TSA "Pilot Program" re: Paper Products
May 11, 2017, 5:08 pm
#76
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Folks,
This is not nor has ever been the proper forum for political discussion. Posts injecting commentary about the Trump administration or politics more generally will be deleted and violators subject to a suspension of posting privileges ranging from one week to permanent, depending the nature of the post. Consider this the first and last advisory on thread.
essxjay, TS/S co-mod
This is not nor has ever been the proper forum for political discussion. Posts injecting commentary about the Trump administration or politics more generally will be deleted and violators subject to a suspension of posting privileges ranging from one week to permanent, depending the nature of the post. Consider this the first and last advisory on thread.
essxjay, TS/S co-mod
May 12, 2017, 1:22 am
#77
Join Date: Jan 2014
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The solution to the TSA is very simple:
Make EVERY single elected official (even the President) AND every single government employee go through the normal security line. No Pre-Check. No Global Entry. No NOTHING. Make them go through the line like the rest of the Kettles .... No special treatment. NOTHING.
Believe me, if they were all subjected to the same humiliating experience as their constituents and their masters .... you would see the entire process change. Trust me.
<snip>
Make EVERY single elected official (even the President) AND every single government employee go through the normal security line. No Pre-Check. No Global Entry. No NOTHING. Make them go through the line like the rest of the Kettles .... No special treatment. NOTHING.
Believe me, if they were all subjected to the same humiliating experience as their constituents and their masters .... you would see the entire process change. Trust me.
<snip>
(Joking aside, sending POTUS through the wrong airport might be a fun idea...but at the same time I've occasionally mused that my hometown should "disinvite" the sitting president, regardless of party, on a permanent basis on account of the traffic problems it inevitably causes getting him to/from the airport...can you imagine what it would do if they had to do all of that crap at DCA every time he went on a trip? It was apparently a royal pain for the pax on the train when Biden took the Acela during a shutdown. Aside from that, as fun as the idea of POTUS being stuck in security at <insert airport here> for a few hours is, that's also asking for trouble.)
Forcing Congresscritters through some of this would be more practical (and I think if they were forced to occasionally travel in a back center seat that might help with their *ahem* perspective on the passenger experience).
May 12, 2017, 4:55 pm
#79
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 825
Add State Governors to the list, too, since that's one of the offices that Presidents have often held prior to being elected to the Presidency.
May 12, 2017, 5:14 pm
#80
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 1
Saw this thread today
As a sales guy, I still travel with lots of paper catalogs/leave behinds and I know exactly what it looks like on the X-Ray - a big fuzzy greenish blob. Mind you, it's usually about 3" worth of catalogs and I'm very careful to let the screener know that I've got lots of paper in my roller bag. It always gets pulled and someone checks to make sure I didn't stash something inside the mass of paper. Most times, it's very cursory and takes maybe 15 seconds. Occasionally, I'll get a person who runs the ion thing. I wonder if someone has tried to sneak money or something inside a ream of paper, got caught, and someone at TSA panicked?
May 14, 2017, 3:52 pm
#81
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Went thru the T4 A concourse checkpoint in PHX this morning @ 3:30 am (yes, am-ugh...who thought a 5:11 am departure was a good idea??). Was pleasantly surprised to find full PC, no dogs, & no issues around food, paper products, or electronics.
May 25, 2017, 7:59 am
#83
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 245
Does anyone know if they have web looking at what's on the paper (e.g. screening for Korans or math books), or just making sure nothing like a weapon is hidden with the paper?
May 25, 2017, 9:58 am
#84
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If this idiocy hits Dulles, you can bet I'll carry my theology-student wife's copy of the Quran on my next flight. Should be lots of fun! Actually, her Greek New Testament might do the job as well.
Jun 12, 2017, 9:23 pm
#85
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 1,007
They're not closely examining them. They're just running them through the x-ray separately. The same x-ray that can't separate bombs from paper/food. I feel safer already.
Jun 13, 2017, 5:23 am
#86
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Of course, the cynic in me expects some TSOs to pick up books, magazines, and especially sealed envelopes, and rifle through them like the Stassi, looking for "kiddie porn" and "sheet explosives".
Jun 25, 2017, 8:59 am
#87
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BOS today
crickets . . .
Went through Pre-Check @ AA B gates with only a quiet, polite reminder to remove keys from pockets. ID checker was slower than usual to me. As far as I could tell, folks in the regular line were NOT asked about food, paper and larger electronics.
Went through Pre-Check @ AA B gates with only a quiet, polite reminder to remove keys from pockets. ID checker was slower than usual to me. As far as I could tell, folks in the regular line were NOT asked about food, paper and larger electronics.
Jun 25, 2017, 9:07 am
#88
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
As long as they're not examining them, this policy actually makes a tiny, tiny bit of common sense - large masses of paper are said to be opaque to the x-ray, which triggers a hand inspection that reveals that they're harmless paper. The policy of pulling your books and magazines out by default could eliminate that by making it easily obvious that the masses on the screen are paper, not C4 or cupcakes.
Of course, the cynic in me expects some TSOs to pick up books, magazines, and especially sealed envelopes, and rifle through them like the Stassi, looking for "kiddie porn" and "sheet explosives".
Of course, the cynic in me expects some TSOs to pick up books, magazines, and especially sealed envelopes, and rifle through them like the Stassi, looking for "kiddie porn" and "sheet explosives".
TSA screeners can "fan" through travelers' books to see if anything is hidden in the pages, but agency officials insist they will not pay attention to the content.
Yeah, right they won't "pay attention".
Jun 25, 2017, 9:22 am
#89
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I try to be very careful about the reading material I take with me when I travel because of incidents that have happened at the checkpoint and even on the plane.