Originally Posted by
HSVTSO Dean
The number of checked baggage opened for screening has actually very little to do with the total number of bags screened. Since TSA tracks the number of bags screened total versus the number of bags actually opened in checked baggage, I'd say that's probably a more or less accurate number than you're willing to give it credit for.
My only point was that they seem to be claiming that 85MM+ bags is over 16% of 535MM+ bags. It would require 85,600,001 bags to be screened against a sample of 535,000,001 to hit 16%, so it was surprising to me that they presented the number that way, though it certainly is possible.
My understanding is that the majority of checked bags are screened automatically by the computers. Some subset of those are seconded to humans that look at the images on the screens. And of those any that cannot be cleared are then manually screened. So it goes.
@
red456: I'm glad to hear that even the folks who only deal with it once a year are starting to see through the fog on this topic. I still don't think that anything will change based on the election as the politicians rarely actually represent the will of the people. Anyone who stands up and tries to remove the TSA and/or restore a sensible approach to security will immediately be branded by their opponents as soft on security and soft on terrorism and will fight that throughout their reelection campaign. And I do not think any politicians are that stupid. When you have
Chertoff saying things like this:
Originally Posted by Chertoff
And then I guarantee what would happen is this: If you stopped using the watch list and basically anybody could get on a plane without knowing their identity, sooner or later something would happen -- and people would lose their lives, and then there would be another 9/11 Commission and we'd hear about how you had this system and you would have kept them off and these people lost their loved ones on a plane.
without anyone pushing back on the ridiculous nature of his premise you start to understand that the politics of fear are too strong to overcome in many cases.