Why are [we] still at threat level Orange?
 

Sadly Al Kyder and friends have proven themselves thoroughly incapable of blowing up so much as a rubber johnny over the last seven years. Clearly, new leadership is required on that front. There hasn't even been a single solitary loon who has even bothered to make the slightest effort to purchase Nitroglycerin either. I don't know what the millions of terrorists hiding amongst you are up to but they need to get their ar$es in gear and get to work if this Threat Level Orange state is to have any credibility at all.

So, while we are waiting for the millions of terrorists living amongst us to get their act together, why not ask ourselves if it's really necessary to have the country at Threat Level Orange.

Furthermore, is it also necessary to have canned announcements stating we are at Level Orange at many airports? I also notice that at some airports, the occasional sign that states we are at Level Orange has been replaced by large, top grade, permanent road signs (ONT for example). So if Level Orange is permanent, which is what I'm beginning to suspect, shouldn't DHS engage in a threat leveling exercise and start re-categorizing threat levels?

Because that would imply that we're safe. Of course we aren't - there are bad guys looking to blow up libraries in Idaho and soup kitchens in DC as we speak. Orange is permament becuse it's nicely in middle. Typical bureaucracy.

If the level goes below orange it means that the DHS doesn't need the budget that is currently receiving.

The advisory system reflects the "threats" going around, not how effective the government is working against them, so if they deliberately reduce the level they're saying "you don't need us anymore" and no sane government agency likes saying that because it ends with budget cuts.

The threat advisory should be established by an agency with fewer interests relying on it...

Idea for a new T-Shirt:


"OMG! We're at Threat Level Orange!"


They'd probably find a reason to detain anyone wearing it, right? :)

I don’t even pay attention to the threat levels.

Orange is a good color for this time of year with Halloween coming up, though. BOO!

Just for good measure though, the T shirt should be in Arabic.

Sadly, I suspect that it is orange (and always will be) in the event, however unlikely, that something happens. Presumably,that will help insulate the responsible parties from some of the criticism that will follow. example: "We weren't asleep at the wheel! We suspected that something may happen - We were at threat level orange after all!"

If we drop the threat level to yellow and somebody tries to bring a gallon of water through security, the TSA will look incompetent.

The really dumb thing is that we call this "a heightened state of security". Heightened from what? If yellow or green effectively do not exist, aren't we just at the 'baseline' state of security?

Amazing how many threats to airports and subways there were four years ago, days before election day, wasn't it?

That is one of the key elements that the DHS/TSA-complex doesn't seem to understand at all. By definition, you can't remain at "heightened" or even "elevated" status permanently. Worse, leaving everyone at heightened status for extended periods dulls what modicum of effectiveness such a rating scheme might have. Nobody cares anymore after a while. Kind of like when pilots end up leaving the seatbelt sign on for an entire ocean crossing--do they really expect pax to not use the lav for 6 or 8 or 10 hours?

Since we've been stuck at Orange for 2+ years, if something happens or is about to happen, the only thing they can do is go to red. From what little I've heard about red, it seems to be some combination of police-state and martial law.

I think the reason aviation has been stuck at Orange is for TSA to justify the war on water and total shoe carnival, both of which accompanied the 8/05 increase to Orange. I think TSA may actually have some understanding of how much the public hates these policies and be using Orange to get compliance from the masses.

I personally think the DHS color-code scheme is more likely to be abolished than ever lowered below yellow. The reality is that it's been 7 years since 9/11, and it's long past time to accept the key lessons (i.e., don't cooperate with hijackers, secure cockpit doors), drop the charade of "heightened" security, and move on. I'm not saying future attacks are unlikely, but the public is much more likely to respond to heightened security during a credible threat or the aftermath of an attack than they are if security has been "heightened" throughout recent memory.

Orange is the new green.

TSA/DHS doesn't have justifications with the threat. I think TSA will be going back to yelllow with elevated. Its has taking too long time when TSA is raising the terror threat to orange. I knows there is no evidence carry the bottled water at all. I think TSA will be reductions from orange to yellow/elevated. Its should be better for now. I know it doesn't have anything problems at airports for 2 years now. This situations will be bring it back normal routine. Passengers will eventually bring the bottled water go through at checkpoint sometimes end of 2010.

Idiocy Level for Firefox Users
 

For those of you using Firefox, there is a handy threat level indicator for the bottom of your window that is really appropriate.

US Department of Homeland Insecurity Idiocy Level

Enough that I got detained by Port Authority Police at the Newark AMTRAK station for felony ham radio...:td:

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We will never be at a lower threat level as long as the agency that establishes the level benefits in a budgetary sense from that designation. You almost want to ask yourself how could Congress be so stupid, and then you realize - its Congress!