How to avoid the TSA and still get there fast

It just costs a bunch more. But if you're traveling with a large group, it may not be as unaffordable as you think.

More TSA thieving

To follow-up on yesterday's post, it turns out that flying out of New York may be hazardous to your wallet (not just your dignity and health!). TSA screeners at JFK have stolen $160,000 from passengers. That we know of - are these 2 agents at JFK and 3 at Newark the only dishonest ones?

Austinite challenges scanner safety

The Washington Examiner (a widely-read free paper, I believe) has a layman's plea for more caution about scanner safety. An excerpt:

One of the most unfortunate aspects of the TSA scanner controversy is that the technical specs of the scanners have not been made available to the public. Nor, to my knowledge, are scanners being made available for independent testing. We’re simply supposed to trust the word of the TSA, the FDA, and hand-picked radiation “experts” that the scanners are safe. This lack of transparency (no pun) is both frightening and illiberal considering the dangers these machines could pose to public health. At the moment, these machines are ‘black boxes.’

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/opinion-zone/2011/02/tsa-scanners-safety-questions-linger#ixzz1DzONmLKI

TSA thieves

Two TSA employees and their supervisor have been stealing from passengers at Newark for more than a year. The case is in court now and the supervisor admitted to demanding kickbacks from his subordinates. Feel safe?

H/T Vedran Vuk

TSA: "I was gonna do her"

A blogger at Time magazine writes about her opt-out experience. Click on through to see the punch-line.

Obama on your privacy: What privacy?

The budget submitted by Obama has a 2% increase in the Homeland Security budget. This will allow the TSA to more than double the number of scanners in airports to 1275 by the end of next year. That's $77 million, in case you're wondering. I guess the people in Washington don't believe that the flying public is actually very upset about the TSA. (Time to make some more noise?)

TSA status dot net

I think I linked to the TSAstatus website awhile back (or at least added it to the blogroll), but apparently it's been improved.

TSA Refuses To Provide Evidence

Two months ago, Congress responded to public angst over TSA scanners by asking the TSA to give them evidence on the safety of these machines. Two months later, and the TSA still hasn't provided that evidence. But, they promise, it's on its way!