http://gizmodo.com/…

Allowing people to quickly hop through airport security with a TSA-verified biometric “fast passes,” Clear had great idea on their hands. Sadly, as of yesterday, their freeflowing security lanes will be closed.

So what was it? Did tightened government regulations make operating impossible? Was there some kind of security breach? An issue with the TSA granting a virtual monopoly to a private fast track service? Nope! It was something simpler, and more timely. Cue their goodbye email:

Clear to Cease Operations

Dear xxxx xxxx,

At 11:00 p.m. PST today, Clear will cease operations. Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.

After today, Clear lanes will be unavailable.

Sincerely,
Clear Customer Support

Apparently not enough people were willing to spring for the service, which could cost as much as $199. Looking at the numbers, though, it’s clear obvious that Clear never really took off, spreading to just 20 airports and garnering about 150,000 subscribers.

The company hasn’t yet announced how they plan to deal with those subscribers—an impatient bunch, I’m guessing—but as far as getting any kind of service refund, this sparingly worded announcement doesn’t bode well.

The best of both worlds: continued artificial economic stimulation and regulations that don’t slow it down.

http://sentinelsource.com/…

Iused to say that a libertarian is just a Republican who wants to smoke pot and watch porn. That was before I attended a Bob Dylan concert in Laconia some years ago. Shortly after the concert began, a young woman two rows in front of me stood up. She continued to stand throughout the concert. Never mind that everyone around her was seated.

I asked the man sitting in front of me to ask the woman to kindly sit because she was blocking people’s views. She continued to stand. I asked an usher to ask her to sit. He spoke to her and walked away, the offending woman still standing. I called the usher over and he told me the woman said she will stand if she wants to because it is her right; there was nothing the usher could do about it.

Apparently this phenomenon is fairly common, because around that time it was lampooned on “Saturday Night Live.” At that concert, she was one of perhaps 10 scattered audience members standing. When I regularly attended concerts in the 1960s and ’70s the audience would either collectively stand or sit. That’s when I realized my original assessment of libertarians was wrong, since even the staunchest Republican I know would have the courtesy to sit down.

Libertarians say they espouse the rights of the individual, which always seemed to me to be just a political way of saying me first, second and third and the hell with everyone else.
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