Flying for Thanksgiving?
Listen: Ron Reagan: Airport Security Theater
Tonight:
My take on the news of day, plus just in time for your trip to visit the in-laws this holiday season: Jeffrey Goldberg, Atlantic magazine national correspondent on “The Things He Carried,” his latest article on what he was able to carry onto a plane and what you should really be worrying about, if you’re flying this Thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, we know it's kind of obnoxious to talk about this, but it's because we care. We really do. Goldberg is the author of "Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror" (2007); he blogs at jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com.
And your calls.
866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.
- FILED UNDER: Host Posts, airlines, Terrorism
- November 25, 2008
Jeffrey Goldberg
Why is getting a platform on Air America? He used the pages of the New Yorker Magazine to stump for a war in Iraq as Alexander Cockburn pointed out:
"Who's the hack? I nominate The New Yorker's Jeffrey Goldberg. He's the new Remington, though without the artistic talent. Back in 1898, William Randolph Hearst was trying to fan war fever between the United States and Spain. He dispatched a reporter and the artist Frederic Remington to Cuba to send back blood-roiling depictions of Spanish beastliness to Cuban insurgents. Remington wired to say he could find nothing sensational to draw and could he come home. Famously, Hearst wired him, "Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." Remington duly did so.
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By lproyectNovember 25, 2008 - 4:01pmBad Design of Security Lines
Hi Ron, love the show.
I worked in a Dell assembly while attending college and they are the masters of moving items along a line, airports could learn a lot from them. Currently most airports have about 2ft of rollers for your tray and bits. So you cannot do anything until you're in front of the gate.
Ideally they should have 30ft of rollers with plastic totes given out at the start of the line so you can have all your gear in the plastic bucket before you even get near the security, greatly speeding up the process. This would then reduce the rush and allow security to evaluate people for a greater time and put people at ease too.
As for the security and the Europe issue, European airports are much better in my experience than any US airport I have ever used. Better staff, better paid, friendly experience and not as stupid as the US staff (sorry but they do tend to be).
Regarding ID checking in Europe you have to show your passport and boarding pass before getting on the airline (even cheapo Ryanair), it's checked by airline staff, everyone. And when you depart from the plane before you can go get your bag you have to show your passport again, double check. This should be brought into the USA as it would stop criminals wanted in one state flying into another, currently you can just walk off the plane. Also in Europe the bag collection area is behind a security screen, where people can only exit. Stopping someone walking into the airport and stealing your bag.
Just some of thoughts on the airport idea, sorry if any spelling errors writing this quickly.
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By lukejrNovember 26, 2008 - 8:17am