There are other incidents you can find on Wikipedia, many of them involving huge holes large enough to suck people out of.
Just because the aircraft sheds some of the fuselage doesn't mean the plane is doomed; rather, it means you better hope to god those clevis bolts holding your seat in are German'd. Also, that the flight attendants might be toast.
We have a new dumbest thing in the Washington Post. And it's not Bill Kristol, though he wants us to get involved in the Iranian protest movement because that's exactly the wrong thing to do. Charles Krauthammer, in a column in the we must torture this dude genre, writes this:
A man who shoots abortion doctors is an extremist. An eco-fanatic who torches logging sites is an extremist. Abdulmutallab is not one of these. He is a jihadist. And unlike the guys who shoot abortion doctors, jihadists have cells all over the world; they blow up trains in London, nightclubs in Bali and airplanes over Detroit (if they can); and are openly pledged to war on America.
No, asshat, those are all terrorists, and they are all criminals. Elevating them to soldiers is what they want, jackass.
enlightenedbum on
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
I would totally choose to be scanned if it means I don't have to bother with taking shoes, belts and other shit off.
I'm a software engineer who works on software for the millimeter wave scanners (though not for the company that uses them for security purposes; we use them for clothing recommendations and fitness assessments). You have to take your belt and shoes off for the scanner and remove any keys or other metal objects from your pockets in order to get an accurate scan, though we may use a different definition of "accurate scan" than the TSA does and theoretically this limitation could be overcome. You cannot see tattoos or body hair on the scan, but they're very precise when it comes to measuring the surface of the body and all that entails. We also have a laser based model that's even more accurate, but it doesn't see through clothing.
Oddly enough, even though I work with these things and I've been scanned dozens of times at work (we all pull double duty as guinea pigs), I'm not really comfortable with some TSA goon having access. I've stopped using the airlines except when necessary. Last time I was on a plane was when I moved from the West Coast to the East Coast two years ago, and I used to travel a couple of times every year.
I had to go through one of those scanners when I was "selected for extra screening" on my trip last week, and they make you take everything out of your pockets, even your boarding pass.
Can we just stick a trained police officer on every flight and be done with it? Surely that'll be cheaper than what we're doing now. It's a matter of time before a terrorist blows up a crowded security checkpoint line, really.
edit: I guarantee you that if you poll a random sample of airline passengers and ask them why they think the TSA confiscates liquids, the majority will tell you it's so that the airport can sell you a 20-oz bottle of soda for seven dollars.
Oh, protip for everyone boarding a plane in the Netherlands: tapwater is perfectly drinkable so bring an empty bottle with you and fill it up once you're through security.
We have a new dumbest thing in the Washington Post. And it's not Bill Kristol, though he wants us to get involved in the Iranian protest movement because that's exactly the wrong thing to do. Charles Krauthammer, in a column in the we must torture this dude genre, writes this:
A man who shoots abortion doctors is an extremist. An eco-fanatic who torches logging sites is an extremist. Abdulmutallab is not one of these. He is a jihadist. And unlike the guys who shoot abortion doctors, jihadists have cells all over the world; they blow up trains in London, nightclubs in Bali and airplanes over Detroit (if they can); and are openly pledged to war on America.
No, asshat, those are all terrorists, and they are all criminals. Elevating them to soldiers is what they want, jackass.
Krauthammer's always been a warmongering asshat, this is nothing new.
He and Kristol were insufferable during the Bush years, though.
does anyone know if the stay in your seat come hell or brown water rule is actually being enforced? Does not having anything in your lap mean you can't use an ipod?
Sam on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
does anyone know if the stay in your seat come hell or brown water rule is actually being enforced? Does not having anything in your lap mean you can't use an ipod?
I'm willing to bet the little money I have that the rule was made on a whim and doesn't address many specifics.
OK, couple days ago I flew across country from Boston to Portland. They didn't check my ID once. Scarier, when I used my credit card to get my e-ticket, I walked away only taking one ticket (for my connecting flight). I realized what happened five minutes later, went back to the machine, and my other ticket was still in there. Somebody could have just taken that and, if they also didn't have their ID checked, just walked onto the plane.
Point being, the system is fucked if we can't implement the most basic security checks. We don't need profiling or 3d imaging, we to start by checking people's damn IDs.
OK, couple days ago I flew across country from Boston to Portland. They didn't check my ID once. Scarier, when I used my credit card to get my e-ticket, I walked away only taking one ticket (for my connecting flight). I realized what happened five minutes later, went back to the machine, and my other ticket was still in there. Somebody could have just taken that and, if they also didn't have their ID checked, just walked onto the plane.
Point being, the system is fucked if we can't implement the most basic security checks. We don't need profiling or 3d imaging, we to start by checking people's damn IDs.
Wait...what?
They didn't require you to show a photo ID at the TSA checkpoint? That's specifically required by policy. Theoretically you're supposed to show an ID to either pick up the ticket or at the gate as well, but that's rarely enforced...but the "show ID at the security screening checkpoint" is like, an iron-clad rule.
Basically, the TSA personnel at your checkpoint fucked up, and hard. To the point that you should probably drop a dime and report them (be sure to include the approximate time you went through, and they might have video).
OK, couple days ago I flew across country from Boston to Portland. They didn't check my ID once. Scarier, when I used my credit card to get my e-ticket, I walked away only taking one ticket (for my connecting flight). I realized what happened five minutes later, went back to the machine, and my other ticket was still in there. Somebody could have just taken that and, if they also didn't have their ID checked, just walked onto the plane.
Point being, the system is fucked if we can't implement the most basic security checks. We don't need profiling or 3d imaging, we to start by checking people's damn IDs.
Wait...what?
They didn't require you to show a photo ID at the TSA checkpoint? That's specifically required by policy. Theoretically you're supposed to show an ID to either pick up the ticket or at the gate as well, but that's rarely enforced...but the "show ID at the security screening checkpoint" is like, an iron-clad rule.
Basically, the TSA personnel at your checkpoint fucked up, and hard. To the point that you should probably drop a dime and report them (be sure to include the approximate time you went through, and they might have video).
Yeah, I've never not had to take out my driver's license while showing my boarding pass to get to the terminal.
OK, couple days ago I flew across country from Boston to Portland. They didn't check my ID once. Scarier, when I used my credit card to get my e-ticket, I walked away only taking one ticket (for my connecting flight). I realized what happened five minutes later, went back to the machine, and my other ticket was still in there. Somebody could have just taken that and, if they also didn't have their ID checked, just walked onto the plane.
Point being, the system is fucked if we can't implement the most basic security checks. We don't need profiling or 3d imaging, we to start by checking people's damn IDs.
Wait...what?
They didn't require you to show a photo ID at the TSA checkpoint? That's specifically required by policy. Theoretically you're supposed to show an ID to either pick up the ticket or at the gate as well, but that's rarely enforced...but the "show ID at the security screening checkpoint" is like, an iron-clad rule.
Basically, the TSA personnel at your checkpoint fucked up, and hard. To the point that you should probably drop a dime and report them (be sure to include the approximate time you went through, and they might have video).
Yeah, I've never not had to take out my driver's license while showing my boarding pass to get to the terminal.
And, in fact, if the name on the license (or other ID) doesn't match the name on the boarding pass (including simple mispellings or middle initial) you're not supposed to get through. Period.
They even have pretty strict criteria on the ID (must have full name, photo, birth date, be issued by a state or federal agency [or tribal agency], and possess at least one tamper-proof feature).
Like I said, either you're forgetting that you had to whip it out at the checkpoint (but not to pick up the ticket or at the gate) or the TSA at your point of origin was seriously asleep at the wheel. I've flown a lot, and never seen this happen.
I recall once almost not getting onto a plan because of the TSA. Me and my dad both have the same first and last name, but a different middle one. So, when we bought tickets, we put in the middle initial so the tickets can be told apart. Fun fact: This airline didn't put the middle initial on the boarding pass. So the the TSA thought we were trying to pull a fast one on them with identical boarding passes, then got pissed because the ticket didn't match our id's. Only a supervisor coming over and saying it was no big deal let us make it to our fight
in short, everyone is an idiot at airlines and the checkpoints. Plus, the ID thing does exactly fuck-all to make anyone safer
I recall once almost not getting onto a plan because of the TSA. Me and my dad both have the same first and last name, but a different middle one. So, when we bought tickets, we put in the middle initial so the tickets can be told apart. Fun fact: This airline didn't put the middle initial on the boarding pass. So the the TSA thought we were trying to pull a fast one on them with identical boarding passes, then got pissed because the ticket didn't match our id's. Only a supervisor coming over and saying it was no big deal let us make it to our fight
in short, everyone is an idiot at airlines and the checkpoints. Plus, the ID thing does exactly fuck-all to make anyone safer
Certainly, but that doesn't make it getting randomly ignored for Cpunk any less odd.
When a dude with a bomb enters an airport the system has already failed and that's not really the TSA's fault. Otherwise, yeah they should probably exist. Just not with all the idiotic regulations that we have which do nothing to make people more safe just more annoyed. Airports, train stations, ports et. al. need some form of security personnel and having them be feds rather than rentacops, or putting more of a burden on local police, doesn't seem like that horrible of an idea.
This.
We need the TSA.
We just need them to not be fucking retarded.
Indeed.
The problem with new TSA regulations is that they seem to always just be coming up with things that would have prevented the LAST attack, and never looking forward to what might prevent the next one.
A guy ALREADY tried to light his shoe on fire. No one intelligent enough to get away with it is ever going to try that again, because they know that people are watching for it. You don't have to focus on everyone's shoes.
Not being allowed to have anything in your lap for the last hour of a flight seems like it's reaching undue burden territory.
[jon stewart]This was the same as the shoe plan except the explosives were moved upwards the length of an inseam. [/jon stewart]
Can't you just say you lost your ID and they'll just give you the extra screening?
But, if you lose your ID what else did you lose? Could you have lost your shoe and have had a bomb planted in it before you found it? YOU, sir, are a security risk and cannot be allowed on board.
Can't you just say you lost your ID and they'll just give you the extra screening?
But, if you lose your ID what else did you lose? Could you have lost your shoe and have had a bomb planted in it before you found it? YOU, sir, are a security risk and cannot be allowed on board.
Well, in theory they're supposed to be able to identify every person that travels by air. Probably to verify that they're not on any particular watch/no-fly list.
Which, yeah, goes back to the fact that there shouldn't exist anybody that you can't let on a plane given sufficient screening. ID or no, there should be an "additional screening" that makes anybody safe to fly...go through their fucking underwear in their bag, make them consent to a strip-search, whatever. The very idea that it's the ID itself that somehow makes anybody safer is retarded. Thus, it's the exact kind of policy the TSA holds most dear.
I flew out of Omaha and didn't get my ID checked either.
Not like it matters. Passengers know the stakes are now life or death and will just beat the shit out of any attempted hijackers anymore. No more just sitting there, waiting to be ransomed, which is the only reason 9/11 worked was because they exploited everyone's expectations. They only had box cutters, not any knives/gel/bombs.
Correct me if I'm totally off base here, but couldn't some terrorist buy a stinger and just park himself on the ground somewhere between 2 major air hubs and just shoot down the first jet he saw if the goal was just to blow up a plane?
Basically I'm trying to grasp who totally fucking the passengers helps anything. Would any of the new precautions even have stopped the underpants bomber?
Can't you just say you lost your ID and they'll just give you the extra screening?
But, if you lose your ID what else did you lose? Could you have lost your shoe and have had a bomb planted in it before you found it? YOU, sir, are a security risk and cannot be allowed on board.
Well, in theory they're supposed to be able to identify every person that travels by air. Probably to verify that they're not on any particular watch/no-fly list.
Which, yeah, goes back to the fact that there shouldn't exist anybody that you can't let on a plane given sufficient screening. ID or no, there should be an "additional screening" that makes anybody safe to fly...go through their fucking underwear in their bag, make them consent to a strip-search, whatever. The very idea that it's the ID itself that somehow makes anybody safer is retarded. Thus, it's the exact kind of policy the TSA holds most dear.
Exactly. As I mentioned before, the Israeli's have airport security down pat. And it is efficient/fast because Israeli's wouldn't stand for hour-long waits to get through airport security. Americans? "Well, it's inconvenient but if it means someone won't set their underwear on fire... I guess it is ok. I'll just get to the airport four hours earlier than my flight."
Correct me if I'm totally off base here, but couldn't some terrorist buy a stinger and just park himself on the ground somewhere between 2 major air hubs and just shoot down the first jet he saw if the goal was just to blow up a plane?
Basically I'm trying to grasp who totally fucking the passengers helps anything. Would any of the new precautions even have stopped the underpants bomber?
It's all security theater intended to help the the public, and the airlines, by reassuring people that everything is okay. The probability of an individual dying in a terrorist attack is extremely small. Some things that are being introduced would stop some one with a bomb in their underwear (the body scanners would certainly catch that). On the other hand, strict adherence to the rules as written would have also stopped the people aboard said flight from tackling Captain Underpants (they got out of their seats during the last hour of the flight, after all!). A terrorist wouldn't have to go so far as buying a Stinger missile, anyway (and doing that is more difficult than it sounds). They could just get a run of the mill suicide vest, provoke a security incident at the airport that cause additional screening (phoning in a threat to bomb a plane) and then blow themselves up in the crowd of people waiting to go through security screening.
Edith_Bagot-Dix on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
edited January 2010
Here's Obama's press conference (brief) about the incident and what is being done. He's ordered the TSA and all security to put people who fly from (or fly through) nations with known terrorist ties or nations of other interest through additional security screening. He's also barked at them to get their no-fly list more up to date. No details yet on who did what, but all the security representatives from each branch apologized for their shortcomings, whatever those were.
Edit - Also added this to the OP, though I would say it was safely assumed given what the thread is: EDIT ON 01/06/10 - This thread is suitable to the discussion of the specific event of the crotch bomber as well as all future incidents and news on the TSA.
I'm comfortable with full body scanners as long as any time a child goes through one someone in the TSA is arrested for creation of child pornography under the letter of the law in our hilarious PROTECT act
I'm comfortable with full body scanners as long as any time a child goes through one someone in the TSA is arrested for creation of child pornography under the letter of the law in our hilarious PROTECT act
Apparently, this would be the case in the UK and why children under 18 were exempt from scans during the last year that they were testing it.
There's also this concern (from same article):
Simon Davies, founder of the British-based group Privacy International, said that scans of celebrities or even of people with unusual body features could have an “irresistible pull” for some employees who want to share them with friends or others.
The obvious way around this is for the terrorists is to have 17-year old bombers.
Or you know, they could just give up on airports and drive a carbomb into a hospital or something
Let me put it this way:
If I was a jihadist, and was willing to throw my life away to kill people, yea...
99% of the TSA's security measures are useless. I support the full body scanners in theory but there's absolutely no question that shit will end up on the internet within hours of nationwide implementation, and ultimately will it stop any terror attacks?
What if one of the airport employees is the terrorist, seeing as they aren't screened? I mean... fuck it just seems so stupid to me, the way things are done.
Or you know, they could just give up on airports and drive a carbomb into a hospital or something
Let me put it this way:
If I was a jihadist, and was willing to throw my life away to kill people, yea...
99% of the TSA's security measures are useless. I support the full body scanners in theory but there's absolutely no question that shit will end up on the internet within hours of nationwide implementation, and ultimately will it stop any terror attacks?
What if one of the airport employees is the terrorist, seeing as they aren't screened? I mean... fuck it just seems so stupid to me, the way things are done.
I saw a very good question about the crotchbomber the other day.
If he really wanted to detonate a bomb on the plane, why didn't he do so in the bathroom?
Security theater is NOT SECURITY and, in fact, creates a false illusion of security that can make things less secure. But I see no way to get that point across to the government in any meaningful way.
Or you know, they could just give up on airports and drive a carbomb into a hospital or something
Let me put it this way:
If I was a jihadist, and was willing to throw my life away to kill people, yea...
99% of the TSA's security measures are useless. I support the full body scanners in theory but there's absolutely no question that shit will end up on the internet within hours of nationwide implementation, and ultimately will it stop any terror attacks?
What if one of the airport employees is the terrorist, seeing as they aren't screened? I mean... fuck it just seems so stupid to me, the way things are done.
I saw a very good question about the crotchbomber the other day.
If he really wanted to detonate a bomb on the plane, why didn't he do so in the bathroom?
Security theater is NOT SECURITY and, in fact, creates a false illusion of security that can make things less secure. But I see no way to get that point across to the government in any meaningful way.
This was asked and examined on Sullivan's blog and there are two reasons:
1) The bathroom is not in a vulnerable part of plane.
2) His seat (right above the wing) was in a very vulnerable part.
enlightenedbum on
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
Wait, why does the bloke staring at my erect penis also have to see me IRL. Can't he just sit in another part of the airport looking at the scans and if something is wrong he hits a big red button and the people at the gate get the alarm and pick that person out of the line. That way he won't see whose scan he is currently looking at.
Basically, a level of anonymity should be in place. I earlier wrote about the Dutch playing around with software that would analyze the pictures and give a warning in case of troubles, but we could replace the software with a bloke in an office staring at bodies all day for much the same effect.
Posts
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyingwithfish/2009/12/28/tsa-modifies-sd-1544-09-06-who-will-fix-the-broken-system/
gotta laugh at the fact that he got the document from the tsa, just as tsa was saying it wasnt a public document.
also the subpoena was dropped when one of the bloggers challanged it
http://www.elliott.org/blog/department-of-homeland-security-withdraws-subpoena/
late edit: i dont really think i have a problem with this now, at least the way russia is doing it
Hardly. Contrary to what Hollywood likes to pretend, the main body of an aircraft is pretty damn durable.
Evidence:
Aloha Airlines Flight 243
American Airlines Flight 96
There are other incidents you can find on Wikipedia, many of them involving huge holes large enough to suck people out of.
Just because the aircraft sheds some of the fuselage doesn't mean the plane is doomed; rather, it means you better hope to god those clevis bolts holding your seat in are German'd. Also, that the flight attendants might be toast.
No, asshat, those are all terrorists, and they are all criminals. Elevating them to soldiers is what they want, jackass.
I'm a software engineer who works on software for the millimeter wave scanners (though not for the company that uses them for security purposes; we use them for clothing recommendations and fitness assessments). You have to take your belt and shoes off for the scanner and remove any keys or other metal objects from your pockets in order to get an accurate scan, though we may use a different definition of "accurate scan" than the TSA does and theoretically this limitation could be overcome. You cannot see tattoos or body hair on the scan, but they're very precise when it comes to measuring the surface of the body and all that entails. We also have a laser based model that's even more accurate, but it doesn't see through clothing.
Oddly enough, even though I work with these things and I've been scanned dozens of times at work (we all pull double duty as guinea pigs), I'm not really comfortable with some TSA goon having access. I've stopped using the airlines except when necessary. Last time I was on a plane was when I moved from the West Coast to the East Coast two years ago, and I used to travel a couple of times every year.
Also on Steam and PSN: twobadcats
Can we just stick a trained police officer on every flight and be done with it? Surely that'll be cheaper than what we're doing now. It's a matter of time before a terrorist blows up a crowded security checkpoint line, really.
edit: I guarantee you that if you poll a random sample of airline passengers and ask them why they think the TSA confiscates liquids, the majority will tell you it's so that the airport can sell you a 20-oz bottle of soda for seven dollars.
Yea, you're screwed universally if you wanted to bring soda.
Krauthammer's always been a warmongering asshat, this is nothing new.
He and Kristol were insufferable during the Bush years, though.
Krauthammer also looks like he was entombed for the better part of the last 500 years.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
I'm willing to bet the little money I have that the rule was made on a whim and doesn't address many specifics.
He always struck me as having a very ferret-ish face.
Like, a 500 year-old ferret come from the sands of Egypt to tell us all how awesome Reagan was, and how terrible Obama is.
I should write an email and ask him how awesome it was to have owned Moses back in his middle age.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
Point being, the system is fucked if we can't implement the most basic security checks. We don't need profiling or 3d imaging, we to start by checking people's damn IDs.
Wait...what?
They didn't require you to show a photo ID at the TSA checkpoint? That's specifically required by policy. Theoretically you're supposed to show an ID to either pick up the ticket or at the gate as well, but that's rarely enforced...but the "show ID at the security screening checkpoint" is like, an iron-clad rule.
Basically, the TSA personnel at your checkpoint fucked up, and hard. To the point that you should probably drop a dime and report them (be sure to include the approximate time you went through, and they might have video).
Yeah, I've never not had to take out my driver's license while showing my boarding pass to get to the terminal.
And, in fact, if the name on the license (or other ID) doesn't match the name on the boarding pass (including simple mispellings or middle initial) you're not supposed to get through. Period.
They even have pretty strict criteria on the ID (must have full name, photo, birth date, be issued by a state or federal agency [or tribal agency], and possess at least one tamper-proof feature).
Like I said, either you're forgetting that you had to whip it out at the checkpoint (but not to pick up the ticket or at the gate) or the TSA at your point of origin was seriously asleep at the wheel. I've flown a lot, and never seen this happen.
in short, everyone is an idiot at airlines and the checkpoints. Plus, the ID thing does exactly fuck-all to make anyone safer
Certainly, but that doesn't make it getting randomly ignored for Cpunk any less odd.
[jon stewart]This was the same as the shoe plan except the explosives were moved upwards the length of an inseam. [/jon stewart]
But, if you lose your ID what else did you lose? Could you have lost your shoe and have had a bomb planted in it before you found it? YOU, sir, are a security risk and cannot be allowed on board.
Well, in theory they're supposed to be able to identify every person that travels by air. Probably to verify that they're not on any particular watch/no-fly list.
Which, yeah, goes back to the fact that there shouldn't exist anybody that you can't let on a plane given sufficient screening. ID or no, there should be an "additional screening" that makes anybody safe to fly...go through their fucking underwear in their bag, make them consent to a strip-search, whatever. The very idea that it's the ID itself that somehow makes anybody safer is retarded. Thus, it's the exact kind of policy the TSA holds most dear.
Not like it matters. Passengers know the stakes are now life or death and will just beat the shit out of any attempted hijackers anymore. No more just sitting there, waiting to be ransomed, which is the only reason 9/11 worked was because they exploited everyone's expectations. They only had box cutters, not any knives/gel/bombs.
Basically I'm trying to grasp who totally fucking the passengers helps anything. Would any of the new precautions even have stopped the underpants bomber?
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
edit- it'd be awesome if a terrorist trying this javelinfailed
Exactly. As I mentioned before, the Israeli's have airport security down pat. And it is efficient/fast because Israeli's wouldn't stand for hour-long waits to get through airport security. Americans? "Well, it's inconvenient but if it means someone won't set their underwear on fire... I guess it is ok. I'll just get to the airport four hours earlier than my flight."
It's all security theater intended to help the the public, and the airlines, by reassuring people that everything is okay. The probability of an individual dying in a terrorist attack is extremely small. Some things that are being introduced would stop some one with a bomb in their underwear (the body scanners would certainly catch that). On the other hand, strict adherence to the rules as written would have also stopped the people aboard said flight from tackling Captain Underpants (they got out of their seats during the last hour of the flight, after all!). A terrorist wouldn't have to go so far as buying a Stinger missile, anyway (and doing that is more difficult than it sounds). They could just get a run of the mill suicide vest, provoke a security incident at the airport that cause additional screening (phoning in a threat to bomb a plane) and then blow themselves up in the crowd of people waiting to go through security screening.
Also on Steam and PSN: twobadcats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZENTiYloXfE
Edit - Also added this to the OP, though I would say it was safely assumed given what the thread is:
EDIT ON 01/06/10 - This thread is suitable to the discussion of the specific event of the crotch bomber as well as all future incidents and news on the TSA.
Apparently, this would be the case in the UK and why children under 18 were exempt from scans during the last year that they were testing it.
There's also this concern (from same article):
The obvious way around this is for the terrorists is to have 17-year old bombers.
Let me put it this way:
If I was a jihadist, and was willing to throw my life away to kill people, yea...
99% of the TSA's security measures are useless. I support the full body scanners in theory but there's absolutely no question that shit will end up on the internet within hours of nationwide implementation, and ultimately will it stop any terror attacks?
What if one of the airport employees is the terrorist, seeing as they aren't screened? I mean... fuck it just seems so stupid to me, the way things are done.
I saw a very good question about the crotchbomber the other day.
If he really wanted to detonate a bomb on the plane, why didn't he do so in the bathroom?
Security theater is NOT SECURITY and, in fact, creates a false illusion of security that can make things less secure. But I see no way to get that point across to the government in any meaningful way.
This was asked and examined on Sullivan's blog and there are two reasons:
1) The bathroom is not in a vulnerable part of plane.
2) His seat (right above the wing) was in a very vulnerable part.
Basically, a level of anonymity should be in place. I earlier wrote about the Dutch playing around with software that would analyze the pictures and give a warning in case of troubles, but we could replace the software with a bloke in an office staring at bodies all day for much the same effect.
Or run a LPG tanker aground, which would be a hell of a lot more devastating than "200 shmucks died in a plane crash."