Khalid Mahmood (MP) reckons it's a fair game (re profiling) and here are his exact words.
"I think most people would rather be profiled than blown up. It wouldn't be victimisation of an entire community. I think people will understand that it's only through something like profiling that there will be some kind of safety."

They should of been profiling passengers a heck of a long time ago, it's way overdue. Infact it should of been made an unofficial policy.

This is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship and I'm Hitler.

I don't think the 'child porn' argument holds any water. I think it's nonsense really. Still, if we have to have these scanning booths, i think people should receive the same amount of scrutiny whatever they look like. Not all 'bad guys' look the same. They're not all of the same age, with a full beard and bulges in their clothing.

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." Albert Einstein

Yeah, I hear what you are saying, and I do not advocate that anyone receive a "free pass" because of their looks. It's just a matter of extent. In the case of the so called Christmas Bomber, that guy had bought a one way ticket with cash, he had no checked luggage and he was not wearing a coat even though he was going to a very cold city. People make the argument that there are legitimate reasons that a person might want to pay cash for their ticket...and there are legitimate reasons to buy one way tickets...and legitimate reasons for not having any luggage, etc, etc. However...that many red flags for one guy is a little bit too much. It should have been enough to make airport security check his name against the "no fly" list as well as the "persons of interest list." His name was on that second list. I don't want to sound too picky. I know the airport security people have a difficult job. It just seems to me that in the name of political correctness their attention is not focused where it needs to be.

-“Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I don’t understand.” –Homer Simpson

they should have these scanners on all incomeing people to australia and that would stop the muslims in thier tracks hahahah

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until.....
I learned that most people die of natural causes.

The difficulty is that just about ALL security measures compromise peoples right to privacy in one way or another. It's just that for some the tolerance level is higher than for others.

As for Profiling it is, to be honest , only of limited use and in truth can even be detrimental as was so tragically proven to be the case with the the assasination of Itzhak Rabin.

The Prime Minister of Israel, was assassinated by a 25-year-old Jewish law student as he left a peace rally in Tel Aviv on the evening of Nov. 4. Rabin was shot twice at point-blank range , despite being surrounded by his bodyguards.

The main reason for the "success" of the assasination was due to the practice of Profiling.
The young man just didn't "fit the bill" and as such was simply allowed to continue unstopped where a young muslim (for example) would have almost certainly long since have been apprehended...

The fact is "There are lies,there are damn lies and there are statistics" which is what Profiling really is all about-The Truth....you never can really never ever be sure.

Profiling is a sensitive area but someone there is a legitimate reason to do it.

Karl .you are way off target,,and also misleading... Rabin was in a public outdoor gathering place,there was no profiling of the crowd,,,he was not shot twice,but 3 times,,and the young man who shot him can EASILY pass for an arab in fact the first thought was that he was arab....Get your facts straight...

In 2001 I was interrogated at the American border and they asked me a lot of angry questions. At one point I contemplated joking with the guy (try to lighten things up a bit), but thought better of it--he really was in no mood for jokes, it being the Friday after September 11th. I really thought he was going to refuse to let me in, but he eventually did.

In 2002 I was detained at the Canadian border and not permitted to leave for hours while they asked questions and checked my story. Pain in the arse, really, and they likely stopped me because of my name, holy sh*t I was profiled! And guess what?...I'm OK with that.

I've got my faults, but I like to think I'm not a self-centred, whinging little baby who throws a fit when faced with something that doesn't go my way, and that I have the good sense to choose my battles so that people don't get sick and eventually tell me to eff off when they've grown weary of perpetual outbursts over stupid shit. Moreover, my skin is thicker than that: my whole world didn't collapse because people make attempts to protect their country. And I'm still alive.

Guess what, whinging bitches? There is no "right" for any foreigner to enter the United States. Deal with it.

Not just the front page

Best fan letter EVAH!

This was also very touching.

Change is a beautiful thing!

Ditto. It is obvious, if your passport reads certain countries and you name sounds Islamic, then you are going to be scrutinized more than if you are a 87 year old from Toronto. Guess why? When people use airplanes for terror, such things happen. I flew into Logan airport not long after 9/11. Logan was where most of the planes used in the attack originated. I am a WASP from West Virginia and I was thoroughly pored over. Americans, for the most, have a way of making a game out of such things. We talked and joked about hoping our socks did not have holes in them. I was using a cane at the time and some woman with a big sturdy suitcase insisted I use it as seat. I had a removable cast on my leg and the security helped me to get it off and back on. I think most people accept the reality of the new situation and adapt to it.