Have we learned nothing?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid

what that guy attempted, didn't work.

If anything, what is more dangerous are missing bolts on airplane doors or bird strikes or even lithium batteries, which are prolific (obviously in laptops and phones), in general.

Because the drive to the airport is always going to be more dangerous than the flight itself.

I remember the whole Waste. Fraud. Abuse. creation of DHS which was NEVER needed. The airport screeners worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation and all the other Departments that were cannibalized to create the monstrosity, could have remained where they were (including everything to do with "Customs" that was under the Department of Treasury and INS, that was under DOJ).

Shrub expanded that to what the convoluted Department that you see today.

I used to work with people from Customs and USDA (another with an agency that got cannibalized and shoved into DHS) and all they could do was facepalm at the mess.

The magnetometer and other screening tech has progressed quite a bit over the past 20 years so keep that in mind as well.

So much of it seemed to be for appearances, a reassurance that THEY were keeping America safe but they were just creating a bigger bureaucracy.

IOW - "projection". And they used a tragedy to justify it.

The GOP had a trifecta at the time of DHS creation in 2002.

H.R.5005 - Homeland Security Act of 2002

Back then, I think HHS used to be ridiculed as being the largest (non-military) Department.

They know that fear sells and they took full advantage of that for years.

that's why TSA invested in upgrading scanning technology in the 2 decades since then. There are many things that give people a false a sense of safety without actually doing anything for safety.

where people are pulling off shoes ahead of time so eventually it would NEVER be able to be kept "hush hush" thanks to social media.

everybody wears flip-flops.

this is common for boots. That will trigger the metal detector.

But there are also who knows how many with replacement knees and hips and shoulders, let alone metal rods in arm or leg bones and even along the spine (in the neck or back). That's why TSA will also use their hand-held wands!

On Today show this was only going to be tried at a few airports, not every airport right now. Also they said they would scan peoples feet with some type of radio frequency.

Newsweek had a map - https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-states-airports-no-longer-requiring-people-remove-shoes-2095824

States With Airports No Longer Requiring People to Remove Shoes



The blue highlight are states with an airport that will have this policy iniitally -

CA - LAX
OR - PDX
KY - CVG (which services Cincinnati)
NY - LGA
PA - PHL
MD - BWI
NC - PTI
FL - FLL

It’s most likely a waste of time. If someone is desperate enough to bring something on board, there are other crevasses throughout the body to hide it in.

We are approaching a quarter century of the 'temporary measure' that was the Homeland Security Act. Those watching Trump now, would do well to remember that once it has been taken, no future government surrenders the powers they opposed when in opposition

but you still have to take those belts off, guys!

It becomes clear just how truly ridiculous the requirement to remove shoes during airport screenings really is when you consider its origins: ONE would-be terrorist -- Richard Reid -- who tried unsuccessfully to ignite his shoes before passengers and crew intervened to stop him.

That happened on December 21, 2001, or 8,600 days ago. Consider that, on average, 2.34 million passengers depart from U.S. airports daily. I couldn't find the exact date when the TSA began requiring passengers to remove their shoes, but it was sometime in 2006. So, for a rough estimate, I'll assume the midpoint of that year, or June 1, 2006, or 6,977 days ago. So that means that roughly 16,326,180,000 -passengers - over 16 billion, or twice the entire human population of the planet -- have been asked to remove their shoes over a single, unsuccessful attempt!