Does anyone actually believe the TSA?

[futurebeachbum]

Mythbuster and the TSA

Adam Savage of the Mythbusters documents his recent experience with the TSA scanner process in this article "Adam Savage: TSA saw my junk, missed 12" razor blades"

I think the title is reasonably self explanatory and it has a nice video, but here is a quote:

Savage was put through the full-body scanner, and while he joked that it made his penis feel small, no one seemed to notice the items he was carrying on his person. The video tells the rest of the story.

 

[scooterbug44]

Which may be why Italy tested the scanners and rejected them - of course this may also be because Italy didn't have their former head of Homeland security pushing the scanners to make $$$.

 

[GoodWitch58]

After John Tyner: A Five-Step Plan to a Sane Airport Security System | Mother Jones

W]hat I haven't seen is an informed take on what airport security ought to look like. We all hate taking off our shoes and pulling out our laptops and being limited to three ounces of liquid and not being allowed to meet people at the gate anymore ? we hate all of that. But if it's all useless, what should we do instead? Shouldn't someone write that article?

the rest of the article offers up some really reasonable ideas IMO.

 

[futurebeachbum]

After John Tyner: A Five-Step Plan to a Sane Airport Security System | Mother Jones the rest of the article offers up some really reasonable ideas IMO.

Excellent article. I like the 5 recommendations.

This quote summarizes the whole situation pretty accurately:

Schneier is famous for explaining that "exactly two things have made us safer since 9/11: reinforcing the cockpit door and convincing passengers they need to fight back. Everything else is a waste of money." All three experts favor scrapping most of the security measures that people hate?and not necessarily replacing them with anything.

 

[futurebeachbum]

Disband the TSA

Great Op-ed in the American Spectator called "Disband the TSA".

He cites all the logical reasons why the TSA needs to go. I Love this quote:

It is the TSA's premise that the 89-year old great-grandmother in a walker, the soccer team comprised of 11-year old girls, the two-year old toddler on the family vacation, the airline crewmember and the soldier traveling home from Iraq pose the same potential threat to airline safety as the Middle Eastern man traveling alone, without luggage, on a one-way First Class ticket that was purchased with cash. The TSA is fueled by political correctness run amuck. Its sole accomplishments to date have been establishing a sizable airport presence and humiliating passengers.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Great Op-ed in the American Spectator called "Disband the TSA".

He cites all the logical reasons why the TSA needs to go. I Love this quote:

makes me wonder what research they use to form the policies...it seems counterproductive to all that seems known about safety and behavior...

 

[scooterbug44]

Great Op-ed in the American Spectator called "Disband the TSA".

He cites all the logical reasons why the TSA needs to go. I Love this quote:

That quote is exactly the opposite of what was in the article Glenda posted. It's not political correctness - it's logic. For all the calls for profiling, the latest foiled plots have involved shipping printer cartridges and an attempt to implant dogs w/ devices, not Muslim males with one way tickets. That author made the point that if you just screen one group, or just use one set of parameters, the terrorists will simply select someone that doesn't fit that profile - which is why you want random searches that include everyone.

"Terrorists can't avoid or plan for truly random enhanced searches, like they can with protocol-, background-, and profiling-based searches. You don't want terrorists to be able to plan their way around your security. You want them to have to get lucky."

I found the 5 suggestions in her article to be the kind of common sense reforms we need to make in the TSA.

 

[futurebeachbum]

I found the 5 suggestions in her article to be the kind of common sense reforms we need to make in the TSA.

I still haven't found anyone who could make a compelling argument for why we need the TSA at all.

We've strengthened the cockpit doors and passengers aren't going to put up with much. The TSA has never stopped explosives from getting on board an aircraft and apparently there isn't any technology that can reliably do that coming any time soon.

Why don't we just accept the risk and roll on? If one is really concerned about bombs then don't fly (or go to ball games or ride subways, etc...)

This is (theoretically) about giving up rights and money to save lives (although in 9 years no lives have been saved.) It's crazy. We as a nation trade lives for money and/or convenience all of the time, but we can't do it here?

We accept 30,000 highway deaths per year when we could clearly reduce it by just spending more enforcement dollars and restricting how/when people drive (just like the way we use the TSA) but we clearly don't t think its worth the money (and we don't want to give up our driving rights....)

Rather than spend $7B/year and inconvenience everyone, let's do the risk analysis and dump the TSA. We'd pretty quickly get to the point we could spare a few lives annually to avoid the cost and invconvenience.

 

[30A Skunkape]

Leaving ECP I got busted carrying liquids not enclosed in a ziplock bag. In the same carry on bag the lady ignored my nail clippers and electric shaver, complete with power cord. It seems to me that wires, electronics and a wire stripper would be compelling, but I guess not.:roll:

 

[futurebeachbum]

I feel a lot safer now that I know they are focused on real threats....