I haven't been through the new scanners yet (something to look forward to in a few weeks). I've been patted down when I set off a metal detector once a few years ago - it was all done with the back of the hand in a very professional way, so I didn't feel like I was being groped. Maybe that procedure has changed, and maybe I might feel differently about it if I was a woman. I don't know.
Yes, it's changed. It's not the back-of-hand any more, it's forward cupping and moving aside.
They are not vital. They were a quick answer to a big problem... "quick" as in, the delayed after-the-fact response to the underwear bomber. Officials admit that these scanners might not detect the kind of bombs the underwear bomber was carrying.
The terrorists should invent a weener bomb. If they haven't already.
Not sure you included the link you intended to but if they did in fact, not use these obscenely expensive machines that are so vital to our national security ya gotta wonder just how vital they are, eh?
They are not vital. They were a quick answer to a big problem... "quick" as in, the delayed after-the-fact response to the underwear bomber. Officials admit that these scanners might not detect the kind of bombs the underwear bomber was carrying.
I haven't been through the new scanners yet (something to look forward to in a few weeks). I've been patted down when I set off a metal detector once a few years ago - it was all done with the back of the hand in a very professional way, so I didn't feel like I was being groped. Maybe that procedure has changed, and maybe I might feel differently about it if I was a woman. I don't know.
I understand people don't want to be scanned or patted down. I don't particularly share their indignation, but that's me - I kind of doubt anyone in the TSA is looking for an excuse to check me out and feel me up. (Why should they be different?) And I'm outraged by some of the scenarios we're hearing about, too - but they sound more like the results of poor training and poor management than malice.
You've got inexperienced people doing what they're told is a crucial job and getting sh*t about it every day - kind of like police officers getting yelled at by people they ticket, only without the decades of institutional experience and resources the police can draw on. TSA agents are told they're trying to prevent another 9/11 and save thousands of lives, and on the other side of that they deal with people who are already annoyed by dealing with the whole air travel experience and don't want to be treated like potential terrorists. ("You can just tell by looking at me that I'm not one of Them.") So there's a lot of stress and frustration, and there's a constantly evolving list of items and behaviors to watch for, and they're clearly not getting the training and support they need to handle it all properly. They're going to make bad decisions sometimes, and they're going to act out sometimes. I don't condone either, but neither one happens because they're all a bunch of bullies and jerks.
We all agree we don't want another 9/11 or another Lockerbie. It seems reasonable to find a way to keep terrorists, weapons, and explosives off our planes. If we're going to say "body scans and hand searches are unacceptable", what's the alternative we put in their place?
We know this is a violation of our constitutional rights, so it is unacceptable. I'm OK with going back to previous method/metal detectors. We should really make sure to screen the luggage/cargo well.
Not sure you included the vital link you intended to but if they did in fact, not use these obscenely vital expensive machines that are so vital to our national security ya gotta wonder just how vital they are, eh?
Not sure you included the link you intended to but if they did in fact, not use these obscenely expensive machines that are so vital to our national security ya gotta wonder just how vital they are, eh?
Well we got thru the Thanksgiving holiday and as far as I know no one has suffered from the sexual perversions of the TSA. We had several out of town relatives that flew in and no problems or hold ups what so ever. No national slow down, nothing.
Just another example of the media taking a very small minority of fanatical people and blowing it way out of proportion so they can have a sensationalistic story for a week or so,.
The same media that would be up in arms if the screening wasn't done and someone blew up a plane.
Just another example of the media taking a very small minority of fanatical people and blowing it way out of proportion so they can have a sensationalistic story for a week or so,.
Well we got thru the Thanksgiving holiday and as far as I know no one has suffered from the sexual perversions of the TSA. We had several out of town relatives that flew in and no problems or hold ups what so ever. No national slow down, nothing.
Just another example of the media taking a very small minority of fanatical people and blowing it way out of proportion so they can have a sensationalistic story for a week or so,.
The same media that would be up in arms if the screening wasn't done and someone blew up a plane.
You know what? If you're chubby, that is obvious even when you're fully clothed. Detail much beyond that is not revealed by the scanners. Get over it. Until we somehow learn to approach the terrorism problem from the other end (see Greg Mortenson and his schools, for one), then some slight inconvenience is inevitable. Embarrassment and moral outrage? Those are totally optional. People who choose them could choose otherwise. We could also simply accept that one flight in, oh, a hundred thousand or so is going to be damaged or brought down by illicit activities of one sort or another and just waltz on unscreened, thus rendering air travel only several hundred percent safer than any other means of travel, but in a political and social climate that thinks it's reasonable to even talk about a *zero* accident rate in aviation, that's not likely, either. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go be paranoid about something. Anything. Really. I'll find something, if I try hard enough. . . .
You raise some good points here.
I haven't been through the new scanners yet (something to look forward to in a few weeks). I've been patted down when I set off a metal detector once a few years ago - it was all done with the back of the hand in a very professional way, so I didn't feel like I was being groped. Maybe that procedure has changed, and maybe I might feel differently about it if I was a woman. I don't know.
I understand people don't want to be scanned or patted down. I don't particularly share their indignation, but that's me - I kind of doubt anyone in the TSA is looking for an excuse to check me out and feel me up. (Why should they be different?) And I'm outraged by some of the scenarios we're hearing about, too - but they sound more like the results of poor training and poor management than malice.
You've got inexperienced people doing what they're told is a crucial job and getting sh*t about it every day - kind of like police officers getting yelled at by people they ticket, only without the decades of institutional experience and resources the police can draw on. TSA agents are told they're trying to prevent another 9/11 and save thousands of lives, and on the other side of that they deal with people who are already annoyed by dealing with the whole air travel experience and don't want to be treated like potential terrorists. ("You can just tell by looking at me that I'm not one of Them.") So there's a lot of stress and frustration, and there's a constantly evolving list of items and behaviors to watch for, and they're clearly not getting the training and support they need to handle it all properly. They're going to make bad decisions sometimes, and they're going to act out sometimes. I don't condone either, but neither one happens because they're all a bunch of bullies and jerks.
We all agree we don't want another 9/11 or another Lockerbie. It seems reasonable to find a way to keep terrorists, weapons, and explosives off our planes. If we're going to say "body scans and hand searches are unacceptable", what's the alternative we put in their place?
