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Entry tags:
Security related stuff
I had a miserable trip home, once I left the hotel in D.C.
Weather delayed my flight, which meant I missed my connection, and opted for the train from L.A. to SLO.
While I was at Dulles I asked if I could deputize someone to pick up my luggage (which was waiting at the airport in SLO, since it was already on the plane). I was told this wasn't allowed, since I'd need to show ID.
But it got me thinking. If I took a bump, and had a bomb in my bag, the bag would go on the plane, and I wouldn't.
To make things more amusing, when I told Maia I wanted to go get my bag, she said we could drive to the airport, but the bag was home already, since the had called her, and told her she could come and get it. This is amusing, because they called her on the landline, which wasn't on the bag, so they used a reverse directory to get it from my address; esp. because the landline isn't in my name.
Phone rings
Maia: Hello
Agent: Does Terry Karney live at this address?
Maia: Yes
Agent: Would you like to come and pick up his luggage?
Maia: Ok, do you want to know who I am?
Agent: No, we trust you.
So, anyone willing to answer a phone and say I live there can come and get my luggage.
On a different note, I pay the $15 extra to get a business class seat on the train. I do this because I want a table to spread the computer on (the snack/coffee/free wine is nice, but not worth the extra money. If I wanted them I could pay less for them in the Cafe).
No more. Because of the Londong Bombings they no longer have double-decker cars on the line (I don't know for any line other than the Pacific Surfliner). This also means the luggage racks at the ends of the cars, and the checked luggage underneath no longer exist. Maia says she heard a woman (with a large bag) told she had to sit with it so that, "if it blows up, you go with it."
Mind you, blowing a large hole in the bottom of a train one happens to be sitting in is likely to cause enough damage to make one's survivial problematic.
More to the point, nothing, and I mean nothing, stops me from walking away from it. I have spent entire trips in the Cafe car, my bag left at my seat.
I could, if I wanted, climb off the train. With a small bit of planning I could even look as though I'd taken my luggage with me (just tuck one in an outside pouch, drop my knapsack, with books and computer into it, and add some inflated ziplocks for bulk).
So, for the appearance of making me more safe, they have reduced the amount of money I'm willing to pay to ride the train (and I like the train).
I can only hope this is a temporary idiocy.
Weather delayed my flight, which meant I missed my connection, and opted for the train from L.A. to SLO.
While I was at Dulles I asked if I could deputize someone to pick up my luggage (which was waiting at the airport in SLO, since it was already on the plane). I was told this wasn't allowed, since I'd need to show ID.
But it got me thinking. If I took a bump, and had a bomb in my bag, the bag would go on the plane, and I wouldn't.
To make things more amusing, when I told Maia I wanted to go get my bag, she said we could drive to the airport, but the bag was home already, since the had called her, and told her she could come and get it. This is amusing, because they called her on the landline, which wasn't on the bag, so they used a reverse directory to get it from my address; esp. because the landline isn't in my name.
Phone rings
Maia: Hello
Agent: Does Terry Karney live at this address?
Maia: Yes
Agent: Would you like to come and pick up his luggage?
Maia: Ok, do you want to know who I am?
Agent: No, we trust you.
So, anyone willing to answer a phone and say I live there can come and get my luggage.
On a different note, I pay the $15 extra to get a business class seat on the train. I do this because I want a table to spread the computer on (the snack/coffee/free wine is nice, but not worth the extra money. If I wanted them I could pay less for them in the Cafe).
No more. Because of the Londong Bombings they no longer have double-decker cars on the line (I don't know for any line other than the Pacific Surfliner). This also means the luggage racks at the ends of the cars, and the checked luggage underneath no longer exist. Maia says she heard a woman (with a large bag) told she had to sit with it so that, "if it blows up, you go with it."
Mind you, blowing a large hole in the bottom of a train one happens to be sitting in is likely to cause enough damage to make one's survivial problematic.
More to the point, nothing, and I mean nothing, stops me from walking away from it. I have spent entire trips in the Cafe car, my bag left at my seat.
I could, if I wanted, climb off the train. With a small bit of planning I could even look as though I'd taken my luggage with me (just tuck one in an outside pouch, drop my knapsack, with books and computer into it, and add some inflated ziplocks for bulk).
So, for the appearance of making me more safe, they have reduced the amount of money I'm willing to pay to ride the train (and I like the train).
I can only hope this is a temporary idiocy.
no subject
If I knew the schedule for some of those trains, it would be trivial to damage the tracks enough to make them fail.
Sometime (if you want to have waking nightmares) I can tell you some of the things we've thought up in combatting terrorism classes. Things like chemical attacks on Las Vegas. Stuff that would be a done deal, and established before anyone figured out the cause, much less started to react.
And all done over the counter,with no real paper trail (or at least falsifiable) evidence.
TK
no subject
Nightmares? TK, at least once a week, as I drive to work, crossing the Cumberland River on my way, I think: There are three interstate highways passing through Nashville, and a major railroad (CSX). Only one interstate route does not require you to cross the river (I-40 E-W/W-E), and only one rail route (South to East). How much would it mess up transportation to remove not just the interstate and railway bridges, but the local route bridges as well? Only one of them was built to earthquake standards; not all have been well-maintained. Dropping a bridge is not an exercise for amateurs, but it's a fairly well-documented procedure for military engineers, and I'm sure Al-Quaeida could find someone with hands-on experience, if they wanted to. You wouldn't even have to aim for casualties--removing the bridges in off-peak hours would still have a calamitous effect on the city, and a bad one on nationwide transportation. Do I think this is a novel idea? No. Do I think we have adequate security for bridges in major river cities, like Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and so on? No. I suspect it's not flashy enough for our friends at DHS.
no subject
Doing it wrong would make a hassle, but not casualties, and so isn't really a good target.
Doing it right would take time, and is likely to get someone caught.
Dams, on the other hand, aren't that hard to blow; though you'll forgive me for not going into particulars.
TK
no subject
As for bridges, it would depend on whether the results of no more than severe damage, rather than outright collapse, were seen as worth the effort. Considering the amount of truck traffic we have through here on a daily basis, losing the ability to cross the river for even several days would be bad for the trucking companies, and whoever was depending on them. The nearest brdiges outside of Nashville would involve detours through small towns that aren't ready to handle the flow of truck traffic. Going after the railroad bridges on the Mississippi would amount to severe economic warfare; for which reason I hope that the railroads, at least, have had the sense to set up some good security systems at those locations. Luckily, Osama's children have so far shown a preference for horror rather than economic warfare.
no subject
The scary thing about dams, is we build them in series. Take out an upstream dam and the whole thing can unzip.
TK