Jose wrote:
The whole point of profiling is to detain people
based on surface similarities to the group you are targeting, hoping
that you'll snag someone.

We may have a disconnect here. I think you are talking about one
possible action you might take based on a profile match. What I have
seen proposed is *not* asking the extra questions, taking a second look
at paperwork, etc. of those people who clearly *do not* match the profile.

Profiling does *not* mean arresting everyone in a given group (at least
in the USA).

We ban pocket knives on airplanes. Terrorists will find it harder (but
not impossible) to use a pocket knife to carry out their plan. ...
...Perhaps we should outlaw sharp pencils,
and only allow people to do their work using lipstick.

Work quality might improve Keep in mind that banning sharp things
serves only to reduce collateral damage to the passengers. With the
replacement of cockpit doors and the change in pilot procedures, the
erstwhile terrorist can freely saw away at the cockpit door all day
long. The pilot will simply land the plane and let a SWAT team deal
with the problem.

We may lose a few passengers to sharp pencils but at least we keep the
airplane out of buildings.

While I'm not advocating shootouts at thirty thousand feet, it's only
half in jest that I submit an alternate plan: everyone who boards an
aircraft is issued a gun, and if he hasn't used it by the end of the
flight, he has to explain why.

I agree. Stats clearly show violent crime rates going down whenever gun
laws are relaxed. Shoot (pun intended), I don't think you would have to
issue guns; I'd be happy to bring my own

Sadly, this is impractical since jittery, untrained passengers would
probably spend more ammo shooting each other than the very occasional
terrorists anyway

If we are just trying to prevent bank robbery in general, the fact that
two white males robbed a bank once is of little consequence.

Except that in the case of terrorists we have long lists of them that
are in the country using fake ID. Seems like a good idea to look for
them. The point of profiling is not to arrest everyone in a given
profile but rather to not waste time on extra questions and paperwork
checks for those who do not meet the profile.

The DC TFR is an abuse of authority which accomplishes nothing.

I don't like it either but if you have ever launched to the North from
DCA you can see that its not practical to shoot down an attacking
aircraft before it nails the capital or white house.

There does not seem to be a good solution for this. Airlines are
clearly the biggest tank of jet fuel but if a PC-12 loaded with TNT make
it to the Mall I don't think people would be happy with that either.