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GORDON wrote:TSA wants to unionize, in spite of the fact it is against the law to do so.

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/24670

The TSA points out that even if an airport decides to use a private firm for security, the screeners still must follow TSA guidelines. That would include using enhanced pat-downs and the full-body scanners if they are installed at the airport.

"This year alone, the use of advanced imaging technology has led to the detection of over 130 prohibited, illegal or dangerous items," TSA spokesman Greg Soule told FoxNews.com. The TSA would not disclose exactly what those items were, but it said they included weapons like ceramic knives and various drugs -- including a syringe filled with heroine hidden in a passenger’s underwear.

Read more: ]http://www.foxnews.com/us....]

TheCatt wrote:...including a syringe filled with heroine hidden in a passenger’s underwear.

The TSA is testing new X-ray technology that will show a "stick figure" instead of a passenger's full-body image. Viewers on the other end of the X-ray would see anomalies -- anything from a suicide vest to a cell phone on a belt clip -- highlighted on the anatomically-ambiguous figure.

No images were available to illustrate what the new scan would look like.

The incoming leaders of the House Transportation Committee on Friday called the new airport pat-down procedures "overly intrusive" and demanded that the Transportation Security Administration restrict their use.

In a letter to the TSA, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., and Rep. Thomas Petri, R-Wis., who are set to assume leadership of aviation issues in Congress next year when Republicans take control, said only the highest risk passengers should be subjected to the more aggressive pat-downs.

It is the harshest reaction to date on the new searches from key leaders in Congress.

"The entire focus of TSA's efforts to improve aviation security needs to be revisited," Mica and Petri wrote in the letter. They accused TSA of reacting to old threats — in this case, the so-called "underwear bomber" who attempted to blow up a jet last Christmas — while failing to be "proactive."

Mica is expected to become chairman of the full Transportation Committee, and Petri is in line to lead the Aviation Subcommittee.

"Really now, who thinks the public will put up with the kind of behavior that would get you arrested if you weren't working for the government?" Petri said. "Do we really expect Grandma to go through this?"

And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?

"Molester, pervert, disgusting, an embarrassment, creep. These are all words I have heard today at work describing me, said in my presence as I patted passengers down. These comments are painful and demoralizing, one day is bad enough, but I have to come back tomorrow, the next day and the day after that to keep hearing these comments. If something doesn’t change in the next two weeks I don’t know how much longer I can withstand this taunting. I go home and I cry. I am serving my country, I should not have to go home and cry after a day of honorably serving my country."