Saturday, December 10, 2011

TSA Facing Death By a Thousand Cuts

"The Transportation Security Administration is getting a lot of negative attention, much of it from the U.S. government itself. A recent congressional report blasted the TSA for ◼ being incompetent and ineffective (PDF). A bill to force the TSA to reduce its screening of active duty U.S. military members and their families ◼ was approved unanimously by the House of Representatives. After a TSA employee was arrested for ◼ sexually assaulting a woman while in uniform, a bill has been introduced ◼ linkto prevent TSA agents from wearing police-style uniforms and badges or using the title 'officer.' The bill's sponsor calls these practices 'an insult to real cops.' The FBI is getting involved by changing its definition of rape in a way that ◼ might expose the TSA's 'enhanced pat-down' screeners to prosecution. Lastly, ◼ public support for the TSA's use of X-ray body scanners drops dramatically when people realize there is a cancer risk."

Post and discussion at Slashdot h/t: P