How Much Is That Pretend Security In The Window?
Yes, these are the bright lights providing "security" at America's airports.
@rogerkimball
WHY DO WE PUT UP WITH THIS? TSA agent to friend of mine: "What's this?" "A fountain pen." "Never heard of it. It's sharp, looks dangerous."
Same with the tamper for my husband's pipe. He buys cheap ones now, because they're likely to take it away.
crella at April 13, 2015 12:33 AM
".. It's sharp, looks dangerous."
So is independent thought.
DrCos at April 13, 2015 3:46 AM
How sharp can it be if it doesn't cut paper?
Cousin Dave at April 13, 2015 7:39 AM
As a fountain pen enthusiast, I'm not surprised. You should see the looks I get when I pull one out in a meeting.
Conan the Grammarian at April 13, 2015 8:02 AM
Sounds like a greedy little agent wanted to steal a new toy for himself.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at April 13, 2015 12:26 PM
It is true that our ancestors knew better than to get on board an airplane with a fountain pen in their pocket... or so they learned after a few ruined shirts.
Cousin Dave at April 13, 2015 12:33 PM
Once knew this band of ISIS terrorists, they took over a privately held transporter beam up pad using a technique similar to this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3GPrFZ33lo
After which they apparently sent up the bomb to Babylon 4.
Nevertheless since then, I've been okay with government confiscations of fountain pens and TSA inspections of all transporter beam pads.
jerry at April 13, 2015 1:59 PM
Jeez, turns out it's a trope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaLewAfBoU0
jerry at April 13, 2015 2:01 PM
These things happen all around us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKW_XRSiCqs
jerry at April 13, 2015 2:03 PM
http://www.moviefancentral.com/psycho-pirate-99/top10s/17543
Favorite Movies where someone is Stabbed with a Pen or Pencil
1. Batman
2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
3. The Dark Knight
4. GoldenEye (exploding pen counts, dude)
5. From Dusk Till Dawn
6. Grosse Pointe Blank
7. Hanna
8. The Running Man
9. The Evil Dead
10. The Bourne Identity
11. HONORABLE MENTIONS: Casino, RocknRolla, and Fright Night (1985)
jerry at April 13, 2015 2:09 PM
Well, the pen is mightier than the sword.
charles at April 13, 2015 5:14 PM
Duh, the real reason is so you can't write down their name (if they have their name tag on right side up).
DrCos at April 14, 2015 3:46 AM
Same Conan. I used to use them at work and I had so many patients comment that my pen looked weird or that they were surprised it wrote because it looked broken. A few times I was surprised when someone knew what it was and commented on it. One elderly gentleman commented how it had been ages since he'd seen a fountain pen.
BunnyGirl at April 14, 2015 10:56 AM
@BunnyGirl
I worked with some folks from India who knew exactly what one was. They called it an "ink pen" and told me they were required to learn handwriting with one in primary school.
I don't know if it's the fountain pen or the Indian education system, but I've yet to encounter an Indian working in this country who doesn't have good handwriting.
Conan the Grammarian at April 14, 2015 3:11 PM
Not surprised by any of this nonsense anymore. You have seen the latest TSA atrocity to make the news, right?
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/04/13/cbs4-investigation-tsa-screeners-at-dia-manipulated-system-to-grope-mens-genitals/
And the surprise here is that this one was only exposed by another TSA worker. Not one single groped man filed any sort of complaint (at least none that they have found.)
I have not checked to see if this is up at Lisa Simeon's blog yet. What is it going to take before people stop accepting this violation?
felicity bandersnatch at April 14, 2015 5:02 PM
@felicity: Jerry also shared that story in the links thread. Both that man and his accomplice belong on the sex offender registry. That is sexual assault.
Patrick at April 14, 2015 6:24 PM
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