Security Theatre

Earlier this week the US announced a ban on carrying any electronic device other than a cell phone as carry-on luggage while flying from 8 Middle Eastern countries. Surprisingly enough the UK followed suit 12 hours later. The UK announcement happened just before I met Freia for lunch on the 21st which is her birthday.

Freia who is quickly becoming the primary source for the subject of my blogs, during our discussion on the usefulness and impact of these security measures, mentioned "Security Theater". I hadn't come across the term earlier and she suggested my next blog could be about that. And for someone starved for blog topics, that was a great suggestion. Thanks Freia. And Happy Birthday.

"Security theater is the practice of investing in countermeasures intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually achieve it."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater

I found several interesting videos on Security Theater. Here are my 2 favorite ones. Makes the point and makes you smile.


Adam Ruins Everything - Why the TSA Doesn't Stop Terrorist Attacks

 

Security Theater - A TSA Opera

An extremely interesting and insightful article written in November 2008 for "The Atlantic" by Jeffrey Goldberg, most of which is relevant even today.

The Things He Carried - JEFFREY GOLDBERG
Airport security in America is a sham—“security theater” designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/the-things-he-carried/307057/

And if you are intrigued by the subject, then what better way to know more than by listening to the subject matter expert.

This week I flew from La Guardia to Chicago to Denver and back to La Guardia. And paid special attention to the Security and the Theater aspect of it. The common feature in all of the airports was the long security lines. And the myriad things each person had to go through to pass through security. I'm convinced for now at least, we would not be less safe, if all of the theater was dropped and replaced with a less  elaborate but more meaningful security system.

However there are no easy solutions as perception is greater than reality and all of us would feel way less safe, if the Security Theater did not take place. Feel Safe. be Safe. And have a Safe Flight.

Roe v/s Wade

Tomorrow the Senate hearings for the approval of Justice Neil Gorsuch nominated by President Trump, to the Supreme Court begins. One question that's likely to be asked is his opinion on Roe v Wade. In fact, its the most debated question in the US legal system. While I had heard about it and knew a little about it, I did not have a clear idea about the exact case, its implications, its importance, ...

And to top it all, Freia mentioned that Roe, the person who initiated the case, had herself done multiple flip-flops on the issue. I didn't even know that it was a real person and that she still existed.
(She passed away last month on Feb 18.) This prompted me to do more reading on the subject and hence this blog. And for the record, I'm unconditionally pro-choice.

I think its important to understand Roe v Wade. Let's start with 'Roe v. Wade Fast Facts"

(CNN)
Here's a look at the US Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.

Facts:
January 22, 1973 - The US Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, affirms the legality of a woman's right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution.

1971 - The case is filed by Norma McCorvey, known in court documents as Jane ROE against Henry WADE, the district attorney of Dallas County from 1951 to 1987, who enforced a Texas law that prohibited abortion, except to save a woman's life.

The Case:
The Constitutional Question: Does the Constitution embrace the right of a woman to obtain an abortion, nullifying the Texas prohibition?

The ruling allows for legal abortions during the entire pregnancy, but set up conditions to allow states to regulate abortion during the second and third trimesters.

The Decision:
The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy (recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut) protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision gave a woman a right to abortion during the entirety of the pregnancy and defined different levels of state interest for regulating abortion in the second and third trimesters.

The ruling affected laws in 46 states.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/04/us/roe-v-wade-fast-facts/

And the Full-text opinions by the Justices can be viewed here.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/410/113.html

For a quick visual summary of the case and its aftermath.

John Oliver's powerful take on the subject.

Roe changed her mind and became a spokesperson for a pro-life group.

Its interesting to hear what the Late Justice Scalia who was an opponent of the Roe v Wade ruling said on the subject.

And the question both sides of the debate are wondering, "Could Roe v Wade ever be overturned. Here's a 2 minute take of the the Wall Street Journal.

I'd like to end on a positive and optimistic note.

"About seven-in-ten Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade"

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/03/about-seven-in-ten-americans-oppose-overturning-roe-v-wade/

The Lemonade Diet

Reia mentioned to me that she's doing the lemonade diet. And I was, "What". She told me that it was just lemonades instead of solid meals. A few days later I checked and she said she did 2 days of it, along with fruits and she had lost a few pounds and felt good.

That was more than enough to get me to try it. I found several articles and videos on the lemonade diet. It was fairly simple. I decided to do the diet. And did not want to deal with making lemonade 8 times a day using maple syrup and cayenne pepper and ...

And so I took a short cut. And got a mix that already did all of that. And so I ordered all of the elements required for the lemonade diet from Amazon.

I started the diet on Tuesday night with a cup of the smooth move tea. And Wednesday morning started with the salt water flush. I made a glass of lemonade and had it. It was a little different. While not tasty, it wasn't too bad and was able to drink it quite easily. I made 6 glasses for office. At work I had herbal tea as well as the lemonade. And felt no hunger pangs at all.

I followed the same routine on Thursday and the day went by quite well. Like a normal day. I was still not sure whether I wanted to do 3 days or 5 days or even 10 days. I decided to see how it goes and then decide.Friday morning started with the salt water flush. 10 minutes later, I wasn't feeling too well. I puked. And puked some more. And then puked even more. I was a little scared. Especially since I was alone. And decided that I needed to end this. After cleaning up and feeling a little better, I decided to complete the day. Had a glass of lemonade. Made 6 glasses for office, and off to work I went.

The day went well. And a lot of time was spent on deciding the breakfast menu. I was beginning to get hunger pangs. And the thought of breakfast was appealing. At office, today was the day, they decided to get 2 large pizzas. A Manhattan White and a Buffalo Chicken. 2 of my favorite pizzas. I was tempted. And came very close to having a piece. But somehow, I managed to avoid eating and had a cup of hot herbal tea. And some lemonade.

Its finally Saturday. And am all set to have breakfast. But not before weighing myself. Whoop. Whoop. I've dropped almost 10 lbs. I'm sure that I'm going to put on 5 lbs in the next few days. But I'll be happy to effectively lose 3 - 5 lbs. And hopefully won't put on more than I lost.

And if you want to consider doing the lemonade diet, check the below site and the video. Its a little more detailed than this blog.

http://themastercleanse.org/the-lemonade-diet/#

The Butterfly - An Amazing Experience

Last week I stayed at the Butterfly on Morrison in Hong Kong. It was a small boutique hotel and the primary reason I booked it was that it had great ratings and was cost effective.

I booked the hotel using Hotels.com. I tried several sites and finally settled on hotels.com as it seemed to be offering the best value-for-money deals. Trivago was also extremely helpful in being able to do the comparison of the various hotels being offered by the various sites.

I checked in at the hotel. They gave me a portable 4G device which I had booked as an extra with the room. The cost per day was under US$ 3. The check in was quick and efficient. Reia said the desk manager who checked us in said there was a cell phone in the room that we could use and take with us. I told her she was dreaming.

As was the review by almost all travelers to Hong Kong the room itself was super small. And there on the table was a cell phone. Reia looked at me and couldn't stop laughing. And I couldn't stop being amazed. What hotel gives you a cell phone with unlimited local calls and data. I was already a huge fan of the hotel. And had barely spent 5 minutes in it.

The room was comfortable and there were all the trappings you'd expect in a luxury hotel. As an example, the bed had a lovely pillow decor and 5 cloth butterflies on it. Made it look super nice and super cool. The decor as well as the feel was that of a modern place with pieces of art integrated with simple and extremely clever design. It was a while since a hotel wasn't fancy yet extremely impressive.

Monday night I requested a shuttle to the airport and the front-desk were helpful and made the necessary reservations. Tuesday morning, I came down to check out. And found that the attention to details hadn't yet ended. I was given a checklist to go through, which had among other things, "Check your wallet, phone, passport". And the big surprise, "Would you like to weigh your bags". Although I didn't need weighing, I wanted to see if it was a piece of paper or they were equipped. I was handed a luggage weighing scale.

And the finale got even better. The shuttle would pick me up at the corner. The gentleman at the front desk accompanied me, chatting all the while and remained till I was  comfortably seated in the shuttle.

For want of more powerful words, "Thank You Butterfly. You made an ordinary trip, Memorable".

p.s.: I learnt that most hotels offer the cell phone. Its a brand called Talky and I suspect this will become standard in a few years all over the world.