Does anyone actually believe the TSA?

Once again, we are into the "Let's blame Bush" mentality. I have some wonderful conspiracy theories that make just as much sense...more so, actually. Try Glen Beck.
There is plenty of blame to go around without picking parties or former party dept. heads. Its time we quit blaming individuals in this country unless they are under indictment, and started looking at ourselves, who we support, why we support them and where our, not the other guy's efforts are going to get us in the long run.
There are some in this country whose ideology I not only will not support, but will fight with every fibre of my being. It is my right as an American just as it is yours.

That wasn't a "blame Bush" post, that was a "you are being groped at airports so a politician can make an obscene profit off you" post.

Seems like a pretty solid trail - not a conspiracy theory. I was thinking last night "wonder if the whole groping thing is to make people think the scans aren't so bad."

Each scanner costs $100-200K - I think both of us could come up with much better ways to use that money - either by not spending it or by spending it on better things.

For example, Uncle Moon was able to fly through 2 major airports without any ID last winter. Despite the fact that he had a passport (we learned it is illegal to fax a copy of someone's passport) and many mugshots on file, no attempt was made to identify him with anything but a magazine label and a copy of the police report saying he lost his wallet - even though he gave the airline and TSA advance notice.

P.S. Italy tested the scanners at 4 of their international airports and rejected them as inaccurate and inconvenient. We added them at 28 more airports.

I respectfully disagree.

What's interesting about that kids book is that it doesn't even seem to address how you explain to a 6 year-old that while normally the man touching them would be a "NO" touch situation, in this case it's okay?

Pedophile's purchase old TSA uniforms

Once again, we are into the "Let's blame Bush" mentality. I have some wonderful conspiracy theories that make just as much sense...more so, actually. Try Glen Beck.
There is plenty of blame to go around without picking parties or former party dept. heads. Its time we quit blaming individuals in this country unless they are under indictment, and started looking at ourselves, who we support, why we support them and where our, not the other guy's efforts are going to get us in the long run.
There are some in this country whose ideology I not only will not support, but will fight with every fibre of my being. It is my right as an American just as it is yours.

Partisan? Maybe you can tell what party The FlyerRights.org swings?

?Mr. Chertoff should not be allowed to abuse the trust the public has placed in him as a former public servant to privately gain from the sale of full-body scanners under the pretense that the scanners would have detected this particular type of explosive,?? said Kate Hanni, founder of FlyersRights.org, which opposes the use of the scanners.
(This was after an attempt by the Christmas Bomber and Chertoff was all over the waves waving the scanners as the cure all)

I could care less what party Chertoff is, or that he worked for Bush. We should all be concerned about anyone who works or worked in the public sector setting themselves up to cash in on our tax dollars. Yes, the money for the new scanners to the tune of $140 million to start, is coming from the Economic Recovery Act.

I could care less if Chertoff, or anyone else who heads in government for that matter, uses their skills in a business enterprise they own to earn a living. But to be less than forthright about your involvement and then everytime you tout the benefits to us, which is highly questionable anyway, your inner cash register is sounding cha ching, there is a problem. What about transparency?

I'm sure if we all took the time, we could find similar conflicts of interest or lack of transparency from public figures and politicians who lined their pockets indirectly with public money. We could probably spend at least a month documenting affiliations with Wall Street and large law firms representing corporations alone.

I guess if I was going to criticize a party, I would have asked where the The Tea Party stands on this issue since they are against the Economic recovery and Reinvestment Act, so where is the ire from them about this? I'm sure Democrats are not the people who dislike being groped if they do not submit to the scan, if asked.

Today, I got a scan and a patdown. Forgot and left a quarter in my pocket, which I guess set off the scanner. That was a little aggravating, but didn't bug me as much as the TSA agent's insistance of the need to thumb through my wallet.

What no bomb? TSA is a waste of time and money period. We need to start profiling...problem solved.

Douglas, the last time I taped something to my inner thigh, it was a college football game and I smuggled in whisky.

Stadium Pal?
Why yes! Perfect for those times you need to Smuggle it in & OUT with the all-in-one dual functioning accessory

I'm curious...
if one agrees to submit to the full body rapiscan can you go the front of line; thereby avoiding the time consuming process of pocket-emptying, computer-opening, apparel/accessory/footwear stripping, and putting our junk on the conveyer belt?
Or is rapiscan an additional 'belt AND suspenders' safety measure?

I'm curious...
if one agrees to submit to the full body rapiscan can you go the front of line; thereby avoiding the time consuming process of pocket-emptying, computer-opening, apparel/accessory/footwear stripping, and putting our junk on the conveyer belt?
Or is rapiscan an additional 'belt AND suspenders' safety measure?

Nope. From the TSA Site:

Q. How does the imaging technology screening process work?
A. Each passenger will be asked to take everything out of their pockets (including non-metallic items) and walk into the imaging portal.​

Everything I read says you can't even have a tissue or a belt or a handkerchief or a wallet in your pocket.

A Card to send to your significant other.

I'm curious...
if one agrees to submit to the full body rapiscan can you go the front of line; thereby avoiding the time consuming process of pocket-emptying, computer-opening, apparel/accessory/footwear stripping, and putting our junk on the conveyer belt?
Or is rapiscan an additional 'belt AND suspenders' safety measure?

It's in addition to all that - you do all of the usual stuff AND walk into a booth and assume the spread eagle position.

What no bomb? TSA is a waste of time and money period. We need to start profiling...problem solved.

Amen. plus a lot of money saved....

Partisan? Maybe you can tell what party The FlyerRights.org swings?

?Mr. Chertoff should not be allowed to abuse the trust the public has placed in him as a former public servant to privately gain from the sale of full-body scanners under the pretense that the scanners would have detected this particular type of explosive,?? said Kate Hanni, founder of FlyersRights.org, which opposes the use of the scanners.
(This was after an attempt by the Christmas Bomber and Chertoff was all over the waves waving the scanners as the cure all)

I could care less what party Chertoff is, or that he worked for Bush. We should all be concerned about anyone who works or worked in the public sector setting themselves up to cash in on our tax dollars. Yes, the money for the new scanners to the tune of $140 million to start, is coming from the Economic Recovery Act.

I could care less if Chertoff, or anyone else who heads in government for that matter, uses their skills in a business enterprise they own to earn a living. But to be less than forthright about your involvement and then everytime you tout the benefits to us, which is highly questionable anyway, your inner cash register is sounding cha ching, there is a problem. What about transparency?

I'm sure if we all took the time, we could find similar conflicts of interest or lack of transparency from public figures and politicians who lined their pockets indirectly with public money. We could probably spend at least a month documenting affiliations with Wall Street and large law firms representing corporations alone.

I guess if I was going to criticize a party, I would have asked where the The Tea Party stands on this issue since they are against the Economic recovery and Reinvestment Act, so where is the ire from them about this? I'm sure Democrats are not the people who dislike being groped if they do not submit to the scan, if asked.

I think you will agree that it is understandable that one might think it was a reference to the Bush era after reading the many posts on this board and observing the politicians on various news programs. That said, I am sorry for the misinterpretation. On the rest of your post I agree completely. Former government elected officals and employees who take illegal or unwarranted advantage of their former positions to further their financial worth is unacceptable and has nothing to do with party affiliation.

I think you will agree that it is understandable that one might think it was a reference to the Bush era after reading the many posts on this board and observing the politicians on various news programs. That said, I am sorry for the misinterpretation. On the rest of your post I agree completely. Former government elected officals and employees who take illegal or unwarranted advantage of their former positions to further their financial worth is unacceptable and has nothing to do with party affiliation.

I think we can safely label the TSA a non-partisan F-up.

It was created as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in November of 2001 by the 107th Congress which was split with a Democratic Senate and a Republican House.

In the Senate this the same group of morons (with the notable exception of Russ Feingold) who all voted for the Patriot Act.

Full-body scanners are waste of money, Israeli expert says

Rafi Sela ran Israeli airport security for years so he has the chops to comment on this.

He is quoted in this article from the Vancouver Sun: "Full-body scanners are waste of money, Israeli expert says"

Here's a bit of the article. The bold emphasis is mine.

A leading Israeli airport security expert says the Canadian government has wasted millions of dollars to install "useless" imaging machines at airports across the country.

"I don't know why everybody is running to buy these expensive and useless machines. I can overcome the body scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747," Rafi Sela told parliamentarians probing the state of aviation safety in Canada.

"That's why we haven't put them in our airport," Sela said, referring to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, which has some of the toughest security in the world.

He mentions later in the article that airports should be using behavioral profiling to locate threats.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwsdq69AHnw"]YouTube - Ron Paul Responds to TSA: Introduces 'American Traveler Dignity Act'[/ame]


He's right about this one.

A Card to send to your significant other.

Love it!!!

first part of the video is pretty funny with Leno and Letterman.

Obama stands by controversial air security screening methods - CNN.com

No patdowns at VPS this weekend! Same courteous non-groping folks as usual!

And my opinion that we needed a different security focus was confirmed when I realized I had missed several "liquid" items that should have been in my baggie........as did the TSA.

Nail clippers and superglue were among the items I couldn't bring through security but could purchase in the terminal. :roll:

Thanks for the belly laugh. Here's another for you.

a$$crack!!

"TSA it's our business to touch yours

New TSA procedures part of Obama Care!

That's right. They snuck this one in on us all. By giving all these unsuspecting people body cavity searches when checking in for flights, Obama Care will not have to reimburse Doctors for prostate exams.

That's money straight to your pocket!



That is all. Carry on!