THE BY PASSING OF SECURITY BY ALMOST ALL AIRPORT WORKERS: Letter to Kate Hanni from an Airline Captain (Name witheld to protect him)

Hi Kate,

I saw you on Fox news. I’m a Captain for a major Airline based in Seattle and you and the rest of the media are unfortunately completely missing the story here. I park in a remote employee lot and ride the bus in with all the other airport workers. We call it the Mogadishu Express because nearly all airport workers now are Muslim. We all get off the bus together in the basement and ride the elevators up to the Terminal and cross the walkway into the terminal......... and then all these Muslims and other airport workers go downstairs and bypass security while only the Pilots and Flight attendants go up and are paraded through security in full dress uniform.

We Crewmembers are TSA’s pawns so the public can see us and feel like TSA is doing a thorough job, i.e. “ If the pilots have to go through too, then we must be safe Grandma”. TSA is a complete fraud. An army of these Muslim woman that have just bypassed security then come on my plane in full Muslim garb to clean it between flights. ( Please, I’m not picking on Muslims but simply trying to make my point). Then, all the ramp workers( most from Somalia as of this week, hired by Menzies) who have also bypassed security load the bags and then push my aircraft back from the gate so we can taxi.

They have all had complete unrestricted access to every lavatory, overhead bin, seatback, cargo hold, galley, nose gear wheel well as they disconnect the tow bar (read sticky bomb) and every other access panel on my aircraft. I feel a much greater threat from all these unscreened aircraft workers than I do from the passengers boarding my aircraft! TSA is nothing more than a giant overfunded whitewash perpetrated on the flying public to make them feel safe.PERIOD.

The janitors cleaning the restrooms inside the secure area of the terminal have bypassed security, the Mechanics working on my aircraft have bypassed security, the Skycaps pushing the old folks down the jet way in the wheelchairs have bypassed security, all the gate agents boarding the flight have bypassed security. All the construction workers at our airports have bypassed security and on and on. Are you starting to get the picture?

Pistole will first deny this then will relent and tell you they have all had a thorough background check. (Read drivers license check). I have been fingerprinted and checked by the FBI and I still go through security every single day and yet these thousands and thousands of Muslim and other airport workers bypass our nations security....... each and every day! There is no security.......its all a scam. Either every single person in the “secure area” has been screened by TSA or there is no security. Don’t even get me started on the body cavity bomber which makes these obtrusive scans and Genital pat downs instantly obsolete. I wish just one person in the media would pick up what is so obvious to the rest of us. THE BY PASSING OF SECURITY BY ALMOST ALL AIRPORT WORKERS.

Sincerely,

Airline Captain Based in Seattle

(Since I don't want to be turned in to Joe the Plumber I prefer to remain anonymous)

Public Concern Over TSA Screening Grows

Public Concern Over TSA Screening Grows
A new poll by Zogby International demonstrates the increasing public concern about full-body scanners that use low-level X-rays and extremely invasive pat-downs. Members of Congress and the flying public are just starting to uncover the numerous problems with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's decision to deploy these scanners without adequate public input.

Ralph Nader
November 23, 2010


An excerpt from the Zogby International news release follows:

Zogby Interactive: 61% Oppose Full Body Scans and TSA Pat Downs; 48% Will Seek Alternative to Flying Frequent Fliers: 59% Oppose Enhancements and 43% Will Seek Alternative to Flying

The implementation of full body scans and pat downs by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as part of security enhancements at our nation's airports will cause 48% of Americans and 42% of more frequent fliers to choose a different mode of transportation when possible, a recent Zogby International Poll finds. Overall, 61% of the 2,032 likely voters polled from Nov. 19 to Nov. 22, oppose the use of full body scans and TSA pat downs. Republicans (69%) and Independents (65%) oppose in greater numbers than Democrats (50%). Of those polled, 52% believe the enhanced security measures will not prevent terrorist activity, almost half (48%) say it is a violation of privacy rights, 33% say they should not have to go through enhanced security methods to get on an airplane, and 32% believe the full body scans and TSA pat downs to be sexual harassment. This is in line with frequent fliers (fly more than once every 3 months), as 53% say the enhanced measures will not prevent terrorist activity, 48% believe it's a violation of their privacy rights, 41% say they should not have to go through it to get on an airplane, and 35% believe it is sexual harassment.

The full text of the Zogby International news release is available at:
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.cfm?ID=1925

A new cartoon by Matthew Marran appears at: http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewm5/who-says-bureaucrats-are-out-of-touch-zgz

FlyersRights.org Says "Opt-Out" of Scanners!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2010
Contact: Kate Hanni 707-337-0328

Flyers Rights Launches “ScannerGate” Petition to protest use of
Scanners and “Enhanced” Pat Down Mechanisms as Primary Screening Method

Flyers Rights (www.flyersrights.org) the largest Airline passenger rights group in the world, today announced the launch of a Petition to protest the implementation of Backscatter Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) Machines as well as the “Enhanced” Pat Down Mechanisms for those who “Opt Out” of the machines.

“The TSA has offered no credible specifications for Radiation emitted by these machines, and multiple constituencies, including the US Airline Pilots Association are declining to be screened. The TSA has also implemented an “Enhanced” Pat Down procedure that includes touching the genitals as well breasts and buttocks. It’s clear the intent behind this new Pat Down process is to discourage Flyers from opting out of the AIT Scanners,” Said Kate Hanni, Director of Flyers Rights.
“We are asking all Travelers to sign this petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/StopScan/

The Petition is called “ScannerGate: Privacy is Paramount.”

“We believe that all the TSA is doing is adding layers of security- and in this case, more is not better- more is just more. We believe that both the AIT and Enhanced Pat Down Mechanisms are a violation of all Americans 4th Amendment rights against unreasonable search. It’s time for the TSA to adopt Risk Based, Intelligent Screening, and not simply add layers on the existing process.”

Legendary Consumer Rights Advocate Ralph Nader, Attorney Paul Hudson and Flyers Rights Director Kate Hanni had sent a request for a meeting to John Pistole and Janet Napolitano and thus far have not been contacted for that meeting. http://tinyurl.com/2cqomrs

“It’s unacceptable that the TSA and DHS would meet with Travel Groups, Pilots, Flight Attendants, Hotels etc. and NOT meet with the largest passengers rights group in the world,” said Kate.

Flyers Rights advice to their membership and all who are traveling through the holidays is as follows:

o Opt out of scanners
o Ask for a private room for your pat down WITH a witness,
o If you have a child under the age of 12 you can ask the ticket agent if your child was pre-selected for additional screening, if they were you can ask to have them de-selected.
o If during the screening process/pat down you feel you or your child was molested call the authorities.
o Don’t wear metal and if you aren’t pre-selected for additional screening you might avoid the dreaded pat down.

Maker of Naked Body Scanners CEO accompanies President Obama to India...

OSI Systems Chief Executive Officer Joins US Presidential Visit to India


HAWTHORNE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- OSI Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIS), a vertically-integrated provider of specialized electronic products for critical applications in the Security and Healthcare industries, today announced that Deepak Chopra, Chairman and CEO, was selected to accompany US President, Barack Obama, to Mumbai and attended the US India Business Entrepreneurship meeting, which was held by the US India Business Council (US IBC). The goal of the meeting was to promote further trade between US and India.

Deepak Chopra, OSI Systems President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "I am honored to be selected to play a role in this very important cause. Currently the trade between US and India is only one tenth of the amount of trade between US and China. There is substantial opportunity to improve the trade relations with India for mutual economic gain."

The US India Business Council is a business advocacy organization representing America's top companies investing in India, joined by global Indian companies, with an aim to deepen trade and strengthen commercial ties.

About OSI Systems, Inc.

OSI Systems, Inc. is a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of specialized electronic systems and components for critical applications in the homeland security, healthcare, defense and aerospace industries. We combine more than 30 years of electronics engineering and manufacturing experience with offices and production facilities in more than a dozen countries to implement a strategy of expansion into selective end product markets. For more information on OSI Systems Inc. or any of its subsidiary companies, visit www.osi-systems.com. News Filter: OSIS-G




OSI Systems Inc
Ajay Vashishat
Vice President, Business Development
310-349-2237
avashishat@osi-systems.com

Source: OSI Systems, Inc.


News Provided by Acquire Media

Letter to DHS Secretary Napolitano/Adm.Pistole and Secretary LaHood regarding Body Scanners and Pat Downs

November 7, 2010

Hon. Janet Napolitano
Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Hon. Ray LaHood
Secretary, Department of Transportation
US Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590

Administrator John Pistole
US Transportation Security Administration
TSA-1 Administrator
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA 20598

Dear Secretaries Napolitano, La Hood, and Administrator Pistole:

We are writing to urgently request a meeting (if possible on November 15th or 18th) with you on the use and roll out of whole body scanners and enhanced pat downs by the TSA. These new procedures are extreme. They involve invasions of the personal privacy with hands being placed on genital areas and private body parts and/or electronic strip searches of airline passengers. They should require an extreme justification.

This new procedure has been received with shock and horror by many airline passengers and will no doubt involve much litigation and national negative publicity as it becomes a standard procedure employed against millions of airline passengers. See attachments.

At the very least, there should be a robust debate by aviation security experts and a full presentation to an expanded Aviation Security Advisory Committee with opportunity for critics to be heard before these new procedures are implemented.

In virtually every case of attempted bombing or hijacking of airliners by a passenger since 9/11, it has been airline passengers with flight attendants who foiled the terrorists, not TSA. Without public support and understanding, terrorists can have a victory merely by generating fear and opposition by the public to TSA procedures, especially if --as some security experts maintain-- the current back scatter scanners are ineffective, unnecessary and their adoption owes more to the political connections of a former Secretary of Homeland Security with financial interests in this technology, than to actual need and merit.
Sincerely,

/s/ Kate Hanni
Executive Director
Flyersrights.org


/s/ Paul Hudson
Executive Director
Aviation Consumer Action Project
Former Member, Aviation Security Advisory Committee (1997-2007)
Member, FAA Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee, Executive Committee

/s/ Ralph Nader
Consumer Advocate

Cc TSA Chief Counsel
US Transportation Security Administration
TSA-2 Administrator
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA 20598

Contact Information:
FlyersRights.org
1-877-359-3776 Hotline
1-707-337-0328 cellular

Aviation Consumer Action Project
1-410-940-8934
240-391-1923 fax
acapaviation@yahoo.com

Ralph Nader
Consumer Advocate,
P.O. Box 19312 ,
Washington DC 20036
202-387-8030
202-234-5176 fax

Stop the Body Scanners and Pat Downs NOW!

http://www.petitiononline.com/StopScan/petition.html

Must Read Article by FRO Board Member Paul Hudson, esq.

http://library.constantcontact.com/doc200/1102516344999/doc/mXwhHBB0mPPIRtIS.pdf

Click here to contribute to FlyersRights.org!  www.flyersrights.org Seat Pitch-the Next Battleground? Some Airlines Looking at Seat Pitch as Profit Booster Seat Pitch Safety and Health Issues Fees, Fees, Fees Kate's Week Seat Pitch as Airline Profit Booster? Taking the term "Cattle Car" to the next level, meet SkyRider, a new airline seat that resembles a padded saddle and lets airline pack in up to 40% more travelers per flight.   There is, apparently, no upper limit on ridiculous. Even as airline passenger rights legislation builds momentum through Congress, airlines are still looking for other ways to squeeze us. Seat pitch is the distance between rows of seats - the measurement from the same position on two seats, one behind the other - it is NOT the legroom area, as some believe. (For example, the back face of the seat in front of you, measured to the same point on the back face of the seat you are sitting in).  There are no FAA standards for seat pitch.  As things stand, the airlines can do whatever they want with it. How much seat pitch do the airlines provide now?  The Skytrax site, run by research organization Airline Equality, published a report of current pitch offerings.  Depending on the airline, first class pitch is between 80 and 94 inches, while coach pitch is between 31 and 35 inches.  So now what?  The picture at the right illustrates the seat.  According to a YahooNews article, these little beauties would decrease pitch to about twenty-three inches!  Think about your last, miserable coach ride, sitting in a pitch space in the low-thirties range.  "Hey," say the manufacturers, "Cowboys work all day in a saddle, no problem."  Are any of you riders?  How long did it take you to get over that hideous, saddle-sore feeling?  Did any of you ever notice how funny cowboys walk?  Do you want to do a cowboy walk from Gate D5,231 to the baggage area at The William B. Hartsfield Airport? The obvious discomfort aside, there are serious health and safety issues associated with this design.   Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein.  The clot can break loose and travel to the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism.  Immobility on long airline flights has been directly linked to DVT formation.  In fact, DVT is the second-leading cause of death on airplanes.  Think you're immobile in coach now?  How about sitting on a saddle for four to six hours?  This is not just a matter of inconvenience and discomfort.  It is likely to be a matter of life and death! Another life and death consideration is the ability to quickly evacuate an aircraft.  The FAA says in the Code of Federal Regulations that carriers must demonstrate the ability to fully evacuate an aircraft in 90 seconds. Obviously, the closer the seat pitch, the more difficult it is to get out of the row-especially if you're in a window seat.  Do you want to be trapped in an airplane in an emergency just so the airlines can increase their bottom line? This idea seems ridiculous on the face of it, but then, who thought airlines would ever charge us to move our bags with us, eliminate food service, think about installing pay toilets, open up an onboard blanket and pillow concession, and otherwise nickel and dime us to death each and every time we fly? What do you think?  Visit our form at http://www.flyersrights.org/phpBB3/index.php and weigh in under the News heading, topic Saddle Seats.  While you're at it, take a look at our web site and sign our petition in support of airline passenger rights. Seat Pitch Safety and Health Issues We received an e-mail from member JoBeth C. last week, providing a vivid example of the DVT issue we discussed above.  Here's her story, in her own words: I flew from Madrid to Atlanta in May on Delta. When I got to my row, I had to climb over the aisle seat to get to my middle seat--there was no way a human adult could stand in the few inches of legroom, even with all the seats upright. I picked up a Sky Mall catalog and measured my space: 11 inches, from my nose to the seatback in front of me. Delta's website says I can expect 30 inches minimum, so I guess they reconfigured the rows from what would have been normal. Nearly every seat on the flight seemed to have at least 30 inches of space, and some had much more. No other rows were as tight as this one.  My seat's overhead light would only illuminate the man's head in front of me. My tray table was only four inches deep, but I couldn't use it because it hit my seat arms and bounced up. Obviously, something was not right on this row, but the flight was full. My knees hit the seat in front (I'm normal weight for my 5'8" height) and within an hour, I had a cramp in one leg from being pretzeled into such a tight space. The seat belt light stayed on for about 80% of the flight, despite any noticeable turbulence -- I got up anyway, as much as possible, trying to get the cramp to subside. It was the most horrible flight I have been on in 30 years of frequent travel -- and I was stuck in that seat nearly 10 hours. The horrifying result: I now have a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis or DVT) in my right ankle. This is not normal for an active 46-year-old, so my doctors are pretty sure it was this Madrid flight that did it. I have had to inject myself with blood thinners, and will be on Coumadin for at least three months, or possibly for the rest of my life. That leg vein will never be the same.  In addition, my lower back went into spasm after the flight, and I am in physical therapy to treat that. DVT is, according to recent studies, so common that it will strike one person on every two flights -- but those are only the ones we KNOW about.  DVT can be fatal and disabling, yet is often mistaken for other illnesses and injuries (as in my case: one doctor told me I'd only sprained a tendon). It is considered the number one preventable reason for hospitalization in the U.S. I complained in writing to Delta, with no result.  So I complained to the DOT, to the FAA, and to my wonderful senator, Barbara Boxer. I am trying to get the word out; an elderly or injured person sitting in a seat like this one would have a very high chance of having a fatal or disabling clot. To me, this is a life or death issue, and definitely needs to be addressed in any legislation about passenger's rights. I have spent thousands and lost weeks of work, thanks to Delta's greed: they may make a few extra dollars by truncating that seat row, but they may be directly causing millions of dollars in costs to passengers.  Fees, Fees, Fees The DOT Notice of Proposed Rulemaking contains a number of proposals on airline fees.  First, they think that the airlines need to disclose all those junk fees up front, so that we can make informed decisions regarding real ticket prices.  Kate appeared on the Fox Business Channel Friday, discussing this very issue.  They also say that if we have to pay an airline $25 to $50 to deliver our bag to us at our destination, then they should deliver the bag at destination!  If not, give us our money back, they say. These and the other proposals are absolutely reasonable, but, of course, the forces of the airlines and their supporting organizations are rallying to fight them.  "Reasonable" and "airline" are not words normally seen in the same sentence, we fear.  The Airline Transport Association, true to form, has issued a statement of objection to the DOT's suggestion that airlines should return money for unfulfilled contracts, like baggage delivery.  If you and your bag don't arrive at the same place at the same time, the airline has failed to fulfill their contract with you, and the money involved in that contract should be returned to you.  Carl Unger published a wonderful article on the Smarter Travel web site, stating the ATA's objections and then demolishing them, one by one.  Please take a minute to click on that article. Friends, the airlines will do whatever falls under the "Because They Can" category until we stand up and tell them they can't.  None of this regulation activity- any of it- need have happened, but most airlines have acted without regard for us, and with total regard for their bottom line, for so long that it's obvious the government needs to step in. Kate's Week Kate talked with USA Today's Gary Stoller last week, discussing the fee issue.  To read his article, click here.  MSNBC asked Kate to weigh in on the tarmac delay rule controversy again, and she did that in the interview for this story.  Finally, as we mentioned above, she appeared on the Fox Business Channel Friday morning in a live interview, discussing the unbundled fee issue. We now have a blog spot on the Huffington Post!  Check out Kate's first posting.  As always, she fielded e-mails and phone calls from members raising passenger rights issues and concerns. "The War Is Not Over" Click here to contribute to FlyersRights.org!  www.flyersrights.org

Stuck on the Tarmac? Not Anymore!

Stuck on the Tarmac? Not Anymore!

Latest DOT Data Proves 3 HOUR Tarmac Rule a Resounding Success for Passengers

Napa, CA-- According to figures released today from the Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report for July, the number of flights with delays of more than three hours has dropped an astonishing 98% from a year earlier. The report also found that the period May – June of 2009, there were a total of 463 tarmac delays of over 3 hours at American airports. In the same period for May-July of 2010 that figure dropped to only 7 tarmac delays.

“FlyersRights.org is thrilled with the success of the Tarmac Delay Rule, and continues to seek further protections for the flying public through the next DOT rulemaking International flights being included in the 3 hour rule, transparency of unbundled fees, and many more issues.” said Kate Hanni, founder and spokesman for the flier advocacy group. “We are gratified to see our efforts benefitting the flying public and will continue to support additional protections for the consumer.”

In the three months since the Tarmac Delay Rule was implemented by the Department of Transportation in May 2010, the eighteen domestic airline carriers that file performance data with the DOT report that only American Eagle Airlines registered a total of three flights that were stranded longer than the three-hour limit. On July 23rd, three American Eagle flights originating from Chicago were forced to wait on the runway due to severe thunderstorms in the area. Those flights were ultimately cancelled due to the weather.

The new tarmac delay rule prohibits U.S. airlines operating domestic flights from permitting an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours without deplaning passengers, with exceptions allowed only for safety or security or if air traffic control advises the pilot in command that returning to the terminal would disrupt airport operations. Ray LaHood, Secretary of the Department of Transportation, put the popular new rule into place earlier this year in response to public outrage over several highly publicized incidents where flights were delayed sometimes more than 10 hours before passengers were released.

In spite of fierce opposition from the airlines and dire predictions of rampant cancellations due to the new rule, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows only a slight increase in cancelled flights.

The drop in tarmac delays was not entirely unexpected since the airlines could be subjected to severe monetary penalties for exceeding the three-hour limitation imposed. But the size of the reduction caught many industry analysts by surprise.

FlyersRights.org is the largest, non-profit, airline passengers rights group in the country with 30,000 members. Contact Kate@flyersrights.org for info or (707) 337-0328

FlyersRights.org Releases Tax Returns for Public Inspection

FlyersRights.org Releases Tax Returns; Proves What a Grass Roots Organization Can Accomplish With Limited Resources!

NAPA, Calif., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- FlyersRights.org 990s are now available on our website at http://www.flyersrights.org/tax.pdf for public inspection. We believe the public should have easy access to our organization's 990s.

"With very limited resources, FlyersRights.org was able to accomplish what few other grass roots campaigns have accomplished: meaningful progress toward our goal of recognized rights for airline passengers. Adoption of the 3-hour rule was a huge victory for airline passengers, against an industry that lobbied with millions of dollars to keep passengers captive on board stranded airplanes."

For more information, email kate@flyersrights.com.

Contact: Kate Hanni (707) 337-0328


SOURCE FlyersRights.org

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