“You and I wait in lines and remove our shoes. And we use the stupid 3-oz containers in the 1-quart bag.”
That is why when we see all thes “window-dressing- wickets”–it really should make our blood boil–it is largely a farce. DS has pointed out previously on this site:
Employees of the airports go right past the check points with no screening. Other tests have seen drugs and weapons go right past security screens–some not even scanned. With so many (again) muslims saying we deserved 911–that it was justified, etc–it is only a matter of time till we see some big new incident in the airlines. There a so many holes in the present system that it boggles the mind. It will be very easy for one to plead …oops!
Total security may not be possible–BUT HELLO–TSA, DHS, etc–taking tax and fee money to make us still stand and undress in lines–BUT NOT TO CLOSE THE KNOWN GAPS in the wall–this is outrageous!
El Al should be consulted by our government bureaucrats as to how we can deal in reality–to really close the security gaps. El Al’s record of preventing attacks is amazing–and what airline could the terrorists want to attack any more than Israel’s leading carrier? Those brothers run a tight ship.
I’m sure that like this lost electronic shoes and liquid incident shows–we probably only hear of

BB on July 18, 2007 at 6:31 pm

BB, Israeli security firms have been consulted by the U.S. airlines, but the U.S. does not want to follow Israeli advice. What is that advice? “Profile PEOPLE, not items.”
I live in Jerusalem and everywhere I go, there are security guards at the entrance. Some will paw through your purse but many will take one look at me and nod “go ahead.” They know a little fair skinned, green eyed religious Jewish woman is not carrying a bomb. My husband, who looks Lebanese, is a different story. Cop cars pull up alongside him on the street to question him as he’s walking home. Before he can even finish one word, thus giving away his American accent, they have sped away. Does he mind it? No, not at all. He loves it. We both feel safe here because police and security guards are trained to look for the people who look like (and are) terrorists.
Now, when the Rachel Corrie wannabes get dumb enough to volunteer for splodydope duty, THEN we might have a situation where profiling doesn’t work so well. But as it stands, pulling caucasian granny out of line while waving Achmed the Mullah on through is just so stupid, there are no words for it.

AmericanJewess on July 19, 2007 at 7:45 am

We get what we pay for. The TSA and DHS seem to think they can hire “Burger King” screeners and meet the security requirements necessary to protect us, which is rediculous. We must also realize that they ARE profiling people. It’s just that they are profiling ALL of the WRONG people. Elderly caucasians, babies, mothers pushing strollers, people in wheel chairs. I guess if I dress up as a Mad Mullah, I don’t have to worry about hassles at the airport here!

FreeAmerican on July 19, 2007 at 9:30 am

I find it a bit disingenious that they suddenly know what it is, yet had everyone rescreened and shut down the airport. Even more bizarre is the excuse that the security screeners were distracted due to a in-air emergency. How does that even affect the screening area? I find it difficult to believe that this was “just a pedometer”. Something is not right with this.

Mark L. Jackson on July 19, 2007 at 6:59 pm