BTilke

Bitter, you are quick to accuse people of being partisan. I'm confused...criticizing Bush is partisan but supporting him isn't? Over the months, I've read many posts from you that seem just as "partisan" in favor of Bush, etc.

uuhhhh

Tat,
"lavatory" is "The dreaded 'L' word" to which Giovanna referred. It means bathroom/restroom/WC.

Tries2PakLite

I'll admit it -- I'm partisan. I like Bush and what he is trying to do. I may not agree with all of his policies, but I'm willing to see where he is going.

Don't get me started on the last administration or the cast of characters that are tearing each other apart for the Democratic nod. Sheesh.

And as for Dean -- I sat across the aisle, on a flight home from NY, from a woman that was told by Dean at a Townhall meeting -- after she asked a question that he didn't like -- that she was too ignorant to be allowed to vote!! Nice guy. I keep waiting for her to go public.

And just to finish my rant -- has anyone else ever noticed that Hillary always wears pink when she's doing damamge control. Does she think we're all stupid? How contrived is that? why doesn't she just bring a plate of cookies to every public apology -- like the Ghandi one she did yesterday.

OK -- done. I feel better now. Have a nice day!

Queenie

Bitter:
Do a google search... there are scores of articles. You can start with The US Dept of State website.

I also add that this requirement was already delayed by a year (originally set for Oct 2003) as it was so unworkable.

Imagine if Europe reciprocates:
You plan a vacation to Italy, France and Switzerland; you would need to schedule an interview and travel to their embassies in Washington DC before you could take that vacation. How many people will be willing to do that?

Of course if you have the recent machine readable passport, this is not necessary but MANY people in Europe (including Japan , Singapore) do not.

I am all for improved security, but the solutions must be achievable

mvor

Sue, a machine readable passport has the holder's name, date of birth, nationality and their passport number contained in two lines of text at the bottom of the photo page. This text may be read by machine.

Check out the State Department's web site to see how this impacts people covered by the Visa Waiver program.

http://travel.state.gov/vwp.html#4

ChatNoir

I love it when all the armchair security experts immediately jump on every issue (or worse, even rumors and gossip) and "worse case" it to death. This constant, "the sky is falling" ranting is tiresome and silly when done by otherwise smart people.

Daisy54

xyz123 - This is old news. US domestic flights have had the no bathroom line rule in place since shortly after 9-11. It's not a big enough deal to get all riled up about.

Barbara

re the queueing for the loo, when we flew back from London on Jan. 2 on United, the pilot read verbatim a communication from the State Department requiring people not to stand around in groups while the plane was in the air. The most likely place for that to happen is when people wait to use the lavatory - any lavatory, not just the first class one. I don't think it caused any problems, and one or two people waiting was OK.

Clifton

On the other hand, I can see Suzie FlightAttendant spotting those 4 burly guys huddled there in the back, and in a stunning display of airline efficiency, thwarting the next big terrorist attack by shooing them all back to their seats with that piercing flight attendant stare of hers...

We were just discussing this while waiting in the lavatory queue on our Qantas flight last week. The guys who'd been standing back there for an hour, doing the leg stretches to avoid DVT and I all agreed that it was a very effective tool in the ongoing fight against the bad guys. At least, I think that was the conclusion. I can't quite remember - I really had to go...

mvor

Addendum to Sue, a biometric passport uses a digital photo (using facial-recognition technology-via an embedded computer chip) plus fingerprint.

These passports won't contain any more information than is on current passport identification pages, however, it will make them more difficult to forge. Lastly, the chip has no capability to track people.