Airman1270 0 #1 November 3, 2004 Thanks to those who took part in the airport "security" discussion that evolved from the "can't fly with a rig..." thread. The current practice of harassing harmless citizens at airports is an offensive, ridiculous waste of time that does NOTHING to make air travel safer. Passengers are already screened for weapons. There is nothing to be gained by hyper-searching old people, children, etc., especially after they've passed the initial screening. I do not suggest non-Arabs are incapable of committing a crime. I DO suggest that, if "security" is really the focus, that young, muslim males should prompt a higher level of concern BECAUSE they belong to a sub-group of people who have killed Americans and have declared their intentions to do so again. To hell with accusations of "profiling." Can anyone here imagine, just ten years ago, that they would be defending the practice of "wanding" old ladies, removing shoes from children, and telling passengers they cannot lock luggage which has already passed successfully through metal- & bomb detectors? We can thank the litigation lobby for this. The legal industry has been imposing the religion of secular humanism on this country, one tenet of which is the belief that mankind can achieve perfection; Thus, if something goes wrong, it must be somebody's fault and legal action is in order. Ask any DZO after a customer hurt himself after failing to follow instructions. People no longer have to worry about being sued only for doing bad things. Now, they can be sued for failing to prevent bad things from happening. (This explains the trend toward requiring AAD's at some DZ's.) If someone DOES manage to get on board an airliner with evil intentions and bring it down, a long string of other people will face lawsuits. The TSA jerks are simply trying to cover their asses, so as to present a courtroom defense indicating they did "all they could" to prevent tragedy. Remember, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, how lawyers were lining up to sue the owners, shareholders, etc. of the airlines, the World Trade Center, etc., for failing to anticipate such an attack and keep it from happening? Ultimately, the answer to this mess might be reform of the legal system, so as to prevent lawyers from suing people who are not responsible for (insert bad experience here.) Then, perhaps the airport security industry could allow its people to exercise discretion & common sense. While I make an unfair, broad accusation of incompetence on the part of the TSA people, I imagine there are plenty of times when they wish they could stop harassing citizens and treat people with more respect without having to worry about being accused of not doing their jobs. Cheers again, Jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peacefuljeffrey 0 #2 November 3, 2004 QuoteWe can thank the litigation lobby for this. The legal industry has been imposing the religion of secular humanism on this country, one tenet of which is the belief that mankind can achieve perfection; Thus, if something goes wrong, it must be somebody's fault and legal action is in order. Ask any DZO after a customer hurt himself after failing to follow instructions. People no longer have to worry about being sued only for doing bad things. Now, they can be sued for failing to prevent bad things from happening. Excellent post. This excerpt really gets to the heart of what's wrong lately. I don't know how far it will go toward this negative extreme, but I am worried that it will get really really bad before sanity returns. -Jeffrey-Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #3 November 3, 2004 Quote The current practice of harassing harmless citizens at airports is an offensive, ridiculous waste of time that does NOTHING to make air travel safer. Passengers are already screened for weapons. There is nothing to be gained by hyper-searching old people, children, etc., especially after they've passed the initial screening. People have continued to unintentionally bring their CCW permitted guns on board, and those people aren't even trying to get around secuity. I'll fully agree with you that most of the changes that came with the TSA are window dressing for a scare public with no actual gains. I completely disagree with you that an improvement would be gained by ignoring whites and searching only Arabs. And it's a bit laughable to blame all this on the trial lawyers. The public demanded Marines with M16s in the airport and the Feds were more than happy to capitalize on their fear with that and lots of other changes. The only litigation I've seen is attempts by folks like the ACLU trying to get some form of due process in on the no fly lists that can't be challenged or questioned in any way right now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paulipod 0 #4 November 3, 2004 I think I understand some of your frustrations.... but also think you are off the mark on a few points (obviously why you get a thumbs up from PJ!) Firstly - More likely to screen muslim males? Apart from the obvious stereotype this is an ineffective way to run security.... chechnyan rebels dont quite fit into 'asian guy with beard' as a search category is one example. You accept that anyone can commit a terrorist act - good, security is aimed to stop that. I am sure the Asian male citizens of the US would love your attitude - wake up man! Secondly - People should worry about being sued for preventing bad things from happening. What you are referring to could be 'stereotyped' into a category of 'Negligence' True, there are unaccountable accidents which should be easily identified... but a good % of accidents are acutally someones fault - albeit probably in alot of cases the victim! And as for imposing Secular Humanism!? as a secular humanist I cant see the issue with that Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
