I think we need to understand what is going on at airport security:

Yesterday the blog entry "TSA Agents took my son" made quite a splash.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6792825

Point 1:

This part of the blog caught my eye (italics mine):

4 female TSA agents stood at the end of 2 conveyor belts, gloves on their hands, none of them searching anyone, none of them doing anything but watching luggage pass through the conveyor belts.


The blogger is upset because the agents assigned to watch luggage didn't stop to attend to her immediately.

Now, my expertise is based on casual reading and years of watching caper movies. If I wanted to slip something past inspection, but I can't think of any better way to do it than by sending a woman and a baby through ahead of me, having them create an uproar, then slipping past while everyone is distracted.

I suggest to you that the TSA agents all have assigned duties. It is each person's job to stay on task. When further inspection is needed, it is the task of another agent to do the follow-up.

Point 2:

Many people complain about being pulled aside when obviously a baby, elderly woman, businessman (fill in the blank) could not be associated with a terrorist plot. This is because all terrorists are Arab nationals who go through inspection muttering "Death to infidels". (:sarcasm: ) Reverse profiling is still profiling.



I've been pulled aside myself several times. Once, I was inexperienced and focused on trying to make an earlier flight. Being the unsophisticated person I am, it didn't occur to me that the nifty freebie I picked up on my way out of the trade fair and stuck in my purse was a box cutter. Another time, it was because I'd bought a gnome lawn ornament and put it in my carry-on because it was too heavy to put in my checked luggage. Not only was it a strange item to be carrying, but it scanned oddly.

Going through inspection can be nerve wracking, time consuming and embarrassing. The process needs a lot of improvement. However, when I dropped my daughter off at college, I saw the memorial to the students who died on Pan AM 103. Just because the Bush administration cried wolf so many times doesn't mean that there is no wolf.

I appreciate your intelligent, calm, rational thinking.

This sentence esp. resonates with me:

Just because the Bush administration cried wolf so many times doesn't mean that there is no wolf.

and wait for instructions. This is to ensure that no accidents happen. You might be fumbling in your purse or groping under the seat to find your registration, but how is the officer to know you aren't reaching for a gun? The same principal applies to going through security. You follow instructions exactlyto ensure that everyone knows what's going on.

and are distinctly un-American.

in charge.

I think the TSA is a work in progress, but hardly fascist.

double plus good!

TSA Body Scanning Technology Strips Away Privacy (10/1/2009)

One More Step Toward Mandatory Virtual Strip Searches, Says ACLU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has revealed plans to install 150 body scanning machines for primary security screenings at airports across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union strongly opposes the expanded use of this invasive technology, which amounts to a virtual strip search and reveals strikingly graphic images of passengers’ bodies, including intimate medical details like colostomy bags or evidence of mastectomy.

By expanding the use of body scanning technology, the TSA is backing away from numerous assertions that it would use these machines only for secondary screenings. There are no laws or regulations limiting how the TSA uses these virtual strip searches, only policies they choose to adopt, and nothing to prevent the TSA from making it mandatory for all passengers to submit to these invasive and embarrassing searches, having their privacy stripped away in order to board a plane.

“This new body scanning technology is a frontal assault on personal privacy, with virtual strip searches revealing private body parts and intimate medical details. This degree of examination amounts to a significant – and for some people humiliating – attack on the essential dignity of passengers that citizens in a free nation should not have to tolerate. Passengers expect privacy underneath their clothing and should not be required to display highly personal details of their bodies in order to fly."

http://www.aclu.org/privacy/gen/41218prs20091001.html

Pan AM 103 was blown up by a bomb in the cargo hold. Only 50%, at best, of cargo is now screened and it is expected the tsa will fall well short of the mandated 100% by aug. 2010.

But boy if there is a shoe or shampoo bomb they are right on top of things.

But boy if there is a shoe or shampoo bomb they are right on top of things. :evilgrin: :thumbsup:


TSA=Thousands Standing Around.

it shouldn't do the best it can to ensure that no weapons are carried on board by passengers?

The virtual strip search is open to abuse. I can imagine bootleg copies of a scan of Angelina Jolie getting out on the internet. On the other hand, with all the free porn out there, how many people are going to get excited about a black and white fuzzy image?

I would like to know that this technology has no health effects. Otherwise, I have no problem.

Screeners at Newark fail to find 'weapons'
Agents got 20 of 22 'devices' past staff
Friday, October 27, 2006
BY RON MARSICO
Star-Ledger Staff

Screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport failed 20 of 22 security tests conducted by undercover U.S. agents last week, missing an array of concealed bombs and guns at checkpoints throughout the hub's three terminals, federal security officials familiar with the results said.

The tests, conducted Oct. 19 by U.S. Transportation Security Administration "Red Team" agents, also revealed significant failures by screeners to follow standard operating procedures while checking passengers and their baggage for prohibited items, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is against TSA policy to release covert-test results.

http://consumerist.com/211044/newark-airport-screeners-fail-to-find-hidden-weapons-in-federal-test

No one has the right to visually strip search anyone at will. Especially the government. I don't care whether the image is destroyed or not.

I believe they're test sites. SFO International has one and they were trying to steer all passengers through it, and based on my observation most people went through it without a second thought although I wonder how many were aware that it was taking a full body stripped image of them.

Yes. We do have our own teabaggers of sorts.

In an area of heightened security... Expect Heightened Security!

Assuming that the story was even real, anyway.

Even more so when it is done while 911 reminders are constantly used to instill maximum fear.

"The USA has instituted airport security measures that consist of full body visual examinations. Contraptions (similar to a doctor’s magnetic resonance imaging machine) stationed at airport screening facilities, have the ability to peer through all layers of personal clothing.


The Machines

Are called "millimeter-wave passenger imaging technology," and produces a more detailed picture than the metal detectors in use now at airports. CNN reporter Carol Cratty reported on October 12th 2008, “This is how the new scanners work. The passenger steps into a machine where he or she is quickly scanned with radio waves. Those waves reflect off the body to transmit a three-dimensional image of the passenger….”

The Security Paradigm

The events of September 11th 2001 have implanted a fear in the American psyche that is unsurpassed since the Japanese attach on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Dr. Amitav Acharya, deputy director and head of research at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Nanyang University, said in his paper, Fear, Power and Empire After September 11, “The most powerful nation on earth is also the most fearful nation. American security policy is driven by new kinds of fear…The main casualty of…fear …democracy…and the ascendancy of the homeland security state.”

http://americanaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/pink_panties_boxer_shorts_and_underwire_bras#ixzz0UCqCdIWr


Milking 911 for maximum fear. And people willingly line up for their turn in the machine to get on a plane. Just like they obediently take off their shoes, dump shampoo, etc, and are forced to stand in plastic pens waiting to find out what they did wrong while oblivious fellow americans stroll by in their stocking feet, head down, aware that is where they'll end up should they question the TSA's ridiculous over the top requirements.

It is about creating a population that is passive, compliant and complacent in the face of police-state tactics and abuses of civil liberties. Nothing more, nothing less.

We are not being protected; we are being trained.

Too much attention is being paid to the security theater aimed at passengers and not enough on back room operations and access or scanning of freight. For example, items are still stolen from checked bags. How does that happen in an allegedly secure area of the airport?

Passenger security checkpoints are now the best place to effect a terrorist attack at an airport because it's before the screening. If the proper time of day or week is chosen there will be a sufficient back up there for a successful terror attack injuring and killing a large number of people. This has been pointed out by security experts but the problem of slow lines still remains at times. Part of the blame rests on the newer policies of TSA on carryon liquids combined with shoe and coat removal etc, and part rests on the separate charges for first checked bags adopted by many airlines. The sheer amount of stuff that needs to be screened at the checkpoint keeps growing and growing.

As for the woman who blogged about her kid, I agree that she was in no position to know what the TSA staff were assigned to do. That doesn't change her assertions that 1)they left her belongings on the end of the X-ray stream unattended --the only time that I've been held aside for special screening a TSA agent asked me to point out my belongings and they were brought over to an area near where the pat down occurred and I've observed this procedure for others pulled aside for extra screening, and 2) they separated her son from her which they claim on their website it will not happen.
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/index.shtm You are correct that no one, from senior to infant, should be exempt from screening, but separating the child from the mother to the point where she can't observe the screening appears to be a violation of TSA's own guidelines.

All of us want to feel safe from being on plane blown up in mid air or driven straight into a building but that shouldn't mean that we give up privacy or hand over children without good reasons.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6797671

And follow the links to her blog and the TSA blog regarding this incident.

That her assertion doesn't stand up to scrutiny doesn't change the fact that TSA agents aren't supposed to do the things she blogged about.

Why does that matter? Because a few people on yesterday's thread were comfortable with how TSA agents handled the situation in her account. I'm stunned by the way people think standing up for yourself is somehow deserving of whatever punishment is meted out by cranky government employees.

They didn't take her child from her. That was the basis of her whole blog and the video proves that she placed him in the stroller approximately 3 feet away from her and the child was in it the whole time she was searched.

As I wrote before, it was the willingness of some people in that other thread to place blame on her for questioning the TSA agents at all that really is the issue for me, not whether the incident transpired as she blogged it. The unquestioning compliance with even the most absurd requests is not required just because someone is wearing a uniform. I'm convinced that if TSA agents directed passengers to jump in a vat of sewage many of them would do so just because they don't want to cause a scene.

stocking feet walk by without a second glance at her lest they be penned along with her. If that isn't disturbing to the majority of supposedly sane and free americans there is no hope.

People from other countries are horrified and we passively offer no resistance. Bush is out of office but the terra, terra, terra baloney is still in high gear.

Fear, fear fear!

She made it all up.

They are all cleared because they are employees of either the airlines, the airport or TSA. Since they can't even police their own, how are we to believe they are competent enough to do everything else?

They are arrested for theft.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Crackdown-Continues-on-TSAs-Luggage-Looters-62573027.html

You know, it really bothers me that people are so passive about the way we are all treated in Security lines, but making shit up doesn't help anything. When you say "they are cleared" or this woman posts this hysterical, lie-ridden blog, it actually HURTS the cause.

When real abuses take place by the TSA, other Americans are going to be a hell of a lot less likely to believe it now.

Miami's not the only place where such theft rings have been discovered. Here, for example, is the story of another ring operating in San Francisco. http://www.ktvu.com/news/20245199/detail.html

If workers can coordinate a theft ring under the watchful eyes of video cameras, supervisors, LEOs, etc., it doesn't take much of an imagination to come up with a scenario where one of them would be able to aid a terrorist. Rather than just being reactive to reports of thefts, the TSA should be proactive in adding security measures to the operation. How about having those employees all walk through backscatter machines at the end of shift, for example?

Sorry, misunderstood the first post! I thought you meant they were allowed to do it.

My bad. :blush:

just sayin'

No.


I speak only English. Will this be a problem for me at the pre-board screening checkpoint?


Canada has two official languages, French and English. As a Crown corporation subject to the Official Languages Act, CATSA and third parties acting on its behalf must serve Canadians in the language of their choice in areas where there is a linguistic obligation. This means that Screening Officers must offer services to the public in both official languages at designated bilingual airports across the country.

In practical terms, there should be bilingual Screening Officers on every shift at these airports. It doesn’t mean that every Screening Officer is bilingual, just that there should always be enough Screening Officers on duty who can speak both official languages to cover passenger volume.


Why is it necessary to unbuckle a belt at pre-board screening?

Most belts have metal content which may trigger an alarm that can only be resolved by undoing the belt. Please note that passengers are always asked to unbuckle the belt themselves and to hold its ends apart.


If my head covering (hat or cap) caused the alarm to sound, how would the situation be handled?


If the metal detector sounds, you will be asked to remove any item that may have caused the alarm. You do not need to take off your head covering, as long as the item causing the alarm can be removed.

If the alarm cannot be easily resolved, it may become necessary for a further inspection to be conducted. If this happens, the inspection may be conducted in a private search room or outside of public view at your request.



Am I allowed to accompany someone through the security screening point even though I do not have a boarding pass?


If you are assisting a small child, elderly person or person with special needs through the pre-board screening checkpoint you will need to get a gate pass or authorization at the air carrier check-in counter.

If you are provided with a gate pass to accompany someone into the passenger waiting area, you are required to undergo screening in the same way as if you were a passenger.
Please contact your air carrier in advance for further details.



Does Canada have a “No Fly List”?


Canada has a program known as Passenger Protect. The security measures associated with this program will prevent persons who pose an immediate threat to aviation security from boarding a commercial aircraft.

For more information on Passenger Protect, please visit Transport Canada’s website.
For more information on the US TSA ‘Secure Flight’ program, please visit the TSA website.


I was selected for additional screening at a pre-board screening checkpoint. Does that mean I am on a government watch list?


Just because you were selected for additional screening does not mean you are on a government watch list. Additional screening may be required for a number of reasons, including resolving alarms from the metal detectors.

Individuals selected for additional screening may request that the screening take place in a private search room or outside of public view. Please advise the Screening Officer if you have any special personal needs of which they should be aware, including medical conditions and religious concerns.


Are Screening Officers authorized to conduct a physical search of my body?


Screening Officers are required to randomly select persons for enhanced screening measures which involve physical searches of the body.

It is important to emphasize that Screening Officers select passengers from a screening line regardless of whether or not they set off alarms from the walk-through or hand-held metal detectors.


Am I entitled to a private physical search?


Passengers always have the option of requesting a private physical search out of public view. When conducting a physical search in a private search room, the Screening Officer carrying out the search must always be of the same sex of the person being searched. As well, another Screening Officer must always witness the search. Whenever possible, the witness should be of the same sex as the person being searched.

If a private screening is requested, you may ask to bring all your personal belongings with you so you can see them at all times.

http://www.catsa.gc.ca/english/help_aide/faq/pbs_cpe.shtml

Imagine that if you set the alarm off you get to go back through once the item causing the alarm to go off is removed. You are not treated like a suspected terrorist from the beginning. And private searches with your belongings no less. How sane.

And they fly around the USA on airlines, not on any no fly list despite having blown a passenger airliner out of the sky killing all aboard with a bomb.

Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada

:D

I found it funny until my Mom reminded me anyone can hide things on a baby.

for "fascists".

Me, I wear shorts and slaps, my carry-on contains ONLY snacks and reading material, and I have a nice healthy buzz when I get on the plane.

Piece of cake.

She lied and posted a hysterical screed about TSA, when most of it didn't happen.

http://www.tsa.gov/blog

With the problems that actually DO occur with security in airports, having people make up shit like this just sets back any movement to actually reform airport security. I travel 1-2 times a month on business and airport security is, without a doubt, a pain in the ass. No liquids, taking off your shoes (even flip flops)... that's all kind of stupid. I left a little thing of Blistex in my purse once and they searched all my stuff. No fun, but lying about the stuff that happens to you...just as wrong.

A bunch of authoritarian shitheads who love to throw their uniformed weight around while we perform like sheep.

TSA, DHS need to die now.

about being separated from her baby (out of view), I noted that they put her in a glass cage, maybe for 3 minutes. She seemed to be having trouble holding up her baby, she kept shifting his weight in her arms.

It didn't appear the glass security box had a chair, or even an armrest to lean against. Many of us have been conditioned by cheap, thin glass that breaks easily, and it's probably not a good idea in general to lean up against something like that, though security glass, if that's what the cage was made of, would probably be okay to do so.

So it seems to me that security cell could be vastly improved, even though it is essentially a very temporary prison in full view of all the other passengers (who really didn't seem to notice). Just a chair would have helped the woman a little with the load she was forced to hold up.

Another thing the video didn't show was what caused the flagging? Was there anything that caused it?

Personally, I'd rather walk from coast to coast then put up with the crap one has to go through to fly these days.

It could be that the lie the woman told on her blog was the only way that she knew to release her anger. What a great vacation! One that won't be forgotten for at

I have had a substantial amount of cash stolen by TSA. I can't go into the details.

Can I prove it? No, I can't. Do I want to challenge the Federal Government with their unlimited resources? No I don't.

The Federal Government has the full weight and force of tax payer dollars to bring against the average citizen. You CAN NOT challenge the federal goons.. you will lose.. unless you have unlimited cash and your friend is F.Lee Bailey.

Something is is terribly wrong in this country.. I'm waiting for Obama or Some politician in Congress to come to our aid.