Slashdot Mirror
Taking Sense Away: Confessions of a Former TSA Screener
OverTheGeicoE writes "TSA gets discussed on Slashdot from time to time, usually negatively. Have you ever wondered about the TSA screeners' perspective? Taking Sense Away is a blog, allegedly written by a former TSA screener, offering insider perspectives on TSA topics. For example, there's the Insider's TSA Dictionary, whose entries are frequently about the code screeners use to discuss attractive female passengers (like 'Code Red,' 'Fanny Pack,' and 'Hotel Bravo'). Another posting explains what goes on in private screening rooms, which the author claims is nothing compared to screener conduct in backscatter image operator rooms. Apparently what happens in the IO room stays in the IO room. Today's posting covers how TSA employees feel about working for 'a despised agency'. For many the answer is that they hate working for 'the laughing stock of America's security apparatus,' try to hide that they work for TSA, and want to transfer almost anywhere else ASAP."
Why is it so many people who deride the TSA as being ineffective against terrorists think that same government can stop mass shootings by making guns illegal?
Hotel Bravo is a winner, and I'm keeping that one.
I'm pleased to hear that at least some of the people working for the TSA are ashamed. They should be.
One wonders what would happen if an ad-hoc, "name and shame" reputation network were to identify TSA agents everywhere they went. It's easy to imagine the near-universal environment of hate stares, extreme rudeness and occasional violence from victims of the TSA's Orwellian tactics putting direct pressure on TSA employees themselves to drastically reform their arrogant policies.
A truly excellent pizza parlor is a delight unto the heavens. Treasure the sauce and the toppings!
for the TSA. It's the only job he's ever been able to hold down.
He's stupid and lazy, but at least he's arrogant. Almost killed my cousin, his wife, by convincing her that chiropractic should replace her insulin.
He's fiercely proud of the TSA.
This space available.
Can we please be a bit rational and think of the children?
Please?
For as much as the technolibertarian parts of the geek community loves to rage against the TSA, they're not actually that unpopular with the general public. There's some good poll data on this.
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
Can we please be a bit rational and think of the children?
He is, he noted that the TSA is 42% of NASA's budget. With that kind of increased funding we could send the children into space!
After all, in space no-one can hear you scream.
... America wakes up to the fact that measures like intrusive TSA screenings are all about keeping the ordinary American scared of "bad guys", and not about improving security tangibly. There are many countries around the world that don't have the equivalent of the "TSA", yet manage to get through year after year without a major incident. Americans, however, are not supposed to wake up, ever. That's what you get when a handful of ill intentioned lobbyists and gatekeepers control virtually the entire media, most large corporations, and a lot of the government decisions and lawmaking in a country.
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
While I understand that people have to feed their families and need a job, the people working at the TSA employees get no sympathy from me. Yes, you have every right to hate your job and still do it. But if you are in a "service" industry (or more generally, where you interact with a large number of people), you shouldn't do a shitty job just because you hate it. Most TSA people seem to try the experience unpleasant for passengers. And with a myriad of changing rules, they don't seem to grasp that people will make mistakes. Even a slight deviation from routine gets you the "deluxe" treatment (like the woman carrying a bottle with breast milk being held up for hours).
Case in point - I got a belt that has an buckle that can be removed because I got tired of pulling my belt on and off each time I flew. And I have been through the all types of scanners without a problem in most airports. But one day a new type of scanner seems to have a problem with just the belt "blocking" the view. So rather than just make me remove the whole belt and pass through, they need to do a pat-down that takes much longer. BTW, what happens if my trousers fall down because I need to keep my hands on my head while being scanned? Do I need to register on some type of list somewhere?
No matter how bad a day a waiter is having, he shouldn't spit on food. And TSA employees should treat people like people, not like a piece of meat on a slaughter line.
"TSA gets discussed on Slashdot from time to time, ALWAYS negatively..."
Ftfy. The TSA is always discussed negatively here -- and rightfully so. Take the entire body of evidence as to TSA's effectiveness and procedures, then toss in a million or so anecdotes about TSA's harassment & sheer stupidity, and no wonder they are so looked down on.
Yet another anecdote: in August, I was told I'd have to go through a backscatter or be patted down. I _politely_ said no, I'll opt for the patdown. The fifty-something TSA rent-a-cop (Keystone Kop?), in a half-assed attempt at condescension, "explained" to me that "this machine is not harmful, it uses millimeter wave technology that is the same technology in your cell phone -- it's just as safe as your cell phone." I resisted calling him a dumb fuck, and I _politely_ said that I'll opt for the patdown. He became aggressive and persisted with his bullshit reasoning, and I _politely_ said based on what I've read, I'll opt for the patdown. The dumb fuck yelled at me "WELL EVERYTHING YOU READ IS WRONG!" I know, I know, whilst in the presence of a TSA rent-a-cop I was wrong to say that I actually read. So there you have it, slashdotters, I have solid evidence that everything we've read --and I suppose written-- is WRONG. That fascist fuck will be head of TSA some day. And the patdown is a memory I will always cherish!
Guess who's avoiding airports and instead driving from CO to PA this holiday
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lives_of_Others This is what the US is working to. I hope making tsa employees miserable will push things back the other way. We use to make fun of communists and their "show me your papers" paranoia.
You've come up with a nonsensical straw man argument because you are retarded.
Right - because as we all know, correlation == causation. That, or there's a whole fuck-ton of other factors you're discounting, because they don't mesh with your anti-gun agenda.
Being that there is a 'fuck-ton' of other factors, please enumerate them and list your estimated correlation values that we can debate them in a proper fashion. Otherwise, I will have to assume that you simply have a pro-gun agenda and discount your statement as an opinion and disregard it.
Or, we can just go around accusing other posters as having an agenda here all day long without making any real progress in the discussion.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
If god had meant for man to fly then he wouldn't have created the assholes in the TSA, the thieving baggage handlers, bogus chinese airplane parts and overbooking. I have no desire to ever travel more than 1000 miles from home and I can drive that far in a day. To hell with air travel. I hope they all crash and burn in desolate areas.
And what are the chances that the TSA will now require current and future employees to sign a contract stating that they can never divulge the inner workings of the TSA? A transparent government organization such as the TSA will, of course, want to keep its stellar reputation intact.
I can mend the break of day, heal a broken heart, and provide temporary relief to nymphomaniacs.
That quote by Rahm Emanuel will go down in infamy. It's probably the most brutally honest thing I've ever heard a politician say. And it's exactly why the TSA exists. Post 9/11 much of the American people were in a state of fear - fear stoked by the US government and the media. They WANT you to be afraid so that they can create agencies like the TSA. The TSA is not about guarding against "terrorism" - it's about gaining further control over the American people. Just like the Patriot Act.
Have you ever taken a good look at any of those TSA agents? I mean really taken a look at them? The one's I've seen have this glazed over look that only Federal Government employees seem to possess. That emotionless, heartless, I-don't-give-a-shit, 1,000 mile stare. Want a local version? Try your DMV office. I'm sure you can find plenty there as well. Must be a training ground for TSA drones.
I suspect that very few people actually want to work for the TSA. Some of them probably think I'll just do this for a while and then I'll get a real job. But they get sucked in and before you know it you've got the 1,000 mile stare too. Getting out of public sector was the best move I ever made.
This blog is well written and funny. I've been laughing at my desk for a good 15 minutes now, I plan to finish this thing off before I head home.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
I simply refuse to travel by airplane anymore...perhaps if more people did the same, the 'bean-counters' might wake the hell up and realise they're spoiling it for everyone.
I realise that this is not an option for many people but for enough people, it is. Let them suffer the consequences of their own actions. I mean, that's how we teach kids to behave isn't it? And these idiot accountants who seem to have no appreciation of what it's like to be human are nothing but children in adult-suits.
How many people here deriding the TSA as security theater are, at the same time, screaming for more "gun control" in America because of the recent school shooting?
Peace is easy to achieve, just surrender. Liberty is much harder get/keep.
This entire thread is a beautiful example of missing the point. We went through metal detectors and had our baggage searched before 9/11. Why? because people carried guns onto planes and planted bombs in luggage. The airlines were responsible for screening and did an ineffective job of it.
After 9/11 the TSA was created and assume that responsibility. Why? because people took box cutters on planes and plated bombs in the luggage.
The people you need to be angry at are the people who scheme to hijack planes and/or blow them up.
Regards, Chris
Well that is in the spirit of the 2nd amendment. For a long time people had cannons on par with government ones. Once the cannons became obsolete they were mostly de-weaponized and installed as sculpture in parks and on courthouse lawns. As for the relevant issue: privately owned nukes? I don't know about that one but--
Grenades are legal with an appropriate explosive license and associated (lots of)paperwork. Artillery shells are in the same category.
Flame throwers are entirely unregulated and are used by farmers to clear brush every fall.
Hobbyists do have unmanned drones. Though there is a threat that these may be only allowed to LEO soon.
Fully automatic weapons are legal, again with the appropriate license and paperwork. With similar forms, you can get a silencer too.
I would not be the slightest bit surprised if there is a form in the bottom of a filing cabinet somewhere being protected by a leopard that allows you to get a license to buy a nuclear warhead. Then it would only be a matter of finding and affording one....
Just travelled by plane two days ago. I left one piece of electronics in my suitcase, a web camera that was supposed to be a Christmas gift. Only item item didn't make it to my destination, though the manual and drivers did. And the only way anybody would be able to target a single device is if they x-rayed the bag. Last time I left electronics in a bad, two cameras, both were stolen, despite one being wrapped in socks.
I don't trust the TSA. I carry everything of any value in carry-on. This has happened on multiple airlines, with hidden items. Only electronics are taken, but all of the electronics don't make it. If this was a general theft ring, I'd lose other items of value. I'm assuming that, being identifiable by scanners, the electronic items are easily found. Either the TSA is stealing items during scanning, or there's a massive amount of theft by baggage handlers who are searching every case for electronics. Most likely it's the TSA. And i'm sick of them stealing my stuff.
Millimeter wave does not use ionizing radiation and therefore does not increase your risk of cancer. The energy per photon is lower than the visible light photons emitted from your monitor. Assuming he wasn't lying about what type of machine it was, the only reason to opt out of mm wave is because of privacy.
:(){
Rate of murder (gun or not), rape, and so forth are lower in germany than in the USA. Depending on how you count it the youth violence is higher or lower.
But their stupidity does not weaken the strength of their vote at all.
And they outnumber you. Significantly.
One day Mal-2 asked the messenger spirit Saint Gulik to approach the Goddess and request Her presence for some desperate advice. Shortly afterwards the radio came on by itself, and an ethereal female Voice said YES?
"O! Eris! Blessed Mother of Man! Queen of Chaos! Daughter of Discord! Concubine of Confusion! O! Exquisite Lady, I beseech You to lift a heavy burden from my heart!"
WHAT BOTHERS YOU, MAL? YOU DON'T SOUND WELL.
"I am filled with fear and tormented with terrible visions of pain. Everywhere people are hurting one another, the planet is rampant with injustices, whole societies plunder groups of their own people, mothers imprison sons, children perish while brothers war. O, woe."
WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THAT, IF IT IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?
"But nobody Wants it! Everybody hates it."
OH. WELL, THEN STOP.
At which moment She turned herself into an aspirin commercial and left The Polyfather stranded alone with his species.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I was working for the state Attorney General's office. On one occasion, we government types got to go down to the SEARCH conference in D.C. Now we were all issued photo ID's that lived right next to our state ID's.
So when we arrived en masse at the check-in and produced ID the drone got panicky. It was too funny. Just because we were on the inner fringe of LEO they freaked.
Amtrak can actually be fun. When is the last time you had steak and an observation car on an airplane?
I'd rather have the speed and the ability to reach small cities, but not at the cost of being treated like a convict, or of giving my consent to citizens being treated like convicts.
Imagine if traffic cops were allowed to write the traffic laws.
That's where we are with the TSA. We need to separate threat assessment from implementation, or else the people who want to build their budgets and bureaucratic empires will "identify" hijacking dangers from nutrias and demand $250K each to buy magic anti-nutria rocks from companies that pay them "consulting" fees.
I just think it's awesome that Bruce Schneier got a nod in the TSA dictionary:
Bruce Schneiered: (V, ints) When a passenger uses logic in order to confound and perplex an officer into submission. Ex: “A TSA officer took my Swiss army knife, but let my scissors go. I then asked him wouldn’t it be more dangerous if I were to make my scissors into two blades, or to go into the bathroom on the secure side and sharpen my grandmother’s walking stick with one of the scissor blades into a terror spear. Then after I pointed out that all of our bodies contain a lot more than 3.4 ounces of liquids, the TSA guy got all pissed and asked me if I wanted to fly today. I totally Schneirered his ass.”
anyone else notice the disturbing number of terms they have for "attractive female passenger"?
creepy.
Outside of China (which is pretty diverse internally anyway), just about everywhere has a wide mix of cultures just like the USA.
TSA = Thousands Standing Around
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dntZRJ2BxQ0