The TSA Took My Infant Away

[DetroitDad]

I am curious to read what DetroitYES posters think about this one, not really related to the body scanners and pat-downs, but rather a different policy by the United States Transportation Security Administration [[TSA)

http://www.mybottlesup.com/2009/10/t...s-took-my-son/

PS: I am not sure if the DEtroitYES moderators are going to want to keep all issues with airports and the TSA in one thread. I am going to assume they won't, as that would make for a basically useless thread that would be too big to navigate for those just joining the discussion.

[MikeM]

"I had an emergency Xanax in my jeans pocket. I always carry an emergency Xanax in my pocket. The result of severe anxiety."

[Alley]

hmmm, where is *my* emergency Xanax?

[Bella]

http://gizmodo.com/5696217/why-did-t...rport-security

[Gannon]

"I had an emergency Xanax in my jeans pocket. I always carry an emergency Xanax in my pocket. The result of severe anxiety."

If it weren't for all those pocket emergency Xanaxs, MikeM, you'd be dealing with planeloads of over-stressed type-As all damn day. You should be happy that moms are taking them, too.

You'd better not see that as the only point to her story. You read that far, you read the whole thing.


What happened to that poor woman is atrocious. It is happening on purpose. The TSA employees are being directed and encouraged to enrage the populace in order to create a situation that can ONLY be cured by another application of a technology which nearly everyone would reject if the current crisis hadn't dawned upon us and been amplified by the press, and now magnified via viral e-mail and internet posts.

[[You're actually doing the WORK of the evil-doers here, DetroitDad. Sorry. They appealed to your most basic instinct as a father. Oddly, they also have appealed to MikeM's basic instinct as pilot, too. Funny how the lines get drawn, people struggle argue and fight...then all of our rights get taken away the next day and nobody yields a notice.)


Watch if Michael Chertoff gets in trouble for using Homeland Security to enrich himself through the sale of these body scanners...but watch CLOSER who provides the solution. Pre-screening access cards with retina confirmation...or will they finally give us implants?!


How many of you have had your retina scanned in the past few years?! Do you know where that data goes?


Cheers from here on the fringe...

[Gannon]

The one common trait I've recognized in TSA employees is a distinct lack of empathy.

That must've been the first trait filtered out by their hiring goons. Probably lost 75% of their applicants with that elimination alone, maybe 90%!


Think about it. TSA and other Homeland Security employees are not our peers. Not even close. You would not invite most of them back for a second picnic.

[Papasito]

Gotta watch those pacifier clips

[lincoln8740]

Could this be FAKE post #2 from DetroitDad?

I think so.

The first one was obviously fake.
This one at least has a scent of truthfulness to it.

[rb336]

It also has a scent of BS to it. I sent it to snopes for review

[rb336]

never mind snopes, here is the TSA rebutal, complete with video evidence and yes, it is BS

http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/10/resp...ok-my-son.html

[oladub]

I recently got into the issue of which Hawaiian hospital the President was born in. There had been two hospitals in contention. The President issued a statement saying he was born in hospital #2. Snopes had been claiming He had been born in hospital #1. Upon the issuance of the President's unsubstantiated claim, Snopes changed it's tune. So much for Snopes. Either it's investigation was faulty or truth plays a second fiddle to the Party line at Snopes.

While I didn't see evidence of the passenger's claim in the video, TSA has been lying to us. For instance, TSA officials have been claiming that flying is a 'privelege' and not a right. The law, however, says that flying is a right. I won't even get into the Fourth Amendment.

I had posted this other article before about a similar incident. TSA also call this woman a liar. It could be that the TSA just has some bad eggs who aren't observing TSA policy. Either that or all these people are liars and attention seekers. On the other hand, who would have expected the government to begin intensive frisking as the alternatives to naked body scans under Obama?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJGvsAgpfig

One curiosity which has arisen from this is the willingness and enthusiasm of Obama supporters on this board to be such 'good Germans' and come to the defense of the President who brought us grope. This slavish support of the police state by former Kucinich and Nader supporters is a bit of a surprise.

[Gistok]

One curiosity which has arisen from this is the willingness and enthusiasm of Obama supporters on this board to be such 'good Germans' and come to the defense of the President who brought us grope. This slavish support of the police state by former Kucinich and Nader supporters is a bit of a surprise.

Oladub... as a member of America's largest minority... one of nearly 60 million Americans of "good German" descent... I would like to say collectively for all German-Americans....STFU!!

[rb336]

I The law, however, says that flying is a right.

what law is that?

I won't even get into the Fourth Amendment.

And, of course, most of the people bitching about this are the same ones who called me and others "un-American" for calling out the bushies for that "4th amendment doesn't apply to military operations, so the NSA can wire-tape anyone they want" memo and the Patriot Act in general

Of course some screeners go overboard. given the tens of thousands who go through screenings every day, the number of these complaints is miniscule. It would have helped if the repubs and blue dogs hadn't yanked provisions for more training for observational screening.

[jcole]

This is a woman who has issues with anxiety among other things. I'd take about 75% of what she says with a grain of salt. And before anyone jumps down my throat about that comment, I was diagnosed with chronic anxiety when I was in my twenties, and I spent a lot of years self medicating with booze, so I know of what I speak.Also, I'm surprised that carrying that 'emergency Xanax' loose in her pocket didn't get her in a shit load of trouble in itself. You need to keep meds in a marked bottle.

[Ravine]

This is a woman who has issues with anxiety among other things. I'd take about 75% of what she says with a grain of salt. And before anyone jumps down my throat about that comment, I was diagnosed with chronic anxiety when I was in my twenties, and I spent a lot of years self medicating with booze, so I know of what I speak.Also, I'm surprised that carrying that 'emergency Xanax' loose in her pocket didn't get her in a shit load of trouble in itself. You need to keep meds in a marked bottle.

Or stick with my approach: If you're gonna be "holding," carry an amount small enough that, in case of emergency, you can just wolf 'em all down without incurring anything worse than a helluva good buzz and maybe a little cramping.
Oh, I'm such a great little kidder.
*ahem*

[gnome]

Can someone explain how person who is upset to the point of hyperventilating, can then accurately quote what theTSA people said? Bullshit meter is in the red on this lady.

That said, I'm no fan of this new policy. Personally, I'll moan in a suggestive manner the next time I fly those friendly skys.

[Detroitej72]

Can someone explain how person who is upset to the point of hyperventilating, can then accurately quote what theTSA people said? Bullshit meter is in the red on this lady.

I thought I was the only one who noticed that.

"Bullshit meter is in the red on this lady."

That was my first thought.

[Detroitej72]

Can someone explain how person who is upset to the point of hyperventilating, can then accurately quote what theTSA people said? Bullshit meter is in the red on this lady.

I thought I was the only one who noticed that.

"Bullshit meter is in the red on this lady..

That was my first thought.

[gnome]

For us oldsters, having someone take a revealing picture might notaa beabig deal. Do it and move on. Let's keep the line moving. However for a young person, this has all the markings of a tramatic event.

For xmple, a 12 yr old female is hyper aware of everything changing and for her to think that the first person to see her naked is some nameless person behind screen, er ... I don't think a ton of healthy emotions are cultivated under such circumstances.

Having one's first experience set in a public venue would be horror inducing. As male, and thinking back to those times, I can remember having the first sports physical and hernia check...the stupid line of guys all nervous over the turn your head and cough thing. The painfully public nature of that experience is tempered by the reality that you were with your pals and going through it together.

The idea of doing something even worse, without your buddies around, with just friendly TSA folk ... jeeze, it sounds like we are collectively creating a generation of people who will be tramatized, will feel exploited and betrayed. What affects these experiences will have on their future sexuality is anybody's guess.

[Gistok]

Good point Gnome... that may explain Oladub's borderline Xenophobic ramblings... he probably had someone named Brunhilda grappling at his "raisinettes"....

[Jimaz]

From Did TSA cave on scanners for Thanksgiving rush?:

'Noticeably subdued' airports suggest people opting out of flying altogether

News reports on Thursday declared the National Opt-Out Day protest against TSA screening procedures a bust, noting short wait times at airport security screening and TSA reports that there wasn't any spike in passengers opting out of body scanners.

But reports from travelers and local news sources suggest that at some of the busiest airports in the US the TSA has backed down and resorted to using the old screening procedures -- metal detectors and less-intrusive pat-downs.

And anecdotal reports from airports across the country suggest lighter-than-expected passenger traffic, suggesting that some travelers may have decided to "opt out" of the screening procedures by not flying at all....

Whether the opt-out protest was successful or not, it appears air travel officials and travelers alike were surprised by the lack of passenger traffic on what is typically the busiest flying day of the year.

A restaurant manager at Atlanta-Hartsfield said she'd never seen traffic so sparse on a holiday.

"Most of the tables on the restaurant's second floor were empty through lunchtime, and servers said on a day when they should have seen between 1,200 and 1,500 customers Tuesday, they served fewer than 500," the AJC reported.

I find it shocking that so few passengers wanted to be fondled. I know Americans are prudes but come on!

[gnome]

dtw had a single protester yesterday. sounds like the begining of a trend.

[Jimaz]

From Roger Ebert's Journal:

Are we doomed to submit to humiliation every time we fly? Perhaps you can argue that the terrorists have won a victory just because of the cost and nuisance of airport security. Not exactly. They have generated vast numbers of jobs for security agents, and inspired millions of dollars in contracts for scanning machines and so forth....

Once, some time ago, during another time of economic downturn, a president named Roosevelt created a federal program called the Works Progress Administration. It hired unemployed people to construct buildings, dams, roads, river works, ports, bridges and schools. Is there any possibility of a program like that today? Not a dream. That would be "socialism." You can't have the federal government spending our tax dollars to fund public works. But spending them to grope our genitals? Why, that's different. It's a matter of principle.

[Jimaz]

From The Nation: TSAstroturf: The Washington Lobbyists and Koch-Funded Libertarians Behind the TSA Scandal

While this issue is certainly important—and offensive—to Americans, we are nonetheless skeptical about how and why this story turned into a national movement....

Strangely enough, just a few days before Tyner's episode, another self-described "libertarian," Meg McLain, went online telling almost the exact same story of oppression and attempted sexual molestation at the hands of TSA agents. McLain is an occasional co-host of a libertarian radio show out of a libertarian quasi-commune located in Keene, New Hampshire. As reported in the Washington City Paper, the libertarian "Free Keene" movement where McLain makes her home is yet another libertarian project tied to the billionaire Koch brothers, the prime backers of the Tea Party campaign, through the Koch-funded Mercatus Center at George Mason University....

There was only one problem with McLain's story: she made it up. The TSA released video evidence showing that McLain wasn't molested, wasn't screamed at and wasn't attacked by a dozen cops and half a dozen TSA agents. In fact, other passengers don't seem to notice her, although a TSA agent does seem to be trying to comfort McLain, offering her tissues as the libertarian rebel breaks out crying.

The system's being gamed again.

[Pam]

Did you see this Jim? Questions about the Nation article.

http://journals.democraticundergroun...abrina%201/141