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TSA watch: They’re looking for the wrong thing – and congratulating themselves for it

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

If that’s true, then I should probably feel privileged that my old friend Bob Burns has started a “week in review” feature on the TSA site to highlight the positive things his agency has done – and presumably, to counter all of the unfortunate events I tend to write about every week in TSA watch.

But in this week’s post, Burns covers one event for which the TSA deserves to be recognized — and several that left me puzzled.
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What would you do if you had a time machine?


I have to assume that the video clip making the rounds on the Internet today — you know, the one of an old lady clutching a cell phone in 1928 — is a hoax. But let’s just say it isn’t and that time travel is possible.

Where would you go if you could travel in time?

Maybe you’d rewind the clock and undo your biggest mistakes. The girl who got away. The job you should have never taken. The times you should have said “no” instead of “yes.”

I wouldn’t.
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A fee to pay? What’ll they think of next?

You probably don’t want to know. But companies are now routinely charging customers a fee (most of it is pure profit to them) to pay their bills. The latest, reports the Los Angeles Times, is a fee to pay a Verizon phone bill.

Beginning Oct. 16, Verizon Communications will charge $3.50 for any nonrecurring payment using a credit or debit card. In other words, if you don’t sign up for their regular bill-paying program and prefer to pay each month with plastic, you’ll pay more.

If that sounds as outrageous to you as it does to me, brace yourself: Other businesses, including credit cards, charge in the “pay to pay” scheme. You could be the next victim.
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Cellphones and electronic devices on airplanes: Time to rethink the policy?

How do you know that the rules restricting electronics on planes are impractical? When you see a crew member openly texting at 36,000 feet.

That’s what Peter Zapalo says he saw on a recent Southwest Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Denver. On his way to the lavatory, Zapalo, an exercise physiologist from Philadelphia, spotted a crew member who appeared to be messaging on his BlackBerry.

“I was maybe two feet from him and you could see his text, a response, and his reply,” Zapalo said. “I’m sure passengers are sneaking around and doing this all the time, but c’mon — the flight attendant?”
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