Free Republic

I have long been a believer that, in most cases, a private company will do a more effective and efficient job than any government agency charged with the same task. My recent travel experience solidified that belief. It all started out with a half-empty water bottle at Ronald Reagan National Airport just outside the District of Columbia. I had checked in the night before, checked my bag at the curbside when I arrived, and now had a full hour to go through security. With Congress gone since late July and much of the District emptied out until Labor Day, I...

(CNSNews.com) - Coming soon, a new checkpoint experience for airline passengers. Testifying before a House Oversight subcommittee on Tuesday, Peter Neffenger, the new head of the Transportation Security Agency, said he envisions "a day where the checkpoint looks very different from what it does today. With the exception of the full-body scanners, "We're still largely dealing with ...the same kind of checkpoint we've had for the past decade or more. And I think we're on the cusp of a very different looking checkpoint experience in the next five years."

Jason Derulo was kicked off of a Southwest Airlines plane after he and his bodyguards got in an argument with the staff prior to boarding. Jason Derulo and his crew were kicked off of a Southwest Airlines plane in Reno on Saturday on his way back to Los Angeles when he and his bodyguards got in a bit of an argument with TSA agents, according to TMZ. One of Derulo's reps said that they wanted to get through the airport as quickly as possible because TSA recheck was down, but one of the guys traveling with him was denied preferred...

As I was reading an email string about tactics to get mainstream Americans aware of what the TSA is actually doing, it occurred to me that I have never told my entire story. So here goes. My saga starts when I was four years old and had my right leg amputated at the knee. Fast-forward to 2004, when I had a spate of business trips to Washington, DC and Texas. 12/1/2004: I walked up to a DTW (Detroit) security checkpoint and announced I had an artificial leg. Without being wanded I was taken aside by two women to Concourse A,...

This country's Founding Fathers were a bunch of obnoxious jerks -- and I mean that in the most reverent way. These were men who were fiercely opposed to blind obedience to authority, and who laid their lives on the line to flip it the bird. Oh, how disappointingly -- and dangerously -- far we've fallen. Our Constitutional rights are increasingly being eroded -- at TSA checkpoints, at police stops where citizens are arrested for videotaping, and elsewhere -- and so many Americans are just sitting there blinking like livestock. At the airport this past March, I wasn't one of those...

When the Transportation Security Agency began its intrusive new airport screening procedures last fall, I was sure Americans would rise up to the privacy violations and put an end to the program in short order. I predicted it would happen by Thanksgiving. Later I revised my prediction to Christmas. There was palpable anger expressed by Americans for two or three months. And then it subsided. One more nail in the coffin of American liberties. When was the last time you saw a news report about TSA abuses? It's yesterday's story. A new line in the sand has been drawn for...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will use a visit to Israel this week to assess passenger vetting and other counter-terrorism measures at its Ben-Gurion Airport, government officials said on Sunday. Napolitano, whose tenure has been dogged by two attempted al Qaeda attacks on U.S.-bound planes as well as traveler protests at intrusive airport pat-downs and screenings, was due to arrive in Israel by Monday for several low-key professional meetings. "She'll be consulting with the Airport Authority, among other things," said an official briefed on the visit, which will include other countries. Security at Ben-Gurion, Israel's main international...