Loss of Privacy

Pilots have been talking to the TSA and pilots may have their security procedures changed.

This is what we are fighting against. This comment is from the comment section on CNN:

I hope this guy really does decide not to fly again. I would hate to have him on my flight. I have been patted down and scanned and never regretted it. I am a nervous flyer, and appreciate the feeling of security TSA provides – although I do think the manner of the some of the agents needs improvement.

The uninformed and ignorant public are fine with the “feeling” of security the TSA provides. They are fine with the invasions of privacy so long as they feel like they are secure. When, on its best day, the TSA only screens about 5% of its cargo, how much better do you think screening passengers really is? The TSA hasn’t caught any terrorists.

We need to fight against, not only the horrific full body scanners and invasive pat downs, but also against people who don’t know what their talking about. Write your representatives in Washington and remember Opt Out Day is November 24th.

Opt out day is November 24, 2010. If you fly, make sure you opt out of the full body scanners at the airport. Until everyone starts doing this on a regular basis, the TSA will continue this garbage.

TSA Administrator John Pistole thinks opting out is stupid. He thinks a national opt out day is irresponsible.

On the eve of a major national holiday and less than one year after al Qaida’s failed attack last Christmas Day, it is irresponsible for a group to suggest travelers opt out of the very screening that could prevent an attack using non-metallic explosives. After coming to TSA with 26 years of law enforcement experience at the FBI, I understand the serious threats our nation faces and the security measures we must implement to thwart potential attacks.  This technology is not only safe, it’s vital to aviation security and a critical measure to thwart potential terrorist attacks.

John Pistole wants you to live in fear and play nice with the TSA. Do as you’re told. The technology is not safe and it is not vital to aviation security. Opting out on a major holiday creates awareness that Pistole and the TSA do not want average Americans knowing about.

The new administrator of the TSA, John Pistole, tried to address the issue of why we still need to keep the ban on liquids when we fly. His reasoning may have sounded plausible, until you read the comments. That’s where the truth lies.

The liquids rule continues to be a necessary step because current intelligence shows that liquids are still a threat, and until TSA has the technology to screen liquids at checkpoints, the only other alternative is to ban all liquids. We’re not going to do that. TSA is getting closer to finalizing upgraded software for X-rays that will allow liquids to be screened. Until this happens, we will continue with 3-1-1 to keep you safe when you fly.

Thus, Mr. Pistole claims all he is trying to do is keep Americans safe. Then, you start reading the comments.

If liquids are such a threat please explain how the TSA screens the tens of thousands of bottles of soda, water, and other beverages that are sold in airports?

Further, if liquids are such a threat, why is the threat disposed of without care or consideration in waste bins near the checkpoint? Surely explosive liquids disposed in such a way would pose a threat to at least as many people as a liquid bomb on a plane would.

I can go one step further by asking why my soda was such a threat that the TSA agent needed to remove it from my bag, then give it to another TSA agent, who opened it and promptly drank it before I was even out of eyesight.

You guys are completely useless. You serve no other purpose than to make naive people feel secure, and I don’t even think you do a great job of doing that.

Can’t say I disagree with this statement either.

If these liquids are such a threat then why are aircrew exempt from these same regulations?

Why does TSA violate EPA hazardous waste storage and disposal regulations by combining unknown and possibly explosive liquids in common trash containers.

How many ounces or baggies of liquid explosives has the TSA confiscated from terrorists over the last month? Over the last 6 months? Over the last year? Since the program’s inception?

Come to think of it, I’d like to know the answer to that too. The best comments, however, come from the user Adrian.

Terrorists have wanted to (and tried to) use liquid explosives for decades before the limits went into effect. One was actually detonated on a flight, killing one passenger in the mid 1990s. Why didn’t we overreact then?

Most explosives come in solid form, and there have been far more terrorist attacks using solid explosives. Why don’t we limit the amount of solids through the checkpoint?

The UK plot involving liquid explosives also depended upon a second (solid) explosive/detonator disguised as a AA battery. Why haven’t we banned all batteries from flights? Can the X-ray machine tell the difference between a real Duracell and an explosive wrapped to look like one?

The fact of the matter is, that solid or liquid, explosives require a detonator. Detonators are hard to get through the checkpoint because they look funny on x-rays and they set off the metal detectors. Some may even be detected by the random residue testing. That’s a big reason why Mr. Sizzlypants failed last Christmas. That is a security success. We don’t need absurd restrictions on liquids. (We also don’t need to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on privacy-invading whole-body imaging machines.) The only reason this stupidity isn’t undone, is that nobody wants to admit it was stupid.

And if that doesn’t explain why this is all security theater to you, well, you’re just too stupid to see it.

The TSA wants everyone to follow the guidelines of “see something, say something,” without actually thinking if something is really out of place or if it’s something that’s perfectly natural. New York City officially kicked off this week-long campaign today at Penn Station with the swearing in of John Pistole, the new head of the TSA.

The program is being launched in partnership with Amtrak just months after two alert street vendors reported smoke coming from a car in Times Square. They saw something, said something, and helped thwart a terrorist attack. This just proves what we’ve known all along. The public plays a very critical role in keeping our nation safe.

Unfortunately, the public isn’t as informed as it should be and, while most people might let something slide, with this campaign in their face, they’re going to report everything without thinking. It places undue burdens upon the public to be able to discern real concern from normal events.

John Pistole should be concentrating on instead is the failed Secure Flight program that unjustly puts people on the no-fly list with no recourse to getting off or to stop being harassed each time they want to travel. He should be focusing on hiring qualified, educated people to be TSA agents instead of the “low-brow, abuse everyone” agents they hire now. Pistole should also admit that the liquid ban is not necessary and repeal it immediately.

He needs to implement consistent requirements at every airport and not let TSA agents at the airport use their discretion to decide what one can and cannot take on board. If potato peelers are legal at one airport, they should be legal at all airports. Pistole should immediately order and independent investigation into full body scanners so everyone can know and understand what dangers these machines may or may not pose to a person’s health.

Finally, these rules and guidelines should be published and readily available to the public so that they don’t have to worry about “gotcha” security procedures. Pistole needs to admit that, besides heavier cockpit doors and letting the public react to threats on a plane, everything else has been a failure and a huge overreaction to the problems at hand. He must assure the public that it is impossible to keep every 100% safe, 100% of the time, but that they are working with highly trained individuals to make you as safe as possible. Extensive training with qualified personnel instead of the thugs that man the security posts are a must. In addition, repealing the liquid ban and scrapping the no-fly list and starting over are the first steps that Mr. Pistole can take to regain public confidence in an agency that many find to be ineffective and a useless waste of taxpayer money.

The TSA has not caught one terrorist in its eight year existence. They did not catch the Times Square bomber. They even let him board a plane despite his name being on the no-fly list. We don’t need more security theater. We need an agency that understands the practicalities of daily travel and can admit when policies don’t make sense, quickly moving to repeal such measures.

Out of the ordinary doesn’t equate to terrorism. See something, be hesitant to say something. Mr. Pistole would do well to heed these words.