[extropy-chat] Security as Theatre

[Amara Graps]

From:
http://www.idlewords.com/2004/01/security_as_theater.htm

<begin quote>
"Unfortunately, our Homeland Security Bureau has become obsessed with
collecting as much information as it can, with little thought to how to
use it. It is ossifying into a bureaucracy that would make the
Austro-Hungarian Empire proud. And it's making many visitors' first
impression of America one of fear, incompetence, and a general
disrespect for human dignity. If irony hadn't been declared dead after
September 11, this might be one promising place to look for it."
<end quote>

and so true!

Visitors/residents traveling to EU are beginning to be tormented by
same Security Theatre, however. I was in Istanbul (wonderful city) a few
weeks ago, and upon my return to Rome, I experienced Alitalia's
inexperience with their own scanning machines. They had the devices
turned on high, which meant that every persons' shoes and ladies'
underwire bras needed to be examined, in addition to a general
cluelessness about how to interpret the pictures of the objects on their
screens. Many hand luggages at the end were simply opened and flipped
over onto the table, spilling the contents. If you want to make a
theatre performance to show the Bush Administration that you are doing
*something*, at least show some competence in your performance.

-- 

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Amara Graps, PhD          email: amara at amara.com
Computational Physics     vita:  ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers         URL:   http://www.amara.com/
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"That would be a good idea."
      -- Gandhi [when asked what he thought of western civilisation]