I could have packed C4 on a 747
 

Just a quick story to prove how much the TSA blows fucking balls. I recently traveled from Miami International to Frankfurt. Being a hobbyist photographer, I packed my large backpack with all sorts of cameras, lenses and this large X-ray guard bag which I packed with a few dozen rolls of film.

Having heard about the recent changes to TSA policy and full-body scanners and what not, I thought I would have a hard time passing through security with all that gear. I didn't bother taking the guard bag out of the backpack, I expected a thorough search anyway after the backpack went through the x-ray scanner.

After I passed through the metal detector (no full-body xray scanner), I awaited patiently for my shit to come through the luggage scanner. My Mac rolled out, my shoes did and then the scanner stopped and two guys stared at the screen blankly. One guy pointed at the screen and said "have this bag checked when it comes out". He then left his post and the other guy sat down. The new guy stared blankly some more at the scan of my backpack, then pressed a button and the bag rolled out.

I waited for 30 seconds before I scooped it up and walked away.

Now, the guard bag with the film inside showed up as a solid black brick on the scanner. There was no way for them to see inside the guard bag without inspecting it manually by hand. In theory, I could have packed a good pound of explosives onto the plane and blew 300+ people right out of the sky. And with the plane crashing into a populated area, we could have had Lockerbie all over again.

Just unbelievable. Billions spent on air travel security, yet there is still incompetent monkeys employed who just don't give a fuck.

will76 will be here any minute to tell you it's good for you.

yay :Oh crap i'm so glad i fly out of that airport

i see those tsa guys waiting at the bus stop everyday. I always wonder, if you cannot afford a car

a) you must be paid very shitty
b) you are probably more open to bribes etc.

I read an article recently that said most of the new guys only work part time and it takes quite a while for them to get upgraded to full-time. What's the point in that? You may as well have full-time guys that can make a living, that have been properly trained, than a bunch of kids working part-time.

They talk about scanners and in-depth pat downs for "national security" and we have a bunch of part-time, barely trained kids at the helm. Awesome.

This is why if someone is willing to take their own life in order to hurt others we need to ask WHY and not how can we stop this guy from coming here.

Because very often the WHY is an injustice which, if corrected, would make it so there's no need for anyone to get hurt or even harassed/fondled or whatever. After all, no one wants to die for nothing.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh wow :helpme

back in August I was going through LAX and a TSA agent demanded that I take the battery out of my macbook pro... which is a unibody design so its not possible without a screw driver.

the TSA agent was a younger girl, probably trying to make a point. Made me stand aside with everything out of my bag. when someone finally came by a few minutes later he opened my laptop, type a few keys, opened/closed it then not so gently placed it back on the table and said "ok thanks, these are the new laptops and some agents are not familiar with them."

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

you must be some socialist tree hugger that you suggest to be actually nice to people so that they have no reason to blow anyone or anything up. blasphemy!!!

Absolutely, what a strange concept he proposes! :upsidedow

It's only a matter of time before something slips through. We already know it's coming.

You say you could have gotten something through TSA. Seems you feel through the crack. Having a bomber slip through in a similar matter with a bomb is another story. You know they do racial profiling.

My mother-in-law is Lebanese (and looks it) and flies a lot. Every time she flies she gets pulled aside for the special pat down. To make matters even worse, she had breast cancer last year and lost her breast, so that makes these pat downs much more interesting.

Sorry to hear about your mother in law, hope she's okay now though post-mastectomy.

What shocked me the most was that I thought that I was guaranteed to have my bag searched. Especially since a black void appeared on the screen that could have contained just about anything. Liquids, solids, electronics, who knows what else. And profiling is not going to prevent shit if one day I snapped and would decide to martyr myself and kill hundreds of innocent lives.

good info - maybe a terrorist will go out and get himself a nice camera bag now...

forwarded this thread to TSA

once I traveled with a kitchen knife in my hand bag to Buenos Aires

maybe I should start checking into the train...

Pay them 7$ an hour and they do a 7$ an hour bit of work.

You're always packing a hidden weapon. I'd love to see the face of the guy who mans the body scanner machine when you walk through it.

:1orglaugh:thumbsup

Do you think if you would pack a Dildo with explosive powder they would find it?

We already know the reason WHY.

Extremist Islamic beliefs that portray even innocent civilians as fair game in their Jihad or Holy war. Belief systems that are ingrained in their youth from the time those kids begin to read.

Got it? Good.

Now before you come back with the retort that not all followers of Islam are extremists, let me just say that I know this already. But I must add that it is not the peaceful ones that are the problem.

yes but...
one of them said that they need to check one of your bags...
if you were having something illegal in that bag you would react somehow
and you would give your self away...

but you were calm since you know you have nothing in it...
so maybe this is the way they "checked you and your bag"
if you got nervous or they would notice something is not alright...

You can be trained to get past that very easy, just like in a bar when your running a line of bullshit to get laid LOL,