More Bullshit from Homeland Security

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I'm starting to get tired of the warnings about everyday things that Homeland Security is claiming terrorists will use in future attacks. First it was laser pointers. I find it exceptionally hard to believe that the one-in-a-billion shot required to temporarily blind a pilot is something we need to be worried about. While it's true that a recent Slate article made mention of high-powered lasers and their potential to blind pilots, it seems that those scenarios are equally unlikely. And wouldn't the problem be easily solved by placing polarized or otherwise filtered glass in airplane cockpits? Instead, Homeland Security has chosen the alarmist path once again, trying to make everyone paranoid that there are terrorists sitting at the end of runways trying to blind pilots upon take off or landing. The most recent bullshit concerns cheap watches. Some of these watches have hidden cigarette lighters in them. Others have altimeters. There are a few things that bug me about the recent alarm concerning these watches.

First of all, aren't cigarette lighters routinely allowed on planes? I've traveled many times since 9/11, and I've never had a problem with cigarette lighters on planes. No one has ever even mentioned anything about them to me at airport security. If Homeland Security is concerned about cigarette lighters, shouldn't they first move to confiscate cigarette lighters that aren't hidden in watches?

The other thing that bugs me is the singling out of a particular watch brand - Casio.

"Casio watches have been extensively used by al-Qaida and associated organizations as timers for improvised explosive devices. The Casio brand is likely chosen due to its worldwide availability and inexpensive price."

Am I to believe that Casios are particularly dangerous? It's not like there aren't other brands of cheap watches out there. Why single out Casio? I'm sure it wouldn't be terribly difficult for a terrorist to invest in some other brand of inexpensive watch, but Homeland Security wants us to be on the lookout for Casio. I can almost see the corporate folks at Casio freaking out because of the brand damage they're likely to suffer because some fool at Homeland Security decided they needed to be singled out.

Needless to say, this is all bullshit. To what end it's been disseminated to the public, I can't say for sure. Perhaps it's to convince the public that Homeland Security is actually doing something about terrorism and not sitting on its ass. Maybe it's a distraction thing. Who knows?

First

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Happy New Year, everybody! Some things I learned on my holiday break...

  • Vacations aren't vacations unless you set the expectation that you won't be checking e-mail or voice mail. Period.
  • Riding an ATV in the snow is just about the most fun thing you can do.
  • Skeet shooting never gets boring when you have a launcher that can throw rabbits.
  • New Year's Eve parties are a lot more fun when you turn them into pajama parties where everyone stays over and doesn't risk their neck on the roads.
  • Making chicken burgers from scratch is much better than buying them frozen at the grocery store.
  • Half-Life 2 is the best PC game ever. Without question.
  • South Beach works. I'm not kidding.

Winter Wonderland

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Dennis, Craig and I did some shooting yesterday afternoon at the range. My shoulder is feeling it today. We shot about 2.5 boxes of targets. Everybody shot very well. I made a new friend at the range. The gentlemen shooting next to us came all the way out from Nassau (Bellmore, I believe). They had a really nice Do-All trap launcher and were throwing doubles most of the day - one low and far, the other high and descending rapidly like a duck taking to a pond. One guy, Kevin, shot about five different shotguns including a .410 over-under and a really nice 20-gauge. Kevin told me he likes to come out to the ranges out east because the ranges near him are in-and-out affairs where you shoot 25 targets at a time and they rush you. At our range, you can bring your own launcher and take your time for 10 bucks a shooter.

Just as we were leaving, the snow started falling, so Dennis, Craig and I made plans to take the ATVs out. Of course, once we came back to Wading River, we found out that the new battery Craig had picked up for my Cannondale wasn't holding a charge. So Craig was kind enough to let me borrow his 400EX. (On today's agenda - visit Riverhead Honda and get a new battery...)

We had a really nice run on some of the usual woods trails. Riding a quad in the snow is terrific - you slide all over the place, but still maintain a degree of control. Everyone was doing donuts in the clearings and kicking up big rooster tails of snow.

We also visited New Beach and made a little circle track in the parking lot. From there, we did some more woods riding and then crossed 25A to hit the trails alongside the William Floyd Parkway. We took a break in some of the firebreak trails back there, took our helmets off and shut our quads down, letting our eyes adjust to the darkness. After a while, we found that we could see quite well, although we weren't able to spot any wildlife.

After a few hours of sliding around and mocking the cars straining to get traction on some of the roads, we headed back. By the time we made it back, many of the main thoroughfares had been salted and plowed. 25A was in great shape, as was North Country Road. Only the smaller secondary streets were unplowed.

Great fun! I'm going to see if I can get another battery today and get my Cannondale running so we can do another run later in the day.