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WSJ: A new hope: Is common sense coming to airport security?

WSJ: A new hope: Is common sense coming to airport security?

Old Aug 10, 2011, 2:55 pm
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WSJ: A new hope: Is common sense coming to airport security?

In the Wall Street Journal opinions today: A new hope? (by Noah Shactman)

Even the head of the Transportation Security Administration knows that the TSA's approach to passenger screening is messed up. The one-size-fits-all mindset, the inexperienced guards, the pat-downs of childrenit's not a sustainable model, TSA chief John Pistole admits. So this fall, he's going to try to introduce just the slightest bit of intelligence and flexibility into his agency's system.

The goal, as Mr. Pistole told the Aspen Security Forum late last month, is to carry out airport security in a "more informed fashion to try to recognize that the vast majority of people traveling every day are not terrorists." The question is: Will the politicians, the press and his own employees let him?


The editorial goes on to say that "children won't get felt up quite as often," and ..."TSA officers may get more flexibility to bend those madding rules about which items are banned from a flight."

And of course, the sheeple had their say,
The promise of common sense is already making some TSA workers nervous, especially since the program's details haven't been finalized. What if they blow a call? And the Chicken Littles in the press are already clucking. At Aspen, one reporter accused Mr. Pistole of "creating a horrible vulnerability" for daring to let a few passengers keep their shoes on.
Pistole is noted in the article to admit the current system is not foolproof and 15B people world wide have kept their shoes on and not a single foot has blown up.
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 3:10 pm
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No common sense until someone drops a house on the Wicked Witch of the East and her Flying Monkey.
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 3:14 pm
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And we'll all be able to carry unlimited liquids through TSA checkpoints by the end of 2009, right?

I'll give Pistole credit for good intentions. But I'll reserve most of my judgment until we see how, exactly, this works out in practice. TSA has promised too much in the past --- perhaps more than it was capable of delivering. We'll see what gets delivered this time.
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 3:17 pm
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Originally Posted by jkhuggins
I'll give Pistole credit for good intentions.
I'd replace "intentions" in your sentence with "politics".

He knows that public opinion is turning against his agency, so he has to do the appropriate amount of damage control to stop the bleeding. Once the furor dies down, I'm betting this is forgotten and any changes made are quickly forgotten or replaced with something just as bad.
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 3:56 pm
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The TSA isn't going to relax in one specific area of the screening. They are too engrained with the notion that the smallest hole in the system will be filled. The TSA needs to be pulled back as a whole. These little "achievements" such as "children won't get felt up quite as often," and "TSA officers may get more flexibility to bend" will, and have, proved futile.
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 4:00 pm
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Originally Posted by BillForster
The TSA isn't going to relax in one specific area of the screening. They are too engrained with the notion that the smallest hole in the system will be filled. The TSA needs to be pulled back as a whole. These little "achievements" such as "children won't get felt up quite as often," and "TSA officers may get more flexibility to bend" will, and have, proved futile.
Agreed! Your assessment is trusted.^
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 4:52 pm
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Political spin and nothing more. If Pistole truly wanted to change things he would replace the Nude-O-Scopes with explosive trace portals, and quit having people groped. This can't happen because of the lobbying grift of people like Michael Chertoff and Tom Blank.
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 5:24 pm
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Originally Posted by N965VJ
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Political spin and nothing more. If Pistole truly wanted to change things he would replace the Nude-O-Scopes with explosive trace portals, and quit having people groped. This can't happen because of the lobbying grift of people like Michael Chertoff and Tom Blank.
+1

I heard the department of Homeland Security takes up 1/8th of our federal budget.

Given the financial mess our country is in, I think we could reduce that to 1/800000000 of our federal budget. And still be more effective.
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 5:58 pm
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Originally Posted by BillForster
The TSA isn't going to relax in one specific area of the screening. They are too engrained with the notion that the smallest hole in the system will be filled. The TSA needs to be pulled back as a whole. These little "achievements" such as "children won't get felt up quite as often," and "TSA officers may get more flexibility to bend" will, and have, proved futile.
What is that one specific area? Or do you mean they won't relax a dam thing?
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 6:48 pm
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As I have said before, if it meant that 99% of passengers were waved through the WTMD and mostly ignored, it would be a good idea. But all that's going to happen is that they will hassle us for personal information and then send everyone through the same invasive and intrusive useless security apparatus. This isn't an improvement, it's another layer of intrusion.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 3:44 am
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Originally Posted by greentips
In the Wall Street Journal opinions today: A new hope? (by Noah Shactman)

... he's going to introduce just the slightest bit of intelligence and flexibility...
I'm surprised he has that much.
Originally Posted by greentips
The editorial goes on to say that "children won't get felt up quite as often,"
Not. Good. Enough.
Originally Posted by greentips
Pistole is noted in the article to admit the current system is not foolproof and 15B people world wide have kept their shoes on and not a single foot has blown up.
Duh.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 8:22 am
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Originally Posted by jkhuggins
I'll give Pistole credit for good intentions.
There was a clip on the 10 PM news last night that included portions of a Pistole talk at the Newseum in DC. In his talk, Pistole defended the gropes of children and the elderly, along with the body scanners, stating that women and children are a proven threat vector, and noting an incident in Afghanistan. He also reiterated the concern about surgically implanted bombs, and tried to make the case for a walk-through portal that has an "array" of sensors.

I am not willing to give him credit. At least not yet. He's part of the problem.
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