TSA Proposed Rule as directed by court is out

It's not really an either-or equation.

Cost of developing early warning systems is fairly well understood - the more warning you want, the more complex and expensive the system gets. Also, such systems get more unreliable the more lead time is required.

Cost of developing shelters is also pretty well understood, based on the number of people they're intended to shelter-in-place, the prevailing types of storms in any particular area, et cetera.

The question becomes, "How much lead time is required to get people to the nearest shelter (which changes as the number of shelters goes up, so it's not as far to the nearest shelter with room for more people in it)?

I'd sooner spend a few millions just on studying that question than put another single thin dime into the TSAs pot.

 

By now it should not astound me that the powers that be won't acknowledge this, but I guess that's because dying on the highway is not nearly as dramatic or newsworthy than dying at the hands of a "terrorist."

 

That's the thing I think 99% of the people are missing. The Homeland Security industry, Chertoff and his army of clowns, represent a much stronger lobby in relation to the industries that could improve highway safety. Make no doubt that lobbiest are the ones that get government payoffs to their trade groups.

I personally think that TSA is a total waste of money. I do not think the threat against transporation systems is any greater today than it was 20 years ago. I also realize that something bad might happen once in a great while but to stop that threat at an airport does not require the civil rights violations that we are seeing.

 

Doober - this isnt pointed at you. To those that wont acknowledge that fact, say to the next of kin of a family of 5 that was killed in a wreck that decided to drive to grandmas instead of fly because the wife didnt want to be molested by TSA. I swear I would make those (expletive deleted) clowns look at pictures of that family that was killed not only the family portrait but of the gruesome accident scene right down to the child that was decapitated. Sadly its going to take the powers that be to experience reality outside of the bubble and be victimized before anything happens or changes.

I love my job as a paramedic... I dont do it for the money, and yes there are some incredible stresses of the profession. I do this to help my fellow man in their hour of need, so when the call goes out we respond...It's preventable death like this that drive me up a wall.

 

Is there any way or chance that graphic photos of that accident could be submitted as evidence in support of comments without endangering your job?

 

You're saying that violent, unexpected death is awful and you are absolutely correct, no matter the cause. And you're also correct that the clowns in Washington need to acknowledge that more people die horrible deaths on our roads every year than died on 9/11 - and they don't seem to want to do anything about it.

 

No the photos taken from that scene are under court seal last I heard, and asking for copies is going to raise alot of red flags at minimum and at this point rather not push my luck. It would be one thing if I had taken them but they were shot by local PD, I only got to glance at the back of the camera to see what he got after I was clear of the call.

This is also one of a hand full of calls that I would rather not relive, and 1 of a small handful that can be attributed to TSA (this is the only fatal accident). I can copy and paste write ups if you want , and links from the other place that have been posted on this subject. It would take a better writer then I to polish the presentation to submit.

 

It doesn't have to be polished; it just needs to come from the heart.

 

My two cents:
"Safety" improvements in the form of specific projects, like tornado shelters where children won't drown, or repairing bridges so they don't collapse, make the most sense for dollar trade-offs to TSA waste because they are tangible and preventative.

Driving will always be very risky. The strength of the story of the horrible highway death is that, but for the TSA, those folks would not have been on the road. I wouldn't try to tie that to nebulous highway safety funding in any way, it dilutes the story's power. It stands on its own. The solution is just getting the damn TSA goons out of our pants, avoiding such needless tragedies.

Such powerful ideas & stories should not be wasted on the FR comments alone.

 

Amen.

 

give me till the end of the weekend and I will put it together and tie in the various bits and pieces to one piece.