<p>^^^I really didn’t keep up with that incident, but I don’t believe Obama ever called the cop racist. I believe that’s what Tmac was referring to. I know Obama did say the police acted “stupidly” but I highly doubt that he’d use such a polarizing term along the lines of racist.</p>
<p>The same can’t be said for Gates.</p>
<p>eventually someone is going to worry about a suicide bomber walking up to the CHECK-IN COUNTER with his suicide bomb and detonating it… so far this worry seems to escape most people though.</p>
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<p>Why a check-in counter? He’d have a much better chance of killing people on a crowded bus or subway line.</p>
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wow I never even thought about public transport terrorism before…and I live in manhattan and take the subway constantly 
Even if airport security gets super strict, anyone could easily set off a bomb in times sq or take the ferry over to liberty island and…same could be said of any major city. Wasn’t the Delta flight headed to Detroit? If that ever happens, it’s going to cause mass panic. the airlines are bad enough, but a public suicide bombing would make people really paranoid.</p>
<p>and honestly, if 15 seconds of walking in front of an x-ray bothers someone…wow. I can’t believe people would get uptight over that.</p>
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<p>[url="<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings"]Newsflash[/url">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings"]Newsflash[/url</a>]</p>
<p>^ i’m aware of the terrorist attacks in london, madrid, and the middle east…obviously I meant if that ever happened in the US.</p>
<p>@Jim - yeah i’ve seen that happen but do people’s shoes actually get messed up from being jumbled around? I’d be really annoyed if that happened to me, but as far as i’ve seen (and I don’t travel that much) shoes don’t usually get damaged on the conveyer belt</p>
<p>There’s only so much we can do without enslaving society in order to prevent terrorism. We accept the trade-off of the risk of something like the Oklahoma City bombing in exchange for freedom. We have to weigh the risks, costs and benefits. </p>
<p>The risk of not doing advanced screening: people like this terrorist getting onto a plane with explosive devices. </p>
<p>The cost of advanced screening, asides from monetary: People complaining about ‘violation of privacy’</p>
<p>The benefit of advanced screening: a much lower chance of someone getting onto a plane with explosives.</p>
<p>I’ll take ten irate passengers who will ultimately grin and bear it because they’d rather not take a three day train ride over 200 dead passengers because we didn’t want to **** anyone off by using backscatter machines.</p>
<p>Keasby Nights, thats exactly what I said before, that every TSA supervisor reads the rules differently on this “shoes needs to be on conveyor belt rule”. There are airports that TRY to enforce it and there are others who care less. Trust me, you will see items getting tossed around especially when they push the forward and backward button repeatedly. I have over 200,000 FF miles on Asiana Airlines, United, USAirways, and Continental metal now. </p>
<p>DCHurricane, that’s exactly what I’m saying. There is a “rule” that states that you MUST put shoes on the conveyor belt, not the bins anymore. However, as I recently said in other posts, every TSA officer reads the rule differently so at someplaces it isn’t enforced. However, it is said that they told to try to get the people to put their shoes on the conveyor belt. </p>
<p>Alix, now just imagine seeing your Jimmy Choo shoes infront of another person’s carry-on suitcase while there is your suitcase or carry-on bag infront of it. I’m pretty sure that every bag that is decently big in size gets checked two or even three times. That means that the conveyor belt would have to go through it’s “back, forward, back,forward,etc.” phrase again. From there, theres a high possibility that the suitcase behind your shoes could’ve damaged your shoes, especially if the wheels were faced at your shoes. </p>
<p>To be honest, I’m not saying to “rebel” against the TSA officers, just know that if your wearing nice shoes or an expensive sneaker to remember that many airports don’t require you to put them in the conveyor belt, instead you could ask if you could put it in a bin.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately this isn’t even the case anymore. This month a pediatrician the next town over from me was arrested on dozens of counts of rape, ranging from girls 3 months to 13 years old, all committed at his office- and he videotaped most of the occurrences. I’d much rather get a stupid x-ray at the airport than put all my trust in a supposedly “trustworthy” physician and have that sort of thing happen. The parents put too much trust in the doctor and that’s why they let him be alone with their kids. It just goes to show you really can’t trust authority figures…ever.</p>
<p>I’ve always put them in the bin without hassle. Toss my coat on top of them if need be, separate bin for my laptop, wallet and phone, and then put my bag right on the belt.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately this isn’t even the case anymore. This month a pediatrician the next town over from me was arrested on dozens of counts of rape, ranging from girls 3 months to 13 years old, all committed at his office- and he videotaped most of the occurrences. I’d much rather get a stupid x-ray at the airport than put all my trust in a supposedly “trustworthy” physician and have that sort of thing happen. The parents put too much trust in the doctor and that’s why they let him be alone with their kids. It just goes to show you really can’t trust authority figures…ever.”</p>
<p>That’s why I said that a doctor is PROBABLY more trustworthy than a random airport employee. Obviously there are going to be exceptions, and it’s always dangerous to put your full trust in someone you don’t know well, but if you had to choose between a doctor and a random, unknown airport employee, which one is generally going to be the safer choice?</p>
<p>I’m surprised that the doctor got away with that. Maybe it’s just in my state, but I’m pretty sure there’s a rule that says either a parent or a nurse/assistant must be in the room during an examination, specifically so things like that don’t happen.</p>
<p>I will do whatever is necessary for security reasons, but I find it a bit disconcerting that my 17 year old daughter(who happens to be a very attractive girl) has been pulled out of line for the x ray scan every time. We travel out of an airport that is equipped with the scanner. I have never seen anyone else any of these times. I realize the “reader” cannot see who has been chosen, it just seems like more than coincidence.</p>
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Yup that’s been done before (not sure in US) but definitely in Korea and Japan…</p>
<p>[Sarin</a> gas attack on the Tokyo subway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway]Sarin”>Tokyo subway sarin attack - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I dunno, I dont like some random dude who works at the airport seeing me through those xray machines. It just seems like every year it gets worse and worse so who knows what they are gonna do next. I mean, I’m still a customer right? (not an inmate) whatever, I guess if it’s enforced, I can’t do anything about it. And if a doctor is sexually harrassing some girls I’m sure there’s a more likely chance of some random dude who works at the airport being the same way…</p>
<p>First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.</p>
<p>have any of you ever thought to think that</p>
<p>1) The person running the backscatter machine CANNOT SEE THE PERSON BEING SCANNED?</p>
<p>2) The backscatter image IS NOT DETAILED AND BLACKS OUT YOUR PRIVATE PARTS?</p>
<p>3) The image IS NOT SAVED?</p>
<p>Seriously. People show just as much at the beach, and in far greater detail.</p>
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<p>What if they came for you but you were in a million pieces because a terrorist blew you up?</p>
<p>When I’m wearing a bikini I’m choosing to show it off. PFFT. </p>
<p>cuse0507- i mean that goes for any situation anytime. -_-;; why only airplanes? It’s not like they need a plane to blow up another giant building. It can happen in your street your school subway bus whatever else. People seem to be forgetting that planes aren’t the only things that terrorists can use… I guess planes are the common targets for terrorists and security is necessary but I think TSA is pretty ineffective…(better than nothing I guess) and I wonder how far they will go. I dunno, I’m just wondering… I wish the IT from South Park really existed ROFL without the rear inserting controls of course.</p>
<p>It just seems to me that our lives as Americans are going to keep getting more and more restricted due to scare tactics put on by our government. “If we don’t do X, then they will kill us.” Like many have said, there are an infinite amount of ways that a terrorist act can occur. It is therefore impossible to stop all attacks. We have procedures in place to reduce the vast majority of violence and crime (metal detectors for guns/knives in airports, court rooms, government buildings, etc), but it is hard to stop a religious group who think blowing themselves up and killing masses in the name of God will grant them tens of virgins upon death.</p>
<p>Um, first of all, you all realize that the TSA’s security measures are a farce, right? They were designed to make you feel safe and prevent mass hysteria, but – as previous and recent incidents prove - the TSA’s security is F’ING WORTHLESS.</p>
<p>There are so many people arguing about shoes — do you guys realize that the United States is the only country in the world that requires the ridiculous “taking off shoes” measure? Hey, genius… in ANY INCOMING FLIGHT TO THE US… you are NOT required to take off your shoes at all (because it is in a foreign country, and no other country checks your shoes). Hence… the entire measure, if it is circumvented thousands of times on every day, IS WORTHLESS.</p>
<p>And what can you hide in your shoes that you can’t hide in, say, a bra? Or boxers? Answer: nothing! The security measures are a farce - they are strictly political and made to make you feel safe.</p>
<p>This recent attack is a shining example of how terrible the TSA is.</p>
<p>Anyway, some changes are needed but I would eliminate those naked x-ray machines. Sure, they “blur out” private parts. Question - how does the machine identify nipples and genitalia exactly, if they are organic shapes and different from person to person? Answer - it probably doesn’t – or maybe it does so AFTER it is recognized by one person or supervisor. So if you want to give some workers a free peep show for the purposes of - a politician gets reelected and seems tough on terrorism - be my guest.</p>
<p>[Is</a> aviation security mostly for show? - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/29/schneier.air.travel.security.theater/]Is”>Is aviation security mostly for show? - CNN.com)</p>