More on "enhanced" pat-downs at airports

Bruce Schneier collected many links of interest on the issue. Included are some t-shirts, I wouldn't mind having a couple of them and may be placing an order.

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/11/tsa_backscatter.html?nc=96

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/11/19/2126204/Bruce-Schneier-vs-the-TSA


One of the links is from a TSA officer who surveyed 20 colleagues at various airports. 17 responded, all of them do not like the procedure or the increase in abuse that they are receiving.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyingwithfish/2010/11/18/tsa-enhanced-pat-downs-the-screeners-point-of-view/


Representative Ron Paul has introduced a bill that says the following:

"SECTION 1. NO IMMUNITY FOR CERTAIN AIRPORT SCREENING METHODS.

No law of the United States shall be construed to confer any immunity for a Federal employee or agency or any individual or entity that receives Federal funds, who subjects an individual to any physical contact (including contact with any clothing the individual is wearing), x-rays, or millimeter waves, or aids in the creation of or views a representation of any part of a individual's body covered by clothing as a condition for such individual to be in an airport or to fly in an aircraft. The preceding sentence shall apply even if the individual or the individual's parent, guardian, or any other individual gives consent."

A link to the bill is in Schneier's post.


And finally, an interview with a security expert who describes how airline passenger screening is handled in ISRAEL. They move a passenger through security in 25 MINUTES. SAFELY. It's a very good story, and it is based on sensible procedures. And Israeli security hasn't been breached in 8 years.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/744199---israelification-high-security-little-bother


*sigh*

Time to contact our Congresscritters and TSA officials, actually it's past-time. You can get their addresses, both snail and email, at http://www.house.gov/ and http://www.senate.gov/

HP and other US tech corps 'suggest' Ireland be very careful with its corporate tax rate

Ireland has problems with its banking system and is in need of an EU bailout. Part of the problem is that most all American tech corporations have operations in Ireland to exploit its low corporate tax rate, so billions of dollars flow through Ireland but Ireland doesn't see a heck of a lot tax revenues from said transactions.

So Ireland is talking to the EU about a bailout, and some EU members are saying that they should raise their corporate tax rate. A letter was written by the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland and a senior Hewlett Packard executive and signed by the Irish heads of HP, Intel, Microsoft, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The letter says: "The IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission must realise that any increase in our corporation tax rate would ultimately make us more economically dependent, not less so on our European Union partners."

Separately, John Herlihy, head of Google's 2,000-strong European headquarters in Dublin, told The Belfast Telegraph that "anything that impinges on Ireland's competitiveness is going to be a big thing for Google".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/8148882/US-firms-warn-Irish-over-tax-move.html

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/11/21/0157216/Google-Warns-Irish-Government-Against-Tax-Increase

It's a giant shell game. To maximize profits as required by Wall Street and their shareholders, they need to minimize taxes. To minimize taxes, they move to the country with the lowest tax rate. Then when that country threatens to raise taxes, they start crying and mention that taxes are lower in Singapore, India, and China, among others. Rinse, repeat.


Capitalism is dead, long live corporatism!