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Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

bbc.com

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Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#781

Post by ssl-3 »

pc86 wrote: post #731
ssl-3 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The grunts working for TSA on the floor at airports aren't desperately clinging for the notion that they're doing something important, or working towards some lofty, noble, and/or altruistic goal. It's just a job. They're principally motivated to do this job by the promise of a steady paycheck and decent benefits -- the same motivation that most other people with steady paychecks and decent benefits also have.

You never saw that Reddit thread where the guy who barely got his GED insisted he was a "federal officer," did you?

I don't pay attention to the stuff that breeds on Reddit. So, no; I never saw that, and I don't care to.

But I am pretty sure that punching down on people with GEDs is rather disingenuously classist, and that's no way behave. You can do better than that.

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#782

Post by eigencoder »

JasonADrury wrote: post #165
edm0nd wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. In the US, the TSA is just a government jobs program for the lowly skilled or unskilled. It's all security theater. TSA Chief Out After Agents Fail 95 Percent of Airport Breach Tests "In one case, an alarm sounded, but even during a pat-down, the screening officer failed to detect a fake plastic explosive taped to an undercover agent's back. In all, so-called "Red Teams" of Homeland Security agents posing as…

I routinely conceal large bottles of liquids on my person while going through airport security. I've probably gone through airport security in various places with a 1.5L bottle of water more than a hundred times now. Haven't been caught once, although of course the US-style scanners could presumably defeat this. Same with hot sauces, perfume and the occasional bottles of wine. I really don't like to travel with a che…

Nice! I always bring razor blades (they're hard to buy on-location) and I've never had them taken.

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#783

Post by shigawire »

givemeethekeys wrote: post #692
Waterluvian wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like my experiences in Toronto. It’s less adversarial than the experiences I've had in the U.S. My experiences were basically a form of, “Hey we saw something that caught our attention and might be an issue. Let's work through addressing this." One case it was a handful of 3.5" galvanized nails. "Whoops. Okay, so, this bag used to be my makeshift toolbag. My other one ripped and I had to get one last minu…

Worst and most aggressive pat down I have ever experienced was in Toronto for no reason that I can think of, so I have learned to be stoic about all interactions with gate keepers, regardless of country. You never know when someone had a bad cup of tea just before the met you.

Was it US customs or the Canadian TSA equivalent?

US customs were less friendly in my limited experience.

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#784

Post by fishywang »

I was flying out of LHR yesterday (Monday). I read the news before so asked the agent at security check "I don't need to empty my water bottle now right?" and she was like "nah that's only for up to 2 litres in a clear/plastic bottle, not a metal flask bottle" or something along those lines. I was using a Stanley metal water bottle. So I still had to empty my bottle.

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#785

Post by angry_octet »

Scoundreller wrote: post #494
angry_octet wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been in many airports where there is no water on the other side of the X-ray. At KLIA and DPS they have none to buy even, and then you have to fight for it on the plane. At CDG you have to buy it, no water fountain. It's extremely aggravating.

I’ve definitely found free water fountains at CDG. Now, one of the Bucharest airports literally does not have potable tap water. Their well, being under an airport and all, is contaminated. By email, they did inform me that the water is microbiologically fine. Unsure of their pipe to the municipal system was been built out.

Well none at the AA gates, just had to buy it at Relay at usurious prices.

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#786

Post by Waterluvian »

shigawire wrote: post #783
givemeethekeys wrote: post #692

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worst and most aggressive pat down I have ever experienced was in Toronto for no reason that I can think of, so I have learned to be stoic about all interactions with gate keepers, regardless of country. You never know when someone had a bad cup of tea just before the met you.

Was it US customs or the Canadian TSA equivalent? US customs were less friendly in my limited experience.

While there's U.S. Customs agents in Pearson, the entirety of security is done by CATSA. I cannot imagine U.S. Customs doing any sort of pat down. I'm not sure they'd even be allowed to do anything like that in Toronto. I think they're pretty much only allowed to screen and admit or reject.

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#787

Post by angry_octet »

weberer wrote: post #606
angry_octet wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is often no free water.

I've been all over the USA, continental Europe, and Japan, and there have always been water fountains. Granted, I've never been to one of the "don't drink the tap water" countries.

I just had this experience at CDG, at the AA gate. I really don't know why people seem to think this is a made up problem. You may have found drinkable water at your gate, but airports are big, and your experience is not universal.

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#788

Post by ncallaway »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #681
labcomputer wrote: post #595

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No they’re playing the long game. It’s for if they need to deport (and/or jail) you later. Lying on a customs form is a valid reason to revoke a visa, and it’s an open and shut case.

Is traveling to the US for the purpose of engaging in espionage not also a valid reason to revoke a visa?

It’s often an easier case to prove that you lied on the form when you said you came to the US with no intent to commit espionage than it is to prove that someone committed espionage.

It basically unlocks a second set of potential facts that they can use to bring a criminal case (or revoke a visa, etc).

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#789

Post by thomassmith65 »

James_K wrote: post #767
thomassmith65 wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's difficult to take down a skyscraper with a train. Yes, 'shop terrorism' can be a problem (see: the UK during the Troubles). I do agree with the implication that society must tolerate a certain amount of terrorism to avoid turning into a police state. That does not mean that airplane terrorism, without strict security, is so rare that we can ignore it.

Neither can most planes given the cockpit is sealed and locked. I suppose one could strategically try to take it down over a populated area, but that doesn't really seem reliable. The truth of the matter is that people can smuggle bombs onto aeroplanes relatively easily, and you don't see many blowing up. And it's not even entirely clear that planes can always take out buildings. The twin towers only collapsed becaus…

Cockpits are sealed and locked today because of regulations the establishment introduced in the aftermath of 9/11.

If airplane hijackings were as easy to pull off today as prior to 9/11 then they presumably would occur with a similar frequency. I don't think I've read news of a recent hijacking in over a decade.

Re: Heathrow scraps liquid container limit

#790

Post by imcritic »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #354
imcritic wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it just you? Or do they apply the same policy for every visitor with a bottle of liquid?

Just a guess but at a museum I assume they're looking out for vandals. If it's a water bottle the counterpart would be something like concentrated sodium hydroxide in which case a single sip is sufficient. Not sure how they would handle dye in a paper coffee cup though.

I doubt that's against vandals I think it's against terrorists with liquid explosives/poison.
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