In a Capitol Hill hearing this week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano complained that extra carry-on bags brought through TSA checkpoints due to high airline checked-baggage fees are costing the agency an additional $260MN each year, forcing security...
As it Considers a Makeover, TSA Lets Man Slip Onto Plane with Three Box Cutters
Washington, DC is my favorite city in America and other than family and friends, that is the thing (well, place) I miss most as I enter my third month in Germany. DC is a bustling city filled with great...
See, I Told You So! TSA Full Body Scanner Fails to Detect Gun in Bra
Last March, the Government Accounting Office warned Congress that full body scanners have not been tested and may not be able to detect the very type of explosives material the machines were procured to detect. Few listened, as most members...
Seattle Restaurant Bans TSA Agents
A restaurant near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington State has refused to serve Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, posting a prominent sign by the door stating they are not welcome. Is this is a good thing? The story came...
Man Attempts to Bypass TSA Via Baggage Carousel
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I bring you the following story. The title may indicate sinister motives, but once again we have another tale of a love struck youth unable to bear the thought of being away from the girl that he loved....
Why I Do Not Support the TSA’s New Profiling Proposal
The media and blogosphere has been splattered with stories discussing the TSA’s plan to roll out a three-tiered "Trusted Traveler" program to assess passenger risk. The issue merits discussion because without further research, the thought of not having to...
Mice to Replace TSA’s Full Body Scanners?
Could mice be the answer to our airport security woes in America? What if we could leave our shoes on, avoid pat-downs, and avoid virtual strip-searches, all while getting a more accurate assessment of who is concealing explosive devices...
Feds Allow Limited Collective Bargaining Rights for TSA Airport Screeners
Relax. This is not going to be a union-bashing thread. But I’m not happy about the news today that America’s 40,000 Travel Security Officers (TSO’s) have been granted the right to collectively bargain. Before I get into all the...
Next Frontier for TSA: Airline Call Centers?
A former British Airways call center employee has pleaded guilty to agreeing to take part in terrorist training/insurgent operations overseas. He also pleaded guilty to transferring funds for terrorist purposes. The key part of this story, however, is what Rajib Karim...
TSA Prohibits Expansion of Screening Partnership Program
In a move that some are calling another TSA power grab while others are calling a logical and sound judgment call, Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole has rejected Springfield-Branson Airport’s application to opt-out of TSA-administered airport screening. More importantly,...
Man Arrested by TSA for Failing to Show ID Cleared of All Charges by Jury
Justice is sweet. I am grinning this evening because after a gruesome semester of Evidence (a standard law school course that most students take during their second year), I once again have a little faith in our jury system....
Passenger Finds JetBlue Pilot’s Lost Handgun at JFK
…and unknowingly takes it onboard with him before realizing his error! Another day, another problem with TSA’s Federal Flight Deck Officers program. I actually think the FFDO is a beneficial program that does more to promote security than any...
UPDATE: Man Appears in Court for Defying TSA Agents
Back in November 2009 I blogged about a man arrested at a TSA checkpoint at Albuquerque Airport for refusing to present his identification to TSA agents. He was charged with: concealing identity disorderly conduct refusing to obey an officer criminal...
Latest TSA Antics Further Impugn Their Credibility
So much for whistleblower protection… The mission of the TSA is to "protect the Nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce." You would think that when someone brings to their attention a security flaw,...
TSA Swabbing Hands at the Gate to Check for Explosives
Although the TSA started their passenger hand swabbing program last February, my first experience with it was today at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. Prior to boarding my JetBlue flight to Long Beach, an announcement was made by JetBlue...
Stephen Colbert Shows Us How to Trick the TSA Full Body Scanners
Nation, we have a solution to the TSA’s full body scanners: pancakes. Stephen Colbert tells us that "pancakes will allow law-abiding citizens to hide their private parts from the hungry eyes of those TSA perverts." For your viewing pleasure:...
Buck Howdy Pokes Fun at the TSA
The last few days have been quite taxing for me. Four exams last week and another one tomorrow have zapped my energy and left me with little time to blog–as I am sure you’ve picked up on. But I...
Senate Bill Targets TSA Full Body Scanners
The senior U.S. Senator from New York, Charles Schumer, has introduced a bill that would make it illegal for anyone to record or distribute images obtained from TSA full body scanners. While I prefer Ron Paul’s bill that would outlaw...
Even the TSA Concedes it is Defenseless
Flying with Fish contacted the Transportation Security Administration to further probe into the broken security paradigm at American airports and promptly received a reply from a “threat assessment analyst” at the Department of Homeland Security. How does it make...
Partisan Politics Behind TSA Public Reaction?
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat argues that public reaction to the Transportation Security Administration is hopelessly rooted in partisan politics. Imagine, for a moment, that George W. Bush had been president when the Transportation Security Administration decided to...
