Back from China -- Death of Business Travel

I am safely back from China, though the logistics of my return flight were less than successfully executed. But I'm home. I'm off to Baltimore tomorrow.

As you no doubt know, additional travel restrictions have been imposed. I read that on flights from the U.K., laptop computers are not permitted in carry-on. Here in the United States, we are not permitted to carry any "liquid or gels of any type or form" on board. Unless one wishes to purchase all one's toiletries at their destination, that means all luggage is now checked.

Of course, how an explosive device made of liquid or gel is any safer in checked baggage as opposed to carry on is a mystery to me. Perhaps their concern is that someone could manually ignite a flammable liquid or gel, whereas in checked it would require a timer device or remote detonation device which presumably would be caught in security screening.

To that I offer you the following:

• On my trip to China I carried with me a Cisco VPN device and a small NetGear 10/100 Ethernet switch, along with a 25' coiled length of Ethernet cable. Nobody so much as asked about that stuff.
• At LAX my flight from there to Tucson was subject to what must have been an experimental screening process whereby every passenger's carry-on was searched. Tucson is a city of retirees and old people ... and the flight reflected this. Imagine the sight: 80 year old white women having their handbags searched for liquids and gels.
• One gentleman on the flight to Tucson had no carry-on baggage at all. Smart man. He was waved through with hardly a passing glance. I thought, "Is it not possible he has some liquid or gel substance hidden in his socks? Or somewhere on his person?" But of course body searches is a different realm from baggage searches, so it's not considered.
• While all this was going on, the flight at the next gate was not subject to such close scrutiny. There I witnessed two very nervous young men, of middle-eastern origin it appeared, traveling together, given hardly a second look as they boarded their flight. What made me think they were nervous? They tried to board the plane during "pre-boarding" ... and were turned away. They stepped back only two feet and continued to wait right up next to the boarding station, rather than stepping away 10 or 15 feet as any other person would do. They fidgeted.
  

The terrorists have won. Our deeply-entrenched sense of "inclusiveness" and "understanding" has provided the trojan horse in which the Islamic terrorists have deftly exploited. The answer is not to screen everyone, but to screen only those who pose the highest risk. But they are not. Instead, the authorities here are so afraid of charges of "profiling" that they focus instead rather heavily on middle-aged white men so they have "cover" to defend themselves against the charges. I know this from personal experience ... after 9/11 I was subject to a more-than-random frequency of supplementary searches. How much more than random? In the two months following 9/11 I flew perhaps 12 times. I was pulled aside all 12 times. I watched most minorities scoot by without any searching at all.

The answer is simple: Young men from middle-eastern extraction are the highest risk category and should be subject to extreme scrutiny. After that, other risk factors can be taken into account: young males (18 - 25), young men with beards (Muslim men generally do not shave), young men not traveling with women and children.

Note: I'm well aware that some terrorists have been women, and I'm well aware that in the sick, depraved mind of the Islamicism a child can be utilized as an instrument of death. The issue is focusing on the highest risk first, then as resources permit focus on the marginal risks.

If they simply clamp down more and more on what can be brought on board a plane, the terrorists will simply focus on what's left -- and anything can be made dangerous. I'm sure the Islamic Terrorists would love to see the various airlines go out of business as more and more people opt not to travel.

Other solutions to air travel are available. As air travel becomes more difficult, it becomes easier to justify those other solutions.