The most ridiculous thing is that you'd think it was surprise when these people show up at the airport - it's not as if all these people had bought tickets days in advance with a time that indicated when they were going to show up
TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
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Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
They boast of all the knives and guns they've confiscated. I wonder though, whether we'd not be more secure if everyone carried guns on board. A hijacker wouldn't stand a chance. Of course, there might also be some bloody air rage incidents as well. But at the same time, maybe people would act more civil if everyone around them is packing, or at least the flight attendants....
>But at the same time, maybe people would act more civil if everyone around them is packing I think it's more likely someone would start shooting the passenger next to them for "taking too much space."
Or being a scary looking academic type:
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11648758
- http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/16/southwest-air...
Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#33Can't believe I am saying this but whatever Israel does in their airports, do it here and problem solved.
In fact whatever company does it in Israel should be hired to do it here, if it is a government thing, borrow their people to train ours, we give them enough for that loan.
Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#34One of the most irritating aspects of the TSA inefficiencies is that they know the demand at each airport in advance. Because all airlines submit passenger information to the TSA as its booked (often months or weeks in advance), the TSA can shift resources.
While I'm all for blaming the TSA, the head of the TSA's union was on NPR this morning and pointed out that Congress diverted funds collected from the "9/11 Tax" (per-ticket fixed fee used to fund TSA) to other parts of the government budget. The union is requesting emergency funding for 8,000 additional TSOs, which would only bring it back to 2011 staffing levels.
There are quite a few other issues at play as well. The TSA has the highest turnover rate of any government agency. This is, in large part, due to the fact that they're mostly part-time and underpaid. Their public image isn't respected either.
I do think we should replace/get rid of the TSA, but the neo-conservative method of government excision where you cut off the cash flow and wait for everyone to get pissed off ("starve the beast") is incredibly unpopular. But thats exactly whats happening.
Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#35Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#36The airport security in most of the American airports I've seen in the last few years is just a complete shambles in terms of efficiency. It takes forever in comparison to most of the busy European airports I've been through. And I doubt the security is any better. For example, London Gatwick has a really fast system where they have a set of packing bays before you get to the scanners/pat downs. This massively reduce…
the key here is that more than one person is filling their tray at a time. so if one person is taking their time, other people can jump past them. obviously it helps to have motivated and efficient operators, but in my experience, it's almost always some dithering idiot that holds things up. as as we all know, serial processing of a queue is not efficient when you end up waiting on IO :)
Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#37One of the most irritating aspects of the TSA inefficiencies is that they know the demand at each airport in advance. Because all airlines submit passenger information to the TSA as its booked (often months or weeks in advance), the TSA can shift resources. While I'm all for blaming the TSA, the head of the TSA's union was on NPR this morning and pointed out that Congress diverted funds collected from the "9/11 Tax"…
I do think we should replace/get rid of the TSA, but the neo-conservative method of government excision where you cut off the cash flow and wait for everyone to get pissed off ("starve the beast") is incredibly unpopular.
I'm not sure that's even in play here. Neo-conservatives talk about "small government" but it's mostly lip service, especially when it comes to anything related to the military/industrial/espionage/security/prison complex. Cutting the budget for the TSA doesn't sound in harmony with the normal neo-con agenda.
Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#38I've been to the DMV yesterday. You wait in line for 40 minutes in the sun just to get a number and then wait some more. Once you get a number, you're counted in the official wait time statistics published on their website, so the extra 40 minutes are shaved off for free. Who ever though it was going to be different when the TSA was created?
Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#39Can't believe I am saying this but whatever Israel does in their airports, do it here and problem solved. In fact whatever company does it in Israel should be hired to do it here, if it is a government thing, borrow their people to train ours, we give them enough for that loan.
Why can't you believe you're saying this? Many others have also suggested it.
I remember reading that a former head of Israel's airport security told Homeland Security that he could smuggle a bomb through American airport security, and he offered to show them how. I don't know whether they ever took him up on it.
Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office
#40The danger of the TSA is that the employees truly believe they are doing good and important work. The brainwashing is so strong that it almost reaches a religious level.