Or you can look on the bright side and take joy in the fact that there's a stranger at the airport who will want to look at you naked and/or grope you within seconds of making your acquaintance. How often does that kind of magical chemistry just instantly happen? Not often, that's for sure. Think of it as abbreviated speed dating. ;p

Is having "bomb" tattooed on your fingers the equivalent of yelling "fire" in a crowded theater?

What's more notable to me is that someone can make a career out of being a "food stylist." What a country! There are places in the world where people don't even have food, here we have enough food that we have beauticians for it. This is why the terrorists hate us... ;p

Have you ever seen what dog walkers get paid per day in major cities like New York and San Francisco? Seriously if you can deal with the dog poo, that is one lucrative field.

Out here in my part of NJ we actually have people that come pick up the dog crap from your yard. That's all they do. They advertise on the placemats at the diners.

Yeah, it's a big healthcare myth. "If you don't do this your insurance may not pay" is generally bullshit. I was "just sayin." You were threatened with arrest for refusing med treatment? I've never even heard of that, that's nuts man! I'm not doubting, but whoa, tha'ts insane! I've just seen docs pull the old "Insurance won't pay" move. In the end they're usually like "Fine whatever."

What's "simple" about flying on a plane owned by a private company that is contracted to go into federal airspace? What's ever been simple about that? Nothing. It's not a cab ride. Also who can see these scans, I'm not asking to be snotty I assumed it was only the TSA profesional. What proof is there as well? I'm not arguing or anything, just putting stuff out there to add to the topic.

"For what exactly" For making sure people don't bring guns or knives or bomb shit on the plane. No, not highly motivated terror cells but your random crazies. Sure, some will work past it, just like some always work past junk like this. But how many more or less is still yet to be seen.

Also, and again just for discussion, all these people going nuts and protesting, what are their thoughts then on improving security measures? I never really hear anyone coming up with better ideas. I'd honestly like to know what other options are available, are they or can they be as reliable and at the same time apease the group of people who are against the scanners?

Personally I'm OK getting scanned, I don't care. I dn't care if my wife and kid are scanned. Why, because they might see me blue blury nakedish? It's a non issue to me. I see how some might be uncomfortable with it as well though, but to me it's not a horror story. I work with rancid naked people half my day, so I'm a bit jaded by all that.

Because that's what usually goes through my mind as I'm pouring gravy on my $10 Rib-eye special at Applebee's: "..wonder if I could pay somebody to pickup the dog shit in front of my house.."

*ahem*

I said "diners." We have these things out here in NJ called diners, non-corporate neon-and-silver restaurants with menus the size of phone books that serve delicious food 24 hours a day, owned by amazingly talented (and sometimes chronically grumpy) Greek and Italian families.

Applebees is most definitely not a diner. Not even close.

Thank you.

If you have never experienced “Disco Fries” then you have never lived.

Here in NJ it's mandatory for every child to have eaten disco fries by the age of 12. If you don't eat them voluntarily they will force feed you.

Whoa whoa whoa what are these "disco fries?" Wait, I have Googlez and da internetz....oh wait they're just Poutine then or are the different some way?

Yes. Fries + Gravy + Melted Cheese = Disco Fries. I think calling it "poutine" would raise expectations a bit too much.

My building is swamped with TSA employees today, I think they are starting to shuffle some workers from the outlying offices to bolster their contingent at the airport.

Nobody HAS to agree to a body scan or grope - if you don't want to go through that then don't fly. Pretty simple.
And if you don't want a less invasive grope don't go to concerts or sporting events.
And if you don't want to wear a jacket and tie, don't go to a fancy restaurant with a jacket/tie rule.
And if you don't want to wear a shirt and shoes don't do into stores that have a No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service policy.

We're from the government, and we're here to pull your blouse down, point, and laugh at your breasts....

http://www.prisonplanet.com/tsa-hit-with-lawsuits-as-revolt-explodes.html



I hope she gets PAID IN FULL.

Patriot Alert! (thanx for the dedicated thread!!)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH-dpkJZiOM

Sounds like the real issue is the hiring, training, and accountability of TSA employees.

You should read what I wrote before. Here it is again in a simpler form: Choke-point security measures are mostly theater that really don't stop much. Improved intelligence and sharing of that intelligence across borders has truly stopped horrible acts from happening.

So my solution is simple. Get rid of all this TSA bullshit and just roll it back to pre-9/11 levels of screening. But add background checks to anyone/everyone flying. If someone runs up to the counter wanting to buy a one-way with cash and has no bags, that guy should be stopped. If a person who has been flying for years wants to get on a plane, don't diddle their junk.

Heck here in NYC you get your whole life virtually screened if you want to rent an apartment in some places. You're telling me the TSA can't do the same for someone paying to fly with a credit card? There are better efforts made by credit card companies to track down someone who owes $20 to them than there is screening passengers.

Seriously, you should read some of the accounts of people dealing with TSA bullshit. Folks who are clearly not a threat to anyone get this treatment. Who exactly has been made safe by that? Also, pilots are being screened as well? Really? You mean folks who have the power to fly the plane into a mountain somehow will hide something up their ass or in a bottle of water that is more dangerous than that.

Well an issue with getting rid of security measures, being more then just theater, is that the people responsible for all that would be reamed if something did happen. It's slightly more then theater. When it becomes YOUR personal job and responsibility to ensure the safety of that many lives, then tell me how easy that call is. I agree, a lot of it is theater, but not ALL of it. Some of it can be usesful.

If you guys think the TSA people are cruel at looking at naked people and laughing don't EVER trust a hospital or doctors office. It's an art, and they're all probably more jaded and mean then ANYONE you'll meet otherwise.

It's a lot like doctors who call for tests people don't need. Yeah some do it just for the cash, but some really THINK it's needed because on the .1% chance something is wrong it's their ass. It's not a mistake to be taken lightly. "Test this person for something I'm pretty sure they don't have but if they do and get worse or die it's my fault and I have to live with that or don't do it and say fuck it" is pretty equal to "scan these people just incase one has a knife even though our background checks show they're all NOT crazy or don't and if one does slip by and kill a bunch of people, or even just 1, I get to sleep with that for the rest of my life"

It's not just some insane plan based on ignorance and money and theater. There is some human element to it where people think they're helping and trying to make things as safe as they can be. But again, when it's not your personal responsibility it's easy to call shit out.

NOTE: I don't think the current system is great or awesome, I'm just not scared or offended by it. I've read cases and "stories" and still can't judge because there are so many biased opinions swimming in them it's hard to make a real call. Everything always needs improving though. What if it scanned you and just saw skeletons like Total Recall, or is it the idea of being scanned at all?

I want to hear more about your background check solution. What are they looking for in the background check, and how do they handle it?

Just sub-contract the whole thing to the Israelis and we can get back to obsessing over Dancing with the Stars.

Hire people to screen the same way El Al does. You're right Alex, this was something I was thinking about yesterday.

And when people are beginning to do the interview at the curb when you get dropped off, don't forget to complain about it.

(if you haven't read up on El Al, there is a great description of the process they use on wikipedia)

For what it's worth, I'd submit to their process any day of the week and not care one bit.

I still can't believe that 4 years later we're still banned from bringing water on a plane.

That plot seemed unbelievable from the get go.

Discussion on Slashdot:

http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/11/17/1 ... 3-Year-Old

No. It's the equivalent of having "fire" tattooed on your fingers in a crowded theater. heh.
I used to think he was the food photographer, then I found out that he "styles" it FOR the photographer. And he makes like 10x what I make. Life is totally fair.

"On any given day, more than 87,000 flights are in the skies in the United States. Only 35 percent, or just over 30,000 of those flights are commercial carriers, like American, United or Southwest.

You have a 1 in 30,000 chance of being on a terrorist airliner even if there were ZERO NONE NADA security. Pretty good odds of survival. Compound those odds with 9 (NINE) years of no airlines being brought down and you have stellar odds of survival. Matter of FACT you have a greater chance of catching CANCER by the Radiation screen than you do of being struck by a terrorist.

And riddle me this...didn't the terrierists hate us as much on 9/12 or 9/15 as they did on 9/11?

We didn't have any radiation screen then.... miraculous that we survived....

I got some powder wiped on my hands the other day flying back home from vegas. Stupid ass security sensor had to go off on me for random screening.