Re: airport security

Futplex writes:
>DCF writes:
>[re: shwoing picture ID to board commercial flights in the U.S.]
>> I wonder how many have challenged this.  

>Any pointers to news articles or govt. press releases that actually state
>some rationale for the ID checks, however spurious ?

>> I suppose they are trying to discourage people from buying tickets in 
>> false names so that the databanks can be more useful to the authorities.

>It's bad enough that it is "illegal" (at least according to some recent ARC 
>flight coupons of mine) to sell or otherwise transfer your tickets to someone
>else. I'd love to see them try to justify crap like that.

   Without actually agreeing with the FAA, the reason you can't have a name
   other than your own on your ticket, as well as why you are required to
   be in your assigned seat on take-off and landing is because if there is 
   a plane crash, they need to be able to identify an otherwise difficult
   to identify body. This does have some relevance to airport security if
   a plane is blown up.

                                 Sorry about this,
                                      Bob

WHy should airplane crashes be more of a cause for disseminating the 
Surveillance State than Greyhound Bus crashes?

I'd be more sympathetic to arguments about an airline's right to write 
it's contracts as it pleases. Though they are Common Carriers; they can't 
just offer Contracts of Adhesion at will.