pld7

It's easy to moan and complain about things in life that are annoyances. Most are facts of life, Traffic, telemarketers, the construction outside your house at 7 AM while your trying to sleep. Unfortunatly ignorant people who do not see the big picture, simiar to posters here, smashed planes into skyscrapers killing thousands of innocent poeple plus the planes occupants. Now i don't know about you but I travel frequently and when I'm sitting at 30,000 I like the peice of mind knowing that people are doing their best to keep me safe.

Knowing that the person sitting next to me on the plane has been looked at with a fine tooth comb makes me feel a little better. I do not care who it is. Beacuse you make 100,000 a year and have a sharp suit on doesnt mean you shoudl walk right on to the plane. Do you think the terrorists are going to show up with turbans and the whole get-up on. On 9/11 they were sharply dressed in business attire.

As for screening of women, old ladies, pregnant women, children, handicapped, whatever, it is unfortunalty NECESSARY. Pick up the newspaper, watch the news, read a book, get educated. FACT: Women posing as pregnant have stuffed explosives in hollow stomachs abraod and blew themselves to bits taking innocent lives with them. FACT: I beleive it was a 10 or 13 year old child who was the youngest suicide bomber recored yet, with explosives strapped to his body. FACT: in this game you can TRUST NOBODY.

As far as TSA screeners go, they are doing the best with the training and equipment they have to keep you and themselves safe. they put their lives on the line everyday to make sure you get were you need to go and get your mocha latte in a timley manner. Nothing is stopping terrorists from simply trying to kill the TSA agents. It is frankly a lose-lose situation for them. If they take something away from you there "stupid bafoons", if God forbid another tragedy occurs, "they did not do enough to prevent it". Everybody picks out what is wrong, but not one person has an idea to make it better. Harder than you though isn't it . . .

Also on the topic of them patting you down, "strip searching", groping, all that. Let's just say the majority of PAX are not Ford supermodels. Get over yourself. They probably don't want to touch you more than you dont want to be touched. Picture yourself havnt to pat down a 400 lbs mans sweaty underarm beacuse hes setting off the metal detectors. With an aroma that I couldn't possess unless I didnt bathe for 3 months. Yes I've seen it happen.

Bottom line it's a fact of life now, get used to it. If you feel your special and you shouldnt be searched then in my opinion you deserve a punch in the teeth because your an arrogant person. Next time ride your bike to europe . . .

TSAMGR

Finally someone with common sense.

pld7

And as far as the training goes, It is getting better. I for one agree the TSA does not give anyhting close to enough training for its screeners. But that is the TSA admin's fault not the screeners.

Most screeners are willing to better themselves and take as many courses/training sessions as possible. But the fact is there are none. Also many screeners are previous security/Military/law enforcement professionals with skills necesary to go above and beyond and weed out terrorsists.

The fact is the TSA hinders these people's ability to put their skills to use. The SOP and policy does not allow skilled screeners to use intuition, judgement, or aquired skills. In TSA admin's mind they are mindless robots doing certain jobs repetativly.

On the other hand kudos to the MASS. State Police for starting the first round of bahavorial assesment training for TSA employees. The first in the country. It is an invaluable training course. Screeners who have took this course have the skills needed to successfully protect our people. In my opinion this is training every screener should have undergone before ever stepping foot into an airport. But that is not what the TSA has planned. Not a more intelligent smarter screener, they want a mindless robot.

Spiff

Never, ever, ever.

Nobody deserves to be treated in the manner that is currently passing itself off as airport security. The people who complain here don't want special privileges. I don't know how you reached that conclusion. This is the United States of America, and I do not want any of my fellow travelers being "looked at with a fine tooth comb." Check for guns, check for bombs and then leave us alone. ALL of us.

Spiff

Where??

Japhydog

1. No one should feel safe knowing that: (a) there are repeated stories about the TSA's ineffectiveness at preventing weapons from getting beyond security; and (b) the fact that virtually no cargo is screened, meaning that the pointy pointy no no, shoe carnival, and grope a thon are really for just about naught.

2. There are plenty of threads on here about improving security, so don't pat yourself on the back too quickly for thinking this is beyond the ken of passengers.

3. Slavery was a fact of life once -- should we have just gotten used to it? How about Jim Crow laws? How about legalized, state supported segregation? For that matter, why don't we just give the US back to the British? We will not give up, and we will continue to complain until, these pointless and dangerous intrusions on our liberty, cease.

And if you don't like that, you can go live in North Korea with people who can't complain.

pld7

Yes this is the good ole' USA and no i do not think we need a police state like the world saw in Germany WWII. BUT Times change, countries evolve. People do what they need to stay alive and safe. There IS a danger out there, we can deny it and pretend it isn't there but it is. the US is terrorist enemy #1 these days and thats the fact. I do not want it to be that way but thats life.

Look at Isreal, you think security is bad here try getting a pat down with an MP5 submachine gun in your face. Terrorism is a constant threat there and they have learned to deal with it. And yes I know you rgoing to say, "well thats Isreal not the U.S. blah blah blah." Well do u think isrealis want to live that way. They want a safe country just as americans do. Yes we are the greaest and most free country in the world, but we are not immune.

If we let our guard down then its all over. Too many people are quick to point out the faults and the wrong way to do things. But nobody has any proactive ideas on how to run a successfull security program. Let me ask you an alternative to pat-downs??? how do they kno what is under your clothes? Security doesnt know you from a whole in the wall, why should they trust you? I kno ur answer, "becuase im a taxpaying, law abiding, white, non-middle eastern, well dressed, well articulated, blah blah blah.

Middle eastern men are not the only people cabale of blowing up an airplane. Lets say the 2 kids from columbine decided to blow a plane out of the sky instead of shooting up their school, what then?

The only way to successfully deter attacks is to let the terrorsists know that we are watching, and that everybody, REGARDLESS, is getting checked. If you have better way im all ears . . . thank you

Japhydog

Do a search or browse through the forum. People here are not going to repost ad nauseum threads related to improving security just because you are new here.

Spiff

You guessed my answer. I do not care how other countries conduct their security.

Sentinel II, GE EntryScan3. Both will catch explosives hidden in underwear or body cavities. Groping the passengers will not. And I don't care what color, race, etc a person is. Nobody should be exempt from sane screening, nobody should be harassed, nobody should be profiled and there should be no lists maintained. Ever.

pld7

Well you took the time to reply to my post, right now I'm curious as to your ideas. Everyone else hasnt repied to me, so reading their ideas for a better system has nothing to do with you.

pld7

[QUOTE/]Sentinel II, GE EntryScan3. Both will catch explosives hidden in underwear or body cavities. Groping the passengers will not. And I don't care what color, race, etc a person is. Nobody should be exempt from sane screening, nobody should be harassed, nobody should be profiled and there should be no lists maintained. Ever.[/QUOTE]




Ok well heres the deal. TSA screeners would absolutly love those great new technologies. It would make everything more efficiant, more productive, and smarter. But do not blame the screener becuase he lacks the tools to do his job correctly. A screener cannot purchase these new technolgies for his use. so blame the higher-ups not the screener who wishes he had these things everyday hes on the job.

Japhydog

Really? You're taking up space on this board making comments about how no one knows anything about security and has no ideas. That's simply not true.

Please allow me to suggest that you familiarize yourself with Flyertalk. You will find that it is generally considered to be polite to do a little work yourself rather than asking others to repeat information that's already here.

Spiff

That's the attitude that many of us in this forum have taken except for screeners who post fawning agreement with the policies of harassment and screeners who tell the passengers who complain to lump it. I don't know if you fall into either of these two categories; you're new here.

A search will indeed answer a lot of your questions and it's a pretty painless process.

pld7

well im sorry if I am coming across a little ignorant as to every post here at flyertalk. Yes i have not read everypost here, but I did do a some perusing and from what I've read its all complaining no ideas for fixing. I could be wrong maybe it is my overlook. I have no problem admittng when I'm wrong, but from what ive seen so far, No proactive answers, or ideas to better this thing were all going throw that will actually be feasble.

Spiff

There are many suggestions posted that have been made since the inception of the TSA. Searching will reveal them.

The problem is that the leaders of the TSA do not listen and wish to continue their criminally negligent, un-American policies of harassment.