Homeland Security’s dossier on all your the travel you’ve ever taken looks something like this.
Homeland Security Boss: Before 9/12/01 Hijackings Were "Regular, Routine"
By December 16, 2008
BoingBoing’s Joel Johnson recently interviewed departing Homeland Security boss Michael Chertoff — and we all know how much you love “security theater”…
Woman Says TSA Made Her Take Brace Off, Stand On Sprained Ankle
By October 21, 2008
A Washington woman says the TSA made her take off her ankle brace before passing through security. Now her sprained ankle is fractured. “Then she made me lift up each foot individually and put all the weight on it. It was incredibly painful,” said Lona Dunlap. According to the TSA website, TSA agents don’t make you take off your brace. Rather, they’re supposed to swab the brace and look for trace explosive elements. The TSA is reviewing video footage and says it takes the allegation very seriously.
Woman Removes Bra To Get Through TSA
By August 26, 2008
Nancy Kates’s large underwire bra set off the metal detector in the Oakland, California airport. A TSA agent pulled her aside and patted her down, which set off Kates’ personal privacy alarm. “I said, ‘You can’t do that.’ She said, ‘We have to pat you down.’ I said, ‘You can’t treat me as a criminal for wearing a bra.’” Kates was given the option to “submit to a pat-down in a private room” or not fly. Instead, she took off her bra and passed through security just fine. Hooray for personal freedom!
TSA Confiscates Pudding, Misses Knife
By August 23, 2007
Ah, the dangerous liquids ban. We’re all so much safer because of it.
Cigarette Lighters To Be Allowed Back On Airplanes
By July 20, 2007
Starting August 4, cigarette lighters will no longer be banned from airplanes, according to the New York Times. The two-year-old rule was enacted after authorities claimed that the shoe bomber (Richard Reid) might have managed to detonate his feet if he’d had a lighter instead of matches.
