TSA or T&A ???

[Lawman]

Really? The polls just before Thanksgiving showed that the majority of the public (who also don't fly) were supportive of the body scanners and other invasive security. Easy to advocate for ridiculous measures if it doesn't come off your back. Frequent travelers are quite up at arms....but they represent more of the "elite" than the rest of America.

I'm curious if holiday travel's shifted that perception.

Haven't you noticed that any time Holiday Travel picks up these invasive procedures are turned down/off.

I flew from Germany to Ohio this Christmas with a layover in O'Hare. I at no point had to do anything more than take off my shoes through the whole process. Even coming through customs was incredibly easy, all I did was fill out a slip of paper on my flight over the pond and hand it to the customs agent who stamped my passport. And hey what do you know... the peak of air travel being conducted without all the BS security dog and pony show and nothing blew up... Can we call that a success for this level of security since the TSA wants to use "nothing blew up today" as a demonstration of success for when they are playing with my jinglebells to try and determine if Ive stuffed explosives in my santa sack.

 

[CAMike]

Thread post #227 link- The US Government's retaliation against a pilot for sharing his personal camera phone video about airport employees and the lack of security in/out of the terminal is a wake up call to you young aspiring officers and so called progressive active duty officers. This is a straight forward example of big gov't attacking anyone who doesn't think EXACTLY as they do. Not just the folks who are critical of the process but especially to those who support the current TSA process and think it's effective. At some point in your life you are likely to disagree or worse yet, point out a shortcoming to a powerful gov't entity. They have ONE PHILOSOPHY- Think their way or they will directly affect your thinking and behavior via their means. In this case taking the pilot's firearm away and instructing the county in which he resides to revoke his civilian concealed weapons permit. The TSA is a renegade group that was given way too much authority for the task that are supposed to accomplish.

If the TSA doesn't scare you, then you should step aware and work this through. We're better than this.

 

[HercDriver]

He shared security flaws through a posted video...if he was expecting no repercussions from that then he is naive, to say the least. Not sure of the background...whether he brought up his concerns through the proper channels, and, after exhausting all possible avenues he posted the video, but him being removed from the armed pilot's program after showing everyone (including the bad guys) vulnerabilities seems expected.

 

[CAMike]

He shared security flaws through a posted video...if he was expecting no repercussions from that then he is naive, to say the least. Not sure of the background...whether he brought up his concerns through the proper channels, and, after exhausting all possible avenues he posted the video, but him being removed from the armed pilot's program after showing everyone (including the bad guys) vulnerabilities seems expected.

I fly a couple of times a year and often speak with other passengers while waiting for connections. The so called "flaws" that this pilot documented have been very observable to John Q. Public since day one after 9-11. This guy uncovered absolutely nothing that the general public hasn't seen for themselves every day. To say that he may have been naive in the posting of that video is not plausible, and defies reason.

 

[Recovering LSO]

^ CAMike, you ought to know that when a government employee says something its assumed to be confirmation. You can find the range of an SA-10 on the internet, but no-one here is going to post it.

This guy was foolish to think he would get away with posting a video of self-described security flaws and not have some fall out.

 

[CAMike]

^ CAMike, you ought to know that when a government employee says something its assumed to be confirmation. You can find the range of an SA-10 on the internet, but no-one here is going to post it.

This guy was foolish to think he would get away with posting a video of self-described security flaws and not have some fall out.

1

129 Paddles- I'm not saying these are security flaws. I'm stating that these are security Gaping Holes that even a child can see. If you're suggesting that "when a government employee says something it's assumed to be confirmation" is true- I'm humiliated by Nancy Pelosi's ill conceived logic every day. That said, then the TSA can never be wrong.

Are you telling us that unless you are personally in the TSA crosshairs- you support them and their methods?

 

[Ducky]

Just another example of the TSA theatrical performance: I accidentally walked through the metal detector with my metal watch on and it did not set it off.

 

[MasterBates]

I have 3-4 pounds of metal holding my legs together.

I don't set the detectors off.

 

[Catmando]

I have 3-4 pounds of metal holding my legs together.

I don't set the detectors off.

I think it depends upon the metal alloy used.

Before 9-11, I would set off only about 20-30% of the detectors.

But since 9-11 when they increased the sensitivity, I have never NOT set off one. And as an airline pilot, that was EVERY day at work, often mutilple times in a day!

 

[phrogdriver]

Just another example of the TSA theatrical performance: I accidentally walked through the metal detector with my metal watch on and it did not set it off.

Those metal detectors have been there since way before TSA. I thought they're what all the anti-TSA crowd preferred to the backscatter machines, anyway.

 

[Alpha_Echo_606]

Since my hip replacement I have set off every metal detector I walk through. I'm use to the pat-downs but that doesn't mean I like them. I've yet to fly since the full body scans have started and will try to avoid it if I can.

Just my .02₵

 

[Ducky]

Those metal detectors have been there since way before TSA. I thought they're what all the anti-TSA crowd preferred to the backscatter machines, anyway.

No matter which way you scan stuff will get through. That's why until we combine intel, profiling, common sense, and screening the TSA will just be there putting on a show making you think you are safe.

 

[phrogdriver]

So why have anything then? Bring your fucking bazooka onboard.

The patdown objections, I don't agree with, but I get it.

The backscatter is a huge improvement over the metal detector. At least it forces AQ to use elaborate and difficult methods, with make them more vulnerable to other agencies, as well as the TSA. Try as one might, it's hard to stash a pistol, or even a boxcutter, in one's body cavities (not that I've tried). However, there are some strippers in Thailand they may want to consult for pointers on the finer points of such techniques.

 

[Harrier Dude]

So why have anything then? Bring your fucking bazooka onboard.
.

Why indeed?

You could have 5 dudes on board, each armed with pistols, nunchucks, Chinese throwing stars, chainsaws, and an acetylene torch and you would be hard pressed to take over the plane.

As soon as you tried you'd have your asses kicked by the rest of the passengers, many of which would be armed themselves.

Would people die? Sure. That's a bad thing, but it's hardly unique to a passenger airplane.

If AQ is looking to kill people (and they obviously are), there are much simpler ways.

 

[HokiePilot]

Yeah, turns out the backscatter machines aren't so good at detecting guns if carried next to the body.

http://springerlink.com/content/g6620thk08679160/fulltext.pdf

Figure 18 shows how a metal object can only be seen if they are silhouetted against of the parts of the body. On an operational scan, the woman's (Susan Hallowell, Director of the Transportation Security Administration's research lab) hands would be up and the gun would be invisible.



By US Transportation Security Administration part of U.S. Department of Homeland Security [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The bottom line is they can't detect anything that is correctly hidden.