Defense & Security Technology

What? An end to the threat of the airport version of athlete's foot (aviation foot)?

Well, that is no doubt a step in the right direction.

Why are people against full body scanning? An x-ray doesn't reveal any anatomical detail, only bones, metals and foreign substances.

This stuff proves only that we have already lost the war on terrorism.

When I was a kid I often read about the evils of the USSR's internal security apparatus: the official paranoia, the endless forms, the hidden army of faceless bureaucrats, the arbitrary powers of surveillance/arrest, the secret lists of suspicious activities.

Looks like they were just a few years ahead of the West.

What would it take for them to admit their uselessness and close down?

Are budjet cuts going to do it?

How much does it cost to replace these scanners every 2-3 years because a better technology has come out? Sounds like a perpetual money making machine for the contractors.

I do not like to see another 65,000 go on the unemployment rolls but this TSA system does not work! I recently went through a full body scan and had to empty a shirt pocket of my calling cards as well as my billfold in a pants pocket. I have never done that before. I was yelled at for not having my arms straight enough above my head. The writer above is "right on" in that they have not identified one terrorist but of course we do not know how many were deterred and chose alternate means to try some skulduggery! Do not hold your breath on any major downgrading of this massive work program.

We haven't lost the war on terrorism! We are winning most battles and losing some too, but the war is not lost. This is a long-term, ongoing struggle against radical Muslims, primarily and the landscape of that struggle between a free way of life and religious tyranny is different from any other war we have encountered. It will call for constant vigilance by all. Like AH stated, the structure of security is only as good as those who are part of the structure. You have to have people who care about what they do. Government workers as a whole do not have a record of caring about the quality of what they do. Go to the nearest Dept. of Motor Veh. and experience that.

One of the best things we can do at airports is have people who are competant and trained to look for suspicious items and people. Profile people.

There is nothing that will be 100% effective but there are common sense things to do without invading a persons privacy. Although some of that invasion of privacy may be necessary due to the nature of threats. It's a fine line between right to privacy and public safety. I don't mind some inconvenience if there is a reason for it. Not just because some dipstick like Janet "Incompetano" thinks this will keep us safe.

How much are they spending in R&D to allow us to wear our shoes?

I wear these with a pair of socks when I fly. Maybe I should run for office.

Maybe glass slippers are the answer?

I recently flew out of an Australian airport and witnessed this event.

In Que 1: An older gentleman was holding up the line because he forgot to take out a pill packet from his pocket and it crept setting off the metal detector.

In Que 2: A woman empties her hand bag and lays these 3 huge hair spray bottles onto the counter and the security type gust lets her through.

Now how much damage could those 3 bottles do if just filled with LPG never mind mustard gas or something worse.

Yet they go ape sh*t if someone tries takes a tube of tooth past on the plane