![wired:
A Virginia man who wrote an abbreviated version of the Fourth Amendment on his body and stripped to his shorts at an airport security screening area won a trial Friday in his lawsuit seeking $250,000 in damages for being detained on a disorderly conduct charge.
[via Threat Level]
…hooray for America?
More impressive than the victory? The man’s chest-writing skills.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/e5f4e5afd543f875636652d74612e562/tumblr_mhbp3fFfw41r69k7do1_400.jpg)
A Virginia man who wrote an abbreviated version of the Fourth Amendment on his body and stripped to his shorts at an airport security screening area won a trial Friday in his lawsuit seeking $250,000 in damages for being detained on a disorderly conduct charge.
[via Threat Level]
…hooray for America?
More impressive than the victory? The man’s chest-writing skills.
(Source: Wired)
Great news, everyone: The TSA is chucking the last of the naked-body scanners. Why’s that? Well, a company that was supposed to meet a deadline to get rid of the naked-body images on the machines and replace them with not-so-naked images … didn’t. So the TSA is dropping their contract and switching to companies that don’t use such … um, revealing images. The full-body scans are sticking around. They’ll just be less naked.
Citing concerns of time and delays, the the Transportation Security Administration has begun removing the controversial X-ray body scanners from some large airports, and replacing them with more modern millimeter-wave scanners, which don’t have many of the radiation or privacy issues the older machines have — in part because they show a person’s profile in a cartoon style, rather than the pseudo-nudity of the older machines. The older machines are getting moved to smaller airports, where the time delays caused are less of an issue. ”They’re not all being replaced,” said TSA spokesman David Castelveter. “It’s being done strategically. We are replacing some of the older equipment and taking them to smaller airports. That will be done over a period of time.” (photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images)
Earlier that night, Casillo had been drinking at a Rosedale watering hole with his buds when they decided to go out racing their personal watercraft.
Casillo got separated from his partners as darkness fell, and then his jet ski conked out — so he swam 3 miles to a runway at the airport.
Casillo — in a bright yellow life vest — climbed the eight-foot tall perimeter fence and made it all the way to Terminal 3 without anyone noticing.
Once apprehended, he was charged with criminal trespass.
If, like Daniel Casillo, you were caught in the middle of the water, miles from shore, with a jet ski that conked out near an airport, what would you do?
Although operations have not resumed, officials from the San Antonio Police Department have confirmed that the three vehicles being investigated at San Antonio International Airport are not dangerous. Passengers from arriving flights have been allowed to enter the airport, and evacuated passengers have been allowed to re-enter the lobbies of both terminals; however, still no word on when the estimate 2,000 people affected by the evacuation will be able to resume their travel plans. source
Update: Bomb technicians have finished their investigation of the parking garages, and police are now allowing traffic to flow back into the airport. We’re still awaiting the resumption of normal airport operations.
Update 2: Airport officials have announced that normal operations have resumed, and asked for patience with the many flights that have been delayed or canceled. Local police, TSA officials, and the FBI are now searching for the caller behind today’s bomb threat.
(more on the story here)
UPDATE: The bomb threat has been lifted, Breaking News reports.
I didn’t have anything on me and and no-one asked me for anything. I did what I asked and just carried on walking.11-year-old Liam Corcoran-Fort • Discussing the security process he went through when he boarded a flight from Manchester to Rome — despite the fact he didn’t have any sort of identification or a boarding pass and was really just trying to use the bathroom. ”I just wanted to go to the toilet. I wasn’t trying to go anywhere I wasn’t allowed,” Corcoran-Fort, who has learning difficulties, said. ”But it was easier than my homework, even easier than computer games.” For what it’s worth, he did go through a metal detector and body scanner, the airport says.
It’s not technically a breach of security. The boy posed no threat to the aircraft. He went through a security process.Manchester airport spokesperson Russell Craig • Discussing an 11-year-old boy’s trip from England to Italy, where the boy took a Jet2.com plane from Manchester to Rome despite not having a boarding pass or passport. His trip may not have technically been a breach of security, but a ton of people got suspended from their jobs over it. Oops.
Gun parts, ammo found hidden inside 4-year-old’s stuffed animals at Rhode Island airport.
Poor Mickey. Sad to see he turned to a life of crime.
» But where does it all go? Since 2005, Congress has allowed the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to use forgotten money left behind by passengers as part of their operating budget, although the agency says it works hard to return the money left by passengers. But a new proposal in the House of Representatives, introduced by Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), would change that. Miller’s proposal would send all forgotten monies, collected by the TSA, to the USO instead, and may expand the bill to include higher value items like sunglasses, cameras, and computers. He’s convinced that taxpayers and travelers alike would both prefer it this way. But we’re wondering, what do YOU think of this new plan?
But seriously … I am not kidding.
I’m not watching all of...
Yahoo wants to buy Hulu now too. They’re going on an “I...
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
They talk a lot about jobs. They give good speeches about it. I want them to walk the walk. Put hard-working Americans to work so they can get a paycheck just like Congress is receiving on their vacations.Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood • Offering up some harsh words on the situation with the FAA shutdown, which will likely last a more than a month due to Congress’ August recess. LaHood, a former Republican congressman, notes that “safety is not compromised” but this is mostly a labor issue. One reason this has become such a political football is that, behind the scenes, it’s a bit of a proxy battle over unions — see, the National Mediation Board made it easier for these workers to unionize, if they so choose. This was part of the reason a short-term deal got blocked — Sen. Orrin Hatch wasn’t having it. Ultimately, it’s the same thing we said yesterday — a business should pay its employees instead of squabbling over minor issues. source (via • follow)
» People are working for free to inspect airports: After financing for the Federal Aviation Administration ran out on July 23, thousands of people were put out of work, and all over a fairly minor issue that has gummed up the Senate — how (or if) to pay for a subsidy program for rural airports. But that issue isn’t going to go anywhere for at least a month, after both chambers took their August recess. We know that the debt ceiling fight was tough and took a lot out of the politicians who solved that issue, but this seems like something that should’ve been dealt with before they hit the gavel and took vacations. This is not a judicial nomination. This is airport safety we’re talking about. Some talk about running the government like a business — well, here’s a secret, guys. Businesses don’t furlough workers over a disagreement that those workers have no control over, then ask them to work for free. Businesses pay workers.
Right now, searches are proceeding under the object of preventing terrorist activities. But we’ve got to draw a line. You’ve got to have reasonable cause to touch people’s private parts.Texas State Rep. David Simpson • Discussing his bill to prevent the TSA from intrusively groping people in the name of national security. (Which, as you might know, is kind of a pet issue for us.) The bill actually went somewhere last month — it passed the state’s legislature. However, it stalled in the senate because the state got pushback from the federal government, who threatened to stop flights into Texas if the bill became law. Simpson (a Republican), however, notes that the law doesn’t prevent these searches, but forces a good reason for them to happen: “But what we’re basically saying is, ‘Show me the law that says you can touch my private parts in order to travel and I’ll let you do it.’” This guy deserves a high-five. source (via • follow)
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
