Testimonial: TSA mistreats remains...again!

This was on the flyertalk.com forum:

...Despite being shown the two Certificates, the TSA operative took the box, broke its seal and tipped the contents on to a metal table. Some of the ashes fell onto the floor. The TSAO then took a sample away for testing. He repeated this twice. He grinned at the passenger's obvious distress. A supervisor was called: he, too, thought that the situation was amusing. Both refused to give their names. The passenger (who is not able to stand for longer than about a minute) was also forced to undergo a thorough pat-down....

Free trials of PreCheck were just a standard promotion, except not

Just like the 1-month free trial you get for other memberships, PreCheck free trials were intended to drum up business. However, unlike a private-sector free trial, where the company is always trying to increase its customer base - and where there are competitors that can entice customers away - the TSA has a target number of PreCheck customers, apparently. Why else would they be cutting back on the free trials?

Chris Elliott on giving in to the TSA

A nice article in USA Today.

Yahoo! "Who else refuses to travel because of TSA?"

Here is the comment I just left on Yahoo! answers, when someone asked if anyone has quit flying due to the TSA:

I have not flown since 2010. I have anxiety over 1) the possibility of being touched by strangers, and 2) putting my children through an experience where they are treated like a criminal. 

The last time I flew was an ordeal, as I had a baby with me. Try getting through security with a just-barely walking baby: get your luggage on the x-ray belt, including hiking your stroller up there. Get your jacket and shoes off. Get your child's jacket and shoes off. Carry child through metal detector after fruitlessly trying to get her to walk through alone. Unpack snack bag (which includes milk and ice packs, because children have small stomachs and eat constantly and with security, you're traveling all day) to be tested for who knows what. Now, repack your snacks. Get all of your luggage off the x-ray belt. Dress your baby. Dress yourself. 

No thank you. I have been traveling by train with my children - quite relaxing and enjoyable. Tickets are not bad for long-distances. Sleeper cars are expensive, but worth it for an overnight trip. Station locations and schedules can be a bit inconvenient for some destinations. There are several options for eating, moving around, socializing, etc... When I arrive at the station, I just go right for a red cap now, so it is super easy, but when I traveled lighter, it was a breeze getting onto the train and much less stressful than an airport. 

PS I used to fly about twice a year before quitting. Pre-9/11 was so easy - I actually flew about 10 times in 2000 - such a huge difference in 10 years!

So, now you know!

The definition of security theater

This story from last year highlights the absurdity of security theater, courtesy if the TSA. Nevermind that creating several social media accounts, let alone creating false ones, is incredibly easy: The TSA may consider a Facebook account an alternative form of identification. So...are they ready to admit that the whole "Papers, please!" routine is just about getting people to jump through hoops for no purpose? Is the traveling public ready to admit that?

H/T to Ian M.

Bureaucrats like control and power

Lisa Simeone does a great job of analyzing this abuse at the hands of the TSA.

Kudos to Slate

Slate doesn't give the TSA a pass with regard to naked scanners.

Does the federal government view civilians as basically the same as criminals?

Of course.

"The controversial airport screening machines that angered privacy advocates and members of Congress for its revealing images are finding new homes in state and local prisons across the country, according to the Transportation Security Administration."

Erroneous Conclusion of Travel Survey

The survey described in this article, "Is The TSA Becoming More Tolerable?," is discouraging. But the author makes the wrong conclusion. That people don't hate the TSA as much is a sign that people become complacent and adjust, even under objectionable conditions. It is not a sign that the a abusive bureaucracy is doing a better job of being nice.

NY Times can't stop praising the TSA

To follow up last week's column filled with positive comments about pre-check and how pleasant it is to fly now, the NY times has a new column praising - get this! - naked scanners and how well the TSA treats people with metal implants.

The author, and the people he quoted, are missing the forest for the trees: What if disabled people neither had to be seen naked, nor had to be groped? In other words, what if security at airports was humane and customer focused?

To praise body scanners because it avoids a pat-down (aka, full-body custody search, without the formal declaration of arrest) for people with certain (personal, private) medical conditions is like saying slavery is okay as long as no one is whipped. Both the naked scanner and the pre-custody search are morally offensive!

Are scanners on their way out?

I hope so!

From an article summarizing a recent GAO report (which was negative about aspects of the naked scanners), we learn that there is criticism from Congress. And it may affect the bottom line:

"Since TSA has failed to analyze and utilize AIT false alarm rates, we have no idea how many passengers are being subjected to pat-downs due to technological failures," House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., said. "TSA should not spend a single dollar on additional AIT machines until all of the deficiencies identified in this report are resolved.”

Perks of Pre-Check Highlighted in NY Times

I am against Pre-Check (formerly, Trusted Traveler; always 'Papers, Please!') as a long-term solution to airport security, as I've written about here before. However, the expansion of the program may be a promising sign that public opinion can, and has, affect airport security policy. That is a point also noted in this NY Times editorial about the Pre-Check program.

I do worry that this is an effective ploy to appease enough of the traveling public to allow the TSA to continue to shed our rights. Hopefully, I'm wrong.

Security theater still works for some of the masses

In this incredible story of a teenage stowaway who survived dangerous conditions, we see a glimpse of the wizard behind the curtain. Airports are not secure, and it is essentially impossible to make them 100% impenetrable. A quote from an airport rep betrays as much:

"We have 1,050 acres. That's a lot of fence line. He could have scaled the fence line really through any area here at the airport. It's very easy to do so under the cover of darkness, and it appears that's what he did."

Politicians and bureaucrats, such as the one quoted in the article, will say we need more security, more money thrown at the "problem". Some of the public hopefully realizes that calls for tighter security are futile, and - if they are really paying attention - detrimental.

More TSA harassment

Here is a story about a young woman whose rights were violated when the TSA rifled through her wallet. When they found her fake IDs (for getting into bars, not countries), they threw their weight around.

The TSA Isn’t Good at Reading Body Language (And Neither Are You)

I am pleasantly surprised to see this post at Smithsonian blog. It is critical of the TSA - specifically it's wasteful spending on dubious behavior-detection training - but comes from a government-affiliated institution.