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Old Jul 30, 2015, 5:10 pm
  #1  
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Sorority girls hate America!

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Thick-books-prompt-fears-of-explosives-at-Hobby-6415830.php?cmpid=hpfc

Fair use quote...

The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority held a convention in Houston this week, with about 13,000 sisters in attendance. On Thursday morning they headed home through Hobby.

"Apparently at the convention there were items they were given, which they had packed in their bags," said airport spokesman Bill Begley. "And as they were going through a check in process prompted a secondary search by the TSA."

That turned into a lot of secondary searches conducted by hand by the Transportation Security Administration. Begley could not say what the item was, and the TSA did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 8:19 am
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Ok, so the book is unusually long and narrow, but dude... If I were stopped every time I had a book with me, I'd be stopped every time! Did they think it was a mass terrorist attack with thousands of people coming in with explosives packed obviously into their bags so they could blow up the entire airport? And how does this book look any different from any other book? Nope, this was definitely profiling and I'd be willing to bet that they were all instructed to do secondaries.
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 8:59 am
  #3  
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Originally Posted by gobluetwo
Ok, so the book is unusually long and narrow, but dude... If I were stopped every time I had a book with me, I'd be stopped every time! Did they think it was a mass terrorist attack with thousands of people coming in with explosives packed obviously into their bags so they could blow up the entire airport? And how does this book look any different from any other book? Nope, this was definitely profiling and I'd be willing to bet that they were all instructed to do secondaries.
Many of the attendees fit a certain profile and were wearing red shirts. Once TSA figured out what the suspicious item was, it shouldn't have taken hours and hours to decide to ask pax in line who were carrying the book to remove it and put it in a separate bin. That would have eliminated the need for secondaries (unless someone also had an 'artfully concealed' cupcake or bottle of nitro pills or bottle of water).

A raft of LTSOs, STSOs and suits standing around and this is the best they could do?

A single nursery school teacher could have figured out a better approach.

This really gives me confidence that this airport is equipped to handle a genuine catastrophe. Not.
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 9:50 am
  #4  
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Originally Posted by chollie
Many of the attendees fit a certain profile and were wearing red shirts. Once TSA figured out what the suspicious item was, it shouldn't have taken hours and hours to decide to ask pax in line who were carrying the book to remove it and put it in a separate bin. That would have eliminated the need for secondaries (unless someone also had an 'artfully concealed' cupcake or bottle of nitro pills or bottle of water).

A raft of LTSOs, STSOs and suits standing around and this is the best they could do?

A single nursery school teacher could have figured out a better approach.

This really gives me confidence that this airport is equipped to handle a genuine catastrophe. Not.
Two questions:

1. I wonder how many points they earned on the SPOTNik terrorist checklist?

2. I wonder how many of them were groped (OOPS! "received a pat-down) in order to clear the book?

I'll bet the checkpoint scenery was a field day for the male clerks (and some of the female clerks as well).
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 12:40 pm
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Originally Posted by chollie
Many of the attendees fit a certain profile and were wearing red shirts. Once TSA figured out what the suspicious item was, it shouldn't have taken hours and hours to decide to ask pax in line who were carrying the book to remove it and put it in a separate bin. That would have eliminated the need for secondaries (unless someone also had an 'artfully concealed' cupcake or bottle of nitro pills or bottle of water).

A raft of LTSOs, STSOs and suits standing around and this is the best they could do?

A single nursery school teacher could have figured out a better approach.

This really gives me confidence that this airport is equipped to handle a genuine catastrophe. Not.
Yep, they fit a certain profile alright...they were "Flying While Black"! Sheesh, what is wrong with these TSA goons?
...oh, never mind!
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 5:34 pm
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Sorority book causes massive delays at TSA checkpoint at HOU

On Thursday (7/30) a book given out at a sorority convention in Houston resulted in massive delays at Hobby Airport (HOU) when the book caused TSA to do secondary searches of many of the sorority sisters bags because the book looked "suspicious" in TSA's eyes.

“Security lines left the doors of Hobby Airport and traced part of the building's perimeter this morning as thousands of departing sorority sisters raised TSA suspicion with large books.”

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...by-6415830.php
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 10:35 pm
  #7  
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Originally Posted by chollie
Many of the attendees fit a certain profile and were wearing red shirts. Once TSA figured out what the suspicious item was, it shouldn't have taken hours and hours to decide to ask pax in line who were carrying the book to remove it and put it in a separate bin. That would have eliminated the need for secondaries (unless someone also had an 'artfully concealed' cupcake or bottle of nitro pills or bottle of water).

A raft of LTSOs, STSOs and suits standing around and this is the best they could do?

A single nursery school teacher could have figured out a better approach.

This really gives me confidence that this airport is equipped to handle a genuine catastrophe. Not.
I have no doubt the paranoia brigade has dreamed up this scenario better than Hollywood... Some evildoor turrist marketing genius convinces a group to carry something fishy, to desensitize the guards, then POW! right in the kisser. ***rolleyes***

If they didn't diligently grope everyone, the bad guys win.
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Old Aug 1, 2015, 5:54 am
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Originally Posted by FliesWay2Much
Two questions:

1. I wonder how many points they earned on the SPOTNik terrorist checklist?

2. I wonder how many of them were groped (OOPS! "received a pat-down) in order to clear the book?

I'll bet the checkpoint scenery was a field day for the male clerks (and some of the female clerks as well).
This.
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Old Aug 1, 2015, 9:44 am
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Isn't our new AG a member of the subject sorority?
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Old Aug 1, 2015, 8:00 pm
  #10  
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Originally Posted by CPT Trips
Isn't our new AG a member of the subject sorority?
If so I'd imagine someone is getting an earfull.
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Old Aug 3, 2015, 10:28 am
  #11  
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I applaud the TSA for their diligence at the checkpoint. I once heard a story about some guy who tunneled out of prison using a rock hammer that he hid in a Bible (which is also a thick book!) before escaping to meet Morgan Freeman in Zihuatanejo. Guys, if just one of these women had a book with a rock hammer in it, they could have taken over the plane and forced it to go to Mexico or something. I know that standing out in the Houston heat for three hours may have represented an inconvenience for certain passengers, but I believe that it is necessary to remain as vigilant as possible in this day and age when bad people are trying to destroy our freedoms.*

Mike




*My apologies to those of you who are new 'round these here parts and not used to my occasional sarcasm. I figured the emoticons weren't necessary in this post, but just in case here's a for good measure.
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Old Aug 3, 2015, 2:27 pm
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Originally Posted by mikeef
I applaud the TSA for their diligence at the checkpoint. I once heard a story about some guy who tunneled out of prison using a rock hammer that he hid in a Bible (which is also a thick book!) before escaping to meet Morgan Freeman in Zihuatanejo. Guys, if just one of these women had a book with a rock hammer in it, they could have taken over the plane and forced it to go to Mexico or something. I know that standing out in the Houston heat for three hours may have represented an inconvenience for certain passengers, but I believe that it is necessary to remain as vigilant as possible in this day and age when bad people are trying to destroy our freedoms.*

Mike


*My apologies to those of you who are new 'round these here parts and not used to my occasional sarcasm. I figured the emoticons weren't necessary in this post, but just in case here's a for good measure.
I'm surprised Rita Hayworth was not sent to secondary screening for "Artfully Concealing" that escape tunnel.

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Old Aug 3, 2015, 5:57 pm
  #13  
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Originally Posted by DaveBlaine
I'm surprised Rita Hayworth was not sent to secondary screening for "Artfully Concealing" that escape tunnel.

You must not have tried to take a Rita Hayworth poster past the checkpoint recently.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 11:23 am
  #14  
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Originally Posted by DaveBlaine
I'm surprised Rita Hayworth was not sent to secondary screening for "Artfully Concealing" that escape tunnel.

Have you ever noticed that, when the warden came into the cell after he escaped, the poster had been taped back up against the wall? How could he have done that from inside the tunnel?

Mike
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 11:38 am
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Originally Posted by mikeef
Have you ever noticed that, when the warden came into the cell after he escaped, the poster had been taped back up against the wall? How could he have done that from inside the tunnel?

Mike
I'll have to check that out the next time it's on. It probably makes it a more dramatic "reveal" than if they just go into the cell and say "Yup, there's the hole he escaped from".

I always imagine a different ending in which Red forgets the name of the town that him and Andy talked about. Then he just takes the money and finds somewhere else to go.

"What was the name of that town? Xylophone, Zebra, Zee-something, oh heck, I'm just going home".

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