6 ms·

Isn't it pathetically sad what we've grown to accept? Frog in a slowly heating pot indeed. Now that we've accepted the horrors of the TSA, they are working on

by ck2 13y ago

Isn't it pathetically sad what we've grown to accept? Frog in a slowly heating pot indeed. Now that we've accepted the horrors of the TSA, they are working on getting us to accept the horrors of the NSA, slowly but surely, until we reach the point that the average person defends every smartphone being hacked and tracked.

dangerlibrary 13y ago
In general, frogs will jump out of slowly heating pots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog
- talmand 13y ago
  Bigger pot, less water as to bigger budget, less freedom.
- HCIdivision17 13y ago
  The page is actually fairly interesting. It seems to have started with a test where the frog failed to jump out because when it's brain was removed (reminding me of how frogs go deaf when their legs are cut off). But it does seem that it's a matter of degrees (literally). If sufficiently slow - very slow - the frog may in fact not notice. But it is certainly very slow. It also seems a normal frog will also apparently get bored or restless, and will jump out, not from heat, but because frogs just jump around. Overall, it seems like a hard thing to test for properly without inflicting some constraint on the frog to encourage it to stay and die.
- DumySSone 13y ago
  What if the pot contains wine? What then?
  - regularfry 13y ago
    Mulled frog, obviously.
rogerbinns 13y ago
I wish the airlines would make it clearer to passengers the fees they are paying. If every passenger was reminded just after going through the TSA that $5 of their ticket actually went to the TSA for the procedure, I suspect there would be a lot more pressure for change.
- jmspring 13y ago
  My last trip to London from SFO, according to the ticket fare breakdown, fees were more than 1/2 the ticket. Probably closer to 60%. I would love to see every line item. Just over Christmas break, we flew from the Vancouver commuter terminal to Tofino. Aside from the delays due to weather, no TSA, super friendly staff, quick mostly comfy flight.
  - objclxt 13y ago
    > My last trip to London from SFO, according to the ticket fare breakdown, fees were more than 1/2 the ticket. Probably closer to 60%. I would love to see every line item. If you were flying a UK airline they were probably counting the "fuel surcharge" as a fee, which in many cases can be the majority of the ticket. I just priced up the cheapest SFO-LHR return on Virgin next month, it came in at $1000, with $458 being "carrier imposed surcharges", counted as fees. Except they're not fees at all, it's the 'fuel surcharge'. Actual taxes and fees were $233, or 23%. Your airline should have given you a link to the line by line breakdown of every item ($5 custom fee, $2.50 TSA fee, etc) when you bought the ticket. On a related note, if you're flying from SFO you're not actually interacting with the TSA itself at all, San Francisco is one of the few airports that contracts out security screening to a TSA-approved company (some people think SFO has more 'friendly' security screening because of it, I haven't really noticed).
    - jmspring 13y ago
      It was a company purchased ticket, I can probably dig it up...but by fees, I was lumping in surcharges, as you state. One way my wife and I have helped deal with some of the line hassle -- GOES (for coming back into the country), Clear (had it before PreCheck came about and will reevaluate), and now PreCheck (GOES helped with this). I've heard some mention that as more and more people become PreCheck eligible, that will become the norm rather than the exception. We shall see. With regard to SFO not being TSA, I'm aware of this and generally have found them much more efficient than the TSA. Probably my best TSA experiences have been in Seattle (recently) and Kona, friendly and generally laughing. Worst opt out experience was actually SFO w/ a manager who took exception to anyone opting out and waited 10+ min before calling someone over -- "The delay is to encourage you to go through the machines".

by ck2 13y ago

dangerlibrary 13y ago

In general, frogs will jump out of slowly heating pots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

talmand 13y ago
Bigger pot, less water as to bigger budget, less freedom.
HCIdivision17 13y ago
The page is actually fairly interesting. It seems to have started with a test where the frog failed to jump out because when it's brain was removed (reminding me of how frogs go deaf when their legs are cut off). But it does seem that it's a matter of degrees (literally). If sufficiently slow - very slow - the frog may in fact not notice. But it is certainly very slow. It also seems a normal frog will also apparently get bored or restless, and will jump out, not from heat, but because frogs just jump around. Overall, it seems like a hard thing to test for properly without inflicting some constraint on the frog to encourage it to stay and die.
DumySSone 13y ago
What if the pot contains wine? What then?
- regularfry 13y ago
  Mulled frog, obviously.

rogerbinns 13y ago

I wish the airlines would make it clearer to passengers the fees they are paying. If every passenger was reminded just after going through the TSA that $5 of their ticket actually went to the TSA for the procedure, I suspect there would be a lot more pressure for change.

jmspring 13y ago
My last trip to London from SFO, according to the ticket fare breakdown, fees were more than 1/2 the ticket. Probably closer to 60%. I would love to see every line item. Just over Christmas break, we flew from the Vancouver commuter terminal to Tofino. Aside from the delays due to weather, no TSA, super friendly staff, quick mostly comfy flight.
- objclxt 13y ago
  > My last trip to London from SFO, according to the ticket fare breakdown, fees were more than 1/2 the ticket. Probably closer to 60%. I would love to see every line item. If you were flying a UK airline they were probably counting the "fuel surcharge" as a fee, which in many cases can be the majority of the ticket. I just priced up the cheapest SFO-LHR return on Virgin next month, it came in at $1000, with $458 being "carrier imposed surcharges", counted as fees. Except they're not fees at all, it's the 'fuel surcharge'. Actual taxes and fees were $233, or 23%. Your airline should have given you a link to the line by line breakdown of every item ($5 custom fee, $2.50 TSA fee, etc) when you bought the ticket. On a related note, if you're flying from SFO you're not actually interacting with the TSA itself at all, San Francisco is one of the few airports that contracts out security screening to a TSA-approved company (some people think SFO has more 'friendly' security screening because of it, I haven't really noticed).
  - jmspring 13y ago
    It was a company purchased ticket, I can probably dig it up...but by fees, I was lumping in surcharges, as you state. One way my wife and I have helped deal with some of the line hassle -- GOES (for coming back into the country), Clear (had it before PreCheck came about and will reevaluate), and now PreCheck (GOES helped with this). I've heard some mention that as more and more people become PreCheck eligible, that will become the norm rather than the exception. We shall see. With regard to SFO not being TSA, I'm aware of this and generally have found them much more efficient than the TSA. Probably my best TSA experiences have been in Seattle (recently) and Kona, friendly and generally laughing. Worst opt out experience was actually SFO w/ a manager who took exception to anyone opting out and waited 10+ min before calling someone over -- "The delay is to encourage you to go through the machines".