January 4, 2010

After yesterday's staying close to home we decided to be away from home as much as possible. It was a beautiful day, very cold but not windy which made it bearable. So we had a nice day. It was good to get out of the house finally.

Since today was the first workday the roads were quiet, the stores were empty and for people like us it was really pleasant.

Now, airline security.

Yesterday at Newark International Airport some yahoo went in through the exit where no one was supposed to enter. As a result they shut down the Airport, re-checked all the already scanned passengers. Delays were five or six hours because of this and the person was never caught.

This is ridiculous. Security at the airports is a joke. The checkers are not performing their jobs because they really don't care to.

The way they look at it it is a job. These people hate everyone who passes through to the planes. Their thinking is that why am I stuck here while you people are going on your trips. So, I will make your being here as difficult as I can!

But this attitude does not improve security. Some of them can't speak correct English, and a while back it was discovered a large number of them were illegals.

Speaking of the English language. The large majority of the employees at the major New York airports are Hispanic. I saw with my own eyes persons guarding exit or entrance doors who could not speak English and were more occupied with socializing with their friends than watching their posts.

These people are supposed to catch or notice possible terrorists? The only thing they do frequently is looking at their watches to see how much more time until the next break or the end of their shifts.

In my opinion the only solution to good security is to place the military or federal or local law enforcement personnel in charge. Civilians will never going to do a good job.

On the same thought I think racial profiling is a great idea. It is too bad it will never be realized in this country. There will always be people against it saying it is unfair and it places certain groups in a bad light.

Certain groups are in the bad light already.

I have never heard of an orthodox Jewish woman traveling with three children smuggling a bomb aboard a plane. Or a Hasidim man doing the same. Or a white Anglo Saxon mother traveling with two children and a husband trying to blow up a plane.

No matter what the civil libertarians say there is a certain element who will do this. And those security people at the airports must be able to flag them.

A couple of years ago we went to Hungary. At the time the Hungarian airline provided non-stop service to Budapest. So we are sitting at JFK Airport waiting to board our plane when this tall slim woman walks through the waiting area. My wife and I were caught off guard seeing her. She was covered from head to toe in black. There were slits where her eyes were and the sleeves on her dress were so long we couldn't tell her skin color.

It was unusual because Hungary is really not home to people like her. Just before entering the plane we had to show our passports. This woman was front of us and was showing her passport to the person at the gate.

Well, a photograph isn't worth anything when one is totally covered up. She went behind the door to show her face to the woman security person. We saw her on the plane. She sat through the whole trip like a statue not bothering anybody. Still, it was a scary sight.

The French have the right idea. Forbid the use of these Halloween costumes in their country.

I am not against religious symbolism. But everything should be practiced at the right time and at the right place. It is OK at their home country but if these people want to live somewhere else they should respect the customs of the host country.

Back to racial profiling. The Israelis have no qualms about it. They practice it and their planes are safer than anybodies in the world. Maybe we should start learning from them after all.

No wonder the golfer has his own private plane. Doesn't want to sit next to a woman wrapped in black from head to toe with a slit for the eyes only.