Flying with camera gear…

[caradoc]

I refuse to fly until they do away with the TSA. Fark them.

Good. I had an acquaintance who apparently still works for the TSA (I can’t confirm as I haven’t spoken to them since I found out they had accepted the “job.”) People who willingly carry out such stupidity should be shunned, as should people who subscribe to the idiocy of the “Anything For Security” crap.

Those who say, “Well, the TSA isn’t perfect but as long as they’re keeping us safe…” should immediately donate their head to a medical school and the rest of their organs to people who can put them to better use.

[lokisbong]

If I could afford to travel I would go by train or car or gods forbid greyhound before I would take a plane anywhere and if crossing oceans are involved I guess I would wait until I could afford to rent a damn sailboat to take me where I wanna go.

[Choc-Ful-A]

I think it will still help, for two reasons. First, the interpretations of the TSA rules is important and the TSA staff fails miserably on that count. At least a competant private security service can be managed by the airport authority to be as reasonable as possible and still following the mandated procedures. TSA will never be manageable, they are a parasitic agency of the government, by design. Second, if enough people kicked the TSA to the curb the size of the agency would shrink, hopefully out of existance. That alone would be a blessing and it left unchecked they will continue to grow and become even more intrusive.

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-29/travel/tsa.private_1_tsa-government-screeners-screening-program?_s=PM:TRAVEL

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41391509/ns/travel-news/t/ditch-tsa-workers-airports-no-longer-allowed-opt-out/#.T14BsVEvas0

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2011/02/08/20110208arizona-private-security-bid-rejected-by-tsa.html

And so it begins…

The main goal of bureaucratic organizations is to protect the grow the organization. So of course the TSA is decided there’s no reason to let people leave after their “review”.

[caradoc]

And so it begins…

The main goal of bureaucratic organizations is to protect the grow the organization. So of course the TSA is decided there’s no reason to let people leave after their “review”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle#Iron_Law_of_Bureaucracy

…in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representatives who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.

[chupathingie]

I refuse to fly until they do away with the TSA. Fark them.

bearsrepeating.gif

[Yugoboy]

I hate the TSA as much as any rational person can, but to refuse to fly until they’re done away with only punishes you.

Granted, I fly rarely for a variety of reasons (being so far in hock I’m effectively poor is a big one), but I never would have made it to Italy had I taken that tack. When I can, I drive wherever (I’ll drive 12+ hours to Chicago instead of flying if I’ve got the time, even though the gas prices make that a less fiscally prudent decision), but when I have to due to time constraints, or if there’s an ocean in the way, I’ll suffer the indignity, because there is no way to organize an effective boycott due to the business travelers. Until the business traveling public takes a stand, your refusal is meaningless in the long term.

Fortunately, the local airport here is one of the ones with a private screening company (and a neighbor is one of them, so we made sure to go through his line), so the trip outbound was not overly onerous. It wasn’t until the trip back that we had problems. The biggest problem came in NYC. Due to a huge thunderstorm we were unable to fly out on our flight, had to stay in a hotel overnight and then go through the TSA’s bullshit. My wife got groped so badly she was traumatized. We were traveling back with some Murano glass, and when they manhandled her bag she nearly freaked out, which of course is “suspicious.” Meanwhile I distinctly felt tingling as I went through the backscatter machine.

If you really want this shit to stop, you gotta get the rules written so that your congresscrooks have to suffer the same indignities, degradation, intrusions and abuse as the rest of us. When that happens, the rules will finally begin to resemble common sense, if only because the crooks in congress want to be treated well… they feel entitled.

[Curious]

If you really want this shit to stop, you gotta get the rules written so that your congresscrooks have to suffer the same indignities, degradation, intrusions and abuse as the rest of us. When that happens, the rules will finally begin to resemble common sense, if only because the crooks in congress want to be treated well… they feel entitled.

find a way to do that and statues will be raised in your honor. while you’re at it how about the pension and healthcare stuff too.

[caradoc]

When I can, I drive wherever (I’ll drive 12+ hours to Chicago instead of flying if I’ve got the time, even though the gas prices make that a less fiscally prudent decision), but when I have to due to time constraints, or if there’s an ocean in the way, I’ll suffer the indignity, because there is no way to organize an effective boycott due to the business travelers. Until the business traveling public takes a stand, your refusal is meaningless in the long term.

I switched jobs after the rollout of the so-called “body scanners” (which Jon Corbett has demonstrated to be completely ineffective), going from 10K+ miles per month to zero.

The responses I got from my frequent flyer program on notification as to exactly why I’d done so were… interesting.

[ravnostic]

The responses I got from my frequent flyer program on notification as to exactly why I’d done so were… interesting.

**sits back, opens kettle of freshly popped and hot buttered popcorn, waits for the previews to finish**

Do tell. I love a good story.

[staplermofo]

**sits next to ravnostic, eats her popcorn**

[Kestrana]

**sits next to ravnostic, eats her popcorn**

*snerk*

But seriously, re: backscatter machines – take the patdown or get in the other line. Please, for your own health, do not go through these machines and do not let your family and friends. The science is extremely dubious and is based on your entire body absorbing the amount of radiation you are blasted with BUT only your epidermal layer is taking the hit because of the nature of delivery and kind of radiation. Especially frequent travelers, since air travel gives you extra radiation anyway.

Or so I have heard from orionid who takes this stuff seriously and kinda knows about it some.

[caradoc]

Do tell. I love a good story.

The airlines love to tell complainers that the TSA is “imposed” on them, ignoring the facts that the TSA represents a massive subsidy to the airlines.

People who don’t fly at all are footing the bill via taxes paid.

The response I got was essentially, “We’re sorry you feel that way, but if it keeps us safer…”

The second response was a bit more terse, as I had replied to the effect that the TSA was a massive Kabuki of security theatre, contributing no actual value higher than the pre-9/11 private screeners (as admitted by the OIG via their reports last year.)

Basically, the airlines LOVE the TSA because it indemnifies them against all claims. Stolen baggage? Blame the TSA. Plane was delayed by a phone-in bomb threat? Blame the TSA.

But the airlines won’t admit that to the flying public…

[caradoc]

But seriously, re: backscatter machines – take the patdown or get in the other line. Please, for your own health, do not go through these machines and do not let your family and friends. The science is extremely dubious and is based on your entire body absorbing the amount of radiation you are blasted with BUT only your epidermal layer is taking the hit because of the nature of delivery and kind of radiation. Especially frequent travelers, since air travel gives you extra radiation anyway.

Or so I have heard from orionid who takes this stuff seriously and kinda knows about it some.

Not to mention that the backscatter machine is easily fooled, overpriced, and just plain stupid from the get-go. Chertoff pulled a fast one, there.

[ravnostic]

**sits next to ravnostic, eats her popcorn**

Wait till you get to the bottom of the bag, staplermofo 😛 😈 💡 😀 8) 😆 😉

[caradoc]

Wait till you get to the bottom of the bag, staplermofo 😛 😈 💡 😀 8) 😆 😉

😯

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