[posted 2009-03-25T15:51-0700 and 2009-03-26T06:48-0700, but not approved as of 2009-03-26T10:34-0700]

Niko from TSA wrote:

<i>"if you are traveling with a homemade charger, amp, desulfator or anything with batteries, screws and wires sticking out of it that could be deemed out of the ordinary, please tell us."</i>

Niko, anything <i>could be</i> deemed out of the ordinary. As we've seen in the past, your airport luggage inspectors sometimes consider a battery pack to be out of the ordinary. How about you just tell us the rules we're required to follow at your checkpoint, and we'll follow them?

<b>TSA, please publish a list of all the rules and regulations that you will subject someone to if that person wishes to cross a U.S. Government checkpoint at an airport en route to the gate from which his domestic flight will depart, not including laws that the person is required to abide by outside of the airport checkpoint (i.e., just those rules and regulations that apply only at the checkpoint).</b>

I'm not asking for tips for travelers, suggestions on how to pack our bags, hints, clues, guidelines, or press releases. I'm not asking to see TSA's super-secret procedures (those that thousands of lowest-level-of-TSA airport security guards who turn over at a rate of somewhere around 25% per year, are allowed to see), not a pointer to the entire TSA "guidelines for travelers" page, the entire TSA Web site (filled, as noted here and acknowledged by EoS staff with inconsistencies and inaccuracies), the entire U.S. Government Web, or the whole Internet -- <b>just a list of the rules TSA imposes on travelers at a U.S. Government airport checkpoint</b>.

Note that on November 12, 2008, in the "<a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/11/familyspecial-needs-lanes-coming-to-all.html">Family/Special Needs Lanes Coming to All Airports in Time for Thanksgiving Travel</a>" post, Paul at TSA <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/11/familyspecial-needs-lanes-coming-to-all.html?showComment=1226519100000#c10967894917558 39838">wrote</a>, "Still working on the comprehensive list of regulations both definite and situational," but that despite repeated requests for an update on his progress, we've heard nothing more about it.

<b>Bob, Paul: What is the current status of this project Paul stated over <i>four months</i> ago that he had begun?</b>

Someone anonymously <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/03/gate-screening.html?showComment=1238109660000#c42277457 25721873156">wrote</a>

<i>"Tell me, how many people carrying explosives has TSA's BDOs found? (Here's a hint: The answer is ZERO.)"</i>

HappyToHelp <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/03/gate-screening.html?showComment=1238116740000#c90314848 23917255467">responded</a>:

<i>"<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/01/airport.incident/">FBI: Man tried to board plane with bomb materials</a>

"`Transportation Safety Administration officials said Brown caught the eye of a "behavior identification officer" about noon Tuesday as Brown approached a ticket counter for his planned flight to Jamaica.'"</i>

I <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/03/gate-screening.html?showComment=1238162220000#c35532732 76598344636">responded</a>:

<i>"Happy, you're being very misleading.

"U.S. Army veteran Kevin Brown was not found carrying any explosives. </i>In his checked luggage<i> were parts to make a crude pipe bomb: a pipe, end caps, BBs, race car fuel, and a model-rocket igniter. He later said he wanted to show his friends in Jamaica the type of bomb he'd seen while serving in Iraq."</i>

I quoted the CNN article Happy referenced:

<i>"Lee Kair, the TSA's federal security director in Orlando, said the materials in [Mr. Brown's] bags posed no danger to other travelers."</i>

HappyToHelp <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/03/gate-screening.html?showComment=1238185500000#c22380184 90096137897">responded</a>:

<i>"Sadly, Mr. Brown made the poor judgment to bring bomb materials. Not assembled into a bomb by any means and I have no belief he was going to assemble it past the checkpoint."</i>

I <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/03/gate-screening.html?showComment=1238427420000#c10545750 03315823987">responded</a>:

<i>"Happy, I think you still don't understand. The man had parts that could be assembled into a crude bomb </i>in his checked luggage<i>. Of course he was not going to assemble it past the checkpoint at the airport."</i>

HappyToHelp <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/03/gate-screening.html?showComment=1238450460000#c42107699 70819935416">responded</a>:

<i>"I never said he was going to assemble a bomb past the checkpoint. What point are you trying to make Phil? Are you still referring to Anonymous post? I need clarification."</i>

Happy, that's a straw man argument. I didn't accuse you of having said that the man was going to assemble a bomb past the checkpoint. When someone asserted that TSA BDOs have not found people carrying explosives, you refuted this claim by citing an example of a U.S. Army veteran who had in his checked luggage items that could have been assembled into a bomb but that TSA's federal security director in Orlanda said were of no danger to other travelers. In your quotation of the CNN article, you conveniently left out the facts that Mr Brown was not found carrying the items and the fact that your staff said they were of no danger, and you used the misleading headline. After I pointed this out, you wrote that you had no belief that the man was going to assemble a bomb past the checkpoint, implying that was been possible but in your opinion unlikely. I again pointed out that it would not have been possible.

Bob, on November 12, 2008, in the "<a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/11/familyspecial-needs-lanes-coming-to-all.html">Family/Special Needs Lanes Coming to All Airports in Time for Thanksgiving Travel</a>" post, Paul at TSA <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/11/familyspecial-needs-lanes-coming-to-all.html?showComment=1226519100000#c10967894917558 39838">wrote</a>, "Still working on the comprehensive list of regulations both definite and situational," but that despite repeated requests for an update on his progress, we've heard nothing more about it. What is the current status of this project Paul stated over <i>four months</i> ago that he had begun?

Bob at TSA wrote:

<i>"We also ask that you do not film or take pictures of our monitors."</i>

Bob, why would you make such a request? It seems that you should either allow it or not allow it. Asking people not to film or take pictures of your monitors means that only the people who care about what you would like to happen will be prevented from filming or taking pictures of your monitors. It's also misleading, as many people don't understand the difference between asking and demanding.

Also, what's the status of the project Paul started over four months ago to pull together a list of rules you require people to follow at your checkpoints? On November 12, 2008, in the "<a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/11/familyspecial-needs-lanes-coming-to-all.html">Family/Special Needs Lanes Coming to All Airports in Time for Thanksgiving Travel</a>" post, Paul at TSA <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/11/familyspecial-needs-lanes-coming-to-all.html?showComment=1226519100000#c10967894917558 39838">wrote</a>, "Still working on the comprehensive list of regulations both definite and situational." Despite repeated requests for an update on his progress, we've heard nothing more about it.