In the even more highly unlikely scenario that I was a member of the jury in this case, nobody would have to worry as the only words I'd know how to say from day one would be "not guilty".

Unless one is actually carrying a bomb to place aboard a plane, I'm willing to give pretty much everybody a free pass for things that TSA accuses them of doing. That includes lying to them, hurting their feelings with snide remarks, "assaulting" them by waiting until they're doing your pat-down to pass gas, and probably even assaulting them for real.

Here's a question... If one plans to mispronounce your name, why not just reply to the question by saying something like "We're going to have a problem. I don't believe that you can compel me to answer this question truthfully, and as such I refuse to do so. This does not constitute refusal to submit for screening to ensure that I am not carrying any WEI." If you do this, you're telling the truth to them, annoying them, and also indicating your willingness to comply with their screening procedures.

The only saving grace so far is that of the 37 comments not a single one has been "anything for security" based. Hopefully the tables are turning, turning, turning. I can think of a few million dollars I could immediately cut out of the federal budget!

I wonder if these "investigators" are college educated, specially trained, or the run of the mill GED with a couple days instruction.
Bet it starts out as the former, then slowly becomes the latter.

Boston and other test markets, show you're not cattle by not participating.
Whisper one word, "laryngitis".

Or Richard Hertz, perhaps :D. Maybe when you tell them, they'll be gentle on the grope.

That might be classified as "lying" to a federal official, which some on here would be oh-so-quick to point out to be "wrong, wrong, wrong - nanny, nanny, boo, boo".

The far better approach?
1) Wear sunglasses
2) Put earbuds in your ears and pretend you're listening to an iPod
3) Ignore anyone who speaks to you
4) If tapped on the shoulder or something similar, ignore them
5) If tapped again, make a scene - demand the police to come and press battery charges (you were touched without your permission and against your will - I imagine there would have to be something to cover that)

Get the person's name as well. When you return home, go to small claims court and file a lawsuit against him/her. It's cheap to do this, and will cause the TSA employee to take a day off work to show up (or risk default judgment).

We can create problems for TSA by performing actions that increase turnover and make it harder for them to recruit quality people. If turnover is at 20% now, we should try to push it to 25% by the end of the year or middle of next year. Then push it higher than that. It will be nearly impossible to maintain quality in an organization whose workforce completely changes every 3-4 years, not to mention all the costs associated with that turnover. We should do our best to make turnover the #1 issue on Pistole's problem list.

I'm guessing that's because, to this point, even with BDO's, conversation was not a requirement for screening (yet I could be guessing wrong!). I'm hearing that it might be coming, and to refuse to answer if it's raining or not, could be cause for refusal of entry to the sterile area.

Right now you can be refused entry airside only if you decline or do not pass screening, although that has been arbitrarily expanded to include the papers scrutineer as part of the process.

Yes, the TSA could change their secret rules, but since their workers cannot physically remove you from the pre-TDC line just stand your ground and wait for a LEO. Then sue the pants off everyone involved.

National Make Fun of The SPOTNik Day?
 

I was thinking that, if enough of us annoyed the ID Checker SPOTNik by the various methods we've been writing about, that many, if not all of us will be sent to a retaliatory secondary. The gropings will be done by the same clerks who do the opt-out gropings. This could have a far greater effect than opt-out day when the TSA simply shut down the Cancer Machines.

How about "National Make Fun of The SPOTNik Day?

First, the only reason this program got funding is because they came up with a cool acronym which seems to over-impress a lot of Washington types.

Any reasonably decent profiler is already or will be employed by better agencies like the FBI, CBP proper or even NYPD. A 5-day program is laughable.

I'll just say it, a college degree is no longer a significant indicator of one's abilities, especially in my profession.

I don't think anyone needs to be confrontational in this situation since the process, and the person, will probably be easily frustrated by a little TMI.

My plan:

- “Where have you been?”
- [chuckle] "My [wife|husband] asks me that all the time, I swear, I was just playing golf. You probably don't believe me either but some courses are lit at night and if you use enough sunscreen, you don't show anything at all. And really, I know they say 2 hours before departure but that's an awful long time to sit at an airport."

- “Do you have a business card?”
- [blank ponderous stare] [begin rummaging through my carry-on] "I think so, I mean I'm supposed to. They keep sending me new ones but I always forget them." [methodically searching various compartments] "This is embarrassing, I'm glad I'm not traveling with the boss today. I really thought I grabbed some new ones last week..." [double check the obvious locations]

- “Where are you traveling?”
- "Now or today? I think I'm connecting but it's different every week. What was last week? Oh, where did I get dinner, then I'll remember where it was. Dang it, it's right there on the boarding pass. Which one did I give you? I have the other one here somewhere. Oh, here it is, %LAX%, but I'm actually going somewhere nearby, don't really remember where, there are so many little towns. Are you from that area? What's there to do?"

At which point I'll ask for a supervisor and LEO. Eventually, I will be allowed into the secure area - without playing their silly game. At which point I will make very sure the appropriate officials in my department and DHS are made aware of how I was treated by TSA personnel acting outside the scope of their authority.

From The Boston Globe:

"Questioning will take place at a separate podium after a traveler’s documents have been checked, and those identified for more screening will be sent to a third station."

So an actual questioning checkpoint after the TDC. I suspect this procedure will be a monumental failure and result in many, many innocent travelers being sent to the "third station" where who knows what happens to you.

The more travelers who go to the "third station" the better as that means more people will be subjected to the assault that is call a pat down and more people will be angry.

Every time the TSA injects another level of screening into the pot, more passengers get fed up with the whole charade. So perhaps this is a good thing.

I still wants to know what happens to the furriners who cannot speak English or who do not understand American English. I do listen to CarTalk when I am in the US, but if this is being tested at BOS, I fear that many English speakers may have challenges understanding not only American English but local area accents.

:rolleyes:

Oh, great, now they're adding two more 'layers'.

Let me count the layers:
-secure flight
-entry to checkpoint (am I attempting to enter the right line?)
-TDC - blacklight, squiggles, say my name
-second BP/ID check (only at some airports currently)
-BDO conversation
-'extra screening as needed'
- 'line director' - WTMD or NoS
- goods on belt, NoS scan
- grope because NoS scan operator is incompetent or asleep
- bag check
- BDO conversation starting at food court, continuing into bathroom stalls
- gate ID and bag check

Escalated retaliatory screening now has a formalized process?

Is it me, or does this sound like it's going to be modeled after the passport control stations on international arrivals? Questions like where did you come from, where are you going, where are you staying, what did you do, did you meet anyone, etc. In that case, I'm hosed, given my 95% hit rate on border secondaries (one actually said that they knew I wasn't a threat, there was an open secondary line, and I was just there long enough for them to look busy).

So TSA gets the badge idea from LEOs, and the questioning booth from CBP?