$1B of Nude Body Scanners Made Worthless By Blog — How Anyone Can Get Anything Past The TSAs NoSs

I liked this comment on the TSA Blog post:

 

The comments at the blog are hilarious. Almost as funny as the ones at Reason that Lisa just linked.

Is TSA really this tone deaf? They can't be this stupid, can they?

 

Now, now, don't underestimate them.

 

Here's a TSA shill over at Bloghdad Bob's:

Oh, but Jon handled him. He asked for the release of the TSA's own video of him going through. Needless to say, Blogger Bob hasn't responded.

And Sommer is ripping BB a new you-know-what.

 

It's sad because these are the same people who take, at face value, that "guns" are found at checkpoints by these machines, simply on some vague connection made on the blog in a weekly post.

How is it they fall for TSA's fantastical rantings over, and over, and over again, and yet can't wrap their minds around something like this?

 

Faith, barbell, faith. It's a powerful thing. Just like denial. Way more powerful than reason.

 

I've been lax in my letter-writing and campaigning lately (like Lisa, needed to recharge my batteries) but I'm glad this happened while I was gone. Helps remind me that I'm not alone, takes some pressure off, and gives me some perspective that the travel-freedom community isn't just all about me.

That said, I think it's time to fire up the rhetorical skills again. This is a great topic to start hammering my congressleeches over (and what timing, just after Sen. DICK Durbin sends me 4 identical form letters patting himself on the back and waffling about "air safety so important, blurrrrdehurrrrhurrrrr"), and it should be relatively hard to ignore given the rate at which this is spreading. Of course the obvious challenge here is to phrase our correspondence such that the message "Pink-slip these incompetent nitwits NOW" cannot be misconstrued as "We're not safe enough, we need MOAR layers of security! You haven't taken away enough of our rights yet!"

 

Sueded? So where do I sign up for my leather jacket? Note to TSA apologists - spellcheck is your friend.

 

You know, the more I think about it, the more I'm troubled by the "things that go... BOOM" comment. Really kind of offended. They want us to take all of their BS seriously, and he can't even say something real and serious about a supposedly very dangerous threat. Cutesy comments aren't really appropriate when you're the government talking about an airplane potentially blowing up in midair.

He really underscores the fact that it's all a huge farce, the whole TSA affair.

 

That's actually really, really bad. Reminds me of Therac-25, a classic example taught in computer science classes of a software bug inside of an x-ray machine that killed people. It truly is only a matter of time before the TSA directly kills someone by using medical equipment with pizza box technicians.

--Jon

 

According to my stats, yesterday (Wednesday) I sent you 1,544 people by direct link from my blog. Glad to give something back, and hope it translated into registrations (or lurkers that will eventually register)!

--Jon

 

Ooo what did you have in mind?

--Jon

 

(expletive deleted)? How meta... a new (expletive deleted) for an (expletive deleted).

--Jon

 

Finally in a mainstream media outlet (WFAA) in the U.S., but they've found a "security whore" to debunk Jon ...

WFAA: Critic claims fault with high-tech airport security

Now to debunk the debunker ...

Suggests Jon is trying to "create an illusion by filming it yourself"

It speaks volumes about Paul Gaumond's knowledge & qualifications when he leads with a personal attack that he has no evidence to support.​

The "new scanners actually spin around travelers"?

Major "duh" here. That's physically impossible with the backscatter units which comprise about 5/12 of the installations.​

With regard to the MMW units, something that "spins around" might just be a transmitter, not a receiver or sensor. The MMW were designed to produce two-dimensional images for humans to analyze, which are further refined into the stick figures. Whatever is "spinning around" isn't detecting objects on the side, and that's been known -- not just by Jon -- for a couple years.​

Who is Paul Gaumond?

According to KVUE, Paul Gaumond a "former TSA employee, who's now a manager at Andrews International, a large private security firm". Put that plus "now instructs on X-ray technology" together and what you get is a former TSA flunky who now teaches rent-a-cops. Not impressive.​

At one point the was a manager at North Central Investigations, "established in 2009 and incorporated in Texas" (source) . "Estimates show North Central Investigations employs 1 to 4 people and has an annual revenue of Less than $500,000." (source)​

Seems to bounce from job to job, but basically a law enforcement officer, no indication that he has any technical back or even graduated from college, from LinkedIn:​

Manager of Training, Central Region. Lic, Manager Texas And Arkansas at Andrews International​

Dallas/Fort Worth Area | Law Enforcement​

Current:​

Manager of Training, Central Region. Lic, Manager Texas And Arkansas at Andrews International, Chief Deputy Constable at Johnson County Constables Office Pct 2​

Past:​

Project Manager at Andrews International, Deputy Sheriff at Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Transportation Security Specialist at TSA​

Education:​

Dallas Baptist University, MacArthur High School​

Summary:​

22 Years Law Enforcement Proficiency Certificates Type Start Date Advanced Peace Officer C 12/3/2002 Basic Peace Officer C 12/1/1990 Instructor Proficiency C 10/11/2002 Intermediate Peace Officer C 3/7/2000 Range Safety Officer Re Cert 10/09/2009 TX DPS-PSB Lic Manager, Level 3 Class room Instructor, Level 4 Instructor. Senior Instructor Safariland Training Group (MDTS, Baton, PR24) Instructor PPCT and and Defense Tactics Texas and Arkansas Security License Manager and License Trainer DHS/TSA as a TSS Instructor for TSA for the Private Security contract Screeners​

 

The Next Web: TSA successfully fails to address major airport security issues exposed in viral YouTube video

 

654, 549 views!

 

For March, Analytics is showing 2,522 referrals from TSA Out of Our Pants, 112 from YouTube.

Despite the extraordinary number of views at YouTube, most people probably don't expand the description to see the links to FtT & us.

 

Based on the Daily Mail article ...

Zee News (India): $1billion nude body scanners may fail

Edited to add: This article is an ANI (Asian News International) syndication & is showing up in other outlets as well.

 

Another major Australian news site has picked it up ...

News.com.au (News, Ltd.): Blogger Jonathan Corbett claims to have exposed 'naked airport scanner' loophole

 

Not mainstream but the activity is picking up ...

Broward-Palm Beach New Times Blog: TSA Response to Viral Body Scanner Video Not Actually a Response

They also include an emailed response from TSA spokeshole Lisa Farbstein: