If I am wrong let's implement it. I do not believe that I am wrong..... If it is cost effective let's implement it.
Wrong about what? That it might cost more? It's probably gonna cost more, no one has said otherwise. But what the fuck does "cost prohibitive" or "cost effective" even mean, when you are talking about preventing a commercial airliner from being used as a bomb?
The first thing you will need to do is get Congress to stop fearing behavior profiling as the same thing as racial profiling, yes they seem to confuse the two, the second is address the costs. If it is cost effective let's implement it.
Radical Islamic terrorists are of a particular race, Damo. Don't know if you've noticed it or not, but most of them are middle eastern of Arab descent, and tend to be young-to-middle aged males. So how are we going to profile "behavior" if these terrorists remain calm and don't show signs of nervousness or anxiety? What we have to do, is get people's heads out of their ass when it comes to any kind of profiling that prevents a terrorist attack. Congress does what we tell congress to do, that's what elections are for. But as long as we have mealy-mouth half-liberal buttmunches running around, arguing that the TSA is just fine and dandy as it is, and we just need a few "tweaks" here and there... then we are stuck with a Congress that will remain inept and clueless, just like you, who they represent.
However, if I am correct, as I believe that I am, what do you plan to do? Continue talking about this as your only solution and condescending to people who see things only slightly differently than you do?
The reality is, this will be far more expensive than your dismissive magic act states.
Yes, Damo, we are all aware that you believe you are right and only someone with your intellect and brain could have the best possible solution to ANY problem... we should all genuflect toward you daily and pay homage! We're just not worthy to even discuss such things with a man of your stature, being we are just ignorant little proles who don't know what we're talking about. You wanted to know where ID got "condescension" from? Maybe it's phrases like "dismissive magic act" above?
You've not given ANY evidence to support your claim that it would be markedly more expensive to implement a better system. Not one fucking thing, Damo! You've just PROCLAIMED that to be the case, and insisted you are right and we are wrong! It's typical of your behavior here, you proclaim things to be Damo's way, and by god, that's all there is to it! You don't have to provide proof, you don't have to give evidence, you just have to proclaim it, and so shall it fucking be!
It isn't just "hiring a few more"... In one scenario, if it is the ticket counter, you have to replace all those employees with somebody who makes at least twice what they make.
You don't know how much ANYBODY makes, we don't have this system in place, we don't currently train people to do this job because it doesn't exist! You're SPECULATING that it would cost more, but you don't KNOW it would! The "ticket counters" are the same in Israel as here, they are NOT the security personnel. We already have TSA security personnel outside every airport, they are there to keep people moving at the drop-off points. In Israel, that security person stops you just like they do in America, for the same amount of time, but they look into your eyes and ask you a couple of quick questions. In America, they don't do that. So, the "new" system would involve training the security officer to ask two questions! Lots of "cost" there Damo, really!
You have to hire far more of them enough to question everybody without degrading time, change the airport physically to spread out the crowd more,
Bullshit and Bullshit! The personnel are already there! People don't need to be "spread out more" for ANY fucking reason! That just doesn't even make sense, if you are trying to maintain security! The more "spread out" the people are, the better the chance of someone slipping through security! I am beginning to wonder if you have the slightest clue of what you're talking about... oh, but, you're Damo! Of course you do! You fucking know everything, you goddamn genius!
get Congress to okay (the main argument, other than efficiency I had against government takeover of this particular item is the 535 people in the CEO Share program that the government comes saddled with) changes in the law to allow for even this type of profiling (yes it is currently illegal), train each of these new college graduates now working ticket counters in the specific techniques (training costs)...
People "get Congress" to do things by proactively demanding things be done! Not by coming up with all kinds of inane reasoning for NOT doing things, which is what you seem to be hellbent on doing!
Second scenario, rinse and repeat with the screeners...
And that is just the beginning. Now rinse and repeat for every airport we have and you have a recipe for a huge ballooning TSA that already has the urge and is moving towards the TMI Bureau...
Rinse and repeat stupidity? Why? How about we teach the first checkpoint security personnel to look people in the eye and ask two questions? Then how about we hire trained professionals to work the screenings, who will take a more rigorous approach at spotting potential terrorists? And how about we get rid of the TSA altogether, and allow the airlines and airports to provide private sector security companies, who are already highly trained to do security screenings? This takes care of 98% of your issues.
Or we can begin with my idea. Change the software to delete "human" from the image and leave behind the flotsam... Take away the major objection, then require us all to walk through. Use only the imaging machines that do not use x-rays so the pilots objection is also gone.
The machines do not detect plastic and liquid explosives hidden in the anal cavity of a terrorist. The machines can't tell if a breast implant contains silicon or PETN. The machines don't look into the eye of the person and ascertain if they are nervous, being forthright and honest, or seem agitated or anxious. In short, a machine is not going to stop a terrorist.
Then let's begin working towards changing the laws so that even if we want to spend this kind of coin on better security that looks for terrorists rather than tubes of toothpaste we can actually implement it.
That starts with YOU! First, you have to realize that, regardless of the cost, if it saves a planeload of American lives, it's worth whatever the cost! There is no "cost effective" price you can put on that, Damo! What we have now, is a fucking joke, not security! But before we can get to implementing ANYTHING, we have to get people like you to stop arguing that it's not possible, not feasible, not "cost effective" to do it... and we should all just sit down and shut up, and put up with TSA doing what they are doing!