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Pay the TSA $100 and Bypass Airport Security
An anonymous reader writes "Catching a flight in the U.S. isn't a great experience anymore due to the security checks involved. You have to remove your shoes, your belt, get your laptop out, be scanned and subjected to radiation in the process. Hundreds of other people are doing the same thing, meaning it takes 40 minutes instead of four. Now, the TSA has come up with a clever, money-making alternative. Instead of scaling back security or speeding it up, you can instead pay $100 and bypass it completely!"
W.T.F??
Oh, and first post!
But I'd pay double to just be shot out of a cannon at the target landing zone or something - anything instead of having to spend the rest of the 6 hour journey with the same people I had to stand in line with.
Secuity theater has been on the decline from comedy to tragedy for a while. Now it is simply a farce. It is about control and money and the illusion of security.
Silence is a state of mime.
Now only terrorists who can afford the $100 can take a bomb on your plane.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
...but I didn't expect it to be just cash money, and I certainly didn't expect it to be so low.
Reading the summary it seems all a terrorist would need is a 100 dollars extra and security would be piece of cakw. Off course it didn't mention that according to the article you need to be qualified first.
Bribery is a tradition I can get behind.
You could do the same thing, but cheaper. Seriously, how is this fundamentally different from legalized bribery?
-- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
The TSA's new program, Precheck, is free (right now it's by invitation only though). The $100 is for Global Entry, the program that lets you skip the lines for immigration. If you have Global Entry you automatically get Precheck, but Global Entry is not necessary for Precheck.
I hate the TSA as much as the next guy (probably more than most since I'm an international student and have to put up with their stupid security theater often), but get your facts straight.
In other countries, they call this Bribery and Corruption. In certain quarters of the US, it is worshipped as the "Free Market". Right up there with "campaign contributions".
"We can reduce the size of the haystack when we are looking for that one-in-a-billion terrorist," said TSA Administrator John Pistole.
lets hope those 6 guys dont have 100 bucks to throw at this scheme!
Or they feel so secure in their position that they're comfortable dropping the pretext that what they do is anything other than a huge scam. "We can reduce the size of the haystack when we are looking for that one-in-a-billion terrorist," said TSA Administrator John Pistole." That would mean that the TSA believes there's approximately six or seven terrorists in the world, so why is all of this necessary again?
The TSA is going to do an opt in background check on everyone that flies and if you do it you can go through a fast line.
And it will be free...
Really... if they make this reasonable it might solve the problem.
Have to hand it to the TSA. They were getting very close to getting terminated.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Is there any excuse now not to abolish the TSA in it's entirety? If anyone can pay 100$ and get on the plan with no checks, that means either the checks were ineffective to begin with, or were unneeded, besides the blatant greed over safety.
It's like the government wants to spark a revolution in America.
Have gnu, will travel.
Because terrorists don't have PDF417 scanners. Or PDF417 generators. I would be somewhat surprised if they actually did a proper DB lookup based on a boarding pass barcode.
this is a joke right?
Never say never. Ah!! I did it again!
So, $100, and a background check, and "some" of the time (up to 80%!) you bypass the regular security line until more people are in the program?
The background check bothers me. It just screams "We lost with the scanners, so instead we'll leverage getting rid of them to do a background check on every individual before they can fly".
FTA:
I hate it when people thoughtlessly mention large numbers in conversation when they clearly have no concept whatsoever of scale.
There are approximately 7 billion people in the world... so by the above gentleman's assessment, there would be only 7 terrorists, worldwide.
Seriously?
Sorry... pet peeve of mine.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
A full blown investigation takes a lot more resources than the 2 minute check on line at the airport. For those who travel often enough where it becomes a serious issue, I can see offering this rather expensive option, while also removing these frequent fliers from the everyday security traffic. If they're turning a profit on this, using this to generate revenue for the TSA, then we have the right to be angry.
The article mentioned a couple things that have profoundly disturbing implications when considered together:
1) This expedited screening program is by invitation only.
2) The TSA agents staffing the expedited checkpoints are smiling and extra-friendly.
So now, air travel has a caste system. VIPs (everybody who might possibly have a chance to successfully reform/dismantle the TSA) get kid glove treatment, and the filthy plebes get the rude assholes who steal stuff from your luggage and molest your children with complete impunity.
Joy.
To do this, you go through a background check and TSA interview, plus pay $100. It's an outgrowth of the SENTRI and Global Entry programs, which let you avoid the long immigration lines when returning to the US. And yes, it's worth every penny if you fly a lot.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Want to do something ostensibly illegal? Pay cash money to ignore the laws.
Just wait, every man will have his price.
People who have already been screened and approved for the Global Entry ($100) or NEXUS ($50) program are automatically eligible for pre-check. The TSA isn't making (or receiving) any money on this. The money is to pay for the background check and screening done to get into the trusted traveler programs run by customs and immigration.
The TSA is actually being *smart* here. If you've already been checked and interviewed for expedited entry into the country, why *wouldn't* you be trusted for expedited security screening at an airport?
Neil
So you can bypass them now for a payment. If anything doesn't justify removing them completely? as you can bypass their soul purpose for a little bit of cash. If the "bad guys" can afford plan tickets, i'm quite sure they won't worry about an extra $100, even more so if they don't expect to land...
The article makes it seem as though the offer will only be extended to those who, due to flying frequently, are invited to the program by air lines. So really it is for CEOs, celebrities, and politicians that fly frequently to avoid those few run-ins that they have had in the past. Maybe it is just cynicism, but I am feeling like this is just "we are trying to be better" posturing masking an attempt hopefully prevent accidentally groping someone that can use their social position to have their voice easily heard by a large number of people.
I just need to not have a history of not being a suicide bomber?
I got Global Entry. My interview was touch-and-go. I got grilled pretty heavily and finally the agent said "Why are you nervous? Are you nervous?" and I was like "I wasn't nervous until now" and then he asked "are you on any medication?" I thought for sure I was going to get denied, but I passed.
We make fun of TSA a lot but they do do a background check on you, the interview is looking for certain tells, and even with the pre-check you never know when you'll go through the expedited line or express. I'm betting the agent that scans the BP can also look for tells and push you through the normal line even if the BP says you can go through the quick one.
Also, Global Entry really delivers on re-entry into the country, especially if you're sitting up front. I'm in my car 10 minutes after the door opens (I know where to park right outside the arrivals hall, which helps too)
It isn't about security and the TSA just sucks.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Now we know what they were really after: Make a system so excruciatingly unbearable that you'll want to pay anything to skip it. Bunch of scumbags!
Bypass everything in the US touched by the government. Dump the dollars, don't go to the US. Nothing, as it becomes overrun with orwellian BO (Bushie-Obamite statists etc devolving parallel to the UK example) . Hitler and Mussolini could only dream of the coercive powers being developed in the US.
It's ALMOST worth it... except for the fact that you have to pay the $100 every year, if I recall correctly.
Does this smell a little like extortion to anyone else?
Pay $100 and my friend Bubba over there won't touch your testicular region.
Why do we bother to expect any kind of equal treatment any more? It's by invitation - are you going to get one? If our government and justice are for sale, why are we surprised that our security is?
and always been at war with Iran. The ministry of truth keeps all the old newspapers updated so that I can verify that fact.
Did you hear that the chocolate rations are going up again?
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
How many people, and for how long would have to boycott for the mass transit air travel industry to collapse? It's such a miserable experience even when it runs smoothly.
Case in point:
Spirit Airlines charges for water in flight... and we all know you can't bring your own through security. They have a convoluted checkin system that makes you think you have to pay for a seat assignment (on top of the price of a ticket). With no line at the ticket agent at Ft. Lauderdale Airport, the agent told us to use the kiosk instead of her because she would have to charge us extra if she printed our boarding passes (nice of her to tell us anyway).
What's next, you can only use the bathroom in flight with a swipe of a credit card?
One of the issues I have with the TSA procedure is the additional time wasted when travelling by air. To make sure you don't miss your boarding call, you have to arrive an extra hour to ninety minutes earlier than you used to. Now, that may be an annoyance, but to a consultant, that's 2-3 hours per trip that is either unbillable or less-billable. Sure you can work in an airport, but you aren't even close to fully efficient. Multiply those hours times the number of business travelers and you have a staggering loss of efficiency / opportunity cost.
While this is nice, it's not a guarantee. You can still arrive and find out you're in the regular line on occasion. It's nice that most of the time you don't have to stand in line, but it sucks because you still have to get there early just in case you get the traditional line.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
It works for me, and I'm normally a very nice person. When I go to the airport though, I let the TSA know exactly how far they can push me around, and that is NOT AT ALL. Be snarky. Rush them. Let them know you do not like, or want, to stand for their bullshit, and let them know that *you* know that's exactly what it is: bullshit. Don't use the "security theater" moniker. What they're doing there doesn't deserve terminology all it's own. It's bullshit, plain and simple, for the purpose of control. I have found that if you resist it strongly, with confidence and a proper amount of aggression, they will rush you through, knowing they'd rather avoid a scene than try and collar someone of a stronger will than their own.
Of course I'm a white male in my mid-30s, so your mileage may (unfortunately and to the utmost shame of my people) differ. Best of luck to everyone going through these situations though. The most important thing is to stand up for yourself and don't be complacent.
Lastly, I understand I will probably be arrested someday for how far I can take things at the "security" checkpoint. I feel that it's a worthy sacrifice for real, actual freedom though, and I hope everyone who reads this can and will feel the same. This whole situation will not end well for any of us if we just let it go.
It's a "buck 0 5"
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Here's what I object to about paying for the 'security' card: I'm a 'safe' citizen - No criminal record, no issues etc. So in effect every time I step in front of an officer at security I'm eating up the (expensive) valuable resources of a trained officer who would be better served questioning more 'suspicious' characters.
If I consented to a check, the governments of the USA and Canada would not have to waste valuable resources asking me questions any more, and would in fact save themselves money. Instead, they charge *me* money for the ability to repurpose their officers. They should be encouraging as many 'safe' citizens as possible to get these cards (for free) so security can be more efficient, and cheaper to operate.
I object to this non-sensical government tax grab.
It's not exactly like that, and it's not exactly new. First you have to pass a rigorous background check, the same one I passed to work for an airline.
Yeah, exactly, you have a pass a rigorous background check that will ensure that under no circumstances can you be bribed or threatened into bringing a bomb onto a plane by threatening or giving a pile of money to your family. First rule of security. Treat all people the same. Anyone getting special treatment is a huge liability.
Why did you hit the "reply to this" link on a FP troll, rather than the proper "Post" button? You could have picked your own Subject line and everything, for your valid comment. Now, it is forever a "reply"...
Just curious.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Bootleg DVDs fund terrorism. At $5 each, that's 20 to get a shoe bomb past security.
THAT DODGY SIMPSONS BOX SET COULD KILL HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE!
TSA has taken in almost 100 Billion dollars in taxes for it's budget since its creation 10 years ago. There are roughly 300 million Americans.
That means, for every man, woman, and child in America, they've taken in $333.33 over 10 years.
As a tax paying American, I'd like that rolled over into a "Get your cancer and perverts away from me" pass.
Side note: Their annual budget is still roughly $30 per person, per year, whether you fly or not. If in 3 years time, you find that the TSA still screens American passengers, then the money is not being spent correctly.
Sounds like the border pre-clearance system that has been in place for almost 10 years at the ground entry points like Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Lewiston, Pt. Huron and Detroit. There's been dedicated lanes for "Trusted Travelers", with an assortment of fast-tracking for commuters, and even Commercial traffic!
Maybe they've finally wised up, and are implementing the same data base for Airports? It makes sense to Finally apply it to air travel. It will certainly make it easier to track folks no mater what form of travel they choose to employ (if the authorities can agree to share the same database, of course).
Now, to get one, you have to have a clean criminal record in both Canada and the US, get fingerprinted, interviewed, and otherwise 'Vetted' as a Low-Risk traveler.
That gets you the Card. Now you also have to register your vehicle to use the lanes (and have the transponder affixed to the window), and ALL passengers have to have the card as well...
Still, much better than getting stuck in 2+ hour lines from time to time.
At least, the airplane is pre-cleared and all you have to worry about is not violating any of the myriad terms and conditions, thus losing the card, and being downgraded back to the unwashed masses.
Terms and conditions apply.
Not available at all ports of entry
Always have Proof of Citizenship with you, as they can Still ask to see it!
Oh, and watch out for strangers that want you to take anything for them! Seriously!
If it comes with dinner and a complimentary full body cavity search.
How about go naked through security check point? Fast and cheap!
You missed the 'you must be invited' part. So basically its a way for the elite to avoid the security checks.
really stinks!
And - I never go through them radiation things.
From the article:
"We can reduce the size of the haystack when we are looking for that one-in-a-billion terrorist," said TSA Administrator John Pistole.
Wow.
So if there's 7 Billion people in the world, then... there are only 7 people we need to find. Wow we're wasting a lot of time, money, and resources at the airports.
How about my discharge papers from the military? How about my State issued drivers license?
What a bunch of B.S. They all need to be removed.
This will allow all of the peoples representatives to travel, without going through the same hassles all the people go through. A broken democracy at work.
"Catching a flight in the U.S. isn't a great experience anymore"
when the fuck was it ever a great experience? All I ever remember of the airport is standing in line, being bar-coded, herded into the appropriate stall and sitting on my ass for an non determined amount of time all the while hoping that I didnt miss some faint announcement by the gatekeeper on the other side of a noise factory squawked into a CB quality intercom.
My shoes or items always set off the metal detectors, so I had to be pulled aside constantly cause "security" had never seen quick laces or a fucking belt buckle, and up to about 10 years ago I looked much younger than my age, then was hassled about my laptop ... "whats this KID doing with a briefcase, PDA and laptop OMFG... Im 22, you douche, and its the late fucking 90's and I got to spend my weekend installing a PBX system in Dallas, Is that OK with you?"
Just as long as you leave the [FSM] out of your hateful attacks. If you insult His Noodley Goodness, there's gonna be trouble.
FTFY
Captcha: Atheism. Does the captcha algorithm pull words from the comments or something? They often, I mean weirdly often related to the subject matter of the comment thread.
... you can have your bomb inspected and properly armed.
From the article:
"Both agencies say the programs can enhance screening of people they know nothing about if they can move low-risk people who submit to background checks out of the main queues."
So they're not only creating a caste system, they're using this to justify even more orwellian, draconian measures than are already in place.
What I like most about the Obama presidency isn't so much the transparency as much as the end to favoritism. No more buying yourself privileges like under previous presidents!
And Nexus has been around for a very, very long time. You can use a Nexus card to pass the US/Canadian border without as much as an agent looking at your car (except for random screenings).
To get it, you have to go through a gruelling interview process, you have to let the government invade any and every aspect of your personal life, you have to hand over to the government anything they'd like to look at, and you are under extra pressure to comply with the rules, because you get even stricter penalties if you violate them. Rules include things like importing/exporting absolutely nothing.
This isn't something the average person would want to do, and with the amount of screening, it's highly unlikely a terrorist would be interested. If they are, they'd have to really, really, really work hard to come up with a very complex false identity. They'd have to work way harder than either getting lucky at passing through the checkpoint as it stands (due to random screenings meaning many aren't checked) or better yet, they could just work at breaking the current regular security (much easier).
The average person would have absolutely no interest in this program. Hell, people who pass through the border daily would probably not be interested; in many cases privacy from the government is worth the extra couple of minutes.
It is certainly not "Hand a $100 bill to the TSA and go in an easy lane". It is "Hand $100 to the TSA, along with every personal detail you could think of (and some you might not think of), go through a grilling process, bring along your friends and family who need to discuss personal details with them too, and hope that after all that they think you're a stand-up guy. Maybe. If you never jaywalked, even once. And if you fail the multiple EXTRA rules, go to jail. For a long time. And lose thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines." instead.
Slashdot is really, really stupid sometimes.
Here's the pay $50 to not have your car searched version of this:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/menu-eng.html
Did I mention you'll also need to submit to a permanent-database-recorded fingerprint and iris scan? No? Well, I figured I'd save the best part for last. Although, you *can* forgo the iris scan if you refuse air travel privileges.
I love the line "We want as many people as possible in the program,"
So. You started with a system where most people are presumed innocent.
You changed that system so everyone was presumed guilty, but checking all of them thoroughly takes too much work.
Now you've created a program to allow people to be presumed innocent, that you're going to try and get most people into. Entry costs $100.
End result: You're right back where you started, but a few billion dollars richer.
It should read:
Pay the TSA $100 and Bypass Airport Security Theater
"It's a completely different experience than what you're used to," said Matt Stegmeir, a platinum-level Delta Air Lines Inc.
No. No it isn't. Last time I flew was in 2001. The worst I had to put up with was a metal detector.
Nowadays you practically need a colonoscopy to get on a plane.
It's just further proof that this is less about keeping people "safe" than "security theater" and bilking people out of money.
This is the functional equivalent of a township that reduces the speed limit of a street from 30 mph to 15 and installs speed tables every half block.
Then, a couple years later, they install a toll lane where you can drive through at the original 30 mph.
Bullshit of the highest order. And something some greedy sonofabitch needs to be shot in the face (repeatedly) over.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither." - Benjamin Franklin
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
That means the whole security checkpoint is nothing more than extortion.
Just a clarification. There is an international program called Global Entry, that is $100. You can get invited to the domestic program PreCheck either by being a frequent flier or being part of Global Entry. I am a frequent flier and participated in PreCheck, did not cost me anything. I did not pay $100 to join the Global Entry program. And btw, they still randomize more thorough searches.
Let's see ... I've had rejected:
The problem was that the first three of 'em were at the same time. It went down something like this: (I show my agency badge). "You need to show a government issued ID." "It was issued by NASA". "I can't accept that." "They let me fly here showing this" "I can't accept it, you need to show other ID" (I show my student ID). "We don't accept student ID cards". "It was issued by the University of Maryland, which is under the state government, so it's a government issued ID". "No, we don't take student ID cards, I need to see something else". (I pull out my military dependant ID). "I have this, but it's expired." (he writes 'no ID' on the boarding pass, and sends me for a pat down).
Note ... he never asked for a driver's license, which yes, I had on me. He just kept repeating 'government ID', but then kept rejecting them when I showed them.
Now technically the first one didn't comply with the full requirements, because it didn't have my height or eye color on it, but I used it for years without problems (it didn't have any identifying information other than a last name and a picture, but it was a hell of a lot more functional than the current one, as it had in HUGE text what the damned expiration on it was).
The sad one was when I got rejected because I gave my new 'unified' government ID. The guy's not rejecting it, he's just turning it over in his hands, looking at both sides ... spent a minute or two looking, finally, I asked him if there was a problem, and he replied "I've never seen one of these before", to which I replied, "You're wearing one". "I mean a NASA one" "It's the same as yours, but it says NASA on it" "Do you have some other ID on you?" (I then pulled out my driver's license, as I didn't have the others on me).
... and the really sad thing ... back in high school (before 2001), I worked summers for a DoD office that was across the street from the Pentagon. One day, I was making the mail run, and realized I didn't have my wallet, which had my military dependant ID, which was my normal picture ID, as the summer badge didn't have a picture on it. I dug through my bag, and managed to find a Photon (sort of like laser tag) ID -- a hand-filed out crappily laminated card, but it had my name and a picture ... and the guard let me in (without even going through the metal detector, as I had the summer badge)
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
I can see where this might be going. There are beautiful national parks in Borneo that you can't go to without paying money. There are obviously groping procedures that you have to undergo when you fly unless you have money, and in China you pay a "fine" for having a second chile in some cities So, in the future, only the rich can go to the most beautiful places, have a family, and travel in decency etc. etc.
Created a machine for revenue generation and rights deletion under the guise of security. Killed two birds with one fear mongering stone this time. Bravo!
They're already basically doing this in airports now. I flew out of SFO recently after a job interview and I was shocked to see that the people who had paid the extra $40 "priority pass" (or whatever clever name they had for it) actually got to skip the "random" full body scan and instead were ushered through a standard metal detector. Us peons just had to suck it up and enjoy the extra free radiation, or as in my wife's case, wait 20 minutes while they find a woman who is certified to moles...err pat her down...because she gets enough radiation working x-ray machines all day at work (dental hygiene).
I've never dealt with any of that, but I have with SSBIs, Single Scope Background Investigations what they do for Top Secret security clearance. They do a massive amount of interviews of friends, coworkers, family and so on the the singular scope of determining if you are the kind of person who might give classified information to someone you shouldn't.
As such there are investigators all over who handle this, and they also have different styles.
A former coworker of mine is getting his clearance and so an investigator came out to meet with me and my boss. Guy was extremely nice, genial, and so on. Probably works pretty well for getting people to speak freely. My coworker says the guy he's dealing with (different guy since he is on the other side of the country now) is kind of a jackass, has the "I'm going to grill you and see if you break," sort of thing. Not so effective on my coworker, being a former Marine and also having nothing to hide, but annoying when he talks to someone else.
I'm sure there is the same variance with CBP people. I'm sure some are nice and friendly, and some are jerks.
This is obviously to avoid pissing off people who have the power to hurt the TSA such as, for example, Alaska State Rep. Sharon Cissna who got angry at the TSA for groping her and introduced legislation against TSA searches.
http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/02/23/1641251/state-legislatures-attempt-to-limit-tsa-searches
blindly antisocialist = antisocial
One problem is pretty obvious. If the TSA has anything less than 100% successful 'terrorist' detection rate, then all the would-be terrorist organization has to do is submit multiple terrorists to the 'bypass' program until they get enough who pass it to accomplish whatever nefarious scheme they have in mind. Of course, this is only a problem if the TSA is actually concerned with catching terrorists or securing planes, which they are obviously not. In truth, this fits perfectly well with the TSA's real function: keep the masses used to humiliation, submission, and obedience, or suffer harsh penalties. It's just the next logical step in the neo-feudal nightmare America is slowing turning into. The ruling class and their trusted minions have the wealth and societal influence to get to skip the humiliation and delays the mere serfs trudging next to them are subject to. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than other animals.
Has anyone seen the new South Park? http://www.newtorrents.info/down.php?id=99584
Fat black female TSA agent (groping the lady's tits): "Takin a dump today ma'am?"
Lady: "Uh. No, just need to pee."
Fat black female TSA agent: "Alright I just needs to check inside your Ass Hole."
I can't afford a a ticket, but with this discarded used ticket I got from the waste bin... my junk has never seen so much action.
Yeah. That kinda defeats the purpose of the random regular screenings, doesn't it. Otherwise J. Random Terrorist would just have to become a frequent flyer and be enrolled in the Precheck programme to do his thing. Now wouldn't that be convenient.
What do you think a "colons-copy" is? :)
:)
The Captain America amusing "fondue" misunderstanding comes to mind here
For your enlightenment, if you want to know what the GP poster was referring to in their exageration of TSA inspection (ie. as shown by the words "practically need") it's this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonoscopy
Sometimes this place and grammar nazi weirdness is unintentionally very funny. I'd make fun of your innocent mistake a bit more but I'd feel like a copy of a colon
Yeah, I know. Godwin's law and all that, but there are situations were it makes sense, and is important, to make comparisons to the Nazis. The Holacaust would never have been possible without a way of separating the undesirables from the "good guys". Hence the Nazis invented the "Aryan Certificate" - a document confirming that you had passed a background check.
Now the U.S.A. has "Precheck" - a document confirming that you have passed a background check. The exact selection criteria are of course classified, but I'm sure it's hard to get one if you belong to certain religions or political organizations. Right now its only for airline travelers (what's the harm in speeding up security checks?) Then it will be mandatory for teachers and public employees (Think of the children!) Then there will be security checks on trains and subways (Terrorists! Besides, almost everyone has Precheck these days, so what's the problem?) Then, Precheck will be required to drive a car (it could be loaded with explosives!) If you object, then you're sympathizing with terrorists, and you might not get your Precheck card renewed.
Making sure the Holocaust does not happen is not as simple as "don't re-elect Hitler" - He's dead. It's not even about Nazis - They will never again have any real power. To make sure we never see another Holocaust, we must realize that it is always possible for evil people to get into positions of power, and make sure we never put systems in place that enables systematic discrimination of any group of people.
When I was returning from the middle east from a year deployment, I sat down in my cramped up ass seat next to some square, who promptly complained about my slightly large bag not fitting completely under the seat. (Like a quarter of it was sticking out tops.) He was bitching because he would have to step over it to get out of his seat, like it was such a big deal for a grown ass man to have to inconvenience himself slightly for someone's much greater comfort. I basically told him to deal with it.
So then the cowardly, all too typical and common excuse for a "man" calls the flight attendant over and complains to her .Of course she takes his side and now I have to stow it somewhere. Unfortunately there is NO room anywhere in any overhead compartments, so I had to take the goddamn bag all the way to the front of the aircraft and put it in first class, where I would not have access to it or any of the stuff I brought along to keep me occupied ...... for the entire 19 hour flight.
The stupidest thing was, once we got in the air and I took my laptop and stuff out, the bag would have been smaller and probably easily fit under the seat. But the way I was being rushed like this was a big deal caught me off guard and I didn't think of it.
The piece of shit next to me only had to get up twice. I think he probably held it to avoid having to ask. I never spoke a word or looked at him the entire trip. In the end he was inconvenienced a hell of a lot more by my hostile attitude and slow movements than he ever would have been by my bag. What a miserable flight for everybody.
Tell you what, I'll pay triple to just skip the whole airplane thing altogether. Just load me up in the damn cannon, Jules Verne style, and shoot me directly there.
"randomly" patting ME down, they are TOTALLY useless.
Even IF the TSA wasn't a huge con, I STILL wouldn't fly.
The fact that resources are wasted screening ME, over and over again, and scrutinizing ME means they are THAT much more likely to miss someone that is an actual hazard.
is common in the Middle East, now the US too apparently.
If anyone wondered how VIPs, rich saudis and celebrities would skip TSA scanners, this is it. The $100 bit is just icing on the indignity cake.
On somewhat related news, the TSA has, after years of hard labor in the name of scientific advancement, succesfully performed an amazing feat of entanglement between the moral misery commonly found in South American countries and the dehumanizing indignity more commonly experienced by North Korea residents. The physical distance between the two local minima of human dignity is on the order of 14,000 Km, thus proving without a trace of doubt that advances in fundamental science are the sure way to the bright future that awaits those who understand how to pull human beings down to the level of animals, thus proving that the direction in which societies have been moving in the last, oh, twenty centuries, was WRONG. As proof of our sentiment, we reproduce (with permission) two paragraphs from TFA that surely convey our proud sentiment of the scientific feat:
"""
TSA says Precheck members are selected randomly for regular screening to enhance security. But that unpredictability irks frequent travelers. The agency doesn't make travelers go to the end of the regular screening line, however, but instead slips them into the front of the regular queue.
"I like Precheck, but it would be much more valuable to me if I were able to know before leaving for the airport whether or not I had Precheck approval for that day's flights," said Beth Allen, a University of Minnesota economist and frequent traveler.
"""
With the genuine, sincere and warm feeling that accompanies a job well done, we now leave the delightful news behind us, fully expecting the new developments in the field that shall bring americans rewarding and enriching experiences at the airport, while at the same time showing the path forward to other good-willed nations of the first world where the values of freedom reigns supreme. Good night, all good men of the Earth.
Bribe/extort us or be humiliated.
Ok here is a solution to all this mess that eliminates the need for the TSA. Post 9/11 everyone knows that if a plane is hijacked, you'd better fight the terrorists or plan on dying anyway (there is practically no hijacking as a result). The biggest risk would be if a coordinated team of hijackers were to try and board a flight or plant a bomb. In the event that a team of hijackers were to try and get on a flight, in the waiting area to board the flight install a big red button. If anybody on the flight gets nervous because it looks like there is the remote chance of danger they go over and hit that button. When that button is hit it sends a signal to the airport that that plane needs extra scrutiny, and whoever is in charge of security at the airport is reqiuired to go over and examine that plane and its occupants for the possibility of malicious activity before it takes off. That security officer would have the right to halt the plane until the occupants have been studied/searched. A camera would be pointing at the red button to record who pushes it, and if the person did so with petty malice they could be held responsible.
All well and good to be able to get onto the plane quicker - usually (article mentions that these "precheck" passengers still get randomly singled out for full checks) but if most of the other people on your flight are getting fully checked, you're still spending the same amount of time waiting on the ground for everyone else to be checked. Not really that much better (apart from getting to sit down to wait rather than stand in a queue) unless your entire flight (or the majority of it) was "prechecked", and the rest of the passengers were given the same express lane normal check treatment that randomly selected precheck passengers are.
is that it gives the TSA less opportunity to steal from you. There's been about one arrest/week of a TSA worker for crimes against passengers since the program began.
See http://shinybadge.com/ for more information about TSA abuse.
Maybe it's been descending to Tartuffe.
We spent a trillion dollars putting a system in place to check for Apple Juice but if you pay $100 you can get out of it.
"King Louis XIV almost immediately censored the play, probably due to the influence of the archbishop of Paris, Paul Philippe Hardouin de Beaumont de Péréfixe, who was the King's confessor and had been his tutor.... Though Tartuffe was received well by the public and even by Louis XIV, it immediately sparked conflict amongst many different groups who were offended by the play."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartuffe
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
I'm glad you're paying attention to what your chosen president has been doing in office, however, it bothers me that in your synopsis you haven't considered Obama's approval of NDAA without removal of its unconstitutional segments. I suppose if you still trust him, the next natural course of action is to remove term limits so no one you don't trust gets into office with that law in effect. I for one cannot vote for him again even while I can agree that the positives you listed above are excellent. The assaults to our freedoms he has allowed the US government to make in the last four years (particularly the passing of NDAA) are too much for my liking, and will be voting for another candidate for president and for legislative representation.
"...And who wants to make buttprints in the sands of time?" ~Bob Moawad
What a person has done in the past has absolutely nothing to do with what they may do now. John Wilkes Booth was hardly a person of ill report. The sniper in the tower in Texas had been an eagle scout and served his nation. In his case a cancer in his brain turned him into a mass murderer. Bernie Madoff had the ultimate history and reputation in the financial industry. Enron was thought of as a stunning example of industry. The list is endless. This $100 bypass gimmick is simply a demonstration of those with money throwing their weight around. This is like the actress who slapped the cop getting sentenced to a hotel instead of jail. This sewage needs to stop. It is the type of insult that causes common people to become violent.
I always thought there should be a thing for people that had security clearances to bypass airport security. I mean, hell, we're entrusted with some of the government's secrets, surely we can bypass airport security right? This seems to kinda be that program I was waiting for. Sure I have to pony up $100 but having a clearance I'm pretty much guaranteed to clear it and I won't have to wait in security lines anymore.
Awesome.
Leaving aside ethical questions of what data should be required from people to travel, it seems to me that this 'service' (pre-checking, data collection on individuals, interviewing with security agents) has a cost attached. Somebody has to pay for the computer checking, the security officer potentially spending an hour with you asking you questions etc: they need an income to pay their bills. I'm guessing the message is that a software program (even if provided for free to the government) isn't up to the job on its own. Some hundreds or thousands of low level office workers have to be paid to go through the records of all those people who ask for one of these cards. Enforcement agencies might argue that your claim to be 'safe' as you have no criminal record does not hold with their experiences of who commits crime.
I suppose in the USA the model is for lower personal taxes and then more services to be purchased individually later, whereas in places like Europe, the model is more of a larger number of services paid by taxes then offered later to citizens for no cost. Depends on your preferred model of society?
$100 to bypass security eh.
Al Quaeda will never be able to afford that.
*eyeroll*
Seems to me, this has a long and fine history in the old US of A. Why, back in the civil war, it was 300 dollars for a substitute to avoid the draft!
Seems to me, for a mere hundred dollars, this is a bargain.
On a slightly more serious note, the implications that the US of A has valued the damage caused by 9/11 to be $1900 USD (2001), or about $2443 USD right now, are interesting. As I recall, there were 19 hijackers. But hell, lets double it to 38. $3800 USD was the price the American government would, therefore, have put on the entire thing.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Why the heck doesn't anyone who has a CAC/PID, the government's trusted ID card used by civilians, military and contractors have access to these lines? The government already spent plenty of cash doing background checks on these people.
My card (the standard gov issued one) gets me into the whitehouse (even the west wing) with an escort, with the security screen process being less intrusive than going through an airport. Heck, the west wing doesn't even have any screening. The guard just opens the gate and lets you in.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
Must be nice to be a rich guy. You can afford to use the express lane (HOT) on the Interstate that all tax payers paid to build. Now you can get on the plane first, and pay off the TSA from groping your balls. I'm glad our society fixed the problem of rich people having to wait like everyone else.
First off the headline is bullshit, you aren't bypassing security at all. I have seen this first hand and here is how it works at the airport. You go up to security, at some airports like Detroit you still wait in line with everyone else unless you have airline status for the first class line, in Dallas they have a whole separate security checkpoint just for this. Then, they check your ID, scan your boarding pass, and if it says you get expedited security you get to go through the "special line". In the special line your backpack/bags still go through an x-ray and you go through the metal detector.
Advantages:
Keep on your belt, shoes and jacket
Faster line if you are a frequent business traveler
Don't have to wait behind Marge and her eleventy kids trying to go through at the same time
Disadvantages:
If you were not pre-approved as a frequent flyer by your airline you have to apply the old fashioned way
The application process SUCKS!
The website is horribly slow
You need every bit of information the same as you would for getting a government security clearance
You need to go have an in person interview and provide a lot of identification
You might not get approved
I think I've seen those ads on matchbook covers too - "Can you GROPE this clown? You might qualify to become a TSA Agent!" FTFY
When do we just start shooting the people who come up with these ideas? Seriously. Ok, maybe not shooting them. We could blast them out of a circus cannon into the Atlantic. We could feed them to hungry bears. Something, anything to make an example. This is not ok.
You're ignoring the graft that government contractors are getting through this system as though it's not relevant or a driving factor in the program.
Oh, wait, their primary motivation for this program is safe travel and efficient use of your time and taxpayer funds, right?
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
If security is really what the government wants to promote, it would go the other way. No more evading the security check lanes by anyone. If you are rich enough to own a private jet, you still should have to pass through the security check lanes before you are allowed to get on your private jet. Some private jets are really big! A private jet can be just as dangerous when crashed into a building as a commercial jet. Also, a private jet might be easier to hijack than regular commercial jets because there are usually a lot less people aboard that might foil your hijack plans.
The real point is this. There should be no distinction between the elites (rich) and the common man when dealing with the government.
Note: I said SHOULD.
Where I come from, we call that a "bribe". But I guess institutionalizing it makes it okay!
What's the difference between the TSA and the Gestapo? Gestapo employees got paid a good wage.
Everybody gets what the majority deserves.
and that is good. last thing we need is more nigger-bulls running loose, best to keep them in prisons.
From watching the movie, didn't the terrorists flown first class?
What kind of terrorists have the money for first class seat to get close to the cockpit but can't afford extra $100? Don't get me wrong, I understand that there would be a background check prior to the TSA theatre, but we are not talking about terrorists that board the airplane to streal some US top secret like in a spy movie here. We are talking about terrorists on a suicide mission here. So, what kind of background screening are we talking about here? Hm, a terrorist that was on a suicide mission before and didn't die will get rejected? But if your background is clean, even if you are terrorist we give you a chance by paying $100?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- If picture worth a thousand words, how many megapixels is it? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If you don't like the TSA, or being blown up mid air, then take a private jet asshole or walk asshole
Terrorists won't spend the extra $100 to get precheck service.