News of the Week (or a few days before)
The news of the week comes in two different parts, and I think that they both are distressing.
The high court of Maryland held up a law which has banned all gay marriages there. They didn’t, however, say lawmakers cannot repeal the decree if they want. In other words, neither the ban nor gay marriage is unconstitutional there. This nonetheless comes as a setback for anyone trying to legalize it; I fear that repealing the law will not happen for several more years at this rate.
Also, the EU rejected a plea from their parliament asking to cancel the ban of all liquids on flights coming into or leaving from Europe. They claim that the liquids can still pose a threat in the hands of some mythical terrorists (these people, apparently, somehow are able to blow up a plane with the liquids but cannot, of course, simply carry them on in the smaller containers allowed). The problem as I see it lies in the fact that the only known terororists ever considering using a liquid explosive were foiled without such a ban, and instead they were caught using only police and detective work (note that I thought there were older attempts, but I can’t seem to find them again; I recall that they also had planned to use liquids and they, too, were stopped by police work instead. I think this had been in the ’90’s sometime, but it’s honestly just a gut feeling.). However, the EU’s Commission decided that lifting the ban would still “lower its guard” and instead they require “the full range” of (useless and impotent) measures in place. These rules are so stupid; I wish someone there would just tell them they’re being irrational.
A lot of security rules are less about being rational and more about trying to make people feel safe. Or make it seem like being a terrorist would be harder as the security people must be being vigilant if they’re bothering with looking for liquids etc.
Expecting the world to make sense is often silly.
To add to the headache after the liquid threat, British authorities (I have no idea about the EU as a whole) have also limited it one carry-on per airline passenger, instead of the usual one carry-on and one personal item (purse, briefcase, etc). British Airlines handles a big chunk of the international traffic, so the Heathrow airport can’t keep up with the strain on the luggage system. I fly to Europe through London next month, and not only are there the limitations on what I can even carry onto the plane as emergency overnight bag- I get to look forward to the prospects of having my luggage showing up after my trip and with the added bonus of mold growing in it.
(Source: Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118765043154303435.html?mod=dist_smartbrief).