Al fleet is also the only commercial airline fleet in the world to be equipped with anti-missile countermeasures.

As a result of the tight security, only one El Al plane has been successfully hijacked, in 1968 (see below for details).

Because I was soooooo going to hijack a plane with my 0.5" cuticle scissors, you know?

I wonder if they just thought it was easier to ban all scissors instead of banning all but small scissors and then having to deal with what the cutoff point is and people complaining, "But I've been allowed to carry this particular scissors on a plane before," and whatnot....

I wonder if they just thought it was easier to ban all scissors instead of banning all but small scissors and then having to deal with what the cutoff point is and people complaining, "But I've been allowed to carry this particular scissors on a plane before," and whatnot....

That's probably it. They're trying to process a large amount of people in a short time to get them on a small metal tube. Not much time for arguments there, you know?

Because I was soooooo going to hijack a plane with my 0.5" cuticle scissors, you know?

Speaking of your boasts, I bought this book for you yesterday, Nutty.

Be sure to feature it prominently in living room when it arrives.

I bought this book for you yesterday, Nutty.

(1) I love the tagline on that book!

(2) I note that neither the lady nor the cheetah are kicking each other's ass.

I think Nutty's going to have a new LJ icon.

Hi! I'm posting from work, rather than from Chicago, because my flight (to the same con as Dana) was cancelled outright.

Israel only has one international airport, right?