Here are some recent examples of TSA's incompetence on airplane security.

Ubiquitous A: The TSA lied to "don't touch my junk" guy & you should understand your rights at airport security.

After objecting to the Naked Machine and the enhanced patdown procedure, he was then escorted back to the airline ticket counter where he was refunded by the airline for the flight he wouldn't be taking that day. But before he could leave, he was then told by a plainclothes TSA agent that they would be bringing charges against him that could result in a fine of $11,000. This is the point that this diary is about. $11,000? Really? So, what law is it that that says if you don't want to either have naked electronic images taken of yourself, or that you don't want to have your private parts felt up by a total stranger, all in order to just fly on an airplane, that you could be charged $11,000 for not complying? I was skeptical. I had never heard of a law that said if you changed your mind and decided to leave the security area that there was somehow anything wrong with doing so. In all of the articles I had read thus far on the incident, I also had not seen any reference to a specific law of any kind to that effect. * The AIT scanner (aka Naked Machine) captures images of your naked body under your clothes to be viewed by TSA personnel. * The AIT scanner exposes you to low levels of radiation, the effects of which are cumulative over a lifetime. * That you have the right to opt-out of that scanner in favor of a physical pat-down. * That going through the AIT scanner doesn't mean you couldn't also be pulled aside for secondary screening and a physical pat-down anyway. * That the new patdown procedures will likely involve having a TSA screener touch on your breasts, buttocks, and genetalia, both outside and possibly inside of your clothing. * That this procedure can be performed on anyone even, if they deem it necessary, a child of any age. * That you have the right to have this procedure conducted in private. * That if you are pulled aside for this secondary screening you have the right to stay within visual sight of your belongings. * That if you are pulled aside for secondary screening, you have the right to have a traveling companion present. * That this pat-down should be performed by someone who is the same sex as the traveler (for whatever dubious comfort that may be worth). * If you decide not to complete the security screening procedure once you've started it, you not only won't get to fly, but you could also be subject to up to $3,000 in fines for not doing so. Most people don't know their rights in these situations, and TSA personnel are not only not going to help protect those rights, they likely don't know and don't care. The evidence thus far suggests that they certainly aren't trained in respecting the rights of travelers whatsoever.

robert cruickshank: Why We Must Fight the TSA [Updated]

These stories are all shockingly familiar to those stories of people who have suffered sexual assault or molestation in other circumstances - a sense of shame, then of shock, then of a growing awareness they have been violated. In this case, because it is an extremely powerful arm of the government that is committing the sexual assaults, it leads people to be silent about what has happened to them - a situation many people, women in particular, know all too well from other experiences our society rightly denounces. In other words, Mica is proposing privatization of the TSA. It's a long-held right-wing goal and Mica is skilled at knowing how to use a moment of public outrage to push his agenda. Mica is also more directly honest about what the TSA is doing than most other Democrats I've heard talking about the issue: Mica sees TSA's new "naked scanner" machines and groping, grossly invasive passenger pat-downs as just part of a larger problem. TSA, he says, is relying more on passenger humiliation than on practices that are proven staples of airport security. This situation should be something that progressive activists are all over. We see ourselves as the guardian of civil liberties and our rights against the overgrown security-industrial complex. We see ourselves as defenders of people who have been sexually assaulted, and vigorously oppose and denounce those who minimize or explain away that kind of behavior whenever it happens in other contexts. And we see ourselves as defenders of democratic rights in the face of attempts to force us to give them up at a whim. Unfortunately, some progressives believe we shouldn't pay attention to this issue at all. In recent days I've had several conversations with progressive folks on Twitter and Facebook who think the TSA issue is a waste of time, a diversion from more important matters.

Sad reality we face when flying on planes

National Opt-Out Day:

It's the day ordinary citizens stand up for their rights, stand up for liberty, and protest the federal government's desire to virtually strip us naked or submit to an "enhanced pat down" that touches people's breasts and genitals in an aggressive manner. You should never have to explain to your children, "Remember that no stranger can touch or see your private area, unless it's a government employee, then it's OK." The goal of National Opt Out Day is to send a message to our lawmakers that we demand change. We have a right to privacy and buying a plane ticket should not mean that we're guilty until proven innocent. This day is needed because many people do not understand what they consent to when choosing to fly. Here are the details: Who?

You, your family and friends traveling by air on Wednesday, November 24, 2010. Remember too, as the TSA says, "Everyday is opt-out day." That is, you can opt out any time you fly. What?

National Opt-Out Day. You have the right to opt-out of the naked body scanner machines (AIT, or Advance Imaging Technology, as the government calls it). All you have to do is say "I opt out" when they tell you to go through one of the machines. You will then be given an "enhanced" pat down. This is a right given to you by the TSA. Where?

At an airport near you! When?

Wednesday, November 24, 2010. We want families to sit around the dinner table, eating turkey, talking about their experience - what constitutes an unreasonable search, how forceful of a pat down will we allow on certain areas of our body, and that of our children, and how much privacy are we will to give up for flying? We hope the experience then propels people to write their Member of Congress and the airlines to demand change. Why?

The government should not have the ability to virtually strip search anyone it wants without cause. The problem has been compounded in that if you do not want to go through the body scanner, the TSA has made the alternative perhaps even worse by instituting "enhanced" pat downs. There are reports from travelers across the country about how the TSA now touches the genitals and private areas of men, women and children in a much more aggressive manner. We do not believe the government has a right to see you naked or aggressively touch you just because you bought an airline ticket. How?

By saying "I opt out" when told to go through the bodying imaging machines and submitting to a pat down. Also, be sure to have your pat down by TSA in full public - do not go to the back room when asked. Every citizen must see for themselves how the TSA treats law-abiding citizens. If you have experienced a problem with TSA when flying, use the Electronic Privacy Information Center's incident report to lodge your complaint:

ThinkProgress notes that Israel's Airport Security is WORSE than the US in lots of ways.

Israeli Airline Security worse than the USA's

I don’t want to generalize too much from a single trip through Ben Gurion Airport, but I’d have to say that my experience leaving Tel Aviv was far and away the most unpleasant encounter I’d ever had with airport security officials in the decade. Moscow in 1998 was worse. As best I could tell, things went pretty smoothly as long as you were (a) Israeli, (b) traveling with an Israeli, or (c) traveling with some kind of well-established tour group. I think this may be how the majority of people go through the airport, which may account for its good reputation. But it took me approximately three hours to get from the initial passport check through to the food court. I was told that I couldn’t take my iPad onto the plane, and therefore would have to check a whole bag that I’d been planning to carry on so that the bag could contain the forbidden device, and the same thing happened to two of the guys I was traveling with. Each individual item from the bad I was allowed to carry on had to be separately wiped down for traces of explosive residue and several items had to be wiped multiple times.

More proof that the TSA are incompetent jokes when it comes to searching passengers.

TSA terrorizes the 3-year old with the teddy bear

UPDATE: The TSA is now TERRORIZING 3-YEAR OLDS

Tue Nov 16, 2010 at 12:24:01 PM CST

Ah, the good old days, when the TSA was "only" forcing women to drink their own breast milk and making children cry by stealing their toys. Those were the days, weren't they? Nowadays, they've decided to up the ante. There are already numerous stories this week about the new wave of "backscatter" full-body scanners, so I won't bore you with the backstory. John Tyner's instantly-viral video has already reached legendary proportions about the problem.

Even the head of the TSA admits that the new style inspections are wrong