Randomn my foot!

[Puke]

i dont think its as dire as you make it sound. and really, i wouldnt be worried about terrorists. id be worried about the nice white people bringing in cocaine, heroine, diamons, or tax-free bundles of cash.

of course, the most obvious thing that you can use children to smuggle, is the child its self. they generally average about $10,000 - at least for the white ones.

again, you wont pick up any of those things with a metal detector. airport security is 99% decorative.

[Arkcon]

I think it hit the news once a while back, they found a 9mm in some little girls teddy bear on the x-ray conveyor. No one had any clue as to how it happened. So psuedo-random searches of kids can make some sense, i 'spose.

Last two times I flew post 9-11, I checked no luggage, just carryon carefully packed, and I wasn't stopped for extra attention. Pre-9-11, I did all sorts of stupid stuff, like packing a massive gyroscope powered razor form Sharper Image in my carryon. Or trying to go through a metal detector with my camera under my jacket. Dumb. People manning the detector were firm, and not cordial, just not rude. We've changed. And it just makes sense to be cautious. Would have made even more sense to have been more cautious in the past.

I remember when we had Tylenol and other drug tampering in the '80's. Afterward, everything had a tamper evident seal -- from medicine, to baby-food, to soda. Question: Why wasn't it always like that? Maybe in the past the food was opened, got some dirt in it, then resealed, totally by accident. Why was that the status quo until some tampering occurred?

Is being cautious at the expense of convenience such an anathema to the human animal?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

I think we just don't want to be paranoid, which is a disease in and of itself.

[spoon]

General Woundwort said:
Peggy Noonan wrote a piece awhile back saying that our "non-discriminatory" policies in this regard would get people killed. Kids and grannies get "randomly searched" while young Arab men get a pass because we don't want to look like we're "discriminating".

You need the random aspect, otherwise people will figure out who can get past security, and exploit it.

[Grandpa Kim]

Phoenix D said:

Perhaps you should recall the stories of terrorists strapping bombs to little kids, then? They have the kids walk up to a checkpoint, the soldiers go "how cute", let the kid get close, and the adult watching from a bush pushes a button.

The mistake here is raising the adult in the bushes to the exalted level of terrorist. He is nothing more than a psychopathic killer! A criminal... as are most we call terrorists. A terrorist has an agenda, usually political, a criminal has only his self-interest and one above just likes blowing up people.

[Atrocities]

I was told because of my size I would need to pay for two seats on the plane. (Back when I was thinking about going on vacation and pricing things out.) That discouraged me horribly. (Pre-911)

Airport security is a joke. It only serves to scrutinize the inocent while costing us all money. If they want to protect air planes, then require all pilots to take a breath test before take off.

"The terrorist took over the plane with a one inch toe clipper and a black hair comb!"
"He what?"
"The pilot was so drunk he thought the clipper was at least two inches long and the hair comb was a gun!"
"Oh my God! What happened?"
"Well everyone was terrified, I mean he had a comb and a once inch toe clipper for crying out loud, but this one guy, a fat man from coach, who was already upset over having to pay for two seats, even though the one next to him had some old lady in it, risked all of our lives and took on the terrorist."
"Oh my, what happened?"
"The fat guy beat the poor would be mass murdering terrorist senseless then demanded a refund for the extra seat that the old lady was sitting in."
"Damn vigilanties!"
"Ya, they arrested him when we landed and let the terrorist guy go so long as he promised not to sue the airline."
[insert]Mug Shot of me[/insert]
Crazed fat man beats inocent terrorist in fit of rage. Story at ll.

[Arkcon]

Atrocities said:
"Crazed fat man beats inocent terrorist in fit of rage. Story at ll."

Magnificent. I should make that my new sig.

[kerensky]

ROFL /me tries to catch breath/ more laughing

[Parasite]

I had to take a random drug test in the navy. The first day they tested anyone whose SS Number ended in a 1,2,3,4, or 5. The next day, you guessed it, they tested everyone with numbers ending in 6,7,8,9, and 0. Yes, random.

[NullAshton]

If the social security number was random, then of course the drug test was random. Duh.