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$1B TSA Behavioral Screening Program Slammed As "Junk Science"
schwit1 writes The Transportation Security Administration has been accused of spending a billion dollars on a passenger-screening program that's based on junk science. The claim arose in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which has tried unsuccessfully to get the TSA to release documents on its SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques) program through the Freedom of Information Act. SPOT, whose techniques were first used in 2003 and formalized in 2007, uses "highly questionable" screening techniques, according to the ACLU complaint, while being "discriminatory, ineffective, pseudo-scientific, and wasteful of taxpayer money." TSA has spent at least $1 billion on SPOT. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2010 that "TSA deployed SPOT nationwide before first determining whether there was a scientifically valid basis for using behavior detection and appearance indicators as a means for reliably identifying passengers as potential threats in airports," according to the ACLU. And in 2013, GAO recommended that the agency spend less money on the program, which uses 3,000 "behavior detection officers" whose jobs is to identify terrorists before they board jetliners.
A billion dollar program to tell screeners that the Arab guy or black guy who is shaking like a leaf, mumbling "allah-ackbar" over-and-over under his breath, and wants to check a huge bag should maybe be singled out for additional screening.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Before SPOT do you think the average TSA agent could readily identify and discriminate against very dark or very light skinned Arabic people? Well, after spending a billion dollars teaching them to do just that I'm sure they're slightly more consistent (maybe).
Most terrorists are middle eastern. Unfortunately that goes over about as well as saying men are taller than women. It may be true, but you're not allowed to say it. I suggest they switch to the much, much cheaper system of "if they're brown, pat them down" but nooo, they have to make up some overly-complicated, fake science framework to hide behind.
All of the planes flying can handle going from 1g to -1g. Up / down / up / down / up / down until anyone who isn't strapped in has been beaten senseless (or to death) by the plane's floor and ceiling. Passengers need to do very little.