Thursday 07-02-15

Thought I post this the other day, again people are guilty (except them) until proven innocent.


THEY DIDN’T JUST TWEET A PHOTO: As Ed Driscoll reports below, when TSA flack Lisa Farbstein tweeted a photo of the contents of a passenger’s luggage–$75,000 in cash–with a snarky comment, the gratuitous invasion of privacy generated quite a bit of public backlash. But the story gets worse. The TSA took a photo, but other federal agents took the money. Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post‘s Wonkblog reports:

In this case, the cash was seized by a federal agency, most likely the Drug Enforcement Agency, according to Richmond airport spokesman Troy Bell. “I don’t believe the person was issued a summons or a citation,” he said. “The traveler was allowed to continue on his way.”

No charges. No citation. No due process. Just perfectly legal theft.

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/209772/

TSA Official Tweets Photo of Passenger’s Luggage Contents

Public relations officer admits bag carrying $75,000 in cash is perfectly legal

A spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration on Tuesday posted photos online of a passenger’s luggage, which contained large amounts of cash, despite admitting it violated no laws or regulations.
Agency spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein posted a photo on Twitter showing a bag she said contained $75,000 in cash. “Is this how you’d transport it?” she asked. “Spotted this traveler’s preferred method.”

In a subsequent tweet, she acknowledged that the passenger, flying through Richmond International Airport, was doing nothing wrong. “It’s not on the prohibited items list.”

“TSA didn’t seize/confiscate/take it,” she said in another tweet. “It alarmed the x-ray machine as an unknown and we spotted it. It’s just a curiosity.”

Farbstein did not say whether the passenger was travelling domestically or internationally. International fliers must declare cash in excess of $10,000.
While domestic passengers are under no such obligation, large amounts of cash in their luggage can lead to greater scrutiny from airport security officials, according to TSA’s chief counsel.
The TSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Farbstein’s tweets and whether they constituted a violation of policies governing passenger privacy or employees’ use of social media.
The agency has faced criticism for its treatment of passengers legally carrying large amounts of cash through airports.
TSA officers detained a fundraiser with the group Campaign for Liberty at the Lambert-St. Louis airport in 2009 after they found a metal box containing $4,700 in his luggage.
“We think what happened to Mr. Bierfeldt is a reflection that TSA believes passenger screening is an opportunity to engage in freewheeling law enforcement investigations that have no link to flight safety,” a spokesman for the ACLU said at the time.
The agency defended its conduct. “Movements of large amounts of cash through the checkpoint may be investigated by law enforcement authorities if criminal activity is suspected,” it said in a statement.
_
Update 5:27 P.M.: After publication, Farbstein emailed this statement: “TSA officers routinely come across evidence of criminal activity at airport checkpoints. Examples include evidence of illegal drug trafficking, money laundering, and violations of currency reporting requirements prior to international trips. TSA turned this bag over to law enforcement, which is investigating.”

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Lachlan Markay   Email | Full Bio | RSS
Lachlan Markay is a staff writer for the Washington Free Beacon. He comes to the Beacon from the Heritage Foundation, where he was the conservative think tank's first investigative reporter. He was also a contributing editor for Newsbusters.org. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, and the Washington Examiner. He graduated from Hamilton College in 2009, and currently lives in Washington, D.C. His Twitter handle is @lachlan. His email address is markay@freebeacon.com.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/tsa-official-tweets-photo-of-passengers-luggage-contents/

This does not really surprise me, what surprises me is that we are so far from our roots.  I guess that is what you get when you don't assimilate.  What I mean is we don't run, but when your bring your old ways with you, you have these kind of things.

Survey says: 35 percent of Americans would expatriate

Survey says: 35 percent of Americans would expatriate

 

 

 

   

As the Fourth of July weekend looms and Americans prep their grills and ready their fireworks, some citizens are packing their bags.
A recent online poll of more than 2,000 adults by TransferWise, a peer-to-peer money transfer service based in the United Kingdom, revealed that 35 percent of American-born residents and emigrants would consider leaving the United States to live in another country.
This percentage greatly increases for those age 18 to 34. More than half of millennials, a whopping 55 percent, said that they would consider leaving the U.S. for foreign shores. Among them, 43 percent of men and 38 percent of women noted that a higher salary would be a factor in their relocation decision.
Read MoreRecord 3,415 Americans give up citizenship
While a high percentage of Americans would entertain the idea of expatriation, only .001 percent of the population actually renounced citizenship in 2014.

According to the Treasury Department, that slight percentage equates to a record 3,415 U.S. residents—a 14 percent increase since 2013.
Until 2010, the recorded number of annual expatriates was well below 1,000.
But, that number continues to rise. In the first quarter of 2015 alone, 1,336 individuals chose to renounce citizenship, another record high reported by the department.
Watch: NASCAR'S July 4th celebration
Despite the increasing number of departures in recent years, there are still many reasons for Americans to remain. In fact, 59 percent of citizens cited "it is home" as a major factor for staying in the United States.
For 58 percent, romantic and family ties were cited important reasons for anchoring in the U.S., while 22 percent cited democratic society and only 2 percent said low taxes.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102799503