Security Theater 'R' Us - Daily roundup
December 31, 2009
Frank@OBOW in Air travel news, Travel News & Regulations

The TSA is expected to release another round of security changes today in the wake of the terror scare.

The flight crews on individual airlines can decide if they’re going to enforce some of these rules TSA put in effect since the Christmas Day bombing attempt…

Among the precaution, once the flights take off, airlines have the option of taking the following precautions:

  • Requiring passengers to remain in seats 1 hour before arrival
  • Disabling on-board communications services
  • Not announcing flight path or positions
  • Banning any items in laps 1 hour before arrival. - WABC-TV, NYC
  •  —

    Queue for up to three hours to be “patted down,” go through additional scans and physical searches of hand luggage, one hand carry item only, be told to stay in your seat for an hour before a plane lands, note that flight trackers are switched off (along with all other IFE which is integrated, no pillows to be hugged, no blankets to be worn on top, and no crew announcements to hint as to location or landing schedule. This is how the USA has responded to a lunatic who set himself on fire in a plane. But the over-reaction is already wearing thin.

    The USA’s Transportation Security Administration or TSA has said that the new rules - at least insofar as they relate to what happens on an aircraft - are now to be regarded as a matter for the discretion of the crew. - Chief Officers Network 

    NYT “Room for Debate” on the Israeli security model.

    NPR on roughly the same subject: behavioral screening/analysis as opposed to “profiling.”

    Daily Tech: Obama Could Decree Wider Use of Full-body Scanners in Airports

    Obama’s options:

    But broader policy changes have greater ramifications — tradeoffs that the Bush administration was well aware of. And while increasing security may seem like a political no-brainer, some frequent travelers have become so incensed at what they call “security theater” that they are recoiling at steps already taken, such as banning the use of blankets and personal items in the last hour of some flights.

     “I flew 265,000 miles last year,” said Bruce Schneier, a cryptographer and security analyst. “You know what really pisses me off? Making me check my luggage. Not letting me use my laptop, so I can’t work. Taking away my Kindle, so I can’t read. I care about those things. I care about making me safer much, much less.” - Politico

    (Schneier implies on his own blog that this quote is a little misleading as to emphasis)

    Was the crotch bomber a loner? It gets curiouser and curiouser, as Alice was wont to say in Wonderland. Wouldn’t she have loved security theater?

     

    Update on December 31, 2009 by Registered CommenterFrank@OBOW
    Update on December 31, 2009 by Registered CommenterFrank@OBOW
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