Heck, I was randomly searched last month on my flight from PA to Fl. They searched me, my stuff and apparently my checked bag. In fact, I know that's a fact, because they busted open my triple-wrapped bottle of Chinese baijiu, managed to slice open the packaging and the bottle itself--left a leaking bottle of alcohol in my bag to soak my stuff, and to top it off, forgot their boxcutters in my bag. At least the broken bottle of baijiu came nicely wrapped in a "INSPECTED BY TSA" wrapper.
Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats
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GasBandit
Staff member
The Airport security kabuki theater* has pretty much dissuaded me from flying whenever it's possible to avoid, over the last decade or so.
*as in, it's a lot of drama, showmanship, and inconvenience with no actual security benefit - the TSA has never caught a single would-be terrorist before they were on the plane. Not a single one, ever, since their inception.
*as in, it's a lot of drama, showmanship, and inconvenience with no actual security benefit - the TSA has never caught a single would-be terrorist before they were on the plane. Not a single one, ever, since their inception.
And, of course, their excuse is that the only reason there hasn't been another attack is because they have people checking so no one does it anymore. What bullshit.
If the government was truly serious about security then they would mimic such agencies, but I don't know if I want the TSA futzing with my car while holding a machine gun.
I remember reading an article written by an Israeli security officer who basically said that if you just want to kill lots of people, bring a bomb to the airport and get in a massive crowd of people waiting for security.
GasBandit
Staff member
I've often remarked exactly that, going back over a dozen years. A nailbomb in a coffee can in a backpack in the big line at the terminal security area would be one of the most effective small-scale terror attacks we've ever had. You don't need to be on a plane any more, the Boston Marathon bombing illustrated that starkly.
The Pope can't and won't be searched because he's a friendly Head of State; both his person and his belongings are diplomatically immune.
That aside; as a security official, I can attest that, for the Brussels airport at least, random searches are based on two things:
a) an automated RNG picking one out of seven travelers
b) personally-chosen based on "suspicious behavior or demeanor"(, aka "being brown, black or mocha.".)
Anyone with half a brain knows all those checks are useless. Allowing only 100ml bottles, but allowing a total of a liter is absolutely 100% as effective as allowing a 1 liter bottle. There's literally no way to prevent someone from bringing through an empty bag or bottle, and just pour those 10x 100ml in to mix them all together. Besides, about 20ml of a high quality liquid explosive is enough to blow a plane out of the sky.
That aside; as a security official, I can attest that, for the Brussels airport at least, random searches are based on two things:
a) an automated RNG picking one out of seven travelers
b) personally-chosen based on "suspicious behavior or demeanor"(, aka "being brown, black or mocha.".)
Anyone with half a brain knows all those checks are useless. Allowing only 100ml bottles, but allowing a total of a liter is absolutely 100% as effective as allowing a 1 liter bottle. There's literally no way to prevent someone from bringing through an empty bag or bottle, and just pour those 10x 100ml in to mix them all together. Besides, about 20ml of a high quality liquid explosive is enough to blow a plane out of the sky.
What have they got against Prosthetics?
Japan's Diet is trying to eliminate social sciences and culture topics from top universities, turn them into STEM-only institutions.
So... yeah. This is almost assuredly a political move by the Abe conservatives to undermine the mostly leftist institutions that have been churning out peaceniks for generations. They've been pushing really hard to undue Japan's anti-war constitution in order to have a military again (a move NO ONE in the region wants because the Japan military usually does horrible shit) and have been re-writting textbooks to remove Japanese war time atrocities for just as long. They know they can't get the military force they want for tangling with China over resources as long as they have to deal with the mostly leftist views of the public.
Ultimately though, this is going to WRECK their economy... economic theorists, psyche majors, business majors... these are the people who drive the market at a fundamental level. Without them, Japan's going to fall harder into recession.
So... yeah. This is almost assuredly a political move by the Abe conservatives to undermine the mostly leftist institutions that have been churning out peaceniks for generations. They've been pushing really hard to undue Japan's anti-war constitution in order to have a military again (a move NO ONE in the region wants because the Japan military usually does horrible shit) and have been re-writting textbooks to remove Japanese war time atrocities for just as long. They know they can't get the military force they want for tangling with China over resources as long as they have to deal with the mostly leftist views of the public.
Ultimately though, this is going to WRECK their economy... economic theorists, psyche majors, business majors... these are the people who drive the market at a fundamental level. Without them, Japan's going to fall harder into recession.
Forget about the economy, what's going to happen to a populace that gets denied the opportunity to explore Kurosawa? Or Hokusai?
--Patrick
The same thing that happened before: it becomes the realm of the rich and powerful, who have access to the means to explore these things.
I was mainly suggesting that if they deprive themselves of art, culture, or any of the other remaining reasons to socialize, that they'll get even more insular and the birth rates will go down further.
--Patrick
Before long, their population will be at a tipping point.
That is when their sex-droids will revolt and overthrow them.
The rest of the world will initially be shocked, but will get over it when it becomes clear that the sex-droids are way less weird and inhuman than actual Japanese people.
Hell, even in the U.S. we've been wiping out much chance of learning Japan's war crimes, to the point that the weaboo generation is fanatically defensive of Japan and all that's occurred from there. I'd never heard of Nanjing until I was a senior in college taking a Modern Japan history course. The professor, a Japanese national, had the most severe and critical opinion about Japan that I'd heard from anyone, moreso than even WWII vets.
Japan's been in denial phase for a long time though. Like you said, this will do less damage to the awareness in their culture and more to their economy, which is often a fragile one anyway.
To be fair, we don't talk about the Rape of Nanjing outside of college because we really weren't involved with it. US History usually revolves around the US for obvious reasons and we barely touch on World War 2 as it is, which is why it doesn't come up until people can specialize. However, the reason we don't talk about Unit 731 is because our government gave those monsters immunity for their war crimes in exchange for their research and then helped them cover it up... the only reason why we know about it is because former members have spoken up about it since, which isn't PROOF in a court of law. The Russians are just as bad: they held tribunals for the ones they caught... and then based their own bioweapon programs on stuff they dug up in Manchuria.
In contrast to the US moon rocket program, which was in no way whatsoever base on Nazi rocket research. Oh, and Mengele's research sure as hell wasn't used to further our understanding of genetics or bleeding disorders!
Obviously I'm very much against the sorts of "research" (sometimes it really needs those quotation marks), but not using what was learned or gained only invalidates the suffering of the victims.
That said, there are still plenty of countries strongly in denial about plenty of atrocities committed in the past. I'm sure we'll be adding to that list soon, with plenty of evil deeds being done in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, and so on - and certainly not only by those named the "evil" side in the conflict, either. Doesn't excuse it, mind, I'm just saying that, sadly, the Japanese are hardly alone in this.
Maybe, but at the same time I think some of the reasons Japan sticks out are it's a former Axis power now allied to the western sphere, but in sharp contrast to Germany---and they've not only managed to severely piss off #2 economy and chief rival China, but also manage to piss off key democratic allies like South Korea. Japan just feeds these places all the ammunition they need to keep up the Japan hate. I mean, Abe made an "apology" in August on the anniversary of the end of the war, but had to have it carefully crafted by literally dozens of advisers and actually stopped short of an apology. Japan's history issues tend to make bigger waves in the political sphere and have more immediate consequences.
Just about everyone involved in the Nazi V2 program was doing it because they were the only game in town when it came to actually developing rockets. Even Wernher von Braun (the guy who designed the V2 and Saturn 5) said that "the rocket worked perfectly, except for landing on the wrong planet," when he heard of it's first successful test.
Mengele can go fuck himself though.
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Someone told me that during work today. He seemed to think the reasoning was that the Papal visit* + iPhone day would overshadow him in the news.
--Patrick
*I can't help but see this as "PayPal Visit" even though I'm the one who typed it in.
It's almost certainly because he wasn't willing to head another government shutdown during the Republican debates and was going to bend on Planned Parenthood, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Pope said something to him that made him feel... sinful. All I can say is he can stay in Washington because I don't want him fucking shit up around Ohio.
He's growing a mustache for the church.
Dave
Staff member
So the right is again deciding they want to shut down the government. Swell. Let's lock them all in a big fucking room until they get their shit down. Without pay. If we have to suffer, then they should have to suffer for not doing their fucking jobs. No wonder they all love Kim Davis so much. Not doing your job for a forced ideology is what they are best at. Hell, these people are even giving that dumb bitch awards for breaking the law and not doing her fucking job.
Both parties use them on a fairly regular basis for issues both social and political. It's one of the powers Congress essentially gave itself as another check and balance between itself and the executive branch, as well as between the house and senate. Given the powers the president has gathered for itself in executive order overreach (long before Obama - this is hardly a partisan power grab), the legislative branch too has ways to make sure they don't become irrelevant, and this is one of them.
It isn't "Not doing your job"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdown_in_the_United_States
It isn't "Not doing your job"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdown_in_the_United_States
I believe you think that, but I have serious doubts you would be happy if it did occur.[DOUBLEPOST=1443461037,1443460901][/DOUBLEPOST]
And it was bullshit when the Democrats did it too. Just because the dog shit on the kitchen floor last year doesn't mean we should just accept it when the cat does it.
GasBandit
Staff member
Oh, no, the rank and file only went along with Boehner and McConnell because they used committee assignments to bully people into toeing the GOP leadership line. But it's finally built the alienatation of the republican base to such a degree that the smaller fish are worried they can't win their elections because republican voters that previously were taken for granted have been staying home in droves, moreso with each election. Your right winger on the street saw Boehner and McConnell as being far to gullible/conciliatory, and having no backbone, and not even pretending to try to do what they were voted in to do. Too much "we don't have the votes so we're not even going to try" or "it doesn't matter if we pass this, Obama will veto it and we don't have enough to override the veto so we won't even call the vote." The core republican voters have almost completely lost faith in the party leadership.
It's another reason why Trump, Carson and Fiorina are polling so well thus far, and why Bush and other high ranking republican candidates/career politicians aren't. The only career politicians coming close to them are tea party insurgents.