Very well said. A new approach is needed if people are going to continue to fly and feel safe not harassed/intimidated. It's got to be built around collective responsibility, both at an individual and societal level. May be difficult though in this dreadfully messed up world that we have created. David On Sunday 23 December 2001 17:13, you wrote: > Y'all, > > It has been with some degree of interest that I've read the comments > about the "Get Smart" shoe bomb guy. > > The thing that keeps on amazing me is how strong the cry is for > government intervention. All around the world (yes, even in Paris), > security is 'tight', there are armed guards at the airports, and here > in the U.S. we even have the F-15's chasing down airliners. How > utterly rediculous. > > The people who saved the day were the crew and passengers. They are > the ones we need to protect. Our current system harasses and > intimidates crewmembers and passengers, not the criminals. When are > we ever going to figure out that the government is utterly > incompetent at handling aviation security? > > V- > > ================================================================== > Varrin Swearingen ICQ#16241843 varrin@sugargroup.net > Congressional Candidate, CA District 20 http://varrin.com > MD-11 First Officer World Airways > Drums & Percussion Audio Engineering > ==================================================================