This Week In Pie Making (Nov. 21)

Last week, your pie maker was dangerously close to the shadow of the Mouse for a conference devoted to the technical side of preventing very bad things from happening. There is nothing quite like being surrounded by hundreds of engineers, scientists and medical professionals who sincerely hope that the work they are presenting never sees its intended use. Actually, a guest speaker highly recommended that we find alternative uses for our ideas, lest the vagaries of politics and realities of economics cause us to lose work that could be the difference between a small incident and a major catastrophe. Also, the most effective response any society can have to most any type of terrorism is a very good public health system. It is very hard to kill healthy people who can be treated quickly and effectively.

This meant flying during the ongoing TSA-as-sexual-predator controversy. Your own pie maker was not subjected to any extra screening, which is good since his bike-shorts were in the wash, but it does seem odd that young women in slip dresses who did not set off the metal detector were selected. Even odder when men who are acting strangely (well, like irresponsible teenagers) were able to set off the metal detector, distract several workers and still not face any extra attention. In short, your pie maker finds himself in agreement with this Forbes op-ed, the staff of Digg, Ann Coulter and the ACLU. Anyone who can make financiers, internet junkies, populists and egg-head liberals agree must be a heck of a leader. Unless, of course, he's managed to unite them all against him.

The loudest voices in support of this policy come from the President, DHS Sec. Napolitano and Ayman al-Zawahiri. They argue that preventing any incident means spending considerable amounts of money everywhere because those sneaky guys will try just about anything. Stockholders in RapidScan and Smiths (like major Dem. donor George Soros and former SecHS Chertoff) agree that this is absolutely critical, and an important part of growing our economy through stimulus spending. The only other option is that we ask ourselves, honestly, what risks we are willing to accept as a society.

That is going to be a very difficult conversation. Issues like profiling and liability will come up, and we need to be ready to be civil and assume good faith on the part of the other. It's a conversation that gets to the heart of what exactly our government is supposed to do for us, and what we are supposed to do for our fellow citizens. As a first step, there's the National Day of Listening. That will take a lot of energy, and to refuel, P&P recommends the Rolled Date Pie with Honey Glaze. Recipe coming soon.



Sustainable plug: Hooray for AMTRACK! First-class seats, power outlets and no involuntary groping.