"Homeland Security" in Iowa

So we took my 26 year old, blonde, blue-eyed, 6' 4" nephew back to the Cedar
Rapids airport last night, to catch his red-eye flight back to Seattle. He
was as sick as a dog (flu?) and weak as a kitten, but go he must, so off he
went...

The "Eastern Iowa Airport" is a pretty sleepy place on a Sunday night --
even the airport bar was closed (gasp!) -- and there were MAYBE 50 people in
the entire airport terminal, including employees. Since we were no longer
allowed to go to the gate with him, we said our goodbyes at the entrance to
the security checkpoint.

This area was staffed by TEN (10!) uniformed TSA guys, waiting to pounce on
the terrorists who were (no doubt) thronging into the heartland. My nephew
strolled through the X-ray machine, passed uneventfully, and then put his
single carry-on bag (a back-pack) on the conveyor...

....from our distance it was obvious that the TSA guys were suddenly tense,
and -- although we were beyond earshot -- it was easy to see that SOMETHING
was wrong. My nephew, weak with flu, stood staring numbly at the people who
had suddenly gathered around him. He was obviously confused.

Soon he was taken to the side. Within 30 seconds two uniformed police
officers strode purposefully past us, coming from another part of the
airport but obviously on their way to see my nephew. The other officers
were holding something that we couldn't quite see, and were speaking quite
seriously to him, all the while keeping him surrounded by a minimum of four
TSA guards.

After 10 minutes of this, they took him into an area we could not see. With
visions of rubber hoses and bright lights, we paced back and forth, unable
to do ANYTHING to help.

What could it be? He certainly fit the terrorist "threat profile" -- for
the "Swedish Liberation Army", perhaps. Since, to our knowledge, Sweden
had not been named an "Axis of Evil" country, we couldn't fathom what had
triggered this response.

After an interminable five minutes he emerged and gave us a weary wave as he
headed off to his gate. Of course we were unable to find out what had gone
wrong, or why he had been detained -- the TSA folks simply would not tell
us, and my nephew had no cell phone.

We drove home wondering what the hell my nephew could have done?

Today my sister called, to drop the other shoe. Turns out my OTHER sister
(his aunt) had given my poor nephew a wrapped Xmas present, to give to his
Dad. Inside this present was a "Leatherman Multi-tool" -- obviously
something that could be used as a weapon! My poor nephew had NO idea what
was in this wrapped gift, and my sister had assumed that he would carry the
present in his "checked" baggage -- not in his "carry-on" baggage. Because
he didn't know if it was breakable, he had opted to carry the present where
it could not be broken.

So, he is now on a permanent list of "potential terrorist threats", is being
threatened with a $50.00 fine, was put through an awful situation over which
he had no control or knowledge, and my sister feels thoroughly awful. He
barely made his flight, and (of course) his Dad didn't receive his Xmas
present, since the TSA confiscated it.

And the final irony of the whole story: the "Leatherman" tool, as with so
many things these days, was sealed in one of those plastic containers that
(you guessed it!) requires a knife or scissors to open...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Has your baggage been in your control the entire time?"
"Has anyone asked you to carry anything in your baggage for them?"

I fly on business constantly, and forgot about a swiss army knife deep
in the bowels of my carry-on. By the time they had finished X-raying
that bag, I swear it glowed in the dark. Some TSA emplyoyee is now the
proud owner of my knife, but mea culpa for having it!

Jay Honeck wrote:
So we took my 26 year old, blonde, blue-eyed, 6' 4" nephew back to the Cedar
Rapids airport last night, to catch his red-eye flight back to Seattle. He
was as sick as a dog (flu?) and weak as a kitten, but go he must, so off he
went...

The "Eastern Iowa Airport" is a pretty sleepy place on a Sunday night --
even the airport bar was closed (gasp!) -- and there were MAYBE 50 people in
the entire airport terminal, including employees. Since we were no longer
allowed to go to the gate with him, we said our goodbyes at the entrance to
the security checkpoint.

This area was staffed by TEN (10!) uniformed TSA guys, waiting to pounce on
the terrorists who were (no doubt) thronging into the heartland. My nephew
strolled through the X-ray machine, passed uneventfully, and then put his
single carry-on bag (a back-pack) on the conveyor...

...from our distance it was obvious that the TSA guys were suddenly tense,
and -- although we were beyond earshot -- it was easy to see that SOMETHING
was wrong. My nephew, weak with flu, stood staring numbly at the people who
had suddenly gathered around him. He was obviously confused.

Soon he was taken to the side. Within 30 seconds two uniformed police
officers strode purposefully past us, coming from another part of the
airport but obviously on their way to see my nephew. The other officers
were holding something that we couldn't quite see, and were speaking quite
seriously to him, all the while keeping him surrounded by a minimum of four
TSA guards.

After 10 minutes of this, they took him into an area we could not see. With
visions of rubber hoses and bright lights, we paced back and forth, unable
to do ANYTHING to help.

What could it be? He certainly fit the terrorist "threat profile" -- for
the "Swedish Liberation Army", perhaps. Since, to our knowledge, Sweden
had not been named an "Axis of Evil" country, we couldn't fathom what had
triggered this response.

After an interminable five minutes he emerged and gave us a weary wave as he
headed off to his gate. Of course we were unable to find out what had gone
wrong, or why he had been detained -- the TSA folks simply would not tell
us, and my nephew had no cell phone.

We drove home wondering what the hell my nephew could have done?

Today my sister called, to drop the other shoe. Turns out my OTHER sister
(his aunt) had given my poor nephew a wrapped Xmas present, to give to his
Dad. Inside this present was a "Leatherman Multi-tool" -- obviously
something that could be used as a weapon! My poor nephew had NO idea what
was in this wrapped gift, and my sister had assumed that he would carry the
present in his "checked" baggage -- not in his "carry-on" baggage. Because
he didn't know if it was breakable, he had opted to carry the present where
it could not be broken.

So, he is now on a permanent list of "potential terrorist threats", is being
threatened with a $50.00 fine, was put through an awful situation over which
he had no control or knowledge, and my sister feels thoroughly awful. He
barely made his flight, and (of course) his Dad didn't receive his Xmas
present, since the TSA confiscated it.

And the final irony of the whole story: the "Leatherman" tool, as with so
many things these days, was sealed in one of those plastic containers that
(you guessed it!) requires a knife or scissors to open...

Some TSA emplyoyee is now the
proud owner of my knife, but mea culpa for having it!


It's a sad day when we so easily assume the blame for not following idiotic
rules set up by bureaucrats who are working against us in the guise of secuity.

It's not your fault for having it.

It's the administration's fault for not allowing it.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

It's not your fault for having it.

It's the administration's fault for not allowing it.

Ever hear the saying "ignorance of the law is no excuse"?

http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=177

Partial quote: "Prohibited items are weapons, explosives, incendiaries, and
include items that are seemingly harmless but may be used as weapons - the
so-called "dual use" items. You may not bring these items to security
checkpoints without authorization....

If you bring a prohibited item to the checkpoint you may be criminally and/or
civilly prosecuted or at the least asked to rid yourself of the item. A
screener and/or Law Enforcement Officer will make this determination depending
on what the item is and the circumstances. This is because bringing a
prohibited item to a security checkpoint - even accidentally - is illegal.

(tough love, baby...and though I'm with those who say he administration's
running roughshod over civil rights, there's been enough publicity that anybody
going to fly commercial could find their way to the site and peruse the
prohibited items. It's actually amazing what you CAN carry, in checked luggage)

It's not your fault for having it.

It's the administration's fault for not allowing it.

Ever hear the saying "ignorance of the law is no excuse"?


You miss the point (and the fact that you miss the point illustrates my point -
we are all sheep now)

What I am saying is that the law is bad, not that not knowing the law is ok.
IF they passed a law making people dance the watusi before boarding, would you
be in favor of jailing the bad dancers? (after all, they had notice, they
could have taken dancing lessons)

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

In article , StellaStar
wrote:

Partial quote: "Prohibited items are weapons, explosives, incendiaries, and
include items that are seemingly harmless but may be used as weapons - the
so-called "dual use" items. You may not bring these items to security
checkpoints without authorization....

Interesting...
There was a television spy-type program on two or three years ago.
The one line that I will always remember the main character say is,
"Everything is a weapon, you just have to know how to use it."

"EDR" wrote in message
...
In article , StellaStar
wrote:

Partial quote: "Prohibited items are weapons, explosives, incendiaries,
and
include items that are seemingly harmless but may be used as weapons -
the
so-called "dual use" items. You may not bring these items to security
checkpoints without authorization....

Interesting...
There was a television spy-type program on two or three years ago.
The one line that I will always remember the main character say is,
"Everything is a weapon, you just have to know how to use it."

"MacGyver" would be terror threat #1 then. Of course he is the ultimate nice
guy.

StellaStar opined

It's not your fault for having it.

It's the administration's fault for not allowing it.

Ever hear the saying "ignorance of the law is no excuse"?

http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=177

Partial quote: "Prohibited items are weapons, explosives, incendiaries, and
include items that are seemingly harmless but may be used as weapons - the
so-called "dual use" items. You may not bring these items to security
checkpoints without authorization....

I watched my mother go through security with six cocktail glasses. Why they
let her onthe airplane with six potential weapons is beyond me.

If you bring a prohibited item to the checkpoint you may be criminally and/or
civilly prosecuted or at the least asked to rid yourself of the item. A
screener and/or Law Enforcement Officer will make this determination
depending on what the item is and the circumstances. This is because bringing
a prohibited item to a security checkpoint - even accidentally - is illegal.

(tough love, baby...and though I'm with those who say he administration's
running roughshod over civil rights, there's been enough publicity that
anybody going to fly commercial could find their way to the site and peruse
the prohibited items. It's actually amazing what you CAN carry, in checked
luggage)



-ash
for assistance dial MYCROFTXXX

(StellaStar) wrote:

Ever hear the saying "ignorance of the law is no excuse"?

http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=177

Partial quote: "Prohibited items are weapons, explosives, incendiaries, and
include items that are seemingly harmless but may be used as weapons - the
so-called "dual use" items. You may not bring these items to security
checkpoints without authorization....

If you bring a prohibited item to the checkpoint you may be criminally and/or
civilly prosecuted or at the least asked to rid yourself of the item. A
screener and/or Law Enforcement Officer will make this determination depending
on what the item is and the circumstances. This is because bringing a
prohibited item to a security checkpoint - even accidentally - is illegal.

While a Leatherman may be pretty obvious, some things seem pretty
arbitrary. At work we are required to use security cables for our
laptops. We have been warned to pack them in checked luggage as a
number of people have had them confiscated from carry on. Apparently
the justification was that they could be used to strangle someone. For
some reason power cables, and indeed shoelaces and belts are OK though
:-)

And what's wrong with taking the object in question and mailing it
from the airport? TSA doesn't like it? Fine. Take your bags and the
object over to another counter or perhaps the gift shop, get a
mailing box and send it home. I was under the impression that
the objects were confiscated only if you agreed to allow it in order
to continue to the aircraft.

As far as I'm concerned, it's theft by the US Government if there
is no way to return the object to the owner at a later time.