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The TSA is something that shouldn’t exist in its current form. They very often fail their audit checks and normalize invading your privacy to an extreme degree like body scanners and pat downs. If water bottles are considered potentially explosive then why dump them on a bin next to a line of people where they can go off? This is low grade security theater that inconveniences passengers at best.
It’s security theater through and through.
Apart from the obvious failings of these checks, think about what kind of damage a single backpack of explosives can do to a packed airport during holiday season. You can literally put a ton of explosives on one of those trolleys, roll it into the waiting area and kill 200 people easily. No security whatsoever involved.
Reality is, most security measures are designed to keep the illusion of control. Nothing more. Penetration testers show again and again that you can easily circumvent practically all barriers or measures.
The goal is not to stop the people in the queue being attacked, its to stop someone boarding a plane with the means to hijack it
They fail gloriously at at that too.
Whenever they get tested the red teams manage to smuggle in everything needed to hijiack a plane plus a kitchen sink.
The few times that terrorists tried to board planes, they made it through security and were caught by other passengers.
That’s what’s changed. Before, a hijacking meant a free trip to south America or Cuba. Now it means you’re likely to die if you don’t stop the hijackers. A planeful of pissed off passengers determined to live are gonna stop a would-be hijacker.
Plus the cockpit doors lock. Which can turn out to be a double-edged sword if the pilot has a breakdown and decides he wants to take everyone else with him.
Rigidly hierarchical control structures always carry the implicit assumption that those at the top are the good guys. (That is if they’re being sold as a way to ensure good)
The common trope about “if you don’t have anything to hide why have privacy?” is overturned by challenging that assumption. Sometimes the guys doing the surveillance turn bad and then it’s a worse situation than if there wasn’t total surveillance.
Not if he has a bomb though
The Shoe Bomber and the Underwear Bomber don’t count? :)
True, although those seemed like pretty seriously incompetent attempts
Yeah, and you don’t need the TSA for that. Just do as they already do: lock the cockpit.
Little known fact: many of the pilots behind those locked doors are armed as well.
The Flight Deck Officer program allows pilots to volunteer to become deputized Air Marshals. They receive training and are issued a badge and a gun.
Good guy with a gun, we’re not mentally ill at all !
Police officers are mentally ill? Interesting take.
Also, we’re talking about pilots that you are already trusting with you’re life and the lives of hundreds of people with you. If they were mentally ill they could just crash the plane and kill you.
These guys are genuinely invested in maintaining the safety of human lives.
They should continue focusing on that instead of gun politics and their farcical contrived scenarios to have guns on a civil plane.
So police officers are mentally ill? Interesting take.
Yes, they think they’re the good guys.
Well, conceivably those in the cockpit could be manipulated through other threats. Either threats to crash the plane, or threats to hurt the people in the back.
Part of their training includes risk assessment that teaches them to sacrifice individuals if it is in favor of maintaining control of the plane.
They flat out train them to shoot through a hostage someone is holding. That one person’s life isn’t worth sacrificing the lives of hundreds of others on board as well is casualties on the ground.
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Nah, you literally just ground the plane whenever someone does something that rises to that level. Any threat someone could bring on a plane that could take it down is easily found by a bomb dog.
They had to do something about the plague of people hijacking planes with bottles of water.
IIRC water happens to appear similarly to a lot of explosives on the metric they use for what the composition of items in the scanner is.
Improvements are being made though so soon we may be allowed to take water through unrestricted:
Why Airport Security Suddenly Got Better (13:01) https://youtu.be/nyG8XAmtYeQ?si=RTjA8GRuZaMIJs9d
I’ll drown him! I swear to god I’ll drown him!
Ah yes, it’s okay if we die, just don’t take the corporate infrastructure with you when you go…
It’s basically the only type of jobs program that both sides of our broken government can agree on: petty nonsense that looks like it might do something useful, but really doesn’t, and only inconveniences the poors.
Ouch, owie, my democracy
The main reason that rule still exists is to sell overpriced water. Otherwise they could just ask you to drink some of it to prove it’s water.
you are allowed to take empty bottles with you, just saying
Some airports have no place to refill and have only hot water in the toilet sinks. It’s inhumane.
Which airport? I have never ever experienced this.
I can’t remember which one it was. Maybe Munich?
Munich has refilling stations after security
I don’t remember, and it was some time ago. Lately some airports have indeed been installing water refilling stations which is great.
Yeah … in their hot water toilet sinks. Gross!
Boise eh?
This happened to me after a lunch break going back into the court room for jury duty. Didn’t think about my soda until I got to the checkpoint, used to the TSA’s mentality so figured the rest of it was forfeit. She just tells me to take a drink to show it’s valid. Respect for people doing their job correctly, and using common sense.
According to the story I heard as to the origin of the “no liquids over X amount” rule, years ago there was a terrorist that tried to smuggle hydrogen peroxide and acetone - which can be used to rather easily synthesize triacetone triperoxide (TATP, a highly sensitive explosive) - onto a plane in plastic toiletry bottles. They got caught and foiled somehow, and then the TSA started restricting liquids on planes. This was in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, if I recall correctly.
And I happen to know, from a reliable source, of someone who accidentally made TATP in a rotary evaporator in an academic lab. So it seems plausible.
Not that the rule is actually effective prevention against similar attacks, nor that the TSA even knows what the reason is behind what they do at this point, haha. I just thought it was an interesting story.
hydrogen peroxide and acetone
So there are worse cleaning chemicals to mix than bleach and vinegar
Requires an acid catalyst for the reaction to actually proceed, but yeah, could definitely ruin your day - although a lungful of chlorine gas is nothing to sneeze at either.
I believe you’re mixing up acetone with acetic acid
No, acetone and peroxide, and generally a small amount of HCl as a catalyst. Makes triacetone triperoxide (TATP). It’s a primary explosive, but far too sensitive for real legitimate work. It’s primarily used by terrorist organizations because it’s easy to acquire the material and easy to make. The infamous shoe bomber had TATP in the soles of his shoes, fortunately the TATP wasn’t completely dry and that’s why he had trouble getting it to go off.
Dry ? How is anyone going to dry this much liquid to make an actually dangerous amount of explosive while on a plane and not getting detected ?
Sounds highly implausible
In flight, yeah totally impractical and not worth even trying.
Theoretically, if I were to attempt it, I’d get my liquids through the checkpoint, mix them together and then wait the few hours for the precipitate to fall out. Then go to the bathroom pour that through a handful of paper towels, or even some coffee filters I brought in my carry on. Then, put that into some type of confinement like a metal water bottle. Lined with paper towels to pull the last bit of moisture out of the crystals. A couple more hours later and there’s a pretty sensitive device that could be set off dropping, throwing, hitting, or whatever.
That’s a way. There’s many, many ways that someone could go about it. Also agree with the sentiment that the TSA is complete theater and doesn’t actually do much to keep anyone safe. But they’re working government jobs, getting paid ok-not great, with decent benefits and can get a retirement out of it.
The shoe bomber had what was probably good quality stuff, but he was missed his flight due to looking suspicious and being pulled for questioning, he stayed the night at the airport all the while walking around with these shoes that were hollowed out on the bottom. Probably nervous as hell and sweating all this time, plus walking through puddles and such. He managed to dampen the crystals so the next day when he got on his flight they were too desensitized to detonate.
At least they haven’t taken away our shoes. And is there a limit to the number of 3 Oz bottles you can carry?
You can bring as many as you can fit in a single (quart size I believe) ziplock back.
Honey would you grab my water for me please?
It’s because all the shops inside want you to buy their shit.
The main reason why it exists is to provide jobs. The number of people who work at the TSA at every airport in every state…no representative wants to cut those jobs.
I fucking hate that this is a thing. “We can’t stop doing this useless and/or detrimental thing, look at all the work it makes for other people to do!!!” Absolutely bonkers that it’s just a standard political argument.
Agreed. I’d rather they be paid that wage NOT to bother me.
so, we pay more (fastpass or whatever it is) for the privilege. 😅
Same thing with medical insurance. It shouldn’t exist but it pays a lot of people’s salaries.
The worst part is if people only worked two or three days a week corporations would still be profitable and everyone would have a job.
i once heared something like this:
“the idea of having more than those who have nothing is the very only reason shareholders can ever imagine someone would work for at all, thus they also falsely believe they would do something good when enforcing this by removing everything from those who already are vulnerable and thus create a living example of how you would end when you don’t help them rob even more.”
what
What’s wild is that if you replaced them with a single payer system or whatever else, you would still have a lot of bureaucratic work that needs to get done by the new system, so most if not all of those jobs would still exist - they would just shift from trying to deny people care to trying to connect people to care.
lol you don’t think a government’s single-payer office is going to be tasked with trying to deny people care?
If so, why not? Why wouldn’t those government people’s orders be “Make sure people don’t use too much medical resources”
Well, if the government is accountable to the people, then pressures from below should shape its policies. But in America as-is I suppose you’re right that there would be no reason to think that that would happen, only a proletarian democracy can truly ensure that a government is responsive to the needs and desires of the people.
It shouldn’t exist? I’d like to see you pay for your medical expenses out of pocket.
P. S. No, I am not American.
Here in the states when we say “medical insurance shouldn’t exist” what we mean is “the medical insurance industry shouldn’t exist”
Basically the cluster fuck of insurance companies we have now shouldn’t exist, we should just have a single payer type system where medical expenses are paid for through our tax dollars. In its current state it’s a nightmare to deal with.
A lot of private insurance in the US amounts to paying a couple hundred monthly to have the insurance and then they deny payment for basically anything and everything. So you pay them to pay out of pocket anyway.
Just got state insurance which covers everything, but very few offices accept it.
So yeah. Insurance in the US is super fucked up and people go without healthcare, even if they have insurance because they simply can’t afford it.
I do pay for my medical expenses out of pocket, because I can’t keep insurance long enough to ensure consistent cate.
I’ll give an example. Back in 21 I signed up for medicaid because I was poor enough to qualify. I get an email from my psychiatrist’s office “We can no longer treat you at this office because of your new medicaid status. We are not allowed to treat people on medicaid.” I asked, and they’re not even allowed to treat me if I pay out of pocket.
This is a new medicaid rule. Now if you’re on medicaid you can only see medicaid-approved providers.
So I canceled my medicaid. And I continue to pay out of pocket.
I’ve tried using other government-assisted programs before, with disastrous results. I’ve been kicked off the rolls before, at random, and I’ve had to go through the crash involved in stopping my medication, because while these government programs are helpful, they’re also buggy as fuck and can’t be relied upon.
That’s why you want a national health care program funded by taxes (they call it health insurance, but it’s mandatory and based on income, so it’s a tax, really). Private insurance is still allowed, but everyone gets a baseline.
Sure, this system has got its share of problems, and they’re massive, but if you need care, you generally receive it regardless of your financial situation. Again, bureaucracy happens and there are waiting times etc. etc., but the idea that you may lose everything because you got sick is so alien to me I have no words.
Yeah I guess the kind of Single Payer model I prefer can be conceptualised as “insurance.” But it feels more like health care is taxpayer funded. The similarity to insurance is just details for the detail nerds.
We could always use more traffic enforcement. Just switch them all over.
“The government made 25% of my district unemployed, why didn’t I get reelected?”
Ask it from that side and you have your answer.
I wasn’t asking a question. I understand why politicians do it, I just think it’s a sign of a terrible system.
I agree with you 99%, and I’m only saying this incidentally: I think the world makes a lot more sense when we realize that change as such has real, ethically-valid costs associated with it.
We do want change, but change is a source of stress for a nervous system, so it’s always worth remembering that there’s a certain maximum rate of change we can follow while keeping people sane.
This was a key recognition, for instance, in finally succeeding at fixing various addictions of mine. I just slowed down the rate of the change and stopped trying to change overnight. And I’m not referring to dangerous withdrawal here. I’m talking about managing my own anxiety during the change to trigger snap-back.
I agree TSA’s gotta change, and stop doing their super invasive checks at the airports. But I just wanted to point out at a more global level there should be a little respect for such things as “We can’t just drop this all at once because we’ve been doing it for 25 years”.
I mean if a state removed the TSA and spent the money on something else, surely they could use the money to create as many jobs as they removed but in an actual useful field.
But would the TSA workers vote for them?
Probably not, but the people who just got a job maybe would.
I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but I wouldn’t vote for a republican who got me a job, and I probably wouldn’t vote for anyone who got rid of my job (unless they were otherwise really great). So at least for me, getting rid of the job means you lose my vote and replacing it doesn’t necessarily gain my vote.
And people watching this exchange from the outside might vote against because they don’t like the idea of “minus a job for Bob, plus a job for Carl” as even-steven.
Could we pay them to dig a ditch and fill it back in again? It’d be just as useful.
No, it’d be more useful just on account of the harm they are not doing. I don’t give a rat’s ass what they do instead, hell, do a huge UBI experiment and just let them chill. Might as well.
If it’s just for the jobs we can put them to work doing something useful like carrying bags for old people in the airport. Literally anything would be more useful.
We could pay them to do nothing* that would be just as effective.
*not nothing but do whatever they want
They treat people like cattle because they are protecting the airplanes and the airline’s liability, not the people onboard or in line to board.
If people think it’s unsafe people won’t pay up to fly.
I recently realized that I have been boarding planes for years with multiple boxes of razor blades in my carry-on.
…Not a single checkpoint picked them up.
It just hasn’t had the right public messaging behind it. I can think of a few historically recent things that are security theater but have been successfully accepted by the public because of slogans, social engineering and authoritative messaging. TSA just needs their own marketing blitz.
To be fair a explosion in a on the side of a line not gonna kill anyone, now a explosion in the airplane windows, maybe?, i get their argument, not that’s a good argument
The major airports have huge crowds. And we know from unfortunate experience that suitcase bombs can kill hundreds of people.
Big caveat
The final decision rests with the TSA officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint.
Ah yes, the “rules only apply when I say they do” rule. Much legitimate.
Inconsistent enforcement of “the rules” is the most common form of systematic marginalization.
It’s also easy of centrists to excuse, since it could happen to anyone, even when the statistic show to it is overwhelmingly correlated with some protected trait.
I mean sure, but it theoretically stops people arguing and threatening to try and bring stuff they shouldn’t really be bringing through, as being able to point at that will end a lot of arguments… Equally though, it makes a lot of sense as otherwise you’d have “ah yes this bomb isn’t banned because I’ve switched out a molecule in the explosive for an analogue”
I don’t think they need to make the enforcement of rules ultimately arbitrary to prevent explosives. You already can’t bring explosives. The molecules involved are not relevant.
The mollecular structure isn’t the only thing relevant for bombs.
You could make a bomb out of a pressurized material that you can quickly get to expand, I think that technically isn’t an explosive.
I get your point but I also think having a catch all is good to prevent things that could otherwise get through by technicality.
If there is a list of acceptable things, then those specific things are not things they “shouldn’t be bringing on”.
What actually happens is that some random power tripping TSA agent decides to annoy the fuck out of people he doesn’t like, and when challenged he is protected by this rule.
See, flying isn’t for people who plan. It’s for people who roll 20s and not 1s. You know, lucky people. That’s the message here.
And it’s not the type of crowd that will take a ‘technically correct’ in good sport.
It’s actually stated on the TSA website that frozen liquids are permitted. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/ice
Notice the footnote on every TSA webpage that their officers can always change the rules on the spot if they feel like it. So it’s always a gamble.
This is what gets me the most. It’s totally arbitrary, every time it’s a chance for new rules. What you brought one way maybe a problem on your way home.
Special fuck you to the TSA agents at the Vegas airport, they’ve confiscated my lighter twice even though it’s allowed. Never had a problem at any other airport with them.
Same here. Took my lighter leaving Vegas as well. Took it right through on the way there. Wtf?
Pouring one out for my cordless Black and Decker electric screwdriver.
Used to travel with it because it was small and light and it worked well for racking network equipment.
It was a cheap piece of junk. But it did the job. Until one day TSA decided I couldnt bring it any more. It was under 7" but that wasn’t good enough.
Told me I could check it. It would cost more for me to check a bag than for me to replace it.
Still upset about it.
This is why they created different flying classifications with pre stuff… so now only the poor have to gamble.
The longer they discuss the less it is allowed.
Yup, TSA is on the same level as McDonald’s. You’re arguing with a dipshit who hates you.
…because the ice melts, haha. Oh. You meant something else, right.
Do you think they get mad if I bring plasma
As long as it’s being held in magnetic confinement!
They tend not to care so much about “how safely the hazardous material is stored”
Just ask anyone who’s tried to smuggle on 5lbs of mercury…
Nah, that’s because five pounds would be about 6 fluid ounces of mercury and you’re only allowed 3 ounces of a fluid.
Hey now, no need to bring math into this like a civilized person! You changed the outcome by measuring it!
I’m full of plasma, but they never stopped me from flying.
Take my upvote and leave
try bringing some in a bag next time, should be fun
Bose–Einstein condensate
And a metric ton of helium to keep it cool
If they don’t then you can call them xenophobes for not respecting Sangheili tradition to carry an Energy Sword at all times
Technically it’s the only kind of correct. Technically.
Technically it’s the only kind of objective correct. Other subjective types also exist (such as morally).
I’ve actually done this successfully. TSA agent knocked on it, and said no problem.
If i somehow would be stopped, I’d love to argue what is liquid or not, and what could be liquid if it’s just hot enough.
Getting denied at security because you’re trying to bring steel beams
You start that argument and they will take you straight to Guantanamo Bay.
🌴🌴🌴
That’s odd…I’ve had TSA agents recommend this to get liquids through security.
I guess he got that one employee that everyone hates for literally following every single tiny or forgotten rule no matter how stupid.
… doing so because they believe their boss would make a problem if they don’t.
For the lazy:
Ice
Carry On Bags: Yes (Special Instructions)
Checked Bags: Yes
Frozen liquid items are allowed through the checkpoint as long as they are frozen solid when presented for screening. If frozen liquid items are partially melted, slushy, or have any liquid at the bottom of the container, they must meet 3-1-1 liquids requirements
I would imagine that this is for transportation of medicine that needs to be kept cold like insulin?
It is probably intended for ice packs for things like insulin, but worded vaguely to allow ice in a ziplock bag or a frozen water bottle in place of an ice pack. Most of these rules would benefit massively from stating the purpose of the rule too.
You forgot the most important part:
The final decision rests with the TSA officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint.
Is there a reasoning for this? The whole liquid thing has to do something with explosives?
It’s because of a particular incident. Similar to what happened with the shoe bomber and why you have to take off your shoes. Things like this are why we can’t have nice things. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_transatlantic_aircraft_plot
you could freeze H2O2 and blow up something later.
The main issue you’ll have with the TSA in this case is that you’re using logic
You’re not going to blow up anything with 30 % hydrogen peroxide. It also freezes at -30 C, not gonna freeze easily or stay that way for too long.
But where would someone get the H2O2?
Peroxide?
Strongest I know is 35% concentrated. Not exactly going to blow anything up with that, that is until you try to distill it.
You just need to concentrate harder
sudo laugh-get [audible]
Nothing could possibly go wrong 🤣
Mix it any organic material- it’s called HPOM (hydrogen peroxide organic matter) in the explosives world. I’ve put craters in the ground using 35% peroxide with cinnamon
Good to know!
I brought frozen fish with ice packs through TSA. The TSA guy was a fisherman and wanted to talk about fishing.
Recently, I’m flying quite a lot, so I must try it, just to see if it works.
On my last trip I had a full water bottle with me and the lady said I had to throw it away, so I looked her dead in the eye while I chugged the entire bottle and stuffed the bottle in my bag.
Fuckin tell me I can’t bring the water through again.
I’ve done it before, it does. Though you could get an employee who doesn’t know this, or won’t accept it anyway.
Last two times I flew I brought a metal water bottle (Hydroflask knockoff) filled with ice cubes. Went through fine. Then I added water at a fountain after security and during the flight I got to have that ice-cold water experience I crave.
Huh, I’d have to fly from an airport with outdated scanners LIKE A PEASANT. The ones near me all let you keep your water and leave the laptop in the bag.
TSA vs Karen, quite a match
Btw, why not water?
Security theater. Supposedly there’s a clear liquid explosive that someone tried to get through once. Of course, it’s bullshit, like everything else the TSA says.
Also shoes, because shoe bomb. As Burress says… they better not make a snickers bomb.
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It throws up a false positive in the old scanners. There are new ones available that don’t have a problem but they aren’t widely available yet.
Because it’s frozen (i.e. ice)
Lol
because muslims can’t drink alcohol, they drink water. The TSA is trying to stop everyone from being terrorrists by only allowing them to buy and drink alcoholic products available after the security controls at the duty free shop.
Sah-wing and a miss
The stories and information posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact
Omg… Behold the Arctopus. Damn. That’s something I’ve not thought about in a long time. Rock on, dude.
Nah, I get you were just joking it just didn’t land haha.
Dear TSA,
The human body is mostly water. And it’s way more than 3 oz.
