The IRS is celebrating the results of an AP poll that ranks the TSA as the most hated arm of the federal government. More than anything, Americans apparently hate being inconvenienced by seemingly pointless and arbitrary security checks.
The AP poll, conducted Monday through Wednesday, found that the more people travel, the less they like TSA.
The TSA’s 3 ounce liquid/gel rule doesn’t just apply to shampoo and lotion, it also also applies to festive season items like pies, jams, salsas, sauces, syrups, dips, lotions, creams, scented oil, liquid soaps, perfumes, and snow globes. They also don’t want you flying with wrapped gifts but that’s just kind of a “please, thanks,” they’re not going to confiscate your presents. Yet.
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TSA screener arrested for trespassing after flight attendants closed the cabin door while he was on board saying goodbye to his parents. [AP]
The TSA wants to know your birthday and if you are a boy or a girl, says USAToday. Apparently, they’ve been tagging too many of our fine citizens are terrorists and need more information in order to help with their “background checks.”
FareCompare’s Rick Seaney analyzed TSA’s data to find out which of the top 40 busiest airports have the longest security line waits. To get the results, they honed in on max times on Mondays from 2pm-6pm, Oct. 30 through Nov. 27.
Complaints against the TSA have skyrocketed in recent months. August saw a 88.1% increase from a year prior. The TSA says that the increase is due to advanced technology they’ve implemented (more telephone lines, bandwidth and better software), that make it possible for every single complaint to be tracked. The new gear replaces the previous system which, taking inspiration from the Incas, relied on an intricate network of knitted yarn
Instead of cramming your carry-on with crap, the TSA says we can all make security lines go faster if we pack neater. They want you to pack in layers; a layer of clothes, then a layer of electronics, then a layer of any heavier items. This way, the security folks can more quickly determine the bag does not contain an explosive device. For once, something the TSA said actually makes sense.
The TSA has a holiday food travel guide up on its website and the verdict is in: Pies and cakes are OK, but “be advised that they might be subject to additional screening.”
The TSA is testing a new level of security screening at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and it requires you to take every electronic component out of your carry-on luggage and put it in a separate bin, reader John tells us. He writes:
The latest episode of PBS’s Exposé shows local new investigators uncovering three different chasms in airport security. At one airport, a graveyard shift security guard lets in employees and delivery guys without doing a security screening, how easy it is to walk up to a regional commercial jet, and a woman with a IED taped to her leg getting past the TSA. The full show is available for free online.
Reader Jake says a TSA agent dropped his laptop, smashing it in several places, then threatened him with arrest when he asked about filing a damage claim.
Turns out there’s a hidden gem in that 2006 TSA report that was recently leaked to USA Today (and previously written about here)—among the various stats and figures is the following statement: “At San Diego International Airport, tests are run by passengers whom local TSA managers ask to carry a fake bomb, said screener Cris Soulia, an official in a screeners union.”
Lines the length of city blocks filled New York’s LaGuardia airport Saturday morning after a careless worker spilled tomato juice onto one of the five x-ray machines in the American Airlines terminal. A TSA spokesman cast the tomato juice’s victory over the machines as a failure of science, saying: “That’s the risk you take when you deal with technology.” Passengers were understandably pissed.
When CBS 2 HD told one woman the reason for the delays, she asked if we were “kidding,” but it was no joke. The Transportation Safety Administration confirmed the spill knocked out one of the five units that screen thousands of passengers here each day.
According to a new report from the Transportation Security Administration, TSA agents failed to find fake bombs during security tests 60% of the time.
In its efforts to combat terrorism, fight human trafficking, and bust drug dealers, the Department of Homeland Security compiles a large database of where you go, who you travel with, what you read and more. If you’re curious about what this record contains, you can request a copy of your file under the Freedom Of Information Act. Unsecure Flight hosts two form letters for submitting this request, along with instructions for doing so.
According to the Washington Post, the TSA is compiling extensive traveler records that can track passenger reading preferences. The Automated Targeting System is ostensibly designed to help officials ferret out terrorists; citizens who recently asked the government for records of their travel found that the databases also contains: “a description of a book on marijuana that one of them carried and small flashlights bearing the symbol of a marijuana leaf.” Our government’s long maw even reaches abroad to gather information on flights that don’t brush against U.S. airspace.
Ann Harrison, the communications director for a technology firm in Silicon Valley who was among those who obtained their personal files and provided them to The Post, said she was taken aback to see that her dossier contained data on her race and on a European flight that did not begin or end in the United States or connect to a U.S.-bound flight.
Here’s a ridiculous story about the TSA, the San Diego Airport and Delta Airlines. It even involves allegations of “death threats.”
At this point the husband of the family, my hero – got love New Yorkers (living in Florida). Screams at the top of his lungs “He’s with us, you let him up here right now!” directly into the face of the TSA bouncer that made the announcement earlier.
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Did you know you don’t have to show your ID to TSA employees when flying? Did you know that refusing to do so can get you bumped to the head of the line? [NewsBlog]
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