blackaeronaut Wrote:You know, I never really minded some of the basic stuff the TSA checks. They X-ray your carry-on, shoes, and electronic devices to see if they are hiding any detonators. No sharp and pointy objects are permitted. No containers of liquids beyond a certain size. (I'm glaring at you, Underwear Bomber.) They run you through a metal detector. And then that's it. You slip your shoes back on, stuff your laptop back into your bag, your loose change into your pockets, and you hit the tarmac.
The radiation from the x-ray machine will fry laptops within a few months for frequent fliers, and there is some indications that the scanners are more dangerous from a radiological perspective than the flight.
The no liquid/sharp things is a major problem for those with medical conditions (eg diabetics), and if you got a metal implant 30-40 years ago chances are you don't have TSA acceptable documentation for it since it was not the norm back then and those people can't fly, ever.
It is worth noting that Israeli-air gives people real knives on the flight, because they are more interested in real security than theatre. (Terrorist will always be vastly outnumbered, and after 9-11 most passengers will attack if given a chance.)
blackaeronaut Wrote:Honestly, I was never really troubled much by those measures. They're reasonable, and are deterrent enough that only someone that's truly determined to cause mayhem will even try it.
Reasonable would mean that they are defensible from a cost benefit analysis, and they are not. Replacing the security checks with blood-pressure screening would save many more lives, and the hassle is causing people to avoid travelling into the US, and people within the US are less likely to fly costing the tourism industry billions.
Reasonable wouldn't mean that normal travellers be detained for hours having to give details of their live story and trip as well as all the people encountered each time they travel to a distinctively hostile officer. (happened to me the last time I entered the US, and the times before that where similar. I now only travel to/within the US if I absolutely have to. Of course after that I got expedited through security so I wouldn't, miss my flight... schizophrenic much?)
If terrorist really wanted to cause mayhem they would bomb the long lines for the security scanners.
blackaeronaut Wrote:But then they start with all this business with body scanners and patting down kids. Utterly disgusting and totally ineffective. Or rather no more effective than the measures from before. And I'm pretty sure that this whole thing was just to get the government to buy these stupid body scanners. Who makes them, anyhow? Can't be very many manufacturers in the market.
The scanners are a pretty blatant from of corruption it's basicly a former TSA chief that is selling them.
tl;dr; The scanners and procedures are not a hassle if you are a normal with male without medical conditions and your name doesn't happen to sound similar to one one the tens of thousands of people on watchlists.
By the way fun fact, if your name is on the no-fly list and you are under 13 you may still fly at the airline's discretion.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."