I’m not willing to be judgmental without some rigorous scientific testing.

@21 – Isn’t that an APC?

some of my friends who love football and played, are very glad their sons are not interested.

No, the pre 9/11 metal detectors would have gone off had they used a pipe.

A much more cost effective measure would be to stop implimenting the invassive forign policies that inspire people to attack this country, rather than fund the TSA.

Your interpretation of my remarks just reveals your lack of understanding of the concepts of sarcasm and nuance, but OK, just to clear it up so that even you will understand please change the words “Holy Cow” to “Eat Shit & Die, you ignorant TSA wanna-be” in my sentence.

Thanks for reading.

Without the security regime it is reasonable to assume both men would have entered the plane with half a pound of PETN in a pipe and a blasting cap – or some similar arraingment.

Not sure that is what “reasonable” means.

I got a rock to sell you. It may not look like much but it keeps the tigers terrorists away.

Strangeone and Chris Roads, I would like to buy your rocks.

Matt, don’t be stupid. Your crystal doesn’t keep elephants away.

Its obvious that you can’t stop a determined terrorist 100%, but what you can do is make the terrorist modify his techniques so that they are less convienent, more expensive and less likely to succeed. These things will result in fewer attempted attacks and fewer succesful attacks.

The two TSA attacks mentioned are illustrative: Both men originated from airports outside the US-(possibly because they believed they were less likely to be detected) this reduces the number of prospective target aircraft and increases the cost, both men resorted to unconventional techniques (the shoe and the underwear) presumably to escape detection. The failures of the attacks can in each case be traced to the fact that the terrorist was forced to use an unconventional method – the shoebomber’s fuses were too damp to burn properly because of moisture from the ground (after wearing them for a day) and the sweat from his feet, the underwear bomber’s PETN was insufficiently contained to detonate and only deflagrated – because he placed it in a soft package so that it could be hidden in his underwear. It should be noted that in both cases the amounts of explosive was borderline to do the job – decreasing the chance of success if it had detonated.

In both cases it can be pretty confidently stated the terrorists attempts to avoid the security regime was responsible for the fact that both plots were failures. Without the security regime it is reasonable to assume both men would have entered the plane with half a pound of PETN in a pipe and a blasting cap – or some similar arraingment.

Here’s the TSA-holes hassling some guy over silver coins.
Like the Ron Paul guy with cash, same interrogation, “Is it a hobby? Where did you get them? How much are they worth?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWBEX0Fnpc

Holy Cow! All this time I thought the TSA’s “mission” was to protect passengers (humans). Turns out they have the job of protecting aircraft (machinery).

Thanks for clearing that up, crazybob.

I imagine someone who has once been caught embezzling money from an employer is rather unlikely to manage it again, at least in the modern world where Google and criminal backgrond checks are both common. But I would like for people who might consider embezzling money to think twice, and the threat of a punishment they care about (like a few years in jail) probably works for that.