These idiots think that patriotic Americans need prompting to report possible terrorist activity?
Getting the infrastructure in place and running for total control operations, the big clamp-down. What's next a civilian security force with the numbers and budget exceeding that of our military? Who would possibly say that?
just completed an international flight also. came from a communist country. at dfw got the scan and partial pat down, had to carry bags thru customs for x-ray. still, better than when a bottle opener was spotted in my carry on - i got ak-47's pointed at me then. security guys had a good laugh when they got the opener out of bag. me, i was still a little nervous...
SACRAMENTO, CA - An airline pilot is being disciplined by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for posting video on YouTube pointing out what he believes are serious flaws in airport security.
The 50-year-old pilot, who lives outside Sacramento, asked that neither he nor his airline be identified. He has worked for the airline for more than a decade and was deputized by the TSA to carry a gun in the cockpit.
He is also a helicopter test pilot in the Army Reserve and flew missions for the United Nations in Macedonia.
Three days after he posted a series of six video clips recorded with a cell phone camera at San Francisco International Airport, four federal air marshals and two sheriff's deputies arrived at his house to confiscate his federally-issued firearm. The pilot recorded that event as well and provided all the video to News10.
At the same time as the federal marshals took the pilot's gun, a deputy sheriff asked him to surrender his state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon.
A follow-up letter from the sheriff's department said the CCW permit would be reevaluated following the outcome of the federal investigation.
The YouTube videos, posted Nov. 28, show what the pilot calls the irony of flight crews being forced to go through TSA screening while ground crew who service the aircraft are able to access secure areas simply by swiping a card.
"As you can see, airport security is kind of a farce. It's only smoke and mirrors so you people believe there is actually something going on here," the pilot narrates.
Video shot in the cockpit shows a medieval-looking rescue ax available on the flight deck after the pilots have gone through the metal detectors. "I would say a two-foot crash ax looks a lot more formidable than a box cutter," the pilot remarked.
A letter from the TSA dated Dec. 6 informed the pilot that "an administrative review into your deputation status as a Federal Flight Deck Officer has been initiated."
According to the letter, the review was directly related to the discovery by TSA staff of the YouTube videos. "The content and subject of these videos may have violated regulations concerning disclosure of sensitive security information," the letter said.
The pilot's attorney, Don Werno of Santa Ana, said he believed the federal government sent six people to the house to send a message.
"And the message was you've angered us by telling the truth and by showing America that there are major security problems despite the fact that we've spent billions of dollars allegedly to improve airline safety," Werno said.
The pilot said he is not in trouble with his airline, but a supervisor asked him to remove public access to the YouTube videos.
He does, however, face potential civil penalties from the TSA. He said he would likely go public when it becomes clear what the government plans to do with him.
Unbelievable. This is not America. Time to stock up on ammo and firearms.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, leaving the funeral of a murdered Border Patrol agent Wednesday, scolded a reporter for asking her to address the victim's family's concerns that not enough is being done to secure the southern border.
The family of agent Brian Terry had complained that Napolitano had offered them "empty words" when she called to express her condolences. Terry's father, Kent Terry, in an interview with ABC affiliate KGUN, said he told Napolitano to "wake your man up in the White House," to which she replied that he's done more in two years than any president.
Napolitano attended the Detroit funeral Wednesday where she vowed "swift justice" for Terry's killers. But asked about the family's concerns outside the service, Napolitano said "now is not the time to talk about all that has been done."
She said more agents and technology are on the border than ever before, but told the KGUN reporter it's time to remember the fallen agent and not start picking fights.
"Listen, I don't know who you spoke with in the family," Napolitano said.
After being told the concerns came from his father, mother and stepmother, she continued: "Listen, we are here today, the commissioner is here today, the chief of the Border Patrol is here today and we are here and his comrades are here with the family, who said other things to me by the way, so I really don't think it appropriate for the media to try to pick this as a fight," she said. "This is a moment to remember a fallen agent."
On the other hand, look what the LAX (as in Los Angeles International) TSA agents started doing this week... TSA gets in the holiday spirit. I guess that might make the time spent waiting in line more enjoyable.
As of yesterday, I've been issued a clean STA (security threat assessment) from the TSA and I now have a badge that allows me access to secure cargo facilities at airports nationwide, including in-bond customs holding areas.
Claire Hirschkind, 56, who says she is a rape victim and who has a pacemaker-type device implanted in her chest, says her constitutional rights were violated. She says she never broke any laws. But the Transportation Security Administration disagrees.
Hirschkind was hoping to spend Christmas with friends in California, but she never made it past the security checkpoint.
"I can't go through because I have the equivalent of a pacemaker in me," she said.
Hirschkind said because of the device in her body, she was led to a female TSA employee and three Austin police officers. She says she was told she was going to be patted down.
"I turned to the police officer and said, 'I have given no due cause to give up my constitutional rights. You can wand me,'" and they said, 'No, you have to do this,'" she said.
Hirschkind agreed to the pat down, but on one condition.
"I told them, 'No, I'm not going to have my breasts felt,' and she said, 'Yes, you are,'" said Hirschkind.
When Hirschkind refused, she says that "the police actually pushed me to the floor, (and) handcuffed me. I was crying by then. They drug me 25 yards across the floor in front of the whole security."
An ABIA spokesman says it is TSA policy that anyone activating a security alarm has two options. One is to opt out and not fly, and the other option is to subject themselves to an enhanced pat down. Hirschkind refused both and was arrested.
OK... time to pipe in here... I went through O'Hare security on one of the international concourses on Monday and it was no big deal... really quick and easy...
So I got up to the bagage check in and it was a complete mob scene, sardines in a big hallway, I mean shoulder to shoulder, all carrying too much luggage...
The roaming agent told me to just use the kiosk, put in your card to get your boarding pass, easy...
Get through security, putting my id away, and I discover I left my freakin' debit card in the machine upstairs ten minutes ago...
I yell "F*CK !!!" and ask TSA if I have to take my bags back through. They said yeah, you will have to take everything back through unless you have a traveling partner who can control the bags while you run back up to look for your card...
Five minutes later and I find the card sitting on the kiosk I used... run back through security... and pick the full body scanner line...
The lines do not indicate which has a full body scanner and which do not... the first one I went through did not... the second one did...
Took less than five minutes... raise your hands over your head... stand on the footprints... etc... again, no big deal at all... quick and easy... I even forgot to take out my bag full of fluids in small bottles...
It is not a problem for me. I would much rather go through this quick inconvenience than have some a** light his underpants on fire next to me while we are flying over the Atlantic Ocean... whatever... I don't feel it is an issue.
I really hope flying out of Miami is as easy, but I somehow doubt it... we will see. Five PM flight to O'Hare on Friday the 31st...
"The stated reason was there was... They were unable to clear an unusual contour of my buttocks area," said Banovac.
Tammy wouldn't say what the unusual contour was, but says she's sleeping at the airport. She was told she would be allowed to board her flight home Wednesday morning.
Will the contour of her but really be more flight worthy the next day?
All is fine as long as you are a good sheep. If you dare say anything about the rights we have under the constitution, then you risk being singled out for persecution.
All of this is simply for the illusion of safety. Sadly it doesn't seem to work well at all.
The show bomber didn't go through U.S. TSA screening. The Fruit of the boom bomber didn't. etc. etc.
Have they (the TSA) actually caught a terrorist yet? I don't think so.
The underwear guy had a crappy bomb, that he probably ruined by fiddling with it. We lucked out.
The shoe bomber was caught because he didn't understand 21st Century U.S. Air Travel. He tried to use a match to light the fuse. If he'd had a bic, he'd have blown his feet off, and may have hurt many others. We lucked out.
I'm a smoker, and I know the one thing that will get a whole plane full of people kicking your a$$ is to light a kitchen match. Partly because of a long standing propaganda campaign about side stream smoke, that has zero scientific basis.... but sure does smell bad. But mostly because when the airlines banned smoking, they were able to reduce the air changes and turn down the AC, saving lots of fuel. Todays 7x7 or Airbus is adjusted to have far fewer air changes per hour than a 1930's DC-3. You light up in a DC-3 and the smoke rushes out the vents. In a 747, it hangs there. Passengers have learned without actual reasoning, that the bad smell of match or cigar won't go away...... that's how he got caught. Busybody unenlightened self interest.
By the way, you'd almost be better off in the cargo hold. The O2 content on a long distance flight is so low as to be dangerous. The pilots are often on oxygen for much of the flight. The FAA is deliberately NOT pushing the investigations on several incidents that are almost surely oxygen saturation related. But the pilots know. Ask an attendant after a few drinks... or right after they get off a plane and step outside and start breathing deeply in a cloud of cig smoke and car exhaust. It's better air than they've had for hours.
I have 3 simple concerns.
1. The John hopkins study that "Big Sis" cited on x-ray machine safety say the exact opposite she did. She lies. ( big surprise ) There is danger to the skin, eyes, and testes from the dosage. Not "you're going to die if the death ray hits you" danger, but more "statistics say you lose 5-10 years" But, and be sure to understand, that's BS statistics. Over a large population, and the numbers are very weak since there has been no real testing. Only time will tell if all you lab rats who fly a lot are going to need oncologists twice or 5 times as much as those who don't. ( right now it's not close to twice as much...and thats from space radiation. )
2. There have been multiple reports of TSA agents, who wear gloves to protect them, not changing gloves between people. Just plain EEEWWWW! STD's Ringworm, Scabbies, Lice, etc. can be spread. If you're going for the pat down and not the radiation bath, ask them to change gloves in your sight. Now. Let me know how much they abuse you for defying them.
3. Since there is no evidence that the system actually works that I know of, it's pretty obvious that it's a scam. If part of the scam is to intimidate and try to cow the citizens of a free nation into being sheep.... it's not the first time. It's still morally wrong. I don't think I have a need to ride a long distance in a third world bus that flies, but if it comes up I'll report back, if they let me.
I remember peanuts. Those days are long gone.
On statistics. The dangers from xrays as scribbled above are wag's, with no supporting data. I don't know the dosage, ( nor do the idjits running the machines, I bet ) and how harmful that type and level of radiation is is as yet still uncertain. We don't stand on flouroscopes anymore to look at the bones in our feet at the shoe store. ( great advertising ploy, don't you think? ) And the em radiation in cell phones and earbuds is still in quite some dispute.
One reason that enviromental alarmists ARE alarmists, is that "We're all going to die from above ground nuclear testing" sells better than dry statistics that show that you lose .00079 days off your lifespan, averaged out over the entire population, (which is meaningless) or... 1 person on the planet is going to die of cancer everytime you set off a plutonium minibomb...... on average. Not nearly as convincing, eh?}
You're way too smart and valuable to subject yourself to that.
As to the aircraft air, not sure I follow the logic as all aircraft these days have passenger controlled ventilation. I usually turn all the vents within reach to full-blast. It's a LOT of air-flow. Not sure how much fuel is invested in air-handling/conditioning on the aircraft; can't be that much at all compared to engine consumption.
If you ever fly sitting near me, you and all around would likely welcome the effect of a few lit kitchen matches.
Not sure about the validity of second-hand smoke alarmist assertions; often wondered about that myself; I just know that it is near intolerable to me, unless/until I join the party and smoke a butt myself. Then I'm immune for a while.
I agree with your point though, alarmism used to justify one's preferred course of action is just plain dishonesty.
Your point about getting the sheep used to the idea of government intrusion is one I'd not considered before, and it is chilling.
Blake, the plenum chamber that goes to the vent by your seat is only some of the air circulated through a modern airliner. The really old airliner ventilation systems before pressurized cabins ranged from open windows to ( DC-3 ) well controlled airflow to ensure enough air and to draw off the bad smells of cooking, smoking and b.o. Modern planes compress the air in the cabin to thousands of feet lower than the plane is, ( standard was about 8000 feet pressure equiv. ASL in a plane at 30,000, that may have changed, I don't get the trade mags as often as I used to ) and the air FLOW is a matter of how much bleed air you condition and let escape from the cabin. Jet engines make very hot air, and you have very cold air outside. There is a very big (5%+) difference in fuel use depending on how much air you use for AC. For an airline the seemingly small difference adds up quick per hour of flight, and works out to millions$ over the fleet over a year. The Airlines all went for a smoking ban because it was a major money saver.
On Smoking. Side stream smoke is very unpleasant. Stinks. Has small amount of carcinogens, and nicotine that can affect you. Walk into a closet with several smokers and you might even get a rush. Bad stuff. A good BBQ might even be worse for you, but it usually smells better. Hideous habit. Massive addiction. Makes Heroin easy to get off of by comparison.
Most of the doom & gloom about side stream smoke is bogus. You CAN get a heart attack by walking through the waft of stink of a pack of smokers. If you are that close to one, yelling "Boo" would probably do you in more reliably. Bogus argument. Smoke still stinks, though. Duh.
My point was the passengers stopped the underwear cretin because he violated a taboo. The Taboo has it's justifications, ( smoke stinks, and nicotine addiction leads to high probabilities of disease ) but the taught response to a sulfur match in a plane, though it may have saved lives, is still a symptom of herd mentality that bothers me a lot.
That's silly of me, to be sure. After all, Big Sis now has ads for me to denounce those who may be a threat. On her list, it's me.
