Whole-body scanners can’t detect hidden explosives, so why have them anyway?

Travel by Amtrak. There is a book called “Faster” by James Gleick. In it, we discover that before there was a way to “absolutely, positively, get there the next day”, nobody HAD to “absolutely, positively, get there the next day”.

The world was a much better place before the advent of jet airliners. Travel at 600 miles an hour is unnecessary. If you need to get to fucking New York so damn bad, take a few days off and take a train. Back in the days of rail, everyone was so much less stressed out. Can’t you all imagine how relaxing it is to watch the USA go by as you travel from place to place? Instead of looking at the tray in the upright and locked position for a few hours? On edge, scared to shit all the way?

If the Terrorist has an explosive powder sewn into their clothing, sealed to prevent detection – no scanner is going to see it.

They could be wearing jewelry made up of explosives, crushed into a powder when needed.

This is not brain surgery here.

Dogs. We need lots of bomb/chemical sniffing dogs. (I am assuming they are effective.)

I have seen reports that dogs get tired (or maybe bored) quickly (20 minutes?). They are great at the detection, but LOTS are required to rotate, and each dog needs LOTS of down time.

I object to being searched by a man. I want to be able to select which agent searches my body, and the agents should be decent appearing, well groomed, women (straight, lesbian, or bi) and no transexuals or transvestites please. If the government is going to objectify my body, then I want the right to demand treatment that I find acceptable. Otherwise, I’m perfectly happy to stop spending my money on flying commercially.

Having some potentially gay male agent squeeze my body for his enjoyment wierds me out.

If the system has “no way to save print or transmit the image” then how can it be used as any sort of proof that someone is carrying a prohibited item in a court of law? Are we supposed to believe the testimony of the TSA thugs manning the checkpoints?

“So, the scanners are only to increase the control of the State…”. Don’t worry, there are scanners in your bedroom right now but wearing a tin foil hat will help.

Or maybe just do airport security that just works? But paranoia way more fun.

Christoper Walken must be hard up for work these days.

How about we have a “muslim air” where we put all muslims on a separate flight….TOGETHER.

The Saudi prince was not assasinated but only slightly injured. The explosion killed the bomber, no surprise there, and left a large crater in the floor.

Statistically it’s less likely to die of terrorist attack in a plane, than it is of “natural” technical failures. That being said, it would be an interesting exercise to compare what’s being spent on this Theatre of Security vs. what’s being spent on “Real” technical and procedural security.
This is just rampant paranoia, and the end result will be that less and less people will put up with that to fly to the USA.

#10 Does a full search afterwards serve you? Don’t tell me you left your brain in 2009.

#13 Let me know when you get visited by ponies flying over rainbows.

#19 Who asked you? When are you going to fulfill your threat and leave already!

Please increase the bombing in the middle east!! Bomb the shit out of the shit there otherwise they will come here!! How can you be so naive??? The solution to the problem is to eliminate to enemy not pussyfoot around those murderers. I suspect the gut who wrote this article is either a bleeding hard blind liberal or a member or supporter of the Muslim brotherhood. Lets see if you have the courage to publish this??

Dear Cretins (esp #3),

Let’s kill everybody but you and your friends. That’s the logical conclusion to your solution, right? You certainly are the enlightened future of the world. Christ calls you up for advice.

Violence begets violence and does not solve it.

But that fact escapes both you and the simple minds who blow up other people thinking it solves something.

How boring. The “usual suspects” show up with their ridiculous, hateful, ignorant, bombs cure everything, bulls–t.

How nice to see other people post today. Some seem to be able to actually think. They must be here because they’re off from work due to the holiday.

I do agree with the comments about useless, expensive equipment, though. Dogs are much cheaper and do an immensely better job, and if they get tired or bored, get more dogs.

A happy and healthy new year to all, even the jerks.

Wanna deter terrorist and bod explosives, circulate a picture of that asshole naked who just burnt his dick and balls off.

After the Whizzinator incident, Simply seeing a guys junk on a screen isn’t going to be good enough. The TSA needs to hire a ton of women to give a full handjob to every male flyer to make sure he’s functional and not just sporting an explosive prosthesis. Same thing goes for boobs, they could be fake and need to be fully massaged and checked out.

So what are they gonna do when the terrorist decide to have explosives surgically installed, if you’re suicidal I imagine that it wouldn’t matter. Xray every passenger? No that’s no good. I guess one solution would be to heavily sedate every passenger and stick them in specially designed life support capsules then load them up like so much cord wood, no meals, no stewardess, no movie, no drinks, no peanuts. They could even wait to wake you up once your past customs and security. The way things are going I’d say the future might be like that.

#35 No, I think he’s right. Rushdie would have avoided all those problems if he refrained from publishing the Satanic Verses. The Danish cartoonist is just a moron and deserves death for lampooning Mohammed

#9, it has never been tried.

#12 +1

But couldn’t work here. Most any high school graduate in Israel (or, not to be racist, Scotland or Hungary or …) could be trained to do any of the six levels. Here in North America, people that competent are busy writing themselves million dollar annual bonus checks.

As G. Gordon Liddy said to Vicky Gabereau, “What would I need a gun for? I could kill you with a ball-point pen.” It’s for show.