Baby's First TSA Patdown 570
theodp writes "Is there anything cuter than baby milestones? Baby's first steps. Baby's first word. And now, baby's first TSA patdown. 'Well,' writes Anna North, 'it finally happened. Airport security officers gave a pat-down to a baby.' A post on the TSA blog defended the move: 'The child's stroller alarmed during explosives screening. Our officers followed proper current screening procedures by screening the family after the alarm...The [8-month-old] child in the photo was simply receiving a modified pat-down.' Hey, at least they didn't make a federal case of the 4 oz. of liquid found in the little tyke's Pampers."
Re:Meanwhile in line... (Score:0, Interesting)
This obviously has nothing to do with anyone's safety. This is about obedience and conditioning. One by one, all those predictions that the conspiracy nuts rattled off (and most rational people dismissed) are coming true. If the trend continues, the dollar will be destroyed and replaced with a multi-national currency, and there will be another push for Real ID.
Re:2 questions for the TSA (Score:4, Interesting)
>2) How many times have explosives been found?
None. Ever. Even the underpants bomber made it through.
Since the inception of the TSA, they have stopped *zero* hijacking/bombing attempts from the airport.
Biggest waste of money on security theater going.
--
BMO
The parent should be modded to 5, and all Slashdot readers should be sure to spread this point as much as possible to everyone they know. The TSA has an $8.1 annual billion budget and has yet to have a single success.
We can't comment definitively on the deterrent effect mentioned by an AC reply, though our very limited data points make deterrence seem unlikely, given that 1) every attempted bomber in the last 10 years has successfully made it through security and 2) the 100% failure rate probably doesn't put much fear into the hearts of potential attackers.
Re:Meanwhile in line... (Score:2, Interesting)
Show me a profile of a modern terrorist that would have caught Timothy McVeigh, arguably one of the most lethal domestic terrorists ever. Just remember, he was white, had some college, got an honorable military discharge, Christian...
toddler's first pat down, November 2001 (Score:5, Interesting)
First I was screened, then our baby was made to stand away from both of us (since he wasn't screened and they were screening my wife) while my wife was being screened. This step took a long time, because of course the kid was screaming bloody murder about being kept from his parents, and several times he broke free and ran to his mother and if she moved (not reached, just moved out of her crucifixion position) or the kid touched her, the agent yelled at her and started over again. After about the third time when she got yelled at w/o moving, I was about ready to punch somebody but the supervisor intervened, patted down the baby and got him into my arms, at which point they could finish the stupid screen on my wife. This was the closest by far I've ever come to physical violence in my adult life. And it wasn't caused by a false-positive on an explosives test, it was because our flight was canceled.
Re:2 questions for the TSA (Score:4, Interesting)
Mission accomplished. I have been deterred from flying.
I've got a big Disney fan in the household. We used to make at least one vacation stop at Disney World each year. This year, we've canceled our initial plans. A big part of that is not wishing to go through Security Theatre.
I understand that big tourism like Disney theme parks are struggling with disappointing numbers in current times. What a pity they have additional pinch points further restricting income flow.
Re:Texas vs. TSA (Score:5, Interesting)
It's incredibly weird to see a story on Slashdot where I agree with the way laws are being implemented or enforced in Texas.
Maybe there's hope for us yet.