Dianne Feinstein says more invasive searches coming

unsungunsung I stopped by on March 7 2024. First time in many years, had to update payment info. Hope all is well. Politicians suck. Bye. Posts: 9,487
edited May 2012 in A Moving Train
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns- ... 2917.story




Consequently the flying public is going to have to tolerate more invasive searches, she said. "The American public has not been terribly sympathetic" to this, she said, but "it's very important that TSA (the Transportation Security Administration) keeps up its efforts."
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  • unsungunsung I stopped by on March 7 2024. First time in many years, had to update payment info. Hope all is well. Politicians suck. Bye. Posts: 9,487
    “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” -James Madison
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,428
    Saying she wants the dude killed is only going to piss off middle east fundamentalists even more and cause more trouble in the long run. If this kind of thing is going to be done wouldn't it make more sense to be discrete? Or is she just trying to provoke and piss people off? Feinstein- California's most conservative liberal. Thank goodness we still have Barbara Boxer in office!
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
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    "Try to not spook the horse."
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  • gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 23,303
    so do you want to fly and have your safety insured via searches, or do you just want to take your chances without security searches and assume the risk and fly and pray to god that it is not your day to be taken down by a bomber or a hijacker??

    seriously, suppose for 5 minutes that obama weakens the powers of the tsa and stops all searches and we have another 9/11 a few months later. obama would most likely be lynched for allowing something so preventable to happen. imagine the field day that fox news and the other media outlets and pundits would have if that happened. i don't think any president, even the great ron paul or ronald reagan, would ever be willing to take that risk.
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • blackredyellowblackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    so do you want to fly and have your safety insured via searches, or do you just want to take your chances without security searches and assume the risk and fly and pray to god that it is not your day to be taken down by a bomber or a hijacker??

    seriously, suppose for 5 minutes that obama weakens the powers of the tsa and stops all searches and we have another 9/11 a few months later. obama would most likely be lynched for allowing something so preventable to happen. imagine the field day that fox news and the other media outlets and pundits would have if that happened. i don't think any president, even the great ron paul or ronald reagan, would ever be willing to take that risk.

    I'd like to see this experiment... Take a NY to LA flight (or other busy route), set aside two planes... one where everyone has to go through the normal security, and another, with no security line. See how many people choose to go to the non-security plane.
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,428
    I don't fly because I've had to many Richie Valens type nightmares but my wife and many friends do so this issue concerns me. Isn't the big problem here that the searches are very erratic? That sometimes they take it too far and sometimes things are missed that shouldn't be? Seems like we need better training or better paid more highly trained people doing this work.
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • JonnyPistachioJonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    To me, this is just another thing for some to bitch about.
    So they want to make sure nobody blows up their planes and kills hundreds of folks? Great. Pat me down thirty times, I dont care. They ripped my bags apart when I flew from Costa Rica to Florida back in November. They saw my underwear and everything. So what?
    Bombers are getting more daring and technology is getting smaller and smaller, allowing them to blow up a matchbox car in their rectum. How do we keep up with them?
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 30,213
    I'm willing to be stripped searched for every flight i take as long as i get to my destination in one piece ....
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • unsungunsung I stopped by on March 7 2024. First time in many years, had to update payment info. Hope all is well. Politicians suck. Bye. Posts: 9,487
    I'm willing to be stripped searched for every flight i take as long as i get to my destination in one piece ....


    All hope is truly lost with attitudes like this.
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,428
    I'm willing to be stripped searched for every flight i take as long as i get to my destination in one piece ....

    Next thing you know someone will start a new airline: ANA (All Nude Airlines)
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • CosmoCosmo Posts: 12,225
    unsung wrote:
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-security-aqapbre84c0a7-20120513,0,7062917.story

    Consequently the flying public is going to have to tolerate more invasive searches, she said. "The American public has not been terribly sympathetic" to this, she said, but "it's very important that TSA (the Transportation Security Administration) keeps up its efforts."
    ...
    Security and Liberty are always going to be at odds with each other. How much security can you supply and still maintain liberty?
    If we went back to pre-September 11, 2001 type airport security... would that make people happy? Airports would be a breeze to go through, but would you want your daughter flying off to college through one? Or we can have Israel style rings of security check around the airports. They are pretty fucking safe, but at what cost?
    As long as there is a threat out there, we need to be diligent. Is there still a threat out there?
    You tell me.
    Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
    Hail, Hail!!!
  • curmudgeonesscurmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 3,991
    As if we could not see this coming a mile away.

    I suspect both the original story and the follow-up about the secret double-agent contain large amounts of bs. But the perceived threat -- real or not -- opens the door for "random" strip-searches of airline passengers. I can only hope that such a move will kill domestic airline travel.

    Remind me -- how many terrorists have the crack TSA agents stopped? Oh, right....

    Who stopped the underwear bomber? What about the shoe bomber?

    Our security policy seems to be based on the "closing the barn door after the horse gets out" approach; maybe that fills you with confidence, but it is not inspiring me. Patdowns, scanners, taking off shoes -- this is security theater; it is not making you safer, it just makes you feel safe. Is it worth giving up rights and privacy for the illusion of safety??

    Why not do as Israel does -- hand security over to the military, use actual trained personnel instead of, I'm sorry, people who could not get hired anywhere else. How many experts have said that looking for terrorists at the airport is too little, too late?

    I find the focus on air travel rather peculiar, frankly. Do we really believe that terrorists are obsessed with blowing up airplanes? Wouldn't these scary new bombs work just as well anywhere? Are we going to consent to random strip searches to take the subway, go to a football game, enter a shopping mall? Where do we draw the line, where do the absurdities of such policies become impossible to overlook?

    As for Dianne Feinstein, it is easy for her to posture and talk tough; she never will be subjected to TSA's "security" measures. :roll:
    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • honestly, some people are so desperate for something to whine about.

    If you don't like it, take the bus.

    The world is now full of terrorists and here in America, we kinda deserve it. You can't take the piss out of the pool so you either gotta soak in it or don't have a swim.

    I say search me all you want... I get pulled aside for "random" screening almost every single time I fly because of my appearance. and that's just fine.
  • CosmoCosmo Posts: 12,225
    Why not do as Israel does -- hand security over to the military, use actual trained personnel instead of, I'm sorry, people who could not get hired anywhere else. How many experts have said that looking for terrorists at the airport is too little, too late?
    ...
    I agree. The Israel model is tough... but it works... without some lower middle class employee sticking his finger in your ass.
    If you can't make to the airport on time... fuck it... you need to quit wasting so much goddamn time on your goddamn travel day and work on your logistics planning.
    Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
    Hail, Hail!!!
  • curmudgeonesscurmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 3,991
    honestly, some people are so desperate for something to whine about.

    If you don't like it, take the bus.

    The world is now full of terrorists and here in America, we kinda deserve it. You can't take the piss out of the pool so you either gotta soak in it or don't have a swim.

    I say search me all you want... I get pulled aside for "random" screening almost every single time I fly because of my appearance. and that's just fine.

    But --

    1) Searching you is not making me any safer, regardless of whether or not you are okay with it. That energy would be better used to find actual terrorists before they get to the airport.

    2) Taking the bus is a stopgap measure. Trains, around here, at least, already get random bag searches. The first time someone decides to blow up a Greyhound bus, "security"policies will be implemented there, also.
    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • jimc3jimc3 Posts: 230
    They ripped my bags apart when I flew from Costa Rica to Florida back in November. They saw my underwear and everything. So what?

    yeah, I always love the return trip home if they decide to go through my bags. Have fun rummaging through my dirty drawers...actually puts a smile on my face...
  • hedonisthedonist Posts: 24,524
    Well, I disagree with the "we kinda deserve it" comment. So if Iran or some other country run by a delusional fuck wants to take some action against us because the US doesn't think killing gay people is OK...we "kinda deserve it"? Or the sexual freedom that we have here (for the most part, I know) and that you too promote is deemed worthy of killing some in the society that support it?

    Apologies if I read your comment incorrectly.

    And for the record, I was in my 20s, returning from Canada to the US and had my shit searched, ripped apart, panties and all my other stuff out there. All because I was a young woman returning alone from a vacation. People get singled out not just for having a shaved head or looking angry.

    It was weird and I didn't like it, but I got it and still do.

    (I'm also glad I smoked all of the weed I'd brought with me before returning home)
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,428
    hedonist wrote:

    (I'm also glad I smoked all of the weed I'd brought with me before returning home)

    Sorry to digress here but this reminds me of a guy I knew in college who told me about the time he went to the rear cabin bathroom and smoked a joint in-flight and said it was the best plane ride he'd ever had. Try that one today! ;)
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • markin ballmarkin ball Posts: 1,075
    Give me liberty, and give me death?
    "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win ."

    "With our thoughts we make the world"
  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    i don't think any president, even the great ron paul or ronald reagan, would ever be willing to take that risk.

    Either you forgot to place a comma after the word Paul, or you think Reagan was 'great'.

    My hunch is the former of the two.


    As for Reagan caring about American lives, the families of the 241 Americans killed in Beirut in 1983 would probably disagree.
  • IdrisIdris Posts: 2,317
    honestly, some people are so desperate for something to whine about.

    If you don't like it, take the bus.

    TSA agents join undercover cops aboard Houston bus system

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/323191#ixzz1uuc9LPrs

    Houston - The TSA will help undercover police perform random bag searches and other security activities in a new program on the METRO bus system, marking the maligned federal agency’s latest foray out of airports and into other forms of mass transit.

    "Patrons riding METRO on Friday, April 13, or any given day, may be sitting next to an undercover MPD officer," states a press release on the METRO website.

    In addition to making unwarranted searches of personal property a way of life for Houston bus travelers, this effort will introduce arbitrary sweeps by K-9 crews to the general public.


    Contrary to popular belief, TSA operations in ground transportation are already an everyday occurrence. The TSA's Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams set up 9,300 checkpoints and searches in 2011 at ferry terminals, subways, sporting events, highways and other public places, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    However, TSA officials admitted that they have no proof that the VIPR teams disrupted any terror plots or prevented any major attacks.
    -

    TSA to start searching ground transportation

    While two-out-of-five Americans are going to try to avoid air travel this holiday season to avoid TSA pat-downs, strip searches and never-ending security line-ups, they might not find comfort in the glimmering Greyhound stations across the US.

    http://rt.com/usa/news/tsa-ground-security-transportation-555/

    http://www.infowars.com/tsa-searches-greyhound-bus-passengers/

    http://www.presstv.ir/detail/237047.html
    -

    Random searches divide New York

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4747463.stm

    http://ca.news.yahoo.com/york-police-frisk-more-people-despite-criticism-001858380.html
  • hedonist wrote:
    So if Iran or some other country run by a delusional fuck wants to take some action against us because the US doesn't think killing gay people is OK...we "kinda deserve it"?

    If you are actually expecting me to believe for one second that the reason that we're at war with countries in the middle east was because of their death penalty for gay people, you really must think I'm one dumb Mofo.
  • riotgrlriotgrl LOUISVILLE Posts: 1,895
    Cosmo wrote:
    Why not do as Israel does -- hand security over to the military, use actual trained personnel instead of, I'm sorry, people who could not get hired anywhere else. How many experts have said that looking for terrorists at the airport is too little, too late?
    ...
    I agree. The Israel model is tough... but it works... without some lower middle class employee sticking his finger in your ass.
    If you can't make to the airport on time... fuck it... you need to quit wasting so much goddamn time on your goddamn travel day and work on your logistics planning.

    And Israel does more than just search you before you board the plane. How many peole report bags left alone at the airport? Or in a public place like a mall? The bigger threat may be our public places and someone leaving a bomb in a bag and everybody just walking past it and killing tons of people at the mall or sporting events or concerts. So are you willing to be searched before you enter the mall or go to your next PJ concert? How far do we go in giving up our liberties to feel safe?
    Are we getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?

    Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned...

    I AM MINE
  • inmytreeinmytree Posts: 4,741
    unsung wrote:
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-security-aqapbre84c0a7-20120513,0,7062917.story




    Consequently the flying public is going to have to tolerate more invasive searches, she said. "The American public has not been terribly sympathetic" to this, she said, but "it's very important that TSA (the Transportation Security Administration) keeps up its efforts."


    her full quote:

    FEINSTEIN: For this particular material, candidly no. I can't say that I am. I think the pat-down probably is better than the magnetometer. I think Americans have to understand that this particular kind of explosive, nonmetallic, is not easily detectable and that's one of the reasons why Abdulmutallab wore it in his underway, so that he couldn't patted down sufficiently to detect it.
    That's a problem and that's something the TSA has to grapple with. And the American public has not been terribly sympathetic. Although most people are, most travelers say, "I'm going to go with the flow, I recognize the need, therefore, I really don't mind being patted down." I'm in that category, but not everybody is.
    So I came from Afghanistan last week along with my colleagues on the intelligence committee through Dubai and there screening was very heavy. Three -- you pass through magnetometers three times, very heavy pat-downs, they opened hand luggage at the gate, they look for gun powder or other things on your hands.
    So there was a big pat down with additional security people present. It was very evident.
    Having said that, you can't maintain that all of the time. So, I think it's very important that TSA keeps up its efforts and that we Americans who travel a lot understand what's at stake.
    And, you know, when you see the number of people on these large planes, you are aware of the fact that this is really necessary to do and particularly right now. I am hopeful that we will be able to candidly kill this bomb maker and kill some of his other associates, because there is a dangerous process in play at the present time


    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news- ... z1uwKOsSPm
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,156
    I doubt that the US whacking this guy will make fundamentalists hate the US anymore then they already do. After all, this guy convinced his own brother to stick a bomb where the sun doesn't shine and set it off.
    Be Excellent To Each Other
    Party On, Dudes!
  • mikepegg44mikepegg44 Posts: 3,353
    so do you want to fly and have your safety insured via searches, or do you just want to take your chances without security searches and assume the risk and fly and pray to god that it is not your day to be taken down by a bomber or a hijacker??



    you never really struck me as a give up liberty for fear kind of guy.

    if you are ok with this, a gov't agency doing "random" searches, why on earth aren't you ok with things like the patriot act, or random stops and searches by the police?

    I suppose I have never asked you those specific questions, but I am just assuming based on past posts.

    How is it different?

    I don't believe in levels of infringements. Once the state crosses the line, the varying levels of how invasive something is doesn't matter to me. they are all wrong to do.

    What is more likely, being a victim of a terrorist attack on or becoming a victim of crime in the inner city... Wouldn't that warrant the kind of thing that the NY police are able to do...random stops...hell we should be able to be checked all the time for our safety...I mean...if you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about but a little inconvenience right?

    airport security should be private. No government agency should have the ability to do random stop and searches.
    that’s right! Can’t we all just get together and focus on our real enemies: monogamous gays and stem cells… - Ned Flanders
    It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
    - Joe Rogan
  • blackredyellowblackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    honestly, some people are so desperate for something to whine about.

    If you don't like it, take the bus.

    The world is now full of terrorists and here in America, we kinda deserve it. You can't take the piss out of the pool so you either gotta soak in it or don't have a swim.

    I say search me all you want... I get pulled aside for "random" screening almost every single time I fly because of my appearance. and that's just fine.

    But --

    1) Searching you is not making me any safer, regardless of whether or not you are okay with it. That energy would be better used to find actual terrorists before they get to the airport.

    2) Taking the bus is a stopgap measure. Trains, around here, at least, already get random bag searches. The first time someone decides to blow up a Greyhound bus, "security"policies will be implemented there, also.

    Ok, so how do exactly do we do that?
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • hedonisthedonist Posts: 24,524
    hedonist wrote:
    So if Iran or some other country run by a delusional fuck wants to take some action against us because the US doesn't think killing gay people is OK...we "kinda deserve it"?

    If you are actually expecting me to believe for one second that the reason that we're at war with countries in the middle east was because of their death penalty for gay people, you really must think I'm one dumb Mofo.
    Of course it's not THE reason, but it is a factor - the view of us as some kind of bacchanalian society.

    (and brian, if I could try what you suggested, I would! - even though we avoid flying at all costs nowadays for various reasons - but the era of being able to smoke ANYTHING on a plane are long gone. Gotta say I miss those days)
  • JonnyPistachioJonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    As if we could not see this coming a mile away.

    I suspect both the original story and the follow-up about the secret double-agent contain large amounts of bs. But the perceived threat -- real or not -- opens the door for "random" strip-searches of airline passengers. I can only hope that such a move will kill domestic airline travel.

    Remind me -- how many terrorists have the crack TSA agents stopped? Oh, right....

    Who stopped the underwear bomber? What about the shoe bomber?

    Our security policy seems to be based on the "closing the barn door after the horse gets out" approach; maybe that fills you with confidence, but it is not inspiring me. Patdowns, scanners, taking off shoes -- this is security theater; it is not making you safer, it just makes you feel safe. Is it worth giving up rights and privacy for the illusion of safety??

    Why not do as Israel does -- hand security over to the military, use actual trained personnel instead of, I'm sorry, people who could not get hired anywhere else. How many experts have said that looking for terrorists at the airport is too little, too late?

    I find the focus on air travel rather peculiar, frankly. Do we really believe that terrorists are obsessed with blowing up airplanes? Wouldn't these scary new bombs work just as well anywhere? Are we going to consent to random strip searches to take the subway, go to a football game, enter a shopping mall? Where do we draw the line, where do the absurdities of such policies become impossible to overlook?

    As for Dianne Feinstein, it is easy for her to posture and talk tough; she never will be subjected to TSA's "security" measures. :roll:

    I disagree that its only there to make us 'feel safer.' well, maybe to a degree.
    The problem is, we cannot see the results or even speculate as to how many people we've prevented from bringing bombs, firearms, knives, or boxcutters on board since 9/11. Potential terrorists simply know that they wont get far, so they don't try very often.

    I think focusing on air travel is a very good target for terrorist. It makes perfect sense:
    --People are already on edge about flying, aside from terrorist threats.
    --Diversity at airports makes it easy for anyone to blend in.
    --Air travel is used for business and pleasure, and it could cripple many industries if safety was to suffer. its a HUGE industry that affects many others.
    --Humongous explosions add to the wow-factor.
    --Many options for hiding explosives or other devices.

    I'm surprised there havent been cell phone bombs or laptop bombs. I think airport security is going to have to get worse one day.
    --Used as missiles against targets.
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 30,213
    unsung wrote:
    I'm willing to be stripped searched for every flight i take as long as i get to my destination in one piece ....


    All hope is truly lost with attitudes like this.

    What are you talking about i'm willing to wait as long as it takes for Security to do it's job so the flight i'm on is secure , what is wrong with that :roll: ....
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • mikepegg44mikepegg44 Posts: 3,353

    I disagree that its only there to make us 'feel safer.' well, maybe to a degree.
    The problem is, we cannot see the results or even speculate as to how many people we've prevented from bringing bombs, firearms, knives, or boxcutters on board since 9/11. Potential terrorists simply know that they wont get far, so they don't try very often.


    I think focusing on air travel is a very good target for terrorist. It makes perfect sense:
    --People are already on edge about flying, aside from terrorist threats.
    --Diversity at airports makes it easy for anyone to blend in.
    --Air travel is used for business and pleasure, and it could cripple many industries if safety was to suffer. its a HUGE industry that affects many others.
    --Humongous explosions add to the wow-factor.
    --Many options for hiding explosives or other devices.

    I'm surprised there havent been cell phone bombs or laptop bombs. I think airport security is going to have to get worse one day.
    --Used as missiles against targets.


    How many 9/11's were there prior to that day in september?
    No matter what, the terrorists will make whatever they want happen in the end. they are relentless. the more we take our civil liberties and throw them out the window the more they have already succeeded. Osama wanted to change our way of life...he succeeded like no other. What we should put our focus on isn't bombs in airports...it is WHY someone would want to put a bomb in an airport to begin with...increased TSA security actions is like treating anemia with red bull.

    Until we stay at home and quit trying to dictate to other countries what they should and should not do we will have people who want to attack the US...it isn't our freedom they hate, it is when we try to force our freedom on them that they have a problem with it...

    why is the TSA (a gov't agency) doing "random" searches in an airport any different than the FBI doing random enhanced pat downs on pedestrians in high crime areas?
    that’s right! Can’t we all just get together and focus on our real enemies: monogamous gays and stem cells… - Ned Flanders
    It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
    - Joe Rogan
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