tsa

Transcript: Senate hearing on TSA, full-body scanners

The topic for today's Senate Homeland Security hearing was supposed to be air cargo security.

But in the wake of growing public concern about the Transportation Security Administration's new procedures to screen air travelers, that's where the discussion kept returning.

CNET is providing excerpts from the transcript of the hearing, in which committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman calls the scanners "necessary for the security" of the American people and TSA Administrator John Pistole says his agency's screeners are "there to protect you and your loved ones." (See related article.)

As the Thanksgiving travel … Read more

Senator: TSA's whole-body scans are 'right thing'

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, today applauded the Obama administration's new airport screening procedures and suggested that critics don't understand what they're talking about.

During a hearing, Lieberman told John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration that "you're doing the right thing" in implementing new security regulations that give air travelers a choice of invasive pat-downs or full-body scans that show what a person looks like naked. (See related CNET story.)

"I think perhaps the reaction to the pat-down procedures got ahead of TSA's or the … Read more

TSA plans modest changes to 'virtual strip searches'

An Internet-fueled backlash against air traveler screening is growing amid signs that the Transportation Security Agency will consider slight changes to its controversial new procedures.

TSA administrator John Pistole said today that the agency will be "announcing some new policies" in the "near future" that will change the screening process for pilots, who have protested being forced to choose between a "virtual strip search" or an invasive pat-down a few minutes before they're handed the controls of a 975,000-pound kerosene-fueled missile in the form of a jumbo jet. (See our previous coverage.) … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1352: Never forget ... that you actually own these songs (podcast)

The Internet is profoundly underwhelmed by Apple's announcement that the Beatles catalog will now be available on iTunes. The more germane question, really: where the heck is iOS 4.2? Also, turns out the Kinect (unlike Apple's Beatle announcement) is a runaway hit. Schmidt's not worried about Facebook Messages, and also, the Internet wants to stop the TSA's airport junk-groping. --Molly

Engineer refuses scanner, protects junk, gets investigated

Is it ever worth questioning officialdom?

After all, officialdom always seems to have an excess of "dom" and the power of the official to make that "dom" (which might seem really, really dumb) painful for the questioner.

Such might be the plight of software engineer John Tyner, who, the TSA has announced, is to be investigated for his behavior while going through airport security.

Tyner was flying out of San Diego last Friday and took exception to the idea of the new full-body scanners, which are capable of capturing whether you are hiding explosives in your … Read more

Biochemist says 'naked' X-ray scanner may be unsafe

A University of California at San Francisco professor of biochemistry told CNET today that the Obama administration's claim that full-body scanners pose no health risks to air travelers is in "error."

The administration's defense of the controversial machines, which use X-rays to perform what critics have dubbed naked strip searches, has "many misconceptions, and we will write a careful answer pointing out their errors," said John Sedat, a UCSF professor of biochemistry and biophysics and member of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Because four people are working on this, it will not be … Read more

Backlash grows over TSA's 'naked strip searches'

Two months ago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the federal stimulus legislation would pay for the purchase of hundreds of controversial full-body scanners.

"Through the Recovery Act, we are able to continue our accelerated deployment of enhanced technology as part of our layered approach to security at airports nationwide," Napolitano said at the time.

The number of scanners has roughly doubled since Napolitano's announcement and they are now found in 68 U.S. airports, and the Transportation Security Administration says the controversial devices have proven to be a success.

"We have received minimal complaints,&… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1347: Got an STD? There's an app for that.

On today's show, a brief digression on the topic of McRibs and then back to the serious news of the Windows Phone 7 launch, Amazon doubling rev share for newspaper and magazine publishers, and broadband satellite service with real speeds. Also, our review of the first TV with Google TV inside, and the best looking iPhone game ever. --Molly

Buzz Out Loud 1339: Bring back the rabbit ears! (podcast)

It's time to start a TV revolution: over-the-air and over-the-top. Join us, won't you? And maybe someone can build the blog for us? In other news, Apple may be trying for a home run where Google struck out, with carrier-independent phone sales. And watch Oompa Loompas build the next Mars lander, live! --Molly

The 404 577: Where we will not quack at the principal (podcast)

Leave it to Wilson to make the rest of us look bad on Mother's Day. While we were all scrambling to make it to Duane Reade before closing time on Saturday, Wilson had already ordered a Fed Ex truck to deliver all the presents to his Mother down in Florida. We hope the rest of you had a fun weekend, but don't forget that just because Mother's Day is over doesn't mean that you're off the hook for the rest of the year; keep up the love!

President Barack Obama gave a commencement speech at Hampton University over the weekend where he warned the graduates about the dangers of a "24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content...some of which don't always rank all that high on the truth meter."

We were in complete agreement with everything Obama was saying...until he openly admitted to not knowing how to use an Apple iPod/iPad, an XBox, or a Playstation. It's no surprise that our Commander-in-Chief has bigger issues to worry about than dead pixels, but if a 99-year-old Grandma can pinch and pull her way around an iPad, what's Obama's excuse?

Don't forget to don your lead underwear the next time you get in line for a body scan at the airport. Rolando Negrin, a 44 year old attendant with the TSA learned that lesson the hard way when he threatened a colleague with a police baton after the bully allegedly made fun of his exposed genitalia during a routine training session at a Miami Airport.

The lesson began with Negin showing a group of trainees how to use the full body scanner, but the session soon turned into a roast when his colleagues started poking fun at the smaller-than-average size of his junk. In the bully's defense, it's completely possible that the first joke was made to relieve the tension of seeing his boss in his birthday suit, and Negin shouldn't have gotten so pissed- I'm sure they keep the air condition on pretty high during Spring and Summer.

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