Airline Security Archive

DHS Awarding Billions In No-Bid Contracts (Plus: Misplacing Computers, Scopes, And Entire Trucks)

By
Omri Ceren
Published: March 7, 2010Posted in: Airline Security, American Politics, Democratic Politics, Islamic Terrorism, Jewish Politics, Political IslamTags: , , , ,

Misplaced

No word on whether those contracts included replacements for the thousand or so computers they lost last year. Or the 235 night vision scopes they misplaced. Or the $116,349 international harvester truck they can’t find. Maybe this is why they can’t seem to muster the necessary resources to put even one percent of “known or suspected terrorists” on the no-fly list.

Your tax dollars at work:

Even when awarding contracts to companies without competitive bidding, federal agencies are supposed to follow certain rules and guidelines. But that has not been the case at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which gave out $3.4 billion in non-competitive contracts last year. The inspector general for DHS found that officials often failed to do sufficient research and document decisions when awarding these types of contracts. Consequently, DHS is at risk of wasting taxpayer dollars if work is given to businesses that aren’t the most suitable.

Here’s an article about how Napolitano ditched a hearing by the House Committee on Homeland Security, where she was scheduled to answer tough questions about the Christmas Day terrorist attack. PA Democrat Rep Chris Carney on the incident: “I am very dismayed that the secretary herself isn’t here. I mean, it’s probably fair to ask, ‘Where the hell is Secretary Napolitano?’”

And here’s a post about how she doesn’t think that illegal immigration is “a crime per se.” Both of which fit the tone she took during her confirmation hearings, when the words “terror” nor “vulnerability” were both excluded. Because we needed to get away from the “politics of fear.”

And to think, some people doubt the Obama administration’s seriousness when it comes to protecting our borders from terrorists.

References and related after the jump…

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TSA Hiring Convicts, Giving Employees Secret Intel. What Could Go Wrong?

By
Omri Ceren
Published: February 21, 2010Posted in: Airline Security, American Politics, Islamic TerrorismTags: ,

Wrong

Because if there’s one quality that the TSA has consistently demonstrated – from pranking coeds with fake drugs to harassing fans of rival sports franchises – it’s seriousness. And professionalization. Seriousness and professionalization are the two qualities that the TSA has consistently demonstrated. Good times:

About 10,000 airport security workers will get access to secret intelligence that could help stop terrorist attacks on planes. The [TSA will give]… them more detailed information about tactics and threats… [TSA] hopes to empower its higher-level workers as part of an effort to professionalize airport security. The 10,000 people in line to get classified information are managers, supervisors and “behavior detection officers” who roam airports looking for suspicious people. They represent about 20% of the TSA’s airport workforce and exclude screeners who scan passengers and bags… The information could include copies of terrorist training videos or tips vaguely describing a terrorism suspect, experts said. “Some classified information seems innocuous but is classified because it was derived from an intercepted phone conversation,” said Steven Aftergood, an intelligence-policy specialist for the Federation of American Scientists.

Seems fair. Insofar as TSA agents need to watch out for terrorists, it’s a good idea to educate them about what terrorists look like (we weren’t doing that already?) There are probably a few straightforward downsides Giving behavior profilers information about ongoing plots – if that’s a part of this new plan – might throw them off their game by focusing them in a single direction. There’s also an argument to be made that you don’t “professionalize airport security” by giving the officers security clearance. That’s usually a prerequisite.

But those are process considerations.

The real concern is that TSA has a habit of hiring and employing – sometimes for years at a time – out and out drug dealers. They’ve also recently taken to hiring convicted felons and then badgering airports into badging them:

The TSA hired a guy… to do security work at the airport. It turns out that Giancarlo committed a robbery when he was 17 and was convicted when he was 18. According to the TSA, that’s not an issue. He was still qualified for the job. But the TSA doesn’t do badging; the airport does. So, Giancarlo went to the airport to get his Security Identification Display Area (SIDA) badge which allows for access to all secure areas without an escort… [Richmond] airport uncovered the robbery in a background check, even though Giancarlo left it off his application, and refused to give him a badge… the TSA started threatening the airport until they buckled and issued the guy a badge.

An agency that won’t and can’t keep out petty criminals seems pretty vulnerable to, say, determined foreign double agents seeking data on what TSA “thinks a terrorist looks like.” They already know some of that because of past TSA idiocy. But still.

References and related after the jump…

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TSA: Nothing Can Stand Between Us And Mindlessly Destroying The American Airline Industry

By
Omri Ceren
Published: December 26, 2009Posted in: Airline Security, American Politics, Islamic Terrorism, Multiculturalism, Political IslamTags: , , , ,

Nothing

An airline industry looking to “bounce back” in 2010 by bleeding $11 billion. A tourism industry coping with alienated Western travelers after Congress, at the behest of restaurant and hotel lobbies, imposed a $10 fine on incoming travelers to promote “Vegas-style tourism.” And now this series of bizarre overreactions to the Detroit terrorism attack, which is being greeted with something less than fanfare on travel blogs and forums. Quoth the managing editor of several valuable online travel properties: “I just need the airlines to be honest with me: ‘Do you guys want to be in business or not? If not, just let me know so I can start booking my cruise.’”

An Islamic male between the ages 18 and 45 was granted a visa despite known terrorist ties, because for some reason people on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment list are “are not necessarily on the no-fly list.” He smuggled contraband through multiple security checkpoints, moved about the plane unmolested despite likely being visibly high as a kite, and tried to blow up the flight during its descent.

The supple minds at TSA brought their incisive logical skills to bear on this near-disaster, abstracted the relevant principles, and concluded: what we need to do is ban tourists from peeing during the last hour of the flight! Ditto – per FlyerTalk – for blacking out in-flight GPS maps and prohibiting pilots from announcing things “if you look out to your left you’ll see…” Because if terrorists don’t know where they are they can’t be terrorists! Next we’ll learn that timers and watches are verboten.

This makes even less sense than the time the TSA and the FBI tried to legally persecute an American teenager for pointing out gaping holes in the no-fly list system. It even makes less sense than hiring digital document managers who release non-redacted “redacted” PDFs before unblinkingly spouting nonsense during TSA’s subsequent whitewash.

You can’t buy analytical skill like this. You certainly can’t teach them. As a manager you just have to hope you’re lucky enough to hire people born with them:

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TSA’s Idiotic Pilot Handgun Regulations Kept Classified, End With Accidental Firing On Flying Plane

By
Omri Ceren
Published: April 13, 2008Posted in: Airline Security, American Politics, Islamic Terrorism, Political IslamTags: ,

Security

It’s so cute when urban blue state bureaucrats get involved with gun safety regulations:

Transportation Security Administration rules are to blame for the conditions leading up to an accidental discharge of a US Airways pilot’s pistol during landing, say airline pilots familiar with the program. On March 22, pilot James Langenhahn was stowing his Heckler & Koch USP .40, issued to him by the Department of Homeland Security… while his co-pilot prepared to land the plane. As he was placing the pistol… it discharged a single shot which exited the left side of the plane, doing little damage… Some pilots say it was an accident waiting to happen.

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Tuesday TSA Two-Minute Hate

By
Omri Ceren
Published: March 4, 2008Posted in: Airline Security, American Politics, Islamic Terrorism, Political IslamTags: ,

Morons

That’s some crack security we’ve got right there:

A government program set up to remove innocent people from terrorism no-fly and watch lists has been ineffective and riddled with problems, travelers and congressional leaders say. Jason Steele, a technology contractor in Colorado, discovered his name was on the watch list about four years ago and fought to get a letter from TSA clearing his name… He has gotten some relief from UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, which has identified Mr. Steele as cleared through his frequent-flier number, allowing him to check in online, use United’s kiosks and avoid extra screening. On other airlines, Mr. Steele has learned that if he flies under his middle name, he doesn’t get stopped. “The whole process is just cosmetic,” he says.

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TSA Considers Screwing Holiday Travelers With Dumbest Explanation For Dumbest Idea Ever [Video]

By
Omri Ceren
Published: December 5, 2007Posted in: Airline Security, American Politics, Islamic Terrorism, Political IslamTags: ,

Morons

At first blush this doesn’t really seem security related. Except: these are the people in charge of airline security across the board. And they’ve got the IQ of houseplants:

The TSA is testing a new level of security screening at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and it requires you to take every electronic component out of your carry-on luggage and put it in a separate bin, reader John tells us. He writes: “According to the TSA this is a new test program designed to speed up the screening of carry on-baggage…” “…but, based on my observations, it’s not real clear on how this is going to speed things up as each bag had to be passed through the X-Ray, all of the electronics people forgot about removed and placed in a separate tray, then both the bag and the tray X-Rayed again.

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Monday Stupid – Helpful Form For TSA Encounters

By
Omri Ceren
Published: November 26, 2007Posted in: Airline Security, American Politics, Islamic Terrorism, Political IslamTags: ,

It’s hard to find a government agency that exceeds the State Department’s unique combination of self-importance, wrongheadedness, and incompetence. And yet somehow TSA manages again and again to impress us on that score. So the next time you’re going through one of our oh-so-secure airports, slip this into your luggage (full pic behind the link):

Helpful form for TSA luggage inspectors

The incompetence of these people is just astounding.

References:
* LAX TSA Misses 75% Of Fake Bombs, Lets People With Bad Boarding Passes On Airplanes [MR]
* HuffPo Blogger: Replace TSA With Blackwater Ops [MR]
* A handy guide for luggage inspectors [Upgrade]

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CA Government Vehicle Offers Spectacular Metaphor For, Demonstration Of Abject Government Stupidity

By
Omri Ceren
Published: October 26, 2007Posted in: Airline Security, American Politics, Democratic PoliticsTags: ,

A little light Friday stupid. We snapped this picture on the way back from school. Keep in mind that these people are also in charge of explaining to citizens how to identify terrorists and keep themselves safe. So you know that’s going spectacularly:

We Pay These People

At least it wasn’t a TSA car. The sheer perfection of that would have caused a black hole of perfection that would have formed a perfection singularity and destroyed everything the universe.

Previously:
* LAX TSA Misses 75% Of Fake Bombs, Lets People With Bad Boarding Passes On Airplanes
* MR To AIPAC: The Red Flag Is Where The Good Hummus Is
* MR Article In The Jewish Journal

LAX TSA Misses 75% Of Fake Bombs, Lets People With Bad Boarding Passes On Airplanes

By
Omri Ceren
Published: October 21, 2007Posted in: Airline SecurityTags: , ,

But they took away his pudding...

There are two lines of defense against terrorists trying to smuggle weapons on planes: (1) the identity checks like the no fly list and (2) the physical checks like the metal detectors. We’ve described before how even a 10 year old can forge a valid boarding pass with a fake name to get around the no fly list and use a second boarding pass with his real name to get to the plane (more on that below). That means that only the physical security checks stand between an armed terrorist and a plane full of civilians. How’s that going:

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HuffPo Blogger: Replace TSA With Blackwater Ops

By
Omri Ceren
Published: September 29, 2007Posted in: Airline SecurityTags: ,

TSA Confiscates Pudding, Misses 4 inch pocket knife. Because they're retarded

Bob Franken is undoubtedly joking about this, but honestly: why not? What are they going to do – make the the country less secure?

SECURITY Replace those TSA officers people with guards from Blackwater. It won’t make the search lines move any faster but it sure as hell will cut down on the whining about it.

We don’t like his politics, but we like where his head’s at. It’s either this or another half-decade of having these idiots confiscate pudding and miss knives:

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TSA Good At Grabbing Cups From Toddlers and Humiliating Mothers, Not So Good With Potential Bombs

By
Omri Ceren
Published: June 16, 2007Posted in: Airline SecurityTags:

Are they actually given training in sucking this much, or does it just come naturally to their employees:

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It’s Time For Another Rant About the TSA – Hardline On 1oz Pepsi, Not So Much On Boxcutters [Video]

By
Omri Ceren
Published: May 11, 2007Posted in: Airline SecurityTags:

Good job guys:

A box cutter found by a passenger onboard a United Airlines plane delayed a Denver to Dallas flight for nearly two hours Tuesday. Flight 490 had left the gate and was taxiing toward a runway when the passenger found the cutting instrument and notified a flight attendant, United Airlines spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said. The flight attendant notified authorities, and Transportation Security Administration officials met the plane on the tarmac. McCarthy said all the passengers were taken off the plane and re-screened while officials checked the plane for additional weapons.

Last time we went through Logan they pulled us aside for “special” screening because of a half-empty bottle of Pepsi that we forgot in our backpack (obviously we’re stupid – first mistake like that since 9/11 but in fairness to us we were viciously hung over). You know why TSA can find our Pepsi bottles but not catch boxcutters? Training:

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A Polite Request From MR: Can Everyone Please Stop Leaving Things That Look Like Bombs In Public?

By
Omri Ceren
Published: March 30, 2007Posted in: Airline Security, Islamic Terrorism, StupidTags:

This is to both sides. Security minded experts and viral marketing hippies.

Knock it off.

First there was that idiotic stunt in Boston. Hey kids, let’s strap wires and batteries to bridges. Then let’s get all snarky when middle-aged Boston police don’t laugh heartily at the obvious allusion to late night Cartoon Network programming watched exclusively by geeks and stoners. Douchebags.

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Update: TSA Still Sucks

By
Omri Ceren
Published: March 29, 2007Posted in: Airline SecurityTags:

We don’t have any larger post to throw this into, but honestly – they just suck:

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Breaking: Iraqi National Detained At LAX Hiding Wires, Magnets, and Something Else… (UPDATE: False alarm? TSA Still Managed To Endanger Lives…)

By
Omri Ceren
Published: March 6, 2007Posted in: Airline Security, IraqTags:

UPDATE 7 – Pending further developments, it looks like this one is wrapped up. Best quote of the day has to go to Larry Fetters, LAX security directory for TSA: “There never was a threat”. No kidding – just ask the passengers and crew who sat above Maliki’s luggage after TSA failed to pull it from the plane, who are very lucky that this was a false alarm. No thanks to TSA.

UPDATE 6 – Now this is interesting:

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