[netsharc]

TSA is security theater, but I think checks are still necessary. Otherwise people can bring C4 onto planes, blow themselves (and the plane) up in the air, and freak a lot of "Western civilization" out.

The liquids ban really is bullshit though, it's to prevent a fictional movie plot using a bomb mixed up using binary liquids...

[InsideOutSanta]

What is the purpose of blowing up a plane in the air when you can blow up something on the ground and achieve much more damage?

[raw_anon_1111]

It’s not about “damage”. Terrorism never is. It’s about instilling fear and an over reaction that will have people sympathetic to your cause. It worked during 911 and it’s working right now in Israel.

[InsideOutSanta]

Yeah, but that's my point. Planes go missing somewhat regularly, and sometimes even get blown out of the sky intentionally. It's news for a week or two. So why go through the trouble of getting on a plane and blow it up in the sky (and kill yourself in the process) when you can just blow up something like a music star's concert and get more media attention, and even survive the whole thing.

[raw_anon_1111]

I only see one major domestic commercial airline crash in the last decade.

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

Blowing up a concert doesn’t cause nearly the fear even if people stay away from concerts - no one cares. Airlines are different.

[AnthonyMouse]

Binary explosives aren't fictional. They'll make just as much of a hole in the plane as C4.

The liquids ban is bullshit because you can have arbitrarily many small bottles of liquid and an arbitrarily large empty bucket to mix them in once you're inside. And because blowing up a plane isn't any more of a problem than blowing up a subway car or a highrise hotel lobby but it's ridiculous and infeasible to stripsearch everyone who goes into a high population density area.