TSA confiscates photographer's blower because it could be filled with gunpowder and used as a missile

boing
21

I think if they were to check with their bosses about their purpose, they would find that no confusion whatsoever had occurred.

22

Rubbing a little chocolate pudding on the tip would be a nice touch.

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What color wires did they undo? They should know to never touch the red wire.

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Can we please please PLEASE get an intelligence test requirement for TSA applicants?

25

To measure the maximum eligible for hire?

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“History doesn’t repeat itself - at best it sometimes rhymes” - Mark Twain

via reddit
“FYI- if you attempt to fly with a Giottos Rocket Blower (you know, rubber bulb you squeeze to force air down a nozzle to blow dust off your sensor- no metal, no moving parts), TSA may confiscate it because it “looks like a bomb”, no questions asked.”

08 Mar 2012

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Well, there we go! You can bring anything you want on board. Just stuff it into a fake battery-shaped metal compartment, placed inside a ‘personal pleasure device’ of whatever description - something that would hold c-cells ought to do nicely. Add some smears of fake bodily fluids to the outside of the device using whatever appropriate condiment you have handy in your kitchen, and you’re done!

They aren’t going to touch it - but even if you scored the creepy idiot who would, there’s still little likelihood they would disassemble it. Doesn’t have to be contraband - could just be a cool way to keep your jewelry or cash safe from the TSA and Baggage Burglars, or whatever.

New Make project. (I totally rule! I guess being a nightmare of a teen is finally gonna pay off.)

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The backdrop of the “finless” photo is a nice touch.

29

That seriously makes my head want to explode in so many directions. What is this- I don’t even…

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So the vaunted explosive detectors at the TSA can’t detect loose gunpowder? That’s not very good, is it?

31

The ironic cheey on top of the snark sundae?
Without those “fins”, the blower probably has better aerodynamic characteristics. Making a more efficient missile means less hassle from the TSA.

BTW: Does the TSA allow cigar tubes on airplanes? Because those sure as hell are way, way more efficient. (Structural integrity quite obviously isn’t a factor of consideration here.)

32

The most annoying thing is that the Theatrical Security Agency goons make a fuss over stuff that would be difficult to impossible to weaponize while very carefully ignoring stuff that would be relatively trivial but that would draw huge amounts of Bad Press if they objected to it.

Not to mention that the next attack will not be on an airplane.

33

lol, i was thinking the red part looked like the end of a tube of Preparation H, but i didn’t know about enema bulbs.

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34

I have the same exact one. Great deal at Amazon and it works fine for blowing dust. Good to know it’s myriad of alternate uses.

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35

The brain pan of a TSA agent, for example?

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Let me get this straight. This was an issue because, if you added a weapon to it, it would be a weapon?

Yeah, we’re done here.

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While ignoring the fact that they aren’t cops.

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What, there’s still hope? Good. Kindly keep me posted.

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Looks suspiciously grenady to me, now.

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“If you filled it with gunpowder, it could be used as a missile” is the logical equivalent of “If we had some ham, we could have some ham and eggs, if we had some eggs.”

Why didn’t they just take his shoes, on the grounds that if they were filled with PETN, he could be another Shoe Bomber?

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