This Man Is A Hero.

[MithLuin]

Also, the number of people moving through Israeli airports each day is [i]much[/i] smaller than the number moving through American airports. I'm not sure behavior profiling is really scalable.

The way it works is that when you arrive at the airport, someone approaches you and asks you a few questions. Some of them may be basic - name, profession, where are you headed today? While others may require more thought or appear random. While some people would be very intimidated by this, the goal is not to see if you answer all the questions correctly. It's to see how you react to being approached by an airport official. If you are nervous/shifty, you raise red flags. There are other checkpoints throughout the airport that you have to pass through, but they try not to let lines build up (since that is an easy target for a suicide bomber). It still takes a good deal of time to reach your gate (just like here), so it's not more efficient by being 'faster' - it's simply more...effective.

I have been on the receiving end of a random question at a checkpoint, and it really freaked out the driver. We were crossing the US/Canadian border at New Years 2000 (it was a time of heightened security prior to 9/11). We were all college students, and one person in the back seat went to University of Maryland. After checking all of our IDs and asking about how long we'd been across the border and where we went to school....the final question was 'And what is a terrapin, anyway?' The driver, who went to RPI, freaked and was like, 'I don't know???' Meanwhile, the people in the back were like, 'It's a turtle!' The driver didn't know it was the UM mascot, and so was thinking it was more like, 'And what is the average velocity of a fully laden swallow?'

It would take a [i]lot[/i] of personnel to have that kind of system at all US airports receiving international flights. However, these new machines must cost a good deal of money, and we are in an economy where people need work. It would be better to train and hire people rather than to have fancy machines, if it is possible.

I know you can say 'don't fly', but some people have to for work. Not all (or anywhere near most) airplane travel is done for pleasure/vacation. And while you [i]could[/i] take a train from DC to Boston rather than fly, you can't really drive to CA in 6 hours from the East Coast. And flying to Europe or Africa is right out.

Personally, I don't want to be groped in order to get onto a plane. Pat downs aren't invasive, and taking shoes off is simply inconvenient (on a few occasions, I have been running through an airport barefoot, carrying my shoes and bag, to reach my terminal on time). Not being able to bring liquids is [i]really[/i] annoying - air travel dehydrates you majorly, because the cabin air has to be recycled during the whole trip. Also, if you are trying to travel with just a carryon, you are very limited in what personal toiletries you can bring along, and will likely have to buy stuff on the other end.

But a great solution is the one Europe is using. Rather than a scan that actually shows the naked body of the passenger (er, victim?), it shows a generic stick figure, and any 'suspicious items' are revealed in more detail. I wouldn't mind someone doing that kind of scan to me.

[Sternhauser]

[url="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40291856/ns/travel-news"]TSA Search Leaves Bladder Cancer Survivor Sobbing, Covered In Urine[/url]

It's only going to get better from here.

~Sternhauser

Edited November 21, 2010 by Sternhauser

[dominicansoul]

...dang it all..


...i've decided i'm going to make a pilgrimmage to the Holy Land next Spring, so guess what???

I'm going to have to go through these scanners and everybody who is around is going to see me nekkid...


...better stay true to my exercise regimen...I want to look good.....

[Norseman82]

Well, it's going to be interesting to see what happens when members of Congress travel back and forth from DC via air. Will they be given a pass? Will they invoke congressional immunity? Or will one congressman be the one that gets upset and calls a congressional hearing?

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='Norseman82' timestamp='1290375432' post='2188418']
Well, it's going to be interesting to see what happens when members of Congress travel back and forth from DC via air. Will they be given a pass? Will they invoke congressional immunity? Or will one congressman be the one that gets upset and calls a congressional hearing?
[/quote]

Norseman, they're not like us mundanes. They do not have to go through "enhanced security." Did you not know that?

~Sternhauser

Edited November 21, 2010 by Sternhauser

[dominicansoul]

do they even fly commercial??

i thought every politician had access to personal private jets...

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='dominicansoul' timestamp='1290383727' post='2188445']
do they even fly commercial??

i thought every politician had access to personal private jets...
[/quote]

They often fly on commercial flights. They can also fly on military jets, on your dime. I was once getting on a flight, and watched as a prominent politician was rushed through the riff-raff to board the plane first. No security checks for anyone but the mundanes.

~Sternhauser

Edited November 22, 2010 by Sternhauser

[dominicansoul]

i absolutely HATE that...

who do these people think they are???/

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='dominicansoul' timestamp='1290386527' post='2188453']
i absolutely HATE that...

who do these people think they are???/
[/quote]

That's not the question. The question is, who do [i]you[/i] think they are?

~Sternhauser

[dominicansoul]

scumbags... hahahahahaha

[4588686]

[quote name='Sternhauser' timestamp='1289688241' post='2186951']
Remember this, Catholics, as you travel through a major airport at this time of year. When you let yourself be put through the porno backscatter x-ray machine, detailed enough to tell if a man has been circumcised. And contrary to the TSA's original lie, they don't block out your genitals. You're as naked as the day you were born in that machine. But due to recent policy changes, the TSA will now be touching your genitals, and your children's as well, should you refuse to go through the pornoscope, or refuse to allow them to go through the pornoscope. Perhaps "It's for my own safety" is what you'll think to yourself as you submit. Remember this man as you go through the machine. Or step up and follow his heroic example. [i]This[/i] man protects his liberties, and by doing that, protects [i]your [/i]liberties.

[url="http://johnnyedge.blogspot.com/2010/11/these-events-took-place-roughly-between.html"]TSA Encounter At San Francisco[/url]

~Sternhauser
[/quote]

You're thread title is misleading. The quoted text does not mention me at all.

[MIKolbe]

[img]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n129/corsetti3/Ministry-of-Homeland-Security.jpg[/img]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQTz1bccL4[/media]

[Ice_nine]

I don't like it. I don't like it at all.

But a question: I like to imagine various scenarios where I'd have to make the choice between standing up for what I believe in or backing down blah blah blah. It provides a smorgasbord or introverted entertainment and all. At first I figured it was overreaction but you know some of those videos and articles skeeved me out pretty bad. So, what do I do if I need to fly (sometimes it actually IS more economical) but I'm chosen to be groped or be put through one of those crazy arse machines?

This is an honest question. I could simply refuse as this man has. But I'm thinking stripping down in broad view and bein like "find anything interesting ociffer?" would be more protesty and fight the powery. Any other ideas? Again I'm being for real serious. speaking with an unpleasant disposition and whining about this is all well and good but hey I'm an angsty 20-something and I like to stick it to the man whenever possible.

Edited November 22, 2010 by Ice_nine

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='Ice_nine' timestamp='1290430602' post='2188557']
I don't like it. I don't like it at all.

But a question: I like to imagine various scenarios where I'd have to make the choice between standing up for what I believe in or backing down blah blah blah. It provides a smorgasbord or introverted entertainment and all. At first I figured it was overreaction but you know some of those videos and articles skeeved me out pretty bad. So, what do I do if I need to fly (sometimes it actually IS more economical) but I'm chosen to be groped or be put through one of those crazy arse machines?

This is an honest question. I could simply refuse as this man has. But I'm thinking stripping down in broad view and bein like "find anything interesting ociffer?" would be more protesty and fight the powery. Any other ideas? Again I'm being for real serious. speaking with an unpleasant disposition and whining about this is all well and good but hey I'm an angsty 20-something and I like to stick it to the man whenever possible.
[/quote]

You can do that. This guy did. He ended up in jail. http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Passenger-Chooses-Strip-Down-Over-Pat-Down-109872589.html?dr

They're thugs, Ice. They have power, and because of that, they are dangerous. The sooner people recognize they are thugs, the sooner people will refuse to tolerate their immoral actions.

What you do is your call. The best solution? Refuse to fly. I won't fly. I encourage others to do the same. Once the corpse of the airline industry goes cold, the parasites that lived off it will have to jump ship, too.

~Sternhauser

[Ice_nine]

[quote name='Sternhauser' timestamp='1290454126' post='2188611']
You can do that. This guy did. He ended up in jail. [url="http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Passenger-Chooses-Strip-Down-Over-Pat-Down-109872589.html?dr"]http://www.nbcsandie...9872589.html?dr[/url]

They're thugs, Ice. They have power, and because of that, they are dangerous. The sooner people recognize they are thugs, the sooner people will refuse to tolerate their immoral actions.

What you do is your call. The best solution? Refuse to fly. I won't fly. I encourage others to do the same. Once the corpse of the airline industry goes cold, the parasites that lived off it will have to jump ship, too.

~Sternhauser
[/quote]

Yes, that is ideal, but I'm far too cynical to believe an effective boycott will ever happen. And then again the scenarios that people have mentioned that pretty much require air travel. Sucky situation. It just seems the juggernaut is too large to stop at this point. While I'm not throwing up the white flag it seems like we really [i]have[/i] lost and society at large seems content with that.