You are quite right, of course.

I do experience the intrusions as crazy making and control myself quite well at the screening station. Blowing off steam on OMNI is just that.

I will wait until we are all required to fly manacled to the armrests, naked and sedated before kicking up a real fuss! :D

Back to the thread topic of "TSA" and "FLL", I can say that two screeners at T1 were almost overcome with joy at finding the small half empty travel size tube of toothpaste I sloppily hid in a clear pastic baggie instead of wrapping it inside a couple pairs of underwear like I normally do. They even held it up in the air to show the other screeners what they found :rolleyes: I guess that's something else I need to hide in my ever growing front pocket collection.

I did manage to smuggle 6 bottles of Otrivin medicine through YYZ, even with the bag check - they saw the bottles on the xray, but couldn't find them in my bag. Also for the first time, they had me remove my shoes :rolleyes:

FLL is the worst airport for screening in my opinion.

Hmmm . . . If El Al hasn't been banning all liquids and gels for a long time and did not ban them on Aug 10 (other than to kowtow to the Sellers of Paranoia in the UK/US and other paranoid states), then I gotta ask - how, again, is this ban related to safety or security? If banning water improved either, then I'm confident that LY would have banned water and other liquids long ago. The absence of a ban in Israel speaks volumes.

I think MovieMan said it better than I could. :)

FWIW, I rant here under an anonymous username. My letters to the President, the Comrade and his Half-Wit sidekick, and my Congressional delegation are written above my real signature, and you shouldn't assume that I merely cut and paste these rants to compose that correspondence. ;)

This is an anonymous message board - I couldn't care less whether I win anyone over with posts here.

Yes it is and I just have to laugh when some = many here say " we alway fly through FLL its sooo much nicer than MIA.." :rolleyes:

mike

FLL really is much nicer than MIA in lots of ways, but TSA behavior is not one of them. I have seen some of the worst TSA abuses at FLL, including selection of good-looking young women for pat-downs. Female screeners did the actual pat-downs, but male TSA thugs leered at the scene. I wanted to do something about this but had no good ideas at the time (or now, for that matter). The TSA staff at FLL are simply out of control.

Bruce

This comment is significant enough to deserve it's OWN THREAD.

We should be discussing whether, WHEN OUR LEADERS ARE ACTING AND TEACHING THE PEOPLE TO THINK AND ACT IN ILLOGICAL AND INSANE WAYS WE ARE INFECTING OUR POPULACE WITH AN INIMICAL WAY OF HANDLING PROBLEMS THAT ITSELF WILL HASTEN OUR DEMISE FROM OUR EMBRACING VERY USELESS AND INAPPROPRIATE RESPONSES TO BOTH REAL AND PATENTLY IMAGINARY THREATS.

We are now ensnared and living in the grip of AN ENTIRE AGE OF INSANE FEAR AND OBSESSION WITH FINDING, FIGHTING AND STOPPING " THE BOOGEYMAN" WHO IS "GONNA GET YOU!"
The boogeyman is EVERYWHERE, EVERYONE IS SUSPECTED OF BEING THE BOOGYMAN. We are becoming OFFICIALLY encased, paralyzed in insanity and fear from such nonsense. Reality has entirely departed, on holiday, from life nowdays.

On the other hand, FLL is one of the few airports where you can be present while the TSA looks at your checked luggage. This means you can lock it and not be afraid of it being cut open -- or of a screener taking anything out.

Depends on the terminal...T1 (CO, B6, NW) has the checked bag x-ray machines downstairs on the ramp level. T2 (Delta, Midway) and T3 (AA, UA, US) has them up on the concourse level.

Yes, we know how you feel. Alternatively, he is trying his best working inside a box defined by Congress, Presidential decree, the Justice Department, and the ACLU. Oh, yeah, and he has to make compromises with the airlines and foreign security organizations.

But likely he's just an idiot and a commie. That is certainly more likely.

Delta is the airline I have flown out of FLL but I don't recall the terminal. I do recall that I was happy to be able to lock my bags.

No, he isn't.

None of those agencies/entities mandated this liquids/gels nonsense.

Not one of those agencies forced him to 100% Shoe Carnival mode. In fact, the x-ray does not detect explosives.

None of those agencies/entities ordered the return of gate harassment either.

I maintain my complete derision of Comrade "Kip" Hawley. The man is a complete disgrace. :td:

[QUOTE=Spiff]No, he isn't.

None of those agencies/entities mandated this liquids/gels nonsense.[QUOTE]

Again, you don't *know* you believe. I'm neutral - never met the man, only seen him on TV. He's clearly not dumb, and I'm unwilling to believe someone a fool until they prove it. (See: Jimmy Carter)

I never said they did or did not mandate the liquid ban - but that is because I don't know. Neither do you, actually.

We don't KNOW what liquid explosive the ROP'ers were trying to brew up in Londinistan, we only know what we read in the paper. (Remember Plamegate - how much of that did they get right?)

Was that particular plot right on the heels of some guys getting ready to brew up chlorine gas or smear sterno on the walls of the lav and light it on fire?

We don't know.

And calling someone a commie (how is he a commie anyway?) just isn't helpful. Plus it gets boring, which is worse.

Be glad that there *are* people trying to check the powers these guys are trying to wield. I would suggest, however, that the ACLU is the only one of the bunch you cite that is trying to correct the situation. The rest are simply running scared "anything for security" types promoting Kabuki Security Theatre because they look better to Joe Bag-o-donuts & Co. when they look like they are at least doing something in the weeks leading up to an election. Listen carefully to what people being interviewed by the snooze media say, they feel safer. That's what this is really all about, not actual safety but the feeling of safety.

The x-ray does not detect explosives. I could draw you a picture, if you like. I'd then be pleased to staple it to Comrade Hawley's forehead so that he gets the message too.

He's a complete un-American idiot.