News:

Welcome to week4paug.net 2.1 - same as it ever was! Most features have been restored, but please keep us posted on ANY issues you may be having HERE:  https://week4paug.net/index.php/topic,23937

Main Menu

TSA Thread

Started by VDB, November 18, 2010, 10:25:55 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

VDB

It's been hot in the news recently, and against my better judgment I've been allowing myself to get all worked up over the latest TSA controversy -- the porno scanners & molestation that passes for airport security these days.

Here's the latest story I've read, a fairly amusing account in which the writer chatted up some TSA screeners about the new pat-down technique. The TSA, in recent days, has repeatedly reiterated its rote stance that the pat-down is not "punitive" for people who opt out of having nude pictures taken of themselves. Yet according to this guy's conversation with those agents, the procedure is absolutely designed to embarrass, humiliate and inconvenience travelers into always opting for the machine.

I last flew on Nov. 4, when I got a backscatter scan plus a pat-down that felt like it might have been somewhere between the old-style tame pat-down and the new balls-grabbing one you've been hearing about. Though maybe it actually was the new method and it turned out to be not quite as cripplingly terrible as you're lead to believe. I fly again next week.

Share your TSA horror stories and gripes here.
Is this still Wombat?

nab

I haven't flown in a plane since 1988.


I'm sure the experience would be quite different today. :crazy:

rowjimmy

http://wdbo.com/localnews/2010/11/sanford-airport-to-opt-out-of.html

"The backlash continues over those new TSA screening measures, and now one Central Florida airport has decided to go with a private security screening firm.

Orlando Sanford International Airport has decided to opt out from TSA screening.
"All of our due diligence shows it's the way to go," said Larry Dale, the director of the Sanford Airport Authority. "You're going to get better service at a better price and more accountability and better customer service.""

(follow the link for more)


VDB

^ I like to hear that.

I don't like to hear this:

QuoteThe TSA points out that even if an airport decides to use a private firm for security, the screeners still must follow TSA guidelines. That would include using enhanced pat-downs and the full-body scanners if they are installed at the airport.

Really we need to re-evaluate airport security from the ground up, not keep piling stupid crap on top of stupid crap.
Is this still Wombat?

rowjimmy

The thing that astounds me is that they aren't trying to implement this for rail travel.

Also astounding? this:

That's a view of a workstation in TSA offices at the Indianapolis International Airport.

Look at the desktop background.

Now look at this:



VDB

Wow. Wow. That is just spectacularly stupid and unprofessional. What moron ever thought for a second that's a good thing to put right there? Christ.

As for rail travel, are you saying this should be implemented there or you're just surprised it hasn't been? Of course the thing about trains is you can't exactly divert them from their course and plow them into a skyscraper, so the only issue is how much do we want to protect against the risk of harm coming to a relatively large number of people jammed into a confined area. Well, if that's the sole determinant of whether a place gets put on lockdown, you might as well install x-ray machines and crotch-gropers at every mall, stadium, subway station, church and tourist attraction in America.
Is this still Wombat?

rowjimmy

I ride a train everyday that runs underneath the US Capitol grounds.

I'm surprised that, if they were serious about protecting people and property, they haven't implemented this shit for rail...

Not that I want it. I really think that the security measures in place for rail are more than adequate and, not remotely invasive.

PIE-GUY

As someone who travels a lot, I have to say the xray scanners freak me out... The pilots union thinks there is risk of radiation. So far I've only been in one airport that even had the machines and I didn't end up having to go through it.

Still, if they put them in the Austin airport, I'll end up exposing myself to radiation a few times a month. Would I rather be groped? Perhaps.

But, more than anything, I really think they have gone too far. The xray is the equivalent to a strip search, imo.

Anyway, it pisses me off way more than having to remove my shoes.
I've been coming to where I am from the get go
Find that I can groove with the beat when I let go
So put your worries on hold
Get up and groove with the rhythm in your soul

StCarl

You touch my junk and I'm going to have you arrested.
Quote from: McGrupp on January 25, 2011, 02:39:37 PM
your overall taste in phish shows perplexes me.

rowjimmy

Quote from: StCarl on November 18, 2010, 07:41:43 PM
You touch my junk and I'm going to have you arrested.

If you refuse to allow them to see you naked or to touch your junk then you will be on the hook for up to $10k in civil penalties and you'll miss your flight.

This is where I draw the line.

You're going to walk me through a metal detector? fine.

You're going to require that I expose myself or allow groping? and have the fucking nerve to FINE ME is I say no fucking way? The terrorists win.

Tomapella

Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2010, 03:16:42 PM
The thing that astounds me is that they aren't trying to implement this for rail travel.

Also astounding? this:

That's a view of a workstation in TSA offices at the Indianapolis International Airport.

Guess where I'm gonna be flying from a few weeks from now.  *sigh*

Can you get fined for pretending you like it?

aphineday

I know a ton of pilots who have refused the body scan, and a number of them got pretty vocal after the new patdowns were implemented. This is a violation of our rights as American citizens, and an abuse of power on the part of the TSA. Absoultely insane. The union is going to hit this, and hit it hard. I can't imagine that things will stay the same for very long.
If we could see these many waves that flow through clouds and sunken caves...

Superfreakie

Quote from: nab on November 18, 2010, 10:29:49 AM
I haven't flown in a plane since 1988.

Seriously? Wow, that's amazing. I think from '88 to now I've flown close to a 1000 times.
Que te vaya bien, que te vaya bien, Te quiero más que las palabras pueden decir.

VDB

Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2010, 06:02:38 PM
I ride a train everyday that runs underneath the US Capitol grounds.

Yes, good point, I hadn't thought of that kind of situation. I was referring more to your basic, city-to-city train service. Pray no one tries to detonate a bomb under the Capitol any time soon.

Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2010, 06:02:38 PM
I'm surprised that, if they were serious about protecting people and property, they haven't implemented this shit for rail...

That's why it's as much a charade as anything else. Imagine airport-style screening for Metro. No way, you might as well not have the transit system at all, because it would become completely useless for people who need fast, easy, twice-daily transportation.

You know, in places like Israel, you hear all the time about bombs on buses and at nightclubs, etc., because that's where people congregate and it's easy to get explosives there. But people still take the bus or go out because it's easy and desirable/necessary to do so. It's an unfortunate fact, but a reality that as long as there are crazy motherfuckers in the world, we're going to have to accept some risks in order to enjoy the conveniences and comforts we expect to have in a free society.
Is this still Wombat?

rowjimmy

For the record... I wasn't talking about the subway.

Southbound trains from DC's Union Station depart via a tunnel system that carries them underground until they are beyond the capitol and the mall. I ride this every day.

(not taken @ Union Station)