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As an example of how misplaced the priorities of the current administration have been, I offer the following.

In the first exciting days after the September 11 attacks five years ago, the administration rushed to create the Dept of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration. But even in those early days, the neocons and the taxpayers who support them didn't want to create costly Federal bureaucracies, so they did it as "cheaply" as they could.

They spent just enough money on window dressing so that to the travelling public it would look like they were doing something. They refuse to invest enough money in technology that would close some gaping holes in air transportation security.

You would be shocked (maybe not) if you knew just how much money has been cut from the already inadequate budgets of these agencies in recent years.

You may also be shocked (maybe not) if I were to share with you stories about the security holes in the domestic transportation system. Some of the things I've seen over the last five years in dealing with airline security issues have left me shaking my head in anger and frustration.

Meanwhile, as a pilot in uniform I get singled out for special attention when I go through security checkpoints. We call it the "perp walk". Strip down, shoes off, belt open, etc. just to make sure I don't have anything on my person that I could use to hijack an airliner (other than my bare hands which rest firmly on the controls on a daily basis).

I wouldn't mind all this if I wasn't aware of how little is being done in areas that the travelling public doesn't see.

Of course, spending hundreds of billions of dollars (the bill just keeps getting bigger) on invading Iraq and maintaining a standing army there until the Iraqis can defend themselves against themselves (can you say "civil war"?) made more sense to the Bush administration than spending a fraction of that on making our transportation system more secure.

For those who like things simple, here is a simple truth: while programs that could make a real difference in security go underfunded, the administration continues to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into a mess in Iraq that they created themselves while pursuing objectives that had nothing to do with terrorism.

Pardon me if I don't stand up and cheer when that imbecile in the Oval Office appears for another "War on Terror" photo op.

Banned items fly past security
Liquids, gels getting past airport screeners

By Del Quentin Wilber
The Washington Post
Updated: 5:35 a.m. ET Sept. 13, 2006

Wendy Shanker was passing through security at the St. Louis airport Friday when the X-ray machine detected a potential weapon inside her carry-on bag. A screener dug into the satchel and found a pair of scissors that Shanker used for knitting. The scissors' blades were shorter than the 4-inch federal limit so the screener plopped them back into the bag.

But he missed something else: Shanker's two-ounce container of Neutrogena hand cream, a substance banned since federal authorities clamped down last month on allowing liquids and gels into airline passenger cabins. . .

. . . Security experts said the experiences of travelers interviewed at Reagan National and Dulles airports highlighted what they say are security gaps in the current product bans. A well-trained screener must notice the sometimes-subtle signatures of containers of gels and liquids on X-ray machines. The devices are much better at picking up the shapes of dense and metal objects, such as knives, guns or bomb components, security experts said.

Metal detectors at security checkpoints cannot sense plastic items that may contain liquids or gels.

"There are obviously limitations to this ban," said Clark Kent Ervin, a former inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security.

Ervin supports the restrictions but thinks they are flawed because authorities rely heavily on screeners' interpretations of X-ray images.

"It depends entirely on screeners' alertness and training," he said, "and there are problems with both."

Yeah, problems stemming from having no money for training, equipment or high enough wages to retain experienced screeners - apparently we'd rather spend our money on an expensive Iraq war.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14807713/

a friend of mine has a metal card on which are inscribed the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. He travels with it in hopes that it will be confiscated, thus truely "having his rights taken away". He finds that ironic.

I find it doubly-ironic that the guy doing the confiscation at CMH is probably Somali. Thus a guy from a country on the terrorism watch list is screening potential terrorists and "taking away the rights".

Just a couple of thoughts here.
1) There is no "right" to fly without waiting in line, just like no right to smoke, talk on cell phone, etc. If you want to learn about rights vs. privilege, travel to countries where there are no rights, then you will understand.
2) I think flyboy55 needs a hug, he is angry man. If you feel that strongly, do something about it other than post on a Jimmy Buffett website?!?! I am not saying he is right or wrong, and maybe he does do more than just rant and rave. If so, love to hear about that.

Indiana Jolly Mon wrote:Just a couple of thoughts here.
1) There is no "right" to fly without waiting in line, just like no right to smoke, talk on cell phone, etc. If you want to learn about rights vs. privilege, travel to countries where there are no rights, then you will understand.
2) I think flyboy55 needs a hug, he is angry man. If you feel that strongly, do something about it other than post on a Jimmy Buffett website?!?! I am not saying he is right or wrong, and maybe he does do more than just rant and rave. If so, love to hear about that.

if you are referring to my post about "rights", you should notice that I clearly stated "a card inscribed with the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution". These are known as the "Bill of Rights"...

I fly every single week for my job and I have never felt more secure. Your posts have become way too predictable.

No, not at all R2, I think it is great he actually does that. I was referring to people that have no idea what the Bill of Rights actually say. You hear a lot of people claiming thier rights are being infringed upon yet have no idea what thier rights are. Smoking in bars is the lates in Chicago where argument is the "Right to Smoke in bars is protected by the Constitution".
I have no problem with being searched at an airport. The sheltered world we lived in as Americans changed forever on 9/11.

And not to pile on Flyboy here, but your posts are typical of political extremists on both sides. Yes there are gaps in airline security, but how could there not be? There is no way to be 100% safe, and they are trying to make it as safe as they can. Is it perfect? absolutely not, but there is no system that will be. You are in the industry, maybe instead of copying overly politicized comments in your posts, tell us how YOU would make things 100% safe.

Apparently if someone gets a bottle of hand lotion on the plane it must be Bush's fault

RAGTOP wrote:Apparently if someone gets a bottle of hand lotion on the plane it must be Bush's fault

based on the budgets, budgetary cuts, and his role as the head of the Executive Branch who claimed the new agency was vitally-necessary... failure to ensure the mission of the agency is accomplished is ultimately at his feet.

RinglingRingling wrote:

RAGTOP wrote:Apparently if someone gets a bottle of hand lotion on the plane it must be Bush's fault

based on the budgets, budgetary cuts, and his role as the head of the Executive Branch who claimed the new agency was vitally-necessary... failure to ensure the mission of the agency is accomplished is ultimately at his feet.

That's the easy way out. Reality is that thousands of people fly every single day. Certain banned substances are going to get through whether there are budget cuts or an unlimited budget. How did you feel about security prior to 9/11?

RAGTOP wrote:I fly every single week for my job and I have never felt more secure. Your posts have become way too predictable.

I flew from Orlando to Seattle on Aug 12th. The "extra procedures" I had heard were in place were basically non existant compared to standard secruity. Yea there were more TSA agents walking around, and yea I did see people rearranging things in their luggage - like removing liquids from carry ons. HOWEVER once I went thru Security I could have easily taken some liquid on the plane. Now when you consider that terrorists can be anywhere, including working for airports, in my mind it's still possible that the security could be made better. I flew 5 months after 9/11 and the security then was much better. That's just my personal obversation and I don't fly that often.

RAGTOP wrote:

RinglingRingling wrote:

RAGTOP wrote:Apparently if someone gets a bottle of hand lotion on the plane it must be Bush's fault

based on the budgets, budgetary cuts, and his role as the head of the Executive Branch who claimed the new agency was vitally-necessary... failure to ensure the mission of the agency is accomplished is ultimately at his feet.

That's the easy way out. Reality is that thousands of people fly every single day. Certain banned substances are going to get through whether there are budget cuts or an unlimited budget. How did you feel about security prior to 9/11?

no more or less secure than I do now. The easy way out is to dismiss or deride someone for saying, "It's Bush's fault". are there going to be things getting thru? probably. But not because the TSA is underfunded and ill-equipped.

There hasn't been an hijacking of an American airplane or an attack on the US mainland since 9/11. I blame George Bush for that.

RAGTOP wrote:

RinglingRingling wrote:

RAGTOP wrote:Apparently if someone gets a bottle of hand lotion on the plane it must be Bush's fault

based on the budgets, budgetary cuts, and his role as the head of the Executive Branch who claimed the new agency was vitally-necessary... failure to ensure the mission of the agency is accomplished is ultimately at his feet.

That's the easy way out. Reality is that thousands of people fly every single day. Certain banned substances are going to get through whether there are budget cuts or an unlimited budget. How did you feel about security prior to 9/11?

unfortunately the missed detection rate for contraband is NO better today than it was pre-9/11.

you may feel safer, but you're not....

AlbatrossFlyer wrote:

RAGTOP wrote:

RinglingRingling wrote:

RAGTOP wrote:Apparently if someone gets a bottle of hand lotion on the plane it must be Bush's fault

based on the budgets, budgetary cuts, and his role as the head of the Executive Branch who claimed the new agency was vitally-necessary... failure to ensure the mission of the agency is accomplished is ultimately at his feet.

That's the easy way out. Reality is that thousands of people fly every single day. Certain banned substances are going to get through whether there are budget cuts or an unlimited budget. How did you feel about security prior to 9/11?

unfortunately the missed detection rate for contraband is NO better today than it was pre-9/11.

you may feel safer, but you're not....

and now it's illegal to test the system (like a former head of the NTSB did a couple times) to hold the TSA accountible/accurate in their stats.

ph4ever wrote:

RAGTOP wrote:I fly every single week for my job and I have never felt more secure. Your posts have become way too predictable.

I flew from Orlando to Seattle on Aug 12th. The "extra procedures" I had heard were in place were basically non existant compared to standard secruity. Yea there were more TSA agents walking around, and yea I did see people rearranging things in their luggage - like removing liquids from carry ons. HOWEVER once I went thru Security I could have easily taken some liquid on the plane. Now when you consider that terrorists can be anywhere, including working for airports, in my mind it's still possible that the security could be made better. I flew 5 months after 9/11 and the security then was much better. That's just my personal obversation and I don't fly that often.

I agree that security can always be made better and there should always be advances in this field but at the same time you can't put a strangle hold on the traffic flowing through the airport.

and for the record:

we spend $9 per passenger on airline security.

we spend less than .5 cent per rider on mass transit security

in creating their rankings of terrorist targets, the Dept. of Homeland Security listed a petting zoo, a bourbon festival, and a popcorn factory as higher risk targets than NYC or Washington, DC.

AlbatrossFlyer wrote:

RAGTOP wrote:

RinglingRingling wrote:

RAGTOP wrote:Apparently if someone gets a bottle of hand lotion on the plane it must be Bush's fault

based on the budgets, budgetary cuts, and his role as the head of the Executive Branch who claimed the new agency was vitally-necessary... failure to ensure the mission of the agency is accomplished is ultimately at his feet.

That's the easy way out. Reality is that thousands of people fly every single day. Certain banned substances are going to get through whether there are budget cuts or an unlimited budget. How did you feel about security prior to 9/11?

unfortunately the missed detection rate for contraband is NO better today than it was pre-9/11.

you may feel safer, but you're not....

I didn't know that. Can you show me where that is stated? If it is true that we are missing the same if not more contraband now as opposed to pre-9/11 I may rethink my position on this... and rethink my job as well What about the fact that more things are now considered contraband? How does that skew the numbers?

AlbatrossFlyer wrote:and for the record:

we spend $9 per passenger on airline security.

we spend less than .5 cent per rider on mass transit security

in creating their rankings of terrorist targets, the Dept. of Homeland Security listed a petting zoo, a bourbon festival, and a popcorn factory as higher risk targets than NYC or Washington, DC.

Well, that bourbon festival thing...

hypothetical question for everyone. If 9/11 never happened, would they have caught the individuals attempting to blow up those planes last month?