TSA Screening System Draws Criticism

TSA Screening System Draws Criticism Are the airlines getting a free ride on the taxpayers dime thanks to the Transportation Safety Administrations (TSA) new high-tech and high dollar system to detect fake boarding passes?In these days of print-at-home boarding passes and programs like Photoshop, the number of people illegally boarding planes and flying for free by using fake boarding passes and IDs has increased significantly. To the airlines, this is fraud that results in lost income. To honest, paying passengers, its an insult that results in higher ticket prices. To the TSA, its a gaping hole is security that could result in another terrorist attack.To the rescue comes the TSAs high-tech and high-cost CAT/BPSS Credential Authentication Technology and Boarding Pass Scanning System - now being tested at George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Luis Muà ±oz Marà ­n International in San Juan, and Washington, D.C. Dulles International at an initial combined cost of $3.2 million.In testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Stephen M. Lord, director of homeland security and justice issues at the Government Accountability Office, reported that the estimated 20-year life cycle cost of the CAT/BPSS system is approximately $130 million based on a nationwide deployment of 4,000 units.What CAT/BPSS DoesCosting $100,000 each, and with multiple systems to eventually be installed by the TSA at all U.S. airports serving commercial flights, the CAT/BPSS system automatically compares the passengers ID to an extensive set of security features. Most modern forms of state-issued identification include encoded data, such as barcodes, holograms, magnetic stripes, embedded electrical circuits, and computer-readable text.CAT/BPPS also validates the authenticity of the passengers boarding pass at the first TSA security checkpoint using bar code readers and encryption techniques. The system is compatible with any barcode and can be used with paper boarding passes printed on a home computer, boarding passes printed by the airlines, or a paperless boarding passes that are sent to passengers mobile devices. The system temporarily captures and displays the photograph from the passengers ID for viewing only by TSA agents to help them compare the photo to the person carrying the ID.Finally, CAT/BPPS compares the encoded data on the passengers ID to data on the boarding pass. If they match, they fly.Encountering the CAT/BPSS SystemAccording to the TSA, actually using the CAT/BPSS system will work like this: At the first TSA checkpoint, passengers will hand their ID to the TSA Travel Document Checker (TDC). The TDC will scan the passengers ID, while the passenger scans his or her boarding pass using a built-in scanner. TSA says that testing has shown the CAT/BPSS process takes no longer than the current process in which the TDC visually compares the passengers ID to the boarding pass.In response to concerns about the CAT/BPSS system and personal privacy, the TSA assures that the CAT/BPSS system automatically and permanently deletes all information it has gathered from the ID and the boarding pass. TSA further states that the picture on the passengers ID can be viewed only by TSA agents.Also See: TSA Defends Boarding Gate Drink ChecksIn announcing the development of the CAT/BPSS system, TSA administrator John S. Pistole stated in a press release, This technology will help facilitate risk-based security, while making the process more effective and efficient.What the Critics SayCritics of the CAT/BPSS argue that if the TSA is effective at its primary job - screening for Weapons, Incendiaries, and Explosives - another computer system dedicated only to verifying passenger identity is an unnecessary waste of money. After all, they point out, once passengers have passed the TSA scanning checkpoints, they are allowed to board planes without showing their IDs.Also See: Congressman Takes On Rogue TSA Airport ScreenersWhen the LA Times on June 30, 2011, reported the story of a Nigerian airline stowaway who succeeded in flying from New York to Los Angeles by presenting an expired boardin g pass in another persons name and was found to be in possession of at last 10 similar boarding passes, the TSA issued the following statement:Every passenger that passes through security checkpoints is subject to many layers of security including thorough physical screening at the checkpoint. TSAs review of this matter indicates that the passenger went through screening. It is important to note that this passenger was subject to the same physical screening at the checkpoint as other passengers.While the stowaway succeeded in stealing from the airline by flying free on a clearly fraudulent boarding pass, no evidence was ever found relating the incident to terrorism.In other words, say critics, the CAT/BPSS is another expensive taxpayer-funded solution to something that, if TSA is doing its job properly, should not be a problem in the first place.

Natural vs. Social Sciences essays

Natural vs. Social Sciences essays Science is the systematic identification, observation, description, classification, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena. In other words, science is the orderly study of things. The purpose of science is to acquire information and obtain knowledge about the subject being studied. Knowledge can be defined as a set of verified statements about phenomena. These statements have been proven to be accurate and true. Everything that can be studied can be divided into two sections, natural and social phenomena. Natural phenomena is the something that exists without the intervention of people whereas social phenomena is something that exists only as a result of human interaction. Science can be divided into four categories, basic science, bridge science, applied science and metascience. Basic science is made up of two sections, natural sciences and social sciences. Bridge science is the sciences that bridge both natural and social science. Applied science and metascience is the study of a science in order to use it for some purpose. Natural sciences are the studies of things that exist without the intervention of people. An example of a natural science is biology. Biology is a study of life processes and this exists independently from human intervention. A human does not have to do anything for a flower to grow in the wild and neither does he have to do anything in order for a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly. Another example of a natural science is geology, which is the study of the earth. Humans did not create the earth, nor can they control it when the earth decides to act up, as in the cases of natural disasters such as volcano eruptions and earthquakes. Social sciences are the studies of things that only exist as a result of human interaction. An example of this is anthropology, which is the study of cultures. A culture is the practices of a group ...

De Beers and US Anti Trust Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

De Beers and US Anti Trust Law - Case Study Example With the discovery of large mines in South Africa, the diamond availability in the world market suddenly reached a high. In order to ensure that the prices of the diamond in the market are maintained, the supplies had to be limited. The miners in South Africa which was the lead producer of diamonds, started working together and created a 'cartel' that would discuss and decide the price of diamonds in the world market. This cartel was formed with De Beers in the lead and they coordinated the entire operation of forming this initial syndicate that would canalize and fix the supplies of diamonds in the world market. This also ensured that every body in the trade benefited because it maintained the price of the diamond in the world market without allowing it to fall or rise phenomenally. Once the diamond mines in other locations of the world were discovered, the South African control over the world market with respect to the supplies of the diamond mines came down. More mines in Angola, Russia, Congo and Zaire started to dominate the world market and the South African share in the market came down to 17%. However, De Beers by enforcing clear commercial and economic control on the market could bring these people also under control and ensured that the price of diamonds does not fall and continued to rise or stabilise even when the supplies of diamonds kept rising. This meant that De Beers had to buy out from the market some of the diamonds that was available to bring stability to the pricing. This resulted in a large stock pile for De Beers. The company resorted to both buying as well as selling of diamonds in order to bring down the prices or raise the prices as the need may be. This ensured diamond price was under control and the miners did not suffer. De Beers and the US Government De Beers has been a practising monopoly. They tended to control the price of the diamond market and this meant that they violate the US Antitrust law and its governing principles. De Beers was violating every one of the Anti-trust law principle except for the consumer protection which De Beers says it covers. But then, even that would be under question on analysis. US Diamond Dealers mostly dealt with the buyers of De Beers diamonds. The identity of the diamonds is lost once they reach the coast of US. Though the diamonds are not known to have originated from De Beers, the company as a brand was very well known. The US government and its Department of Justice were also aware of the violations of De Beers and they have taken multitude of steps to bring them under the book but these are yet to materialise. The relationship with the diamond traders in US and that of the government is certainly not one for long and sustained relationship. It has to be direct and legal to be sustainable. In order to do this, either the company should change its method of operation or change the law to accommodate such a change. De Beers, the Illegal trade and the US Market The structure created by the anti-trust law is in line with the thinking of the greatest minds on economics. In addition to that, any violation of the basic principle of capitalist and free economics would only lead to the decay of the structure so carefully erected. De Beers is a violator

Analyzing Fed Policymaking 1996-1998 Term Paper

Analyzing Fed Policymaking 1996-1998 - Term Paper Example With upward rising of the aggregate, there are favorable conditions to drive economic growth such as high job creation, high production, and business expansion. The Federal Reserve policies between 1996 and 1998 were aimed at stimulating growth in ensuring increased productivity, which resulted in increased employment and reduced inflationary rates through control of interest rates. A report by Federal Reserve Board (1999) showed that, economic growth between 1996 and 1998 was remarkable and stronger than many had expected. The economy growth was more than 3.5% in 1997 and between 2.5 and 3.0 % in 1998. By 1998 the real GDP growth was at 3.5%, and was expected to rise further in the following years (Lewis, 1998). According to Lewis, at the start of October 1998, the S& P was abnormally high having risen from about 1000 in earlier years to about 1400 by July 1999. The Fed had to impose a 40% increase in the S &P by hiking interest rates from 4.75 to about 6.5 in the following years. T his rise resulted from an â€Å"irrational exuberance’ where too much money was being injected into the booming internet and technology industries (Lewis, 1998). Figure 1 portrays the general trend of interest rates during this period, Figure 2 portrays the relations between money supply and price levels between 1950 and 2008, while figure 3 shows the dollar performance compared to German’s in 1998. The major driver of the U.S economy that resulted in a high economic growth between 1996 and 1998 was capital spending. Many organizations continued to invest heavily in information technology and modernizing communication equipment to improve their productivity (Lewis, 1998). The market interest rates affect borrowing and lending policies, which affect the production and consumption of goods, products and services. The Federal Reserve Board (1999) explains that, these factors largely influence employment and job creation; high interest rates will discourage investors henc e low job creation opportunities. For example, during this period, Fed decided not to hike the interest rates to control the exponential market growth in preventing the economy from tending to inflation. This is observed in graph 1. In the year 1996, it was expected that inflation and interest rates would be on the rise towards the end of that year, but it turned otherwise (Federal Reserve Board, 1999). As Mishkin (115) explains, the demand for money and interest rates are inversely related using the opportunity cost aspect. This is the expected return sacrificed by an investor by not holding the alternative asset, which refers to a bond in this case. Moreover, demand for money is determined by the wealth or income and the price levels in the market (Mishkin, 116). The federal authority polices during this period were aimed at robust growth in employment, recovery and strengthening of the dollar, and regulated interest rates, which increased wealth and lowered the interest rates mak ing the demand of money to increase. There was a general fall of the domestic interest rates and national debts over this period (Mishkin, 11). In the third quarter of 1998, uproar in financial market globally resulted in a sharp drop in value of the dollar, having dropped from DM 1.7993 to DM 1.6718, which could have shifted the economic growth as well as interest rate policies towards encouraging more borrowing. Low interest rates contributed

Design a selection process for 'intuitive and creative' individuals, Essay

Design a selection process for 'intuitive and creative' individuals, jojning a Business Psychology consultancy - Essay Example The next task is to choose the best method or to combine different methods by which to distinguish these personal qualities and aptitudes. Checking on the individual’s educational background and work experience are quite useful. Administering psychological tests also present a valid measure of mental ability and personality. All these can be further corroborated through a series of interviews. What is important though in the selection process is that the selection ratio - the relationship between the number of people to be hired and the number of applicants – is such that the number of persons available for hiring is higher than the number needed to be hired. Otherwise, a shortage in the labour supply could mean lowering down company expectations just to fill in the position. In specific, this write up aims to present a selection procedure for a business psychology consultancy that is in need of intuitive and creative individuals. A business psychology consultancy is a type of organization which is primarily involved in providing corporate tools for the growth and development of various enterprising institutions. They may provide direction for organizational leaders, operational support for efficient delivery, and insight for making the right business decisions (Achieving Edge, 2009, para. 1). There a lot of business psychology consultancy firms that mushroom everywhere. As such, there is a need to include intuitive and creative individuals who can help set the consultancy apart from all of them. Dunn (2003) cites that intuitive persons can be someone who is an only child, is awake at night most of the time, has a special ability in one or more of the arts, possibly dyslexic or gifted, and prefers to be alone on a regular basis. Moreover, people who have a stronger tendency towards intuition observe patterns and make impressions about them. They think in abstract terms and look

Function Argument Essay Example for Free

Function Argument Essay Aristotle first asserts that happiness is an ultimate good that is both complete and self-sufficient. 2) The ultimate good for a thing is its ability to complete its function. (3) Human being’s must have a function beyond an occupation in society such as a potter or painter because the ultimate human good must be all encompassing. So the function of a human being cannot specifically be being good at any one position or task. The human function cannot involve just growth because that is essentially the function of plants, and a humans function must be unique in itself. 5) Aristotle claims that because animals and plants cannot reason, a human being’s function must have something to do with rationality, the part that involves our soul. (6) Lesser goods like wealth all are meant to lead to happiness, this rises from the first premise that the ultimate good must be self-sufficient. (C) Therefore he concluded that the human function is the completion of a task (the activity) that involves the soul (not the body), and leads to doing what is ultimately the most virtuous or excellent thing to do. The human function is the activity of the soul in accordance with excellence or virtue. I disagree with Aristotle’s conclusion because I believe premise 4 and 5 are false. He asserts that a human being and a plant cannot have the same functions. Here I think there is a flaw in his logic, Aristotle makes an unreasonable jump in what a person should do and what a person has to do. Humans may have simply evolved from a cell like any other animal, which would suggest that completing our base physical goals, surviving and reproducing, is the human function. Yes because we have evolved further and our capacity for reason is greater then say chimps or dogs, we have a deeper understanding of morality and virtues. Yet there is still a distinct difference between what we should do and what we have to do. I also disagree with the 5th premise because I do not believe reason is a virtue only found in human beings. Animals like gorilla’s and elephants have all been shown to show compassion towards other beings, even those not within its species. Aristotle’s conclusion suffers from these false premises. He makes the assumption that doing something good is the same as being good and this is not true. What something has to do, its function, does not necessarily equate to what something should do. Aristotle draws on the premise that animals cannot reason. While I believe there is a valid argument in terms of the distinction on a human’s depth of reason and an animal’s understanding of it. I believe the distinction lies in a more complex understanding rather then a complete lack of reason. I disagree with these two premises.

Eleanor Roosevelt :: Essays Papers

Eleanor Roosevelt Growing up in India, as I did, one never hears about female elected officials of United States. We had our own female leaders to study that not much was taught about female leaders of other countries. But among the exception was Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of one the greatest American President. Though, she was the wife of Franklin Roosevelt, she was not known for being his wife. She, as I remember, more than any other woman, "typified... the realizaton of the dreams of the female Crusaders of the 19th century who threw off the restrictions of the Victorian age." So when I had the opportuinity to study the life of any female American leader, I choose Eleanor Roosevelt for her achivements, her strugel and her vision of a United world. For someone who never held elective office, Eleanor Roosevelt wielded a great deal of political power. She wrote now laws and appointed no high officials, yet the self-knowledge and profound humility that invested her regard for every human being has made the story of her life a morality play that brightens the American memory. "There is no human being," wrote Eleanor Roosevelt in one of her several columns that she frequently wrote for newspaper, from whom we cannot learn something if we are interested enough to dig deep." This basic sense fo kinship with which she approaced the world dictated her vocation of helpfulness. The honesty with which she told us of hte long path she travelded to free herself of fear and prejudice and become an independent person has pl aced her in that specaila pantheon reserved for shapers of the human spirit. Eleanor Roosevelt appeared on the American secent, and began being herself, out in the open wehre folks could see the process of women's long struggle to free themselves from their husbands's dutiful shadows. "It is said that famous mane are usually the product of an unhappy childhood," wrote Winston Churchill. "The stern compression of circumstance, the spur of slights and taunts in early years are needed to evoke that ruthless fixity of purpose and tenacious mother-wit without wich great actions are seldom accomplished." His words, about an unhappy childhood shaping the reateness of later years, were applicable to Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1 make friends easily. She would have to regain her trust in the world befor she could act upon the lession her Grandfather Theodore had impressed upon his children-receive people's love and peopld will love you. Eleanor Roosevelt :: Essays Papers Eleanor Roosevelt Growing up in India, as I did, one never hears about female elected officials of United States. We had our own female leaders to study that not much was taught about female leaders of other countries. But among the exception was Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of one the greatest American President. Though, she was the wife of Franklin Roosevelt, she was not known for being his wife. She, as I remember, more than any other woman, "typified... the realizaton of the dreams of the female Crusaders of the 19th century who threw off the restrictions of the Victorian age." So when I had the opportuinity to study the life of any female American leader, I choose Eleanor Roosevelt for her achivements, her strugel and her vision of a United world. For someone who never held elective office, Eleanor Roosevelt wielded a great deal of political power. She wrote now laws and appointed no high officials, yet the self-knowledge and profound humility that invested her regard for every human being has made the story of her life a morality play that brightens the American memory. "There is no human being," wrote Eleanor Roosevelt in one of her several columns that she frequently wrote for newspaper, from whom we cannot learn something if we are interested enough to dig deep." This basic sense fo kinship with which she approaced the world dictated her vocation of helpfulness. The honesty with which she told us of hte long path she travelded to free herself of fear and prejudice and become an independent person has pl aced her in that specaila pantheon reserved for shapers of the human spirit. Eleanor Roosevelt appeared on the American secent, and began being herself, out in the open wehre folks could see the process of women's long struggle to free themselves from their husbands's dutiful shadows. "It is said that famous mane are usually the product of an unhappy childhood," wrote Winston Churchill. "The stern compression of circumstance, the spur of slights and taunts in early years are needed to evoke that ruthless fixity of purpose and tenacious mother-wit without wich great actions are seldom accomplished." His words, about an unhappy childhood shaping the reateness of later years, were applicable to Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1 make friends easily. She would have to regain her trust in the world befor she could act upon the lession her Grandfather Theodore had impressed upon his children-receive people's love and peopld will love you.