Eideard

Muslims and dark-skin folks / Proven Euro genes / White businessmen

Billing it as a way to end the one-size-fits-all approach to airport security, the International Air Transport Association on Tuesday unveiled a mock-up of what it called the “Checkpoint of the Future.”

Instead of a single screening procedure applied to all fliers, the group envisions that passengers would be divided into risk categories based on the information available about them. Otherwise called profiling.

They would then be directed to one of three lanes: “Known Traveler,” “Normal” and “Enhanced Security.”

The first — and quickest — lane would only be available to fliers who have registered and undergone background checks with their governments.

Normal screening in the second lane would apply to the majority of travelers. New technology would allow them to walk through without having to take off their clothes or shoes, or unpack their bags.

Passengers for whom less information is available, who are randomly selected or who are deemed to be an “elevated risk,” would receive more screening in the third lane.

The system would focus resources on passengers who pose the greatest threat while reducing the hassle for the vast majority of travelers who are low risk, said the International Air Transport Association, which represents the world’s major airlines…

“That means moving from a system that looks for bad objects to one that can find bad people,” Bisignani said.

Should be immensely popular with patriotic American bigots – until the first time TSA/FBI/NSA sends them through the “wrong” corridor.

If and when it becomes a system approved by all the Right politicians, they plan on adding a fourth doorway which sends you directly to Gitmo – or a gas chamber.

Voters in Zurich overwhemingly rejected on Sunday proposed bans on assisted suicide and “suicide tourism” — foreigners traveling to Switzerland to receive help ending their lives.

Only 15.5 percent of voters in the local referendum backed a ban on assisted suicide, while nearly 22 percent supported a ban on suicide tourism, final results showed. About 200 people commit assisted suicide each year in Zurich.

Assisted suicide has been allowed in Switzerland since 1941 if performed by a non-physician who has no vested interest in the death…

A rise in the number of foreigners seeking to end their lives in Switzerland, and a study showing that more and more people seeking assisted suicides in the country do not suffer from a terminal illness, have provoked heated debate…

Turns out the people raising the debate were noisier than their numbers.

Right-to-die group Exit has agreed rules to govern assisted suicide with prosecutors in Zurich in the hope they might eventually form the basis of national regulation.

Foreigners are not explicitly excluded under the new rules, but a Swiss doctor who prescribes the deadly anesthetic must have met the person twice over a period of time to be sure of their wishes.

Here in the Land of the Free we get to have everyone who believes the religion governing some small portion of their life forbids anyone else from choosing death with dignity. Since our politicians fear the religious even more than they fear honesty – there is little chance of entering into a public dialogue and decision about the topic in most American states.

Supporters rally in Tokyo

Demonstrators have gathered at a rally in Okinawa, Japan, to protest against a US military air base on the island.

Sunday’s rally, near Kadena air base, the largest US military facility in the Asia-Pacific region, is expected to include Hirokazu Nakaima, Okinawa’s governor, and more than 30 town mayors.

Many on the island are unhappy with the heavy American military presence – a legacy of Japan’s World War II defeat – complaining of noise, pollution and frictions with US soldiers.

The issue threatens the political future of Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister, who has staked his job on settling the issue.

The row centres on the unpopular Futenma US Marine Corps Air Station, which under a 2006 deal between Tokyo and Washington, was to be moved from the crowded city of Ginowan to the quieter coastal Henoko area of Okinawa.

After taking power in September in a landslide election, Hatoyama said the base may be moved off the island entirely instead…

Under the 2006 agreement – which requires legal approval from Nakaima, the Okinawa governor – Futenma facilities would be shifted to reclaimed land around Camp Schwab in Henoko and about 8,000 marines would move to the US territory of Guam.

Japan, which committed to pacifism in its post-WWII constitution, relies heavily on the US, its treaty partner, for its security.

And we all know how important that has been.

Get the bloody troops off Japanese territory, bring ‘em home, quit spending 6-figures apiece on sustaining each soldier-ambassador of American democracy.

Part One:

Frustrated travelers were delayed for hours Sunday night when officials shut down a terminal at Newark Airport after a man walked into a secure area without authorization.

Dozens of flights were grounded, and thousands of passengers waited late into the night to be rescreened at Terminal C .

Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said a man was seen walking down a security checkpoint exit lane into the secure area about 5:30 p.m.

Screening was halted in the terminal while authorities looked at surveillance tapes to identify the man, who had not been found.

“If they find the person who did this, he’s going to be in big trouble,” said traveler John Davis.

Passengers in the Continental Airlines terminal were evacuated from the terminal and moved to the open side of the airport to go through screening again.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fountain Place in downtown Dallas – Smadi’s target of choice
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

Eight years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and despite repeated mandates from Congress, the United States still has no reliable system for verifying that foreign visitors have left the country.

New concern was focused on that security loophole last week, when Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian who had overstayed his tourist visa, was accused in court of plotting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper.

Last year alone, 2.9 million foreign visitors on temporary visas like Mr. Smadi’s checked in to the country but never officially checked out, immigration officials said. While officials say they have no way to confirm it, they suspect that several hundred thousand of them overstayed their visas.

Over all, the officials said, about 40 percent of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States came on legal visas and overstayed…

Mr. Smadi, like many tourists who overstay visas, was able to fade easily into society and encountered few barriers to starting a life here, according to court documents and people who know him. He enrolled in high school, obtained a California identification card, landed jobs in two states and rented a string of apartments and houses. He bought at least two used cars, and even procured a handgun and ammunition.

RTFA. Homeland Security is a misnomer designed to calm a panicky public – that the Bush-Cheney mafia worked hard at panicking – then, never succeeded at doing much of anything useful at protecting.

Daylife/Getty Images used by permission

The eurozone is emerging from recession, according to the latest forecast from the European Commission. “The economy appears to be at a turning point,” the commission said.

It forecast growth of 0.2% for the July to September quarter, with Germany and France continuing to grow and Italy exiting recession.

The commission also forecast the UK economy, which is outside the eurozone, would grow by 0.2% during the third quarter, marking the end of recession…

“The economic situation has improved markedly since the second quarter, pointing to a better growth outlook for the second half of the year,” the commission said.

It added that the improved economic outlook was due to “unprecedented” government stimulus that had helped to boost overall economic activity.

These stimulus packages should be kept in place throughout next year to ensure recovery, said European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia…

Commenting on the commission’s forecast, HSBC analyst Janet Henry said: “This is a turning point in the global cycle. I think we will see GDP start to turn positive in the third quarter.

Most of my political life, I’ve tended to downplay strict Keynesian reforms. But, starting with the macro-economic work of Nobel Prize-winner Wassily Leontief, it’s become clear that positive incremental management can affect market economies positively.

All I’m noting is – the tide is turning, slowly but steadily.

A record surge in confidence among business professionals indicates Britain’s recession is at an end.

Optimism among professionals in the third quarter hit its highest level since the start of the financial crisis two years ago, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) said.

The confidence measure jumped to 4.8 at the end of June from -28.2 in March – the biggest improvement since the survey began in 2003. The institute predicts that the economy will grow by 0.5% this quarter, breaking five quarters of falling output.

ICAEW chief executive Michael Izza said the findings suggest that “the UK recession is at an end”…

Asian shares advanced strongly today on fresh optimism over the global recovery, following upbeat comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and news that Thailand has come out of recession.

“We seem to be on our way to the moon today on Ben Bernanke’s coat tails,” said David Buik at BGC Partners.

The ICAEW survey showed that UK businesses expected a rise in all but one of 14 key financial performance indicators in the coming year, in contrast to earlier in the year when most were expected to contract.

Monty Python fans will know about Chartered Accountants. Just picture a blend of your least favorite CPA and Attila the Hun.

Thanks, Marc