Terrorists stole my vegemite!
It's an alarming headline, I know, and terrorists didn't actually steal my vegemite directly, but they are succeeding in some way when they can deprive an Australian of his daily bread spread. The current restrictions on hand baggage for flights in Europe that were put in place after the discovery of a plot to use liquid explosives to blow up planes over the Atlantic limit the carrying of liquids and gels on flights in hand luggage to 100-mL quantities. I still have stocks of Vegemite here, but upon seeing it for sale in a London supermarket, decided to buy some more to help tide me over until my next trip down under. I didn't consider vegemite either a liquid or a gel, so I thought it should be okay. Not so. Upon scanning, my bag was subjected to the unceremonious unpacking in front of other waiting passengers while bits and pieces of my luggage were rescanned. I was finally allowed to proceed, but minus my precious jar of vegemite.
Now I, for one, am a little sceptical of the restrictions on liquids on flights. I am not convinced as to how liquid explosives would be used on flights, and even more sceptical of the theories that explosives could be successfully made and detonated in airplane lavatories from commonly available liquids without suspicion being aroused. And what is to stop Joe Terrorist bringing aboard solid explosives, disguised as, say, a bar of soap? The imposing of restrictions is a guise on the part of governments to be seen to be doing something about terrorism, but all it has done is restricted law-abiding citizens' rights to go about their normal routine-something I'm sure the terrorists are quite happy about. Sure, I could have checked my bag along with my jar of vegemite, but then the terrorists are stealing my time. On a quick hop across the channel, I do not want to have to wait for ages by a luggage carousel.
Now I, for one, am a little sceptical of the restrictions on liquids on flights. I am not convinced as to how liquid explosives would be used on flights, and even more sceptical of the theories that explosives could be successfully made and detonated in airplane lavatories from commonly available liquids without suspicion being aroused. And what is to stop Joe Terrorist bringing aboard solid explosives, disguised as, say, a bar of soap? The imposing of restrictions is a guise on the part of governments to be seen to be doing something about terrorism, but all it has done is restricted law-abiding citizens' rights to go about their normal routine-something I'm sure the terrorists are quite happy about. Sure, I could have checked my bag along with my jar of vegemite, but then the terrorists are stealing my time. On a quick hop across the channel, I do not want to have to wait for ages by a luggage carousel.