[Infowarrior] - more on: Air Travel Shoes-Off Rule to Be Eased in Future

[Richard Forno]

From: Lauren Weinstein <privacy at vortex.com>
Date: September 06, 2011 3:56:55 PM
Subject: [ PRIVACY Forum ] Inanity in Action: False "Shoe" Logic from TSA


Inanity in Action: False "Shoe" Logic from TSA

TSA has vaguely suggested that they will be phasing out the need
to remove shoes before flying -- especially if you hand over the
personal info for their "trusted traveler" program.

http://j.mp/rfUPcD (Washington Post)

But in a lovely example of inane false logic, the TSA administrator
said this:

"We have had over 5.5 [billion] people travel since Richard Reid
[the only would-be shoe bomber] and there have been no shoe bombs
because we have people take their shoes off," Pistole said in an
interview last month with Business Travel News.

But the same article notes that:

"You don't take your shoes off anywhere but in the U.S. - not in
Israel, in Amsterdam, in London," said Yossi Sheffi, an Israeli-born
expert on risk analysis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"We all know why we do it here, but this seems to be a
make-everybody-feel-good thing rather than a necessity."

So, apparently Mr. Pistole is using the famous "elephant repellent"
argument, which usually goes something like this:

She: "Why are you snapping your fingers?"

He: *snap*snap* "To keep away the elephants."

She: "There aren't any elephants around here!"

He: *snap*snap* "See? It's working!"

One word only: *Idiotic*.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren at vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
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Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com