Fourteen charged with smuggling drugs through U.S. airports
May 22, 2015, 2:56 pm
#46
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Which is my point exactly. The BDO program isn't aimed at TSOs, so, lo and behold, it doesn't detect TSOs doing anything wrong. That doesn't imply that the BDO program is junk. It does imply that TSA hasn't figured out that its internal threats are just as serious (if not more serious) than any external threats.
All I'm saying is that if folks want to attack the BDO program, go for it ... but do it on the basis of what it claims it's trying to do and how miserably it performs that task. Bringing in other tasks it does miserably is only a distraction.
The hammer in my toolbox makes an awfully lousy screwdriver. That doesn't mean that the hammer is useless. (The fact that the @#$! head keeps flying off every time I try to use it, on the other hand ...)
All I'm saying is that if folks want to attack the BDO program, go for it ... but do it on the basis of what it claims it's trying to do and how miserably it performs that task. Bringing in other tasks it does miserably is only a distraction.
The hammer in my toolbox makes an awfully lousy screwdriver. That doesn't mean that the hammer is useless. (The fact that the @#$! head keeps flying off every time I try to use it, on the other hand ...)
My point is that the BDO training is NOT something which can be "aimed" or switched off - it's ALWAYS on once you get it, just like any other training. I learned how to speak, read, and understand English when I was a kid. Now, I simply CANNOT stop understanding it, not matter how hard I try. If I see written English, I understand it. If I hear spoken English, I understand it. It's always there in my brain, always on.
I can CHOOSE not to act on what I see and hear, but that doesn't mean I'm not seeing it, hearing it, and understanding it.
I maintain that the entire BDO/SPOT program is a sham that doesn't work, EVER. But playing devil's advocate, if the BDO training has any merit or effectiveness whatsoever, then essentially, all BDOs are intentionally ignoring evidence of deception and ill intent in their colleagues and airport vendors. They're basically allowing their friends to get away with committing crimes and only reporting crimes they suspect are committed by travelers.
May 22, 2015, 3:37 pm
#47
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Fourteen charged with smuggling drugs through U.S. airports
On a different topic, how much do you guys want to bet that this week's Propaganda Village body count includes a drug bust???
May 22, 2015, 5:51 pm
#48
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I think what everyone should take from this is that some baggage handlers defeated all 20 (or more) layers of TSA's Security Systems. Nothing against baggage handlers but I'm betting that they in general terms have far less education than TSA's security experts and planners.
What could a highly motivated terrorist get by these TSA clowns?
May 22, 2015, 5:56 pm
#49
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I'm not sure that TSA was involved in catching these guys.
I think what everyone should take from this is that some baggage handlers defeated all 20 (or more) layers of TSA's Security Systems. Nothing against baggage handlers but I'm betting that they in general terms have far less education than TSA's security experts and planners.
What could a highly motivated terrorist get by these TSA clowns?
I think what everyone should take from this is that some baggage handlers defeated all 20 (or more) layers of TSA's Security Systems. Nothing against baggage handlers but I'm betting that they in general terms have far less education than TSA's security experts and planners.
What could a highly motivated terrorist get by these TSA clowns?
My point was that I wouldn't put it past the TSA to gin up a drug bust of their own just so they could show that they really do have airports secured. It would be targeted towards their own people to make them feel good, to the kettles who think the TSA adds value, and to blowhards like Peter King.
May 23, 2015, 6:52 am
#50
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A D-size battery with a screw-off top was discovered at Tulsa (TUL). A small amount of marijuana was inside of the battery.
It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.
May 23, 2015, 6:54 am
#51
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May 23, 2015, 8:01 am
#52
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You know this is not the only MJ that was found this week*, but, of course, Bob had to highlight this "catch" to prove how great the screeners are to find something this small inside a battery. A small amount of Mary Jane for personal use. Who cares!
This is addressed to West: Why haven't you posted any comments in the last several days, West? On vacation again?
ETA: *Then again, maybe it was the only stuff they found.
May 23, 2015, 11:05 pm
#53
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Interesting.
The Blog's latest timely fabrication is revealing.
HQ's takeaway from this latest bust is that an increasingly pot-friendly public needs to be reassured that TSA is looking out for MJ, no matter how small a quantity, no matter how 'artfully concealed', even if it is at an airport in a state where MJ is legal and the local authorities will take no action.
Misses the point entirely.
This is not about whether or not TSA can intercept tiny, personal-use quantities of pot at the checkpoint (while missing pounds and bales of the stuff going through the 'sterile' area and getting on the plane).
This is about TSA's responsiblity for continuing to allow bad people to smuggle large quantities of contraband into the 'sterile' area and onto the plane unchallenged. So far, TSA and airport employees have only been involved in smuggling $$, drugs and guns.
Why is TSA so sure that these same bad guys are so patriotic that they would never smuggle anything hazardous to the aircraft, knowingly or unintentionally?
The Blog's latest timely fabrication is revealing.
HQ's takeaway from this latest bust is that an increasingly pot-friendly public needs to be reassured that TSA is looking out for MJ, no matter how small a quantity, no matter how 'artfully concealed', even if it is at an airport in a state where MJ is legal and the local authorities will take no action.
Misses the point entirely.
This is not about whether or not TSA can intercept tiny, personal-use quantities of pot at the checkpoint (while missing pounds and bales of the stuff going through the 'sterile' area and getting on the plane).
This is about TSA's responsiblity for continuing to allow bad people to smuggle large quantities of contraband into the 'sterile' area and onto the plane unchallenged. So far, TSA and airport employees have only been involved in smuggling $$, drugs and guns.
Why is TSA so sure that these same bad guys are so patriotic that they would never smuggle anything hazardous to the aircraft, knowingly or unintentionally?
May 24, 2015, 8:13 am
#54
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Interesting.
The Blog's latest timely fabrication is revealing.
HQ's takeaway from this latest bust is that an increasingly pot-friendly public needs to be reassured that TSA is looking out for MJ, no matter how small a quantity, no matter how 'artfully concealed', even if it is at an airport in a state where MJ is legal and the local authorities will take no action.
Misses the point entirely.
This is not about whether or not TSA can intercept tiny, personal-use quantities of pot at the checkpoint (while missing pounds and bales of the stuff going through the 'sterile' area and getting on the plane).
This is about TSA's responsiblity for continuing to allow bad people to smuggle large quantities of contraband into the 'sterile' area and onto the plane unchallenged. So far, TSA and airport employees have only been involved in smuggling $$, drugs and guns.
Why is TSA so sure that these same bad guys are so patriotic that they would never smuggle anything hazardous to the aircraft, knowingly or unintentionally?
The Blog's latest timely fabrication is revealing.
HQ's takeaway from this latest bust is that an increasingly pot-friendly public needs to be reassured that TSA is looking out for MJ, no matter how small a quantity, no matter how 'artfully concealed', even if it is at an airport in a state where MJ is legal and the local authorities will take no action.
Misses the point entirely.
This is not about whether or not TSA can intercept tiny, personal-use quantities of pot at the checkpoint (while missing pounds and bales of the stuff going through the 'sterile' area and getting on the plane).
This is about TSA's responsiblity for continuing to allow bad people to smuggle large quantities of contraband into the 'sterile' area and onto the plane unchallenged. So far, TSA and airport employees have only been involved in smuggling $$, drugs and guns.
Why is TSA so sure that these same bad guys are so patriotic that they would never smuggle anything hazardous to the aircraft, knowingly or unintentionally?
I certainly understand their position - if a TSO sees evidence of a crime unrelated to their mandate, they are obligated to report what they see to law enforcement. In that instance, they're acting the same as a toll collector on an interstate who sees a person tied up and gagged in the back seat of a car when it passes through the toll plaza, or some guy working the pumps at a gas station who happens to see kilos of pot stacked in the back of an SUV. As concerned citizens, they report their suspicions to the police.
TSA, however, continues to put those items on the blog to illustrate how vigilant they are at detecting the items for which they are searching, even though they're not supposed to be searching for those items. MJ, in particular, is a horrible example of overreach, given that it is now either legal to possess in many states under a variety of circumstances, or possession of it has been downgraded to a citeable civil infraction rather than an arrestable criminal violation. In essence, they're searching for something that's not illegal and calling the police when they find it.
It's similar to the crap they engage in when they see someone taking a photo.
"Lookout! That guy has a camera!"
Yeah, but cameras are not illegal, not prohibited, and not suspicious.
"But he took my picture without my permission! Arrest him!"
He didn't break any laws.
"He's not allowed to take pictures of the screening process!"
Yes, he is. Your own administrator has said so.
"But I'm afraid his photo will steal my soul!"
You work for TSA; I'm not sure you have one to begin with.
May 24, 2015, 1:18 pm
#55
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Bobby and Westy don't even bother with the disclaimer anymore that "we aren't looking for illegal drugs, but, if we find them in the course of a screening, etc, etc..."