So, if I "give a non-answer" to a TSA question and look down, TSA will call a LEO?

No, no, no! That just means you are a politician...I guess...
<shrug> :rolleyes:

Rumor has it that if you earn more than 17 points, the TSO gets to shoot you on sight.

Mike

Blueprints
Bulges in clothing
Global position system (GPS) unit
Liquids or gels (in excessof 3.4 oz or 100 ml)
Photographs/diagrams of high profile targets
Training manuals such as flight, scuba, explosive, or military

Really? .... :confused:

Might as well add "carrying bomb" , "RPG over shoulder".

… because your smartphone, water bottle, vacation pictures, and scuba training guide are totally equivalent to an actual explosive device. :confused: :rolleyes:

About 6 months ago, I was taking a medication that caused profuse sweating at certain times of day. I made the mistake of taking it right before going to the airport. My cheeks were red and I was literally dripping sweat so badly I thought that my eye makeup would come off. I was TERRIFIED that this would stop me from traveling!

However, either no one noticed it or (more likely) no one seemed to care. Based on reading this list, I think that's pretty strange.. Either I was "lucky" or they just really aren't looking for women.

Watch out for that weaponized scuba manual...

You missed my point The things they are looking for are every day objects Perhaps they should at least add the unusual ones as well if they're just gonna go off a list
I think we're on the same side ;)

Ah. ^

Well, you'll note that on the "reasons for arrest" list, not a single item has anything to do with terrorism, weapons, or explosives.

I guess they've never had cause to write that, so why have a checkbox? :D

My thoughts exactly.

With this and the Sunday interview from the Indiana Governor, SNL, the Daily Show and others have more material than they can use for the foreseeable future

I would add for balance that installation of a personal server in ones home for government communication, personally deciding applicability of emails for a congressional investigation, and then unilaterally directing the wiping the server, are for also grist for that mill.

How many points does a SPOTted person at an airport have to collect before the SPOTting TSA employee realizes that the TSA should make Depends or other incontinence products part of the required TSA uniform?

Could be an architect just getting really excited about his pat-down.

The more points a TSO collects, the better. The TSO is the first line of defense against bad guys and they're there for your protection. This manual was clearly created by somebody who had spent a lot of time watching Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Mentalist and Lie to Me. Respect the Authori-tah!

Mike

Mainly the latter, which is based on Paul Ekman's work. He's directly involved in the SPOT program.

Sad thing is, he used to do really great research — in fact, it's what inspired me to go to grad school to study social neuroscience (and is in part the basis of my thesis).

But then he stopped doing peer-reviewed, published research and started contradicting his own prior research which clearly showed that involuntary displays of basic emotions or stress (which do exist) cannot be reliably attributed to any particular underlying reason, like deception.

This is intuitively obvious if you think about this: suppose a cop asks you, in an interrogation room, whether you raped your ex. You're pretty damn likely to show a spike of CNS stress combined with anger, disgust, fear, or the like. Think of how many potential reasons there are for that reaction (which is all that can be measured externally, even if you're good at it*) that are not "because you're guilty".

* And FWIW, as my thesis work shows (duplicating prior research; see its cites), there's basically zero correlation between whether you actually are good at detecting facial emotion and how confident you are in your assessments, etc.

Die Hard with a Vengeance is way beyond the intellectual capacity of the authors of that form. And the The Mentalist would have been like reading James Joyce translated into Finnish.

I went back and read Julie Raines' paper from Northern Kentucky University. She discusses the behavioural aspects used by American Airlines' contract security firm when they were at Orly. These were:

1. Appears nervous
2. Does not cooperate with security agent
3. Passenger tries to avoid questioning
4. Makes contact with other passengers suspiciously
5. Makes contradictory statements

These are not particularly insane criteria even though they are subjective and dependent on the security agent's skill.

But the biggest difference is that they are not scored or ranked. The agent is supposed to THINK.

It's rather like when I teach a class on suicide assessment (a hot topic at the moment.) I always, always taught to never use a score. You can't use a rating scale and say, "You got a 2 out of 10" so you must be fine. Then the patient goes and kills himself. Scoring and ranking are a dangerous way to avoid sound clinical judgment.

Link?

Thanks for doing that. It's a hard topic that most people aren't even aware of, even with suicide being twice as common as death by violence.

Sazai,
It's here: http://citation.allacademic.com/meta...256_index.html

Nothing earth-shattering, rather scattered, and not much to do with El Al.
But it does spell out what the agents at Orly were using. And I doubt that the algorithm has changed much.

Thanks. Will add to reading list. ^

I imagine there's an unwritten racial/ethnic multiplier to all of these. x5 points if you're not a very American-looking white male or female, regardless of your citizenship or immigration status.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1..._1125208.html?

Nah, TSA wouldn't profile. But if they did profile you can bet it was done more than once and at more than one airport.

DHS actively lobbied the White House and DOJ to make sure it (especially CBP and TSA) would be exempted from racist profiling prohibitions that were being considered by the White House and DOJ. If DHS didn't tolerate racist profiling, they wouldn't have had such an active effort to make sure they would be exempted in some ways from the White House and DOJ efforts to restrict racist profiling by government employees:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...bdc_story.html

I take that as one of various forms of contextual evidence demonstrating racist profiling has been supported by, and even engaged in by, DHS employees.

In ORD, I dressed quite smartly (turtleneck with Versace pants and a black overcoat) that they still flagged me and wiped my hands to see if I deal with drugs....even if you dress appropriately, the TSA will still find ways to flag you if they are jealous of what you wear.

Ironically, in JFK, I was automatically sent to pre check line despite never signing up....reminded me how security is done on the other side of the Atlantic (no shoe removal and keeping belts on).....I liked it.

You might want to take a read of Ashcroft v Iqbal.

Please stay out of the political. Thank you. No politics please!

I l:cool:ve this new video which explains the checklist quite well:

12 signs you might be a terrorst

I saw the TSA agent that she was yawn, but she was too tired. When I cross at security yesterday morning. I went through TSA pre-check and when I saw the TSA officer who leave from x-ray machine and it's her turn now.

Tried posting the video link on thr TSA blog. Censorship by government employees is alive and well.

Don't close that!
 

I did not know they could move that fast.

I went through Pre and got the usual bag rape. (Is it just me, or do Pre bags get greater scrutiny?) I got the record slow checker after having to wait 20 minutes from TDC to xray (Woo hoo for PreCheck!). After using enough little swabs to wax a Lincoln, I was clear to go and then it happened.

He had stirred my stuff with great abandon. There are expensive electronics in my bag and there is a place for everything and it only fits if everything is in its place. It was mounded up and piled in the middle and he began to close the Pelican preparing to ride the hard case lid down to force it closed. This might be fine for a week's worth of dirty clothes, but not for electronics.

I was making small talk with the screening manager that had walked by during the process and as soon as I saw the attempt to close the case I yelled "Don't close that!"

Oops!

There were four-five surrounding me immediately including the screening manager. Most were as wild eyed as you would expect someone in the possible presence of a bomb to be. In an even tone I said "If it is not packed correctly you can break something. May I repack?"

That diffused the situation, but I am glad all had cooler heads. One overreaction could have created a serious situation.

That list is way too funny.

Yeah, like the dreaded bad guys don't know how to do this electronically.

Do you know anybody who does not travel with a GPS nowadays?

Because the terrorists are way to stupid to figure out how to take the batteries out of devices?

Uhm? What exactly is proper attire for "location" when I am in airport about to travel to another climate?

Am I supposed to be fearful when I see the flock of identically dressed FA's go through TSA?

I think you'r cute :-)

Do they think they're in a Bugs Bunny cartoon?

That is literally the only place someone would think whistling will draw attention away from you. I think the terrorists know better.

New to TSA antics?

I always yawn at the airport cause I can never sleep before an international flight.
Plus I never stand still. Low bloodpressure.. So know TSA is really try to be medical experts. Crazzy.

Of course they are medical experts. TSA presumes to know how much liquid medication a person rewuires for any given flight and will even confiscate some life saving heart medications.