
The Most Incompetent TSA Story Yet? - codergirl
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/possibly_the_mo.html
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jacques_chester
I can't speak for the TSA, but here in Australia I am routinely "randomly
selected" for bomb screening.

I have a terrible beard. I know it, my family knows it, my friends know it,
people on who drive past on the bus know it. But it conceals the chinese phone
directory beneath my jaw, so it stays.

But it definitely gets unkempt and quickly. If I forget to clean up before I
fly, bam, I'm chosen for the bomb test. If I'm clean shaven or have trimmed
that day, I sail through.

It's absolutely random, I'm assured. No bias whatsoever. When asked to show a
random number generator the staff tend to get a bit grumpy. Appeals to the
combinatorial unlikelihood of being chosen so many times in a row fall on dead
ears.

Because my beard makes me look like a convert to Islam, I get bomb tested.
It's as simple as that, in my opinion.

~~~
kondro
I've watched them, they are random.

If they aren't screening someone, they choose the next person to walk out from
the x-ray screening area.

If they are screening someone, then they are busy.

Given the fact that they probably screen 5-10% of people travelling, I think
you've just gotten lucky.

~~~
stoney
Not sure why this is downvoted. I think it's probably right.

I get randomly selected for the bomb test almost 100% of the time in
Australia. I don't think there is anything about me that is being
discriminated against (typical white male).

I think they just screen a high percentage of people. Also, I think the longer
you hang around after the x-ray (repacking your bag, getting dressed, etc),
the more likely they are to approach you.

~~~
jacques_chester
Even if it there was a 50% chance of being picked, to have it happen (I've
been counting) _8 times in a row_ so far is highly, unlikely -- 3 in a
thousand. At 10% we're talking millions-to-1 that it's purely random.

I just don't buy it. Humans are involved. Humans are not cryptographic-grade
RNGs.

~~~
kondro
You're either very lucky, go through security at quieter times or self-
selecting (subconsciously) by choosing the optimum time for you to be chosen.

~~~
jacques_chester
Airports bunch flights together so they can cut costs. It's always busy. As
for "self-selecting the optimum time", I don't have to. I can self-select an
interesting beard.

------
antics
I've got one of those stories.

My parents live on the opposite side of the country. I flew to see them one
Christmas and then flew back home. As I unpacked after the trip, I discovered
that my huge hunting knife had accidentally been in my carry-on bag the whole
time. I had carried it through both Salt Lake and Philadelphia International
Airports. Literally no one bothered me about it.

Someone once told me that America is "fully prepared for the past" with
regards to terrorism. This experience makes me wonder whether even that is
really true. And indeed, when I read up on the actual security practices, I
discovered that on an alarmingly frequent basis, it is not our security
measures that foil terrorists, but their sheer ineptitude. The underwear
bomber, the attempted Times Square guy, and a whole host of other idiots had
the opportunity to seriously hurt people, and had they even a modicum of
expertise, they would have succeeded. Our security forces may be able to take
credit for stopping some of these events, but how many? These were incredibly
simple strategies, and given that they still couldn't identify and neutralize
the threat before it would have been too late, I can't imagine it's an
astonishingly high number.

In spite of this I'm not worried about terrorism at all. If someone started a
security-free airline, I would fly on it every single time I had the option.
What does frighten me is that we spend so much money on this stuff. Why isn't
the TSA held accountable by the government? (And if it is, why are they so bad
at it?) Do we honestly know that increased spending in technology catches more
terrorists? We are trying to identify very sparse features, and it is not at
all obvious that this is the best way to catch them. On the other hand, the
American government has eliminated (I'm told) 200 of Al-Quaeda's top leaders.
This seems like a much more effective method for demolishing this behavior.

~~~
phreanix
Same here . I'm a competitive shooter and I've travelled internationally with
live ammo lost in my bag that I found after unpacking. Total facepalm moment.
It wasn't much, 5-6 rounds but I'm sure enough to get me in heaps of trouble
had it been found in my carry-on. Then, they finally did detect something I
had forgotten in my backpack again, but it was just airgun pellets, basically
little pieces of lead.

~~~
DanBC
5 year prison sentence in England, so go careful.

------
Evgeny
From the comments, made my entire week:

 _They were obviously homeopathic bombs. Security found no traces of
explosives, which had been diluted to the point that it wasn't present - thus
making the devices even more effective._

------
Anechoic
Heh. A couple of years ago I tried to carry on a microphone stand (something
like this: [http://www.amazon.com/Stage-Stands-7701B-Tripod-
Microphone/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Stage-Stands-7701B-Tripod-
Microphone/dp/B000978D58/) ). TSA freaked, ran it through the x-ray a couple
of times, escorted me out of the security area and stood buy while I checked
it, watch as it went through the baggage scanner, and then finally allowed me
back through the security checkpoint.

This story shocks me not at all.

~~~
adanto6840
And yet I've taken a Volcano [1] through TSA's "security" at least 5 times.
The first time the TSA agent asked a bit about it and, basically, he said:
"oh, it is like a fog machine?" to which I answered "Yes"....

From then on, it has been a "fog machine" as far as TSA was concerned... ;-)

Admittedly, and sadly, I haven't tried to fly with it within the last two
years [and, at that time, I didn't worry about it a bit nor did I clean it
obsessively, etc. - these days, though, I'm hesitant to even attempt flying
with it]... =\

[1] = [http://www.storz-bickel.com/vaporizer/volcano-
vaporisation-s...](http://www.storz-bickel.com/vaporizer/volcano-vaporisation-
system.html)

~~~
codergirl
I think we need a stufftheTSAconfiscated.tumblr.com.

I went through for a job interview and I had a cast on and a blow dryer and
flat iron in my luggage. They swabbed my cast, and took the items and made me
wait while they checked them out. I bet someone walked away that day with
perfectly styled hair.

~~~
jonah
Well, that kinda exists...in auction format:
<http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ntsa>

~~~
X-Istence
I don't see any 8 inch hunting knives, so clearly they haven't learned their
lesson ... they let me through security in Denver, Chicago, New York, Newark
and Houston with a HUGE blade in the bottom of my computer bag.

Noticed it when I was unpacking my bag because I bought a new one... yep, TSA
at its finest.

------
jacques_chester
The TSA did them a bit of a favour, confiscating this stuff:
<http://www.alivewater.net/prod/owr.htm>

~~~
shaggyfrog
Wow, just look at the ad copy:

"The Vortex Water Revitalizer is based upon a revolutionary concept in water
treatment. It performs far beyond what any filtration system, distiller or
reverse osmosis system will ever do for you. It processes all the water in a
direct way, leading it into a double spiral, which creates a powerfull vortex
energy field.

This uses Mother Nature's own methods of generating energy within the water.
One of the results is that water's self-cleaning ability is re-established and
the water is being restructured on a molecular level. The Vortex Water
Revitalizer will restore the health of your water. It will make the water
alive and well again."

This kind of derp wouldn't get through an elementary-level science fair.
Definitely a lesser-of-the-two-evils kind of situation, though.

~~~
jacques_chester
"The vortex energy created by a double spiral flowform, restores the natural
energy in your water, using Nature's wisdom _with a little help from quantum
physics_ "

Yahtzee!

------
DanBC
from the comments:

> _I have a college degree. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa. I work as a substitute
> teacher, and I make about $8.25 per hour, have no benefits, and have to find
> alternative work in the summer._

$8.25 is £5.24; that's less than UK minimum wage which is £6.08 if you're over
21.

I have no idea why Americans accept this. Why are Americans allowing billions
to be spent on security theatre while schools struggle for funding?

------
drivebyacct2
The TSA let me board with a lighter and an aerosol form alcohol. Didn't
realize until I'd landed that they'd let me board with materials for a small-
scale flamethrower. I donated the lighter to a smoker I saw at the airport and
checked the other in my additional luggage before my return flight.

~~~
dmix
From my understanding you are allowed one lighter in your carry on. I had two
one time and had to throw one out.

~~~
lwat
What could you possibly do with 2 lighters that you could not do with one

~~~
codergirl
Along the same lines, lots of companies make sunscreen in 10x ml quantities
for the associated benefits. When the agent wanted to take away my 106 ml
bottle, I asked if I could squeeze 6 ml out and take it on. No dice.

