The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has released a list of the worst/best/most crazy things caught by their airport agents, including a whooping 1200 loaded firearms. I picked my favourite top 10 because theirs is wrong. More »
The Department of Homeland Security in the US has spent billions since 9/11 trying to keep dangerous people and dangerous explosives off aeroplanes, and treating air travellers like potential terrorists in the process. But according to a former security adviser to a leading airline, the terrorists have changed the game — and the government hasn’t yet caught on. More »
Backscatter X-ray machines may or may not be carcinogenic. The European Union isn’t taking any chances, but the TSA is so confident in their safety that it likely won’t conduct the additional tests it promised the US Senate. More »
“Backscatter” X-ray machines, which bombard your body with radiation at the airport, are a subject of controversy in the US. Not in Europe, Mother Jones reports — the machines are now banned throughout the entire EU over cancer risks. Good. More »
The US Federal Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates medical technology, has long opposed large-scale X-ray machine deployment, arguing that people shouldn’t be irradiated without a direct medical benefit. So how did 250 X-ray “backscatter” scanners, which potentially increase cancer rates, land in American airports? Because the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) insists they’re safe. More »
Thomas Sawyer is already quite familiar with TSA patdowns, seeing as they already spilled urine on him last November. Once should be enough, right? Nope. The exact same thing happened again. What? For old time’s sake? More »
