TSA to swab airline passengers

TSA to swab airline passengers

www.cnn.com

The Transportation Security Administration soon will begin randomly swabbing passengers' hands at checkpoints and airport gates to test them for traces of explosives.

Previously, screeners swabbed some carry-on luggage and other objects as they searched for the needle in the security haystack -- components of terrorist bombs in an endless stream of luggage.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Now this is interesting. The article also talks about not profiling passengers. Somehow I feel random testing isn't the greatest thing. People are biased. Subjectively choosing people is a bigger problem.

I almost feel they did this to 100% of the people boarding planes. At least that way they can say they aren't being biased with profiling. If everyone gets checked without exception, then there isn't any problem with someone being chosen over another.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It's ridiculous, what if you are a farmer or an engineer working at a plant.

Do you know how many chemicals the average person is exposed to on a daily basis?

I just cleaned my keyboard with chemicals and now i'm typing on it.

It has moved from the scense of being aware and ready to being completly

[font=Arial Black][size=60]PARANOID[/font]

[edit on 17-2-2010 by tristar]

So lets say I go to the gun range a few hours before I am suppose to board and still have some residue on my hands when I board. Besides getting denied to fly I wonder what else they'll do. I am just glad I have the connections to fly privatly. TSA does a poor job, it sucks that our freedoms have been trampled on out of fear for the boogie monster.

Originally posted by jrod
So lets say I go to the gun range a few hours before I am suppose to board and still have some residue on my hands when I board. Besides getting denied to fly I wonder what else they'll do. I am just glad I have the connections to fly privatly. TSA does a poor job, it sucks that our freedoms have been trampled on out of fear for the boogie monster.

I have been swabbed several times, I thought they had been doing this for years?

Does that mean that I am on some list that has been getting me special treatment?

I have had my coat zipper, my shoe strings, and my belt all swabbed on different occasions, but not my hands.

I regularly shoot, and I always carry, so I am sure my hands will trigger some extra special treatment. Can I at least request which agent does my strip search? If they do it right, there will be a lot more of me to swab!

reply to post by TLomon


The problem with all of this added security is that people are becoming more afraid of all of the poking and prodding they will have to go through in order to board a plane then they are of an actual terrorist attack.

Traveling by air was a pain in the but before 9-11, now it's almost intolerable. It's getting to the point where it just might be quicker and more convenient to drive cross country just to avoid being treated like a common criminal every time you travel.

And just remember, the odds of dying in a hijacking are 1 in 135,000 vs a 1 in 6000 chance of dying in a car crash. Increasing airport security could end up killing more people instead of saving lives.

[edit on 17-2-2010 by FortAnthem]

reply to post by jrod


That is why you are advised to have a shower after being
on the firing range.The residue is all over you and your
clothes.

reply to post by TLomon


If they are concerned with hidden explosives why can't they just do random body cavity searches?

Sir, maam, please step into the booth. Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen.

Several month ago I was flying out of Seattle with my wife and kids. My son (almost 4 Y/O) had a broken thumb which required a full arm cast (anyone with a toddler will understand the escape artist thing that made a simple thumb cast impractical). I was shocked and offended when I had to step into a booth with my son and stand there while some fat rent a cop swabbed my boy's cast to check for explosives. Honestly, if I wasn't a family man and wasn't on my way out with them for a house hunting trip, I'd have probabaly given them the finger and said "screw it" and not bothered to fly.

Which, for the record, is basically my stance now that we are moved. It will be a cold day in hell before I board an airplane for anything other than company business (don't have much say in that one). The airlines have seen the last dime of my money that they will see and I've dealt with the last TSA a-double-s-hole I plan on dealing with on my own time.

Originally posted by mamabeth
reply to post by jrod

 

That is why you are advised to have a shower after being
on the firing range.The residue is all over you and your
clothes.

What if you work at one?

The thing that I find interesting is that this is in reaction to the "Fruit of the Boom" Christmas bomber.

The thing is... the bomb wasn't in his hands, it was in his PANTS!

If we want to truely stop this, I see a LOT of crotch swabbing in our future! (I hope they buy me dinner first!)

This is exactly why I refuse to fly into, through, or anywhere close to the US... I have unfortunately been forced to make the decision to avoid the whole general area between Mexico and Canada; especially when flying.

I refuse to let them take my wife's fingerprint (she is a permanent resident of Canada not a citizen), take nude pictures of her or me... If I will ever be stuck and have to fly through there, I can tell you, they won't need to scan me, I will be naked before I even get in line for the scanner...

Peace,

Magnum

reply to post by burdman30ott6

The airlines have seen the last dime of my money that they will see and I've dealt with the last TSA a-double-s-hole I plan on dealing with on my own time.

What bothers me most about these invasive policies is that if it were the airlines making the policies a boycott would hold some weight. However, since it is the Federal Government it holds none.

Originally posted by harvib
reply to post by burdman30ott6

 

The airlines have seen the last dime of my money that they will see and I've dealt with the last TSA a-double-s-hole I plan on dealing with on my own time.

What bothers me most about these invasive policies is that if it were the airlines making the policies a boycott would hold some weight. However, since it is the Federal Government it holds none.

I would like to respectfully disagree. The govt. can bail out the airlines, but they will find it difficult to bail out destination stops. Are they going to give money to Disneyland, Disney World, Las Vegas, Nashville, etc.

Say you are a Japanese businessman considering a junket to Las Vegas and you start thinking about being scanned and photographed, possibly patted down and swabbed? Maybe you might just decide to stay home. What about businessmen and tourists from the middle east? This viewing of their nude bodies might seem to be contrary to their religious beliefs.

There are people in this country that feel that these scanners are potentially dangerous to their long term health. Yes, I realize this thread is about swabbing, but all this crap taken together is just too much. Too much!

How long are we going to sit still for this crap?

Probably forever.

Originally posted by tristar
It has moved from the scense of being aware and ready to being completly

[font=Arial Black][size=60]PARANOID[/font]

[edit on 17-2-2010 by tristar]

This is where the real trouble lies, using Migrants with broken English for policeing Countryman! I laugh at'em than the cops try and use that against me, No chance<

Big Trouble in OZ too!

On topic:

swabbing passengers' hands at checkpoints and airport gates to test them for traces of explosives.

Traces of explosives PLUS!

It only takes a few people to run their hand with "traces of explosives" on a few hand rails etc.... for any and every person to touch than its shut down!!!!!


Zelong.

[edit on 18/2/10 by Zelong]

LOL Just to piss off everyone I will make sure every time I ever fly (once in a blue moon) I will rub my hands all over with sparklers...
ticketsmoneypassport.krustyfries.com...

think of the positive tests the first few days after 4th of july
shooting them or just sitting for a big show, you are gonna be covered in residue. I've smelled it in the clothes in the laundry room the day after one of our good parties. How long does the residue last? I thought is was a pretty good length of time
thats why (company business or no) I drive. IMHO, the driving stat does not consider that moronic drivers stack the deck on fatalities. I feel a good save alert driver has a WAY better chance of staying alive than the 6000:1 but that stat, and the auto safety industry is something for another thread

dr