Posted on 11/21/2010 6:28:15 PM PST by bd476
"At this point, the Transportation Security Administration, in consultation with our counter-terrorism experts, have indicated to me that the procedures that they've been putting in place are the only ones right now that they consider to be effective against the kind of threat that we saw in the Christmas Day bombing.
I understand people's frustrations ... and have asked TSA for assurances that what we're doing is the only way to assure the American people's safety ... One of the most frustrating aspects of this fight against terrorism is that it has created huge inconveniences.
Every week I meet with my counter-terrorism team and I'm constantly asking them whether what we're doing is absolutely necessary."
- President Obama stands by the TSA's increasingly-controversial security measures
that Boing Boing described as the "You choose: star in a porno shoot or let me squeeze your genitals policy," in which passengers are either scanned and seen nude, or they're groped and made to feel awkward. Obama admitted, however, that since he doesn't fly commercial, he's actually never experienced this inconvenience firsthand.
Dude....
Wow
thanks
“Shut up and Take it’ is becoming a standard Federal response to many issues.
Basically what the King and the King’s men would say to the peasants and peons....BEFORE 1776....
Impeach Obama!
This is a conservative forum?
I've read thousands of posts here and I'm the only one that has called for eliminating the TSA and letting private airlines do their own security and then letting people choose what kind of security they want.
All I see is “We should profile Muslims”, and “We” should do this or that. Who is “we” , the government that's who.What about government/socialism doesn't work do you all do not understand. I guess most don't have a clue about economics or the importance of private property and the free market which capitalism which is freedom. Read Mises, Hayek, Friedman to get a clue.
We are done. 99% of people don't understand economics.
Obama and democrats have stood by these perverted, oppressive,X-ray cancer giving policies for years. democrats have controlled Congress for 4 years. Impeach Obama.vote out democrats . democrats are socialists. These machines will give you and kids cancer. TSA thugs sexually molest kids. And democrats say that they they are creating all these huge government programs for the children.Now we see they were lying . What democrats want is socialism
That MIGHT be the Ron Paul worker - it is from last year. Note that “security” now includes asking about money (less than 10K) and your job etc. All this nonsense in response to a relatively minor threat (compare ALQ to Imperial Japan or Nazi Germany or even China today... it is nothing in comparison).
“You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning, than by a terrorist. Nevertheless, the government uses this in order to take away our freedoms. Just think about that one.”
ABSOLUTELY correct. It is a non-threat in light of the bigger picture of actual risks in life. But this is what despots do, pick an issue, exploit it, stir up unnecessary fears about a non-reality and take all rights of the citizens away in the process.
The Obama Administration is using this to try to get the general public used to surrendering all their rights in exchange for any kind of travel eventually.
If it isn’t stopped here, Obama’s system will devour our Constitutionally protected freedoms and liberties.
Here is some common sense to throw into the argument.
“...But how afraid should Americans be of terrorist attacks? Not very, as some quick comparisons with other risks that we regularly run in our daily lives indicate. Your odds of dying of a specific cause in any year are calculated by dividing that year’s population by the number of deaths by that cause in that year. Your lifetime odds of dying of a particular cause are calculated by dividing the one-year odds by the life expectancy of a person born in that year. For example, in 2003 about 45,000 Americans died in motor accidents out of population of 291,000,000. So, according to the National Safety Council this means your one-year odds of dying in a car accident is about one out of 6500. Therefore your lifetime probability (6500 ÷ 78 years life expectancy) of dying in a motor accident are about one in 83.
What about your chances of dying in an airplane crash? A one-year risk of one in 400,000 and one in 5,000 lifetime risk. What about walking across the street? A one-year risk of one in 48,500 and a lifetime risk of one in 625. Drowning? A one-year risk of one in 88,000 and a one in 1100 lifetime risk. In a fire? About the same risk as drowning. Murder? A one-year risk of one in 16,500 and a lifetime risk of one in 210. What about falling? Essentially the same as being murdered. And the proverbial being struck by lightning? A one-year risk of one in 6.2 million and a lifetime risk of one in 80,000. And what is the risk that you will die of a catastrophic asteroid strike? In 1994, astronomers calculated that the chance was one in 20,000. However, as they’ve gathered more data on the orbits of near earth objects, the lifetime risk has been reduced to one in 200,000 or more.
So how do these common risks compare to your risk of dying in a terrorist attack? To try to calculate those odds realistically, Michael Rothschild, a former business professor at the University of Wisconsin, worked out a couple of plausible scenarios. For example, he figured that if terrorists were to destroy entirely one of America’s 40,000 shopping malls per week, your chances of being there at the wrong time would be about one in one million or more. Rothschild also estimated that if terrorists hijacked and crashed one of America’s 18,000 commercial flights per week that your chance of being on the crashed plane would be one in 135,000.
Even if terrorists were able to pull off one attack per year on the scale of the 9/11 atrocity, that would mean your one-year risk would be one in 100,000 and your lifetime risk would be about one in 1300. (300,000,000 ÷ 3,000 = 100,000 ÷ 78 years = 1282) In other words, your risk of dying in a plausible terrorist attack is much lower than your risk of dying in a car accident, by walking across the street, by drowning, in a fire, by falling, or by being murdered.
So do these numbers comfort you? If not, that’s a problem. Already, security measures—pervasive ID checkpoints, metal detectors, and phalanxes of security guards—increasingly clot the pathways of our public lives. It’s easy to overreact when an atrocity takes place—to heed those who promise safety if only we will give the authorities the “tools” they want by surrendering to them some of our liberty...”
“Don’t Be Terrorized”
(You’re more likely to die of a car accident, drowning, fire, or murder)
http://reason.com/archives/2006/08/11/dont-be-terrorized
http://www.blog.joelx.com/odds-chances-of-dying/877/
Impeach Obama.
This TSA debacle is an abuse of power , is tyranny , is oppression, and is an impeachable offense
They let lady Clinton get away with burning 100 people alive and blamed it on Reno. Now the liberal media is trying the same technique. Only that now we have the Internet ( well until the FCC or the lame duck congress censors the Internet) .Clinton got away with trying to impose socialist government healthcare on the American people. Obama didn't because we have the Internet now and didn't during Clinton. same with Waco and this TSA debacle which is an abuse of power , is tyranny and is oppression..
Doesn’t make us any safer because the pro-Islamist, anti-American red diaper doper baby president won’t go on the OFFENSE against Islamic terrorism.
What if there is a massacre at a shopping mall (as has been planned in the past and even carried out once)? Who will he give a shout out to?
Just found another outrage thanks to a post from Hoodat! Prepare to have your blood pressure rise rather quickly.
Jackboot thug ping: (3 secret recordings of TSA agents harrassing and cussing at a passenger..who turns out to be a Ron Paul supporter)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEJpzVPmih0&feature=BF&list=ULvgOwPPXiNJw&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAWSmyG4XPU&feature=BF&list=ULvgOwPPXiNJw&index=5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWz0gi2thEM&feature=BF&list=ULvgOwPPXiNJw&index=6
Okay.
“Was that wall of links really necessary?” It just takes a click or three to navigate somewhere else if you don’t like it here. Here’s your hat, don’t let the door hit you when you leave.
Ignorance is bliss to some.
If an agent ever checks out my junk, I may have an uncontrollable “knee jerk” reaction, ie, my knee to his junk.
Guess you didn’t read post 109 on this thread right?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2631051/posts?page=107#109
Lookout there’s a Muslim under your bed.
Look I hate Islam as much as anyone but now your chance of getting killed by a terrorist is about the same as getting killed by a meteor from space. For this the government is to be given powers to take our freedoms?
Terrorism is not a problem in the U.S. .Islam IS a problem . And the U.S. should go to war overseas against Islam not terrorism.
It is Obama who is responsible NOW.
But, please answer the following questions:
The Department of Homeland Security was created during the administration of what U.S. president?
The TSA was created during the administration of what U.S. president?
The TSA was moved from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security during the administration of what U.S. president?
Nail clippers, nail files, pen-knives and most liquids were banned for possession by airline passengers during the administration of what U.S. president?
{Hint: This man was president immediately before the guy who currently infests the White House}
Mr. Obama is continuing down a path which was opened for him by others.
In short, democrats are NOT our only enemies.
Our current military leadership is A-OK with come domestic terrorism within our military from fifth column jihadist traitors. It’s considered a BIGGER TRAGEDY to screen out those who call for the beheading of infidels and communicate with Al Qaeda than to see 40+ Americans gunned down.
Even now there are efforts to spin it as simple workplace violence and not terrorism.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.