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Post 25 Jan 2011, 3:31 pm

So I was flying back from Michigan last month, after the memorial service for my mother. It was a crappy trip to a crappy place for a crappy reason. I was in line to walk through the metal detector behind my three-year old, and right before I walk through, I was pulled out of line and told to walk through one of these new “porno scanner” machines.

So apparently, unlike metal detectors, one cannot walk through these new machines with non-metal things (like wallets) in your pocket. So I was pulled aside again and told I had to be patted down. The TSA agent then took both his hands and rubbed my right upper thigh and testicles. I was not given a choice or at least it was not made apparent to me I had a choice. After the agent wished me a good day, I muttered something I did not intend to speak aloud. The agent came after me, “Sir, excuse me sir, what did you say?” A “nothing” allowed me to go on my way.

Had the agent rubbed me that way on a crowded subway, the posters found there tell me that it would have been sexual assault. Since it happened to me at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and not the NYC subway it is not sexual assault?

Before anyone says, but you can’t be too safe, please read this:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/private-plane-public-menace/8335/
I am not a terrorist, but I do share one goal with al-Qaeda: I too would like to have a pilot under my control. But, like most Americans, and presumably unlike al-Qaeda, I am not quite rich enough to buy my way out of airport security.


That’s right, if you don’t fly commercial, you don’t have to go through any security at all. No metal detectors, porno scanners, or even an ID. And you get to drive to the plane. But that’s OK, there aren’t rich terrorists. Right? Oh, wait a minute isn’t Osama Bin Ladin . . .

With the absurdity of airport security we now call an action “sexual assault” in one situation, and call the exact same action “security” in another. I don’t believe the current situation in our airports is sustainable. It’s too expensive, intrusive, and unevenly applied, not to mention there is no evidence of its effectiveness. It's become a political issue that no politician is willing to take on. I don't know how this ends, but it can't stay this way.
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Post 25 Jan 2011, 3:41 pm

Well, I regularly go to football matches (soccer to you guys). When I am an away fan, I can pretty much guarantee that on my way in I will be patted down, and they aren't going to avoid the crotch. It's also in public, not away from other people. As a home fan, it's random or if you appear a bit odd. One time I bought myself and my dad a VIP day out. No checking.

Clearly the FA are violating my rights.
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Post 26 Jan 2011, 8:59 pm

Condolences for the loss of your mother, George. One can never be prepared for such an event. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

I'm in complete agreement as to the idiocy of the TSA and increasingly convinced that the agency's only real purpose is to accustom us all to the sort of sheepish subservience to government that Danvion considers appropriate. It is heartening that even a left-of-center American like yourself still finds such a violation of the individual by the state to be objectionable.

I'm also skeptical as to the safety of the new all-body scanners, but that's another matter.
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Post 27 Jan 2011, 4:22 am

Machiavelli wrote:I'm in complete agreement as to the idiocy of the TSA and increasingly convinced that the agency's only real purpose is to accustom us all to the sort of sheepish subservience to government that Danvion considers appropriate.
Sheepish subservience?

I was comparing it to what I have to go through to attend a football game. A private event, but one which has in the past had a reputation for violence. Similar, indeed, in that respect to flying.

I expect that the scanners are probably no greater a risk than the health issue surrounding flying in general (greater exposure to radiation, low air quality, DVT from being in a fixed position for a length of time)
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Post 27 Jan 2011, 7:42 am

Didn't expect you to get it, Danvion.
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Post 27 Jan 2011, 1:19 pm

Oh I get it. You think it's another step on the way to 1984. When those Islamic terrorists (or other terrorists) stop trying to blow up planes, perhaps we can pull back a bit on the security

(by the way, it's not 'Danvion'. Even though it isn't my real name, it's jarring to read it misspelled)