"... law enforcement officials in New York have two options:..."
Both extremes are ludicrous. Grandmas are very, very unlikely bombers. OTOH, 6 year old white boys are unlikely. How about Arab appearing, nervous men 18-35 years old might be of interest. Why do people insist on a perfect system. We will NEVER be able to stop all attacks. BUT, if we stop 99/100, we are not doing too bad. Hell, if we stop 25/100, that would certainly reduce the damages and deaths.
Quite honestly, if some arab is offended by being profiled, I will tell him to go to the pigs since I get highly offended by a rag-head profiling Americans to die by his acts.
Agreed. Well-put.
As far as I'm concerned, the basic problem with these "random" searches is the context in which they are carried out. New York City is an odd place -- it's a police state by nature, and yet at the same time it is filled with immature malcontents who will never be satisfied with their everyday lives.
As a result, the city operates in a bizarre, schizophrenic climate in which the same people who complain about heavy-handed police tactics one day will not hesitate to complain that the police "aren't doing enough" when the sh!t hits the fan the next day.
Oddly enough, the best approach to dealing with terrorism in New York City would probably be the complete elimination of all forms of security on the subway. It's amazing how quickly people in NY will grow up once they're on their own.
The solution to this dilemma is simple: Search 100% of the passengers on a voluntary basis for half the trains, and search 0% of the passengers for the other half. Nobody who is opposed to these searches will have to subject themselves to them, and everyone rides at his or her own risk.
Remember when Al Gore was insulted about the racial
pro-filing? I would concur with everyone that says
stop all Muslims.... and anyone else from those areas
that produce these dirfty, rotten, stinking, bastards.
Including Saudi Arabians....let's get our energy house
in order, so we can tell them all to stick it...that
goes for Kerry, Kennedy,etc. who keep telling us how
we should not toucn ANWAR...There is probably enough
oil up there to supplement our ethanol,etc. for 50
years or more....Jake