Journal AB3A's Journal: The War Against Technocrats 2
Is it just me, or are there others who see this pattern of anti-technocracy in politics these days? Politicians seem to be extremely eager to restrict access to private aircraft, training for "dangerous" technologies such as cryptography, electronics, chemical and biological information, and so forth.
Take the so-called Transportation Security Administration: Why are we spending so much money harassing private pilots with ever changing navigational restrictions and intercepts by F-16 and Blackhawk helicopters? The only people they seem to catch are those who are so off course they shouldn't be flying, or those who don't bother reading NOTAMS, or those who are flying lawfully but are misidentified by jittery radar operators.
OK, maybe it would be worth the effort for the sake of image, except that anyone with a rental truck or even an SUV can carry more payload closer to a government building and do far more damage. Are we guarding the roads? How about that farmer who drove his tractor right in to downtown DC claiming to be loaded with ANFO?
The safety net for airliner traffic is not working. The airlines are going broke trying to defend against illicit nail clipper users while the barn door of opportunity for terrorism remains wide open in all sorts of places ranging from bombs in a FedEx package to poor security in catering.
And let's keep those dangerous model rocket engines out of the hands of those cub scouts. Heaven forbid they should launch a small cardboard and balsa rocket from their local school yard.
Let's get real folks: Security doesn't come by limiting access to potentially dangerous stuff, technologies, or textbooks. It's found by alerting the public to who is on the loose, and what they might be looking for. The 20'th hijacker was found by an alert border guard. The shoe-bomber was thwarted by the passengers on the aircraft. And many Al Qaida operatives were revealed by records discovered in Afghanistan.
Security is a state of mind. It will be enforced by people looking out for each other --not by restricting access to textbooks, raw materials, or training. If our government officials are serious, they could seek the help of the technically literate public and stop $#!++ing on us!
Take that, Admiral Loy!
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