The "new" and "unpredictable" security is going to be a nightmare for those of us who have been fighting the shoe carnival. Now retaliatory screenings will simply be "random" and the TSA will have "procedure" backing them up.

Sigh.

Yes, I saw a press release which specifically stated that "Some days everyone will need to remove their shoes and other days they won't." In theory, random procedures *do* make sense for security -- **if** utilized correctly. In practice, I expect this means justification for any irrational procedure which happens to be utilized at any particular location. A "win/win" for management which will no longer be required to respond to inconsistency in the system.

can be found here

Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., said Thursday they intend to introduce a bill to preserve the current list of items barred from the cabin.

"The Bush administration proposal is just asking the next Mohamed Atta to move from box cutters to scissors as the weapon that's used in the passenger cabin of planes," Markey said, referring to the leader of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Stupid idiots. Even their comments are ridiculous...gratuitous grandstanding for votes at everyones' expense.

Justin Green is an attorney for the families of three flight attendants who died aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which hijackers crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. ...
"The families are outraged that the TSA is planning on letting weapons back on board," Green said.

Weapons?? Should I apply for a carry permit the next time I need to trim my toenails or screw something into a piece of wood? Another idiot.

Now finally, a voice of reason...

Bob Hesselbein, the union's national security committee chairman, said pilots think it's more important to focus on passengers' intent rather than what they're carrying.

"A Swiss army knife in the briefcase of a frequent flyer we know very well is a tool," Hesselbein said. "A ballpoint pen in the hands of a terrorist is a weapon."

And a voice of reason from a politician, no less...

Rep. John Mica (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation Committee's aviation panel, agrees with Hawley that screeners should be looking for explosives rather than small, sharp objects that could be used as weapons.

"You have a huge army of pilots that are now armed, you have significant numbers of federal air marshals, you have secure cockpit doors, you have an alert public," Mica said. "Terrorists aren't dumb, they can see what the weakness in the system is."

It wasn't a conclusion - it was a question - you ought not jump to such conclusions.

So let me reiterate more clearly: my question is that if we don't screen for a threat in one obvious place that has already been utilized by an attempted terrorist, what's the point of screening at all?..

The new change comes with this real poison pill:

"Good" PR to provide cover to non-"improvements".

Sounds like propaganda being used by our own government against us. No surprise in this case.

I would like to see a nationwide poll on TSA. I feel like sometimes people that can think logically are in the minority.

There has been a grand total of 1 attempts to use shoes to blow up a plane. One. Out of literally billions of boardings. This is not a credible enough threat. Moreover, terrorists are not stupid, even though the TSA seems to think they are. Undergarments and body cavities can be used instead of shoes very easily.

Instead of wasting resources and destroying civil liberties trying to REACT to a once in a billion attempt, a smarter plan would instead be PROACTIVE and screen for explosives that could be hidden in undergarments or body cavities in addition to shoes. The GE EntryScan3 does this. Also, simply swabbing non-alarming shoes with ETD accomplishes this and is more likely to detect trace amounts of explosives hidden in other places.

Instead, the ignorant little jackasses in charge of the TSA choose to conduct strip-searches of passengers by forcing them to deshoe. In addition to that, passengers who refuse this unreasonable request are given a retaliatory groping. This action by the TSA demonstates that they have zero common sense, zero knowledge of material science, and zero respect for passengers' civil liberties.

Such a disgrace of an organization should be dismantled.

Be sure to file a complaint everytime this happens, no matter what excuse the shoe perverts and gropers give you.

The only interaction the leaders of the TSA should have with shoes is to have shoes that are surrounding feet repeated applied to these ignorant little jackasses at high velocity. Repeatedly.

.... well, at least there is natural selection -- even if it works slowly apparently.

.... increased secondary searches.

"Can't do it right once, try it twice. Join the TSA."

I need to add a #5 to my previous post:

5. Hawley promises lots of changes including allowing pointy objects once again. Creates outrage among various groups. Congress passes legislation outlawing pointy objects and declares them weapons. Hawley says, "Well, I tried..." TSA wins.

Excellent point. Could very well happen. The idiots banned butane lighters, so I can see Congress banning all sharp and pointy objects legislatively (which will make the ban, for all intents and purposes, permament).

Another question is whether airlines will permit these items even if the TSA allows them past the checkpoint. Especially the jumpy ones, like AA. AA never closed the curtains following September 11 even before the government ordered them left open and later removed. So if I pull out a formerly prohibited sharp and/or pointy object, is AA gonna give me a hard time over that?

:-: We Have A Winner :-:

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs...C0101/51202012

Stupid B@st@rds!