[log in to unmask] wrote:

> On Tue, 22 Jan 2002, Mark Feblowitz wrote:
>
> > They take the sharps thing VERY seriously. No metal forks or knives; they
> > even confiscated a woman's two-inch, blunt-nosed scissors from a miniature
> > sewing kit. You'd be hard-pressed to injure much of anything with this.
>
> I guess knitting needles would be right out.  This is silly though.  There
> are lots of ways to kill a person with your bare hands or any number of
> objects readily available on planes.

Indeed.

The main thing is, IMO, avoiding responsibility.  If you ban anything
with an edge or a point then when something happens you can say that you
followed the instructions to the letter.

Randy Cassingham's excellent "this is true" site (www.thisistrue.com if
I recall correctly) has some more examples of this fear of thinking.

Best wishes,
Alex.