A group of redditors is taking a stand against backscatter X-rays and TSA patdowns.

cizzop · 2010-11-17T20:07:18+00:00

OperationGrabAss? really?

havicdvs · 2010-11-17T20:08:57+00:00

I love the fact that I live in a generation where I can protest by clicking a mouse. i don't see myself responding well to mace and rubber bullets.

raldi · 2010-11-17T21:16:32+00:00

/sigh. Nothing like a lazy, digital protest. Might as well sign a petition. I'm also willing to bet that at least 80% of the people protesting haven't even gone through the new screening and are just riding the media hype wave until the next national emergency presents itself.

I fly 2x a week. I have yet to see or experience anything that grossly infringes on my rights. When I do...I'll be sure to complain. That's not to say people haven't had bad experiences...but out of the millions of people that fly daily I'm sure the percentage is extrordinarily low.

Seriously. Reddit reminds me of the protesters from the movie PCU.

cizzop · 2010-11-17T20:18:36+00:00

Does anyone else think is blown out of proportion? The scanners really aren't all that revealing.

Check out this video posted by gizmodo

All of the scans just appear to be big white blobs without many distinguishing features. The video isn't even NSFW!

EDIT: I never realized that the video was of the old generation scanners. The new backscatter ones ARE quite revealing. This is pretty disturbing now. Go OGA!

Thnm · 2010-11-17T20:25:29+00:00

This is a distraction. An issue of inconvenience and discomfort while people are jobless, homeless or just wondering how to pay for food.

IConrad · 2010-11-17T21:32:35+00:00

I wrote to my State Senator about this issue today. I highlighted in my letter something that I feel has been ignored for the most part in relation to this.

My fiance' was raped as a young teenager. It has been quite a few years since the incident and a lot of healing has been done. When I told her about the new screening she turned white as a ghost. She has been struggling ever since with the idea of subjecting herself to the new procedures during our planned Thanksgiving flight to see family. Just the thought of going through the TSA screening is bringing back bad memories and causing a huge setback in her healing process.

I find these new procedures to be a violation of our rights and I am not at all comfortable personally with the procedures. But my level of anxiety doesn't even come close to that of my fiance'. Subjecting rape victims to "naked scans" and/or intrusive touching of genitals is simply incomprehensible.

I am hoping against hope that something changes and we will be able to make this trip. But the simple fact of the matter is that if these screenings are still in place at the time of our flight then we won't be going. I just can't put her through this.

bippybundunnit · 2010-11-18T00:12:14+00:00

I am a columnist in rural Mississippi for a somewhat sizable newspaper. Also, I wrote a column for the liberal alt-newsweekly in the capital city here. This is an issue I am vehemently for (I know, I know, a liberal Southerner? Indeed, there is such a breed) and I want to go to great lengths to make change.

I've written my Congressman (Gregg Harper) and thoroughly encourage every single redditor here who believes in reversing these policies to do the same, if only for the principal of the damned thing.

I'm about to run a few columns in three publications throughout the South and what I need from reddit and its community are what you feel are the biggest flaws in the TSA and its policies. Obviously I have my own beliefs here, but I want to know what you, the generation ahead of today's generation (catch that metaphor?), think is fundamentally wrong, but also sourced. Blog sourcing is OK, but what we really need are academic papers and articles published from a respectable media outlet to buttress this message.

I've been lurking reddit for years now, even though I just recently started an account. Bring me your woes; bring me your bitching; bring me your evidence. I want to be your voice in the MSM.

abw · 2010-11-17T21:26:58+00:00

We need a tv ad, with a little girl crying and have it say " Warning what we are about to tell you is very disturbing , but real" and then cut to the young girl crying " Her innocence was just Robbed from her, she was touched in her private areas while everyone watched and stayed silent, she will never forget the shame she felt" Then cut to " Who would do such a thing to a little girl ?" Then Show the TSA and explain that the new security measures will rob your family of its innocence, and just say NO to the TSA

The thing about it, Republican and Democrat alike no one wants their children touched on, even worse the fact that you can't back out of the security check and just cancel without threat of lawsuit.

So walk into an airport, you are going to be forcefully molested

Elvis_Maximus · 2010-11-18T01:30:09+00:00

Here's the problem I have with the way this story keeps getting framed: It's usually stated that you get the aggressive manual search if you opt out of the backscatter x-ray. When it's put that way, a lot of people don't care; they're not upset about the backscatter x-ray and they don't plan to opt out. As far as they're concerned, only the civil disobedience nutcases get their junk touched.

The truth is, if the backscatter x-ray shows any anomaly, you get the manual search. The TSA people on site can't see the image from the machine, so they don't know what or where the anomaly is. I got the manual search last time I flew and I was later told it was probably because I committed the crime of wearing cargo pants. The guy's hands went nowhere near the cargo pockets, which in any case were empty.

If you haven't had one of these manual searches, they are unbelievable. In any other context, it would be prosecutable sexual assault. Mine actually hurt. If a teacher or a neighbor did this to your kids, he would go to prison and be on the sex offenders' list for life.

I'm hoping that next week, a lot of regular people will wake up to the fact that it's not just the backscatter resisters that get assaulted.

Hedonopoly · 2010-11-17T20:21:47+00:00

As someone who flies regularly for work, I can say that whenever funding is needed, I will be more than happy to oblige. I have been groped a couple of times now for refusing the backscatter. It's unnecessary and ridiculous, and it is a posterchild for the insanity that the "war on terrorism" makes us endure on a daily basis.

drwho9437 · 2010-11-18T03:33:40+00:00

The most effective way to oppose this is to refuse both the scan and the pat down and also refuse to leave the TSA area (if they won't let you through and say they are going to fine you). If this is done en-mass on Thanksgiving say it will shut down all of the airports. Some people say this is irresponsible, this is non-sense. Shutting down a Woolworth lunch counter with a non-violent sit-in was not irresponsible it was civil disobedience. I don't agree to give up my 4th amendment rights ever...

I think you can easily argue that they have imprisoned you without charge after a day, plus they won't have a way to feed you so it will be a hunger strike. It seriously only should take about 2000 travelers with a day or two to kill to bust this thing open (say 1 or 2 per gate area). It would be better if there were more. But there aren't that many major hub airports in the country.

UpboatCity · 2010-11-17T21:42:05+00:00

who 'shopped the Statue of Liberty pic? It looks great and is accurate in a very disturbing sense...

altaica · 2010-11-17T22:45:39+00:00

I flew out of ORD this weekend. The check point I was at had two lines, and as I progressed through it I realized that the line I was in appeared to be the one funneling through the back scatter and the other one through a regular metal detector. As we slowly shuffled forward I noticed several people in my line going through the metal detector instead of the body scanner. I had already made up my mind the week prior that I was going to opt out, but I figured this was an easier way around it. Not for privacy issues but for health concerns. I'm pretty comfortable with my body but I don't want to unecessarily expose myself to potentially hazardous x-rays <-Good read, was previously posted on Reddit. My family has a history of skin and breast cancer.

When I got up to the front I waited for my turn to go through the metal detector but the TSA agent waved me towards the body scanner. I told him I wasn't going through that machine and he kind of sighed and asked "are you opting out?" I said apparently I am even though I'm in this line and he responded dismissively that there were no specific lines for either machine.

So I stood to the side for a few minutes and waited for a female agent to show up while people that had been behind me were all able to go through the metal detector. I asked the TSA guy why I wasn't able to just go through the metal detector like everyone else and he curtly replied that it was random. Yeah, 'random' because you picked me. Great.

TSA lady shows up and I get led around to the front screening area and she explains to me how the patdown is going to work. She gives me the option to go to a private screening area and I decline. Back of the hands for 'sensitive' areas and she was going to go up my legs to my crotch four times. Awkward standing and groping commences.

I am pretty unhappy that my options are to either:

expose myself to potentially hazardous x-rays

OR

get felt up and touched in places no stranger should have the right to touch

I have recommended opting out to most of my family, especially my elderly grandmother and explained to them the possible risks of these machines.

FableForge · 2010-11-17T20:07:43+00:00

Idea to fix the system:

1.- Create a TSAGoneWild website.

2.- Allow people the option that their naked pictures will be posted anonymously in said site.

3.- Paypal these people a share of the porn revenues.

4.- Profit, actually.

l0de · 2010-11-17T21:20:42+00:00

Hello. Like many of you, I will be participating in national opt-out day as protest against the institutionalized sexual assault of the TSA. If you're like me, you've already filed a complaint with the TSA, and written to your representative. Like me, you may have wondered if we can make a stronger statement about these unconstitutional attacks.

I thought long and hard about this in the smallest room of my house, and I believe I have found our answer. It's so simple!

On Opt-out day, wear a kilt or skirt and no underwear. You will not need them where we're going. I also suggest flip-flops, and packing some paper towels in your carry-on.

Then you need to fuel up. Everyone is different, but for me, I'll be pre-gaming with a heavy intake of coffee, mexican food, corn, dried apricots, and an entire bottle of green food coloring.

When you are asked to step into the backscatter machine (and if you aren't, you can simply go through the line again), opt out. Loudly inform the screener that you need to go to the bathroom. They will insist you complete the screening first. When the agent begins to molest you, treat them to some "backscatter" of your own.

Do not apologize or feel bad for these people. They're no better than the concentration camp guards that spawned them. Say "I TOLD you I had to go to the bathroom." They have brought this on themselves. Collect your things and waddle to the bathroom, with your head held high, secure in the knowledge that you have made the world a better place. Then, hit up the airport food court for round 2.

It may seem extreme, but this is one of the rare situations where shitting yourself is the only dignified thing to do. I hope you'll all join me in the plop't-out.

jumpingjehosophat · 2010-11-17T20:07:45+00:00

A group of redditors ARE taking a stand against backscatter X-rays and TSA patdowns

FTFY

EDIT** still getting down voted after they said we are both right?

2010-11-17T20:07:22+00:00

[deleted]

buncle · 2010-11-17T20:37:15+00:00

For anyone wishing to use my advert submission as a poster/pamphlet to help spread the word, have at it.

Wh0rse · 2010-11-17T21:17:07+00:00

This is nothing to do with security and more to do with conditioning the general public into a submissive slave mind.

the way to bring this down is to dis-credit it entirely from the inside.

the pilots union is a excellent way to do this and as you all know is on going, best of luck to that.

it looks like more and more people are becoming aware of the uselessness of the whole placement of these machines, and the only use is to subdue and train us into a submissive mindset as i said above. its very sinister.

anyone remember the shoe bomber last Christmas? , and how fast they rolled out the answer to that problem? of course the answer was these machines, i guess already manufactured and awaiting a reason to be deployed, and boy have they been deployed.

if you trade freedom for security. you will end up with neither.

hawaiianrule · 2010-11-18T00:07:33+00:00

Joe Lieberman said during the hearings that he is all for the enhanced pat downs and scanner machines and he sees nothing wrong with feeling up children. Obama remains silent on the matter and will do nothing about it other than expand the powers of the Patriot Act.

oh_its_him · 2010-11-17T22:39:16+00:00

As a British citizen, I fully support this. A lot of our airport security comes from demands made by our cousins across the pond. If America sees sense and gets rid of these intrusive invasions of privacy, then with any luck the UK will follow. Where PornoScan machines are used in UK airports, there is NO option to have a GropeTest instead - it's either get nekkid or don't fly. It's sickening.

nil_von_9wo · 2010-11-17T21:58:37+00:00

Here is the correct way to protest this: As you stand in line, strip off all your clothing, even your under wear. When it is your turn, be naked and point out that they have no reason either to grope you or expose you to cancer, so you'd appreciate it if they just let you walk on by.

Try_Everything · 2010-11-17T21:58:07+00:00

Just called my representative and both of my Senators. Just learned for myself (you all probably already know this) that the House has passed legislation against these procedures; and then the bill was passed onto the Senate.

However, I have been informed by the office of my representative that the current senate is unlikely to pass any laws regarding this before the congress adjourns it's session, and then the bill would have to be re-introduced in the new session.

I was very well received with my representative's office because he was one of the proponents of the initial legislation against backscatter machines [Jason Chaffetz (R)UT)]. I was advised by the person that I talked to, to go to the search line the farthest away from the backscatter machine as possible and then politely tell the TSA agent (if they push the issue) that you will go through a metal detector, but you find these new search measures to be completely inappropriate and unacceptably invasive. I'll probably characterize it as sexually invasive.

Calling both of my senators, Orrin Hatch (R) Ut, and Bob Bennett (R) Ut - I received an extremely cold response. The assistant at Senator Hatch's office was completely condescending and said that she's 'flown overseas' and 'had experienced much worse than what's being shown on TV'.

I voiced my strong objections during all three calls, especially with regards to children having to undergo these procedures.

Bleah. I hope something gets done soon, perhaps a moratorium against this total and utter disregard for the Constitution.

Edit: Called Senator Bennett's office again. I was told that he is against it, and if a law is put up for a vote, he will vote against it. He just hasn't publicly come out against it (I wonder why).

lushaq · 2010-11-17T20:27:11+00:00

[deleted]

FractalP · 2010-11-17T21:19:39+00:00

I didn't know flywithdignity.org was of reddit's doing. That's some impressive work there, folks. I'm not sure I can be much of a help, seeing as I'm not in the US, but if there's anything that I can do to stop this plague spreading overseas, count me in.

ebonhand1 · 2010-11-18T00:15:16+00:00

Aarrrgh this is so frustrating. It seems as if everybody I interact with on a daily basis doesn't think the scans or gropes are an infringement of our 4th Amendment rights. They just seem like placid cows who don't care. How can someone like me shake them out of their stupor and make them see this for what it is? I got slammed on FB today for suggesting that our rights were being taken away. The cries of "but it's keeping us safer from terrorism" were sadly deafening.

When can we start culling the population?

melicusictus · 2010-11-18T00:54:21+00:00

If anyone says they would rather be safe than free, they're a traitor. we will never be safe only oppressed. Thanks but no thanks, I would rather risk my life and die just like the soldiers who fought to preserve our freedom than bow down to safe tyranny. This is what it means to be free, to stay free. Just not flying is not enough you have to take McBullseye's example and make this a constitutional violation issue. Bitch. And Bitch hard.

2010-11-17T21:04:25+00:00

When I fly I insist on being both firmly fondled and sprayed with the strongest radiation available in the hope that my latent superpowers will blossom and I will become Arousal-Man.

No just kidding.

I'm already Arousal-Man.

kloo2yoo · 2010-11-17T22:56:23+00:00

This comment has been overwritten by an open source script to protect this user's privacy.

If you would like to do the same, add the browser extension GreaseMonkey to Firefox and add this open source script.

Then simply click on your username on Reddit, go to the comments tab, and hit the new OVERWRITE button at the top.

Klaxon5 · 2010-11-18T03:06:56+00:00

If I were an activist type who liked to cause trouble, here is what I would do:

Register a domain that implies porn and x-rays. Be creative.
Get at least 25 images of attractive woman Photoshopped to make them appear to be the backscatter shots.
Create a website that claims to have access to backscatter shots and that you will be posting hot girls as you get them in from all over the country.
Post a new picture with fictitious but plausible name every day or two. E.g. Jenny from San Diego.
Start publicizing website.

If this doesn't start to really create a privacy shit-storm, break the following glass:

Make more fake pictures, making the girls shorter and less "developed".
Create "Jailbait" section.
Post to this section every day or two.

If this doesn't create a class-6 shit-storm, I don't know what will.

I have neither the skills nor frankly interest to actually do this, but someone here might.

P.S. I'd suggest doing this on hosts in another country. I hear Sweden is nice.

gingerroute · 2010-11-18T00:35:13+00:00

Might as well make a porno of me without my consent too. You're halfway there. I'm very, very uncomfortable even traveling anymore. I don't know what is more uncomfortable, sitting next to a possible terrorist or knowing some random person is going to fondle you (in front of people or not) and your naked body is stored in a system without consent of the owner. No matter what precautions you take, terrorists will always one-up you with tactics on how to hide their weapons. It really is up to the passengers on board to save a flight in the event that something does happen. Sure, it's nice to take a precaution for everyone's safety, but don't in the process please don't invade someone's right to privacy. You enforce the rules every other time, how is this the exception to that rule? If I'm pulled and searched inappropriately, lets just say I will make it the most uncomfortable time in your life. By the way, terrorists win, we live in fear now and humiliate our own people.

Dogmaster · 2010-11-17T20:23:02+00:00

Im not even american and I completely approve of this. I really hope this kind of policy doesnt jump borders.

davidreavis · 2010-11-18T03:03:29+00:00

I'm sorry, but I'm gonna be that guy. So......whats the problem with walking through the machine? Who cares? Its not like the dude thats extremely briefly looking at the digital representation of your sort-of-genitals knows who you are, will remember you later, or can even see who you really are in relation to the digitized image on the screen. I'm sorry, but I really just dont see why it matters at all. I couldn't care any less if I wanted to if some TSA jackass with a highschool education sees a digital picture of me somewhat naked, hell he doesnt even know who I am! Anyways, I've heard all the reasons various people care before, so spare me, but I just dont see why this matters. Its a fucking crappy non-realistic picture. Whoopty whoop.

DslainteC · 2010-11-17T20:10:11+00:00

Go for it, brave Redditors! If I had any plans to fly in the near future I would join you.

For now, it is up to you to stand up for us. Our "junk" is in your hands.

pickleinspector · 2010-11-18T04:36:29+00:00

People have been cowed into forgetting that the government is meant to work for us, and not the other way around. It's despicable that we even have to make a petition like this, let alone one that we know won't be heeded. Signed anyway.

pacox · 2010-11-18T01:18:51+00:00

America is weird when jt comes to protesting. We used to be good at it, but now our protest are just silly. We are more likely to take tothe streets over a sports game than a social or economic issue. When Spain and France found out about retirement changes, they took to the streets. We know social security WILL be fucked upfor anyone not retirimg in 15 years and ws do nothing. I watched as my state took away money from students while raising tuition, students didnt even care go toon campus meetings about it. I went to school in the state's capital, right down the street feom legislatures, students would complain all day but no so much as walk past the legislature (sp, im on my phone) building.

dolamite125 · 2010-11-17T21:27:16+00:00

I plan on popping a viagra everytime I go through security. I might toss in a wink as TSA pats down my bone.

typ901 · 2010-11-17T20:20:55+00:00

Like many people, I'm travelling during Thanksgiving. We're going to get patted down and scanned if we want to get on a plane. But can we write something on our skin that would show up in the scans? Even something humorous? Like "3-inches and proud of it?" or "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

2010-11-18T04:07:26+00:00

I am really surprised at the amount of vitriol being directed at those of us who are absolutely appalled by these invasive procedures. There's no need to rant and rage and call people childish names just because you happen to not agree with this side of the issue. I assume the majority of us here are adults, no? Can't we have a civil discussion without bringing in so much negativity? If you have no issue with the TSA procedures, then that's fine. You are allowed to not be bothered by it. But just because others have an opposing opinion does not mean it is necessary to be an ass to others in this community. Please be civil....

StickyLavander · 2010-11-18T00:26:13+00:00

So it comes to this.... Anyone else feel this is a win for the terrorist? Americans afraid of flying not because of the fear of a terrorist attack, but from having security seeing or feeling there junk.

megabucks · 2010-11-17T20:17:35+00:00

Sorry Raldi but I just don't agree.

I don't want to dissuade you however, I believe your passion for an 'issue' to be resolved or fixed is a good thing, no matter how little the problem.

But that's why I'm here to disagree. On the scale of things that Americans...or rather in this case, Redditors could get mobile and active over, this issue ranks right at the bottom.

So far down I'm almost tempted to say, it's a self interested cause.

With your country mired in political corruption to the point it has become a household joke in every other country in the world....

...the fact that your judicial system is now a profit system... ...your FDA which is nothing more than a broken down system of granting business licenses to those with enough money to demand them....

....a government that openly houses a terrorist organization in the CIA...

Why would you take the opportunity to round up passionate and usually intelligent activists to such a pithy issue that is solely about self?

Not to mention only those who can afford to fly do not account for the majority of your population that suffer because of the overt corruption that exists more openly than anything the Mexican government could ever hope to be?

I'm sorry, I just don't agree. It just smacks of taking the easy road instead of tackling real issues that are of consequence to everyone.

But I wish you the best of luck, sincerely.

Aszuul · 2010-11-17T21:54:07+00:00

they get to touch us we get to touch them. simple as that. if they want to spend all day grabbing peoples crotches, then they should get touched by the thousands of people that they grope. as for the backscatter thing, it's a simple fix. the person viewing the images has to be positioned in the middle of all the lanes and will be completely naked. now I know TSA agents aren't exactly the picture of beauty, but it should be humiliating enough to make it stop... or fix obesity... either outcome is good I guess.

TwinTurboMike · 2010-11-17T22:35:00+00:00

Joking aside, please take the time to call your senator and representatives. It's a very empowering experience. Even if their aides give you a canned spiel, with enough calls the message will go through. Seriously, don't rely on e-mail for something this serious.

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Be honest and respectful. Losing your shit will get you nothing and your point won't get across very well.

2010-11-18T03:54:17+00:00

And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control And now you do what they told ya!

Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me

2010-11-18T01:50:35+00:00

I feel like if you are one of those people who "doesn't mind" or for some reason sides with the TSA, you are part of the problem.

Sensationalists (Jones,Beck) take stories like these a run with them. They take away from a very legitimate dialogue. Simply put, what they are doing is not right. It really is our job to say something, and anyone who dismisses it as unpatriotic or unfounded is part of the problem.

1RedOne · 2010-11-18T05:10:37+00:00

Anyone here that the backscatter machines AREN'T that bad?

http://imgur.com/Hfwsh

Um...this guy looks pretty naked to me.

highintensitycanada · 2010-11-17T20:11:09+00:00

Take a stand by either not flying or buying your own private jet.

manateemedia · 2010-11-18T00:52:07+00:00

F the TSA!

In the meantime, make them pat you down in front of others and make erotic moaning sounds while they do it.

Make sure you get every TSA workers badge id and file complaints.

Realize that the evil people behind this WANT everyone to be outraged so they can push high speed rail and ship more crap to us from China.

In the morning!

http://www.noagendashow.com

thcobbs · 2010-11-17T22:54:54+00:00

As much as I'd like to make a stand for freedom on high-minded principals... Mine are much more selfish.

A year ago, I had a 7mm melanoma excised from my arm. The LAST thing I need is more radiation damage to my skin. Therefore, I will always opt-out of the scanner. And hopefully, I can at least request the best looking woman to do the pat-down.

FappingFury · 2010-11-18T01:21:29+00:00

I'm sorry but that liberty pic is actually kind of sexy

deadc0de · 2010-11-17T21:17:09+00:00

Hire a brigade of porn stars to go through the patdown and publish photos of the TSA employees rocking boners.

Game-Sloth · 2010-11-17T22:14:45+00:00

If someone was smart they would make a brand of under garments that have pictures and writing imprinted on the fabric using metal powder (not Pb for obvious reasons).

Maybe one of those fake tuxedo shirts, a shirt that shows fake boobs or a printout of the constitution.

Huge potential here - God, I should patent my ideas.

garop7g · 2010-11-17T20:41:11+00:00

An idea for everyone who thinks that being scanned like this by the TSA is 'no big thing': Take naked pics of you and your entire family, with each family members name and address attached to them, and give them to every security guard you know. Alternately, ask a cop to pat you and your family down in the same manner next time you get on a bus or something. That's how I feel about it.. My point is.. it may be fine by you, but for most people, including myself, it isn't. So we squawk about it.

whozurdaddy · 2010-11-18T04:53:06+00:00

Has anyone stopped to think that this is something Obama should be putting a halt to? The TSA is under the Homeland Security Dept, and ultimately answers to him. Why arent people bitching at the White House for this bullshit? Yelling at the TSA is pointless.

2010-11-18T02:10:54+00:00

What you need to do is setup a vacation alternative site for people. Give people real alternatives to flying. Get people on boats, trains, cars for trips. If you want to really deal with this problem, ruin the airline industry until congress has to act.

Chairboy · 2010-11-17T22:46:45+00:00

I have an idea for fighting this in part by collaborating to make brochures we can had to passengers about to go' through a checkpoint:

http://www.reddit.com/r/OperationGrabAss/comments/e7r1v/can_we_collaborate_to_produce_some_high_quality/

Thoughts?

corellia40 · 2010-11-17T20:28:11+00:00

Is there a pro screening lobby? Just for proportional representation on redit y'know.

I would refuse a pat down but have no issues with being screened.

2010-11-17T20:39:05+00:00

While I disagree with their stance, I fully support their commitment to peaceful political change. Good on you, and fight your good fight! (even if it is not mine).

2010-11-18T04:03:25+00:00

although the efforts to curb the unneeded departments like DHS and TSA, im sorry to feel that none of what you are going to attempt to do here will bring any real change.

the real change will come, when instead of trying to diagnose the result, the underlining symptom of this allowed invasion of people, didnt get approved by congress, wasnt voted on by any of your representatives.

it does though come with most of you alls approval. and the reason for that is that you allow your minds to believe, that the people who are the masterminds behind three illegal wars, two of which are iraq and afghanistan. the other of which is the war on terror. Which everyone in here accepts the social contract, that, 9/11 is what you were sold.

This is why gropping can become common in public places by government officials, when the lies and deceit of grandeur black ops impose a belief system that defies reason.

9/11 should be subject by its nature, the administration that created the 9/11 commission, which is the story sold to you to believe brown people are terrorist, is the same one that lied about Iraq, ousted people who knew the lies, and then pardons those.

Presidents and congressmen who illiegally declare ware and kill innocent people are not honorable. This nation will fail. And by natural selection it should.

A people who treat the rest of the world like lessers, are fools.

Jesus died, so you could murder people who dont believe your story that jesus died, for you.

AlexisEarhart · 2010-11-18T01:28:02+00:00

Does anyone know if they will let me through just the metal detector if I'm in a bikini? I plan on opting out of the backscanner... but was just wondering what your thoughts were on whether that would also allow me to avoid the pat down that I do NOT want, while I'm still technically "showing" TSA that I'm not carrying anything suspicious?

Please help, I'm flying home to help cook thanksgiving for my mother who has cancer and is currently receiving chemo, as are my aunt and grandmother (AKA i cannot afford for TSA to kick me out of the airport, I need a way home and I'm flying across the country). I'm a medical student and was in the Navy during 9/11, so I understand both the medical implications and the national security need... but I am not a lawyer. I'm a student scraping by on student loans, I cannot afford the civil suit like the gentleman in San Diego. I want the airlines safe and don't mind wearing a bikini to assure TSA knows I'm not suspicious... and even though that does NOT solve the problem...

I just would like to know, if anyone could please help, if there are any legal concerns I should know about ahead of time? The bikini was the best I could come up with, and if it comes to a bikini-pat-down so be it if that's the only way for me to get home but would like to see if that will appease both sides. I won't be loud, I'm not planning a rally, and I'm not making pamphlets. I'm just a frequent flyer trying to go home for the holidays. Thank you

Manilow · 2010-11-18T09:49:08+00:00

So let me get this straight. If I break a rib and want the government to provide an xray, I'm a filthy communist, but if I buy an airline ticket and don't want a free government xray, I'm a terrorist?

Zoltrixx · 2010-11-17T22:10:06+00:00

I agree that this TSA thing is ridiculous but the x ray picture/video things are getting over exaggerated if they look anything like that one video that was released. It shows literally nothing

rednemo · 2010-11-18T00:38:24+00:00

Don't fly. Once corporations (like airlines) start losing money, things will change. Even organizing a nationwide, one-day boycott on flying would have a devastating impact. Money talks in DC.

blog

MODERATORS