You are hereBlogs / Lisa Simeone's blog
Lisa Simeone's blog
TSA – all theft all the time
Sigh. So much crime, so little time.
More theft: passenger says TSA stole cash at Fairbanks airport
Pete Alexion is a Vietnam vet. He served 20 years in the U.S. Army, where he had a top secret security clearance, and today holds a CDL (commercial driver’s license) with a hazmat endorsement. He lives in North Pole, Alaska. He’s an agricultural copywriter and moonlights as a biology adjunct professor. He wears two knee braces.
Read the rest at TSA News.
L-3 gets two more TSA contracts – your tax money pays for it
In its continuing effort to spend your tax dollars, the TSA has awarded two more multi-million-dollar contracts to a company with which it already has a cozy relationship: L-3 Communications.
Read the rest at TSA News.
Both major party presidential candidates ignore civil liberties
While they crisscross the country mouthing each other’s platitudes, with only the smallest differences between them, neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney is paying the slightest heed to civil liberties. In fact, they’re trying to outdo each other in bragging about how they’re trampling on them.
Read the rest at TSA News.
TSA agent arrested for rape of a child by Wendy Thomson
For those of you who follow this blog, it should come as no surprise that a TSA agent has been arrested for the rape of a boy he was mentoring as a volunteer Big Brother.
Another theft: passenger says TSA stole jewelry at Boston Logan
A TSA agent stole a woman’s jewelry? Nah, impossible. Never happens!
Read the rest at TSA News.
TSA propagandist meltdown at Forbes
by Bill Fisher
Ted Reed of Forbes has written a column titled "Remember 9/11?” In it, he defends the TSA’s actions and uses as evidence another column written by the TSA’s Lisa Farbstein.
Andrea Abbott found guilty
Andrea Abbott, the mother who tried to protect her daughter from being molested by the TSA, has been found guilty of “disorderly conduct.” Even though, as you can see in this video, Abbott wasn’t being disorderly — on the contrary, multiple TSA agents and an airport cop bullied her — st
TSA – “image problem” is the least of it
The Washington Post seems to have taken up the TSA’s cause.
In a report headlined "TSA fights major image problem,” WaPo lists some of the TSA’s recent troubles, including incompetence and criminal behavior. It then quotes “a federal employee expert” who tells us that everything’s hunky-dory. The TSA is so rigorous and adept, you see, that it weeds out its problematic employees. It’s more “vigilant” than other federal agencies.
TSA’s history of double standards
by Bill Fisher
Last week we had headlines about the TSA firing 25 workers and suspending 19 others at Newark airport for not confiscating 4-ounce containers of liquid or sufficiently delaying travelers. In addition, NBC 7 San Diego reported that Federal Security Director Michael Aguilar was retiring amidst reports of misconduct.
How to kill the TSA’s full-body scanners — once and for all
By Christopher Elliott
It started like it always does, just a few moments before I checked in for my flight.
The sweating. The heart thumping uncontrollably inside my chest. The weak knees.
TSA continues to trumpet Pre-Check boondoggle
Feel-good articles about the TSA’s Pre-Check program continue to proliferate. Even as passengers report experiencing what we’ve been warning about for a year.
TSA – America’s Maginot Line by Bill Fisher
After being invaded by Germany in World War I, France embarked on an ambitious and expensive project intended to prevent a future attack on its northern border. The series of fortifications was termed the Maginot Line in honor of French Minister of War André Maginot.
What’s the problem with the TSA’s pat-downs? by Christopher Elliott
Michelle Dunaj, the terminally ill passenger who claims TSA agents in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport botched her pat-down, drew a visceral reaction from travelers with the humiliating details of her screening.
Read the rest at TSA News.
Woman dying of leukemia abused by TSA
The TSA has a lesson to teach you. And by George, you’re going to learn it.
Read the rest at TSA News.
TSA mocks Breast Cancer Awareness Month by using pink gloves
Really, you can’t make this stuff up:
"According to TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein, during the month of October the 650 TSA officers at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) will be be wearing pink gloves instead of the more familiar blue gloves as a sign of their support in the fight against Breast Cancer."
Read the rest at TSA News.
DHS: the rot starts at the top by Deborah Pierce
Looking at the Department of Homeland Security’s response last week to a scathing Senate subcommittee report on fusion centers, it’s clear that the rot starts at the top. DHS is the TSA’s parent agency. Its shoddy operating procedures and defensiveness in response to questions and criticism mirror the way the TSA operates.
Read the rest at TSA News.
Is the TSA punishing us? by Christopher Elliott
Steven deForest is an experienced air traveler, but he says nothing could have prepared him for the confrontation he recently had with a TSA screener in Las Vegas.
Read the rest at TSA News.
TSA’s disability and multicultural problem by Bill Fisher
In September the TSA website posted an announcement noting that the agency hosted nearly 40 disability and multicultural organizations and federal agencies at its 10th Annual Disability and Multicultural Coalition Conference ”to discuss advances in security screening and issues of concern to coalition members and their constituencies.”
Read the rest at TSA News.
TSA agent admits to stealing cash from passenger as punishment
As we’ve noted several times, TSA agents often act out of petulance and pique. Because they have absolute power, they can abuse it. And they do.
The latest example of this is the guilty plea from TSA agent John W. Irwin. As Press TV reports, Irwin stole $520 from a passenger because the passenger wasn’t deferential enough to him.
Read the rest at TSA News.
Loews hotels partner with TSA
As we’ve noted repeatedly about the TSA program called Pre-Check, not only is it the embodiment of “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,” but it doesn’t guarantee participants expedited screening. Nor scan-free nor grope-free nor hassle-free travel.
Read the rest at TSA News.
What TSA’s iPad theft problem means for your next flight by Christopher Elliott
TSA agents seem to have a thing for iPads. Apple’s tablet computers are easy to swipe from unwitting airline passengers and can be sold quickly online, as I noted earlier this year. You’d think the TSA would do something about the wave of thefts reported this spring. But instead, it has apparently done nothing.
Read the rest at TSA News.
TSA: Freeze, or else
We have another not-a-new-story but one that many people still haven’t heard yet and for which there’s a new video that’s making the rounds. And lucky us, we can see the TSA’s foray into Saturday morning cartoon territory.
Read the rest at TSA News.
TSA thumbs its nose at the law, courts say OK
Over a year ago, the TSA was ordered to hold a public comment period on the use of the strip-search scanners. The agency ignored that order.
Read the rest at TSA News.
You’re in Good Hands with Happy Hands Homeland Security
Political movements never succeed by one method or strategy alone. It takes many tactics, many plans, many approaches, many disparate–even at times conflicting–actions to get things done. And artists are always an important part of the effort.
Read the rest at TSA News.
How close are we getting to a “papers, please” society? by Christopher Elliott
America is edging closer to becoming a “papers, please” society, at least when it comes to travel.
Read the rest at TSA News.
TSA propaganda: sex, lies, and video clips by Bill Fisher
Despite overwhelming Congressional and public criticism of its personnel and policies, the TSA continues undaunted in its public relations program, which many have deemed a propaganda campaign. Instead of addressing the documented shortcomings within the agency, the TSA opts instead to waste effort planting spurious press releases and making false claims.
Report on the TSA Aviation Security Advisory Committee by Wendy Thomson
Don't let the dry title fool you. Powerful post by Wendy Thomson. Read the whole thing at TSA News.
