From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: [wsfa-forum] NASFiC
Date: Mon,  9 Aug 2010 22:20:07 -0400 (EDT)
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

"Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com> wrote:
> How did you manage that?  I thought you had an aversion to
> government-issued IDs?

I dislike passports, but I only absolutely object to *internal*
passports.  If Americans need passports to travel within the US, why
did the US bother to have a cold war?  It would have been cheaper
and safer just to surrender to the USSR.  The only reason not to was
to preserve freedom.  So if we're not going to bother with freedom
anymore, what was the point in spending trillions and risking
nuclear war?

I only got that passport because it was required for work, as we were
doing upgrades at sites overseas.  It has of course long since expired,
and I have no intention of getting another one.

My 1999 trip to the NASFiC and the Worldcon was the last time I flew.
The next-to-last time, and my last purely domestic trip by air, was
in 1997, to the San Antonio Worldcon and back, back when it was still
barely possible to fly without ID, though it required arguing with
several levels of management and incurring an extra thorough search
of my person and my luggage.

I went to the 2002 San Jose Worldcon and back by rail, three and a
half days each way, and more expensive than flying, rather than put
up with that again.  Then in 2004, when I attempted to travel to the
Boston Worldcon by rail, I was prevented from doing so as I didn't
have any ID with me.  (I got there anyway, by Chinatown bus.  I think
I eventually got a refund for my unused Amtrak ticket.)

Since then, I haven't traveled further than Philadelphia.  As I
mentioned, if my finances improve by 2012 (they could hardly get
worse), I may attend the Chicago Worldcon.  I would get there and
back by catching a ride with a local fan.

> I've driven as far as Indianapolis to avoid flying in the last
> few years,

Thanks.  If more Americans felt the way you did, security theater
would soon come to an end.

> but if I ever want to see my dad again, I'm going to have to fly at
> least this once.

Fortunately my mother and my brother live within walking distance of
me.  (My father died six years ago.)

> Maybe I should look into flight training again so I can fly myself...

Are you sure the security theater isn't just as bad for that?
Especially if one end of your trip is anywhere near DC?

> Or hold camp-cons...overnight charges at campgrounds are still
> pretty low, and there's plenty of space available...

Good idea.  One thing that may have kept people away from NASFiC was
that Pennsic was going on at the same time.  I've considered attending
Pennsic, but I'm not all that interested in the dark ages.  Especially
since, if the government keeps doing what it's doing, we'll get to see
real dark ages soon enough.

One piece of good news is that Metro has quietly dropped their plan to
select entering passengers at random and search their bags.  Perhaps
they figured they already had enough bad publicity, what with their
never-ending delays and unreliability and their sky-high fares.  Maybe
they finally got a clue.  Or perhaps not, given that their website
implies that the only thing passengers care about is the fatal crash
that happened in June of last year.  They don't seem to realize that
Metro is at least a hundred times safer than driving, and that people
are giving up on Metro and switching to driving because of the
frequent delays.  And because they *can't afford* to take Metro
with the new fares.  Driving is cheaper unless you park downtown.

They've broken ground for the Metro extension to Tysons.  I've been
awaiting that extension for decades, but at this point I think it
should be postponed until Metro proves it's able to reliably operate
the existing system, with reasonable fares, and to financially break
even when doing so.  If they're unable to do so, I think they all
ought to be fired, and the whole system sold to the highest bidder.