airport security

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Profiling, Not Pat-Downs, Key at Most World Airports

Including Israel's airport, one of the world's best at security

(Newser) - Ditching the TSA's new security procedures in favor of profiling seems like a controversial move —despite a new poll showing 70% support the idea —but at most world airports, that's how it's done. Airports like Israel's Ben-Gurion International, widely considered to be one of the world's most effective...

64% Support Full-Body Scanners

Pat-downs, however, are less popular: new poll

(Newser) - Despite the uproar over the TSA's enhanced security procedures, a new poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans actually support the new full-body scanners. Even so, only 48% believe the enhanced pat-downs are justified, according to the Washington Post -ABC News poll. Some 68% of those surveyed said the government...

Scanner Firms Doubled Lobby Spending Over 5 Years

High-profile former officials ended up on scanner firms' payrolls

(Newser) - A revealing USA Today scan of government records finds that companies who won the contracts to supply the TSA with its controversial full-body scanners have more than doubled their spending on lobbyists over the last 5 years. The firms have also hired some high-profile former government officials to advance their...

Man Skips Pat-Down, Opts for Strip-Down

And he's now facing charges

(Newser) - Not a big fan of full-body scans or TSA pat-downs, a San Diego man chose Option C: Stripping down to his Calvin Kleins to demonstrate he wasn't carrying anything untoward in them. Samuel Wolanyk was told to put his clothes back on for a proper pat-down, but refused to dress,...

TSA Searches Shirtless Boy
 TSA Searches Shirtless Boy 

TSA Searches Shirtless Boy

Youngster's father removed shirt 'in frustration,' says filmer

(Newser) - Another day, another inconvenient video for the TSA to explain: In this one, a shirtless young boy is patted down by a TSA agent at the Salt Lake City airport. Luke Tait, who filmed the video with his cell phone and posted it on YouTube, writes in the video description...

Get Ready for Big Delays on 'National Opt-Out Day'

Even a small number of participants could tie up lines

(Newser) - You may want to get to the airport really early on Wednesday: With the country in a fervor over the TSA's new enhanced security procedures, experts believe "National Opt-Out Day" will indeed create delays at dozens of major airports. The day, conceived by Brian Sodergren (who, ironically, will not...

TSA Chief Says Pat-Downs Here to Stay ... or Not

Says pat-downs won't stop; then revises statement

(Newser) - Enhanced pat-down policies are “not changing” due to “the risks that have been identified,” the TSA chief told CNN yesterday—before quickly amending his words in a statement to Politico . Airport security screenings “will be adapted as conditions warrant,” John Pistole wrote, making them “...

Cancer Survivor Forced to Remove Breast in Pat-Down

'You'll need to show me that,' says TSA agent

(Newser) - A cancer surviving flight attendant was recently forced to remove her prosthetic breast during an airport pat-down, the veteran flier has revealed. Cathy Bossi, who worries about the cancer risks of excess radiation, reluctantly went through a body scanner before boarding a flight at the Charlotte Douglas International airport for...

'Metal' Underwear Blocks Airport Scanners

Protect your privacy with powdered-metal 'fig leaves'

(Newser) - Fed up with the indignity of passing through an airport scanner? Colorado inventor Jeff Buske claims he has the answer: scan-proof underwear. His strategically placed fig-leaf designs on his men's and women's briefs are made of a powdered metal that blocks the scan's rays, he explains. The thin, removable inserts...

Does 'Post-Post-9/11' GOP No Longer Care About Security?
Are 'Post-Post-9/11' Republicans Over Security?
dana milbank

Are 'Post-Post-9/11' Republicans Over Security?

Backlash against TSA is an opportunity for Democrats, writes Dana Milbank

(Newser) - If Democrats had opposed President George W. Bush’s efforts to protect airplanes, the former president likely would have accused them of not caring about national security, and “Republicans would no doubt be running ads juxtaposing Democrats with Osama bin Laden,” writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post...

TSA Agents: You Think We Like Touching Your Junk?

Touching private parts, being called 'molester' is no fun

(Newser) - If you think you’re not a fan of the TSA’s new “enhanced” pat-down procedures, think about how the TSA agents feel. In addition to the public backlash, there is quite a bit of “quiet resentment” within the agency, writes Boarding Area.com blogger and airline emerging...

TSA Pat-Down Soaks Man in Own Urine

Searcher broke seal on urostomy bag during pat-down

(Newser) - The TSA's taken a PR beating lately, and this won't help: A bladder cancer survivor is claiming that a pat-down left him soaked in his own urine, reports MSNBC. Thomas Sawyer wears a urostomy bag sealed to his stomach to collect his urine; he says that TSA officials in Orlando...

Pilots Get to Skip TSA Checks
 Pilots Get to Skip TSA Checks 

Pilots Get to Skip TSA Checks

The rest of you? Not so lucky

(Newser) - Pilots can now pass through airport security with their dignity and privacy intact: The TSA has agreed to let on-duty, uniformed pilots skip the full-body scans and too-close-for-comfort pat-downs that are enraging passengers across the country, reports the Washington Post. The rest of you: Don't hold your breath for a...

So How Many Terrorists Has the TSA Actually Caught?

None—that it's publicized, at least

(Newser) - There's no denying that the country is in an uproar over the TSA's new heightened security procedures, raising one fairly obvious questions: Does the TSA actually catch terrorists? The answer isn't very clear-cut, writes Juliet Lapidos in Slate 's Explainer column. The TSA won't cite any specific instance when it...

Anthem for Our Age: Don't Touch My Junk
Anthem for Our Age:
Don't Touch My Junk
Charles Krauthammer

Anthem for Our Age: Don't Touch My Junk

Krauthammer: Let's end 'absurd taboo against profiling'

(Newser) - The "if-you-touch-my-junk" guy is gaining traction as the poster boy of the anti-body-scan movement. Charles Krauthammer takes up his cause today, declaring that "don't touch my junk" is, in fact, "the anthem of the modern man, the Tea Party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm election voter....

TSA Takes Nail Clippers From Gun-Toting Soldier

It 'can be used as a weapon' they reason

(Newser) - Another day, another tale of the seeming absurdity of airport security. This one comes from a soldier coming home from Afghanistan on a military charter plane. The troops aboard the plane all went through security at Baghram Air Field, the soldier says in an email to RedState , passing through full-body...

Namibia 'Bomb' Just a Security Test: Germany

Suspicious suitcase contained a prop, not explosives

(Newser) - The suspicious device found aboard a Namibian flight bound for Germany was a harmless fake designed to test local security, German authorities said today. “It is a so-called ‘real test suitcase’ from a US company,” Germany’s interior minister told Reuters . “This company produces alarm and...

Orlando Airport Moves to Ditch TSA Staff

Rep. Mica urges airports to hire private contractors instead

(Newser) - Air security staffers aren't getting a lot of love lately, and Orlando's airport now wants to get rid of as many TSA workers as it can. The Florida airport has applied to replace TSA screeners with private contractors. An airport spokeswoman tells Aol News the action is in response to...

Boston's Logan Will Get G-Rated Scanners

They will show stick figures instead of detailed images

(Newser) - Boston's Logan airport will be the nation's first to receive scanners that show a stick figure passenger instead of the X-rated "baggage" that has created so much controversy. “All you’ll have is stick figure and a little block around each anomaly on you," a TSA official...

Guy Busted for Punching TSA Officer

John Christina says jab to the chest was just a joke

(Newser) - Amid the uproar over TSA agents getting a little too physical with passengers' groins, one would-be flier got a little too physical with a TSA agent on Tuesday. Cops arrested John Christina after he allegedly punched a TSA officer in the chest after passing through a body scanner at Indianapolis...

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