No liquids carried on board, except......

I've been on eleven airplane flights since the Aug. 10 changes in what's permitted on board.

All of us who fly a lot know that the TSA's job is providing the illusion of security, but this whole charade is wearing a little thin.

Toothpaste, babies' gel-filled teethers and sealed bottles of water are absolutely no threat to the airplane passenger, but (for the sake of argument) let's allow the TSA to continue their idiotic ban on such things at the security checkpoints.

Why are such things when purchased in the "sterile area" still taboo?

It's interesting to note that it's now perfectly fine to buy liquor, perfume and (liquid) makeup in Duty Free Shops at airports and have one's purchases delivered on the jetway at the airplane door.

Logic would say that it would be perfectly fine to have (at the very least) bottles of water delivered planeside, too! But I guess that the bottled water folks don't have as much political clout as the Duty Free Shop owners......

Chicago traffic woes

There is just no good way to drive to/through Chicago from the east these days.

Construction on the Indiana Tollroad is done, but the Skyway is torn up again. The condition of the Dan Ryan Expressway is unprintable. The Kennedy is bumper to bumper, and they're doing roadwork on the Edens.

Opting for westbound I-80/94 is no better. There always are slowdowns approaching the Bishop Ford, and the Tri-State isn't done with all of its tollbooth reconstruction -- although I must admit that the no-slowdown I-pass lanes are fabulous once they're open and working.

Is it time for a third belt of interstates to the west -- or a tunnel under Lake Michigan?

Persistence of myth

The United States did not invade Iraq because "they flew airplanes into our buildings".

How can otherwise intelligent and reasonable people still believe that's the case five years after 9/11 and three years after "Mission Accomplished"?

Even the US Senate has figured out that they were, ummm, misled by the administration.

But, I suppose it's easier to believe the lie than admit the truth.

Is a fjord a Norwegian automobile?

You Need to Study More Geography If You Think...

The Balkans are an alien people on Star Trek

The United Kingdom is a cultural theme park

The Tropic of Cancer is a sunscreen lotion

The Gaza Strip is a Middle Eastern folk dance

The Bermuda Triangle is a percussion instrument in a reggae band

The Cumberland Gap gives out free sausages with every set of jeans sold

The International Dateline is a new cable TV network

The Equator is a cartoon action figure

The Continental Shelf is a specialty section of the supermarket

A fault is what you find in other people

A fjord is a Norwegian car