Metal plates send messages to airport x-ray screeners

Craft & Design
Metal plates send messages to airport x-ray screeners

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One of my favorite artists, Evan Roth, is working on a project that will be released soon – the pictures say it all, it’s a “carry on” communication system. These metal places contain messages which will appear when they are X-Rayed. The project isn’t quite done yet, Evan needs access to an X-Ray machine to take some photos and document. If you have access to an X-Ray machine he’s willing to give you a set of the plates for helping out (email fi5e [at] ni9e.com].

106 thoughts on “Metal plates send messages to airport x-ray screeners

  1. Jason says:

    Can someone make an “Allahu Akhbar” one and test this please? Great idea but there are easier ways to go to Cuba.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Have one that says “Body Cavity Search Please”, well maybe not because you are going to get one either way. My experience is these guys don’t like to be “joked” with, and will take it out on you to the full extent of the law.

  3. sweavo says:

    We KNOW these people don’t have a sense of humor, nor of art. I see your future; it involves botty-search, prison, hefty fine, public apology and community service.

    Yay freedom!

  4. Mike Estee says:

    This is great! Some possible graphics could include:

    – A giant eye staring back at the xray scanner. 1940’s propaganda style. Perhaps with the caption, “Forever Vigilant.”
    – Porn. I really do wonder how someone would react to this…
    – …Goatse. Come one. You know you want to do it.
    – The Bill of Rights, (it’s this mythical document that supposed protects us from our government. Or so I’ve heard.) Or a unicorn, or some other mythical idea.
    – A diagram of a hollywood bomb. Ideas are dangerous, dontacha know?
    – Outline of a firearm. Do not pass Go.
    – If you’re in a position to hired unskilled labor you could use the text, “Defend American Liberty: Quit your Job. We’re hiring!”

    Here’s another idea: Terrahertz scanners will soon be deployed throughout airports. You can be searched without even going through the security line. With metallic fabric tape (lessemf.com) you can write messages to the spooks underneath your street clothes.

  5. Xander says:

    Well, personally, as a United States TSO, I would laugh my buttocks off. I’ve actually done this to my co-workers involving about $3 in pennies and duct tape in my personal bag.
    The problem with testing your art would be that the airport x-ray images are considered SSI (security sensitive information) and are only viewable on a need-to-know basis.
    Having those plates in your bag would result in a thorough bag check, for sure.
    Remember, ladies & gents, we’re people, too. And our profession (keeping a security presence at airports) is more hated than the IRS. Think how delightful a mood you’d be in if people hated you for merely trying to pay your mortgage while wearing a poorly fitting monkey suit!

  6. Mike Estee says:

    @Xander – Apologies for the unskilled labor comment. I know you guys are just doing your job, and it’s even more thankless than being a meter maid. I also know that security screening is a damn good thing.

    It’s the security theater used to create a population controlling climate of fear that I have a problem with. It’s the unreasonable search and seizure part. I know you guys don’t make the silly rules.

    Glad to hear you’ve got a sense of humor :)

  7. bill beaty says:

    I never dared experiment with this. But I did resist the temptation to keep the idea hidden!

    X-RAY ADVERTISING FOR AIRPORT STAFF:
    http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Xray-visible_20advertisements#1154223595

    NON-EXISTANT INVISIBLE FLAT WEAPONS
    http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/_27Phantom_27_20x-ray_20weapon#1154228799

    It’s probably possible to create full color artwork by using various metallic inks, or using layered stencils made of metal foil. The “window alarm tape” sold in Radio Shack is made of lead.

    Or this: get some medical x-ray images, have them offset printed using white litharge ink (lead based ink), then pass them thru an airport scanner. Your luggage will then appear to contain human body parts.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I’d been tempted to do this with lead foil since before 9/11 — given the truculent nature of screeners of course, it’s remained in the planning stages. The fun part of course is that if done properly, an opened bag contains nothing of what’s been imaged — imagine the outline of a pistol and nothing but packing peanuts or dirty laundry when opened.

  9. Elliot says:

    I made a smiley-face for the guards at work and brought it in for a few weeks. They know me well, and thought it was hilarious.

    I wouldn’t do it at an airport, though. They’re kinda humorless. (And probably rightly so.)

  10. Twiner says:

    They are paid to be humorless, their job is to make sure everyone is safe.
    sure, you may feel like people are getting wrongfully searched and what not. being treated poorly.
    But realize, the state of american airports are a LOT more inviting than airports in the rest of the world.
    my father used to work for Lucent Tech, he traveled to various countries, and said a lot of airports outside the USA tend of have military guards wielding weapons such as AK47s, and M16A1s.

    So joke as you will, its your safety thats being protected, and be glad its only as “bad” as it is.

  11. ralph says:

    I just want one that has a human skeleton x-ray

  12. anne O'Nimes says:

    Generally when I got through airports I’m in a hurry and don’t want to spend several hours in a windowless room, but otherwise the following is tempting:

    Forget images of human body parts. Put an image in there of the skeleton of something that’s completely the wrong size, and/or obviously impossible. Like a mosasaur, or a mastodon.

  13. Joss says:

    I’m guessing the giant middle finger graphic is a popular one.

  14. Anonymous says:

    With apologies to Xander (although, in all fairness, I suspect he could find an honest way to make a living that doesn’t involve violating his fellow citizens civil rights), I suspect that we need to resurrect the Kilroy image. Let the watchers know that the watched are watching back. (Watch.)

  15. Andrew says:

    Xander

    Don’t take this personally, I don’t know you, or what airport you work. You might be an honest, decent, hardworking person.

    But…

    You complain that you and your colleagues are the most hated among all government employees.

    My experience with a number of your colleagues says that… you’ve earned (as a group, not you specifically) every ounce of hatred sent your way a hundredfold.

    Virtually every time I visit an airport, I find a TSA “security professional” abusing their authority and generally oppressing the traveling public. Stealing things from people, generally harassing people, detaining people just because they’re in a hurry and going to miss their flight. Shouting, selecting people for “extra” screening for petty personal reasons. (Person makes disparaging comment about TSA employee, person leaves airport 12 hours late) Taking immense pleasure in ruining people’s vacations. It’s really despicable.

    (Frankly, you’ve admitted in your own comment that if someone decided to tell you how much they hate you by putting one of these messages in their bag, you’d abuse your authority and detain them.)

    So… is it any surprise the extent of the hatred directed back at you? You and your colleagues are both the symbol and the means of petty oppression.

    Even if you are not in any way like this, enough of your colleagues are that we, the traveling public, have hatred enough for all of you. And every day, as your colleagues continue to practice their wretched behavior, the hatred grows.

    I’m sorry if this is unfair to you… but that’s how it is.

    Don’t like it? Encourage your colleagues to clean up their act.

  16. Joe Strummer says:

    “You have the right to free speech – provided of course, you’re not dumb enough to actually try it!”

  17. Anonymous says:

    Twiner

    A few “various countries” also chop off hands for shoplifting and treat women as disposable property. Just because some places are worse than America doesn’t mean we shouldnt strive to be better than we are now.

  18. Anonymous says:

    “(Frankly, you’ve admitted in your own comment that if someone decided to tell you how much they hate you by putting one of these messages in their bag, you’d abuse your authority and detain them.)”

    thats not really what he said, if you read it again, he said it would result in a thorough bag search, not being thrown into a cell as you are investigated. He was saying it is policy to inspect bags that are out of the ordinary

  19. Cybernetichost says:

    Not to get off topic…. but does anyone recognize the brand of bag in the picture? Looks pretty clean and simple, unlike the majority of bags. Thanks!

  20. Anonymous says:

    @Xander – I’m not sure if you’ll be back to read this but anyway…you and your colleagues are not hated because of the security service you provide. It’s the transparent and invasive security theatre that the public perceives.

    We all hear stories about your colleagues raking someone over the coals for saying “are you looking for a bomb?” and things like that. Which lead exactly to this story. Not to mention, this is Makezine, we all have little projects we’ve built that we can’t take on planes because they “look suspicious” to security people who don’t know better.

    The point of all that though is none of these invasive measures help keep a bomb off an airplane. A real terrorist will not say the word bomb in an airport or carry a obviously homemade looking electronic device with them. The perception is that you’ve giving a show of security, making things more difficult for legitimate travellers, and costing the taxpayer a fortune, without really making things safer.

    I used to travel a lot on one way plane tickets for business, and I’d always be given a thorough search because they thought a one way ticket was suspicious while a round trip wasn’t. Well then, knowing that, don’t you think a terrorist would buy a round trip ticket even if they know they’re not using the return part? So it again wastes tax dollars searching the wrong people, and makes it more likely the terrorist with the round trip ticket gets through while you’re searching the business traveller with the one way ticket.

    Anyway, I’m just a well-informed member of the public, so all I’m doing is giving some insight into why the public so strongly hates the security workers who are supposedly there to protect them. I used to travel by air on business 10-12 times, now I fly at most once a year, and the cutback is entirely because of the security theatre.

  21. Anonymous says:

    “Just doing my job” is what people say when they know they are doing something wrong.

    Last week I had to take off my shoes, put those in a plastic tray. Unzip my laptop bag, take out my computer, put it in a separate plastic tray, zip up my computer bag. Unzip my suitcase, take out my one-quart zip-lock baggie with hair gel, rezip my suitcase, put the baggie in the tray with my shoes. Take off my watch, put it and my cell phone and foil-wrapped LifeSavers mints in the little plastic bowl. Walk through the scanner holding my boarding pass, set off the alarm, go back out, take off my belt and put it in the plastic tray with my shoes, and go through the scanner again. Next, wait in line for my various bags and plastic trays and bowl to emerge from the conveyer belt. Unzip my computer bag, stuff the laptop inside, zip it back up. Unzip my suitcase, stuff the zip-lock baggie back in, zip it back up. Grab my cell, mints, watch, and stuff them all back in my pocket. Hop on one foot at a time putting my loafers back on. Put my belt back on so my pants don’t fall down.

    I, too, used to fly once or twice a month on business. Now I fly as little as possible. I really dislike being treated like a criminal just because I need to fly on an airplane. And the system can never be foolproof – bad guys can always find a way to pull off something.

    I guess we’re just a little bit safer, but at the cost of lots of time, inconvenience, embarrassment, and billions of dollars. This is how bin Laden wins.

  22. Max S says:

    This country is disappointing me more and more every day. When will we learn?

    I believe that liberty is the only genuinely valuable thing that men have invented, at least in the field of government, in a thousand years. I believe that it is better to be free than to be not free, even when the former is dangerous and the latter safe. I believe that the finest qualities of man can flourish only in free air – that progress made under the shadow of the policeman’s club is false progress, and of no permanent value. I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave.

    ~ H.L. Mencken

  23. Interns@RainyDayMagazine says:

    Yeah…it makes a lot of sense to annoy those who are powerless to make things really safer, but empowered to make things really “complicated” for you.

    Yeah…it makes a lot of sense to “protest” in an impotent way such as pissy little messages aimed at people who would rather shove you through the X-ray machine than let you walk through the puffer.

    Yeah…it makes a lot of sense to be “clever” when you should really be “smart” and just STFU and wait in line.

  24. Anonymous says:

    @ cybernitchost

    The bag is a TADGEAR Fastpack

  25. Anonymous says:

    I work for for a branch of DHS (not TSA), which is why I posted this anonymously – and that’s the ONLY reason why.

    Pester these TSA folks a bit less, okay? They’re doing a job that everyone wants to benefit from in the core intent (safer air travel), but at the same time don’t want to suffer as an inconvenience.

    Whether or not they’re truly effective at the intent is subject to lengthy debate, but the fact is this: they’re just doing a job that they’re underpaid for, often castigated over, and for which they’re seldom thanked.

    The best way to deal with this is to THINK. Whether or not they use it, every human reading this was issued a brain at the factory. If you have a chance to plan ahead with what you’re taking on the plane, pack in your checked baggage EVERYTHING that would cause you an issue with carry-on baggage. Do you REALLY need that roll of Life-Savers on the plane? Will you just DIE if you have that cellphone car-cord in your checked suitcase instead of with your laptop?

    On the subject of laptops: yes, you have to take them out of the bag. Is that REALLY such a problem? If it is, then take your whiny butt to a store that sells one of the new “TSA Approved” bags that unzips to fold the computer out into a separate scan zone. Your wallet will cheerfully suffer the few dollars in the interest of getting your precious lappy through the nasty screeners without it having to be exposed to that nasty airport air.

    Get over yourselves, people. The easiest thing to do is to make everyone’s experience as quick as possible. Just because YOU have an issue with the screening, doesn’t mean that anyone else BEHIOND your whiny butt wants to wait for your petty tantrum.

    Finish the screening and GET OUT OF THE WAY.

    P.S.: Yes, I have a laptop to screen as carry-on. In fact, I have to have TWO done this way. ALSO, I always have to travel one-way, and almost always end up purchasing my ticket less than 24 hours before flight. “SSSS” is a constant thing on my boarding passes….

  26. Anonymous says:

    Dude, if only all these TSA workers would quit and find better jobs! Everyone including them would be better off.

  27. John Q. says:

    “Pester these TSA folks a bit less, okay?”

    No! WRONG!

    It is every American’s DUTY to question everything the TSA/DHS does. And not just the “bureaucracy” end of it, but every individual employee of these agencies. In the airports, personal interactions, online, and in the voting booth.

    The employees are even *MORE* worthy of harassment than the agency that created them: they’ve quietly complied with eroding our rights for the sake of a paycheck.

    Every bag they search (and find nothing), every tube of toothpaste they confiscate (filled with toothpaste), and every shoe that comes off should be met with reasoned questioning and concern.

    For these actions the TSA should demonstrate EVERY DAY to EVERY PASSENGER their reasoning, success, and failures. Prove to us this isn’t Security Theater every time we enter an airport. Do not point at an event 7 years ago as your proof. Sept 11, 2001 is as likely to happen again as Santa Anna overrunning the Alamo. Absence of evidence is not evidence.

  28. Matthew Brubaker says:

    Just an FYI if you’re really interested in doing something like this, United Nuclear (http://unitednuclear.com) has got all the parts you need to make your own x-ray machine for the purposes of testing.

  29. Simon Templar says:

    >On the subject of laptops: yes, you have to take them out of the bag. Is that REALLY such a problem?
    Yes it is. How dare you even ask that question? How dare you defend these asinine policies? For most of us in the 21st century the laptop is basically an extension of at least our homes if not our minds.
    Apart from REALLY pointy things, like machetes, and firearms which are fairly easy to make out, there isn’t anything you can do from stopping anybody who is determined to bring explosives etc on board.
    If there really were terrorists and they really weren’t just deterred by the big bad scary TSA from blowing up planes the passengers would fix it should those standards ever be relaxed and invite all those boogeymen in hiding.

  30. Anonymous says:

    @ Anonymous DHS employee:

    You seem to be saying “just bend over and take it, citizen; we know what’s best for you.”

    To which I say, in agreement with John Q. above, No! Wrong! Absolutely under no circumstances should we simply simply roll over and accept intrusive rules that inconvenience or infringe, to say nothing of those that do so without actually providing greater measures of security. As a certain Mr. Franklin said a while ago, those who trade liberty for security deserve neither.

    You say everyone has a brain, and should use it. This goes without saying, but it applies at least as much, if not more so, to the TSA employees. They need to be able to discern who is and is not a threat. Elderly people in wheelchairs are far less likely to be a threat than young, swarthy men. Shoes are no more likely than other articles of apparel to disguise explosives (and thin dress shoes are far less likely to do so than thick athletic shoes). Friendly, personable reception of travellers is likely to be met with far more cooperation than truculence and a mindless zero-tolerance mentality. If you’re going to perpetrate mindless security theater, at least make it as non-onerous as possible.

    While you’re at it, stop hiring minimum-wage drones. The opinion of the TSA is not improved by having travellers retrive luggage tagged as being inspected by TSA that coincidentally is also minus several small valuables.

    I’m reminded of the experience of Mr. Penn (the magician), who once while travelling was accosted by an overly-officious TSA drone, and stood his ground. The TSA worker attempted to coerce Mr. Penn through the threat of making him miss his flight, yet Mr. Penn has enough money to fly private if he chooses, and so was not going to be inconvenienced by missing his flight and called the cops on the TSA agent. The TSA agent backed down in the face of actual law enforcement, revealing the fact that it wasn’t really about security, but about exerting authority over others.

    Granted that fuel costs are a problem for airlines, I would submit that one of the main, though unexplored, reasons for the financial trouble that the airlines are in is the ridiculous, wasteful security theater imposed on airline travelers. Less people are traveling because it’s too much of a pain in the a$$ to do so. Security expert after security expert has pointed out all the ways that the TSA fails to do anything to improve the actual security of the airlines, and how the security theater they are doing could be done without spending all that money (since it’s all appearance, they don’t need most of the expensive tech they have, just stuff that looks like the real thing), and yet the TSA continues to impose ever more intrusive requirements on travelers, instead of actually listening to the people who really understand what they are talking about. I understand that some theater is necessary to manage public sentiment, but what the TSA does goes way beyond the point of diminishing returns in that respect.

  31. Anonymous says:

    If you can’t show up at the airport with your stuff already in a plastic ziplock bag (or check luggage), and can’t empty your pockets real quick into the zipper pocket of your carryon laptop bag, and remove your laptop from the sleeve, plus take off your shoes, and unless you have a huge belt buckle your belt can stay on most of the time… if you can’t do that in under… I don’t know, 15 minutes, maybe you are retarded.

    “Last week I had to take off my shoes, put those in a plastic tray. Unzip my laptop bag, take out my computer, put it in a separate plastic tray, zip up my computer bag. Unzip my suitcase, take out my one-quart zip-lock baggie with hair gel, rezip my suitcase, put the baggie in the tray with my shoes. Take off my watch, put it and my cell phone and foil-wrapped LifeSavers mints in the little plastic bowl. Walk through the scanner holding my boarding pass, set off the alarm, go back out, take off my belt and put it in the plastic tray with my shoes, and go through the scanner again. Next, wait in line for my various bags and plastic trays and bowl to emerge from the conveyer belt. Unzip my computer bag, stuff the laptop inside, zip it back up. Unzip my suitcase, stuff the zip-lock baggie back in, zip it back up. Grab my cell, mints, watch, and stuff them all back in my pocket. Hop on one foot at a time putting my loafers back on. Put my belt back on so my pants don’t fall down.”

  32. Simon Templar says:

    Thanks Anonymous! You have proven to us you can jump through hoops! Congratulations, you are now a dog!

    Seriously though, nobody is debating that these measures are simply just a burden too heavy for the common traveler. If there was even a tiny little bit of all rules since 9/11 that actually wasn’t security theater and made the ride safer, well, a lot less people would be complaining.

    This answer might just be troll fodder but come on people, it’s about rights and dignity and all that mushy stuff, can we please stop being so authoritarian-without-any-benefit.

  33. D Graves says:

    Didn’t feel like registering on the forums here, but I have to disagree with some conclusions that what the TSA does at the airport is a violation of our Bill of Rights. It’s not like the TSA is stopping your car or coming to your home.

    No one is forcing you to fly. You have other methods of travel that do not subject you to what the TSA does, whether or not you think it’s just theatrics.

    You know the rules before you hit the airport. You still have the choice of going or not. If you go and know the rules beforehand, you lose the right to complain.

  34. Anonymous says:

    Can you make me one that says, “Put me in the slow lane where you hand search everything I’m carrying.”

  35. JBob says:

    They are succeeding marvelously at their goal of teaching all of us submitizens that we are to cower and grovel before government authority, or else. Bravo thugs!

  36. Anonymous says:

    I wonder if they let you post on the blog while at prison…

  37. Anonymouse says:

    If I was a screener who saw this, I would be forced to assume it might be intended to be a distraction to stop me from noticing some contraband.

    So if you do this, and the screeners are efficient and professional, you WILL be hand searched.

    If you do it, and the screeners are pompous jerks, it might be even less pleasant…

  38. Amuzed @ Work says:

    Its all fine and dandy to voice your objections to airport searches, but this sorta stunt is just turn you into someone’s rubber glove hand puppet and slow down the line for everyone else.

  39. cidbearit says:

    While we’re on the topic, how about those people at Disney World? You have to wait in line to get on the rides, you have to be a certain height, you can’t wear loose jewelry or carry on the stuffed animal you won. Who do they think they are? Stomping all over our rights like that….

  40. Anonymous says:

    >Posted by: D Graves on September 29, 2008 at 11:32 AM
    >…but I have to disagree with some conclusions that what >the TSA does at the airport is a violation of our Bill of >Rights. It’s not like the TSA is stopping your car or >coming to your home.
    >No one is forcing you to fly. You have other methods of >travel that do not subject you to what the TSA does,

    Err No!!

    As a non USA citizen let me tell you how it goes for us:
    In the old days if we had to change flights in a USA airport (or any other) we stayed in the holding pen / transit lounge. We did not pass through security. We just transferred from one plane to another. No longer. Now we have to go through security to get from one flight to another.

    My sister in law is croation. She could not fly from the UK to New Zealand / Australia as the USA had no one to escort her from transit point a to transit point b despite the fact she is a UK citizen with no criminal record. She discovered this as she was about to board the flight leaving the UK.

    USA security now makes all travellers, including non-USA citizens get scanned, finger printed – what ever even when we are just transiting from one plane to another. We are subject to USA security crap without ever wanting to enter the USA. We have no choice in modes of transport. Driving from NZ to the UK, Europe, Canada, Mexico etc is not a viable option.

    Lastly, the USA is bullying supposed ‘allies’ ie NZ, Australia, UK etc into doing things their way. USA is trying to have armed US agents / air marshalls on national flights in NZ. They are trying to get armed US agents on flights leaving NZ for the USa and leaving the USA for NZ. Sorry but you cant have it both ways and trying to force us to allow armed personal from a foreign country to travel armed in NZ where even our police are not armed is another example of USA bullying in the name of 9/11 and terrrism. Do you mind if we send our guys to carry guns on your planes and in your country?

    Terrorism and 9/11 is just a pretext for unacceptable behaviour to be forced on others as far as many non usa citizens are concerned. Changes to our passports, invasive security requirements (retinal scanning etc) etc all pushed by the USA are invading other countries too. Lets not forget the uproar when Brazil decided to force USA citizens to endure the same crud while entering Brazil that non-usa citizens endure going through or into the USA.

    I for one vote that until the USA stops pushing its weight around and bullying others that it be treated with measure for measure, ban for ban, intrusion for intrusion. The internal security you gripe about on this blog is just a microcosm, a small reflection of the national attitude prevalent and practiced by the USA.

    Lastly, most of the TSA and petty crap forced for internal security is making someone else rich or a total waste of time. Ask yourself – who profits by employing cheap labour and adding stupid restriction after stupid restriction?

    As for ridiculous – Not allowing water or babys milk on board flights for security reasons is crap. Originally we could only carry one bottle of water. Then they figured if they were hijackers the hijackers mate would carry the second bottle.
    Banning water all together (as is practiced) is just plain ridiculous and dangerous to the health of children, the elderly and I guess all of us as flights regularly do not carry enough water to hydrate all passengers which increases the risk of blood clots etc significantly.

    The TSA aren’t only peeving off USA citizens. They annoy the hades out of us non-Us citizens as well – but unlike US citizens we don’t see them as the problem, we see the whole US mentality as a problem. Again – the TSA is just a mirror of a wider social problem in the USA.

  41. Aderyn Du says:

    I’m noticing a lot of comments to the nature that OBVIOUSLY it’s easy for people at the TSA to find new jobs. Either that, or they can just fail to act within the guidelines of their job, letting people slide by easily and totally not getting fired.

    In this economy? Really?

    There are millions of people in the US right now who really, really need the money. If the TSA employees quit massively, will the TSA not find more people who need jobs to feed their families?

    I’m continually disappointed by how easy many people find it to look down on others who do the jobs they won’t. If specific employees are out of bounds, fine, be mad at them, but don’t categorically dismiss them. The best these employees can do is try to do the job correctly and preserve as much of our civil liberties as possible.

    The real solution isn’t for the TSA employees to stop doing their job, it’s for the policies to CHANGE. Vote. Lobby Congress. Do something besides complain at people who aren’t any happier about airport security than you.

  42. Anonymous says:

    Aderyn: Bad government policies are just scraps of paper until someone chooses to physically enforce them. Nobody gets off the hook with “just doing my job.” Yeah, well your job is evil, so quit. Simple.

  43. mikeyyc says:

    Don’t worry about the TSA for your laptop anymore, worry about DHS. They can now confiscate any laptop that they define as “suspicious” without warrant, and return it at their leisure once the investigation is done.

    Of course this is in the name of child protection and stopping the movement of child pornography, but hey, what’s your bank info, where have you been surfing, what’s in your email box? They’d never look, right?

  44. Shaman says:

    You can have Freedom or security, not both.

    To the travelers: if you know what the rules are and you’re willing to put up with them in order to fly, take a little time to arrange things so as not to arouse “big brother’s” suspicious nature. As far as your rights being trampled, when you step into the security line you are consenting to the screening process. Given that the process has become invasive, insulting and more than a little arbitrary, you did in actuality, volunteer. For some it’s a matter of work. I noted that many of those that used to fly regularly are doing much less due to the “new” screening procedures.

    To the security folks: I’m sure you try and I know you have to follow stupid rules, but, understand that you tread on the dignity and self respect of individuals with every tightening of what are admittedly draconian regulations. What’s more, and I think this is what irks people most, the regulations don’t make sense.

    A brief example: I can take 3.4 ounce containers of liquid onboard provided that they all fit in a 1 quart bag. I can also take an empty 12 ounce container. Once through security I’m free to pour the small containers into the larger one. Does that make any kind of sense? If I had a single full 12 ounce container in my plastic bag it would be forbidden, but split up the same amount of the same liquid or gel and it’s fine? This is the nature of the complaint. Endless, everchanging non-sensical rules and regulations that obvously do NOT increase security but instead make the travel experience more complex and difficult.

  45. PlasticPilot says:

    In the same style, check the “Liquids on board” tee-shirts at http://www.printfection.com/newtee/015-Liquids-on-board/_s_153823

  46. toki says:

    he TSA aren’t only peeving off USA citizens. They annoy the hades out of us non-Us citizens as well

  47. James L. Dean says:

    I drew a smiley face on a piece of paper with a piece of lead and put in my carry-on luggage for a flight in the 1970’s. Needless to say, the luggage was subjected to a hand search after x-raying.

  48. Anonymous says:

    What do TSA agents look for when the terrorist brings biological weapons on board? I know how easy it is to transport blood samples unnoticed on flights outside the USA. With the US limits on fluid, what’s to prevent me from taking enough biologically hazardous fluid on board – below that volume, but sufficient to do a lot of damage?

    What about the terrorist who simply plans to open the plane door during flight?

  49. Anonymous says:

    The TSA consists primarily of undertrained, unprofessional and impolite thieving bastards with nothing better to do than cavity search people who disagree with their draconian policies.
    Truth to tell, the rest of the Govt. is like that now.
    Are you all really going to bend over and take it forever?
    Email your elected officials and tell them what you think of the new policies, which forsake Freedom under Natural Law for promises of “Change” and “Hope” and “Security,” whilst assuming that ALL citizens are incapable of wiping their own butts.

    Fax em, email em, shaft em any way you can till they give in. There’s no other choice short of armed revolt, which I doubt will happen anytime soon.
    We make do with what we have I suppose…
    HM

  50. US Citizen says:

    Idiots like the Xander TSA screener above are the reason I primarily drive or travel by rail now.

    Almost every single TSA screener I’ve met (and I worked with several during hurricane Ike) are complete turds. Just rotten, nasty, disrespectful people by nature. There were a couple at our POD that weren’t like that, but almost all of them were.

    I have the most utter disdain for the TSA. They can find other jobs, even in “this” economy. Or better yet, the government will throw money at them so that they can go to college and EARN their way into a better job.

    And one TSA agent actually stole my 80GB iPod. They called me over to a different table to inspect my briefcase…you know…becase they’d never seen a hand-towel and a couple of books before…and while they forced me to stay over there for that, the other one took my iPod from my waistpack when it was over at the conveyor belt. I filed a police report and a claim with the TSA. THEY DID NOTHING, OF COURSE!

    THANKS TSA — GREAT JOB DOING NOTHING TO ACTUALLY INCREASE SECURITY, BUT GIVING THE ILLUSION/APPEARANCE OF “MAKING THINGS SAFER”

  51. tin whisker says:

    Excellent article. All the technological advances are of no avail if the screeners aren’t well awake.They should be checked when they report to work otherwise what’s the use of X-ray machines….
    tin whisker

  52. Anonymous says:

    All these new security measures are a consequence of 9/11. People don’t simply fear another 9/11 could happen, they BELIEVE there are plenty of terrorists out there plotting 24/7 to kill as much Americans as they can.
    They probably think 50% of U.S. flights would be attacked by various terrorist operations if it was not for these extreme security measures.

    But two things should be said:
    First, without going too much into the 9/11 conspiracy theory, there is evidence that suggests the U.S. government planned 9/11 or knew about it and let it happen. I don’t know which one it is, but if the government plotted 9/11 then it means we have no reasons to believe there are actually any terrorists dying to attack our planes. And if the government did not plot it but let it happen, then it means the old security measures were effective enough and new ones were not necessary.

    Second, it’s obvious terrorists could had attacked planes since 9/11. The so-called new security measures are not effective.
    I have once seen people traveling with their 3-year-old child. They had one of those aluminum balloons (those that come in various shapes and have a drawing printed on it, such as cartoon characters).
    Security did not check the balloon of course (hard without damaging it anyway), and that balloon could had contained anything from gas to liquid and explosives.

    Also, has it ever occurred to anybody that terrorists could infiltrate the TSA and have the job done from the inside? (They don’t even have to infiltrate the TSA specifically: plenty of people have access to planes).

    And what about using plastic knives, like in the 9/11 attacks? How do the new security measures prevent this from happening again?

    Obviously the new security measures are useless, there is no need for them.
    And obviously if no attacks happened it’s because nobody is planning to attack the USA every day.

    Another thought: next time the terrorists may not attack planes but people on the ground. Possibly a Columbine-like shooting or something. Unlike the typical school shooting that hardly kill more than 10 people, with a good strategy (blocking exits, taking position in places where it’s possible to shoot many targets without moving, etc.) it’s possible to kill plenty of civilians.
    There is also the option to use explosives (even home-made) for support in a shooting, or simply lock people inside a building and set it on fire (ambush rescuers to make sure they can’t save anybody).

    The options for terrorists are endless, and no security measures will make us safe.
    It’s really time to learn that not only is it a mistake to give away freedom for security, it’s also impossible to get the security we expect.

  53. amitp says:

    I will look forward in future also..!!

    seo services

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