WorldCons and Air Travel
Nov. 18th, 2010 10:25 amI have attended every US WorldCon since IguanaCon. However, if the TSA isn't reined in I will skip next year's despite already having an attending membership. I had enough trouble flying to the NASFiC this year (and Denvention two years ago). I have repeatedly been singled-out, most likely because I'm a male traveling alone with lots of camera gear and a computer. (People have actually been arrested in the US for this, so I guess I'm lucky.)
It's not just that the TSA's methodologies are flawed and intrusive. The worst part is that they have that "we're feds; you're nothing" attitude. Any complaints are dismissed out of hand, no matter from whom. In an interview on NPR recently, when the head of the TSA was told that world-class experts on the medical effects of radiation had warned against using the new scanners in peer-reviewed reports, he sniffed and said, approximately, "*I'm* not aware of them."
I wonder if _he_ goes through those scanners? Even airline pilots are protesting them.
What happened to the plan, several years ago, to have people pre-approved and given special cards which let them skip the worst of airport security?
It's not just that the TSA's methodologies are flawed and intrusive. The worst part is that they have that "we're feds; you're nothing" attitude. Any complaints are dismissed out of hand, no matter from whom. In an interview on NPR recently, when the head of the TSA was told that world-class experts on the medical effects of radiation had warned against using the new scanners in peer-reviewed reports, he sniffed and said, approximately, "*I'm* not aware of them."
I wonder if _he_ goes through those scanners? Even airline pilots are protesting them.
What happened to the plan, several years ago, to have people pre-approved and given special cards which let them skip the worst of airport security?