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...
Despite the TSA, We Have a Lot to be Thankful For
It is Thanksgiving Day in The United States and the hot topic remains the Transportation Security Administration. As an ardent defender of the original meaning of the Fourth Amendment, I’ve dedicated a lot of time and space to attacking the...
The Silence of the (Airline) Lambs
In all the talk about full airport security, TSA, full body scanners, and enhanced pat-downs, one element has been absent: the airlines’ role in all this. Today is national opt-out day and as of noon ET, doesn’t appear to...
Big Week Ahead on the Airport Security Front
Progress was made last week on the airport security front. Backlash over the TSA’s invasive full body scanners and pat-downs is rapidly escalating and a number of key news items suggest the public is finally starting to push back....
Why the TSA Violates the Fourth Amendment
Earlier today, Steven Frischling, author of the Flying with Fish blog over at Boarding Area, posted a piece entitled, How the TSA Legally Circumvents the Fourth Amendment. I am a big fan of Fish’s blog–he is a nuanced writer...
TSA Exempts Pilots from Intrusive Pat-Downs and Full Body Scanners
Hot off the press, The Transportation Security Administration agreed Friday to let uniformed airline pilots skip the body scans and aggressive pat-downs at the heart of a national uproar. The pilots must pass through a metal detector at airport checkpoints and present...
My Solution to the Full Body Scanner Dilemma: TSA Explosives Detection Canine Team
Whenever I discuss the TSA’s obtrusive screening procedures, I can usually get people to sympathize with my point of view or at least understand where I am coming from. The inevitable response, however, is “Yes, I see this as...
Picture of the Week #11: The Terrorists Have Won
I know, I know. The “terrorists” can dress up as nuns. Or children. Or seniors. But pictures like the one below just make me sad (even if it is a few years old). photo courtesy: Flicker user Morning in...
Full Body Scanning from the Eyes of the TSA
While Gary does a tremendous job summing up my thoughts on the matter while offering pithy commentary, I too want to review a Mom vs. The World blog post, which claims to offer insight on the full body scanner...
More Backlash Over TSA’s Body Scanners
More pilots and now a group of university scientists are protesting a TSA security directive that will soon make full body scanners the primary method of passenger screening at airports across the United States. If my constant haranguing about civil liberties...
Should the TSA Ban Wi-Fi and Cell Phones Onboard Airplanes?
Obviously, my answer is NO. But it’s not like the TSA takes my opinions to heart… Here’s the latest buzz: mobile phones and Wi-Fi may be used to blow up an airplane, so the TSA is considering banning them....
TSA to Ban Toner Cartridges Tomorrow
Security Directive 1554-10-05 is out: starting tomorrow, November 8, the TSA is expected to announce that airline passengers will be prohibited from flying with printer ink and toner cartridges, sized at 16oz (by volume) or larger. This ban will cover...
AA Pilots Revolt Against the TSA
Check out this letter from Captain Ed Bates, president of the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents 11,000 American Airlines pilots: Fellow Pilots, In response to increased threats to civil aviation around the world, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has...
TSA’s Mysterious New Pat-Down Policy
Even before news came about the plot to blow up US-bound cargo jets on Friday, the TSA had announced another security enhancement: a "new hand-sliding technique" when it comes to pat-down searches. The TSA is smart enough to know that Americans...
ExpressJet Pilot Faces Job Termination for Refusing to Walk Through TSA Nude-O-Scope
First, you’ve got to read Michael Roberts’ account of the incident. Roberts is a Houston-based ExpressJet pilot who recently refused to walk through the TSA’s Advanced Imaging Technology (a clever Orwellian term for machines colloquially known as Nude-O-Scopes) at...
TSA Misses 200,000 Volt Stun Gun in Woman’s Carry-On Bag
Another story to add to the "TSA competence" file. Earlier this month a woman named Jen (who fearing reprisals from the TSA, has refused to provide her last name [yet still proactively contacted a local television station…]) forgot to...
