If the information below the fold is correct, this post will not be a comforting one, particularly if one is planning to travel by air during the busy Christmas holidays.Furthermore, Americans are apparently unwilling to take a stand against the TSA. Rather, we are willing to sacrifice both our rights to our own body space and our personal safety in exchange for convenience of travel.
From The Blaze (hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance):
A new peer-reviewed journal article by a pair of University of California-San Francisco researchers reveals that the TSA’s new x-ray body scanners may not be as safe as the government agency wants the public to think. In fact, the scanners might not even detect pancake-sized bombs containing PETN, the explosive used in the failed “underwear bomb” last Christmas.Read the rest HERE. Worth your time.
According to Leon Kaufman and Joseph W. Carlson in the Journal of Transportation Security, the scanners could miss PETN bombs if they were taped to a person’s body in a flattened, rounded manner.
The researches write about their findings in the article [pdf] “An evaluation of airport x-ray backscatter units based on image characteristics.”...
[...]
The editors’ conclusion calls for the scanners to be scrapped....
The Obama administration is making us less safe and lulling us into a false sense of security. And America's enemies know about these vulnerabilities.
I still think the answer is profiling. It works in Israel. The argument against it is it takes too long. It appears the new scanning system is not fast.
ReplyDeleteImagine how much more effective we could be in the war on terror if we applied the huge resources TSA is wasting with their scanners and personnel at airports to actually finding and capturing terrorists.
ReplyDeleteHas TSA caught ONE TERRORST using their current methods? NO! But all those who fly have been put through their invasive searches.
The ease with which so many Americans are willing to just *roll over* and take it is indicative of what's wrong with our nation as a whole...
ReplyDeleteApathy abounds...
A few of us stand and make a lot of noise, we try to rally The People, but for the most part, The People aren't paying attention...
You all need to take look at the You tube video Beamish posted on his site. http://thecrankfiles.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteGreat parody, but in many ways too truthful to be entirely funny.
Check this out.
ReplyDeleteGov't incompetence is beyond the pale.
Brooke,
ReplyDeleteWow! The TSA officer couldn't recognize THAT???
Alligator,
ReplyDeleteThat video at Beamish's site was something I found and, um, passed along. Hehehe.
Chuck,
ReplyDeleteThe ONLY viable solution is profiling.
But our leaders have become so politically correct that they are sacrificing us in the name of that political correctness.
How many dead Americans will it take for WE THE PEOPLE to rebel?
Mike,
ReplyDeleteYou've made an excellent point by citing the huge resources TSA is wasting. In this time of budget cuts, apparently the TSA is immune. **sigh**
Texas Fred,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the apathy! I sound the alarm in all sorts of ways, but most people with whom I come into personal contact think that I'm exaggerating and overreacting.
It seems that most Americans are more concerned about their video addictions (games, television, movies, computers, etc.).
In these words:
At some point our collective heads will come up out of the sand, probably by the force of an explosion; and we'll stand, mouths agape like so many fish out of water, trying to comprehend a situation we've done our best to ignore.
-Anonymous, 2005
Meanwhile,
ReplyDeleteA 26-year-old Virginia man is being held in federal custody after he allegedly threatened to set off bombs on the D.C. Metro system. The FBI was alerted to the threats, allegedly sent on Facebook's instant messaging system, by an informant before any plot was developed.
Awais Younis, who also goes by the names Sundullah "Sunny" Ghilzai and Mohhanme Khan, was arrested on Dec. 7. According to federal authorities, he described how to build a pipe bomb and said he'd place bombs on the third and fifth cars of Metro trains since those trains had the highest number of commuters on them....
The Internet is fertile ground for jihadomaniacs, huh?
The question we should be asking is this: how much PETN can we stuff up Janet Napolitano’s ass before setting it off? Disclaimer: this is not a threat because no one here has access to Napolitano’s ass.
ReplyDeleteIf people refused to fly, you can bet the airlines would scream bloody murder and the TSA would go away. No guts, no glory.
I agree that profiling is the answer. This tyrannical regime is letting our enemies win by taking away certain liberties. Oh.. Sounds like what Obama & Co were already doing anyways.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Texas Fred. The people are giving the government a pass on this. It really bothers me that more people aren't outraged by this blatant violation of rights.
ReplyDeleteMustang,
ReplyDeleteIf people refused to fly, you can bet the airlines would scream bloody murder and the TSA would go away.
Of course, people are not going to boycott traveling by air. Rather, they are going to submit to what the TSA is doing.
I realize that sometimes people have to fly -- emergencies and all that. That said, a lot of flying is related to recreation, vacation, and convenience. As I've said before, Americans are willing to trade their rights and their dignity in exchange for r&r and convenience. At this rate, we can expect more intrusion from the TSA.
It seems that we have developed a technology based on ultra-sound that is more effective than the backscatter machines ... We are selling this to the Netherlands.
ReplyDeleteI wonder which politician is responsible for ramming the intrusive backscatter down our collective throats when a better method is out there ... and how much in campaign donations it took to buy him or her.
Remember, not all terror bombers take airplanes (The Terrorist Recognition Handbook http://crockettlives.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/terrorist-recognition-handbook-second-edition.pdf). Crowded restaurants, shopping malls, etc. can make safer targets. Please keep your eyes open this holiday season & stay safe.
ReplyDeleteWhat a joke ey, can't detect the very thing these scanners are supposed to pick up.
ReplyDeleteAnd why are the political class exempt from these scans and groping.