Actually, it is very much our business as well as the business of the others on the plane. How do we know that a pax alarmed the mag because of their shoes or belt or the countless other tiny pieces of metal they insist is the culprit like bras and wedding rings? Because they say so? How do we know there's not a gun strapped to their thigh or a knife in their sock? What about the person waving their medical card in our face and saying they have a metal knee therefore they shouldn't be screened? We have to clarify that the metal is indeed their knee and not a weapon.

� Double the size of U.S. Special Operations Forces;
Agreed
� Increase the number of FBI agents by 50%;
Agreed
� Create a Director of National Intelligence;
Agreed
� Monitor every mile of the U.S. border 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
Agreed
� Secure all unprotected nuclear material world-wide and destroy all chemical weapons by 2010;
Agreed
� Screen 100% of all cargo containers entering America for nuclear materials;
Agreed
� A �Marshall Plan� for the Middle East to create a middle class and a regional common market;
Disagree, we need to take care of our own people first.
� $10 billion global alliance for improving education for Arab children;
Disagree, we need to take care of our own people first.
� Hire and train an additional 500 Arabic speakers at the State Department over the next 3 years;
Agreed
� Double the number of exchange program visitors from the Arab-Muslim world;
Disagree, we have enough problems keeping track of the people here.
� Increase the Peace Corps to 25,000 volunteers;
Agreed but not for just the Middle East
� Create a U.S. Reconstruction Corps ready to deploy to post-conflict zones;
Disagree, we need to take care of our own people first.
� Triple funding for U.S. democratization efforts world-wide; and
Got us in trouble already
� Promote one year of national service for all young Americans.
Agreed

Some people's knees are weapons.

No one is ever forced to disclose any medical condition.

You are entitled to that opinion. But, you should realize that 30+ years' worth of court precedent, federal law, and political reality are stacked against you.

You, yourself, are under no obligation to disclose your travel plans or habits to the government unless you are stopped, detained, or arrested. However, there is no legal privacy right as to information kept by airlines. Again, you are entitled to your opinion, but as of now your individual rights are not being infringed.

I'm always willing to discuss this topic. My opinion is that the current screening process, combined with more stringent rules as to prohibited on-board items, is an improvement over the same pre 9-11. It is not *perfect*, but an improvement. And, I view screening not as an infringement on my liberty, but as a protection of my right to move about the country without criminal interference.

I would think not as well... I guess my point was that surefire, flaweless intelligence is probably not within the pricetag or invasiveness that we're willing to tolerate.

Interesting reading, thanks. I browsed the press release, and many of the points sound good to me (others not so much). Don't have time to read the full report now, but definitely interested in reading it later, though.

However do you not think that proper passenger screening is a requirement?

^ Thank you