That's how I felt about the possible future of the United States as I read the latest article from Michael J. Trotten entitled Profile Me if You Must on the subject of airport security. I've often thought that there was too much emphasis on some absurd notion of fairness after hearing stories of older women who were being searched and men traveling alone that werent being checked.
"our airport security system is so half-baked and dysfunctional it may as well not even exist, and flying is about to become more miserable anyway. So rather than doubling down on grandma and micromanaging everyone on the plane, we might want to pay as much attention to people as to their luggage, especially military-aged males who make unusual and suspicious-looking travel arrangements. That’s what the Israelis do, and that’s why security agents take me into a room and interrogate me every time I pass through Ben-Gurion International Airport....
The United States need not and should not import the Israeli system. It’s labor intensive, slow, and at times incredibly aggravating. Americans wouldn’t put up with it, and it wouldn’t scale well. The one thing we can and should learn from the Israelis, though, is that we need to pay as much attention to who gets on airplanes as to what they’re bringing on board.....
Right now there appears to be no effort whatsoever to discriminate among passengers using any criteria, let alone racist criteria. “Pants bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab did not have a passport, did not have any luggage, and bought a one-way ticket with cash. His name is in a database of possible terrorists. Any Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, or all-American white boys from Iowa who fit that description should be stopped. Abdulmutallab wasn’t stopped."
I for one, wouldnt mind a little extra scrutiny at the airport if it lead to other people who fit a certain criteria being searched as well. Let's leave "Gertrude' and "Aunt Maude" alone for a change. The temporary inconvienence would be well worth it if it lead to a more sane policy.
10 comments:
Let's just get rid of airport security. The passengers are always the heroes.
Here's another idea: design the armrest to pull out and be used as a club in the event of an in-flight attack. Your tray table can detach and function as a shield.
Never did like to fly. Now I don't fly. That fall from 30,000 feet with out a parachuit is a killer.
Or the sudden impact with something.
Yeah, but if you don't fly, the terrorists sort of already won.
But the current policy of frisking old ladies out of some sort of "fairness-we're going to only search randomly" idea is pure bunk.
I think you bring out a good point here JD; there's got to be some better techniques we can implement regarding air port security. I think the cited article makes some realistic points about screening passengers for more thorough checks on the basis of how they purchased their ticket, luggage, and demographic data. I know that demographic data makes us all uncomfortable due to infringement on rights this has brought in other law enforcement venues; but I don't know how to avoid it and still keep people safe.
I actually try not to fly as much as possible for a myriad of reasons, but sometimes it can not realistically be avoided.
"I want security, but I shouldn't be inconvenienced, because I'm white."
*laugh*
From the above article G, If I were someone who..."did not have a passport, did not have any luggage, and bought a one-way ticket with cash", then search me everytime. Wouldnt you agree?
I prefer Bill Maher's idea of allowing airlines to screen as much or as little as they want. I would fly on "Shit Happens" airline, where there's no line but sometimes shit happens.
We agree on something G. Let then use good old "common sense" and let the chips fall where they may
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