Ut Humiliter Opinor

Michael Chertoff has an article today called Securing Our Subways. Reading it, however, makes it painfully clear that we can’t. His three items to improve security are: intercept sleeper cells, not to focus solely on subways and buses, and encourage research that will identify potential WMDs.

All of these are good ideas, but they don’t really help much in securing mass transit - they involve finding the terrorists before they strike.

If you need any further proof that it is next to impossible, then look at Israel. It’s one of the most secure countries, and its airline security is top-notch. However, bus bombings are routine there.

So, let’s do away with the fiction that we can somehow make our mass transit safe with random searches of bags and a slightly increased police presence. It’s a feel-good measure at best, and a diversion from the real investigations at worst.

Update 7/30: Ogre comments in a related post that indicates 60% of people think random searches help fight terrorism and that 49% of Americans think racial profiling should not be used to stop terrorists. (Hat tip: Beltway Traffic Jam.)

It’s absolutely assanine NOT to use profiling. If you local police chief took this view on crime-fighting, when a woman reported that she’d been raped by a 6′6″ Asian male, they’d have to arrest and question 75-year old ladies and 6-year old kids! I think America has indeed changed. If this poll accurately reflects the attitudes of Americans today, we are no longer the country that was formed in 1776, and we have no hope of ever being that great country again. This country was founded on individual liberty — once that’s removed, this country is not a representative republic.

Profiling is just statistical sampling by another name. If you’re going to spened the time and money to search, you have to stop the 75-year old lady once in a while (about 1 out of 100 searches), but the vast majority of searches (approximately 2/3rds of the time) should be of people who fit the normal methods used by terrorists. Yes, it stinks, but that’s how it should be done.

(Here’s a good graphic of the normal curve and associated percentages.)

My wife took the kids to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yesterday. All enjoyed it but came away with the same reaction: why remake it? Now, I expected that reaction from my wife, but when the kids shrug at a remake, you have to wonder what the point was.

(The point was that it got them in the seats, naturally, which I suppose they did.)

All the uproar of whether the UK Police shoud apologize for shooting a non-respsonsive civilian reminds me of a Babylon 5 quote:

I apologize. I’m… sorry. [pause] I’m sorry we had to defend ourselves against an unwarranted attack. I’m sorry that your crew was stupid enough to fire on a station filled with a quarter million civilians, including your own people. And I’m sorry I waited as long as I did before I blew them all straight to hell.

Menezes was wearing a large overcoat on a hot day, failed to respond to police requests to stop and went over the turnstiles towards the tunnels and onto a train just a few days after bombing attacks in the same type of area.

What exactly should the police have thought?

Menezes death is regrettable and the family’s grief is understandable, but the police did their job.

I have no other words for this type of low-life opportunism during what should be a time of grief and remembrance:

Outside The Beltway : Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Crashes Marine Funeral to Lobby Against War:

Catherine Baker Knoll, Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor, came univited to the funeral of Marine Staff Sergeant Joseph Goodrich and proceded to hand out business cards and lobby against the war, according to the deceased’s family members.

RedState.org has an interesting analysis of John Roberts’ arguments before the Supreme Court:

These results are undoubtably influenced by the type of cases that Roberts would generally be involved in; few of these cases involve social issues. However, in the cases that were brought before the Court where the result was not unanimous and Roberts was involved, it is clear that Justice Stevens was not often swayed by his arguments. However, the percentage of non-unanimous cases where Justice Kennedy sided with Roberts’ arguments is notable. The sample size is small, but there is some indication that a Justice Roberts might have considerable influence on Justice Kennedy– the primary swing vote on the court.

So, Roberts may have enough charisma to possibly have a significant impact on the middle-of-the-road Justices. That makes his nomination and confirmation that much more important and interesting.

We need more statements like this from Muslims fed up with the use of Islam for radical purposes, not only in how Islam has to reform itself, but on how the Left refuses to lay blame where it belongs - with the terrorists themselves:

After London, Tough Questions for Muslims:

I was against the invasion of Iraq and would not have voted for George Bush if I were a U.S. citizen, but I’m done with the “George Bush made me do it” excuse. We must accept responsibility for this mess if we are ever to find a way out. And for those non-Muslims who accept the George Bush excuse, I have a question: Do you think Muslims are incapable of accepting responsibility? It is at least in some way bigoted to think that Muslims can only react violently.

(Hat Tip: Ranting Profs)

Via Wizbang Carnival of the Trackbacks:

THE TOMO REPORT: SHOULDER-FIRED MISSLE INCIDENT AT OKC AIRFORCE BASE!

On 14 Jul 05, three individuals were observed outside of the perimeter of Tinker AFB, OK. They were looking through binoculars, taking pictures and one appeared to be holding a large weapon at chest level. The weapon appeared to be aimed towards a low flying aircraft. The three individuals were described as being of Middle Eastern decent and left the area when approached. The weapon was later identified as a rocket launcher (MANPAD) and the low flying aircraft to be a B-1 Bomber. FBI in Oklahoma City and AFOSI determined the threat to be credible.

This is the first and only source I’ve seen for this. It’s frightening if true. Under the circumstances I can’t help but wonder about its authenticity, but it’s hard not to be concerned after seeing something like this.

I have seen some of these for Lord of the Rings, but this is the first one I’ve seen for Star Wars. They are just too funny. For example, I didn’t realize Anakin was being cuckolded (you really just have to read it):

winterson.com: episode iii, the backstroke of the west

Microsoft announced today that their next operating system (previously codenamed “Longhorn”) would be called “Windows Vista”.

Vista?

The common definition is sweeping view. To me, though, vista has a different meaning, and it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. In my younger days my parents owned an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser:

(courtesy: Vista Cruisers & Cutlass Wagons)

Somehow, I’m going to have a hard time getting this picture out of my head. On the positive, side, though, it’s better than burnt orange.

Is this really the best they could come up with?

I was listening to Mary Matalin on the Sean Hannity show yesterday. They were discussing the Roberts nomination. Matalin was summing up the Democrats position on Roberts as an attack pro-Life positions without cause. The entire conversation struck me as odd, since the hard core base of the party wants Roe vs. Wade overturned and abortion made illegal.

Roberts has two public positions on Roe: 1) when working for the Bush-41 Justice Department he helped draft a brief outlining why Roe should be overturned and 2) during his appellate confirmation hearings he said that Roe was decided law and he saw no reason why he would rule differently. He (correctly, IMHO) pointed out that the first position was when he was working for a client.

So, Matalin is holding him up as a die-hard Conservative that the Democrats shouldn’t filibuster because he there’s no reason to on the abortion issue. That tells me the Republicans are admitting defeat on abortion. The Republicans can’t win on the issue in the opinion polls, so the only way to overturn Roe is by doing what they say they hate: legislating from the bench.

Now, I don’t have a problem with overturning Roe, but more on Constitutional grounds than moral ones. There is no federal jurisdiction over medical procedures. Like medical and insurance law, this should be a state issue.