Texan State Representative David Simpson (R-Longview) has taken an interesting stance on the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) ‘enhanced pat downs’ and has recently introduced Texas House Bill 1937 that would make it a criminal offense for TSA Transportation Security Officers (TSO), or anyone for that matter, to touch a person’s genitals, or breasts, during a…
Every few days a non-story seems to make its way into the headlines and go viral through the internet, generally ignoring major facts and factors. This week’s non-story that has become a major story once again involves the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), there are many valid stories that can be reported on regarding the TSA,…
I’ll be the first one to admit it, I really don’t like April Fools Day … especially when its perpetuated by legitimate news and editorial organizations, large corporations and government entities using April Fools Day to create fake news stories. The intertwining of legitimate news and gag news stories crosses the line and muddies the…
The topic of passengers being questioned by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) when flying with cash comes up somewhat often and it’s a truly troubling question. In the past week I was contacted by two travelers who encountered similar TSA incidents of being questioned regarding flying with cash at two different airports, headed to two…
POST EDITED ON 10-MARCH-2011 : CORRECT AN ERROR IN THE FINANCIAL NUMBERS CAUSED BY A SPELL CHECKER The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) budget is enormous, but is the agency prioritizing and allocating its funds in the most effective manner? At present the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lists the TSA’s budget at US$8,164,780,000 with US$7,910,780,000…
It is hard to believe I have been traveling with an iPad for well over half-a-year now and an 11″ MacBook Air for more than a month. Both of these travel tools have changed how I work on the road and how I pack … but both tools present a consistent problem at the start…
This blog post was supposed to be about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the upcoming vote to unionize the agency’s Transportation Security Officers (TSO). In the process of researching what should have been a very minor point of reference, which probably would have barely been mentioned here … the minor detail became a story…
Nine years ago today aviation security around the world changed … and not necessarily for the better. Nine years ago today the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) took over passenger screening in airports from private security contractors in the United States. On the 12th of February 2002 airport security in the United States was overseen by…
In 2005 the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began a pilot program in conjunction with the Registered Traveler Interoperability Consortium, where travelers could undergo a background check, and provide a biometric sample to the TSA’s Office of Transportation Threat Assessment and Credentialing and become a “Registered Traveler.” On paper the Registered Traveler program made sense. The…
Disclosure : This post is a personal view point editorial Since I began covering aviation security on the 15th of September 2001 I have spent a considerable amount of time dealing with the federal agencies that were involved with protecting airports and commercial aviation. When the primary responsibility of aviation security in the United States…
