The North American airport security systems are a perfect metaphor for Western policies toward the Middle East. Consider my last two trips between the United States and Canada when each time I’ve been identified as a potentially dangerous terrorist. There was no interest about who I was or any evidence I could offer, each time silly things set off alarm bells against me while those who should have been watched more carefully walked through. In that way, the U.S. government has eagerly helped bring down the Egyptian government and subverted the security of Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia (among others), while waving through Syria, the Turkish regime, Hizballah, and at times even Iran as no problem. Here is a brief account of my adventures.
Trip 1:
Arriving in Canada, I was asked by the officer at the entry desk in Toronto where I was going to be and for how long. Thinking it was just a pleasantry (and subconsciously assuming he was just asking me about Toronto), I replied, “Toronto for three days.” Apparently, though, he looked at my tickets and, since I was going to Toronto AND Montreal for FIVE days, decided that this was worth checking out. I was ushered into a room, kept for about an hour, and questioned very sternly by an immigration officer. I was only carrying one light bag, by the way, so I don’t think someone might suspect I was moving in permanently.
I tried to explain who I was, why I was in Canada, to show documentation, and to give him phone numbers to call (including the Israeli embassy). He was totally uninterested and made it clear that nothing else would be considered but his questions to me. While I was cooperative, at one point he snapped, “I can send you back to the United States, you know.”
By this point, I was so put off that I replied, with careful politeness, “OK, I you want to.” Presumably, the people organizing my lectures would not have been as willing as I was to get on the next plane. Finally, after an hour, I was allowed into the country.
Returning to the United States, I was stopped at the X-ray machine. They were very polite (everyone I’ve ever dealt with at TSA has been) and after a long delay along with several questions, they explained that a hairbrush in my bag looked on the X-ray machine as if it was a big, dangerous knife. I can’t figure out why they just didn’t open the bag and look at it.
Trip 2:
But the worst experience was on my next trip to Canada, right now as I write this article. My bag was flagged and I was taken aside, everything was removed, I was given a full pat-down (no, not that part, fortunately), they went over my bag about three times, and so on. About six or seven different TSA people were involved in checking me out.
Finally, they told me the problem: I had some explosives residue on my bag. I explained that I worked on strategic issues and counterterrorism, I was frequently around guns and soldiers, and on top of that I was a Civil War reenactor who took the bag with me to battles where it was exposed to black powder. Indeed, I had even accidentally left a small piece of gun-cleaning equipment in the bag. I gave them my passport (the TSA guy didn’t want to look at it) and offered to show material about myself to verify my story. Again, no interest.
Don’t get me wrong. Everyone was very polite and professional. I have no complaint. But I was also (involuntarily) tying down a vast amount of resources that might have been better employed. Finally, the chief of security cleared me. They did warn, however, that I might face the same problem on my return trip. Apparently, new and even more sensitive devices have been installed.
You managed to get hassled more on one flight than I have over many years and 100 flights to countries all over the world.
You might want to ixnay with the gunpowder laced beard.
I traveled many time to Dubai, Baku, including getting visa to stay for a few days, never been hassled as Mr. Rubin you,something is wrong with the system in the US
You just couldn’t accept that people wearing traditional Arab clothes were passing through the checks while you were inspected thoroughly with those intrusive checkings. You want the US also to profile using racial identities. You want all black people and Arabs to be profiled and go through intrusive checkings. Thanks god that the US does not do that how hard you make noise. Those days where people get special treatment by belonging to a certain race are history never to return. Learn to live with it!
Silly remark. Nowhere in the post does Rubin mention profiling for race, let alone for “black people.” There still is special treatment, you know. Nowadays it’s just for nonwhites.
If the terrorists were coming mostly from some religious group of Scandinavian origin there would have been no PC problem with matching the security checks to this pattern. Then everyone would’ve said it’s just common sense, which it is.
Have you ever heard of Slavic Muslims, Abraham? From Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Sandzak region (Serbia/Montenegro), Macedonia, and Bulgaria? Yes, Slavic Muslims, White European Muslims. They exist, you know, as a result of Ottoman Turkish Imperialism of the 14th-20th centuries. Albanian and Aromanian Muslims are also White European Muslims. There are some Islamic terrorists of Slavic and Albanian ancestry, sadly. There are also Asian Muslims, such as Tatars, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Uighurs, Hazaras, Hui, Malays, Indonesians, and Moros. This has nothing to do with race, certainly nothing to do with maintaining so-called “white privilege” against blacks and Arabs (who, by the way, happen to be technically considered White Caucasoids).
It’s surprising how many people don’t know Arabs are white folks.
“You want the US also to profile using racial identities. You want all black people and Arabs to be profiled and go through intrusive checkings.”
islam is not a race. the believers want to eliminate west. civ.
“Those days where people get special treatment by belonging to a certain race are history never to return.”
Applied to a college recently?
Amazingly enough, it’s not blonde-haired blue-eyed Methodists and Mormons who dive planes into buildings and strap bombs to children for ther religon… care to guess which religon has the sole proprietorship to that sort of thing?
This reminds me of the time in London on the way from Israel to the U.S.
when I was carrying a book in my backpack about Sadam Hussein and the first
Gulf War. It happened to have its picture on the cover. The woman who checked my bag asked me if I was a supporter of Sadam! I was so dumbfounded by the question I couldnt answer at first. Then I said, “I live in Israel and he bombed Tel Aviv with Scud missiles and this books tells how he tortured and killed people.” What needs to be done is yes, sadly, profiling but to treat people with courtesy and respect and also to be on the lookout for terrorists like Timothy McVeigh. I was once questioned for 20 minutes in an airport in Israel, but the officer was polite and there was a good reason for suspicion(to complicated to go into here)
Barry, my man.
I just had to laugh. Apparently you are one of those people who are genuinely, genuinely, put off by people who don’t know who you are.
‘Oh…My God. You are a random working stiff for the Canadian Government… and you don’t know who I am’?
‘I just said that’.
‘well you had just better think..apparently you don’t know WHO I am’!
‘Yes, Sir, I don’t know who you are’.
‘ Well you are going to regret this…I have lots of readers and, and, and They know who I am’!
‘Yes, Sir’.
You completely misunderstood what he wrote.
“I tried to explain who I was, why I was in Canada, to show documentation, and to give him phone numbers to call (including the Israeli embassy).”
Men often identify themselves by the work they do. It is not arrogance for him to say “who I was”. It is a statement of being as viewed through the lens of profession. This is normal for men.
It is also normal to provide one’s bona fides. What is ABnormal, is the TSA people being completely uninterested in his bona fides. They hire cretins to do the job of screening people. Such cretins are uncultured. They are robotic, at best. Bona fides is a time-honored institution, one which our decayed culture no longer truly understands.
Rubin was completely correct in saying to them, in effect, “I am a man of good breeding, character, and standing in the community. Here are my credentials and references. Please feel free to verify them, sir.” Unfortunately, he was casting pearls before swine.
Mr. Rubin was being to charitable in characterizing them as always being polite. It is extremely rude to ignore bona fides. It costs the traveler precious time. It ignores time-honored custom.
What are the requirements to get through the process? Do we have any standards at all? Are all equally suspicious? That is exactly how they proceed. Babies, toddlers, retards, old ladies, handicapped… all are suspect. Our Own are treated like The Other.
Rubin was trying to explain to them that he was one of them, but they could not understand. They have been brainwashed into thinking there is no Us and Them. This is the result of the destruction of our cultural identity. There is no Right and Wrong, no Us and Them, no Good and Evil. We have become a flaccid, impotent culture. We are on our way out, to be replaced by a more virile, but more savage, culture.
Ozzy was being completely ridiculous. Of course Rubin wasn’t expecting the security to recognize his name or looks. He’s not some celeb. But you misunderstood him too. He was invited to Canda to lecture as he made clear in the post (“Presumably, the people organizing my lectures etc.”). The security guy decided he was some kind of suspect (Illegal immigrant? Terrorist?). “I tried to explain who I was, why I was in Canada, to show documentation, and to give him phone numbers to call (including the Israeli embassy).” – that doesn’t mean “good breeding, character, and standing in the community” like you said, but more likely something like: “I’m an academic and I’m in Canada for a short visit to give some lectures. Here are some documents that prove who I am and what I’m doing here. Not enough? Then here are the phone numbers of the people/institutions who invited me and organize my lectures. Still not enough? Then here is even the phone number of the Israeli embassy that can verify my identity and that I’m not a terrorist”. But the security guy wasn’t interested in any of that information that would clear Rubin in 5 minutes, and instead of making a call to verify his identity and purpose, he harassed him for an hour and was rude too.
We are saying the same thing.
You are talking about bona fides. You expressed it in the specifics he gave. I expressed it in general, traditional, societal context. We also agree the inspectors were rude, because they ignored the bona fides. Glad we agree.
oh, but there most certainly ARE a “Us and Them”. Government, and peons. Get used to it, its a long battle to re-inform government that they are our peons, we are their sovereign. They forget…. because we let them. And as long as WE THE PEOPLE continue to look to government for everything, refusing to be self-governing and self-sufficient, government will continue to see us as the peons they now behold.
Whats even funnier, hes a grown man wearing a big beard and by his own admission setting of explosives sniffers and he doesnt expect to get pulled over cuz he is not an arab? Lol.
What’s the issue with a beard?
The beard is of modest interest because many Muslim men wear one as a matter of religious observance.
So, if you are profiling on some kind of a point system, a beard would be worth a few extra points.
Most of the airport security people are minimum wage workers with low educational levels and no experience with working with people. They are probably not very ambitious but are very concerned with keeping what job they have, and airport security checking is preferable to deep fat frying potatoes in a Macdonalds or collecting unemployment.
Also, they must process literally hundreds of people every few hours, some friendly and easy to deal with but many brusque and simply in a hurry to get somewhere else. And most of these security people are not “people” oriented.
That said, it is a shame that this has to be the norm that the Islamic terrorists have imposed on Western air travellers. But from what I have personally seen in the Gaza Strip and the Judea district, among the Arab Moslems themselves, this is largely how the more powerful ones treat anyone beneath them in status or power, a combination of suspicion, hostility, and denigration. This seems to be how the Arab Moslems live and relate to each other all the time.
And it’s a shame there too, no less than a modern Western airport.
Ken has a very relevant point here. My nephew worked for TSA briefly. He managed to get out of there and now is a port inspector checking incoming cargo for radioactivity. The operation as he described it to me is something I have seen before. They tried to put together a large organization in a big hurry. The employees are, for the most part, sincere and conscientous but the management is weak and inexperienced. There is a pronounced tendency in this situation to adhere strictly to the rule book. It is only with a modicum of experience and time to establish trust relationships with upper management that they will be allowed the discretion to get practical. With the public unrest and the demonstrated dire consequences if they make mistakes they fear making exceptions.
Until the US adopts the ONLY sensible policy, which is PROFILING, NOT on the base of race BUT ON THE BASE OF LIKELIHOOD TO BE A TERRORIST WHO BLOWS-UP PLANES, non dangerous people like 85 year old black baptist ladies from the South or travelling Jews will be the victims of TSA THEFT OF TIME.
It’s old but worth repeating:
Please pause a moment and reflect back, by taking the following Multiple
Choice test:
1. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:
a. Olga Corbut
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwartzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
2. In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
3. During the 1980′s a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
4. In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
5. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old
American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Davy Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
6. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver was
murdered by:
a. Captain Kid
b. Charles Lindbergh
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary, to distract attention from Wild Bill’ s women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10.On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked and destroyed and thousands of
people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
12. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonny and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
Nope, no patterns anywhere to justify profiling! So, to ensure we Americans
never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport
security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. They
must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline
pilots with proper identification, Secret Service agents who are members of
the President’s security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips,
and Medal of Honor winning former Governors.
You forgot to mention in some of the answers : Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck or Coyote and Road Runner….
The answer to no. 4 is c. Geraldo Rivera
The funny side of the story is that the people at the Canadian side who are in charge of security are almost all from either Pakistan or some other Muz. countries. So, nowonder that they yend to flag all non-muslim and let go the others. Way to Go Canada, Way to Go USA
Actually, the security personnel in Canada are not minimum wage employees. Prior to 2003, there were 3 agencies — customs and revenue; citizenship and immigration; and food inspection — staffed by bureaucrats at the borders. In 2003 these 3 agencies were combined into one agency now called “Canada Border Services Agency” (CBSA). Anyone entering Canada can be interviewed by a CBSA officer, and they now have police powers (because of 9/11). They are considered federal law enforcement officers….(too bad that designation might be taken a little too seriously by some with a Napoleon complex).
Actually it appears that Mr Rubin was the arrogant one in these encounters.
Good work by the CBSA in detecting the explosive residue on his person and in his luggage.
It is never wise to be arrogant with federal law enforcement officers.
Rubin is lucky they did not deport him
Mr. Rubin did not read to me as arrogant in these encounters. I read he thinks some items about a person should trigger a closer look see. Like speaking Arabic, or wearing a burka, or coming from a place known to support Hizboallah, AQ, etc…, and I agree 100%
The problem is Islam, not Islamism. Here is how I know: Do Christian, or Buddahist extremists have support to murder in the name of their god from countries in the Middle East? NO. Also, do Christian, or any other religion support the blowing up of ones panties on a plane? A shoe? Flying planes into buildings?
You see folks, what is going on by the bull dike in Homeland inSecurity, Billery, Holder, and DaOne is to do everything they can to destroy American culture. The southern border is wide open. Why? Those who worship the god are allowed into these United States then isolate themselves with their Muhammad culture from the 7th century. These are just two examples, and Mr Rubin is correct about the joke TSA is pulling on not profiling.
Actually it appears that Victor was the arrogant one in these encounters.
Troll encounters.
There have been complaints filed against CBSA officers (they have a code of conduct which they need to adhere to). But, this is Canada, and what happens to any complaints is that they are investigated by “internal agencies” — similar to the police policing themselves…Now that’s what I would call arrogant! (they claim to be “independent”, but, not only are they not really independent, they’re not transparent either.) Welcome to Canada, another budding police state (?) (It seems our freedoms diminish each day…)
Mr Rubin admits that he had explosive residue on his person and in his luggage.
That will justify a full body cavity search in any jurisdiction, particularly if the suspect is arrogant.
Screening for explosives is the most important action we can take.
Since the securing of cockpit doors knives etc do not endanger the integrity of the plane—explosives do.
Rubin is lucky he got away so easily
If he had been caught in a lie to a federal agent then he would be guilty of a felony
“Mr Rubin admits that he had explosive residue on his person and in his luggage.”
This is not criminal, or even evidence of criminalty.
“That will justify a full body cavity search in any jurisdiction, particularly if the suspect is arrogant.”
It justifies nothing, is not threat, and he was not arrogant in the slightest.
“Screening for explosives is the most important action we can take.”
Screening for explosives might be important, screening for explosive residue is meaningless–security theater.
“Since the securing of cockpit doors knives etc do not endanger the integrity of the plane—explosives do.”
Any explosive that can get through cockpit doors are likely to destroy the plane promptly, now that cockpit doors are reinforced.
“Rubin is lucky he got away so easily.”
If people like you are running the show, yes, he is.
“If he had been caught in a lie to a federal agent then he would be guilty of a felony”
What lie, pray tell, do you imagine he might tell to be caught in?
why is perceived arrogance any kind of a factor at all? if i had a justifiable reason to have residue on my bag, like say i worked with soldiers who have guns in counter terrorism, which i could prove with one phone call, and some hack TSA moron wasn’t listening to me or making any attempt to verify what i was saying, i might get a little testy. what gives these jerks the right to treat law abiding people like criminals? maybe these guys should be looking for NERVOUS people with explosive residue on them.
profiling would be a t a minimum a good start. but the clowns in government, the marxist obama and the racial bigot eric holder will not be doning anything smart any time soon …(more like never)
……”It shouldn’t matter to them if I had been sitting on a keg of nitroglycerine while eating breakfast, as long as I demonstrably didn’t have any of it with me.”
This brought a smile on my slightly wizened face…at age 79, I wear a Nitroglycerin(!) patch on my chest during the day to regulate blood flow, or whatever. I haven’t flown anywhere with this unobtrusive, mostly invisible piece of translucent adhesive tape, but am wondering if I’d breeze right through this inspection process or be wrestled to the floor by a very, very large Inspector.
Well, you get what you pay for. Americans are more interested in quantity strip searching and x-rays (mass screenings that can apply to everyone in an efficient one after other cattle like manner) rather than quality behavioral profiling (in depth individual interviews regarding the tourist’s ethnicity, education, religious affiliation, political views, purpose of visit etc.) including the ink blot test, improvised weapons and explosives knowledge screening, and the California Personality Inventory.
I’ve read some stupid things on PJM before, but this is the winner.
Americans? How many of the 300 plus million of us were asked? People get treated better at a grocery store by minimum-wage clerks.
I have the distinct disadvantage of having lived here when it was a relatively free country. This nonsense is security theater. The threat is not sixty year old veterans who have lived in the same place for the past thirty years… I won’t fly anymore, unless it is unavoidable.
I wonder why the Tea Party wants to shrink the size of the government? What kind of nut could possibly support such a thing?
Screening for explosives is the most rational approach–forget the psychobabble
Rubin was correctly screened, questioned, profiled and he should congratulate the Fed Agents who identified him as a potential threat.
He should consider himself lucky that his arrogance did not get him into much more serious trouble
You should consider yourself lucky if your insanity doesn’t get you into serious trouble, but I bet it does. Poor judgement to the point of getting every last thing wrong must have a pretty devastating effect.
I agree with Victor. Rubin had evidence of explosives in his baggage and it was great that the screening caught it.
As for his documentation being treated as irrelevant by the officers, that’s because it IS irrelevant. As Rubin well knows, documentation can readily be forged…and is expertly forged.
Furthermore, his self-description about himself is equally irrelevant.
Does anyone expect that a terrorist will present himself wearing a Middle East set of clothes/robe..i.e., like carrying a flag?
I see no offense at all carried out by the border guards; they weren’t stupid or rude. It was Mr. Rubin who was arrogant – expecting his documents to serve as his validity, and expecting the gun residue explanations..without proof – to be accepted, just on His Word.
“Finally, they told me the problem: I had some explosives residue on my bag. I explained that I worked on strategic issues and counterterrorism, I was frequently around guns and soldiers, and on top of that I was a Civil War reenactor who took the bag with me to battles where it was exposed to black powder. Indeed, I had even accidentally left a small piece of gun-cleaning equipment in the bag. I gave them my passport (the TSA guy didn’t want to look at it) and offered to show material about myself to verify my story. Again, no interest.”
If an agent refuses to allow you to show proof to verify your story, then how are you supposed to ever prove you should be allowed on the plane? By your logic no one should ever be allowed to fly because all documents can be forged, and everyone could make up some bunk story about why they have gunpowder residue on their bags. However, even if all presented legal documentation is irrelevant, as you claim, I doubt one could forge a phone call to the Israeli Embassy.
mel – you are being, I suggest, illogical. To move from my support for the border guards questioning Rubin because of the explosives residue does not automatically mean that all such situations mean; No Fly.
Documents CAN be forged and very, very frequently are; and bunk stories are also a constant tactic. Therefore, my point is that Mr. Rubin should not complain about what happened to him. His ‘profile’ contained every attribute that ought to lead the border guards to investigate him further. These include his documents, his travel history..and that explosives residue.
Given these three – do you suggest they should simply have waved him through?
I lost all respect for TSA when they told me I couldn’t carry my guitar on board unless I took the strings off.
The terrorists have won.
Every time some Al Queda wackjob has a wet dream the US government grinds the Constitution into the dirt a little harder. Its all theater and its expanding into every aspect of your life. Five years from now subjects (formerly known as citizens) will need advanced permission to travel outside their home area.
My wife and I were born on exactly the same day in 19–. We were returning from a vacation in Mexico. The searches and questioning lasted over three hours. It would have been amusing if it were not for the fact that our son was meeting us to take us home and he was detained an hour longer than us for interagation.
Why don’t I feel safe? How long does it take to investigate if ID is valid?
I had explosive sniffers flag my bag about two years after 9/11. Of course they had to search my bag. On opening the bag he lifted out a moderately heavy package triply surrounded by bubble-wrap, sealed with a couple layers of tape, and containing six solid aluminum paperweights in the shape of a popular handgun scaled down by a third. He set the package to the side and proceeded to meticulously search my luggage. When he was done he placed the package back in the bag and closed it up. I was free to go.
On that day I realized that the whole thing is a sad joke. The package could have contained anything but I guess it’s presence wasn’t covered in the training.
Hi Barry: Maybe there is a simple solution: Chuck the old travel bag with traces of explosives and get a new hair brush that doesn’t look like a knife. I don’t care what they’re called in Canada or the US, airport screeners are all cretins – they can’t be hired otherwise – that’s in the job description! And, remember: illigitimus non corborundum! [freely translates to, don't let the bastards wear you down!]
Dr.Rubin:
Your experiences once again showcase the sheer idiocy of the politically correct mantra “profiling is evil.” On the contrary, it is a sound and highly effective investigative tool which more often than not produces scientifically valid outcomes. If I want to catch a trout, I don’t drop my fly onto a cattle feed lot.
Since the Oklahoma City bombing, I am hard pressed to recall any other terrorist attack which has not been perpetrated by semitic young men with arabic names. As you say, countless thousands of man-hours and dollars are needlessly squandered shaking down oriental women and elderly blacks, while legions of religion of peace adherents, their women (are we sure of that?) in full beekeeper regalia, pass unchallenged.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it’s a duck.
I think you protest too much. I am a balding clean shaven married middle aged American and I got royally harrassed leaving Israel after a business trip a few months ago. Was I profiled?
Grow up a bit.
Repeat after me…
The purpose of airport searches is not to deter terrorism.
The purpose of airport searches is to get honest citizens
used to being treated that way, so it can be inflicted ALL THE TIME.
I travel by air frequently and find Mr Rubin’s experiences quite believable. However, much as I dislike President Obama’s policies and style, we should not forget that the TSA non-profile and ineffective harassment techniques were established by the George Bush administration. On this issue, President Obama is at fault only for not correcting the previous administration’s mistakes.
The George Bush Administration agreed to the creation of the TSA and the DHS only after the treasonous Democrat Copperheads in Congress said that unless he did to increase the number of union members they would not allow him to defend the country.
What you describe in No.1 happened to me in Canada in March of 2000, even before any major terrorist attack.
The TSA deliberately employs security techniques *guaranteed* to be sub-optimal in order to be politically correct. The best short explanation of this stupidity I ever read was in a piece written about highly effective Israeli airport security. To paraphrase:
“The TSA looks for things. Israeli security looks for people.”
Looking for things is OK because it doesn’t involve differentiating among people, an obviously “evil” notion usually referred to as “profiling” because the term has a useful negative connotation borrowed from black activists and a sympathetic leftist US press. This view is further promoted by organizations like CAIR.
That’s why your cuticle nippers are confiscated while potentially high-risk individuals are waved through because no listed *objects* were detected on their person or in their luggage. Placing our lives in the hands of machines manned by drones, augmented by random searches in order to avoid offending anyone, is touching, don’t you think? Now let’s all sing Kumbaya.
I’ve had problems entering Canada that are very much like Mr. Rubin’s. After extensive questioning in a separate room, I deduced that being from *Texas* triggered heightened security. (?) As soon as they learned that I was originally from Pennsylvania, they let me through without further hassle.
Barry, realy now!!! If I make a donation, will you have enough to buy a bag without gunpowder residue! YOU tied those people down and have the chutzpah to complain? If I was on that plane I’d want you body cavity searched, and maybe you would have learned to wash your stuff…
I agree with the posters who can’t see the fuss.
Rubin shares the semitic looks of many in the ME whether Arab or Jew.
Add in the long beard and that adds to the similarity with the bulk of Muslims who follow an authentic version of Islam.
The clincher? Traces of explosive residue in his bags. Come on! How many of us are guilty of that? Is it as normal as this article tries to spin?
In this instance the TSA were only doing their job and the tick boxes of suspicion were all there.
In view of all that a couple of hours delay is neither here nor there.
I loved this article and the fact that Professor Rubin got in… I have 2 tickets for his noon lecture… and I have learned to see the humour in this security theatre of the asinine… after all… my mother at 84, in a wheelchair with airline attendant was also “profiled” on her way thru Chicago airport and my then 3 year old complained that she wanted to dance too… when she had her chance a few flights later (age 4 maybe), I made an aside to my next in line… Oh…my terrorist in training… which inspired a laugh!
I was one of the lucky ones to fly from Heathrow the day the water hit the fans and as I stood to enter security with my own plastic bag of stuff (ALL carry-ons had to be sent in luggage… except tickets and passport and some cash and what you could put in a plastic bag … if you had one… when I complained of sending jewellery) I was astounded to see them handing out plastic bags to all travellers and remarked…My god… how could they have known they would need these bags? and do you think we can buy stuff in duty free? where, of course all sales staff are of Pakistani descent… and you could replace everything you had given or sent away… and … naturally… the only ones to fly that day… to Israel and the US… were the only likely targets… absurd theatre indeed! see you later Barry… I am bringing you a Canadian bag… you can grab a Hefty ziplock in the US..
Rubin, you look and smell like a terrorist to me. I’m gld they detained you.
Vicktor, it seems the reaction to you here is similar to the reaction at Michael Totten’s blog…Gees I wonder why.
As Progogine said, it is not the fault of our senses that the world looks uncertain and statistical -it is at the fundamental level. While it is prudent to be aware of the unexpected (a statistical possibility), it is irrational not to use statistics to guide our security. Napolitano says there is no reason to profile under-thirty year old Muslims. I read the government has a new machine that is claimed to be able to read minds: http://defensetech.org/2011/06/10/dhs-wants-to-scan-you-for-mal-intent/
I can’t wait for what it says about yours….
Hmmph…
This sort of security theater is what leaves me in a near boiling rage every time I have to fly somewhere. It’s not the people, for the most part. The system *is* hugely open to abuse, but for the most part the tsa employees I’ve had to deal with are polite to indifferent. It’s the whole process itself. it’s humiliating, and of absolutely *no* actual security value. For one thing, it’s the classic ‘crunchy shell, gooey center’ model that info security folks spend much of their time warning their clients about. If some malefactor can walk thru the security screen and get whatever he needs slipped to him afterwards (like through compromised airport employees) then the whole thing falls down. Secondly it’s so intrusive it makes itself obvious. Thus easy for anyone looking to break it to study.
Finally, about explosive residue…. Some folks here *really* don’t understand how easy it is for this to happen to someone. There is a fellow I work with who wound up having to buy new luggage because of this. He’s a computer consultant, doesn’t work with anything explosive, no chemicals. He’s not a firearms enthusiast. However, one time he did a programming gig at a company in northern Alberta. As it turns out the city he worked in is the center of the tarsands mining industry. As he was flying back to the US, the explosives detectors tripped, causing much consternation and delay. Fortunately, at that airport, there was a security officer who figured out what was going on. Turns out, due to the local mining industry, a substantial percentage of the local rental cars have trunks contaminated with explosives. The security officer wrote up a letter explaining the issue. Afterwards, for months, he was getting stopped at airports due to this, until he got rid of that luggage. He was lucky that he flew out through the local airport, where there was someone familiar with the issue. If he had booked his flights through a nearby big city (Calgary), as folks sometimes do for cost reasons, he might have been in trouble with no idea why.
Sorry, but victor is right. Sure, explosive residue is not a proof of Rubin being a criminal but then the TSA worker is not a Court Judge, his work is not to assess if someone is actually a terrorist/criminal, his work to stop potential threats and stop explosives of getting in the plane, so it makes all sense. The TSA worker identified him correctly as a potential threat. Anyway he got in the plane thus proving the TSA worker was a good judge.
Yea, great!
And Victor is still a dipshit.
Hello, I’m an asshole…
Would you already know your asshole from a hole within the floor?
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