4 ms·

> We need more "life goes on" and less fear. Thumbs up for that. And respect to Boston for the way they handled the marathon bombings back in 2013. > the act

by veddox 11y ago

> We need more "life goes on" and less fear. Thumbs up for that. And respect to Boston for the way they handled the marathon bombings back in 2013. > the actual damage they did in the September 11 attacks has been dwarfed, at least economically, by the fact that we have essentially ruined our air-travel system in response. That however is a one-sided statement. The question is always: how many attacks did we prevent with the new security? You can't just weigh up 9/11 vs. the cost of airline security. You have to see 9/11 plus any attack that was prevented (which I agree is hard/impossible to measure) vs. our security costs. I don't deny that some air-travel security is OTT. But you can't claim it's pointless. (Quite apart from the fact that customers, out of fear, nowadays probably wouldn't fly with an airline that didn't provide an insane amount of security. Despite an almost century long track record of astounding safety, the air-travel industry still has to convince its customers all the time that flying is safe.)

mseebach 11y ago
> But you can't claim [new airport security is] pointless. Actually, we can: http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find-widespread-security-failures/story?id=31434881 http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find... TL;DR: "undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials" To the extend increased security around air travel deterred anything, it's in the non-airport-screening efforts -- increased/better intelligence is a very plausible source, and the reinforced cockpit doors another.
douche 11y ago
Yeah, it's pointless. 9/11 has pretty much eliminated the possibility of a successful hijacking of a commercial flight in the United States, between better security between the cockpit and the cabin, and the fact that if any group of hijackers tries to take over using boxcutters again, they'll be bumrushed by the other passengers and beaten to death. Before, a hijacking usually just meant that your vacation plans got a little upset by a detour to Cuba, before negotiations straightened things out. The last time I flew, I somehow got shuffled into a preferred-access security line. I showed my passport, and walked through to my gate, no dicking around with taking my shoes off, emptying my pockets out, dumping my laptop out of my bag, none of that garbage, and I was through to the gate 5 minutes after stepping out of the car. I did have to toss the last ounce or two of my coffee - clearly, something that I'm consuming in plain sight of the TSA weenies could be a volatile explosive compound. All in all, it was the best experience I've had with an airport since the days when there was no security. Or when I flew out of Germany or Switzerland.

by veddox 11y ago

mseebach 11y ago

> But you can't claim [new airport security is] pointless. Actually, we can: http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find-widespread-security-failures/story?id=31434881 http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find... TL;DR: "undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials" To the extend increased security around air travel deterred anything, it's in the non-airport-screening efforts -- increased/better intelligence is a very plausible source, and the reinforced cockpit doors another.

douche 11y ago

Yeah, it's pointless. 9/11 has pretty much eliminated the possibility of a successful hijacking of a commercial flight in the United States, between better security between the cockpit and the cabin, and the fact that if any group of hijackers tries to take over using boxcutters again, they'll be bumrushed by the other passengers and beaten to death. Before, a hijacking usually just meant that your vacation plans got a little upset by a detour to Cuba, before negotiations straightened things out. The last time I flew, I somehow got shuffled into a preferred-access security line. I showed my passport, and walked through to my gate, no dicking around with taking my shoes off, emptying my pockets out, dumping my laptop out of my bag, none of that garbage, and I was through to the gate 5 minutes after stepping out of the car. I did have to toss the last ounce or two of my coffee - clearly, something that I'm consuming in plain sight of the TSA weenies could be a volatile explosive compound. All in all, it was the best experience I've had with an airport since the days when there was no security. Or when I flew out of Germany or Switzerland.