Comments on: When Security Trumps Common Sense – by Dennis Prager

By: Josh Strike

Josh Strike — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:54:24 +0000

The millimeter wave scans are just a temporary step. If we allow this, we'll soon be allowing much higher-radiation scans to check body cavities. All we're going to get from this is cancer.

I'm so sick of hearing "if you've got nothing to hide, why do you care," or "flying is a privilege, not a right." Excuse me, but freedom of movement is a right. The fact that the government is now employing force to take that right away, doesn't make it less of a right. The fact that they can forcibly stop you from using getting on a plane or going to the toilet does not mean that they have the right to stop you. They have the FORCE to stop you. Force does not destroy rights; rights are still rights even when they are forcibly taken away from you.

People in this country have lost an understanding of what rights are and what it means to exercise them. DO NOT SUBMIT TO BODY SCAN RADIATION. DO NOT STAY IN YOUR SEAT. DO NOT SUCCUMB TO FORCE. We do not have to act like cattle to prove we're not terrorists.

By: Jade

Jade — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:25:16 +0000

On a flight back from Canada a few days ago, my 4 year old son was made to POOP HIS PANTS and then SIT IN IT because they would not allow us to take him to the restroom. When we complained, we were threatened to be arrested, too. Total crap. We flew because we had to. I will not step foot on another plane again until some common sense is used……

By: Concerned

Concerned — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:23:54 +0000

Another form of protest would be to just go to the bathroom in your pants in your seat, and do it at the very start of the final hour so that the olfactory impact will be greatest on the rest of the passengers and crew. Would they arrest your for that?

By: zack0

zack0 — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:36:48 +0000

Banning people from using the lavatory for security purposes is just insane. If criminals can bypass body scanners, how can banning people from the toilet really help? Security should focus on more effective and efficient ways of ensuring everyone's security.

By: josephwiess

josephwiess — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:05:15 +0000

As an Xray Tech, my only problem with this, is that people are using the equipment who aren't trained to use the equipment. They don't know how it works, they don't know how to maintain it, and they have no idea what ALARA means.

For those in the know, ALARA means As Low as Reasonably Achievable, and turning the scanners up to full violates the code of ethics. Besides that, Xray scans wouldn't have shown the compounds the guy put in his crotch. Unless a material is radiopaque, it won't be seen by xrays.

Some materials, such as C4, wouldn't neccessarily be seen by xrays, because it's inert, and can be sewn into clothes. Xrays can only see metallic objects clearly, which is why they can detect certain guns, but not neccessarily the plastic ones.

I have no problem with using technology as long as it's used right, and the people using it are trained in it's use.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:29:19 +0000

So let me get this straight: You have no problem with spendign hundreds of millions of dollars on a technology that will only succeed in getting the terrorists to SWALLOW the bombs? You tell me why they wouldn't?

This technology is a seductive trap. We must profile and refuse to issue visas and hunt them down. The panty bomber should have met a Predator in Yemen.

By: fredglass

fredglass — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:07:40 +0000

Better yet just pee on the seat.

By: BS77

BS77 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:32:00 +0000

I liked Ann Coulter's response to this new idiocy…..why should people be confined to their seats for the last hour? What happens if a terrorist is on board and goes to the bathroom in the first five hours of your flight? A lot of these arbitrary and ridiculous rules come from FEAR instead of rationality. The best defense against terrorism is a good offense….like USMC Sniper says….HIT EM HARD, make them pay….if they blow up a jet, blow up their capital….if they hit an embassey, carpet bomb their hideouts and bases…..MAKE THEM PAY the price!!! Let's take these terrorists put them under military tribunal jurisdiction …enough fooling around!!!!! No trial for KSM in New York….that's absurd!! This is war, liberal clods!!!! Face reality. It's war and war means doing what is necessary to defeat an enemy that wishes to destroy us, enslave or murder us, burn our Constitution, burn our churches and take our freedoms. For generations our bravest men and women have fought to preserve our freedoms and dignity as a people….send in the Marines, not the ACLU lawyers…..Let's settle this thing now!

By: BS77

BS77 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:18:11 +0000

EL AL….no hijackings, no terrorists, no shoe bombers, no underwear bombers….why? Because they KNOW what to look for, what questions to ask, and who to search completely. Profiling? Of course….none of that PC multicult sensitivity crap…. I still cannot believe there was not ONE security person who asked themselves: Hmmmm, here is a guy from Nigeria with a Moozlim name, who paid cash for a one way ticket to Detroit of all places…he has no visa, no winter clothes and has never been to the US before….This guy should have NEVER been allowed on that plane without a complete body search, at the minimum.

By: USMCSniper

USMCSniper — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:26:22 +0000

The best nudge we can do is to admit that Terrorist states or proxy terrorists who impinge on America's freedom or threaten American lives have chosen the rules of the game – and the Marquis of Queensbury rule are voided. Defense is mandatory but no substitite for a good offense which must bring their war to them in spades. They bomb a public place, we bomb ten of theirs. They hijack a plane, we take out an airport. They execute American tourists, we tactically nuke an entire Muslim city, if they take out an American city with a WMD we eliminate Mecaa and all the Islamic holy places from the face of the Earth. Collateral damage? Bad shit happens in wars and it is better that it all happens to them. Our strategy should be to make Jihadist terrorism and support for it so horrific and costly that it becomes absolutely unthinkable to ever attack Americans or American assets anywhere.

By: Havoc

Havoc — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:26:02 +0000

Dennis Prager –

The biggest lapse in common sense is allowing muslims into our country in the first place. The problem is Islam. The solution is No Islam.

By: Eric the sceptic

Eric the sceptic — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:14:32 +0000

While I share the author's contempt for stupidity and support profiling both passengers and behavior, I'm less comfortable encouraging disobedience on airplanes. We need to consistently nudge the Obama administration and the TSA toward more effective and rational defensive measures, but shouldn't encourage disobeying security measures – even silly and impractical ones.

By the way, why can't the Obama administration place an armed air marshall on all flights – domestic and foreign? This might be one jobs program that both Democrats and Republicans could support. If adding an air marshall takes too long to train, etc, then what about deploying an armed soldier on every plane? That would both provide actual security and reassure the public.

By: daughterofliberty

daughterofliberty — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:54:53 +0000

So let me get this straight: you trust the same govt that is so boneheaded it prohibits you from getting out of your seat the last hour of a flight to accurately read and interpret X-ray scans. You aware of how often trained radiologists w/ yrs of education miss cancers on X-rays? Why do you think the semi-literate goons the TSA sics on us will immediately spot contraband?

You might also want to research some basic facts. Here's a journalist who did it for you: http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/...
He points out that the density of most liquid and plastic explosives are too low for these scans to detect. So it's good that you don't mind exposing yourself to govt agents b/c you'll be doing so in vain.

By: ITSTYRANNY

ITSTYRANNY — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:23:00 +0000

Everytime a muslim commits an act of violence, the general public is punished. Until we profile, I will never agree to more infringement of personal privacy. I have been a flight attendant for 30yrs and I profile on every flight. I am sickened at how innocent people are abused while traveling. However, if you are male and look remotely middle eastern, you are virtually ignored. Bomb sniffing dogs should be walking the lines BEFORE security. I'd trust one of them to find something in a crotch before this incompetent government. I am now looking forward to retirement primarily because of the abuse that I am also subjected to far more frequently the you.

By: blainenay

blainenay — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:36:19 +0000

As an airline pilot, I spend about 16 days a month traveling by air. I've been subjected to the whole body scanners multiple times. Yes, the scanners are effective. But, they're expensive and incredibly inefficient. It takes several minutes to process each passenger. It is unreasonable to expect to process even half the passengers using this method. And it doesn't stop evil-doers from shifting contraband from their body to their luggage — and current technology still lets a lot of contraband get through in the luggage. It's time for airport screens to stop focusing on things and focus on people. Just like gun control, It is evil people who are the problem — not the things they use to hurt us. I have experienced the screening process used by Israel and by El Al. I was impressed. They know how to identify evil people. There is nobody in TSA — who is smart enough or trained enough to do what Israel screeners do. Banning the use of toilets and bottles of water should give one a clue about how far in over their heads the TSA really is. Whole body scanners are an unreasonable solution to a security system that is more eyewash and a government jobs program that it is security.

By: Storm_Rider

Storm_Rider — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:54:17 +0000

“Those who have the best knowledge of what is happening are also those who are furthest from seeing the world as it is; in general the greater the understanding the greater the delusion; the more intelligent the less sane… The heresy of heresies was common sense.” George Orwell – 1984

By: poptoy1949

poptoy1949 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:18:56 +0000

Great Article.

By: suprkufrb

suprkufrb — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:32:14 +0000

Couldn't agree more! Body scanning is no more revealing than an x-ray or a mammogram. And so what if it was? If it's going to save my life, I'll cheerfully allow security personnel to look at any and all parts of my body they might choose. I, like roughly 50% of the world's population, have a penis, a scrotum and a triangle of pubic hair; my wife, like the other 50%, has two nipples and a triangle of pubic hair. Sorry, civil libertarians, there's nothing ground-breaking here.
If some woman chooses to present herself dressed up as a beekeper and refuses to allow a body scan, I respect her decision and wish her an enjoyable journey via surface transportation.

By: Robert Bernier

Robert Bernier — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:09:45 +0000

Muslim states use high-intensity violence.
Muslims make up about one-fifth of the world’s population, but in the 1990s they have been far more involved in inter-group violence than the people of any other civilization. The evidence is overwhelming. There were, in short, three times as many inter-civilizational conflicts involving Muslims as there were between non-Muslim civilizations. For more details : http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.com/2008/08...

By: Robert Bernier

Robert Bernier — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:07:42 +0000