My response to any BDO attempts will be:

1. "Go SPOT someone else"
2. Incoherent gibberish.

I won't talk to any one in a TSA uniform unless absolutely forced. I want nothing to do with the US version of the Gestapo. As it is now, I only fly when forced. My last trips from NC to NJ have been by car, and I will continue to do so.

If Pistole/Nappy think this will make things better, then they need to submit for their regularly scheduled drug test.

Exactly right. It is already going on at BOS for those of you who fly out of there frequently. EVERY time (3x in past 2 wks) I have had a mini-"interview" by the BDO asking me where I'm coming from, and then been selected for cancer box (however, 75%+ of ppl are selected for cancer.)

I initially tried to play along, but it doesn't seem to "get me out" of the WBI at all, in fact ever. So, as long as I'm not getting any benefit I'm not going to participate. Next time I'm just going to look puzzled at the guy or be engrossed in my blackberry.

The irony is, I think that extended interviews, or even "CBP-style interviews" could divide people into low risk and higher risk. It would, however, take very trained agents, and clearly violate discrimination laws and even our constitution. I don't want this kind of effort in the freedom-loving (at least supposedly freedom-loving) U.S.A. This half-a$$ed implementation is absolute nonsense and simple retaliation for non-conformity.

No biggie...this has never stopped the TSA before...

The questions do actually vary. There are the three 'standard' questions which used to be asked everywhere. They are no longer asked at every airport, and certainly not for every flight.

Then there are the additional, random, often bizarre questions. One is asked these before one can even check in for a US carrier, US bound flight (at LHR, MUC and FRA for example the questioner is before the check in area for UA). Then one may be asked additional questions before entering the gate area. (I was asked those exactly once, at MUC)

The questions as some have stated are asked by airline employees or security contractors. They are sometimes truly bizarre. What does annoy me is that the ones at MUC and FRA often do not speak German, and only speak heavily accented English. That is just useless is doing much at all to act as a deterrent or to scope out possible troublemakers. I tell them every single time that they should ask me in German, and sometimes they give up. I also cannot understand some of the American accents or terminology even at this point in my life and thus cannot answer some of the questions.

But I wouldn't think that this mandated, European model in use for some flights is what is being discussed here.

And I still question if like 'pronounce your name' and 'spell your name' the TSA is prepared to handle those passengers who do not speak English.

If a BDO could tell instantly when somebody was lying, he would have better professions to enter:

http://www.allvegaspoker.com/

It CAN NOT be done with any sort of accuracy. The questions are going to be a huge annoyance. Ask me if I'm coming back from vacation while wearing a suit and tie and I WILL get annoyed. A great deal of people would, because it shows you are just stupid.

We need a trusted traveler program, body scanning for secondary ONLY with opt-out option, and a massive downsizing of the TSA with focus on intelligence and organized threat detection. Nothing else, no more toys.

^
Looks like another massive taxpayer boondoggle coming down the road. Huge taxpayers dollars will be spent on training folks who aren't qualified in the first place. I suspect only a small percentage of my own workforce would be qualifed to do this sort of interrogation effectively - and we're going to waste time and money telling folks who can't master the website list of '10 allowable IDs' to become ace BDOs.

Right.

This from an agency that can't even control the barking and braying. Airports around the world can teach their security personnel how to communicate without barking and braying, but after almost ten years, TSA still hasn't mastered that one.

Right.

I disagree. We do not need to have some animals more equal than others, and the Nude-O-Scopes do not detect explosives nor do they see into body cavities or under folds of flesh.

Everyone (passengers, airline employees, TSA employees) should be subject to the same screening. X-ray of belongings, hand held / walk through metal detectors, and Explosive Trace Detection / Explosive Trace Portal.

Agreed 100%.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rhTQQtcMO_...pit%2Btake.jpg

I move that goalie-mom and RadioMom co-run the TSA's BDO problem :D. Do I have a second?

TSA and the security screening has a huge credibility problem. This new program will do nothing to help it. Look at the comments already. TSA really need to go back and look at the fundamentals and what is really needed for travel security. A program such as this one could be feasible but as said above the given that the many of the TSOs the public interfaces with on a day to day basis have been hired on very on very standards it does not help.

To me the only way out of some of this mess it have another program take it over. Such a program might be useful not just at airports but any large gathering of people. For instance, FAM though part of TSA is on the law enforcement side. As such they have higher standard for training and employment. If left as part of the security screening program then forget it no matter how well trained.

Don't you love your own mother? I would never nominate my own mother to work in such a den of thieves, liars, and cheats. :D

Seconded.

A motion has been made and seconded. All in favor?

Aye!

A few questions:

1) What kind of training will the new BDOs get? How will it compare to the training that their "equivalents" in Israel get?

2) In Israel, I did not have to remove shoes or liquids. Would that be carried over, as well?

3) What controls will be in place to make sure that there are no retaliatory screenings for those who do not work and play nicely with others?

The female ones that I went through were also smoking hot. No matter how many times I asked, though, I couldn't get them to give me a patdown. My wife was happy to slap me silly, though, after I pointed it out to her.

You bring up an important issue. In Israel, a lot of the "screening" is done before anyone gets to the airport. It's not "one size fits all," and they don't determine who a terrorist is by asking them a few questions.

No, because, as you correctly pointed out, Radio's mom can only detect when Radio is lying, and Goalie's mom can only determine when Goalie is lying. I would, however, be happy to have Goalie's mom join the JMS force (Jewish Mothers for Security) at the airport. As the son of a Jewish mother, I guarantee you that, within a few minutes, they would have the terrorists feeling so guilty that they would confess their plans.

Mike

About 99% of the time, when I am in line, I have noise-cancelling headphones on and am listening to music. I remove them just before I get to the TDC. I never actually did this to avoid TSA, but rather the incessant prattle of people yammering on their cell phones. If I can't hear them, how can they interrogate me, at least when I am in line? So far, they have never asked me to take them off as there is usually someone lonely or friendly enough to actually chat up the BDOs and keep them busy.

I am curious how this will be handled. Or will I be deemed suspicious for having headphones on in the first place? What if I am on a cell phone, having a conversation, will they make me hang up the phone to talk to them?

I've worn earbuds with the cord not plugged into anything shoved in my pocket to avoid being pestered by panhandlers while walking around some cities, so I imagine the same technique would work in an airport to avoid pestering Behavior Detection voodoo practitioners. :D

But there is nothing that compels anyone to speak to a TSA employee. I limit exchanges to things such as identifying my bag if asked when it comes out of the x-ray when they want to do a secondary. Topics beyond that, such as where I'm flying to, are met with silence, and I do want them to know I can hear them just fine. ;)