Amtrak CEO joins call for more rail security, no-ride list
January 14, 2021
https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2 ... -ride-list

Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn has joined the call by two labor unions for increased security for Amtrak passengers and railroad workers, especially in the Washington, D.C., area, in the wake of last week’s violence at the Capitol building. “There is nothing more important than the safety of our employees,” Flynn said in a statement. “Since the start of the pandemic, our dedicated frontline employees have kept our trains running, providing a vital transportation service to essential workers. We join our labor partners in continuing to call upon Congress and the Administration to make assaults against rail workers a Federal crime, as it is for aviation workers, and to expand the TSA’s ‘No Fly List’ to rail passenger service.”

Flynn’s statement also said the passenger railroad is increasing its police enforcement of mask requirements, removing and banning non-complying customers and increasing the number of Amtrak police onboard trains and in stations. “The Amtrak Police Department is a member of the steering committee for the upcoming Inaugural Ceremonies and has prepared a robust strategy to secure our stations, trains and infrastructure. We also continue to work closely with and utilize the resources of our federal, state and local partners.”

Two unions, the International Association fo Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, have called on the Federal Railroad Administration and Department of Homeland Security to increase rail security and to create a rail equivalent of the no-fly list.

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What are you going to do when you've been deplatformed from everything? Banks, insurance, the internet, public/private transportation, Uber Eats... just because someone made up some crap about you? (And remember, there is NO recourse, NO due process, or anything, you are just automatically guilty). Heck even if they think you're going to do something they don't like, they can ban you. Or just keep redefining the list of things they don't like...

What happens when the credit card companies decide YOUR business/organization spews a little too much carbon, and shuts down your ability to process payments? What happens when your webhosting company decides they don't like you and nukes your website?

At the drop off the hat, Amazon nuked a billion dollar company, based on lies circulating in the media.

Now that we've jumped down this path, it's never going to end. At Harvard, they're circulating a petition to revoke the degrees of people they don't like.

And now huge swaths of the country are being labelled as "domestic terrorists".

Yeah, this isn't going to end well...

Well, people could avoid this by not forming a violent mob to try and overthrow an election they didn't like the outcome of.

First and foremost, we don't really have any evidence that Parler - which is the "billion dollar company" that you're assumedly referring to - was actually a billion dollar company. Amazon deciding that they don't want to host a company that they don't like is no different than Wal-Mart taking a product off the shelf because it was too expensive for their customer base. That's capitalism.

And the Harvard thing? That's a group of students circulating a petition. That's not anything being actually considered by the staff of Harvard. Those kids can circulate a petition all they want. They have the right to do that in America.

That's great... but what about Amtrak's no-ride list? That's totally cool though right?

Joe6167, please see Mark Cuban's succinct explanation to Senator Hawley:

Sigh.... The Koolaid has been drunk. You can’t change the flavor after the fact. This thread should be deleted.

The problem is that in today's toxic "cancel culture," the odds are almost certain that such an outlandish proposition will be taken seriously by Harvard's administration.

As a moderator,

Be very careful.. this conversation is very political, and can easily push beyond acceptable limits.

I will also note that our railroad museum/ heritage railway has had regular visits from Homeland Security, once accompanied by the CIA. When I asked why, the agent said that if anything happened at our site she would get a call from Washington asking "what do you know about this place". They have made some good suggestions that have been incorporated into our emergency procedures...

Your friendly moderator...

And we all can see how well that worked in the McCarthy era. People booted out of their profession for no reason other than people associated others with things they didn't like (which were not illegal), for the rest of their lives.
But hey, you can't learn anything from history, right?
People miss the mark by making a "1930s Germany" comparison when comparing it to McCarthyism is far more apt.