Belly bombs: We knew this was coming

It didn't take a genius to see this fear-mongering coming.

A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, Nicholas Kimball, said that passengers flying to the United States are likely to face additional screening measures.

"These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same activity at every international airport," Kimball said. "Measures may include interaction with passengers, in addition to the use of other screening methods such as pat-downs and the use of enhanced tools and technologies."

Wake up, America!

UPDATE: Here's Slate's coverage, making the same point.

Champing at the bit to 'secure' Amtrak

It will come, it's just a matter of time. That is, unless, more Americans join you and I in opposing the TSA. There was an article titled Amtrak train wreck reveals security weakness. The title says it all: after a deadly train wreck, it was unclear exactly how many people were on board the train at the time of the accident. "What!?!" you say, "They aren't tracking and monitoring the every move of train passengers?!? People can buy tickets and board without ID? They can get off early if they choose to do so? Their luggage is not screened for drugs, bombs, and money? They can move around on the train as they please without an assigned seat? What country is this? The wild, wild west of the American fronteir?!?"

I think that rant pretty clearly illustrates what I think about "securing" the rails against imaginary threats. Although I can see that knowing exactly how many people are alive or dead in an accident is desirable information, the fact remains that this will never be possible and trying to correct this will erode liberties in a way that will change riding the train for the worse. If they want to open up competition on rails and stop subsidizing Amtrak and regional rail, then we can see if "Secure Rail" starts operating with draconian security measures. I won't hold my breath (for either free rails or "Secure Rail").

I do want to comment on something coming from a politician that was noted in the article:

In response [to concerns but no imminent threat about bin Laden targeting American rails], U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, pressed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to institute a "no-ride" list similar to the Secure Flight program used by airlines, in which passenger lists are compared with terrorist watch lists.

I fully believe this is likely to happen. And it's disgusting. I also fully expect that, down the line, we'll hear people say "Taking the train is a privilege. If you don't like it, don't ride!"

One final note directed at Amtrak: Due to the draconian airport security measures, I and many others will not be taking commercial airlines until the TSA and its ilk are disbanded. This means increased ridership on your trains including sleeper-car purchases. Don't make us boycott you, too.

TSA cartoonist on a roll

The cartoons by reformed TSO, Bill Forster, over at Homeland Security Theater have been great. If you don't read them regularly (he posts twice a week, I think), I highly recommend them. And, don't forget to read the back story.

His cartoon from last week shows a surprise engagement getting ruined by the heartless TSA:

And here's an excerpt of Bill's commentary:

...Four times. Four times!!! FOUR TIMES I saw this happen!

... Once I was standing next to a fellow screener who didn’t speak English (because they hired those) and he got a ring in a bag. He told the guy that he had to check the bag and started searching through it. The guy started freaking out because his girlfriend was standing RIGHT THERE asking what the problem was. He kept begging, “Do we have to do this here?” and “Can we do this in private?” Now, the TSA can do it in private and if requested MUST do it in private. However if your screener doesn’t speak the language it becomes a little difficult to communicate that request. So I caught on and realized what was going down. I ran over and grabbed the bag. In a stern “you’re in big trouble” type voice I said the the man, “Sir! You can’t bring this on an airplane. Come with me, NOW!” and escorted him into a private screening area. Once away from his girlfriend I asked, “So whadda got? An engagement ring?” The color returned to the guy’s face. “Oh thank you! Oh thank you!” the man exclaimed. I checked the ring and held him in there for a few minutes. Then I told him to walk out of the private area complaining that I was a jerk and took his Swiss Army Knife. It worked. The girl didn’t catch on. She was the lucky one!

Bill is the exception to the rule. He somehow maintained a smidgen of humanity while every incentive at the TSA discourages such individualistic critical thinking. TSA goons are not bad people, necessarily, but they have to fight hard to not become bad people while working for this agency. Their lives - to a man - will be much more productive and worthwhile if they all quit and recognize their employer for what it is.

McElroy on FAST

Wendy McElroy writes over at the Future of Freedom Foundation about the proposed "FAST" program in which the TSA will have another over-priced piece of technology with which to further violate our rights.

So many security breaches

The news this week has been about the 250,000 security breaches at airports across the nation since 2001. The TSA is right that taking a raw number as a total across 10 years is a scare tactic and not very helpful. It's better to look at this as a percentage: there are about half a billion boardings per year, so 25,000 out of 500 million is 0.005%. But it illustrates very well that even with the draconian measures and vast power taken by the TSA, they still can't get a no-fail rate. This doesn't surprise me one bit. First, life is uncertain and unpredictable and people aren't perfect. So even in my airport utopian dream, there would be a non-zero fail rate. Second, government bureaucracies by their nature have perverse incentives that basically guarantee this type of failure.

Unfortunately, many who hear about this say "airports are not secure," with an implied conclusion of the TSA must do more.And the TSA is happy about this. As long as they can spin it as "we did our best" so they don't get fired (I'm talking about Pistole and his management team), they can simultaneously say "we need more money to do better."

But I do think that the point is still helpful. Everytime a stun gun gets through, it's an argument to throw at people who say that searching my daughter is the price I have to pay for security. Well, the security is a joke. And, as has been pointed out by pundits this week, the argument that focusing on 6-year olds and 95-year olds is making it easier, not harder, for the real bad guys to get through is gaining popularity.

I just disagree with the conclusion that the TSA could ever improve upon this, or that we should want the rights of some people breached so that the rest of us can pretend everything is fine. Or that bomb[and drug]-sniffing dogs are somehow less of an invasion of rights. I think we've seen in plain view what happens when you give state agents a little leeway to invade our rights, they just keep taking more and - even when it gets absurd - people are willing to submit.

Disabled are targeted by TSA (but we already knew that)

The disabled are finally getting a little press regarding their mistreatment by the TSA:

This time it's a 94-year old, not a 95-year old, wheelchair-bound woman

Whitehead on VIPR

John Whitehead at the Rutherford Institute has a new column on the terrible VIPR program, in which the TSA searches anything and anyone it wants.

Getting involved in the political fight against the TSA

A new group, Freedom to Travel, has been formed up to coordinate a national effort to identify where politicians stand on the freedom to travel issue. If this interests you, you can sign up at their site.

Tragic consequences for a concerned mom

As I reported over at LewRockwell.com, a woman was arrested at the Nashville airport for speaking sternly and later yelling at a TSA agent when they wanted to scan and then grope her daughter, and refused to allow her to take video or pictures of the event.

These stories of parents being helpless at airports scare me more than any of the other stories about the TSA today. I was petrified when I traveled (for the last time by plane) with my daughter in December. I told my husband that I would call him when I made it through security so that we would know that I wasn't arrested for protecting my daughter from the goons. (Incidentally, I was so relieved to get through security that I forgot to call an my husband had two hours of serious worrying before he knew we were both safe and sound.)

I don't know what happened to Andrea Abbott's daughter when she was arrested. Obviously, she was separated from her daughter and that must be just about the worst thing that can happen to a parent.

What would you do? Upon entering security with your child(ren) and wanting to protect them from the scan-and/or-grope, but knowing that this could lead to your arrest and separation from your child(ren)? There was a little-covered story last fall about agents who took a woman's baby from her. It was only about 10 minutes, but it was probably the most terrifying 10 minutes that mother has ever had. The government has no qualms about separating children from parents. The government has no qualms about arresting people who are (with good reason) upset, even though government agents are holding them hostage (not letting them leave the "security" area) and threatening them.

If you are a parent and this worries you, please don't fly. It's not worth it.

Update from a reader:

called Erin Quinn who wrote the article for the Tennessean about this arrest. When I tried to explain to her TN law prohibits me doing the exact same thing to her, she DEFENDED the TSA, explaining "they're federal agents."

Update from another reader:

This is Sabrina Birge [the TSA agent] on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brieni

Note her favorite TV shows: Law & Order, CSI, NCIS, House, Criminal Minds.

To be fair, there's very little else on TV these days besides cop drama. I, too, enjoy watching cop dramas, but I wouldn't call them my favorite.

'The TSA and the 4th'

A long essay over at Daily Kos community pages begins:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The 4th amendment to the constitution. As I'm sure any tea-partier can tell you the Bill of Rights are actually amendments to the US constitution.

Seems quite simple doesn't it ? The idea is that the government can't search you, your house, your effects without probable cause and a warrant describing the place to be searched.

And continues with a summary of the state of the TSA and anti-TSA movement. Lots of juicy comments, too!

Odd couple? Drudge and Mother Jones

I'm happy to see people on both the left and right express outrage over the TSA. There is an article over at Mother Jones on the slippery slope of the security state, and Drudge must have linked to it since an update says, "Welcome, Drudge Report readers!" Of course, there was a ridiculous essay at Alternet awhile back in which they claimed that the anti-TSA sentiment was only about being anti-union and an attempt to prevent TSA employees from unionizing, so I'm not claiming that there is unity on the left any more than there is unity on the right over the TSA.

'Would you let this man touch your child?'

H/T Mark Fee

KnownCrew is the new Crew Pass

Pilots will soon be exempt from invasive screening if they have proper identification in yet another trial of a TSA program. This, of course, makes sense so it is no surprise that after a decade the idiotic TSA has yet to figure out how to get airline crew to their planes quickly and without humiliation. My worry still remains that once the crew is a privileged class, they will cease to be a sympathetic group to the indignities suffered by passengers.

Police state on Greyhound

A reader, Adolfo Leon, shares his recent experience traveling by bus:

On July 4, on the bus (Greyhound) trip, I had to change bus at West Palm. The bus driver pulled into the parking space. He then got up and told us to wait for the two men standing out side the bus to come in and inspect. These two men were dressed in a green uniform with a "Border Patrol" label. They asked me, as well as the man across from me, "How are you doing?" I said, " I am doing good." Second question, "are you a citizen?" I said, "yes."

They moved to the back of the bus. The bus driver came in and asked, if they were finished with the two of us. They said, "yes" and the driver told us to go to the next bus.

Based on the bus driver actions, this seems to be happening on a regular basis.

Interesting the question was citizen, not citizen of the US.