Don't Move Along, Our F**kups Are Your Problem

Some headlines:

A US customs computer snafu caused major airport delays
US Customs computers outage causes delays for airport travelers
Computer outage leaves international travelers stranded at US airports on New Year's Day

Of course, it wasn't the computer outage that caused the delays. What caused the delays was the decision by customs/immigration bureaucrats to hold everyone up while they enforced bad laws manually instead of saying "OK, computer's down -- to keep things moving, we'll just enforce the full set of bad laws against, say, every sixth or seventh traveler. The rest will just get cursory passport looks and holiday best wishes and be sent on their way."

Some of the stories describe the delays as "service disruptions." They weren't.

"Service" is "[t]he act of serving; the occupation of a servant; the performance of labor for the benefit of another, or at another's command; attendance of an inferior, hired helper, slave, etc., on a superior, employer, master, or the like; also, spiritual obedience and love."

The airport customs bureaucrats' "performance" of labor is not "for the benefit" of travelers. It is security theater and make-work for the purpose of displaying and justifying the authoritah of the state. Those "services" weren't disrupted at all. All that was disrupted was the travel of mere mundanes, who pay not only through the nose for said "services" but are also expected to genuflect and pretend that they're receiving something of value.