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Scary shit. And there will still be brainwashed fluoride-heads who will say this is a good thing for America.

I have to say, as horrifying as some of the stuff in the article is, ACLU do a pretty mighty fine job on keeping the TSA in check. While some might argue that the ACLU does nothing, post 9-11 security is pretty tame to what in all reality it could be. The major changes took place in carry-on items and pat-downs. If it happened in any other country I could only imagine the personal infringements. The topic does beg the questions, is it better to judge a person off their body language than profile them altogether? Are they the same? Are both equally ridiculous? Can such techniques keep airports safe? Is the idea of a safe airport even possible? Where do personal liberties end and for the good of the people start? How did these questions get out of hand? Where am I?

Coming back into the UK through Gatwick a couple of months ago I failed the biometric scanner test. My rectum is still a bit sore, but certainly a good way to beat the queue.

In theory profiling sounds good, but I have little faith that it would work in the United States. The political will to do it just doesn't exist; we're a different country than Israel. And I don't believe the TSA screeners are competent enough to do "profiling"; many of these people are just one paycheck away from working night security at WalMart. It's going to be up to the passengers to do their own profiling and then make changes to their flight schedule if they see someone on their flight they think is suspicious before they've taken off.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

In theory profiling sounds good, but I have little faith that it would work in the United States. The political will to do it just doesn't exist; we're a different country than Israel. And I don't believe the TSA screeners are competent enough to do "profiling"; many of these people are just one paycheck away from working night security at WalMart. It's going to be up to the passengers to do their own profiling and then make changes to their flight schedule if they see someone on their flight they think is suspicious before they've taken off.

I come from the thought that security all ready profiles subconsciously. It's safe and unfortunate to discriminate a crowd of people but I've talked to my friends from India and Pakistan. They have a hell of a time in security lines. They feel the eyes loom. Random checks? Not so random all the time. Now professional profiling? You're right. They're miles away. Give them some credit though. These are hard working individuals way above 'working night security at Walmart' trying to protect a very open and large security risk. It's hard stuff.

You want to see an unprepared location with little readiness for security? Visit the major shipping ports sometime.

Chief of SIS wrote:

These are hard working individuals way above 'working night security at Walmart' trying to protect a very open and large security risk. It's hard stuff.

I'm sure there are. Obviously not all TSA screeners are Wal-Mart flunkies. However, when it gets to the point that we're patting down a diaper-clad infant on a screening table, or fondling a cancer survivor's breast prosthetic, or breaking an old man's colostomy bag, or making a 6 year old boy try to walk through a screening area without his metal crutches all so that we can avoid offending certain groups of people who have committed the vast majority of terrorist acts over the past 30-40 years, we've entered into a state of nonsense so deep and troubling that it's almost impossible to take the agency seriously anymore.

I know a bit about air transport so if you want tough security I recommend El Al. They've been dealing with these nutters for far longer than the rest of the world.