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12/27/2003 Archived Entry: "Multi-Level Dopeyness..."
Multi-Level Dopeyness...
Welp, every time you think US law enforcement has hit the arrogance and stupidity ceiling, they go and break through to new levels of arrogant and stupid.
U.S. investigators want to speak with a small number of people in Paris who failed to show up for boarding flights to Los Angeles that fell under close scrutiny in a possible terrorist plot, including one pilot-trainee, a U.S. official said.The official, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity, said investigators hope to resolve concerns that some passengers aboard those flights might have intended to use them to launch terror attacks against the United States. One was receiving pilot training but was not yet certified, the official said.
Discussions between U.S. and French officials led to the cancellation of six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday.
So now we want to go to France and 'talk to' people who didn't get on planes? Not for nothin, but that list is gonna get damned long in no time flat.
Replies: 5 people speak up
Has anyone thought about this a little. Any plane coming from France would be nearly empty of fuel not full. Changing the warning colors only get us used to constant security inconvienences and the need for Internal Security Police, along with a bigger budget. Don't you think that a few of these false alarms will draw customers away from French carriers, and or the need to visit France in the first place.
Thanks, D E
Posted by Double Eagle @ 12/27/2003 03:38 PM NY
What has not received as much mediawhore coverage is the woman who set off metal detector alarms at Delta's terminal in LaGuardia Airport (in NYC). This woman apparently "disappeared into the crowd." Not terribly reassuring.
Perhaps we should spend less time and effort criticizing French security efforts and re-examine our own. After all, it was NYC and we are at Orange Alert, aren't we?
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 12/27/2003 05:56 PM NY
Well, if the media were to concentrate on airport security troubles here in the states it would make the all-powerful mightly TSA look worse than the government made us look after 9/11.
By US, I mean the screeners who were replaced by the TSA. No matter how good the training, who's signing the checks, or how much you like the job you're still not going to find a tiny boxcutter with a walk-thru metal detector or an x-ray machine. Your watch (with a metal band) must have well over 10 times the metal of a boxcutter. We didn't screw up; the hijackers just knew what to bring to get past the detectors. But, of course, a scapegoat was needed. So, blame it on the airport screeners for it and replace the whole bunch with more of the same.
I, myself, single-handedly stopped a person who breached my checkpoint WITHOUT having to clear out half of the airport to find him. Yes, I did find him and he was visited by the police. All this long before 9/11 and before Argenbright's romps with the media.
Posted by Coujeaux @ 12/27/2003 10:56 PM NY
Coujeaux,
You bring up an excellent point. After 9-11 the airport screeners (who I assume draw modest salaries and I'll further assume that many of them are minorities) bore the brunt of the criticism over the lapse of security. Heaven forbid any responsibility should be laid at the feet of our multi-billion dollar intelligence services. I never cease to be amazed that no high-ranking official in the CIA, FBI, DIA, etc., was shit-canned. Well, at least it's reassuring to know that there are still positions with iron-clad job security. Too bad I didn't have one of 'em.
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 12/28/2003 12:21 AM NY
When I started working at Sea-Tac airport in Feb. 1998 I was making $6.25/hr. I would not call that modest. I could've done better at McDonalds or some place like that. I stuck with the job because I enjoyed it and loved being able to serve the public. After 9/11 they started raising our pay. One of their thinkings was that screeners weren't doing a good job because of the pay. Duh... When we got the axe from TSA I was making $15.00/hr. Now, I'm told that the TSA slaves are making less than that and some of them are not happy.
Any way, pay is not the important factor here. Some of the screeners that were there didn't do a good job because they either didn't like the job, the pay, or just didn't care.
I loved the job and wish I could go back. I didn't much care for the pay, but the job's more important. I can't work for TSA becuase I don't pass their stupid little test. I'm not suppposed to talk about it, but I will say that judging from some of the questions they're more interested in people who kiss a%% than work.
Posted by Coujeaux @ 12/28/2003 09:53 AM NY
