It's A Museum: Common Sense Please

Before today, I had never heard of the National Canal Museum located in Easton, PA. After going to it's website, I think I would rather enjoy spending an afternoon there. In addition to the museum itself, there is a historic house, a technology center, a park, and a canal boat ride. This boat is pulled by two mules.

If it were not for this canal ride being in the news, I do not think that I would have heard about the museum. First, I think it is necessary to read the article here at CNN that was posted yesterday. For those of you who don't want to read the whole article, basically the Transportation Security Administration wants the Canal Museum to pay for biometric Transportation Worker Identification Credentials for those who lead the mules who pull the canal boat. These are the same credentials needed for longshoremen and truckers to make sure that they have been given extensive background checks.

The people who lead these mules are costumed interpreters and the canal boat moves slowly along a small route that passes nothing needing extra security. Oh, and it's expensive to get these credentials. "Common sense dictates," as one of my teachers would often say, that this is highly unnecessary. Luckily it is not just the museum community who thinks this as this debate has reached Capitol Hill.

If I read anything new on this issue I will definitely update this story, but in the meantime, go check out the National Canal Museum.