security theater

How Much TSA Abuse Is Enough?

"What on Earth does the TSA have to do to bump up against some serious resistance? If you feel like you've been sexually molested, you can go and cry on YouTube, like Miss USA did, but that's about as much sympathy as you're gonna get. You were molested for everyone's protection. And let's not forget the recent firing of 400 TSA agents for massive theft. If Americans are OK with a genital grab here and there, why not expand it to other places besides the airport? The longer that this goes on, the more emboldened the state will get, and that's exactly what they'll (slowly, of course) start to do." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Much TSA Abuse Is Enough?

TSA detains sick girl because she tested positive for explosives, mother says

"A 12-year-old girl who uses a wheelchair was detained for nearly an hour at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport by Transportation Security Administration agents who said they detected traces of bomb residue on her hands, according to her mother. Shelbi Walser, who suffers from a genetic bone disorder, was traveling with her mother from Texas to Florida for medical treatment Dec. 8 when she was prevented from proceeding through a security checkpoint. After nearly an hour, Daniels said agents suddenly told them they were free to leave, offering no explanation for the detention." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTSA detains sick girl because she tested positive for explosives, mother says

10-Year Veteran TSA Screener Busted for Stealing iPads at JFK

"A Transportation Security Administration screener has been arrested on charges he swiped iPads and other electronic devices from passengers' luggage at John F. Kennedy Airport. Port Authority spokesman Steven Coleman said Wednesday that 32-year-old Sean Henry, of Brooklyn, was nabbed in a sting operation using decoy bags in cooperation with the TSA. Coleman says Henry was arrested after leaving work carrying in his backpack two planted iPads and other electronic devices. He says stolen items were also found in Henry's home." Continue reading →

Continue Reading10-Year Veteran TSA Screener Busted for Stealing iPads at JFK

TSA Creates New Watchlist Of Those Who Failed Pre-Check Applications

"The Federal Register for Monday, November 19, 2012, quietly advises that 'TSA also is creating and maintaining a watch list of individuals who are disqualified from eligibility from TSA Pre✓TM…' Millions of frequent flyers have applied to PreCheck in the hope of mitigating the abuse they suffer at the airport. But now, with breathtaking irony, the TSA discloses that anyone it rejects winds up on yet another of the police-state’s watchlists, his agony at the airport even worse than before." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTSA Creates New Watchlist Of Those Who Failed Pre-Check Applications

The TSA Meets Independent Media – Opt Out And Film Week

"On day one of the 'Opt Out And Film The TSA' campaign, Dan Dicks of Press For Truth and Ashley Jessica went to the Buffalo International airport to help raise awareness about the intrusive and invasive TSA procedures. We were immediately surrounded by members of the TSA and also the Buffalo Transit Police who tried various intimidation tactics on us but ultimately failed to deter us from taking part in this important campaign." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe TSA Meets Independent Media – Opt Out And Film Week

Man with strange watch arrested at Oakland airport

"A bomb squad arrived within five minutes and determined there were no explosive materials in the watch, Nelson said. The checkpoint was closed while officers secured the area. McGann was taken to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin where he was charged with possessing materials to make an explosive device, sheriff's officials said. He was still in custody Friday night and could not be reached for comment. McGann told Transportation Security Administration officers that he's an artist and the watch is art, Nelson said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan with strange watch arrested at Oakland airport

Crooks steal $1.5M in iPads from JFK

"It beats waiting in line at an Apple Store. A pair of brazen crooks punched another hole in the lax JFK security when they stole a trove of new Apple iPad minis — worth $1.5 million — from the same cargo building that was the site of the 1978 Lufthansa heist featured in 'GoodFellas,' The Post has learned. The crooks struck shortly before midnight on Monday and used one of the airport’s own forklifts to load two pallets of the tablet computers into a truck, according to law-enforcement sources." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCrooks steal $1.5M in iPads from JFK

Maker of Airport Body Scanners Suspected of Falsifying Software Tests

"A company that supplies controversial passenger-screening machines for U.S. airports is under suspicion for possibly manipulating tests on privacy software designed to prevent the machines from producing graphic body images. The TSA sent a letter Nov. 9 to the parent company of Rapiscan, the maker of backscatter machines, requesting information about the testing of the software to determine if there was malfeasance. The company previously had problems with a 'calculation error' in safety tests that showed the machines were emitting radiation levels that were 10 times higher than expected." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaker of Airport Body Scanners Suspected of Falsifying Software Tests

Obama’s ‘secret’ cyber security law may allow ‘military deployment within the U.S.’

"The FOIA was filed in response to an article that appeared in The Washington Post this week, claiming that Obama issued a secret directive shortly before the elections that empowers the military to 'vet any operations outside government and defense networks' for cyber security purposes. However, because the exact text of the directive remains a secret, nobody can really say exactly what it does. That was somewhat disconcerting to American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Michelle Richardson, who told Raw Story on Wednesday that without the text, 'it’s hard to see what they mean.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s ‘secret’ cyber security law may allow ‘military deployment within the U.S.’