November 17, 2010 TSA chief to Senate: I'm not backing down
TSA Head Honcho John Pistole told the Senate today that the use of nude-o-scopes and groping was necessary and he was not going to change any of the current policies. While the majority of Senators were not happy with these new procedures, Homeland Security chair Joe Lieberman of CT, gave it a big thumbs up.
I wonder what will happen when the person to try to blow up a plane puts the explosives in his recturm?
Here’s the whole story in USA Today:
November 17, 2010 No more enhanced pat downs for kids
Good news from the TSA…..kids under 12 will no longer be subject to the same humiliating “enhanced” pat downs that adults now get.
Here’s he story in USA Today:
No More Enhanced Pat Down for Kids
(Frank II)
November 17, 2010 Travelers sue the Blue
An active suit from a 2008 incident:
“As the TSA agent was frisking plaintiff, the agent pulled the plaintiff’s blouse completely down, exposing plaintiffs’ breasts to everyone in the area,” the lawsuit said. “As would be expected, plaintiff was extremely embarrassed and humiliated.”
TSA workers continued to laugh and joke about the incident “for an extended period of time,” leaving the woman distraught and needing to be consoled. After the woman re-entered the boarding area, TSA workers continued to humiliate her over the incident.
“One male TSA employee expressed to the plaintiff that he wished he would have been there when she came through the first time and that ‘he would just have to watch the video,’” the suit said. - Prison Planet
Another lawsuit against the TSA involves Ron Corbett, a businessman and frequent traveler who is so infuriated by the plethora of cases where TSA workers have sexually groped passengers, squeezing breasts and genitals, that he has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Miami requesting an injunction against the TSA to prevent them from touching private areas without reasonable suspicion. - Prison Planet
And the pilot who is suing:
(Brad)
November 16, 2010 Scan/grope roundup, afternoon edition
I hate this story:
TODDLER SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
You might think a 3-year-old would whiz through security. A child is non-threatening, wears slip-on shoes, and carries little luggage.
Speechless. See video at bottom of post follow-ups.
Meanwhile, TSA chief says:
… the government is not always ahead of the terrorists and that his agency seeks “the proper mix” between passengers’ rights and protecting airplanes.
“We want to be sensitive to people’s sensitivity to privacy and their being while ensuring that everybody is secure on every flight,” he said.
Pistole told fliers that he is concerned about their safety and privacy and asked them to “work together” with his agency. - ABC
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
(Brad)
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Junk man John Tyner’s blog.
Frank@OBOW
November 16, 2010 "Junk man" investigated
John “Don’t touch my junk” Tyner is under investigation for resisting the scan or hand treatment. Looks scary doesn’t he? Looks doubleplus unsafe.
(Brad)
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ON ANOTHER FRONT -
Sorry, I’m not as excited about this story as Matt Drudge is. Not TSA; not hi-res “recognizable” images. Whatever you think of Drudge (right), you must admit he’s driving the travel security story now and the pressure on the Feds is a good thing.
(Brad)
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Enough already!!!!
“I have to go in your waistband, I have to put my hand down your pants”
Frank@OBOW
November 16, 2010 Euro scanner, a different view
Thanks to Till for this tip: Some of the European scanners in development show a much less detailed view of you than the US scanners do. This looks a lot more likely to be accepted by the exasperated flying public. There was talk of something similar over here but the “guy in the cap” scanner is not what’s been implemented.
Update: Euro scanners fooled by creased clothing.
(Brad)
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CLICK PHOTO FOR LINK TO EARLIER OBOW POST
November 16, 2010 Mid-size pack
Recommended by Jeff in this Forum thread, this Mountain Hardware pack comes in at 1850 cubic inches, looks comfy.
(Brad)
November 16, 2010 Reminder from Rep. Mica
Did you know that the nation’s airports are not required to have Transportation Security Administration screeners checking passengers at security checkpoints? The 2001 law creating the TSA gave airports the right to opt out of the TSA program in favor of private screeners after a two-year period. Now, with the TSA engulfed in controversy and hated by millions of weary and sometimes humiliated travelers, Rep. John Mica, the Republican who will soon be chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is reminding airports that they have a choice.
Mica, one of the authors of the original TSA bill, has recently written to the heads of more than 150 airports nationwide suggesting they opt out of TSA screening. “When the TSA was established, it was never envisioned that it would become a huge, unwieldy bureaucracy which was soon to grow to 67,000 employees,” Mica writes. “As TSA has grown larger, more impersonal, and administratively top-heavy, I believe it is important that airports across the country consider utilizing the opt-out provision provided by law.” - Washington Examiner
Gee, I believe this would be a way to make your airport instantly more popular….
(Brad)
November 15, 2010 Good question
Enough with the app. From crunchy con Front Porch Republic:
For someone whose sympathies lie on the left side of the political spectrum, I’m not especially worried about the rise of the Tea Party and the Republican sweep in the last election; despite their numbers, I really don’t think they’re in a position to drive our national government in any particular direction whatsoever… But in regards to the TSA, I’d be delighted to see some “simplistic” refusals–a demand to simply say no to this increasingly ridiculous operation that, however genuine its intentions, has obviously become locked into a way of thinking about airport security that sees the whole matter as a balance between “privacy” and “safety,” with all other values–like dignity–being non-quantifiable and therefore irrelevant. Yes, I think it’d be wonderful to see the Tea Party movement turn on the TSA, perhaps if the organization’s latest actions can be painted as “unconstitutional” somehow. Let’s try to make sure that Glen Beck has to fly on a commercial airline sometime in the near future, and see what he thinks of it all. No doubt he’ll find a way to connect it all to an Obama-inspired communist conspiracy, but at least that might mean TSA could find itself facing a serious Congressional inquiry, for once. - FPR
The US Senate may in fact be getting into the act.
(Brad)
November 15, 2010 Submit or pay
TSA Generalissimo Pistole implied he may cave on frisking flight crews. No such luck for Joe and Judy Citizen though:
However, Pistole did nothing to address similar measures being directed against the traveling public which amount to little less than sexual molestation, and had no answer to why airport officials are threatening people who refused to be groped with $10,000 dollar fines, as in the case of a man who had a run in with TSA goons at San Diego International Airport this past weekend.
Despite the TSA’s blanket refusal to amend measures that are stoking outrage across the country and leading many to decide against flying until changes are made, this first step in the feds being forced to back down on one level is obviously a sign of progress. - prisonplanet.com
(Brad)
Frank@OBOW
There’s an app for that. No kidding the TSA has its own app:
MyTSA has multiple functions, including the following tools:
- Airport Status: Users can see what airports are experiencing general delays (not flight specific) or search for conditions at a specific airport. This information is provided by the FAA.
- ‘Can I Bring?’: Users can type in an item they plan to bring on a trip to find out if it is permitted or prohibited, and whether they can pack it in carry-on or checked bags.
- Guide: Users can get travel tips on an array of some of the most popular topics of air travel, including traveling with children, 3-1-1 rules for liquids, gels and aerosols, special medical needs, packing tips, tips for how to dress for airport security, tips for military members, and traveling with food and gifts.
- Security wait times: MyTSA gives passengers the ability to share their wait time and see what wait times other passengers have posted for U.S. airports.
- Wait Times: Passengers can also post the approximate amount of time it took them to get through security for other travelers to view.
To get MyTSA on your mobile device, type in www.tsa.gov/mobile.
You can find the MyTSA iPhone app on iTunes.
November 15, 2010 Abolish the TSA
Bipartisan support should be immediate. For fiscal conservatives, it’s hard to come up with a more wasteful agency than the TSA. For privacy advocates, eliminating an organization that requires you to choose between a nude body scan or genital groping in order to board a plane should be a no-brainer.
But won’t that compromise safety? I doubt it. The airlines have enormous sums of money riding on passenger safety, and the notion that a government bureaucracy has better incentives to provide safe travels than airlines with billions of dollars worth of capital and goodwill on the line strains credibility. This might be beside the point: in 2003, William Anderson incisively argued that some of the steps that airlines (and passengers) would have needed to take to prevent the 9/11 disaster probably would have been illegal. - forbes.com
And the question is being asked — is all this dissuading people from flying? Of course it is. I know people who have said “Never again!” A co-worker of mine nearly passed up free accommodations on St. Maarten just because he was afraid he couldn’t tolerate the security scan/grope.
Vote here.
(Brad)
Frank@OBOW
And why does OBOW so often focus on “travel insecurity” news? Because our readers are likely to be frequent, serious travelers who make a great deal of effort to travel efficiently - just the type to be most affected and vexed by security theater. Avoiding checked luggage used to be the ticket to travel bliss. The checkpoint hassle has greatly offset this. Knowledge (about the security protocols) should equal power. Alas, all are powerless before the big blue monster.
Frank@OBOW
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And behind every fetid, corrupt, stupid, Washington-hatched fiasco you’ll find — surprise, surprise — a bi-partisan cabal of lobbyists.
November 15, 2010 An open letter from Nappy
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.……Benjamin Franklin
With that in mind, here’s an op/ed piece in USA Today written by Janet Napolitano, head honcho of Homeland Security, home to TSA. My apologies if you’re reading this while eating and you lose your appetite.
(You’ll notice no mention of groping)
And here’s USA Today’s article on it:
(Frank II)
November 13, 2010 First "hand" account
A male agent (it was a female who had directed me to the backscatter machine in the first place), came and waited for me to get my bags and then directed me over to the far corner of the area for screening. After setting my things on a table, he turned to me and began to explain that he was going to do a “standard” pat down. (I thought to myself, “great, not one of those gropings like I’ve been reading about”.) After he described, the pat down, I realized that he intended to touch my groin. After he finished his description but before he started the pat down, I looked him straight in the eye and said, “if you touch my junk, I’ll have you arrested.” He, a bit taken aback, informed me that he would have to involve his supervisor because of my comment. - read more
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November 13, 2010 Is TSA listening or is this just more show
Backlash against the nude-o-scope and invasive pat downs is going beyond just online blogs. Now, some industry groups are raising their own objections.
(Frank II)
November 11, 2010 Empty pockets, trust issues
No, this post is not about the Federal government. It’s about being separated from all your belongings (including ID) during screening. From elliot.org:
If TSA is going to begin asking us to empty all of our pockets before we pass through the metal detector, that could be problematic.
I am surely not alone concerned about surrendering my wallet and cash to the tray through the x-ray machine. I certainly don’t like being separated from my identification in a place that demands this item multiple times during screening. Care for my credit cards and cash is also an issue.
Frank@OBOW
I do sometimes leave my wallet - but not my passport - in my carry-on during screening just because I don’t want there to be any chance of a pat-down when the metal detector beeps more than once. Pat-downs have always been something you want to avoid at any cost. You can bet that with the new policy all pat-downs will be as aggressive as those now being inflicted upon the “opt-outers.” The old light touch is gone forever, I’m sure.
(Brad)
November 11, 2010 Resistance: National Opt-Out Day
The wave of resistance to the TSA’s latest invasive “security” measures is growing. National Opt-Out Day is the latest sign. Some say Matt Drudge is stirring the pot. I say the facts on ground are sufficient to create outrage with no incitement necessary.
A major lawsuit is also in the works.
(Brad)
Frank@OBOW
From http://www.optoutday.com/:
How?
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November 11, 2010 Packing videos
Packing is something we all deal with prior to our trips. And the good people behind the Heathrow Express, the fast train that takes passengers from London to Heathrow in 15 minutes, have produced a series of packing videos that they’re showing on the trains.
Ugh, is it just me, or are others also pretty well packed by the time they’re on the train?
http://www.heathrowexpress.com/Howtopack
(Frank II)