Slashdot Mirror
Hockey Sticks Among Carry-On Items TSA Has Cleared For Planes
coondoggie writes "As of April 25th the Transportation Security Administration will let a bunch of previously prohibited items such as small pocket knives and what it calls 'novelty' or toy bats to be taken on aircraft as carry-ons. The idea the agency said was to let Transportation Security Officers better focus their efforts on spotting higher-threat items such as explosives and guns."
as long as people still aren't allowed to carry on enough liquid to make an ice rink.
You know, so that a woman can't park in an airline employee lot (which requires going through 2 security gates, one that looks at a badge and one that actually has to scan the airport-issued badge before you can park there), board an employee bus, and get dropped off on the ramp. As someone who works at an airport (actually the same one where all this happened), actual airport security is a joke. It is handled by minimum-wage contractors. I know plenty of other stores of people I've worked with that are even worse than this, but for the protection of them and myself I won't bring them up.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
The TSA is now allowing the actual types of things used on 9/11, but still banning shampoo and bottled water?
If there is ONE THING the TSA should ban is small knives (not that I agree with that), since they are now allowing those shouldn't they just admit they shouldn't need to exist?
But I play lacrosse, you insensitive clods!
Damn it, now Canadians will be hijacking our planes.
Linux O Muerte!
It would get checked at the gate, just like any other large item. So it still wouldn't be brought onboard a plane. All this is is an attempt to deflect some of the criticism of the TSA as security theater
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Let's face it. The reason people drag all of their worldly possessions with them as carry-on is because we don't trust the baggage handlers to not destroy/steal/lose our stuff. I see this every time I fly. People don't actually want to lug a 49.9 lb wheeled bag onto the plane and then try to find/lift/get help to put it in an overhead compartment.
The carry-on problem is being caused by the baggage problem. If you solve the baggage problem, TSA security would be checking small handbags or pocket change not hockey sticks, LAN party servers, thirty pairs of shoes, etc.
Oh, and charging people for checked bags is making the problem worse, not better. What is it about the airline industry that has made every decision maker involved utterly stupid? The only aspect of air travel I can think of that doesn't operate in a wrong-headed way are the mechanics who keep the planes from falling out of the sky.
{rant/}
I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
If you can't tell them "This is not the lightsaber you are looking for." and make it it stick... you don't deserve to carry a lightsaber.
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
This is a fairly typical way to permanently take away freedom. Take away a LOT of freedom during an 'emergency', then later give back a small portion of that freedom. People will be so relieved by the small concessions that they forget the larger liberties that they no longer enjoy.
The ban on knives was cosmetic at best, so the lifting of this ban will not result in any decrease in safety.
Q: "But wait, didn't the terrorists on 9/11 use box cutters to hijack the plane? Couldn't they do it again?"
A: No. The reason that they were able to hijack the plane before, is the "rulebook" basically said to go along with the hijackers, you fly off to some other destination, there is a negotiation that drags things out, and eventually everyone leaves alive, with stories to tell their grandchildren... Only, on 9/11 they changed the "rules".
Today, it doesn't matter what kind of weapon is used to hijack the plane, the bulk of the passengers will use whatever is at hand to beat down the hijackers, because they know they are fighting for their lives now, and if you are going to die, you might as well go down swinging. Coupling this with the _1_ security measure that actually improved airline safety, putting locks on the cockpit doors (which does nothing if they don't actually lock them of course), the chance of hijacking a passenger airliner successfully is almost nil. Maybe a small puddle jumper commuter craft composed of all terrorists would be successful, but in that circumstance, they wouldn't need weapons either.
Yes, someone can still get hurt, and even killed, but you could do that with a pen/pencil or some other pointy object stabbed into the appropriate place. Now maybe someone from the UK will have a different take on this, as they seemed to fear bladed objects, as they appear to be the primary homicide weapon of choice since the general populace doesn't have access to firearms. As an American male, with military training I am not terribly afraid of knives being used to subdue a a plane full of passengers, whoever foolhardy that may be, as I believe that sheer weight of numbers would incapacitate or kill any would be hijacker in this. For most Americans, a knife is a tool, and not a weapon, and while it can be used as such, so can just about anything else, to include bricks, shoes, rocks, sharp sticks, and harsh language.
Just my $.02 worth.
Sky marshal's going to have you in the penalty box tout de suite for cracking jokes about security, hoser.
2:00 minutes for boarding.
And why are people dragging all of their worldly possessions on a 3-day trip to Ft. Lauderdale? Pack better, and you will see a lot of these problems disappear. I've worked on the ramp several years, and most of the times that I've seen bags damaged/lost (lost as in won't make your flight) is because they are so overpacked or packed lopsided that they fall off a tug, get stuck under other bags weighing 65lbs, or just burst open. It seems like in most cases the bags that are the most overpacked are also bags that are 10 years old, ripped, and have one or both handles broken off. If people didn't overpack as much as they do, things would not be as bad as they are. Also, it seems like most people like to buy these bags that have all these unnecessary buckles, straps, and knobs that get caught on literally everything. The doors and floors of the cargoholds are in most cases not smooth. There are screws sticking up, edges of panels are raised up, and the door designs of MD-88/90/DC-9s are so poorly designed that zippers and other random parts are bound to get stuck and snap off. The best suitcase to buy is one of the harder, plastic 4 wheel spinners, as they are the least likely to get caught, and I don't think I've ever seen broken handles on them. But all of these cheap, flimsy cloth bags with little to no structural support? Of course they're going to get broken, they are made as cheap as possible. And steal stuff? We're lucky if we have 40 minutes to offload 100 bags and put 100 bags back on to a plane. Ignoring the fact that most baggage handlers would never steal stuff, they wouldn't even have the time to steal stuff if they wanted to. Purchase suitcases wisely, use common sense when packing (you dont need 7 outfits and 5 pairs of shoes for a weekend trip ladies, sorry), and your bags will last longer and all your stuff will be waiting for you when you land.
Oh, and for the love of god, if you buy a puppy from an out of state breeder, drive over there and pick your dog up yourself. Those things get terrified when they get stuck in a cargo hold for 5 hours.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Oh please, it will be "about time" when they scrap the TSA or replace with it something much smaller, leaner, less expensive, and more effective at what it's supposed to do.
This amounts to little more than a PR move, throwing a few scraps to the plebs to make us somehow feel like 'common sense is breaking out', and it's pathetic that our standards are so low now, that we actually respond like dogs with tails wagging at this incredibly negligibly small change in the grand scheme of the TSA's operations. Will this in any significant way change the fact that they will continue to suck $8 billion a year of taxpayer money to violate the 4th amendment rights and dignity of American travellers? No? Then what is the "about time" that you refer to?
My other UID is three digits.
You're on the right track.
Just disband the whole frigging Homeland Security. Put Customs back as a separate and distinct agency, ditto with Border Patrol. Screw the whole Homeland Security thing. It was bullshit when they thought it up, it's bullshit today. Janet Napolitano spends less time worrying about security, than about how to stop "piracy" and increasing corporate profits. She has her TSA agents stopping traffic on Interstate 40, in Tennessee, and shaking them down. Anyone with a thousand dollars cash is a "suspect". Anyone with an expensive car is a "suspect". Anyone who doesn't kiss the TSA agent's ass is a "suspect". I guess this an alternative for TSA agents who don't prefer fondling little children and old ladies in airports.
Disband Homeland Security, send Napolitano packing, and we can save the fifty million dollars she just wasted on uniforms.
Odd that most cops have to purchase their own uniforms, but TSA has a contract to buy uniforms for their degenerate agents.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
I may be wrong, but I think that problem was partially solved.
Remember, for at least 20 years, passengers had been instructed over and over to just cooperate with hijackers. The plane that went down in Pennsylvania, diverted from it's intended target, is proof that the conditioning can be broken.
All we need to do, is to stop being victims. Fight back, and win or lose, you won't be a hostage.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Bin Laden was found in Pakistan and I can assure you that Pakistanis love cricket.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
And through an odd technicality, English Cricket Bats were never banned.
Overheard on a recent BA flight into JFK.
English guy 1: I say old bean, what do you say to hijacking this plane before stumps.
English guy 2: Oooh yes, and we can fly it into the pavilion.
English guy 1: Smashing.
English guy 2: Jolly good.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Not all Pakistanis are terrorists, just the ones who hate cricket.
Yeah, that's below par logic.
War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, the lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade.- Shelley
http://original.antiwar.com/paul/2011/10/24/tsa-releases-vipr-venom-on-tennessee-highways/
http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2212225/tsa-doing-random-truck-searches-on-tennessee-highway
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/10/25/ron-paul-calls-tsa-jack-booted-thugs-in-response-to-highway-checkpoints/
The story was carried on a local television news segment, and in the segment, they were stopping automobiles, at random, as opposed to checking the trucks at the weigh stations. Those three links were among the first hits on a google search - there are lots more.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br