The Incompetence Of The TSA Is Astounding

If there isn't enough problems at the airports or in the planes we fly, an idiotic TSA employee decided to add another kink in the system at Chicago's Midway Airport the other day. Now I've never had much faith in the people who don those "TSA" embroidered shirts, especially since I've had to pass through their checkpoints at many different airports. After hearing this story, they dropped another notch or two in my book.

From RawStory:

Negligence during TSA security checks on planes at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport caused at least forty commuter flights to be delayed after nine American Eagle planes were grounded, a source told ABC News.

A TSA agent, conducting a security check on a parked plane, reportedly used an air thermometer mounted on the plane's fuselage as leverage to climb on.

"The brilliant employees used an instrument located just below the cockpit window that is critical to the operation of the onboard computers," a pilot wrote on an Internet forum. "They decided this instrument, the TAT probe, would be adequate to use as a ladder."

"Our inspector was following routine procedure for securing the aircraft that were on the tarmac," TSA official Elio Montenegro said.

Not only did an untrained TSA 'official' damage a crucial piece of an airplane, one of their buddies covered up for them and claimed nothing was done wrong. Either Elio Montenegro is a liar or an incompetent prick that did not make himself aware of the situation that occurred. I'm sorry but when it comes to believability between a TSA inspector and an airplane pilot, I will almost always side with the pilot (perhaps it has something to do with their reputation).

Tasers On A Plane?

Snakes may have venom, but at least they are mere reptiles and not human beings that can press buttons to use a taser on a fellow man (or woman). Using tasers to fight terrorism seems like a silly idea unless you are making an arrest in a situation that involves direct conflict. Using tasers on an airplane to stop potential terrorists while in their seats is just plain insane.

From Wired:

A Canadian company called Lamperd Less Lethal is promoting the EMD Safety Bracelet. It's equipped with electro muscular disruption technology, which effectively short-circuits the central nervous system. Zap someone and they'll be completely immobile for several minutes.

The technology isn't new -- cops and security guards have been using it for years in tasers. What's new is the marketing approach. Lamperd is hawking the EMD bracelet as the ideal tool for fighting terrorists intent on taking over an airplane. [...]

Beyond preying on people's fears and insulting our intelligence, Lamperd is selling a product that's a horrible idea in the first place. Do you really want those bracelets on your flight? If hijackers get their hands the transmitter, they'll zap anyone standing in their way. Who's to say that in the chaos of an emergency a crew member will have time to identify the threat, activate the correct bracelet and fire the EMD pulse before the terrorist has control of the plane?

And then there's the possibility of random craziness. What if a flight attendant loses her cookies and zaps a passenger who wants to keep the whole can of CranApple juice? What about drunk passengers? Do you want the lush in 36D getting his hands on what is essentially a bracelet-mounted stun gun?

Flight attendants will and have thrown people off of planes for wearing t-shirts they don't like. How are we supposed to know that they won't use tasers on people that...gee, I don't know, are religious and pray?

If any, and I mean any airline gives this product more than a nanosecond of thought, then I am finished flying with a company that would jeopardize my safety in that way. It's bad enough that they jeopardize millions of passengers in others already.