Randomn my foot!

[ZeroAdunn]

Actually, random checks aren't truely 100% random. There are certain signs that increase your chances of being screened. Things like bying one way tickets, paying in cash, not providing contact information, etc along the same lines.

Also there is a big list of names, if your name matches or is similar enough to a name on the list, expect to get screened.

And then of course, they do select random names......

[General Woundwort]

If it's any consolation, I once saw a five-year old girl getting "wanded" at a security checkpoint at National Airport. I'd love to hear the rationale behind *that* "random check"...

P.S. *I'm* bearded and I haven't been unduly harrassed - but then I'm very Anglo-Saxon in appearance and not likely to be mistaken for a Mid-easterner.

[El_Phil]

That is the mysterious thing. I am roughly as middle-eastern as democracy or womens rights. My only thought is that anyone with a dicey haircut and beard carrying a big green bag of any race are considered shifty.

[rdouglass]

That's the new phrase for 'racial profiling' - random selection.

[Puke]

General Woundwort said:
If it's any consolation, I once saw a five-year old girl getting "wanded" at a security checkpoint at National Airport. I'd love to hear the rationale behind *that* "random check"...

women with children are frequently recruited to smuggle all sorts of things. i wouldnt expect any of them to show up on a metal detector.

i would guess the person running the checkpoint just thought it would be "fun". which it probably was, and im sure it added an interesting experience to the girls trip. a good chance to broaden horizons, and all that.

[Phoenix-D]

General Woundwort said:
If it's any consolation, I once saw a five-year old girl getting "wanded" at a security checkpoint at National Airport. I'd love to hear the rationale behind *that* "random check"...

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.

Wouldn't take much to do the same in an airport. Or use the kid to carry a weapon for someone else on the plane.

[General Woundwort]

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.

Wouldn't take much to do the same in an airport. Or use the kid to carry a weapon for someone else on the plane.

This was a five-year old kid, with no backpacks and no way of concealing a weapon or any object on her person. Neither was she of a Middle-eastern family. There was no logical reason for her to be searched.

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".

[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.

[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.