Delusions

[Ali]

Do I think every passenger should have to strip nude? Of course not. I'm not that much of a pervert. 

*Biting lip not to make comments about the Naughty Terrorist and the Sexy Security Guard*

[xSilverPhinx]

I was in an airport in Frankfurt, Germany a few years ago and there was a list of things you couldn't take on the plane, such as the usual guns, knives, etc..  But down on the list was "pickles." I never understood that one.  Can you make a pickle bomb or do you squirt pickle juice in peoples' eyes?  Dunno.

It's obviously because if you were to open a jar of pickles on the plane, to make a quick snack for yourself, people would be tugging and shoving at eachother to get close enough to you to ask if you'd share, thus causing a safety hazard which can then cause the plane to crash if the pilot includes himself among those people. Pickles...dangerous and tastiest of morsels, those.

[xSilverPhinx]

RDX is often refered to by it's tactical designation C4. It is a patty that can be shaped into any form or container. And very few explosives will set off metal detectors. That's why you complement the search system with random manual checks.

As detection equipment becomes more effective, it will be easier to do more thorough checks while being less invasive, but until then the flawed system we have is better then nothing.
Do I think every passenger should have to strip nude? Of course not. I'm not that much of a pervert.  

They should make more use of highly trained dogs for the task, saves time and isn't nearly as invasive.

[Firebird]

What's so special about the plane itself that we think that terrorists want to explode them but not anything else?

Answer: experience. Airplanes have often been used as a tool by terrorists. Terrorists used to hijack them a lot in the 70's, such as the Air France jet that was forced to fly to Entebbe. Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up by Libyan agents. 9/11, of course. Richard Reid. The Christmas Day bomber a couple of years ago. So of course there's going to be heightened security when it comes to air travel, because it's been used as an effective tool in the past, and they continue to be used as an attempted weapon to this day. It'd be foolish not to do so. Maybe the reasons aren't entirely logical, but people don't operate on pure logic. There's an emotional and psychological factor behind all actions, including the belief by terrorists that focusing on airplanes has been the way to go. Who knows why?

This is not to say we focus only on air travel and ignore all other possible targets. Believe me, if terrorists happened to strike the subway or schools, you'd see heightened security there too. That includes airports. There have been airport bombings in the past, such as at La Guardia in the 70's, or the shootings at LAX about 10 years ago.  But while you may hate all of the heightened security and perhaps some of it is a tad unnecessary, there also has not been a successful terrorist attack in the US since 9/11, and that's not from lack of trying on the part of Al Qaeda. So something is obviously working. You really can't say definitively that none of it works.

I don't agree with every step that's been taken in the name of "security". Warrantless wiretapping of people is an offense against civil rights. The Patriot Act is a scary tool and needs to be re-examined and revamped. Torture should never be allowed under any circumstances. But inconveniencing me a little bit in the name of security which has been shown to be at least somewhat effective is fine by me.

[keithpenrod]

Do I think every passenger should have to strip nude? Of course not. I'm not that much of a pervert. 

*Biting lip not to make comments about the Naughty Terrorist and the Sexy Security Guard*

That does sound like a fun role-play.   

[Guardian85]

Do I think every passenger should have to strip nude? Of course not. I'm not that much of a pervert. 

*Biting lip not to make comments about the Naughty Terrorist and the Sexy Security Guard*

That does sound like a fun role-play.   

One other very important problem with weapon-like objects on planes is a thing called air rage. This is when you have a passenger (or lately in one case a crewmember) flip out and try to hurt other passengers. This is one of the most common undesireable airborne incidents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_rage

Imagine how such an incident would be aggravated with the introduction of something as simple as a pair of knitting needles, or a can of aerosol spray (deodorant, hair spray, etc.) or a flammable petroleum based gel (hair creme).

Do I think every passenger should have to strip nude? Of course not. I'm not that much of a pervert. 

*Biting lip not to make comments about the Naughty Terrorist and the Sexy Security Guard*

And I think I saw that film. 

[keithpenrod]

One other very important problem with weapon-like objects on planes is a thing called air rage. This is when you have a passenger (or lately in one case a crewmember) flip out and try to hurt other passengers. This is one of the most common undesireable airborne incidents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_rage

Imagine how such an incident would be aggravated with the introduction of something as simple as a pair of knitting needles, or a can of aerosol spray (deodorant, hair spray, etc.) or a flammable petroleum based gel (hair creme).

Imagine how easy it would be for the passengers to overpower the stewards/stewardesses and pilot(s) without any weapons at all, if they all acted as a team in cooperation.  Imagine how easy it would be for god to smite the plane down mid-flight, and disintegrating all of the people and the plane itself into particles of dust. 

Or what if the Flying Spaghetti Monster decided to touch the plane's navigation system with his noodly appendage?  I bet one of his meatballs could easily clog up either or both of the jet engines.  We really need to be ready for any possible scenario.

[OldGit]

True, Our Noodly Master does indeed have power to do such things.  However He's far too laid back to bother, even in His sober moments.  We might need to worry more about fringe lactoportarians.

[xSilverPhinx]

One other very important problem with weapon-like objects on planes is a thing called air rage. This is when you have a passenger (or lately in one case a crewmember) flip out and try to hurt other passengers. This is one of the most common undesireable airborne incidents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_rage

Imagine how such an incident would be aggravated with the introduction of something as simple as a pair of knitting needles, or a can of aerosol spray (deodorant, hair spray, etc.) or a flammable petroleum based gel (hair creme).

Imagine how easy it would be for the passengers to overpower the stewards/stewardesses and pilot(s) without any weapons at all, if they all acted as a team in cooperation.  Imagine how easy it would be for god to smite the plane down mid-flight, and disintegrating all of the people and the plane itself into particles of dust. 

Or what if the Flying Spaghetti Monster decided to touch the plane's navigation system with his noodly appendage?  I bet one of his meatballs could easily clog up either or both of the jet engines.  We really need to be ready for any possible scenario.

His Sauciness' Meatball appearing inside one of the engines, now that's something I would like to see! 

[Asmodean]

True, Our Noodly Master does indeed have power to do such things.  However He's far too laid back to bother, even in His sober moments.

Be that the case, one could try making a blood sacrifice to The Asmo. Clay, it can clog shit up, and better than meat balls at times.