I have long allowed off topic comments. However, after many complaints from folks who would understandably like to stay on the subject, I am providing this post as a place to comment things that are way off topic with the current post.
I’ve added a link to this post on our sidebar so people will know to post off topic comments here.
You now have the option of subscribing to posts, so you’ll be able to keep up with the comments here if you so choose. So it’s not as if your comment is being exiled to the land of forgotten comments. We’ll be paying attention, and you can stay up to date with an RSS feed.
As much as we’d like to hear about your synchronized swimming club, I ask that all comments posted here remain TSA focused and adhere to TSA’s comment policy.
Blogger Bob
TSA Blog Team
1,447 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1401 – 1447 of 1447TSA could save lots of time and have fewer patdowns, if they just sent passenger back through the scanners a second time when the first time alarm goes off. As a frequent traveller, I've witnessed that the machines DO get it wrong at times. Second "run throughs" can eliminate patdowns!
Okay Bob, I cant wait to see how you spin tale of the latest batch of TSA miscreants, who were arrested for taking bribes to allow drugs through screening checkpoints in LAX:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/25/tsa-screeners-charged-in-los-angeles-drug-trafficking-probe/
My question is, how many "individuals behaving badly" do we have to witness before we can identify a culture at an over-reaching agency?
Secondly, since the TSA mandate is to protect us from weapons, incendiaries and explosives, why is this such a big deal? I think this case puts the TSA in a clear catch 22 with regard to the 4th amendment to the US Constitution. Becaause now, it is nota safety check for weapons... its about a WARRANT-LESS SEARCH of every bag to see what you can find?!
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/tsa-screeners-drug-arrest.html
Several TSA agents arrested for taking bribes to help smuggle drugs.
Just going to leave this right here to remind people who the TSA is.
I just want to say that I recently read the story of the ridiculous situation in Wichita involving a 4 yr old child. Regardless of "rules and regulations" these agents were out of line. There has to be a time when common sense needs to be applied IN.EVERY SITUATION UNDER EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE. The child had already passed the screening process so to call her a suspect at all is quite a stretch. It's amusing that you all say you don't use fear as a tactic, but the saying goes "your actions speak louder than your words" and this one incident blows your "no fear" bs out of the water. I mean at one point they wanted to take this already terrified child into a seperate room by herself!! All the things we teach our children about strangers now and you are surprised this would only escalate the situation further?? If these are the sort of agents we have at our front lines then I'm sad to say I don't feel safe at all. All the time they spent harrassing that poor child, and make no mistake harrassing is what that was, and a real terrorist could have slipped through. TSA you truly failed the people with your actions in this because you defended these ridiculous individuals. Your job is to protect this country AND THE PEOPLE IN IT, I'm not alone when I say that's not what you did on this day. On this day you became the very thing we fear, shame on you.
If some TSA employees are willing to smuggle dangerous drugs for relatively small bribes what makes anyone thing they would not be willing to help introduce bombs on airplanes for perhaps larger sums of money?
Keep in mind that TSA airport employees go largely unscreened and have free access to the so-called sterile areas of airports.
TSA has all the manpower needed to abuse a 4 year old girl but has nothing to ensure some real security in the nations airports.
Time for Congress to bring an end to the reign of TSA Terror.
How do I find out if I am on some kind of security checklist? Every single time I have flown with my infant son (9+ times in the last year) I have been flagged for a screening. I follow all the rules - putting my liquids in baggies etc. Being screened by security, especially when traveling alone with an infant, is taxing and stressful on both of us. I appreciate any insight.
Anyone with health problems should not fly commercial airlines. It has become too dangerous.
http://refreshingnews99.blogspot.in/2012/05/diabetic-teen-upset-with-tsa-screeners.html
any comment on the Jet Blue / Baby incident? - http://boingboing.net/2012/05/09/tsa-orders-baby-off-plane.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
While this is certainly not off topic in any TSA discussing the on-going illegal censorship by TSA employees continues unabated.
It seems that TSA has attempted to hide millions of dollars of equipment from Congressional investigators even trying to spirit the equipment out of a warehouse in the dark of night. TSA also apparently provided false inventories to these investigators in an attempt to mislead Congress.
So much for that Oath that states people working for TSA are people of Integrity.
Looks like criminal charges may be in store for some in TSA over this issue. John Pistole, TSA's leader, should step down as he is the responsible party for everything happening under his watch at TSA.
Read more here:
Congressional committee considers criminal referral for TSA
Congrats on saving us all from the 18-month old bad, bad baby! Keep up the great work... you guys are doing a heck of a job.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/18-month-old-baby-pulled-flight-parents-interviewed-175521187.html
Whoo hoo!!!! Go TSA go TSA! WOOT
I am placing an advisement to Diabetics who wear insulin pumps.
Wearing your insulin pump through the full body scanners at the airport security check in could damage you insulin pump!! I recently flew for the first time and was told to leave my pump on when going through the scanner. This action damaged the programming of my insulin pump and I soon began to feel ill after the flight. Not knowing there was an issue and being away from home I just dealt with feeling ill, I then went through the scanner again on y return trip. After returning home I progressively got worse and went to the hospital. There I was accused of administering insulin and deleting it from the pump, as a result they threatened to put me in the psych ward for trying to kill myself. After a long battle my pump was taken from me and tested. They found that its programing and calibration was messed up and I was placed in the ICU do to almost dyeing from insulin shock.
I have been informed by the insulin pump manufacturer that the scanners and x-ray machines are known to cause problems.
Please for your safety opt out of scanner or remove it and ask it be inspected without x-ray.
Really Bob, watch this video. And watch the whole thing to learn about your unprofessional behavours
In Newark yesterday, a TSA screener told me it appeared that I had "too many coins" in my bag. She then swabbed the coins. Exactly what was the swabbing supposed to accomplish? Coins are not a danger to a plane. If she found traces of explosives on the coins, would TSA have assumed that they were MY explosives? Coins pass through thousands and thousands of hands, and I would like to think that TSA would be aware of this before they detain someone based on swabbed coins. Can you comment on the purpose of swabbing the coins and TSA's response if the coins showed traces of explosives?
So not only are we paying the TSA to violate our civil liberties, we are paying them to maintain a blog? I can't wait to see all of these TSA people in line at the unemployment office.
I am disgusted by the treatment I recieved by the TSA agents at O'Hare recently. My Turkish airlines flight was on the run way for nearly an hour after landing which caused me to have to rush to catch my connection to Washington DC. When confronting TSA staff near immigration and secruity check points, none of the staff showed any sympathy or empathy for my situation and the fact that I was likely about to miss my connection. However, the kind folks in the lines let me cut ahead of them saving me time. I stepped through the scanner and thought I was in luck, just enough time to catch the flight! But No. I was pulled over to the side after the scanner and told to wait. I kindly reminded TSA staff that I really needed to catch my flight which was about to depart in five minutes and reminded them that I had adhered to protocal they had set forth (shoes off, belongings in bins and through scanner, arms up in scanner). No dice, I was kept waiting before someone finally came by and started to feel me all over and literally, put his hands down my pants! Now this is an obvious violation of personal space in any country, never mind one that is supposed to be a beacon of freedom. I reminded this indvidual I was in a hurry and while he was TOO close and personal, said rudely "If you are going to talk, I can make this last as long as I want". To add further disgust to my situation, other TSA staff, WITHOUT asking, opened my bag and searched through it! Now why is a law abiding citizen in a "free country" who is NOT doing anything at all suspicious or illegal being treated like a potential criminal and harassed for no reason and being held up from catching his plane? If you were there, this reeked of simpled power trip and nothing more! I have travelled to nearly 25 countries and secruity is always flawless! Anyway, I ended up just barely missing my flight, thank you very much TSA. The whole situation, from far too close pat down, to the rude remark, to the violation of my constitutional rights sent shivers down my spine. Is this the cost we have to pay just to travel in our own country?
And, after the TSA agents OF COURSE did not find anything in my bag, did I get an apology for their wasting my time? Did I get an apology for the unneccessary pat down (exactly after I stepped through their scanner too!) Nope, not so much as a word. Not even trying to hurry me through the terminal to perhaps help me catch my plane!
Come on America, this is supposed to be a free land! Not one where one is persummed Guilty until proven innocent! Not one where our private property is entered into (AFTER being scanned) without permission or so much as a word!)
I will remind my many foreign friends of the trials and tribulations of entering this land and weigh these annoyances against the possibility ofsimply flying to another country where staff are more human!
Come on America, this is supposed to be a free land! Not one where one is persummed Guilty until proven innocent! Not one where our private property is entered into (AFTER being scanned) without permission or so much as a word!)
I will remind my many foreign friends of the trials and tribulations of entering this land and weigh these annoyances against the possibility ofsimply flying to another country where staff are more human!
June 1, 2012 5:18 PM
...............
I suggest that you tell your friends that the United States is no longer a free country, rather it is now a police state.
TSA proves it everyday!
Question for TSA, if airport employees can bring in 1oo's of kilos of drug bundles and place those bundles on airplanes because TSA refuses to do its job and screen them what is keeping these people from bringing in explosives?
Seriously? a PR 6 for an unrelated comments section? Oh please count me in here and my extended stay deluxe philadelphia airport too. Thanks.
Does TSA have an official policy about dumping out human remains and then laughing about it or does it depend on what day it is and how funny it seems to be?
Containers with remains (ashes) are never opened. Initial review concludes circumstances described are inconsistent with what happened.
Blogger Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team
It seems many incidents that get reported on are "not as what happened" or "against policy and therefore did not happen".
Is this high a percentage of travelers actually nuts?
"Initial review concludes circumstances described are inconsistent with what happened." What was your initial review—asking the agent, "What happened? " "Nothing!" "Well, then, case closed!"
So once again, the complainant is lying? He claims his grandfather's ashes were opened and spilled. Do you have video of the incident? Or are you simply going to deny, yet again, that your agents are capable of being discourteous, unprofessional, and rude?
Also, I'd like to point out the irony that in order to post a comment, you want me to prove I'm not a robot...
Blogger Bob said...
Containers with remains (ashes) are never opened. Initial review concludes circumstances described are inconsistent with what happened.
Blogger Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team
June 26, 2012 7:51 PM
Tell us about that review. Who was questioned? What checkpoint video is available to support TSA claims? Why is the Orlando FSD apologizing to the people involved if nothing happened?
Evidence is clearly needed since TSA ands its employees are known to be less than honest.
The spilling of the remains occurred June 19, 7:25 in the morning. Its been over a week, with no follow update from the TSA
Your initial review was that Gross was lying,to quote the TSA statement:" Initial review concludes circumstances described are inconsistent with what happened.". Does the TSA still believe this? The silence on this matter is deafening.
It has been a week since the cremains were reported spilled. The TSA has called Gross a liar, in saying " Initial review concludes circumstances described are inconsistent with what happened."
Does the TSA stand by its initial stance on this incident?
I guess we hear and read only of the bad experiences that people have with TSA and so have no expectations. I lost a carry-on bag at Newark Liberty airport while connecting from Paris to Las Vegas in mid-June. I got in touch with TSA and they managed to locate the bag by going through the camera-feed. All the contents were intact. I must admit I was not expecting to receive everything that was in there – especially a Nikon camera and jewelry (which was easily worth a few thousand dollars). There obviosly are some people who do take their job seriously and go out of their way to help passengers. Kudos to them
Any comment on the TSA agents stealing from, lying to, and mocking deaf passengers?
http://reason.com/blog/2012/07/10/tsa-agents-at-louisville-airport-steal-d
Seems TSA screeners in Kentucky think it's ok to mock a hearing impaired person and to steal harmless candy from the person.
Is this what our EIGHT BILLION DOLLARS buy in the name of TSA?
http://boingboing.net/2012/07/09/tsa-mocks-deaf-man-as-fcki.html
Sign the petition: Require the Transportation Security Administration to Follow the Law! http://wh.gov/OBth
To the person that the tea helped find lost luggage that's great but don't read to much into even a broken watch is right twice a day and they still stomped your constitutional rights into the ground even if you did get your bag back.
Question from a frequent business traveler. I just purchased a travel curling iron with a thermacell butane gas cartridge. The package says its tsa approved. Is that true? If so, can I take it in my carry on? If so, does the cartridge go in my 311 bag? Separately, as a frequent business traveler I enjoy this site and find it useful and entertaining, but it's not clear where the proper place to post questions is. I'd recommend a link being posted on the site for "send you questions here" if this off topic link isn't the right place to do that.
"Those who profess to favor freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
They want rain without thunder and lightening.
They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." -- Frederick Douglass
Who would have guessed a TSA blog post would have so many comments???
I've never had a problem so can't complain yet.
I live in Seattle, and I just returned from a three-day trade show in Las Vegas and I found the TSA screeners at both airports to be courteous, helpful and pleasant. I haven't flown for a number of years and this was the first time I had encountered the level of screening that we all have to go through now. A friend told me what not to take in my carry-on luggage and how to display my laptop computer and assorted parts and equipment that go with it when I go through the checkpoint. I had no problem with the full-body scanner and was surprised at how uninterested and matter of fact the screeners were with my computer gear in my laptop bag. I do not feel that my civil rights were infringed upon in any way and appreciated the kindness and pleasantries that the screeners exchanged with me. Keep up the good work, TSA! And thanks for keeping us safe.
I bought a disposable razor, deoderant and after-shave on the strip in Vegas that evening after I got there for a total of six bucks. Big deal.
Anonymous who's all squishy about the TSA forgot to mention he/she or a loved one works for the TSA.
Airlines Sometimes Share the Blame for Slow TSA Screening Processes, Deputy Says
Airlines Sometimes Share the Blame for Slow TSA Screening Processes, Deputy Says
Seems TSA's Deputy Chief John Halinski told the House Homeland Security transportation security subcommittee that its the airlines fault for the terribly long wait times at disorganized and non-functional TSA Screening Checkpoints. Why can't TSA take ownership in its failings?
The long lines at TSA checkpoints are directly caused by the poorly managed checkpoints. TSA screeners standing around and doing nothing is a very common sight.
Another problem is that TSA has rolled out the Strip Search Machines as primary screening devices, even after swearing they would only be used in a secondary role, and we all know that the Electronic Strip Search takes considerably longer than the more traditional Walk Through Metal Detectors and Hand Held Metal Detectors, the later of which TSA tossed in the trash.
Of course TSA being unable to accept its failures must blame some other party.
Who will TSA blame for not complying with Federal Law, namely the Administrative Procedures Act, which a court ordered TSA to do over a year ago.
It is clear that the current TSA leadership is not capable of managing such a large and complex organization. Seems like we need a complete house cleaning at TSA starting with a capable Administrator.
While I do not have a problem with TSA for the most part; they do make me a little more secure when traveling, I would like to ask a question? How in the world did a Cat get thru screening in the ladies suitcase and end up in Orlando FL and no one ever caught it? When things like that happen, it does make me wonder just how secure is flying these days?
Has this incident by TSA in Seattle been address in the blog?
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2012/10/leukemia-patient-embarrassed-by-sea-tac-pat-down/
Concerned.
All federal employees take an Oath when being hired, even TSA employees. The oath is simple this:
"I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."
Yet even after taking this oath this TSA Blog operated by any of several persons but in particular Curtis "Bob" Burns continue to violate their Oath by frequent and unlawful censorship of political speech, speech that is protected by the United Sates Constitution, as amended in the First Amendment, commonly known the Bill of Rights.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Yet nothing is done when these federal employees violate their Sworn Word. That my friends is anarchy. TSA engages in many practices that violate the Rights of the People. Invasive Searches that make direct contact with our genitals. Electronic Strip Searches, even some physical Strip Searches, confiscation of property without due process. All of these things and more that TSA is doing violate our way of life.
It is well past time that TSA be made to obey our laws. Prosecute those who will not. Jail those who violate their Oath to the United States.
TSA is doing a great job!
If MMW machines are all equipped with ATR software, why does TSA still show the naked image examples on the AIT "How it Works" page?
Anonymous - The photo example you mention is from the backscatter, not the millimeter wave. TSA uses both backscatter and millimeter wave.
Thanks,
Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team
Many of our readers have asked if our officers are required to give their full name when asked by a passenger. Hopefully I can provide some clarification.
If asked, our officers are only required to provide their last name and rank. This information is printed on the nameplate on every officer’s uniform. Furthermore, supervisors, managers, and customer support managers are not required to provide the officer’s full name.
As far as the photo ID badge on the officer’s uniform, this is a badge that all airport employees must wear. It’s called a Security Identification Display Area (SIDA) badge. Basically, it’s a badge that allows employees access to non-public areas. One side of the badge has the employee’s full name on it. Many officers choose to wear their SIDA badges vs. a name badge. This is permissible.
If at any time you need to file a kudos or complaint regarding one of our officers, the only information you need for us to be able to recognize an employee or resolve an issue is:
Last Name/Rank/Date/Time/Location
Our officers have a right to privacy, and TSA has the responsibility of protecting our officers from the harassment that could result from revealing their full names.
Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team
CORRECTION:
Many officers choose to wear their SIDA badges so their full name is not visible. This is permissible.
Thanks,
Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team
Shelbi Walser.
Let's see you TSA...apologists...explain this one.
Really extra ! Great !
Blogger Bob,
If I understand you correctly, TSA employees with unfettered access to the entire airport, passenger baggage and boatloads of personal passenger information are entitled to "privacy", but the traveling public is subject to violations of the 1st and 4th Amendments on a routine basis.
Also, I'm glad to hear about the actions in St. Louis recently. I always suspected that 3 year olds confined to a wheelchair with spina bifida were among the new wave of terrorists.
Good job TSA.
Post a Comment