thanks for the posts backtrack, interesting to read.

Yes Rockert, the 223 round is a high velocity, super fast bullet. It's designed to tumble when hitting the human target, causing the most damage possible. The theory is a wounded enemy ties up several combatants, as opposed to a clean kill which just drops one guy. Fairly unsafe, we'll really unsafe , to use in urban areas with lots of innocents around.

The standard police bullet, usually a 9mm or 40 cal, is slower and usually fragments on impact. It'll go through a house until it hits something like a brick wall or even heavy timbers. But drywall and stuff just slows it down a tad. Some 9mm wont even penetrate heavy vehicle doors.

At first I thought these searches were sort of necessary and I definitely realize the need for security. But anybody with a plan can still get stuff in pretty easy. I mean even though they are giving people full on prison searches, not "enhanced pat downs" ,they are not checking body orifices.

Make no mistake, these searches are the same ones a person gets when arrested or booked into jail. A "pat down" or frisk, is just a quick search for weapons, like guns and knives, by patting the outer clothing. You have to ask permission to enter the pockets, and unless you feel contraband in there , they can simply say no.

By the way, it is illegal in the US for a police officer to stop and give you the full search, movement of clothing, hands inside pockets, etc without them having probable cause, or without the person being under arrest. Any removal of clothing counts as a strip search, something that is not taken lightly in law enforcement.

Apparently 4th amendment rights do not apply at the airport. There has to be a better way, if they are looking for explosives, some well trained dogs could easily handle that. I've seen bomb sniffing dogs in action, they work! One may have even saved my life once, as I was in the same small room as an explosive/mail bomb that would've killed everybody in the room had it gone off. A dog confirmed it's contents in about 2 seconds, literally. A lot of times these government types don't like having dogs around ( usually Labs or even Beagles ) because of the imagery it projects. I suppose stripping down children is better than a sniffy dog?

Here's a video of a young boy being strip searched by TSA. I don't know how his Dad kept from punching the TSA guard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQTz1bccL4

I'm told by friends in the military that the rifles usually aren't loaded, they're just there for show. You still see them at Penn Station in NYC.

Roger, I certainly believe that. I manned a anti-terror check point in Germany during the Gulf War, tasked with searching cars and people entering US bases which were intermingled within Frankfurt. We each got one magazine with 7 rounds!

But yeah, that sounds like something they would do, go out an make yourself a target with an empty weapon.

Move out and draw fire!

Glad to know someone reads my waffle
That video is shocking, one wonders how any of the TSA folk could witness that and without question. Seeing the tags on it, ie Bill O'Reilly, makes me wonder who is causing the storm over in the States about this? Or is it coming from both sides? My link was from NOW and ACLU, so I assume that this is actually a non partisan issue. Surely the Gov must bow down to unanimous outrage.
I read this earlier and thought it helped high light the differences between the mentality on either side of the Atlantic:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11804899
The Labour party is acknowledging that they may have been over zealous in their approach to counter terrorism and are changing the rules, in favour of Civil Liberties. I thought it was interesting in light of this discussion.

So this is where the Got Paranoïa thread really went !

seems to be some discussion here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101121/ap_ ... y_backlash

I love all the wing nuts that post on yahoo. I replied to one who said "we forget the horrors of 9-11!" I said this:

You know maybe you should rethink why people WANT to attack us? It's the US policies and imperialism (along with our blatant stealing of resources) that cause other parts of the world to hate us. I was 15 blocks away from 9-11 and I think all of this "super annoying over reaction" is complete and utter BS. More likely these things were put in place because someone in the government is making money off of it, because his/her company is supplying them. Keeping us safe? That's a crock. Seriously if someone really wanted to do something they would. It's just another way for the government to become even more invasive with our lives. I'm more concerned with tea party wing nuts trying to make policy than actual terrorists

A dark day is upon us....


BIG SIS INVADES WAL-MART: 'IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING'

WASHINGTON -- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the expansion of the Department’s national “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to hundreds of Walmart stores across the country—launching a new partnership between DHS and Walmart to help the American public play an active role in ensuring the safety and security of our nation.

“Homeland security starts with hometown security, and each of us plays a critical role in keeping our country and communities safe,” said Secretary Napolitano. “I applaud Walmart for joining the ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign. This partnership will help millions of shoppers across the nation identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to law enforcement authorities.”

The “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign—originally implemented by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and funded, in part, by $13 million from DHS’ Transit Security Grant Program—is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.

More than 230 Walmart stores nationwide launched the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign today, with a total of 588 Walmart stores in 27 states joining in the coming weeks. A short video message, available here, will play at select checkout locations to remind shoppers to contact local law enforcement to report suspicious activity.

Over the past five months, DHS has worked with its federal, state, local and private sector partners, as well as the Department of Justice, to expand the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign and Nationwide SAR Initiative to communities throughout the country—including the recent state-wide expansions of the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign across Minnesota and New Jersey. Partners include the Mall of America, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Amtrak, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, sports and general aviation industries, and state and local fusion centers across the country.

In the coming months, the Department will continue to expand the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign nationally with public education materials and outreach tools designed to help America’s businesses, communities and citizens remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the county safe.

I love this.

Dark day?
Or revisiting a dark past.

Hello McCarthy, been a while.

Keep an eye out for those Pinko Terror Witches!

Actually.... If Joe McCarthy had been allowed to do his job we might not be in spot we are now.

Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American lawyer, civil servant, businessman, author, and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and UN official. Hiss was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 and convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950.


"The U.N. is NOT your friend."

Once again a blatant misuse of the purple text function.