New Contributor: Bill Fisher

Please welcome a new blogger to this site. Bill Fisher is a vocal opponent of TSA policies. Among his notable accomplishments, he has been keeping tabs on the TSA's history of hiring criminals.

Ready for the job

A Ghanaian politician who lost the last presidential election in a run-off recently offended airport security workers when he refused to be humiliated and invaded by their security procedures. Sounds like he's ready for office! When's the last time Obama or W submitted to the TSA's scan-n-grope?

Reason: 'What Does the TSA Have Against Belts"

Not especially libertarian, but some good TSA bashing here:

The TSA's list of "prohibited items" includes "realistic replicas of explosives" and "realistic replicas of firearms," presumably to avoid confusion, but how realistic a weapon is a jeweled hand grenade attached to a belt or a gun barrel incorporated into a boot heel?

Poor Austin

The center of some of the best activism against the TSA and its porno-scanners and groping, Austin, has lost the battle: Scanners have been installed.

Another Democrat sells out

I thought the Democrats were supposed to be concerned about our civil rights. Well, Sen Barbara Boxer (D-CA) prefers that the hugely illegal PreCheck program is expanded to LAX (as scheduled next year) so that California tourism will perk up. Way to stick to principle, Babs!

How corporatism really works

Just read this government rag:

The department’s chief procurement officer issued a presolicitation notice on Nov. 2 inviting technology companies to describe their commercial off the shelf (COTS) or near-COTS handheld detectors that could provide such secondary screening in the event that the AIT body scanners now being rolled out to dozens of U.S. airports pick up an “anomaly” during their primary inspections of passengers.

The US government has had a 50+ year history of getting various foreigners - especially Muslims - mad at us. This provoked a gruesome attack. The government retaliated against "easy targets" that had nothing, or very little, to do with the attacks and used the event to impose a police state. As part of the police state, corporatism was ramped up; that is, private contractors were given big bucks to find technology solutions to fabricated problems. So...

...Now we have porno-scanners that have pretty high false alarm rates, requiring many passengers - even if they don't opt-out - to undergo some sort of pat-down. A fabricated problem has led to a fabricated problem had led to a fabricated problem. Now a hand-held device will be developed by various companies, and they will (bribe) lobby Congress and DHS to pick their device. Given that TSA has over 60,000 employees, let's estimate that 5,000 of these devices are needed at a minimum. They're gonna cost at least $5,000 a pop, too. You do the math, but someone will get rich from this and so there is good reason to bribe officials. The cycle of government inviting corruption continues.

While everyone is suffering through the Fed-created recession, government contractors are flying high. Here's a quote from a transcript of Microsemi CEO's financial announcement:

Our Defense & Security market, as we have forecasted, grew again this quarter, up over 4% sequentially. We saw good bookings and billings opportunity in missile defense, RF systems and Millimeterwave solutions, in fact, we booked our largest at Millimeterwave order to date in the September quarter and we believe that we are still in the early innings for this advanced scanner ramp.

Another win for the Drug War police state

An addict was caught by TSA carrying methamphetamine. And a suspected marijuana smuggler was stopped, too. But I thought the TSA was looking for terr'ists!

In related news, Pistole is bragging about how many guns his agents have confiscated. He admits that most of the offenders are law-abiding and simply forgot to take their weapons out of their carry-on bags. Don't forget that all totalitarian police states have sought to disarm their citizens. Here's a great straw man argument for doing so, courtesy of my favorite agency: the TSA.

He also bragged about how many drugs were caught by the porno-scanners. I believe you, Johnny, but I thought the naked scanners are in place to protect me when I fly from terrorists carrying explosives and weapons, not from the victimless crimes of drug smuggling and accidentally bringing a legal firearm onto a plane. (By the way, these gun-toters would be great to have on the plane if there really were a terrorist among the passengers!)

How to protest the TSA scanners

In response to a reader's email asking for advice on how to get involved in protesting the TSA, here's what I wrote. It may not be comprehensive, and I've written on this topic many times, but it's been awhile. So here's a brief refresher:

You can look into local or state-wide movements looking to nullify TSA actions. Austin and Texas had a high-profile stand-off last spring. New Hampshire, Utah, and Alaska have all expressed various levels of interest in this. I also highly suggest that you protect yourself - your rights, dignity, and health - by not flying. This is made more effective if you tell the companies that normally profit from your air travel are made aware of your protest. My "protest" tag should give you a (probably not comprehensive) primer on what's been going on. My "Letters" page compiles various letters protesters have written. I will publish or link to any letters that you write.

Will Obama listen to the people and abolish the TSA

I meant to post this awhile back, but a reader who contacted me just asked how to petition for the removal of TSA scanners reminded me that I never did. Anyway, there's a new website put up by the White House in which anyone can create a petition. After it gets 5000 signatures in 30 days, then it will be reviewed by the White House and presumably a response would be eventually forthcoming.

Well, a petition to abolish the TSA reached its goal of 5000 signatures by Oct 22, and it now has over 30,000 signatures. It should have a million signatures in my opinion, but I expect a press conference from Obama on this issue any day now.... on second thought, maybe I shouldn't hold my breath!

H/T Becky Ayers

TSA faux pas

Stop TSA Scanners reader, Bill Fisher, writes, "Indian President Kalam frisked at NY airport, India fumes, US apologises."
Read about it here, here, and here.

Up? Really?

An Anchorage, Alaska new site has a column titled "Who's up/Who's down." Because of the cartoon software, the incoming scanners are earning the TSA an "Up." Talk about the slave thanking his master for not whipping him today!

FDA responds to ProPublica story

You can read it as well as ProPublica's response here. The takehome message?

ProPublica takes seriously our responsibility to correct mistakes and clarify misstatements. But while the FDA may prefer different terminology, we believe the way we conveyed the facts was accurate.

Trusted Traveler face-lift

It's really purely superficial. As the TSA expands the (horrid) Trusted Traveler program, it is changing the name to "PreCheck."

A bit of push-back in New York

In an otherwise run-of-the-mill article, in an upstate New York news site, repeating the Wall Street Journal's report on the expanding Trusted Traveler program, we find this conclusion:

The TSA should find a way for all passengers to keep their shoes on, too.

Fairbanks, too

Fairbanks, Alaska is getting scanners in time for Christmas, too.