Is that a police badge or just TSA?

by Jamie Rhein on

If you want to look official,–like you shouldn’t be pushed around, you need an important looking badge that looks like a police officer’s. That’s the latest idea of TSA. Soon screeners at major national airport checkpoints will have them.

Evidently, without a badge that looks official, some passengers haven’t been minding their manners while going through screening. A badge that looks like a police officer’s says, “I’m an important person. Trifle with me, and you’re toast.”

Well, maybe not that extreme, but at least quit arguing with us or hitting us–whatever it is that drives TSA employees nuts when people are making their way through a screening line.

TSA employees are pleased as punch with their shiny new badges, but police officers are put off by them. The worry is that if TSA officers looks like police officers, people may think TSA employees can do more than screen people and luggage. People may start shouting out, “Arrest that man,” when displeased.

Also, if TSA folks get to wear badges too, than what makes a police badge all that special? There’s one thing I thought of. It says, “Police.”

But perhaps the police do have a point, and the TSA badge does lessen the clout and status of police officers. I’m on the fence. The badge in the picture, by the way, is just a toy.

Superman eyes: TSA’s device to see through clothes in an airport near you

by Jamie Rhein on

When Catherine first posted about TSA’s body scan device, I thought that the term “Big Brother is watching ” had reached a new level of meaning. The machine is one that a passenger steps though so that millimeter waves can be bounced off his or her body, thus capturing a fairly perfect image of the person’s exact shape sans clothes.

This isn’t the naked-as-a-jay bird, in your birthday suit image, but this grainy, fuzzy image that you see here. Still and all, do you see what I see? I think the person has an “inny” navel. Or is it an “outy?”

The machines must be doing some good where they are being used already, one would hope, since TSA is springing for more of them.

Engadget picked up on the story that machines are being installed in Dallas, Detroit, Miami and Las Vegas towards the end of June. The machine was used for the first time at the Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. yesterday. Albuquerque, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver, and JFK in New York have had Superman eyes capabilities for a few months now. If you have a plastic or ceramic gun and think you’re going to take it on an airplane, think again. TSA is on to you.

Personally, I’m going for a pat down if given a choice. There’s something about this machine creeps me out a bit. However, in this USA Today article, one official said that the body imaging capabilities are just being tapped.

Hmmm. Here’s an idea. Come up with a machine that also does health screening. While it’s searching out weapons it can search out cancer. People who pass through the machines would then get a free health report printout. Just think, eventually you might be able to take a flight a year and do without that colonoscopy, mammogram or prostate exam. It’s just a thought.

More crazy airline news:

Don’t wear that Transformers shirt through security

by Grant Martin on

I hear a lot of complaints about the TSA, especially since the liquid bans were put into effect, but I’m usually pretty gentle with them. Most of the TSA officers seem to have the right intentions and are willing to work with you. Most of the time they’re just enforcing rules set by the DHS and you have no reason to give them a hard time.

This instance, however, is not one of them. Last week a guy traveling through London‘s Heathrow airport, a notoriously strict hub, got stopped and questioned for wearing a t-shirt with Megatron on it. If you’re not familiar with the program that was on the telly, Megatron is a fictional evil alien cartoon robot that’s on Transformers. A fictional cartoon robot with a gun for an arm.

Airport security didn’t like the fact that there was a gun on this guy’s t-shirt, so they made him change it, saying that they would arrest him if he put it back on.

Hey Chertoff: I know you don’t like depictions of weapons onboard your flights because someone could get confused and mistake it for the real thing. That’s fine. But this is a CARTOON ROBOT DRAWN ON A T-SHIRT. Don’t you think we could let this slide?

[Mind you, I realize that the TSA, proper, is not responsible for security at LHR — several commenters keep pointing that out. The UK’s own homeland security take care of screening at British terminals. The point is that the US & UK (and their respective agencies) share many ridiculous rules about prohibitions onto airplanes. Check out this article for a similar instance in the US. — GM]

TSA “regrets” the nipple ring situation

by Anna Brones on

It’s been hard not to miss the nipple ring story these past two days. But for those of you that were paying attention to other things, a woman flying from Lubbock to Dallas this week was forced to remove her nipple ring with pliers before clearing security and being allowed to board the aircraft.

Although she offered to show her nipple rings to Transportation Security Administration officials, they wouldn’t back down. To make matters worse, not only was she handed a pair of pliers after she couldn’t remove the ring by herself, but she heard TSA officials snickering as she struggled — a little painfully — to pull the ring out. “My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way,” said Mandi Hamlin. I think most of us would probably agree with her.

In response to the whole incident, today the TSA blogging team wrote a post to remind everyone that their “questions and comments on the incident in Lubbock, Texas have not gone unnoticed.” The TSA blog does such a good job of responding to our needs.

Although Hamlin is pushing for a civil rights investigation, the TSA holds that “the security officers followed the procedures for when someone alarms the metal detector and did nothing wrong.” The security officers may have followed the correct procedures, but in an official statement the TSA made its best attempt at apologizing. “TSA acknowledges that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets the situation in which she found herself. We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again.”

Plane strikes dog at Bangalore airport, skids off runway.

by Grant Martin on

Enough namby pambying about how Heathrow’s T5 has fallen short of all expectations and fostered disappointment worldwide. In the grand scheme of things, Britain, you’ve got things pretty nice. London Heathrow is one of the heaviest trafficked airports in the world — T5, the largest indoor structure, and once they get it working correctly the security and logistics should be among the most efficient in the world.

Still complaining? Try commuting out of India’s Bangalore airport instead. Their airport has become so overrun with stray dogs that a Kingfisher Airways flight nailed one during take-off this week, destroying the landing gear and sending it careening off the runway.

Four people were hurt and the airplane is a complete mess, while we can only assume that the dog is in worse condition.

So next time you’re fired up because the Airport Starbucks put 2% instead of skim in your extra-skinny-non-fat-mocha-latte with an extra shot of espresso, two shots of almond and extra foam, put yourself in perspective. Your aircraft and airline could be much, much worse.