New airport agents check for danger in fliers' facial expressions

McClatchy Newspapers ^ | August 14, 2007 | Kaitlin Dirrig

[Dan Evans]

You are aware of the Terrorist plan to smuggle liquid explosives onto aircraft? How would you prevent this? Test every bottle of water as part of the screening process?

I'll tell you how I would handle it. Let the airlines, the pilots and their insurance companies decide how to do it. They are a helluva lot smarter than the government mesomorphs who are doing it now.

[TChris]

"Surveillance 4: Winston thinks about how dangerous it is to allow your thoughts to wander when you are in public or facing the telescreen. Your facial expressions are watched closely and the wrong expression can have dire consequences. For example, looking disbelieving when a victory is announced would be facecrime."

Orwell's prescience is a thing of wonder.

[wbill]

I think that those who sign off on security should be randomly selected to fly on the planes with people they screen.

Of course, I also think that the mechanics that ceritfy planes fit to fly should be forced to get on them, as well.

This, after having a flight delayed for "Mechanical Difficulties". I was watching a couple of mechanics work on something on the nosewheel assembly (not much else to do in a podunk Airport at 8pm). One looked at the other and pointed to something. The other gave an elaborate shrug.

I turned away. Couldn't watch anymore. LOL!

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

All I’m saying is what I observed.

When the plane arrived at the gate, the three TSAs stood up, put their personal items away, and began busying themselves. They put on latex gloves, took out their wands, and began screening passengers.

I just wished that I had taken a picture of this waste of government money.

They didn’t look professional, they didn’t look like they were even working; though I’m sure they were on the clock.

Maybe having workers scan people’s facial expressions is an innovative way to get the TSA folks to actually look at the passengers.

[wbill]

I’d keep the insurance companies out of it. They’d have us fly naked, drugged, and sans any luggage. Can’t be paying out potential claims.....

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

My husband is a commercial pilot, so I know what you’re talking about.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Have I got the perfect cartoon for you...hang tight...

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

[wbill]

Yup. There are some things that I'm just better off not knowing. Of course, today's planes are built with so many redundancies and contigencies that they're pretty hard to crash, I think.

If not, don't tell me. LOL!!

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

over and out (side to repair the pool vac...)

Later...

[wbill]

Nude airlines.....

Probably best not to joke about such things. Somewhere, there's some fool TSA official reading this and thinking "Hospital Gowns......Hmmmmmm...." LOL!

With apologies to your husband, I hate to fly. It's a part of my job (has been for almost 15 years) and I've got to say that the "fun" of airline travel has gone dramatically downhill in that span of time, IMHO.

Don't know if it's because I don't like travelling, or if I don't like TO travel (if that makes sense). Anyway, if we're talking less than a day of driving, I rent a car, now.

[wbill]

Like the cartoon. I had a friend in college that was a Sikh (dark skinned, swarthy, wore a turban). He used to say that "If someone gets on the plane that looks like me, you get off!!! Hahahahahaha!" At least he had a sense of humor about it.

Have fun cleaning the pool. It's 100+ here for the rest of the week. A dip would be nice today.

[Raycpa]

This is great to announce even if we are not doing it.

[Raycpa]

I also see that you did nothing to dispute my contention that focusing on grandmothers, priests, old white men, etc. is a waste of time and resources, all in the name of political correctness.

You are very wrong and such thinking is very dangerous. The minute you exclude a class of people you create a group of people that can be either willing or unwilling dupes that would be used by terrorists. This would put these people in unnecessary danger and create a hole in our security that can be exploited.

[fishhound]

So a few hours of trianing is going to help them detect people from other cultures. People who have maybe different expressions or nuance in thier expressions unrelated to our culture?

Behavior Detection Officers I can’t believe they called it that.
They don’t seem to good policing thier own.

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/4368.html

[TheSpottedOwl]

On second thought, I guess you have a valid point. I’ve learned to read my kids for instance, but they aren’t terrorists.

It’s just that many airport security officers are ham handed buffoons.

[Ramius]

That's why I say we should get the government out of it.

No problem here. But the bitching and whining and bellyachin' will be the same. You know that... right?

We're a culture of whiners. A trip across country that took our forefathers six ~months~ to do, now takes six hours. If that six hours becomes ten... we whine about how gruelling the trip was and now we'll never fly that airline again... yadda yadda yadda...

:-)

[Dan Evans]

But the bitching and whining and bellyachin' will be the same. You know that... right?

The difference will be that when you put it into the private sector people will be allowed to vote with their feet and go to the competition who might have a more intelligent approach to things.

The other difference is that people won't be intimidated by government officials with unreasonable searches which is a violation of the Constitution.

I don't think we are a nation of whiners. I think we are becoming a nation of sheep. I think people are being programmed to think they are children and the government is their parents and I think too many of us are buying into that notion.

The founders wanted the security of this free state to be in the hands of people, not government. I believe they were right. If the passengers on those planes on Sept 11 had been armed, and had not been programmed to act like sheep when threatened, we would not be in this mess.

We need to grow up and act like free people, not bend over and let some government goon stick his finger up our butt.

[af_vet_rr]

They're called Behavior Detection Officers

Not a week goes by where somebody in this administration doesn't do something that disturbs me as an American and as somebody who has supported the GOP for decades.

If Janet Reno/Bill Clinton implemented this, Republicans would have been in an uproar and in the streets. Instead, I hear many pull the "well, if it makes us safer" crap that tells me they don't have a clue.