The TSA's 20th Birthday Should Be Its Last | Hacker News Reader

The TSA's 20th Birthday Should Be Its Last

reason.com

27 points1cvmask8 comments

I've accidentally taken knives and ammunition through TSA in a carry-on bag, but the only thing they've ever stopped me over was steel toed boots in my bag. Right after 9-11 my dad went on a trip and after getting off of the plane, put his coat on and realized he had two six inch box knives in the pockets, the only thing they took from his bag was his shampoo.

Nice touch with "the only thing they took from his bag was his shampoo", but liquids weren't banned until 2006 which isn't right after 9-11.

My bad, Post 9-11.

I never understood using tax money to screen zero-risk travelers.

It's a complete waste of time and resources for everyone involved. I guess it's a job program and a form of welfare.

What people don't understand is that all the seeming bullshit is there for a reason. The long zig-zagging line you have to walk through is so that cameras get shots of everybody at multiple angles. The slow pacing is so that there is time to run searches through databases implemented with 2001-era technology. You stand around for a few minutes between a wall of guards and a mass of people with your shoes and your belt off so if someone is identified they can't easily make a run for it. Bags and other items are placed onto a conveyor so that targets don't have access to their items when confronted. People are frequently pulled aside so that it doesn't freak everyone out when an actual target gets pulled aside.

Yeah, maybe if some idiot packs an AK47 in their carry on the TSA will catch them, but in general all the inspection is just theater. The TSA is there to stop previously identified individuals, who may be terrorists, or potentially criminals, or other "people of interest" from moving freely. They don't harass you because they're incompetent, they harass you because it is useful for their purposes to do so.

Your description makes it sound like they are actually effective, with all those carefully designed procedures. Sadly, execution is everything and I have seen absolutely no evidence of them justifying the many billions of taxpayer dollars

Your comment reminded me of the South Park TSA (Toilet Safety Administration) episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK3YkCjk8_o

I remember about 10 years ago, a TSA agent screening a WW II vet, with a pacemaker, who was deaf. Agent was yelling and screaming at him - took him over 30 minutes to pat him down, with help, and made him miss his plane. The old guy just sat their patiently, he'd seen it all before.

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