Pat B on the Lap Bomber

"Had he not proven incompetent to detonate his lap bomb, Umar Farouk Abdulmullatab would have carried off an air massacre to rival Lockerbie. We would all have ended Christmas day watching TV footage of 300 mangled bodies being picked up around Detroit."

he said she saids

Ultimately, what the “lap bomber” incident demonstrates is that there is no such thing as perfect security and chasing it is a Quixotic quest. Just as police forces can’t prevent all crime or catch all criminals, neither can homeland security avert all terrorism. Most importantly, just as we shouldn’t sacrifice essential freedoms to fight crime – such as probable cause and the need for a search warrant – neither should we for the sake of security.

Israel Safety & Airports

What Israel can teach us about security
At Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, screening is done in 30 minutes. The key? Look passengers in the eye, While North America's airports groan under the weight of another sea-change in security protocols, one word keeps popping out of the mouths of experts: Israelification.

That is, how can we make our airports more like Israel's, which deal with far greater terror threats with far less inconvenience.

"It is mind boggling for us Israelis to look at what happens in North America, because we went through this 50 years ago," said Rafi Sela, the president of AR Challenges, a global transportation security consultancy. He has worked with the RCMP, the U.S. Navy Seals and airports around the world.

Yo dawg, I heard you like TSA security restrictions, so I put some security restrictions on top of your security restrictions

Yo dawg, I heard you like TSA security restrictions, so I put some security restrictions on top of your security restrictions

Heads to roll over Detroit attack

Heads to roll over detroit attack

TSA Agents Threaten Blogger For Posting Procedures

TSA Agents Threaten Blogger For Posting Procedures: Two bloggers received home visits from Transportation Security Administration agents Tuesday after they published a new TSA directive that revises screening procedures and puts new restrictions on passengers in the wake of a recent bombing attempt by the so-called underwear bomber.

Special agents from the TSA’s Office of Inspection interrogated two U.S. bloggers, one of them an established travel columnist, and served them each with a civil subpoena demanding information on the anonymous source that provided the TSA document.

TSA & Homeland Security

"OP:
The TSA and Department of Homeland Security in this country are a complete joke. The only reason that we have not had another major terrorist attack in this country since 9/11 is because they have not chosen to attack us again. The "shoe bomber" and "lap bomber" were not thwarted by our government or our 'no-fly list', but thwarted only by their own incompetence.

Do you feel safer on a plane because you cant take your shampoo in your carry on and instead must put it in your luggage? Are all those bottles of perfume and tubes of toothpaste sitting at the security check points in the airports really making you feel safer? What a fucking joke we are!

The TSA and its policies are a joke. The TSA is a reactionary agency. They are followers. Something happens, then they (over)react to it. They are never ahead of the terrorists. Shoe bomber caught on a plane? All shoes must go through the x-ray!! Liquid explosives caught by a would-be terrorist? Ban all bottled water, shampoo and perfume!! Bomber tried to set off a bomb in his lap during a landing? No pillows or blankets on your lap for the last hour of flight!! Also, you can't get up to take a piss for the last hour of flight. Have fun! Also, no more maps of your flight's progress on the screens. It's not like the terrorists could, you know, look out the fucking window to figure out how close they are to a city."

Long lines and delays best sum up my experience of flying to the United States in the wake of the thwarted Christmas day terrorist attack

Long lines and delays best sum up my experience of flying to the United States in the wake of the thwarted Christmas day terrorist attack.

Investor jumping the gun scanner companies

Investors seen jumping the gun on airport security

Boston company producing full body scanners

Company in Boston area that makes and sells full body scanners

News articles on the 'lap bomber'

Lap bomber news search

Usefullness of full body scanners

A manufacturer of airport security systems says terror attempts like the one over Detroit last week underscore the value of controversial full body s

"Manufacturer says full body scanners at airports are a valuable tool in fighting terror - CLEVELAND, Ohio — A manufacturer of airport security systems says terror attempts like the one over Detroit last week underscore the value of controversial full body scanners and should reinforce the public's faith in the powerful technology. - The X-ray dose of one body scan is negligible, says Joe Reiss, vice-president of marketing for American Science and Engineering. One scan emits less than 10 microrem, the unit used to measure radiation, he said. Comparably, an hour on an airplane at a high altitude exposes a passenger to 300 microrem, and the average person is exposed to 1,000 microrem of radiation over the course of a normal day, Reiss said."

System Fail

No excuse for letting would-be bomber aboard - It is not just suspected terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who failed. The young Nigerian's inability to blow up a Detroit-bound transcontinental flight on Christmas Day highlighted serious lapses in airline security measures adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy.

Wide use of U.S. airport body scanners depends on Obama

Wide use of U.S. airport body scanners depends on Obama

The Lap Bomber

Who is the Lap Bomber?

More constant news updates coming soon.