TSA agent arrested at LAX after declaring: 'I am God, I'm in charge'

[FrankRep]

TSA Agent Arrested at LAX (http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/TSA-Security-Agent-Arrested-at-LAX-80858482.html)


NBC Los Angeles
Jan 7, 2010


They are the first line of defense in airport security but two troubling incidents involving TSA agents at LAX are raising concerns.

A TSA agent was arrested on January 3rd in Terminal One at LAX, a source told NBCLA. He had just gotten off duty and was behaving erratically, saying, "I am god, I’m in charge." The agent was arrested.

Meanwhile, a TSA Internal Affairs investigation turned up evidence of LAX TSA agents using drugs at an after-hours party.

TSA officials say a videotape of the party was of poor quality and the employees were not in uniform, but 4 employees were tentatively identified.

All 4 were tested for drugs. One came back positive and that employee was fired.


SOURCE:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/TSA-Security-Agent-Arrested-at-LAX-80858482.html


Edit:

Not Safe for Work - NWS
Explicit Language

TSA Gangstaz
YouTube - TSA Gangstaz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7AWw7t5zj0)

[ItsTime]

Some people can not handle power. No matter how little power they have.

[squarepusher]

omfg

[MelissaWV]

Poor guy. Now he'll never be around long enough to see the ghost-pornography cross his screen every day.

(What the hell is this world coming to...)

[SelfTaught]

TSA Gangstaz
YouTube - TSA Gangstaz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7AWw7t5zj0)

Oh Mannnn..... I've seen this posted many times but I've never actually watched it until now. That's FUNNY. Hahaha. "I'll even confiscate your pussy if you make it too wet." Bwuhahahah. It would be pretty embarassing if they went through your dildos and things.

[RM918]

They didn't promote him?

[revolutionisnow]

Video is definitely NSFW

[LDA]

Hahaha, that's great.

[FrankRep]

Video is definitely NSFW

My fault, I forgot about the explicit language of the video. It fit just so perfect though.

[Chester Copperpot]

how come the TSA never catches any terrorists.. but theyre really good at harassing little old ladies

[InterestedParticipant]

Given that this is being publicized in the media (and not buried), it tells me that there is likely an agenda in-play here. While it is just a preliminary theory at this point, it's possible that they are seeking to discredit TSA workers in an effort to justify the installation of automated (non-human operated) security systems (or perhaps security systems that are networked and operated by some central command in some far away location).

As the security grid tightens, more and more of the sensors on the edges will have to become centrally controlled to prevent localized human control, preventing on-site breach of security protocols.

We'll have to wait and see how this plays-out. But I'd not be so quick to assume that this event and its promotion in the media are isolated and without design.

[FrankRep]

Given that this is being publicized in the media (and not buried)

So far only on local news. Not national news.

[InterestedParticipant]

So far only on local news. Not national news.
Geeze, it's a test... a pilot test to measure public reaction.

Also, notice how they aren't releasing information on the arrested TSA officer because they arrested him under a medical charge. There was a reason for that. What was it?

[ramallamamama]

Trial balloons-R-Us.

As manufactured 'news' pieces go the event has been wargamed thoroughly. Best my feeble mind can come up with is the med charge was to protect his identity (HIPPA laws, etc) or more darkly to set a precedent to bypass the judicial and retain people for psych reasons. Dont pass go, don't get 200 bucks, don't go to jail, go straight to the re-conditioning center.

[Keller1967]

They are the first line of defense in airport security but two troubling incidents involving TSA agents at LAX are raising concerns.


Guy sending you through nudity scanner = required by law.

Same guy has drugs in his piss while doing it = fired!

Thank you government for protecting me in all the right places, I don't know what I would have done if I had to fly through LAX and the guy with drugs in his piss was still working there. :rolleyes:

[Dieseler]

TSA Agent "My Boss has left me in charge of other personnel and I have a position of Power over all who enter my work space, therefore I am God."

Just another example of how people will follow orders right down the line as long as they feel they have someone else under their control.
It's Human nature.

[Deborah K]

I have to fly here pretty quick. I'm thinking about designing a bra and underwear with a led message for the screeners:

Bra: F U C K

Underwear: Y O U!!

[MelissaWV]

I have to fly here pretty quick. I'm thinking about designing a bra and underwear with a led message for the screeners:

Bra: F U C K

Underwear: Y O U!!

Ah yeah, I posted something similar in another thread... could be "F" "U" and "TSA" on the front... something nice on the back, too. They'd have to be boyshorts so there's room for a great graphic.

I want a lead-lined burqa. :(

[Deborah K]

Ah yeah, I posted something similar in another thread... could be "F" "U" and "TSA" on the front... something nice on the back, too. They'd have to be boyshorts so there's room for a great graphic.

I want a lead-lined burqa. :(

Didn't know the idea was already thought of. Great minds and all......

[LibertyEagle]

I have to fly here pretty quick. I'm thinking about designing a bra and underwear with a led message for the screeners:

Bra: F U C K

Underwear: Y O U!!

And another great idea brought to you by free enterprise. This could turn into a marketable concern, Deb. :)

[MelissaWV]

Can we get some 600 pound person to print the Constitution on their underwear in lead ink?

[Danke]

I have to fly here pretty quick. I'm thinking about designing a bra and underwear with a led message for the screeners:

Bra: F U C K

Underwear: Y O U!!



Ah yeah, I posted something similar in another thread... could be "F" "U" and "TSA" on the front... something nice on the back, too. They'd have to be boyshorts so there's room for a great graphic.

I want a lead-lined burqa. :(

Terrorists!

[MelissaWV]

And now we caused bra ads to appear on the page.

You're welcome!

[Deborah K]

And another great idea brought to you by free enterprise. This could turn into a marketable concern, Deb. :)

hehe maybe. http://i45.tinypic.com/34q63qt.jpg

I wonder what would happen if I did that? Maybe I could alert some in the media that I was going to do it and then have my husband record the whole thing. I wonder what kind of trouble I'd get in....

[Keller1967]

You're welcome!

Seriously? lawl :rolleyes:

OMG BRA ADDZ CAN I HAZ SEXXY???

[catdd]

uh oh, now we have to put God on the domestic terrorist list.

[InterestedParticipant]

Given that this is being publicized in the media (and not buried), it tells me that there is likely an agenda in-play here. While it is just a preliminary theory at this point, it's possible that they are seeking to discredit TSA workers in an effort to justify the installation of automated (non-human operated) security systems (or perhaps security systems that are networked and operated by some central command in some far away location).

As the security grid tightens, more and more of the sensors on the edges will have to become centrally controlled to prevent localized human control, preventing on-site breach of security protocols.

We'll have to wait and see how this plays-out. But I'd not be so quick to assume that this event and its promotion in the media are isolated and without design.
Always fascinating to see the reactions here when someone moves into territory that is not supposed to be discussed. In this case, after being pretty much ignored, the thread quickly devolved into a weird sort of sex-security-terrorism-Constitutional discussion. Whatever it takes to derail the opportunity of widespread insight, I guess.

[Deborah K]

Always fascinating to see the reactions here when someone moves into territory that is not supposed to be discussed. In this case, after being pretty much ignored, the thread quickly devolved into a weird sort of sex-security-terrorism-Constitutional discussion. Whatever it takes to derail the opportunity of widespread insight, I guess.

What's wrong with my idea? What do you think would happen to me if I tried it?

[MelissaWV]

Always fascinating to see the reactions here when someone moves into territory that is not supposed to be discussed. In this case, after being pretty much ignored, the thread quickly devolved into a weird sort of sex-security-terrorism-Constitutional discussion. Whatever it takes to derail the opportunity of widespread insight, I guess.

Actually, the very fact you're associating nudity (involuntary nudity, at that) with sex... is just one reason I don't feel comfortable going through the body scans the TSA wants put in place. I also toyed with the notion of relatively small text in leaded ink with a message along the lines of "if you're reading this, you're looking in the wrong place for weapons."

I don't get why you assume the thread was ignored. Could it be, instead, that there have been myriad TSA-security-freedoms threads lately, and people are half tapped-out on their ideas about that subject? Even today, there are a couple of other security-related stories out there.

It's interesting that the headline reads the way it does, but the story also mentions firings based upon a blurry video that led to drug tests on those people who SEEMED like they fit the description of the people who SEEMED to be doing drugs in the video. There are a few stories along those lines lately, too; people who seem like they might be on drugs, get tested, then pay the consequences, even though they were not doing anything they could have been fired/arrested for *before* the drug test confirmed they were on drugs.

The automation aspect is unavoidable, as far as security. It will never fully take the place of the TSA agents, because they're still needed for secondary wanding and spot checks of baggage. Nothing will make undergoing a full body scan over and over and over and over again any safer, and nothing will make undergoing a full body scan the least bit relevant to stopping a determined terrorist. If the scans are somehow put into place, or their cousin the "bomb-detecting machine" that tests for chemical residue, all across the USA... then a lot of people simply will not fly. They won't even have to care about civil liberties; it'll just be too expensive, too cumbersome, and too slow to get from point A to point B.

[InterestedParticipant]

What's wrong with my idea? What do you think would happen to me if I tried it?
It's no different than engraving shackles.

Now, does this thread really going to turn to this type of discussion, where the focus is how to make enslavement look pretty, become funny, or make a statement? Or, do you wish to discuss how the system works to create that enslavement in the first place?

As I see it, we have the following options:

1. Cognitive Dissonance, where we shut out exploration of possible truths because it is too painful
2. Deliberate Deception.
3. Pursuit of Truth, no matter what the obstacles are.
4. Total Ignorance & Isolation

Where do you wanna "bee"?

[Deborah K]

It's no different than engraving shackles.

Now, does this thread really going to turn to this type of discussion, where the focus is how to make enslavement look pretty, become funny, or make a statement? Or, do you wish to discuss how the system works to create that enslavement in the first place?

As I see it, we have the following options:

1. Cognitive Dissonance, where we shut out exploration of possible truths because it is too painful
2. Deliberate Deception.
3. Pursuit of Truth, no matter what the obstacles are.
4. Total Ignorance & Isolation

Where do you wanna "bee"?

It most definitely IS different than engraving shackles. What if I do it, call my media buds, and get hubby to record it and tube it. And what if they detain me for it, question me and then arrest me for some trumped up reason? You think it wouldn't make the news? You think it wouldn't spur an outrage or encourage other women to do the same thing? You think the ACLU wouldn't love this?

The next thing you know IP is going to accuse me of being controlled opposition

[tpreitzel]

The old, tireless, and wrong assumption that power comes without RESPONSIBILITY.

[InterestedParticipant]

It most definitely IS different than engraving shackles. What if I do it, call my media buds, and get hubby to record it and tube it. And what if they detain me for it, question me and then arrest me for some trumped up reason? You think it wouldn't make the news? You think it wouldn't spur an outrage or encourage other women to do the same thing? You think the ACLU wouldn't love this?

The next thing you know IP is going to accuse me of being controlled opposition
If you do that, you are falling in to their trap, and your incident, if in fact it is publicized, will be used as further justification to centralize security (or automate it altogether) so that such "irresponsible" behavior does not occur. This is why it is so critical to understand their goals and techniques, and analyze what impact a given action may have on those goals. In this case, the publicity you seek only strengthens their case in support of their goals.

So, back to the TSA agent going-off and declaring that they are the supreme power. Why was this event covered in the media, when it could have easily been buried? As I've stated earlier in the thread, I see this as part of a larger suite of TSA oddities and screwups that are going to be publicized and ultimately leveraged to justify a move AWAY from locally & human run security checkpoints. Pressure will mount to increase security and migrate its oversight to centrally controlled "professional" operations. This centralization of checkpoint oversight will result in tighter controls with far less flexibility and opportunity to breach security protocols.

I believe someone posted here recently a thread showing someone breaching security as a east coast airport. I am suggesting that we will see more of this, and that there is an agenda behind this publicity.

[ramallamamama]

Great analysis IP. Thanks.

[ramallamamama]

YouTube - HAPPY NEW UNDERWEAR TERROR (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRHoXa4LWxk&feature=player_embedded#)

[0zzy]

Given that this is being publicized in the media (and not buried), it tells me that there is likely an agenda in-play here. While it is just a preliminary theory at this point, it's possible that they are seeking to discredit TSA workers in an effort to justify the installation of automated (non-human operated) security systems (or perhaps security systems that are networked and operated by some central command in some far away location).

As the security grid tightens, more and more of the sensors on the edges will have to become centrally controlled to prevent localized human control, preventing on-site breach of security protocols.

We'll have to wait and see how this plays-out. But I'd not be so quick to assume that this event and its promotion in the media are isolated and without design.

you think too much. not everything is a conspiracy.

[Dieseler]

Sounds like he's thinking pretty good to me.
All this airport security is really bullshit anyway when you consider the security at these big ball games.
If they were really so concerned they would be freaking out on more than just air travel.

[Dieseler]

Just wait till they start syncing all of this new surveillance technology together.
You won't be able to take a shit in private.

[Dieseler]

Oh... You think they can't see you through your roof and walls right now if they want to?

[InterestedParticipant]

duplicate

[InterestedParticipant]

Sounds like he's thinking pretty good to me.
All this airport security is really bullshit anyway when you consider the security at these big ball games.
If they were really so concerned they would be freaking out on more than just air travel.
The difference is they want us to go to ballgames, as that is an important part of the Simulacrum. On the other hand, they are attempting to shut down all airtravel for the public. Restricting travel is a big part of societal control.


you think too much. not everything is a conspiracy.
Please explain how "thinking too much" has a negative connotation?

Well, we'll just see where this storyline is headed, won't we. So far, I can't find any reasons to disprove this hypothesis. In fact, just look at where they want to take us .... do you really think there is not connection between the stories of TSA incompetence and these new measures? What they are doing is manufacturing dialectics, and it is older than Socrates.


Mind-reading systems could change air security
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100108/ap_on_re_us/us_airport_security_the_future

By MICHAEL TARM, Associated Press Writer Michael Tarm, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 8, 6:22 am ET

CHICAGO – A would-be terrorist tries to board a plane, bent on mass murder. As he walks through a security checkpoint, fidgeting and glancing around, a network of high-tech machines analyzes his body language and reads his mind.

Screeners pull him aside.

Tragedy is averted.

As far-fetched as that sounds, systems that aim to get inside an evildoer's head are among the proposals floated by security experts thinking beyond the X-ray machines and metal detectors used on millions of passengers and bags each year.

On Thursday, in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit, President Barack Obama called on Homeland Security and the Energy Department to develop better screening technology, warning: "In the never-ending race to protect our country, we have to stay one step ahead of a nimble adversary."

The ideas that have been offered by security experts for staying one step ahead include highly sophisticated sensors, more intensive interrogations of travelers by screeners trained in human behavior, and a lifting of the U.S. prohibitions against profiling.

Some of the more unusual ideas are already being tested. Some aren't being given any serious consideration. Many raise troubling questions about civil liberties. All are costly.

"Regulators need to accept that the current approach is outdated," said Philip Baum, editor of the London-based magazine Aviation Security International. "It may have responded to the threats of the 1960s, but it doesn't respond to the threats of the 21st century."

Here's a look at some of the ideas that could shape the future of airline security:

___

MIND READERS

The aim of one company that blends high technology and behavioral psychology is hinted at in its name, WeCU — as in "We See You."

The system that Israeli-based WeCU Technologies has devised and is testing in Israel projects images onto airport screens, such as symbols associated with a certain terrorist group or some other image only a would-be terrorist would recognize, said company CEO Ehud Givon.

The logic is that people can't help reacting, even if only subtly, to familiar images that suddenly appear in unfamiliar places. If you strolled through an airport and saw a picture of your mother, Givon explained, you couldn't help but respond.

The reaction could be a darting of the eyes, an increased heartbeat, a nervous twitch or faster breathing, he said.

The WeCU system would use humans to do some of the observing but would rely mostly on hidden cameras or sensors that can detect a slight rise in body temperature and heart rate. Far more sensitive devices under development that can take such measurements from a distance would be incorporated later.

If the sensors picked up a suspicious reaction, the traveler could be pulled out of line for further screening.

"One by one, you can screen out from the flow of people those with specific malicious intent," Givon said.

Some critics have expressed horror at the approach, calling it Orwellian and akin to "brain fingerprinting."

For civil libertarians, attempting to read a person's thoughts comes uncomfortably close to the future world depicted in the movie "Minority Report," where a policeman played by Tom Cruise targets people for "pre-crimes," or merely thinking about breaking the law.

___

LIE DETECTORS

One system being studied by Homeland Security is called the Future Attribute Screening Technology, or FAST, and works like a souped-up polygraph.

It would subject people pulled aside for additional screening to a battery of tests, including scans of facial movements and pupil dilation, for signs of deception. Small platforms similar to the balancing boards used in the Nintendo Wii would help detect fidgeting.

At a public demonstration of the system in Boston last year, project manager Robert Burns explained that people who harbor ill will display involuntary physiological reactions that others — such as those who are stressed out for ordinary reasons, such as being late for a plane — don't.

The system could be made to work passively, scanning people as they walk through a security line, according to Burns.

Field testing of the system, which will cost around $20 million to develop, could begin in 2011, The Boston Globe said in a story about the demonstration. Addressing one concern of civil libertarians, Burns said the technology would delete data after each screening.

___

THE ISRAELI MODEL

Some say the U.S. should take a page from Israel's book on security.

At Israeli airports, widely considered the most secure in the world, travelers are subjected to probing personal questions as screeners look them straight in the eye for signs of deception. Searches are meticulous, with screeners often scrutinizing every item in a bag, unfolding socks, squeezing toothpaste and flipping through books.

"All must look to Israel and learn from them. This is not a post-911 thing for them. They've been doing this since 1956," said Michael Goldberg, president of New York-based IDO Security Inc., which developed a device that can scan shoes while they are still on people's feet.

Israel also employs profiling: At Ben-Gurion Airport, Jewish Israelis typically pass through smoothly, while others may be taken aside for closer interrogation or even strip searches. Another distinquishing feature of Israeli airports is that they rely on concentric security rings that start miles from terminal buildings.

Rafi Ron, the former security director at Israel's famously tight Ben Gurion International Airport who now is a consultant for Boston's Logan International Airport, says U.S. airports also need to be careful not to overcommit to securing passenger entry points at airports, forgetting about the rest of the field.

"Don't invest all your efforts on the front door and leave the back door open," said Ron.

While many experts agree the United States could adopt some Israeli methods, few believe the overall model would work here, in part because of the sheer number of U.S. airports — more than 400, versus half a dozen in Israel.

Also, the painstaking searches and interrogations would create delays that could bring U.S. air traffic to a standstill. And many Americans would find the often intrusive and intimidating Israeli approach repugnant.

___

PROFILING

Some argue that policies against profiling undermine security.

Baum, who is also managing director of Green Light Limited, a London-based aviation security company, agrees profiling based on race and religion is counterproductive and should be avoided. But he argues that a reluctance to distinguish travelers on other grounds — such as their general appearance or their mannerisms — is not only foolhardy but dangerous.

"When you see a typical family — dressed like a family, acts like a family, interacts with each other like a family ... when their passport details match — then let's get them through," he said. "Stop wasting time that would be much better spent screening the people that we've get more concerns about."

U.S. authorities prohibit profiling of passengers based on ethnicity, religion or national origin. Current procedures call for travelers to be randomly pulled out of line for further screening.

Scrutinizing 80-year-old grandmothers or students because they might be carrying school scissors can defy common sense, Baum said.

"We need to use the human brain — which is the best technology of them all," he said.

But any move to relax prohibitions against profiling in the U.S. would surely trigger fierce resistance, including legal challenges by privacy advocates.

___

PRIVATIZATION

What if security were left to somebody other than the federal government?

Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Washington-based Cato Institute, a free-market-oriented think tank, says airlines should be allowed take charge of security at airports.

Especially since 9/11, the trend has been toward standardizing security procedures to ensure all airports follow the best practices. But Harper argues that decentralizing the responsibility would result in a mix of approaches — thereby making it harder for terrorists to use a single template in planning attacks.

"Passengers, too, prefer a uniform experience," he said. "But that's not necessarily the best security. It's better if sometimes we take your laptop out, sometimes we'll pat you down. Those are things that will really drive a terrorist batty — as if they're not batty already."

Harper concedes that privatizing airport security is probably wishful thinking, and the idea has not gotten any traction. He acknowledges it would be difficult to allay fears of gaping security holes if it were left to each airline or airport owner to decide its own approach.

___

AP writers Glen Johnson in Boston and Josef Federman in Jerusalem also contributed to this report.

[Keller1967]

^

fuck

Not that I expect a mind reader would work perfectly, if all, but they could just as easy put some random circuit boards in a box and fake that it works. They have that much control.

fuck

[InterestedParticipant]

^

fuck

Not that I expect a mind reader would work perfectly, if all, but they could just as easy put some random circuit boards in a box and fake that it works. They have that much control.

fuck
Well, all that has to happen is for the public to believe that it works. It's no different than belief in Global Warming, belief in Obama, belief that the markets are free, belief that we live in a Democracy, belief that Electronic Voting Machines work, belief in the fact that this shift to a Brave New World is NOT a planned and coordinated effort.

[torchbearer]

^

fuck

Not that I expect a mind reader would work perfectly, if all, but they could just as easy put some random circuit boards in a box and fake that it works. They have that much control.

fuck

that is what a lie detector is-
its like the drug sniffing dogs for cops. it will only be an excuse of probable cause to do whatever to whoever whenever they want.

[MelissaWV]

Bah. Just read the mind-read article. It says that some of the methods will detect "ill will." Well, if I'm in a room off to the side being interrogated, especially if it feels like it might be based on my having bought a one-way ticket, or having gotten a particularly deep tan... I'm going to have ill will. I'm going to shift in my seat, too, because my foot tends to fall asleep from time to time, and because I have health issues that I'd probably be thinking about (how long am I going to be here? I don't suppose they'd let me take my meds now?).

Flashing up random images at an airport? Really? So you're hoping that you happen to flash up the right symbol for the right terrorist going through a particular area at a particular time? Isn't that akin to hitting the lottery? Why not just use blind bombers, then? Hide the bomb in their BrailleNote; no one knows what one looks like anyhow.

It's all idiotic, and none of it is going to really do anything to make us safer.

[Dieseler]

It's not really about making anyone safer.
It's about Control.

[MelissaWV]

It's not really about making anyone safer.
It's about Control.

Oh, I understand that, but the ignorant masses have accepted all manner of stuff under the guise of safety. I don't think it will work this time. The idea of some flunkie looking through your mom's clothes in a little room off to the side... that doesn't sit well.

[Dieseler]

Oh, I understand that, but the ignorant masses have accepted all manner of stuff under the guise of safety. I don't think it will work this time. The idea of some flunkie looking through your mom's clothes in a little room off to the side... that doesn't sit well.

Well according to their private public surveys and due to past experience I can only assume they think you are wrong.
They see the pipe as leaning their way (your direction) and scotched fairly well so I think you can expect them to continue feeding their end of it without much concern for very much running back on them.
So a nice lady don't like the thingy and pitches a fit?
They still have the tazers and it's just a fact that everyone minds their own business right?
Nobody wants any trouble.
Keep your head out of the pipe... There's another steaming load coming down any time now.

[InterestedParticipant]

Bah. Just read the mind-read article. It says that some of the methods will detect "ill will." Well, if I'm in a room off to the side being interrogated, especially if it feels like it might be based on my having bought a one-way ticket, or having gotten a particularly deep tan... I'm going to have ill will. I'm going to shift in my seat, too, because my foot tends to fall asleep from time to time, and because I have health issues that I'd probably be thinking about (how long am I going to be here? I don't suppose they'd let me take my meds now?).

Flashing up random images at an airport? Really? So you're hoping that you happen to flash up the right symbol for the right terrorist going through a particular area at a particular time? Isn't that akin to hitting the lottery? Why not just use blind bombers, then? Hide the bomb in their BrailleNote; no one knows what one looks like anyhow.

It's all idiotic, and none of it is going to really do anything to make us safer.
That's because these system real intent is to degrade the public and intensify their submissiveness. Again, as long as the masses-at-large continue to believe the system, then these above objectives will be realized. It's the belief in the Simulacrum that is the key... the tipping point for whether their controls are effective or not.