I know that the Transportation Security Administration – especially the TSA’s blog – gets plenty of comments from people who are outraged that airport security doesn’t do more “profiling”. Here is one of those comments:
“The reason why the blue-eyed great-grandmother from Minneapolis is given a hard time while four young Middle-Eastern men sail through, is not because of her knitting needles (“She might knift an Afghan!” *rimshot*). It’s because the government is terrified of ‘racial profiling’.” –comment left on TSA Blog, 5-2-09
So what are the two words referred to in the title of this post? Jihad Jane.
As numerous news organizations pointed out this week, the woman who allegedly called herself “Jihad Jane” – and who is due in federal court next week to be arraigned on terrorism-related charges – is a middle-aged, blue-eyed blond from the suburbs.
We already told you that the graduate student who slipped past security in January for one last kiss with his departing girlfriend at Newark Airport has pleaded guilty and been fined – but what about the security guard who left his post that allowed that to happen?
He is being disciplined, according to the AP – but not fired. He was placed on administrative leave, and we hear he returns to work this weekend.
No word on whether he was paid or not during his leave. As for the grad student, it’ll take more than a guilty plea to kill his romance.
See? This is what happens when they keep making us take off our shoes:
Security workers at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida “are complaining of odor” – yes, the stench left behind on the carpets from those who remove their shoes for security.
Actually the smelly feet complaints revolve around two separate security checkpoints.
Anyway, airport management is busy “formulating a plan” on this matter; here, you can use my plan: A.) Go to carpet store, and B.) Buy new carpet.
The frugal among us may be wondering why they don’t just clean the carpets, but – the problem is that the security check-points open at 4:30am, and may not close until 1:00am or so (if flights are late), so there’s not a lot of time for shampooing and drying.
Darn. They’ve been teasing us for almost two years now, telling us about tests underway that could mean we get to keep our Jimmy Choo’s on – or your sneakers.
But it never quite happens.
And Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano threw more cold water on the idea of staying shod in the security line during an online chat with travelers Tuesday. She said current technology just isn’t good enough to allow screeners to see what might be in our shoes, while we’re wearing them.
My advice? Lace-less shoes – you know, something you can get-in-and-out-of quickly and easily.
A graduate student at Rutgers pleaded guilty to “defiant trespass” yesterday, which is to say, he’s the guy who caused chaos at busy Newark Liberty Airport in January when he slipped through security to give his girlfriend one last kiss before she headed home to California.
Romeo, also known as Haisong Jang, 28 was ordered to pay a $500 fine and court costs and will have to complete 100 hours of community service.
The man will also have this on his record for five years, after which (if there are no more kissing episodes), he can get it erased.
So – did this kill the romance? Not at all. The kissing couple remain a devoted pair, though presumably they are now low-keying the PDA’s*.
*Blog-speak for “public displays of affection”
I just read a fascinating “behind-the-scenes” look at the government’s “No Fly” list by Associated Press writer Eileen Sullivan (it appeared on ABCNews.com) and learned a thing or two.
Did you know that retirement from terrorism or even death, can get you off the list, but – not necessarily?
The story points out that some “inactive members of the Irish Republican Army” have been dropped, but on occasion, officials allow the name of a dead man to stay on the list, so they can catch those who might try to assume his identity, thinking that death has made it safe to do so.
And did you know, some suspected bad guys on the “No Fly” list are allowed to fly? Such a decision it seems is not made lightly – but sometimes this is done so “agents [can] shadow suspected terrorists while they’re in the U.S.” These suspects may receive extra screening, are monitored on airport cameras and may have more federal air marshals moitoring them during the flight.
By the way, if you’re on the “No Fly” list for no good reason, go to the TSA website to fill out the form to get off.
Okay. Actress Raquel Welch’s black-satin bustier tripped the metal detector alarms at O’Hare the other day, and as a result, she had to undergo a pat-down search.
The bustier, it seems, was lined with little strips of metal.
In case you were wondering, the TSA officer who administered the pat-down was female and the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Ms. Welch reacted with good humor and patience.
“It was hilarious,” Welch’s publicist, Julie Nathanson, said today. “Every alarm in the hemisphere went off.” – Chicago Sun-Times, 3-9-10
The actress was in Chicago for an appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s show, where she publicized her new book titled, “Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.” Okay.
Two women at the airport in Manchester, England declined to undergo the full body scan – you know, the somewhat controversial security imaging machine – with the result that neither one was allowed to fly.
According to reports, one refused on religious grounds, the other “cited health grounds.”
In the U.S., you have the right to refuse the body scan – although if you do, you will be subjected to a full pat-down.
