Travel News from msnbc.com

Here's the latest news from the mainstream viewpoint, includes a story about a man with a urostomy bag having a humiliating experience during a TSA pat down, videos, and a list of all the U.S. airports now offering the new enhanced security.

Does anybody else remember how fun it used to be to fly? People had huge parties at the airports, meeting arrivals and seeing people off was normal for Americans. I tended bar at both major Alaskan airports so I know airport bars were our old social hubs, even for people traveling with children. Then the communitarians came along and started regulating Americans' public drinking and smoking and eating and in my opinion, it's all gone straight downhill from there. I believe that when we allowed trained facilitators to tell us what was bad for us and allowed them to press their opinions into law, we gave up our adulthood and became wards of Big Mother. If our neo government has the power to tell us how many drinks we can order in one night, then why would we expect to be able to say we won't pull our pants down if we need a spanking?

Seems like all kinds of horror stories about tsa harassment that happened over the past eight years are being revived for recently planned "opt out" days. I read a new old story every day. Makes me wonder what it would have been like if the Germans and Italians had internet in the 30s and we moderns had all their blogs and facebook pages to study for similarities.

It's kind of weird but I'm getting regular hits on the TSA job post I made of the local craigslist ad for Anchorage Airport TSA testers, from people looking for information about how to apply. Is it ethical for me to trick unsuspecting people into coming to my blog?

TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urine
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40291856/ns/travel-news

SNL TSA spoof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joIxWcFO3bY

Song/video: Don't Touch My Junk (with a blatant pitch for Alex Jones embedded in the script) http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/70298.html

Thanks to Connie for finding these links!

How to make a composting toilet

I just found this great site called In the Wake: A Collective Manual-in-Progress for Outliving Civilization. Heading back to live in my gertee next week and been thinking a lot about giving up our lovely bathroom and going back to my honey bucket routine in the dead of winter. I doubt this will be a good winter project but I can study it now and maybe try it in the spring. I do have a plan for an inside shower that I can rig up for immediate use. But to figure out a way to recycle all my waste would be really nice. It's a long hike to the outhouse, and I carry out all the dirty wash water too. Seems like the more water storage jugs I get, the more water I use. Also need to find the best way to clean the algae buildup from inside the jugs I can't reach inside. I may end up going with only the wide mouth ones because they clean up nice.

Composting Toilets, by Aric McBay

Composting is an aerobic process—it takes place with the presence of air. That means that properly operating composting toilets do not produce unpleasant smells or gases. The temperatures reached inside the compost, along with the time the compost spends “curing”, kill the disease organisms that might be present. Composting toilets also conserve the nutrients in the feces and urine, so that they can be returned to the land. Compost itself contains valuable organic matter that does wonders for soil life and gardens, a topic which will be expanded on in future writings on gardening.

Some people are worried about the fact that one might have to handle material containing human feces. This is a valid concern, but it shouldn’t be a problem if proper handwashing and other simple precautions take place. After all, most of us are quite literally full of poop all the time, and use the toilet on a regular basis, and it doesn’t harm us. As long as you wash properly, a composting toilet is no more dangerous than any other kind of toilet.

Read full article here: http://www.inthewake.org/b1latrine2.html

Here's another upgrade "option":
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ENAMELWARE-CHAMBER-POT-NEVER-USED-WITH-LABEL_W0QQitemZ300276383089QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAntiques_Decorative_Arts?hash=item300276383089&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1240%7C66%3A4%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A2%7C240%3A1318