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The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

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Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#191

Post by alanwatts »

dragontamer wrote: post #136
Amorymeltzer wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I arrive at the airport in a Lyft. That costs money. Many people take the train or a shuttle or lean on a friend. >I walk up to the security checkpoint checkpoint, where I show the agent my phone. They see my boarding pass with the green checkmark and send me to the empty TSA Pre line. I walk through the metal detector with no adjustments to my attire. You paid for that TSA PreCheck privilege which, while not in the…

> 3. Profit! The Department of Homeland Security (of which the TSA is a part of) has a budget and its priorities are set in Congress. There is no "profit" motive here. The US is throwing money at this problem, and money that only creates inconveniences for us.

The 2nd US Secretary of Homeland Security and co-author of the Patriot Act is the founder of a lobbying front for the the manufacturers of the body scanners.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Chertoff

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#192

Post by lisper »

bluetidepro wrote: post #181
lisper wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not quite a statistical fluke. The 9-11 hijackers took advantage of the fact that they could count on the passengers and crew to cooperate because they would assume that this hijacking was like all the others before and cooperation provided the best odds of survival. But the 9-11 hijackers defected (in the sense of the prisoner's dilemma). As a result, no one will ever cooperate with a hijacker again, and as a result…

> "no remotely sane person". Sane probably isn't the right word. I'd argue the hijackers were indeed sane by definition. They were more so misguided than insane.

I don't really want to quibble over whether or not the 9-11 hijackers were sane. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. The point is that no sane person can fail to realize that you can do a 9-11 style attack exactly once. It will never work again as long as people remember what happened that day, TSA or no TSA.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#193

Post by franciscop »

lisper wrote: post #76
Zelphyr wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, as Bruce Schneier notes, there were zero 9-11 level attacks on the US prior to 9-11 as well. 9-11 was a statistical fluke.

Not quite a statistical fluke. The 9-11 hijackers took advantage of the fact that they could count on the passengers and crew to cooperate because they would assume that this hijacking was like all the others before and cooperation provided the best odds of survival. But the 9-11 hijackers defected (in the sense of the prisoner's dilemma). As a result, no one will ever cooperate with a hijacker again, and as a result…

Because people who hijack a plane are remotely sane...

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#194

Post by douche »

a3n wrote: post #172
geophile wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was flying with my wife, and we did a controlled experiment, since the Pre line and regular line both looked daunting. We got on different lines at the same time. We both took about 45 minutes to get through, but the Pre line was actually a bit slower.

But the person in the Pre line got to keep their shoes on!

In no other country that I have flown from did I have to take off my shoes to go through security.

Although on my last flight I did learn that Nutella is a liquid. Maybe I should have frozen it?

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#195

Post by ccvannorman »

The difference between the US and other countries is not that we're stupider. It's that the slightly smarter/more powerful people are much better at manipulating the stupidity of masses, and much more greedy, than other countries. That's why we leveraged fear and pushed hard so that you have to bend over for the TSA every flight.

My question is, what does the US look like without the TSA, and can we ever get there?

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#196

Post by fapjacks »

pc86 wrote: post #60
ssmoot wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife drove up to a private jet this morning. Got on. Took off. No TSA. Holding the "pleebs" to a higher standard than the rich is unconscionable IMO.

1. GA is not limited to the rich. Once you're at about the median US income (or 1/3 of what an SV developer makes, give or take), it is within reach. Slightly more than that and it's starts approaching "affordable," especially as a hobby and not a means of transportation. 2. Money buys you things. By definition people with more money will not be burdened by the same things as those with less.

> 2. Money buys you things. By definition people with more money will not be burdened by the same things as those with less.

Right. Like, laws and shit.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#197

Post by notahacker »

patrickmay wrote: post #6

Airports should replace the TSA with security companies that use El Al's techniques: https://skift.com/2013/11/15/tsas-behavioral-detection-techn...

Racial profiling (with "threat level" stickers!) and intrusive questions which become really extended and aggressive if they don't like the way you're answering?

Think the USA sounds more appealing, and I'm a white, obviously non-Muslim Brit.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#199

Post by noonespecial »

two2two wrote: post #29

TSA is the number one reason why I don't fly and drive instead. From my POV most of the world's industries have progressed positively, but not air travel. I took a train a couple of years ago and it was a beautiful example of old merging with new. Walking through an antique of a train station, iPhone in hand, with my digital ticket ready to board; so easy and pleasant. At that point I realized that air travel is by f…

Sounds like there's a fascinating differential equation in there somewhere. The TSA uses as much money as possible and provides as little service as it can get away with because it has essentially zero accountability.

The wait times and hassle increase until its easier just to drive so people fly less, reducing wait time, allowing the TSA to do even less brining wait times back up...

The whole system balances at some convergence point. A really sucky convergence point.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#200

Post by mattmanser »

douche wrote: post #194
a3n wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the person in the Pre line got to keep their shoes on!

In no other country that I have flown from did I have to take off my shoes to go through security. Although on my last flight I did learn that Nutella is a liquid. Maybe I should have frozen it?

We used to have to in the UK for a while.
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