TSA porn parodies were a short-lived trend

With news this week that the Transportation Security Administration will allow passengers to keep their shoes on during airport screenings, the TSA became a little less onerous.
After the agency was created in 2001, it was the subject of derision and ridicule. Even the adult video industry took part in mocking the agency, which had been accused of groping travelers and invading their privacy.
From 2011 through 2018, the TSA was the subject of at least six porn parodies.

TSA porn parodies:

TSA – Your Ass Is In Our Hands (2011)
TSA Strip Down (2011)
Airport Secur-titty (2011)
TSA – Touching, Searching And Pussy Pounding (2014)
Fluids On The Flight (2016)
TSA Checkpoint (2018)

Related articles:

TSA to end shoes-off policy for airport security screening (ABC News; July 7, 2025)

The TSA Is Letting Travelers Keep Their Shoes on in Security. About Time. (Slate; July 10, 2025)

Transportation Security Administration (Wikipedia)

The TSA has outlasted its critics

At the start of this decade, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration was frequently in the news for its many scandals. They ranged from TSA agents groping passengers to the agency failing to spot most weapons being smuggled through its screening areas.
A grassroots campaign sprung up to advocate that the agency be overhauled or even privatized. Citizens demanded that their Fourth Amendment rights not be violated just because they chose to fly on a commercial airline.
TSA critics created websites and social media accounts to spread the word about the injustices of the TSA.
I had a Twitter page called TSA Rants that collected complaints about the Transportation Security Administration from travelers from Dec. 18, 2011, to Dec. 18, 2012.
As part of my outreach to fellow TSA critics, I followed a bunch of like-minded websites and Twitter accounts. Today, only one of over 20 such Twitter accounts is still active. The survivor is TSA parody Twitter account Agent Smith at @TSAgov.
Here’s a list of anti-TSA Twitter accounts that are no longer active and are likely to be wiped off the internet once Twitter enacts its plan to delete inactive accounts.

• TSA Watch, @TSAWatch (July 2009 to January 2010)
• TSA Global PR, @TSAGlobalPR (July 2010 to May 2013)
• TSA Abuse, @tsaabuse (November 2010 to August 2012)
• Smash TSA, @smashtheTSA (November 2010 to April 2011)
• Tired of the assault, @endtheTSA (November 2010 to March 2012)
• TSAagent, @TSAagent (November 2010 to July 2012) 
• Fly with Dignity, @optoutTSA (November 2010)
• National Opt Out Day, @NationalOptOut (November 2010 to June 2011) 
• We Won’t Fly, @WeWontFly (November 2010 to September 2012) 
• The TSA Choice, @theTSAchoice (November 2010 to January 2011)
• TSA PR Team, @TSAPRTeam (November 2010 to April 2011) 
• TSA status, @tsastatus (November 2010 to October 2016)
• Anonymous, @iwillnotflylist (November 2010 to March 2017)
• TSA For America, @tsaforamerica (November 2010)
• TSA: WTF?, @tsawtf (December 2010 to October 2012) 
• EPIC, @ScanTSA (January 2011 to November 2011)
• TSA Dalek, @TSADalek (August 2011 to January 2016)
• AKFreedomToTravelUSA, @AKFTTUSA (October 2011 to May 2019)
• TSA Nightmare Stories, @tsanightmares (November 2011 to June 2018) 
• TSA News, @TSANewsBlog (November 2011 to July 2014) 
• Say the Fourth, @SaytheFourth (July 2012 to August 2013) 
• T.S.A. Eliot, @TSA_Eliot (October 2012 to August 2013) 
• TSA Tom, @TOMfromTSA (November 2012) 
• TSA OptOut & Film, @OptOutandFilm (November 2012 to July 2016) 

Also, several related anti-TSA websites are no longer online. They include sites for TSA News Blog, TSA Watch, We Won’t Fly, The TSA Choice, TSA: WTF?, I Will Not Fly List, AKFreedomToTravelUSA and National Opt Out Day.
These TSA websites and Twitter accounts went silent after their complaints fell on the deaf ears of Washington politicians. American citizens continue to complain about the policies of the Transportation Security Administration, but most have come to accept that it’s difficult to reform any government bureaucracy.

Photo: “So you’re telling me my bag was inspected?” by Clint McMahon. (Via Creative Commons)

Twitter needs to archive more than just accounts of deceased users

Microblogging platform Twitter recently announced plans to delete inactive accounts. After a public outcry it said it would delay those plans.
Originally Twitter planned to purge accounts where the owner had not signed in for more than six months. The purge was set to happen on Dec. 11. But then users complained that the purge would eliminate the accounts of deceased users.
Twitter said it is delaying its plan to remove inactive accounts until it can come up with a way to memorialize the accounts of people who’ve died.
But I think Twitter needs to go further and allow people to request permanent archiving of historically significant Twitter accounts as well. These include the accounts of political candidates, businesses that were acquired or failed, and interesting temporary accounts like promotional campaigns for movies and TV shows.
Another worthy area for Twitter archiving would be grassroots campaigns around political issues.
For instance, from Dec. 18, 2011, to Dec. 18, 2012, I ran a Twitter account called TSA Rants. The purpose of @TSArants was to aggregate complaints about the ineffective, wasteful and demeaning U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
All told, @TSArants aggregated more than 23,000 complaints about the TSA in that one year. It was a worthwhile newsgathering experience.
I resurrected TSA Rants a few days ago after reading news stories about Twitter’s plans to remove inactive accounts from the platform. I didn’t want it deleted and thought it might be a good time to reexamine the Transportation Security Administration.
I had hoped that by now public outcry would have led politicians to reform the TSA or, better yet, privatize it. But I was wrong.
At the time I ran @TSArants, the TSA was a scandal-plagued agency that many citizens wanted gone. But after a while people began to accept that the incompetent government agency was firmly established and wasn’t going anywhere.
TSA Rants followed a bunch of like-minded Twitter accounts dedicated to exposing problems with the Transportation Security Administration, but 20 of those have since stopped tweeting. I think those anti-TSA accounts should be saved to preserve that moment in time.
One problem is that accounts like TSA Rants primarily retweeted other people’s observations of TSA misdeeds. If those citizen-journalist accounts are deleted for inactivity, then TSA Rants would be full of “This Tweet is unavailable” messages or no indication that those tweets ever existed.
I suspect the latter would happen because when I stopped TSA Rants, I had 23,000 retweets. When I started it back up the other day, it had 19,000 retweets.
As readers of this blog know, I’m against efforts to delete information from the web. I’ve written many times about the ephemeral nature of online information in my series The Failed Promise of Digital Content.
My suggestion to Twitter would be to delete only those inactive accounts where the person didn’t tweet anything. If they contributed anything original to the public discourse on Twitter, i.e. more than just retweets, then that account should be kept.
But I understand that Twitter is a business and should do what’s in its best interests. Still, I think it would be in the company’s best interest to preserve the conversations its platform has fostered.

Photo: Twitter by Christopher Corneschi. (Creative Commons)

Related articles:

Twitter will remove inactive accounts and free up usernames in December (The Verge; Nov. 26, 2019)

Twitter halts plan to remove inactive accounts until it can memorialize dead users (The Verge; Nov. 27, 2019)

Fears raised over Twitter’s deceased person policy, and one possible solution (9to5Mac; Nov. 27, 2019)

Americans have learned to accept the TSA and that’s unfortunate

I used to be an outspoken critic of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration until Tumblr deleted the blog I used to lampoon the agency.
Tumblr, now owned by Yahoo, deleted my three blogs after a questionable copyright infringement claim was brought against one of them in May 2013.
My complaints against the TSA are manifold. The agency took over airport security after 9/11 and has worked to expand its scope to all modes of transportation since then. It has proven to be ineffective in providing security and is a huge waste of government resources. Plus, it oversees itself so it has little accountability.
The TSA also abuses the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution with its physical pat-downs and fondling of travelers.
Last month, a Homeland Security Inspector General investigation of the TSA found that airport screeners failed to detect mock explosives and weapons in 95% of tests conducted by undercover agents. (See articles by the Daily Mail and Techdirt.)
The acting administrator for the TSA was reassigned within the Department of Homeland Security after the scandal.
It’s easy to find examples of TSA bad behavior.
Earlier this month, a TSA employee took a picture of the cash in someone’s luggage and tweeted about it online. Her tweet sparked an outrage over her violation of someone’s privacy. (See articles by the Daily Mail and Techdirt.)
In April, two TSA employees in Denver were fired after they used the airport body scanner inappropriately to allow the male worker to fondle male passengers’ genitals. Several passenger rights advocates noted that the workers should have been arrested, not just fired. (See articles by the Daily Mail and Techdirt.)
Also in April, writer Cory Doctorow reported how TSA baggage handlers destroyed his suitcase presumably because they couldn’t open the “TSA-safe” locking mechanism. (See Techdirt story.)
In March, Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s Office revealed that TSA agents allowed a convicted murderer and former member of a domestic terrorist group to pass through an expedited security line. (See Daily Mail article.)
In January, a Pennsylvania architect was detained for 23 hours because he complained that TSA was taking too long to search his bag. Security agents mistook his watch and some Power Bars for a bomb. (See articles by the Daily Mail and Techdirt.)
For one year, I ran a Twitter account called TSA Rants, which documented citizen complaints against the TSA. It ended on Dec. 18, 2012. TSA Rants documented more than 23,000 complaints about the TSA, but only scratched the surface.
It was a fun project but a lot of work. It was featured in articles by TSA News and Alex Jones’ Prison Planet.
For a couple of years, I ran the Tumblr blog Celebrities vs. the TSA. The blog focused on one comical aspect out of many of airport security: TSA screeners patting down and scanning recognizable Hollywood celebrities as if they are potential terrorists.
If that blog was still around, I would have reported on recent humiliating TSA inspections of Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian and Vern Troyer.
Libertarians and others interested in protecting the rights of U.S. citizens continue to protest the TSA and its actions. But I get the feeling most Americans have simply accepted the agency as the new normal. They realize that getting rid of the colossal government agency would be next to impossible.
It’s unfortunate that Americans have lost the will to fight on this issue. Because giving up freedom for security is not a good idea.

Photo: Singer Britney Spears gets scanned at LAX in June.

Yahoo’s Tumblr stifles free speech, silences TSA critic

For a year and a half, I ran a website on Tumblr that lampooned the practices of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The blog focused on one comical aspect out of many of airport security: TSA screeners patting down and scanning recognizable Hollywood celebrities like Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Megan Fox and Regis Philbin as if they were potential terrorists.
On May 20, Tumblr summarily deleted that blog and all my research and writings because of a questionable copyright complaint filed against an unrelated Tumblr blog of mine. I had three Tumblr blogs, two of which were never the subject of any copyright complaints – including the anti-TSA blog.
But on one blog, a Canadian photographer didn’t like my use of three of his images. He filed two complaints with Tumblr under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. I appealed, saying my use of the images fell under “fair use” protection, specifically the “transformative works” provision. The photos were heavily edited with funny text added.
But Tumblr never responded to my appeal, or my numerous emails, and deleted all three of my blogs. Tumblr terminated my account for “repeated” violations of the DMCA. Tumblr apparently has a two-strikes law, not mentioned in its vaguely worded user policy.
Tumblr, now owned by Yahoo, apparently isn’t interested in “fair use” arguments or DMCA appeals.
While Tumblr publicly claims to support its users and free speech, its actions in my case and likely others demonstrate that’s not so.
Think of all the popular Internet memes that are transformative works based on copyrighted photos, including Texts from Hillary, McKayla Is Not Impressed and Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl,” all of which are hosted on Tumblr, by the way.
Tumblr is chock full of photos and videos that don’t belong to the bloggers posting them. These range from fan sites for celebrities like Justin Bieber and screenshots of TV shows and movies to the hard-core pornography that’s rife on Tumblr. But Tumblr turns a blind eye to those websites as long as it doesn’t get a complaint from a copyright holder. They could all be taken down by zealous copyright enforcers.
All it takes to stop blogs from running those images is a copyright holder with a rigid view of copyright law and a blogging company with no interest in exemptions to it.
That happened in the case of the original “Sad Keanu” Internet meme hosted on Tumblr. However, it didn’t stop the humorous meme from spreading elsewhere on Tumblr and the Internet.
Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp talks about free speech (usually related to porn on Tumblr) and supporting Tumblr’s users. But talk is cheap, David.
Imagine you wrote a book that you spent more than a year researching and then because you quoted portions of another book, even with proper attribution and “fair use” protections, your entire book was deleted. Not just the portions of someone else’s work, but all of your writing and research. Now imagine that you had two other books deleted at same time that weren’t part of the copyright dispute.
That’s basically what happened to me with Tumblr.
Instead of taking down just the photos in question while I appealed, Tumblr deleted my entire account and my three blogs and then ignored my appeal.
Through its actions, Tumblr silenced a critic of the U.S. government’s TSA. Tumblr didn’t care about my First Amendment rights. It’s a private business that can cut off your microphone whenever it feels like it.
I hate to think of the many hours I spent on those three blogs. They were my hobby for a time. Now they’re gone. And Tumblr refused to return my writings and my research, including the weblinks I had collected.
So, back up your work, if you use Tumblr.

3 changes Twitter needs to make to improve its search tool

I recently concluded a year-long newsgathering exercise on Twitter that revealed huge shortcomings with search functions on the microblogging platform.
With the massive number of posts, or tweets, being uploaded to Twitter every hour, news media and other users need a better way to find information of interest to them. People are posting a lot of useful information on Twitter, but finding it can be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Let’s use my experience as an example.
I was interested in tracking citizen complaints about the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. I surmised that official complaints to the TSA were a drop in the buck compared with actual discontent with agency and its practices. And Twitter is a great way for people to bitch about things in real time, so it’s a perfect place to check for complaints.
I set up a Twitter account called TSA Rants, or @TSArants, to retweet people who had a beef with the TSA. It ran for one year, ending Dec. 18.
Early on, it became clear that I’d need to use Twitter’s advanced search feature. But it’s not advanced enough. (See “How to Use Advanced Twitter Search.”)
If you search for “tsa” on Twitter, you will get results larded with spam from people selling TSA-approved locks and other products on Amazon.com. You also get a lot of posts from non-English speaking Twitter users where the three-letter combination appears in their languages.
Using the advanced search function, I was able to limit the search results to English-only and to exclude “amzn” (the abbreviation for Amazon used in commercial weblinks).
But that still left too many irrelevant results for my needs.
Searching for tweets with the hashtag “#tsa” yielded much better results, but they were limited to savvy Twitter users. The average person complaining about the TSA on Twitter doesn’t use hashtags.
Here are three areas where Twitter could greatly improve its search tool and help journalists like me:

1. Search for tweets that have been retweeted or marked as favorites

Giving Twitter users the ability to search only for tweets that have been retweeted or marked as a favorite would limit the results to the best tweets. It’s a way of crowd-curating the best tweets on a subject.
Better still, Twitter should give users the option to search for tweets that have been retweeted or favorited “at least once,” “twice,” “three times,” “four or more times,” etc.
The more times something has been retweeted or favorited the better the tweets should be, right?

2. Exclude tweets that include weblinks

Having the ability to exclude tweets that contain weblinks from Twitter searches will allow people to ignore all the news articles that can get endlessly retweeted. That way you can filter out the parrots from the people who have something original to say.
By excluding weblinks from search results, you also can eliminate spam. Sometimes commercial outfits will try to leverage off of popular trending topics to sell stuff.

3. Search for tweets that include photos

A picture can say a thousand words. When news is breaking, it would be nice to have the option to search only for tweets that include photos. Ideally this should include third-party photo services, but just Twitter photos would be better than nothing.

Photo: Propaganda-style poster of Twitter by Aaron Wood.

TSA Rants one year later

A year ago I started a Twitter account to track citizen complaints about the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. I called it TSA Rants.
Over the past 12 months, I’ve documented more than 23,000 complaints about the TSA. And that barely scratches the surface. I sampled just a few hours of Twitter traffic a day, when my schedule allowed. The actual number of TSA complaints on Twitter is easily several times higher than that.
Needless to say, people writing on Twitter have a lot of ill will toward the TSA.
What follows is a brief summary of those citizen complaints about the agency, in no particular order.

1. Molesting attractive women

The TSA pats down a lot of attractive women, as I’ve previously written. These women don’t fit anybody’s profile of a potential terrorist. But TSA agents continue to feel up young ladies either because they like pointless “random” pat downs or they’re perverts.

2. Conducting racial profiling

The TSA says it doesn’t do racial profiling, but that’s not the case, based on numerous complaints by passengers of color. Many note how they are “randomly selected” for additional screening every time they go to the airport to catch a flight.

3. Mistreating the elderly and the infirm

People often tweet their observations of TSA agents making senior citizens and disabled and sickly adults and children get out of their wheelchairs to go through the stand-up body scanners. If they can’t, they’re subjected to humiliating pat downs.

4. TSA has a hair fetish

If your hair is in a ponytail, a bun or just poofy, TSA agents are going to want to put their fingers in it and dig around for contraband. Twitter responses range from “WTF?” to complaints about TSA screeners messing up their perfect hairdo.

5. Thefts from carry-on bags and checked luggage

The TSA has fired hundreds of screeners for theft from passenger luggage. But judging from the complaints on Twitter, they’ve got a lot more bad apples to sort out. Valuables go missing all the time from carry-on bags in the screening area as well as checked luggage.

6. Vandalism and careless damage to property

The TSA carelessly or maliciously damages passenger property. Travelers take to Twitter to complain about agents dropping their laptops and tablets, cutting off their TSA-approved locks and failing to zip up their bags after inspecting them. I’ve also seen quite a few cases of screeners opening shampoo, perfume and other liquids and dumping them on travelers’ belongings.

7. Confiscating toothpaste and other innocuous liquids and gels

The TSA continues to piss off travelers by confiscating their water, sodas, toothpaste and other liquids and gels on the astronomically remote chance that it could be explosive material. Do they treat it like a bomb after confiscating it? No, they just toss it into the nearest trash bin.

8. Flirting with female passengers

Horn-dog TSA men are always hitting on female travelers. This is especially infuriating when they’ve just forced them to go through the nudie scanner or get a pat down. Lots of women report unwanted flirtatious behavior by TSA agents on Twitter.

9. Making fliers who opt out of the scanners wait

Passengers have the right to opt out of the radiation-emitting scanners at the airport. But they often have to wait seemingly forever for someone to conduct a pat down. This passive aggressive behavior has been documented time and again.

10. Giving aggressive pat downs

Men and women alike have taken to Twitter to complain about aggressive full-body pat downs by the TSA. Many have described sexually invasive fondling of their privates. Some men say their testicles have been rammed by TSA agents during frisking.

11. Incompetence and laziness

The TSA is often referred to as “Thousands Standing Around,” because screeners are seen standing around doing nothing. When they are doing their jobs, they frequently are angry and combative. Many times they don’t understand their own rules about what is permitted in the screening area.

I think I’ve made my point with TSA Rants and likely will wind down my activity on it. It’s time to move on to other pursuits.
I’d probably stick with it if Twitter had a better way to search tweets. More on that later.

Photos: Singer and actress Jennifer Hudson gets manhandled by a TSA agent (top) and actress Denise Richards gets fondled by a TSA screener. See more photos at the Celebrities vs. the TSA blog.

Unflattering TSA portrayals in pop culture now extend to video games

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has been ridiculed in TV shows, movies, television commercials, online videos and now video games.
A couple of games featuring the TSA have popped up on Apple’s App Store for play on iPhones and iPads. They include “Airport Scanner” from the Kedlin Company, which features a “trio of burly TSA agents that will lay down the pain on any troublemakers,” and “Checkpoint Madness” from SGM Games, which has a character named Officer Friskie. (See article in AZ Tech Beat.)
In “Checkpoint Madness,” you work as a TSA agent and can send passengers through the “Groping Line,” the “Naked Scanner” or the metal detector.
These games are more examples of art imitating life.
The TSA has been widely criticized as a wasteful, ineffective government bureaucracy that routinely violates the constitutional rights of citizens. It has become the most despised government agency, beating even the IRS. Airline passengers are growing increasingly upset with being harassed, embarrassed, molested and inconvenienced by the TSA.
This is showing up in pop culture portrayals of the agency, as I’ve documented.
The TSA is a frequent target of political cartoonists, such as Rick McKee of the Augusta Chronicle. (See below.) See more examples at PoliticalCartoons.com.

Also check out the cover of the Dec. 6, 2010, issue of the New Yorker magazine. The artwork by Barry Blitt is titled “Airport Security Kiss.”

As I’ve noted in previous posts, the TSA has been parodied by “Saturday Night Live,” “Up All Night,” “The Simpsons,” “South Park” and other television shows. I neglected to mention the movie “She’s Out of My League” (2010).

Related stories:

TSA a prime target of political cartoonists (Oct. 4, 2011)

TV shows and advertisements tap into citizen hatred of the TSA (May 18, 2012)

Videos: 

Top 10 funniest TSA parody videos (Dec. 13, 2010)

TSA portrayals in TV advertising (May 13, 2012)

TSA portrayals in pop culture (May 25, 2012)

10 Funny TSA parody videos (May 26, 2012)

More humorous TSA parody videos (Dec. 4, 2012)

TSA agents like to pat down pretty ladies. But why?

Spend just a little time searching comments about the Transportation Security Administration on Twitter and you’ll see a lot of posts from pretty ladies who have been felt up by TSA agents.
Sometimes traveling companions will post photos of their friends getting fondled. A picture is definitely worth a thousand words here. It’s comical that the TSA will pat down these women who often are wearing body-hugging outfits. The only thing dangerous on these ladies is their curves.
Women writing on Twitter about their TSA pat downs are surprised by the experience. Depending on the person, they express bemusement, outrage and other emotions at the incident.
But why do TSA agents pat down obviously harmless young women?
In public responses to such activity, the TSA claims its pat downs are random. They’re meant to keep the bad guys guessing, they say.
If that’s true, then TSA agents are just wasting their time and that of the traveling public. And they know it. Not a good way to spend taxpayer dollars.
Worse yet, this security theater subjects innocent citizens to searches that would be illegal if done by law enforcement officers. That’s because they have no probable cause to search these women. U.S. citizens are supposed to be protected from unreasonable searches by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
These so-called random pat downs are designed to avoid racial profiling. “Look, we’re treating everybody the same!” What a joke.
I can understand why people would think racial profiling makes sense for airport security. After all, just look at the photos of the terrorists involved in the 9/11 hijackings.
But racial profiling is illegal for a reason. It treats whole groups of people as suspects because of their skin color. That’s wrong and again violates our constitutional rights. So random pat downs today mean that a blonde teenage girl has as good a chance of being frisked as Mohamed Atta.
Effective security against terrorists must occur before a suspect ever reaches the airport. It requires intelligence gathering and law enforcement officials working together.
But back to the question of why TSA agents pat down pretty ladies.
This activity by the TSA has been well documented in the news media. (See articles below.) Some people describe it as “flying while attractive,” a variation of “driving while black.” Just as racist cops will pull over black motorists, some TSA agents want to molest pretty women.
The frequency with which it occurs leads observers to suspect that either male TSA agents enjoy using their power to watch female passengers get groped or lesbian TSA agents want to do the groping themselves.
One more reason to abolish the TSA and reform airport security.

Related reading:

Female Passengers Say They’re Targeted By TSA (CBS; Feb. 3, 2012)

Female Passengers Say They Were Targeted for TSA Body Scanners (Wired; Feb. 14, 2012)

Airport security makes married mother go through body scanner THREE times... after telling her she had a ‘cute’ figure (Daily Mail; Feb. 15, 2012)

Photos (from top): 
Carlo Mondavi posted a photo of his wife getting a TSA pat down on March 25, 2012, to his @CarloMondavi Twitter account. 
Photo by Schuyler McFerran at Oakland airport TSA checkpoint posted to Twitter account @_schuyler_ on June 10, 2012. 
Twitter user Jaye Sosa posted this photo to @jayesworld on Sept. 2, 2012, saying “TSA stopped basically our whole team.” 
Katie Alexander of the Bikini Hockey League gets a TSA pat down in this Aug. 2, 2012, photo posted to Facebook. 

Top 10 websites holding the TSA accountable

While the general public blindly accepts the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, a number of websites and individuals have stepped up to question the TSA, its policies and very existence.
Criticism of the TSA cuts across party lines. Those on the left say the TSA’s policies infringe on the rights of everyday U.S. citizens. Those on the right say the TSA is an enormous waste of federal resources.
Here are the top 10 websites that are leading the charge to hold the TSA accountable right now.

1. TSA News

The TSA News blog provides level-headed reporting and criticism of the controversial agency. It’s become the go-to source for the latest TSA controversies, which seem never-ending.
The writers of the year-old TSA News understand that they’re chronicling an historic and disturbing shift in U.S. government policy.
Writer Lisa Simeone keeps a running master list of “TSA Crimes and Abuses.”
Consumer advocate and journalist Christopher Elliott is a frequent contributor.

2. Infowars.com

Radio commentator Alex Jones has been relentless in his attacks on the TSA. His conservative websites, including Infowars.com, provide an impassioned critique of the TSA on a regular basis.
Some might say his commentary on the TSA is over the top, but at least it gets people’s attention. He’s trying to wake people up to what’s happening in the U.S. government today.
Infowars sponsored the recent “Opt Out and Film Week” of airport TSA protests.

3. The Drudge Report

Few websites have the influence and reach of Matt Drudge’s Drudge Report. When the Drudge Report posts an article on TSA scandals, it gets disseminated wide and fast.
Conservative pundit Drudge gives TSA news top priority on a frequent basis. Bravo for that.

4. Schneier on Security

Security expert Bruce Schneier has been an outspoken critic of TSA policies and procedures. He coined the term “security theater” to describe the TSA’s ineffective screening process. His website is Schneier on Security.

5. Ashley Jessica

Activist Ashley Jessica has waged a crusade against the TSA’s invasive pat downs and full-body scanners.
The Toronto-based PhD student was instrumental in the Opt Out and Film Week protests, which ran Oct. 19 to 26. She tweets about TSA abuses at @AshleyJessica and posts videos of her encounters with TSA agents.

6. TSA Out of Our Pants!

Jonathan Corbett documents TSA abuses and his own legal case against the agency on his blog TSA Out of Our Pants.
He made national news earlier this year by showing how easy it is to smuggle weapons or contraband through the TSA’s expensive nudie scanners.

7. Amy Alkon

Columnist and author Amy Alkon has slammed the TSA for its sexually abusive pat downs in numerous articles. She was among the first to stand up to the TSA publicly for its degrading pat downs and get the media talking about the agency’s procedures. She writes a blog called The Advice Goddess and is an active Twitter user at @AmyAlkon.

8. Agent Smith

The Twitter account @TSAgov by “Agent Smith” draws attention to TSA abuses through humor.
Smith’s posts knock the TSA for sexually assaulting passengers, stealing their valuables and other abuses.

9. Freedom to Travel USA

A group of citizens concerned about the actions of the TSA formed Freedom to Travel USA. The organization was founded by Wendy Thomson, Renee Beeker and Jeff Pierce to shine a spotlight on the unconstitutional actions of the TSA. It hopes to force political action to reform the agency.

10. Wikipedia

The Wikipedia entry on the Transportation Security Administration extensively details criticisms against the agency and controversial incidents. It provides a central repository for people to collect information and news articles on the TSA.

Honorable mentions

Other websites that report frequently about TSA activities include Reason; Boing Boing, especially co-editor Cory Doctorow; Techdirt, edited by Mike Masnick; and LewRockwell.com.
Did I miss anybody? Let me know.

Gone but not forgotten

Many TSA protest websites have come and gone over the 11-year existence of the agency.
Defunct sites include Homeland Security Theater and I Made the TSA Feel My Resistance.
Other anti-TSA websites remain online but haven’t been updated in some time, including The Daily Patdown, StopGropingMe, We Won’t Fly, TSA Felt Me Up, TSA Nightmare Stories, TSA: WTF? and TSA Tyranny.

Photo: T-shirt worn by Ashley Jessica from her Twitter feed.

Must-read articles about the controversial Transportation Security Administration

What follows is a list of news articles and commentary about the U.S. Transportation Security Administration that paint a troubling picture about the agency.

GOP report: TSA hasn’t improved aviation security (Washington Post; Nov. 16, 2011)

Ten Years Of The TSA (Yes, It Seems Much Longer) (Forbes; Nov. 18, 2011)

Smoke Screening: Does Airport Security Really Make Us Safer? (Vanity Fair; Dec. 20, 2011)

TSA: Fail (GmanCaseFile; Jan. 24, 2012)

Harms of Post-9/11 Airline Security (Schneier on Security; March 29, 2012)

The TSA’s mission creep is making the U.S. a police state (The Guardian; April 18, 2012)

Why Airport Security Is Broken — And How To Fix It (Wall Street Journal; April 15, 2012)

The Terrible Truth About the TSA: It’s a failure at everything it does. (Reason; May 17, 2012)

How much do we really hate the TSA? (CNN; June 2, 2012)

How To Fix the TSA (Popular Mechanics; Nov. 8, 2012)

Airport Security Is Killing Us (Bloomberg Businessweek; Nov. 18, 2012)

TSA abuse: 17,000 and counting (TSA News; Nov. 21, 2012)

Artwork: TSA parody logo (top) and TSA toy seen at Toys R Us by Wasting Time.

Why Americans should be concerned about the TSA

With Thanksgiving holiday travel coming to a close, it’s a good time to discuss the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. That’s because many Americans will have encountered the TSA first-hand over the last week or so.
Many people blindly support the TSA on the assumption that the agency is keeping us safe from terrorism. They say the TSA’s body scans and pat downs aren’t such a big deal and that inconveniences like restrictions on liquids and taking off your shoes, belts and other apparel are simply necessary evils to combat terrorism.
But the threat of terrorism has been greatly diminished by the U.S. fight against the Islamic militant organization al Qaeda, especially with the death of leader Osama bin Laden.
And airline passengers have stepped up to stop on-board threats since 9/11 taught them that hijackers can use planes as weapons. The “shoe bomber,” the “underwear bomber” and others have been stopped by passengers, not airport screeners.
Many studies have shown that the TSA is an ineffective organization that likely causes more harm than good. It’s made air travel a major hassle, especially those long security lines, and likely has cut demand for flights.
I’m sometimes asked why I have a problem with the TSA.
My main concerns with the TSA are two-fold: the agency’s actions are an affront to the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens and the organization is a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars.
On the first point, the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that citizens should not be subject to searches of their bodies and homes without probable cause. Police officers can’t just stop and frisk people or search their cars and homes because they feel like it.
But TSA agents routinely pat down innocent passengers on a supposedly random basis or if they refuse to enter the agency’s full-body scanners, which are the subject of health and privacy concerns.
The TSA has caught flak for patting down children, who have been educated that strangers should not touch them. It also has been criticized for patting down the elderly and the infirm. Rape victims find TSA pat downs to be especially traumatic.
Some say, “Well, you don’t have to travel by plane if you don’t like the TSA’s procedures.” But that’s not being realistic. Plane travel for business and leisure is part of modern living.
If citizens give up their rights to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,” as the Fourth Amendment states, for the sake of security, their liberty is at risk. It’s a slippery slope to more government control over its citizens.
People might not see airport pat downs as a problem, but they need to consider the bigger picture of where this could lead.
The TSA already is expanding its purview to train and bus stations and the nation’s highways – all in the name of security.
The TSA also has shown little regard for oversight. For instance, it has ignored court-ordered safety checks of its radiation scanners. It oversees itself and answers to no one. If airport security were still run by private contractors, they would be subject to government oversight and could be replaced by other companies if they didn’t perform adequately. You can’t replace or reform the TSA if it supervises itself.
The TSA also has a reputation for retaliating against its vocal critics.
On the fiscal front, the TSA has become a massive works program for the federal government. The now-unionized TSA work force provides “security theater,” but little else. The agency has done a piss-poor job of screening checked luggage and overreacts to the smallest of potential threats.
It also has done a lousy job with hiring and supervising its workers. Hundreds have been arrested for theft from passenger luggage and an alarming number has been busted for child pornography and sexual offenses.
Various airport TSA outfits have been accused of racial discrimination, sexual abuse of women, incompetence, sleeping on the job and other misconduct. This is in addition to frequent complaints that TSA workers are rude and bullying.
I support disbanding the TSA and privatizing airport security again, as well as reforming and streamlining airport screening procedures so they are more efficient and less invasive. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Republicans and Democrats are to blame for creating this mess in reaction to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Now they must clean it up.

Photos: Photo illustrations by Max Trombly. 

Porn stars molested by TSA agents just for grins, not security

Come on, TSA. Why do you keep hassling porn stars?
No terrorist past, present or future has looked like an adult film actress. So the only reason you molest porn stars is to cop a feel of their sexy curves. Admit it.
What follows is a sampling of posts to Twitter by porn stars venting about the TSA over the past six months. (See also May 24 post titled "TSA agents can’t keep their hands off porn stars.")

“Just violated by TSA for real #real talk #pissed #ugh #wtf” – Tasha Reign (June 17, 2012)

“Got molested by TSA like never before :-/” – Alexis Amore (Aug. 15, 2012)

“I would've prefer to have my hair pulled & my ass slapped next time the tsa agent does a twice-over pat down on my breasts & crotch...” – Jayden Cole (June 3, 2012)

“Enjoyed a full frontal boob #PatDown courtesy of #TSA - always a pleasure flying the #FriendlySkies” – Janet Mason (July 19, 2012)

“Just got screened by the #TSA for traces of explosives on my hands... and on my #ass ~ #nojoke” – Vicky Vette (July 25, 2012)

“Thank you TSA for molesting me” – Tiffany Fox (Aug. 21, 2012)

“This is the 7th time in a row TSA has "randomly" selected me for additional screening. No coincidence & obviously not random.... but why?” – Aurora Snow (Sept. 5, 2012)

“TSA at Philadelphia airport is the worst in the country I filed 2 complaints got a guy fired:)” – Tera Patrick (June 24, 2012)

“Just got a VERY THOROUGH patdown by TSA while going through security..apparently my dermals caused alarm &they felt the need to feel me up” – Katie King (Oct. 21, 2012)

Porn star Chanel Preston said she got yelled at by TSA agents for tying her shoe during one of the TSA’s “freeze” drills on Oct. 16.

“TSA guy thought I was using my little sister's ID. Thought I looked 12. It very clearly says 23 ya doofus.” – Brooklyn Lee (July 4, 2012)

Nicki Minaj, Kal Penn, other celebrities complain about TSA abuses

Celebrities are just like you and me – they hate the TSA too.
Well, except for actor Ben Affleck, who recently defended the Transportation Security Administration by saying, “They grab your dick a little bit. It’s not the end of the world.”
And just like average Americans, they take to Twitter to complain about TSA abuses, misconduct and inefficiencies.
What follows is a sampling of celebrity tweets about encounters with TSA agents in the last six months. (See also the May 23 blog post “Adam Levine, Kyra Sedgwick, other celebs talk about getting felt up by TSA agents” and the May 24 post “More celebrities speak out against the TSA.”)

Sexually assaulted by TSA agents

Singer-rapper Nicki Minaj accused a TSA agent of groping her on July 9. She also complained that TSA screeners tried to prevent her from taking photos of the scene. (See articles by the Daily Mail and Twitchy Entertainment.)

“Pretty sure I was just overtly fondled @ this check point. By a very old lady w/an accent. Word?” – Nicki Minaj (July 9, 2012)

“So TSA always takes pics of me while doing their job! But wld u believe they just told ME EYE couldn't take pics???? Wow. #luckyIMsick” – Nicki Minaj (July 9, 2012)

Comic actor Rob Schneider tweeted about getting molested by TSA agents on June 27 and Sept. 10.

“Just went thru airport security where I 'opted out' of the full body scan x-ray and went for the free crotch massage! So relaxing!” – Rob Schneider (June 27, 2012)

“I'd like to thank TSA Agent Davenport at DFW Airport for touching my penis. He was gentle yet firm. He managed to get me on both sides! Wow” – Rob Schneider (Sept. 10, 2012)

Actor Kal Penn tweeted about getting TSA pat-downs on Aug. 13, Sept. 7 and Oct. 31.

“Very thorough inguinal massage from #TSA this morning.” – Kal Penn (Aug. 13, 2012)

On Sept. 7, Penn was spotted getting a “ridiculously long” pat-down at the Charlotte, N.C., airport. (See article by Twitchy Entertainment.) He joked that it was a “great buttocks massage.”

Then on Halloween, Penn posted photos of himself in a Tigger costume getting an airport pat-down. 

Penn’s “Harold and Kumar” co-star John Cho also tweeted about getting an aggressive TSA pat-down recently.

“Gonna take a silkwood shower now to forget about my experience with Manchester TSA. #exceptionallythorough” – John Cho (Sept. 17, 2012)

Country music singer John Rich, comedian D.L. Hughley, Go-Go’s rocker Jane Wiedlin and actress Mayim Bialik have tweeted about their gropings at the hands of the TSA as well.

“Just got GROPED by the TSA in Kansas City. Of There was a lady in a wheelchair being groped too so I can't totally bitch. TSA=Outta control” – John Rich (July 29, 2012)

“I got patted down 2 day! If I was gonna sneak something n my pants it wouldn't be a bomb it'd be my luggage so I could avoid all those fees!” – D.L. Hughley (June 19, 2012)

“At Baltimore Airport. Got my customary groping, no happy ending. You can't spell TEASE without #TSA ! Im off to Wisconsin to visit family.” – Jane Wiedlin (Aug. 6, 2012)

“My sexytime with #TSA was especially good this morning. Now I'm craving a cigarette. #IDontSmoke” – Jane Wiedlin (Sept. 20, 2012)

“TSA rant: really? I “can't fly” unless I let you vigorously pat down my injured hand with its isotoner compression glove? Can't fly? Unbelievable. I took it off, endured pain and my blood pressure rose 50 points. But at least now I can fly.” – Mayim Bialik (Oct. 17, 2012)

Singer Solange Knowles raised a ruckus when she tweeted about a TSA agent fingering her hair. (See articles by the Daily Mail, Global Grind and Styleite.)

“Lets play a little game called: "What did TSA find in Solange's Fro"?” – Solange Knowles (Nov. 14, 2012)

Rude TSA agents 

“is it only me that thinks TSA agents slowly turning into carnival barkers? #iknowtotakemyshoesoff,thanks” – actress Kristen Bell. (July 6, 2012)

“Wearing sweater dress. Can't fully raise my hands above my head for body scan without it getting short. "u didn't think about that??" – TSA” – model Christine Teigen (Sept. 21, 2012)

“No TSA. i don't get up in the morning and wonder how i should dress for your stupid full body scanner.” – model Christine Teigen (Sept. 21, 2012)

Nudie scanners, dumb liquid rules and other indignities 

“"Is your name Joseph?" the TSA lady smirked at me, recognizing my face before directing me into the x-ray thingy to view my naked body :o(” – actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Oct. 6, 2012)

“I was relieved of a $6 tube of Crest at the airport. My teeth now have beef with the TSA.” – actor Dax Shepard (Oct. 16, 2012)

“Can't believe they just toss out liquids at the airport... U know how many ppl in this world don't even have soap?! #blasphemy” – Singer Aubrey O’Day (July 8, 2012)

“You know you're country when: the item confiscated from you at airport security is your to-go cup of pinto beans!” – actress Ashley Judd (Oct. 5, 2012)

“I forgot & they took my 'spensive face creams, lotions, etc. All because some asshole tried to set his shoes on fire.” – actress Kristen Johnston (Sept. 14, 2012)

Actor William Shatner made headlines when he talked about his pants falling down during a TSA pat-down. (See his June 28, 2012, tweet and a video of him recounting the incident to Craig Ferguson.)

Disturbing trend: TSA agents vandalizing travelers’ property

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has taken a lot of flak lately for numerous instances of thievery. But I’d like to shine a light another TSA offense – vandalism of traveler’s property.

As administrator of the Twitter account @TSArants, I’ve documented a lot of complaints about the TSA – more than 20,000 over the last 10 months. That’s just a small sample of all the complaints on Twitter about TSA.

Mixed in with the usual complaints about TSA sexual molestation and thuggery are quite a few reports about TSA agents breaking stuff. I have seen numerous reports of broken luggage and bicycles and dropped notebook computers.

But the vandalism I find most disturbing are the cases were TSA agents open a bottle of shampoo or other liquid in a traveler’s suitcase and dump it all over their clothes. This sort of behavior is mean-spirited and juvenile, to say the least.

I can picture TSA agents having a good laugh as they pour perfume over a traveler’s clothes in a suitcase they’re inspecting. Then, to top it off, they throw in the standard form that says the bag has been inspected by the TSA.

It’s bad enough that TSA agents steal from luggage they’re inspecting, but vandalizing someone’s personal items is just nasty.

Here are a few representative tweets from the last couple of weeks.

On Oct. 6, Caleb Bachman of Oklahoma tweeted that his luggage had been violated.

“Just got home and found that our checked bag was opened and subsequently pillaged by TSA. Broken/damaged items, ruined clothes, etc. Awesome,” he wrote.

On Oct. 10, Twitter user @MereMir wrote, “Dear TSA, thanks for ruining a $200 amazing bottle of perfume I got for my birthday and spilling it all over my new birthday gifts. Really appreciate and look forward to our next meeting.” She included a photo of the empty perfume bottle and a TSA Notice of Baggage Inspection. (See her Instagram photo above.)

Also on Oct. 10, Deb Roundtree wrote, “So, I wonder if the TSA purposely dumped a bottle of shampoo inside of my luggage yesterday.”

On Oct. 11, Michael Creasy of San Francisco wrote, “My bag was ‘inspected’ by the TSA. They didn’t bother to re-wrap the jar of BBQ sauce in my bag. So it smashed. Ruined clothes.”

On Oct. 13, Stephanie Reed of Danville, Va., tweeted that a shampoo bottle had been opened and spilled all over her clothes in her checked luggage. And the lid from a pill bottle also was left open. (See her Instagram photo at the top of this article.)

On Oct. 14, Craig L. Chapman wrote, “Dear #TSA this is the second laptop screen you broke. Your carelessness and ineffectiveness is a burden to this nation.” He included a photo with his post. (See below.)