Has the DHS reached out and touched you?

[daniel]

I've been taking a fair number of trips lately. In the past year I've been to Mexico, the Antipodes, Spokane twice from Fargo in preparation for moving here, Santa Fe, Scotland. The TSA always leaves it's calling card in every bag I check. I never lock my bags, but they have broken off several zipper pulls and several name tags. I suspect it was the baggage handlers, rather than the TSA, who broke both the wi-fi and the DVD reader in my laptop, though it was well padded. I have only once been "randomly selected" for "special" treatment, which consisted of a more thorough than normal inspection of my carry-on and a going over with the electronic wand, but no crotch-grabbing (maybe I'm not as pretty as Jayman).

For all the hassle, I'd rather fly than have to drive all the way across country, and it's kinda hard to drive to NZ or Europe. I don't believe those bozos are making travel any safer, but if you make a fuss they make it even harder on you.

[jayman]

Originally posted by daniel@Mar 17 2006, 08:47 PM
but no crotch-grabbing (maybe I'm not as pretty as Jayman).

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Actually I found it amusing. When I related the weird tale to my 2 gay neighbors at my high-rise condo, they both informed me that I have qualities that are "marketable" whatever that means.

It only reinforces my ego, like *that* needed it!

[Frank Hudon]

Marketable!
get over here and fix my chair! I broke it when I fell on the floor. Too funny

[jayman]

Originally posted by Frank Hudon@Mar 17 2006, 09:25 PM
Marketable!     
get over here and fix my chair! I broke it when I fell on the floor. Too funny

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Frank:

Ok, for example:

Yesterday my 2 gay condo neighbors put on a Saint Paddy's bash, and I was invited. Since I *never* turn down free food/drink, especially when it's high quality, I went along. This was their typical "mixer" with plenty of straight people there too.

As soon as I walked in, one of them called for attention: "Ok sweeties, remember jay only likes girls."

They also made sure to invite some unattached women from the office where they work. So it ended up being a fun evening.

I'll fix that chair next time I'm in PoCo visiting my Aunt. I figure June, that work for you??

jay

[fshagan]

Originally posted by tleonhar@Mar 7 2006, 11:52 AM
Since I fly two to three days a week on average, I have been "selecteed" once or twice. Once when traveling overseas, when I got to my destination, my luggage had a card from the TSA in it saying it had been inspected.

With the wire tapping going on, I wonder how many times my wife has had her phone calls recorded, most of her family is overseas. We have a couple family members in Saudi Arabia as well

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She probably has had her phone calls analyzed by the computers. That's the extent of most of the "evesdropping" on international calls. They would need an army of people to actually listen to it.

If TSA was able to implement their original screening ideas for air travel, we wouldn't have to put up with half the BS we go through when traveling. Although, with your wife's family connections, you could have been on the targeted list. The frequent flyer clearance cards have also not been implemented. I'd certainly be willing to submit to background checks, etc., to speed my way through those lines.

That's one good thing about containers at ports ... you don't really need to inspect them 100%. You can profile a container sent from Achmed, since a container doesn't have civil rights, and the person sending it has agreed to full search and confirmation of the contents. Containers from Sumitomo in Japan, and sealed at their factory, are probably a good bet to be A-OK. Containers inspected in the UAE by our customs guys are also a good bet. A container from a company that doesn't import a lot, that claims to contain clay pottery or some other natural material that gives off stuff that the radiation detectors pick up on, are not a good bet. But even if they aren't inspected, as they leave the port have them drive through one of those secret radiation detectors (shhhh!) that Los Alamos developed, and you have the bases covered.

Meanwhile, the TSA guys will occasionally stick their hands down my pants because while a white, middle aged fat Republican is usually not a terrorist, we don't want to upset a fanatical muslim extremist returning from a Madrassa in Pakistan.

[SirGreen]

I wouldn't know. When ever they call I just hear breathing
on the other end.

[ChuX]

As a TSA screener, I can tell you that broken or stolen items are not necessarily the fault of the TSA screener checking your bag. After we check the bag, airport bag handlers transport the bags to the plane. During the time after the bag is checked til the time it gets on the plane, TSA can't control what those bag handlers do. The bag handlers that handle the bags after they are screened by TSA do not work for the TSA. There's a higher probabilty that one of those people stealing items from bags since they have more time around the bags in areas that are not filled with people.

When a bag goes on the conveyor belts, it takes some serious falls and the bags will tumble which results in broken items. And keep in mind that we search through a ton of bags any given day, and it's hard to pack everything back perfectly. Personally, I do my best to rewrap fragile looking items, but I can't speak for all the TSA screeners.

My suggestion is if you can carry the fragile item on with you, do so.

In regards for those selected for additional screening, people that are chosen are not necessarily on the government's watch list. Some of the people that are pulled for random screening are chosen by the airline for various reasons.

If there were no terrorism in this world, there would be no need for such security. And if you think the TSA doesn't do anything to make flying safer, keep in mind that a determined individual will do just about anything to try to get by security.

I've dealt with people who don't follow simple directions, and that leads to increased screening times. For example, people know they are going through metal detectors, yet I see teenagers wearing lots of chains and other metals on them. They don't take off the metal items until they get to the metal detector. And to make matters worse, they forget to take out all metal items and holds up the line. In contrast, frequent travelers are fully prepared before they reach the metal detector. Those are the people that spend the least amount of time being screened since they know what to expect. Believe me when I tell you that we don't want to slow down the process, but certain people do slow us down and holds up the line.

Although almost all people think that TSA screeners do nothing but slow them down, the good things that TSA screeners do that prevent a possible catastrophe go unreported. The news always repeat the bad things that happen and rarely mention the good things that happen. I have personally seen some of the items people have tried to bring through the checkpoint, it's quite a disturbing sight. Be thankful that the screening is now done under Federal control, I've been told what it was like before Federalizing the screeners, and it was out of control.

I'm dedicated to performing my duties to the best of my abilities and people have thanked me for doing a thorough job. Just remember not everyone working at the TSA are bozos. There are a good number of us who joined to help make air travel safer and are dedicated in doing our jobs.

[tleonhar]

Originally posted by ChuX@Mar 22 2006, 09:10 PM
As a TSA screener, I can tell you that broken or stolen items are not necessarily the fault of the TSA screener checking your bag.  After we check the bag, airport bag handlers transport the bags to the plane. During the time after the bag is checked til the time it gets on the plane, TSA can't control what those bag handlers do.  The bag handlers that handle the bags after they are screened by TSA do not work for the TSA.  There's a higher probabilty that one of those people stealing items from bags since they have more time around the bags in areas that are not filled with people. 

When a bag goes on the conveyor belts, it takes some serious falls and the bags will tumble which results in broken items.  And keep in mind that we search through a ton of bags any given day, and it's hard to pack everything back perfectly.  Personally, I do my best to rewrap fragile looking items, but I can't speak for all the TSA screeners.

My suggestion is if you can carry the fragile item on with you, do so. 

In regards for those selected for additional screening, people that are chosen are not necessarily on the government's watch list.  Some of the people that are pulled for random screening are chosen by the airline for various reasons.

If there were no terrorism in this world, there would be no need for such security.  And if you think the TSA doesn't do anything to make flying safer, keep in mind that a determined individual will do just about anything to try to get by security. 

I've dealt with people who don't follow simple directions, and that leads to increased screening times.  For example, people know they are going through metal detectors, yet I see teenagers wearing lots of chains and other metals on them. They don't take off the metal items until they get to the metal detector.  And to make matters worse, they forget to take out all metal items and holds up the line.  In contrast, frequent travelers are fully prepared before they reach the metal detector. Those are the people that spend the least amount of time being screened since they know what to expect.  Believe me when I tell you that we don't want to slow down the process, but certain people do slow us down and holds up the line. 

Although almost all people think that TSA screeners do nothing but slow them down, the good things that TSA screeners do that prevent a possible catastrophe go unreported.  The news always repeat the bad things that happen and rarely mention the good things that happen.  I have personally seen some of the items people have tried to bring through the checkpoint, it's quite a disturbing sight.  Be thankful that the screening is now done under Federal control, I've been told what it was like before Federalizing the screeners, and it was out of control. 

I'm dedicated to performing my duties to the best of my abilities and people have thanked me for doing a thorough job.  Just remember not everyone working at the TSA are bozos. There are a good number of us who joined to help make air travel safer and are dedicated in doing our jobs.

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Great points all!

As an airline employee, I concur with you 100%. Here are a couple things from my point of view...
Broken items in luggage. When your bags are going down the belt, the bar code on the bag tag is read by a scanner to determine where it is going and determine which pier it is routed to. As the bag approches its assigned pier, a kicker will deflect it onto the pier. With baggage also being subject to Newton's laws, if something breakable is in the same bak as something heavy, well, don't pack the Waterford crystal in with the weight lifting set.
As for bag handlers lifting thinga from baggage, if anyone is caught, it's termination on the spot, no questions asked, then prosecution. Not to say it doesn't happen, but airlines have zero tolerence for this.

The reasons people are selected for screening cannot be disclosed, if the bad guy knew the triggers, he would just avoid them. But randomness does play a part, like I mentioned earlier, I have been selected myself and have had the complete background check.

To speed your way through the checkpoint, USE YOUR HEAD! Do not bring pocket knives, lighters, fireworks, firearms (fake or otherwise), and most of all NO STUPID JOKES! the TSA are not trying to be a$$holes, they want to keep everyone safe.

[ChuX]

To add to what tleonhar said about speeding up the the checkpoint process, have your boarding passes in hand. I can't stress that enough. I keep reminding people to have their boarding passes in their hands before proceeding through the checkpoint, and they still leave the boarding pass in their bags.

To minimize the chances of your check-in bags from being opened, refrain from packing books, notably text books, and dense metal objects such as dumb bells. Dumb bells may seem far fetched, but I have seem quite a few. Certain food items may cause the TSA to open your bags as well. And I urge you not to check-in frozen or fresh meat. It's a headache for the TSA to check and not to mention it's a potential safety hazard.

Use your head. Don't overpack a bag. I've opened overpacked bags and sometimes I just want to tape the bag up because it is so hard to stuff everything back in. To minize the chance of breaking an object in a bag, I suggest the use of a hard sided luggage and heavy padding such as using a thick sweater. But the best solution is still to carry it on with you.

[bgdrewsif]

Homeland Security has never 'touched' me, But i got molested at the securty checkpoint at Heathrow airport in 2004... I love london!