Grounded
Grounded: Millionaire John Gilmore stays close to home while making a point about privacy
Summary
John Gilmore's splendid isolation began July 4, 2002, when, with defiance aforethought, he strolled to the Southwest Airlines counter at Oakland Airport and presented his ticket.
The gate agent asked for his ID.
Gilmore asked her why.
It is the law, she said.
Gilmore asked to see the law.
Nobody could produce a copy. To date, nobody has. The regulation that mandates ID at airports is "Sensitive Security Information." The law, as it turns out, is unavailable for inspection.
I don't fly much, but when I do, I'm typically the guy you see over on the Group W bench.
I'm not sure why. I was born in the United States, second generation Irish/German. I'm 6'3" tall, bald, beard and in my late 40's. I have a current US Passport. I'm typically traveling between major US cities on a round trip ticket purchased at least a week prior to travel.
Unless I thought about it when I got dressed that morning, my toes may be sticking out of my socks. My belt may be off, or loose. The TSA guy is sticking his hand into the waistband of my pants. Then, if I'm lucky, I get a pat-down. If the TSA person is short, its interesting because he has to reach over his head to pat down my chest or shoulders. All the while, my stuff is going through a special inspection.
Do I feel safer when I travel? Not really.
Do I believe that the TSA is effective? No. Any process that goes to the lowest bidder is inherently flawed. I believe the 'random' process for selecting travelers for more through security checks is useless. If the government and FAA really wanted to make travel more secure, they would give up this politically correct system and use analytical tools to select travelers that are truely security risks. In other words, profile travelers. Duh! They did it in the 70's, why not make the system useful.
From 1974 through 1979, I was stopped in every state between NJ and GA when I drove back and forth to college in Atlanta, GA. Why? Because I had long hair, a beard, drove beat up cars (Corvair and various VW's), out of state plates and was traveling at off hours.
Is this wrong? Not really. The only thing wrong was getting tickets (failure to dim lights on an interstate highway at 3AM...) for non-moving violations just to generate revenue.
Summary
John Gilmore's splendid isolation began July 4, 2002, when, with defiance aforethought, he strolled to the Southwest Airlines counter at Oakland Airport and presented his ticket.
The gate agent asked for his ID.
Gilmore asked her why.
It is the law, she said.
Gilmore asked to see the law.
Nobody could produce a copy. To date, nobody has. The regulation that mandates ID at airports is "Sensitive Security Information." The law, as it turns out, is unavailable for inspection.
I don't fly much, but when I do, I'm typically the guy you see over on the Group W bench.
I'm not sure why. I was born in the United States, second generation Irish/German. I'm 6'3" tall, bald, beard and in my late 40's. I have a current US Passport. I'm typically traveling between major US cities on a round trip ticket purchased at least a week prior to travel.
Unless I thought about it when I got dressed that morning, my toes may be sticking out of my socks. My belt may be off, or loose. The TSA guy is sticking his hand into the waistband of my pants. Then, if I'm lucky, I get a pat-down. If the TSA person is short, its interesting because he has to reach over his head to pat down my chest or shoulders. All the while, my stuff is going through a special inspection.
Do I feel safer when I travel? Not really.
Do I believe that the TSA is effective? No. Any process that goes to the lowest bidder is inherently flawed. I believe the 'random' process for selecting travelers for more through security checks is useless. If the government and FAA really wanted to make travel more secure, they would give up this politically correct system and use analytical tools to select travelers that are truely security risks. In other words, profile travelers. Duh! They did it in the 70's, why not make the system useful.
From 1974 through 1979, I was stopped in every state between NJ and GA when I drove back and forth to college in Atlanta, GA. Why? Because I had long hair, a beard, drove beat up cars (Corvair and various VW's), out of state plates and was traveling at off hours.
Is this wrong? Not really. The only thing wrong was getting tickets (failure to dim lights on an interstate highway at 3AM...) for non-moving violations just to generate revenue.
posted by Paul at 2/28/2005 08:32:00 AM
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