In the past, I have been somewhat ambivalent about TSA screenings at airport security. Okay, I did once refuse to remove my shoes and walk barefoot on the nasty floor. That earned me a serious pat down. Then I learned to take socks with me so I could comply and still have clean feet.
But now, with the new and extreme pat-down procedures, TSA screeners seem to be getting out of hand. More airports are sending them packing in favor of hiring private security firms with better-trained employees to handle that responsibility.
We, as a country, seem to handle airport security in a purely reactive manner. Someone tried a shoe bomb, so now we take off our shoes. Someone tried the underwear bomb, so now we have full-body scanning. Then terrorists put explosive material in a toner cartridge, so now airlines won’t ship toner cartridges – as if that’s the only way that damaging material could be placed in cargo. So very frustrating.
Israel, a country with a target painted on its back for many years, has an excellent record for air travel safety, and they don’t use some of our foolish methods. They profile. They have highly trained individuals working at airport security lines. Maybe we should get smart and hire them as consultants to perfect our airport procedures.
In the meantime, the following links will take you to real-life TSA outrages. The first is the manhandling of a little three-year-old. The second is a story about a TSA agent who pulled down the blouse of a female traveler and exposed her breasts. Unbelievable!
toddler:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ByKOhAhsU
woman exposed:
http://gizmodo.com/5692583/woman-suing-federal-government-after-tsa-screener-exposed-her-breasts-to-entire-airport
But now, with the new and extreme pat-down procedures, TSA screeners seem to be getting out of hand. More airports are sending them packing in favor of hiring private security firms with better-trained employees to handle that responsibility.
We, as a country, seem to handle airport security in a purely reactive manner. Someone tried a shoe bomb, so now we take off our shoes. Someone tried the underwear bomb, so now we have full-body scanning. Then terrorists put explosive material in a toner cartridge, so now airlines won’t ship toner cartridges – as if that’s the only way that damaging material could be placed in cargo. So very frustrating.
Israel, a country with a target painted on its back for many years, has an excellent record for air travel safety, and they don’t use some of our foolish methods. They profile. They have highly trained individuals working at airport security lines. Maybe we should get smart and hire them as consultants to perfect our airport procedures.
In the meantime, the following links will take you to real-life TSA outrages. The first is the manhandling of a little three-year-old. The second is a story about a TSA agent who pulled down the blouse of a female traveler and exposed her breasts. Unbelievable!
toddler:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ByKOhAhsU
woman exposed:
http://gizmodo.com/5692583/woman-suing-federal-government-after-tsa-screener-exposed-her-breasts-to-entire-airport
1 comment:
Here's the latest horror. A female flight attendant in uniform went through the full-body scan, and two female TSA agents asked her to go with them into a private room. One agent put her full hand on the flight attendant's breast. "What's this?"
Flight attendant said that she'd had breast cancer and that was her prosthesis. The TSA agent then told her to disrobe and REMOVE the prosthesis and show it to her!! The horrified woman complied.
She has now contacted her union to represent her in an action against the TSA. Apparently, these agents have absolutely no common sense.
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