Arrived in LA

Got into LA from Albuquerque last night. I ended up staying at my
Mom's house in Pasadena, because i was an absolute zombie from the
hours of driving. This morning, I realized that Veronica, a friend
from Colgate, was nearby at Caltech, and so i persuaded my sister to
bike over with me to visit. V suggested that I save on rent by staying
in the dorm with her, and so that's my plan for now. I need to go out
to West LA to visit my grandfather in the hospital, and then I will
likely return to Caltech to unpack.

Exciting!

Leaving Ann Arbor

I'm leaving ann arbor this morning, but I haven't decided exactly
where I'm going. Part of me wants to stop in with IL, near st. Louis,
but another part of me just wants to press on and not stop. I think
I'll just get started in that general direction, and see how I feel
when I get over in that area.

My toothpaste is a threat to national security!

Apparently, my toothpaste is a threat to national security. The latest
iteration of the TSA rules forbids more than three ounces of any
liquid or gel in your carry-one, and apparently my toothpaste is (or
should I say 'was') a whopping 4.5 ounces. Its a wonder that I didn't
put my back out carrying that thing!

To be honest, though, I'm a little conflicted about the whole post
9-11 security situation. Sure, I understand the logic behind the rule
-- that my tube of toothpaste, if filled with plastic explosive, could
do some damage.I have three issues with the current rules, though.

First, if my toothpaste is a threat in my carry-on, then it should
also be a threat in my checked luggage. I am fairly confident that
anyone with enough intelligence to fill a tube of toothpaste and seal
it so that it would pass the chemical screening would also have the
intelligence to rig a timer or chemical fuse. Yet, the TSA does not
put size limits on things in checked baggage --presumably, I could
have checked a gallon of shampoo without so much as an eyebrow raised.

Second is the cost-to-benefit ratio of the rule. The aggregate cost of
all the confiscated items certainly reaches into the millions of
dollars, especially when you consider the double replacement cost for
each item. After all, I now have to buy a mini travel toothpaste for
the rest of the trip as well as a new tube for home. There are few
ways to avoid these costs, as the demand for toothpaste is inelastic
and there are no real options for repackaging it.

The third issue is the adaptive nature that terrorism displays. Once a
tactic has been used sucessfully, terrorists will be aware that that
people will attempt to 'patch' the security hole and will look for a
new vulnerability to attack. As a result, the probability further
attacks against a patched security hole approaches zero. Knowing this,
the task then becomes how best to patch the security hole.

Here is where opinion comes into play. In my opinion, the best way to
patch a security hole is through process, rather than bans on certain
kinds or quantities of items. In fairness, this is beginning to be
implemented, but unfortunately not on a large enough scale to save my
toothpaste.