Outraged by TSA

Leah, from my impression of the article he was also speaking of doing something like the frequent flyer program for those with special considerations and then we could hopefully avoid the invasive groping and stripping.

River_Rat, I wasn't sure if that's what he meant. I also don't know if he meant everyone or only those who travel frequently (a TSA frequent flyer plan?) I didn't get the feeling that anything was going to be changed drastically at any time - just the "window dressing" of taking off shoes & jackets and restrictions on fluids etc.

My own opinion? The scanners don't add to anyone's protection. Taking off shoes, jackets, etc., while a waste of time doesn't really seem to bother anyone. Not permitting anything sharp is a good idea though it's been carried to an absurd amount. A manicure scissor is not the threat that a boxcutter is. X-rays of carry-on luggage and metal detectors are excellent security measures. What worries me is that I don't know what, if any security measures are carried out on the luggage that is sent through. Here in Israel, every single piece is X-rayed before it is brought to the check-in counter. If it is checked at all in the U.S., it must be done after it's sent through at the chek-in counter because nothing is done beforehand except to weigh it. Is it done? I don't know. Spot-checks of a few pieces does not make me feel secure.

Leah

I read Pistole's comments yesterday and frankly think they are nothing but more hot air.  Just the line about "if passengers are willing to share the same information they give to airline frequent flier programs..."  Since when does the government/TSA care about what passengers are willing to do.  Did they care if people were willing to have their bodies scanned or patted down? If they wanted travelers to provide more detailed information and that could keep us safer and make security less invasive, they could have simply required us to provide more information when buying tickets.  Seems like getting more information about your passengers before letting them fly would be the obvious first step to making us feel more secure.  And I'm sure most passengers would have been willing to provide more information rather than be probed and searched.

I find it hard to believe that the government doesn't have access to a heck of a lot more information about any of us anyway if they would just choose to use it appropriately. Just look what came out about Apple i-phones and i-pads today.

I actually had a good experience with TSA on a cross-country round trip last week (BWI-Ontario, CA).  At BWI I declined the scanner (I refuse to undergo a virtual strip search - if someone's going to search me I want to look them in the eye).  The TSA agent called over a female agent who did the enhanced search.  She was professional and personable - I even teased her about being the "designated groper" and she laughed, and we ended up having a great chat about breast cancer and reconstruction options.  I had an equally professional experience at Ontario when I declined the scanner.  We've all heard the horror stories about people being subjected to what they feel are punitive overly-invasive searches for declining the scanners, but in my case I was treated politely and professionally, and no one raised an eyebrow about my decision to decline the scanner.

For the record I'm a 55 year old white American-born female, and I was wearing my lymphedema compression sleeve and gauntlet at the time, so I'm probably less likely to be the victim of stereotyping that others, such as younger, foreign-born males, might be subject to.  I also didn't hesitate to swipe the cancer card for sympathy, so that might have helped.

But I also agree about security theatre - we go through all this just to fly while in DC trains full of who-knows-what that undergo minimal security inspections routinely travel through congested cities and national monuments and pull into Union Station, located next to the Capitol.   

Lena, completely agree with you

OK.  Here's the solution.  Do away with the xray machines.  Instead, have EVERYBODY get a patdown.  There you go.  With that - the whole thing would end TOMORROW. 

Right now "most" passengers haven't experienced it.  The TSA says only 2% get groped.  Everybody else just gets "looked at".  Obviously, from the high standard of TSA security, groping will reveal any untoward explosive nastiness.  So let's just scrap all the fancy machines (which irradiate us and clearly aren't the final answer since a grope follows any identified "anomoly") and just let 'em all have a good feel.

(so angry about this I could spit nails)

And where, oh where, is the media coverage, for heavens sake?  Must be the media execs are either in the TSA's back pocket - or - are afraid that if they allow this to be covered they'll be singled out for "special treatment."

I flew out of New Orleans 1 week after my bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction just a couple weeks ago.  I went through whichever screening machine they have and got flagged for a breast pat down.  I totally didn't understand what was going on (being on percocet! and being a naive flyer) and thought being very clear about my surgery, and having a letter from my doc office, would avoid the pat down.  No.  I was devastated to have my breasts pat down and sobbed the whole time.  It sucks.  I'm going to write a complaint letter but I think it will mean nothing.  Absolutely unreal and a bunch of BS.

Hi. I just got back from a trip to London, UK.  I was ready for the scanners this time and traveled lop-sided with the prosthesis in my tote bag and a very loose blouse. Of course, since I was ready,  I just had the traditional metal detector for boarding in both the US and at London Heathrow.  Two years ago I had been scanned (and patted down) in London but this time I did not even see a scanner.  However, the metal detector was set so high that my daughter's skirt zipper set it off.  And they were quite careful in looking at the bags as well.  What a relief it was not to undergo the strip scanners and further indignities.

Mandy, Good to hear your update as I'm probably going to have to fly in a few weeks time out of Heathrow. Have kept my head in the sand through all this furore and would have probably never flown again by choice... I can't face trawling through 15 pages, can anyone remind me if beany-boobs set the machines off, and do silicone-gel boobs go best in hand-luggage or checked into the hold? Likely to be travelling with daughter and her boyfriend and would like to miminse embarrassment.

Can you fly a few days after a fill?

http://www.infowars.com/cancer-surges-in-body-scanner-operators-tsa-launches-cover-up/

1Badboob,

Thanks for posting this. I saw it yesterday. I've been feeling all along that those at greatest risk are the TSA workers who are exposed all day long. My father-in-law overheard me talking about this one day. He's a scientist and I assumed he would scoff at my fears. Instead, he heartily agreed with my concerns about the radiation levels coming from the new machines. 

After the huge investment in this technology, TSA is reluctant to turn off these machines, but I hope this publicity will force them to do so.

I do worry about the radiation exposure and I think the TSA workers are at greatest risk.  I also have concerns about the way that pat-downs are being handled.

This latest story causes me to cringe (story at the link):

"(CNN) -- The Transportation Security Administration stood by its security officers Sunday after a Florida woman complained that her cancer-stricken, 95-year-old mother was patted down and forced to remove her adult diaper while going through security. "

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/26/florida.tsa.incident/ 

lewing,

I agree that it seemed a little early for a cancer cluster to develop. Logan was among the first airports to have the scanners, but not that much earlier than others. I guess the "infowars" link just reinforced my already-existing doubts about the safety of the machines. My DH told me that a TSA worker at Logan who attempted to wear a radiation-monitoring card (such as that worn in hospitals by radiation techs and docs) was not permitted to do so. Makes you wonder...

(Deep breath)

Too Soon?

The backscanners are not the only thing that emits radiation. I myself inquired about working conditions from a young girl who was on one of those machines. She said them on it for long amounts of time, for most of the day very close to the machine itself.

Let's not forget, TSA agents have been working around radiation without dosimeters for almost 10 years now since 2002 and now the cancer clusters are appearing, these are human beings with families and young children to support.

They have to be around XRAY machines on the checkpoint and bagrooms. How does our checked luggage get screened, by even bigger, stronger, more intense radiating xray machines that the public does not see.

The sad thing is the TSA agent is seen as a disposable commodity.

Okay, just my 2 cents about this topic, don't want to come off like cranky cancer patient, I just feel incredibly bad for them, they are stuck with noone watching their back because it certainly isn't Uncle Sam or Lady Liberty.