Tikkun Olam

Have I written about US airport security measures versus the Israeli ones before, such as maybe here , and here (does the sun come up every morning?)? Well, unless you live under a rock, you know that it's happened again. A Kentucky bound US Airways Express flight was diverted to Philadelphia, because a 17-year old Jewish teen was, uh, praying on the plane while wearing his tefillin (called phylacteries in English) and a passenger reported him to the flight crew. Well, but of course--Jews always hijack airplanes, shoot up soldiers and civilians at army bases while yelling Allahu Akbar and plant explosives in their underwear. Which is why this boy, traveling with his 16-year old sister from White Plains to Kentucky was suspect as a terrorist, right? These American knee-jerk reactions (emphasis on "jerk ") to perceived threats indicates that there is very little logic or reason behind these 'security measures,' but wait--here is an interview on Israeli's ...

Recently I wrote that the United States should consider Israelifying its airports with regard to security measures which are much more sophisticated and logical in Israel; and way-back-when in the summer of '09 I wrote about Israel in the forefront of technological advances (yes, the Dept. of Redundancy Dept . is very active these days). It seems that Israel has done it again, and invented a "Mind-Reading security system " developed by WeCU Technologies, Ltd.--more scientifically called an Intent Detection System --for screening passengers at airports, as well as something called MagShoe , a device which scans shoes for weapons while they are still on people's feet, developed by IDO Security . If the U.S. would recharge its R & D in the private sector, maybe we could develop new technological devices as well, and in the process create more jobs and improve the economy. In the meantime, we should be grateful we have an ally like Israel in the Middle East, and ...

(Hat tip to Rafi , Pesky Settler , and Jacob Richman on Twitter) Our (and Europe's) ridiculous airport security measures and our incompetent intel gathering is still tinged with political correctness and knee-jerk reactions after every terrorist attempt. This is why Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was allowed to board Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit in Amsterdam and attempt to blow it up and murder 300 people. In this regard we in the U.S. have much to learn from Israel. Israel airport security is simple and sensible. They do not greatly inconvenience passengers--unlike removing shoes, not allowing more than 3 oz. of liquids, or threatening to physically patting down every person attempting to board -- instead, they ask questions and watch your response , before you've even parked your car or gotten off your bus. We in the U.S. shudder at the thought of "racial profiling?" This is what Rafi Sela, president of AR Challenges who has worked globally with airports, ...