Alright. Let's see if I can actually take the time out of my busy schedule to update this with any form of regularity. I've been busy. Busy studying up on all the crap they're gonna test me on on being an assistant manager. Going through my managers rigorous training course of extra hours, odd hours, and double shifts (even though he'll deny anything about a 'training regiment' to the ends of the earth). I've been reading up on local and business tax laws, securing funds, and laying the groundwork for opening up my own small business. And to top it off, I spend alot of time laying on the couch and veging.

Now, I'm sure you've all heard at this point about the muslim arab terrorists planning to blow up some flights to the United States from the UK, and the subsequent arrests. Well, here's a nice little story from a British newspaper.

So, let's talk about profiling.

At what point, exactly, does profiling become wrong? Lets look at it from a practical point of view, here. I work at a convenience store. It's a pretty small place, and business is pretty good during the day. But at night business drops sharply, and only one person is working at this time. At nights, the person working needs to balance getting work done with preventing theft. Which means we need to pick and choose the people we pay attention to closely, and the people we let wander around the store while we clean counters and stock things.

Do I watch little old ladies who are comming in to browse the things they might want to buy for their grandchildren, who are in town over the weekend? Yeah, I watch em, but I don't stare at em and watch em like a hawk. But when a young male walks in, wearing baggy pants, a beanie, and a hooded sweater in the middle of a texas summer you can bet your ass I'm standing behind the counter and staring dead at em. I don't watch the black guy that comes in, buys a pack of cigaretts and a cup of ice. But I DO watch the three white kids that come in, wander around for fifteen minutes, and constantly shoot looks at me to see if I'm watching them or not.

And I really don't see why that can't transfer to airline security. How many airlines in history have been hijacked and/or blown up by little old ladies? By highly sucessful business men? By government employees? By middleastern muslim extremists between the ages of 18 and 35?

Just something to chew on the next time you bitch about how profiling tramples your rights.