On the one hand, you’re absolutely correct. Israeli airline security is very tight, and they do profile passengers. But they do it in ways that you may not expect.

For instance, as far as Israeli airline security is concerned, the passenger who presents the greatest potential danger is a young single woman travelling alone, particularly if they have light-colored hair. Why? Not because they are the most likely to knowingly attempt to destroy an airplane, but because they are the most likely to have been deceived into carrying an explosive device onto the plane.

That is precisely how the Lockerbie tragedy was caused; a tourist who had had a brief love affair with someone who turned out to be an Arab terrorist was persuaded to carry a radio as a gift for, if I recall correctly, her boyfriend’s brother. The radio contained a bomb.

So yes, Israeli airline security is very tight, and perhaps even discriminatory — but not in the way that one might commonly think.

It’s the Random Posts plugin that provides this. I like randomizing content like this since it makes each page view fresh to some degree.

I haven’t flown anywhere recently either. The last time I flew was on February 28, 2001. I was flying out to Seattle for a conference at Microsoft but ended up spending almost a day at the Denver airport due to the Nisqually earthquake. Fun stuff.

The Israelis practice the kind of security you’re talking about. It works very well but it is rather aggressive and discriminatory, something that most Americans tend to bristle at even post 9/11.

Yes, it is amazing how loud an explosion can be. I’ve been around various weaponry such as grenades and artillery and even with ear protection they were very loud. Even a crude household chemical explosion like this tang bomb generates quite a sound and pressure wave.