Tag Archives: Security Theater

TSA’s “explosive trace detection” needs a dramatic overhaul [2014]

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“If common household products can easily cause TSA to get a false positive ETD result, then the test is inherently poor and must be refined to eliminate such mistakes which unnecessarily cause air travelers angst, delay, and that maddening enhanced patdown they do, when TSA makes ordinary citizens feel like criminals.  They also have to significantly tighten their test procedures and training to ensure their personnel don’t cause ETD false positives, themselves.  Passengers can reduce their chances of a false positive. Don’t use a product containing glycerine on hands and body shortly before flying.  Don’t use baby wipes as they too, often contain glycerin.”

http://consumertraveler.com/columns/getting-there/tsas-explosive-trace-detection-needs-a-dramatic-overhaul/

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James Bovard: TSA Bombs the Holidays

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“Perhaps I was targeted because I have repeatedly criticized TSA in articles for the New York Times, USA Today and other places and was denounced last year by TSA chief John Pistole. Or perhaps such punishment is routinely dished out to people who opt out from Whole Body Scanners. On the Monday after the Thanksgiving encounter, I e-mailed the TSA, asking how often its explosive detectors generate false alerts and how often alerts identify bona fide threats to air travel safety. The TSA press office was unable to provide a single example of the explosive detection tests exposing someone who intended to detonate a device on an airplane.”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/07/tsa-bombs-the-holidays/

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Dozens Of Homeland Security Employees On Terrorist Watch List

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“A minimum of 72 employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are on a terrorist watch list, according to an inspector general report.  Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch revealed the existence of the inspector general report during an interview with Boston Public Radio.  Lynch also used part of the interview to complain about the Transportation Security Administration.  In some cases, DHS Red Team employees strapped guns to their ankles and walked right through security without a hitch. In another, the TSA did not detect an explosive device taped to the back of one of the Red Team members, despite a pat-down.”

http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/07/dhs-employees-on-terrorist-watch-list/

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Fred Reed: Government Can’t Protect Us From Terrorism

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“Terrorism by Moslems in America and Europe cannot be stopped. If attacks do not occur, it will be because nobody tried very hard. Stopping them would require excluding Moslems, deporting them, or controlling them by totalitarian methods. Or, improbably, minding our own business in the Middle East. What you think of the foregoing approaches doesn’t matter, since none of them will be used. In France the result would be a civil war. America is too divided to do anything about anything. The notion that the government can prevent terrorism suggests studied inattention to the obvious.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/36675/Fred-Reed-Government-Cant-Protect-Us-From-Terrorism/

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Bruce Schneier: Why are we spending $7 billion per year on TSA?

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“The only reason they’ve been able to get away with the scam for so long is that there isn’t much of a threat of terrorism to defend against.  Even with all these actual and potential failures, there have been no successful terrorist attacks against airplanes since 9/11. If there were lots of terrorists just waiting for us to let our guard down to destroy American planes, we would have seen attacks — attempted or successful — after all these years of screening failures. No one has hijacked a plane with a knife or a gun since 9/11. Not a single plane has blown up due to terrorism.”

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/05/opinions/schneier-tsa-security/

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TSA remains terrible at securing transportation, internal report shows

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“The systematic failures in TSA security checks were consistent across every airport, with auditors seeing 95 percent success rates smuggling bombs and guns into secure areas of airports. The IG found that the TSA does not have adequate monitoring of airport operators to determine if they have properly performed background checks on job applicants, and that criminal histories are rarely documented electronically. That means the TSA is unable to determine with certainty if criminals are gaining access to secured areas of airports.”

http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/5/9672268/TSA-screening-ineffective-homeland-security-report-2015

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TSA inadvertently shows the dangers of master baggage keys

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“Security researchers have long warned of the dangers of using master-keyed locks — if thieves get their hands on just one key, they compromise all of the compatible locks at the same time. And unfortunately, the US’ Transportation Security Administration is learning this lesson the hard way. It briefly let the Washington Post show a photo (we’ve blurred the details) of the master baggage keys it uses for approved locks, giving crooks a crude guide to making duplicates. And you can’t just switch to a non-standard lock to get around this, since TSA agents will rip it off if they catch it during an inspection.”

http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/22/tsa-reveals-master-baggage-keys/

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DOJ: Drug Traffickers Easily Circumvented TSA For Years

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“Fourteen people were charged Monday with perpetuating a drug ring that smuggled suitcases full of marijuana onto airplanes, including three baggage handlers at Oakland International Airport.  The handlers allegedly snuck suitcases full of marijuana through special areas off limits to passengers where they could circumvent TSA screening. The handlers then allegedly used their security badges to go through a door to the main terminal area where they would hand off the suitcases to waiting accomplices who would take them as carry on luggage to their destination.  The operation had been running smoothly since as far back as July 2012.”

http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/19/doj-drug-traffickers-easily-circumvented-tsa-for-years/

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TSA contractors charged in drug smuggling scheme at SFO

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“Two TSA security contractors arrested by FBI at San Francisco international airport, along with a third suspect involved in the scheme, face life in prison for smuggling large quantities of methamphetamine through screen points. The two Covenant Aviation Security employees and a smuggler, 28-year-old Anibal Giovanni Ramirez, face a minimum 10 years and a maximum life sentence, and fine of $10 million.  The FBI investigation believed that Ramirez allegedly paid off the two security screeners at SFO, who allowed him to take drug-loaded luggage on a flight to Hawaii. The investigation also believes that the trio used Facebook to arrange the crime.”

http://www.rt.com/usa/238617-tsa-sfo-drugs-arrests/

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A Second Passport: Outsmart the TSA

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“Avoiding visas and anti-U.S. sentiment isn’t the only reason a second passport comes in handy. Privacy is a huge bonus. I regularly visit countries that don’t penalize U.S. visitors using my second passport. I do this specifically to avoid having entry and exit stamps in my U.S. passport, where TSA snoops can see and record them. My international travels are all for perfectly legitimate reasons. But so were those of Laura Poitras, a U.S. journalist and filmmaker who has been subjected to detention, confiscation of her personal effects, and other forms of harassment at the U.S. border — all because she is openly critical of the U.S. government’s abuse of our constitutional rights.”

http://thesovereigninvestor.com/asset-protection/advantages-of-a-second-passport/

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