Cute, but really, are the people just doing their job (and probably hating it) the ones you want to send snarky messages to?

I've always had the urge to write messages to X-ray operators with soldering wire.

We start assuming it's just Arabs that want to attack us, they will find people of other races. These guys are smart.

And you know? I did dozens of pat downs. I never touched another person's private parts. It's not part of the procedure. You come close, with the back of the hand, but never any actual contact.

GPFontaine wrote:

Also, This is worth a read... http://gizmodo.com/5703878/the-most-stupid-tsa-action-to-date-defies-belief

Yes, if you want to be a smartass, the TSA will be a smartass right back.

And if you're going to act extremely unusual and do something like strip to your underwear in public, they are gonna take a good hard look at you (no pun intended). Especially if you trip the Explosives Trace Detection machine, something the article just seems to gloss over.

Her pat-down was probably pretty brief (again no pun intended) since you don't have to pat down bare skin, but something else that the article glosses over is that she was in a wheelchair, which is a perfect place to hide something. Now imagine this: You're screening a woman in a wheelchair that's doing something incredibly distracting. Something of hers trips the alarm for ammonium nitrate, one of the components of a common homemade explosive. What's your call? Personally, I get my supervisor to get a cop down there. That's more than suspicious.

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I find it funny how this post is about an airport system that's far superior to ours yet everyone is still talking about how our system isn't that bad.

I find it hilarious how people in this thread are still working off the underlying assumption Israeli security is better. I mean, read that shit. How would you like it if -you- were the one pulled out of line, held for a few hours, had your bag blown up, because you looked a little shifty? They go through WAY more shit than a body scanner and/or a pat-down.

And to be bluntly honest, Israel has a serious problem with terrorist attacks and terrorism, and they are forced to take extreme measures. They are not the model I want to look at when I want security on my airplanes. They don't have security when they use the toilet.

Pandajuice got my point mostly, you can't rely on profiling to screen people, because "profiling" usually means "grab the brown guy". Terrorists are smart, you know. We start pulling the brown guys, they will recruit a white guy. We pull all men aside, they get a woman. We start screening all the adult, they strap a bomb to a kid. We look for particular things, they train their guys to do different things. Remember, these guys knew EXACTLY how we'd react to a hijacked plane, and exploited that to crash those planes into buildings. Do not assume they are stupid.

I'll finish with one of my favorite stories: A psychologist ran an experiment in an airport terminal. He took a guy with a wheelchair with him, and he spent a few hours wandering around the terminal with him. Talking, having lunch, hanging around. Nobody noticed the (replica) submachine gun hanging off the side of the wheelchair. In my mind, that's where profiling gets you. You look for cues in one face, you miss the obvious in a "non-profiled" one.

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We use bored locals making $9 an hour. I'd rather not trust my personal security on their intuition.

First off, we made closer to $14 an hour, and second, you -are- trusting your personal security on their intuition. Or at least their judgment.

Nothing goes off or flashes when there's a firearm or IED in the luggage we look at. They observe it, interpret it, and clear it or call for a check of the bag. And it is a skill that is a -lot- harder than it appears.

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If you wanted to integrate the psychological aspect behind what our security is already doing, that would be good stuff, but, Usa Correct me if I'm wrong, I would assume that they already are or in the process.

I'm 5 years removed now, but, not really, no. We're told to look for signs of suspicious behavior, but it's not something we're trained on or pull someone aside for extra screening for. We just keep an extra eye on you and your stuff.

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I would like to specifically point out that I do not trust the TSA employees on a one to one basis. I trust that the organization is not "out to get us", but I think that the individuals hired should be affiliated with the military or police and have equal training plus specialization. As a citizen and a flying member of the community I would be willing to see a portion of my airfare or taxes go towards better trained, more qualified security personnel.

Why? We weren't police officers or soldiers. We weren't performing any of the duties of a peace officer. It would be a lot more cost (a LOT more) for no real gain, except now you have fucking cops patting you down at the airport. Plus, recruiting a civilian force is a lot easier than a military or police force.

I also resent the idea that TSA screeners aren't highly trained. We were trained well, constantly, and had our job descriptions and duties change on a month to month basis.

Ron Paul is wrong on the following in that video:

1) Armed pilots are not screened (and I do agree pilots and flight crew should get a pass. But, fuck, -I- got screened when I came on to work. And I worked there. And even had a tarmac pass.)

2) We did not feel up people's underwear.

3) An airport is usually not private property.

4) Airports do have the option to retain non-government airline screeners.

5) Government employees do have the right to do things citizens can't do. It's a fact of life. Deal with it. For one thing, if that was all his bill did, law enforcement nationwide would be crippled. And let's not forget all those Congressional privileges.

6) Private people can do the things that he mentions. As long as they get consent. And when you get on a plane, you consent to be screened.

7) Nobody except one person gets to see those pictures. And it's not both, it's the backscatter X-ray -or- the pat down. And as mentioned several times, there is no "groping" involved.

Congressesmen are exempt from the screening process. I don't think Mr. Paul has been through it.

9) Ron Paul is completely forgetting that terrorism is about much more than killing people. It's not about killing 3,000 people, it's about scaring the shit out of 300 million. That's what TSA is trying to prevent.

10) An opt-out day is a horrible idea. It's not gonna irritate the screeners, I tell you that. It's just gonna add another 2 hours to the lines on the busiest day of the year. It'll piss off travelers, airlines, and everyone else, but trust me, it won't bother the people doing the pat downs.

11) Through it all, he doesn't offer a single viable alternative. Not even "Fuck the checkpoint, let everyone on, we can take care of ourselves". He just bitches. You got a better idea, let's hear it.

I just want to add something. I can understand being upset about this. But in that speech to Congress, Mr. Paul just bitched and moaned and whined. It's like he was reading posts from his message board from people with their thumbs up their ass and no actual knowledge of what's going on.

At least in this thread, while I don't agree with their view, the people on the other side of me are at least pushing an alternative. They are supporting what they see as a solution. I'm perfectly happy to have that kind of debate with anyone who throws something up. But when you start maaking idiotic comments about feeling up underwear and taking nude pictures, complain that TSA isn't keeping us safe, and proposing nothing aside from a silly, one-paragraph "bill" and advocating armed pilots, which is a nice idea, but does nothing to keep contraband off planes, and a pilot with a gun isn't gonna stop a psycho with a bomb. Oh, and the program that arms pilots? A TSA program.