Revolt over Full Body Scans and Pat Downs at Airports

[Coito ergo sum]

Did you watch it without sound the 2nd and 3rd times too? The TSA officer was nothing but polite. The kid is fine.

I'm sure he is fine. They bounce back quickly. I did watch with sound, and I did not find the TSA officer to be "polite."

The bottom line is, they need to have some reworking of the rules.

[Coito ergo sum]

Just cram down some taco bell 2 hours before going through security and let er rip. Take that TSA agents! I am the WMD!

Maybe that is why they are always in a surly mood. Possibly the reek coming off 1/2 the passengers who don't think it's necessary to bathe before they travel on an airplane....

[tattuchu]

Was there something under the kid's shirt? His torso looked very odd, perhaps prompting the search.

[Audley Strange]

The moment of power. They love it and anyone who works with the Public loves it, the moment when it's "fuck you, I'm in charge." From what I've gleaned in past experiences with such security measures, it can often be uncomfortable for those performing it and when random checks are left up to security they will choose controversial or problematic cases to check. I think it is a form of subconscious sabotage since everyone actually knows deep down, that if you are determined enough, you'll get whatever you want on a plane.

[Coito ergo sum]

Bar Rafaeli felt violated during pat down -- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... -down.html

I mean, come on....




I'd want to pat her down with my tongue....

[Warren Dew]

A 49-year-old Portland man on his way to San Jose was arrested last night after he took off all his clothes at a checkpoint in what he said was a protest against security procedures. John Brennan, whose name I'm using in hopes that he will become a national hero, told the San Jose Mercury News that he did not feel especially harassed by the TSA workers in question, but had stripped to protest the whole process....

Of course, the same people who had previously wanted him to walk though a scanner that would let them see under his clothes then objected when he let them see under his clothes. They called police, who also objected, but by this point it had become a protest. "I stuck by my guns," Brennan said. He said that the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that nudity is protected speech, and especially in this context he's almost certainly right.

http://www.loweringthebar.net/2012/04/t ... t-way.html

[Seabass]

Methinks Bar Refaeli and John Brennan should switch roles...

[Ronja]

A 49-year-old Portland man on his way to San Jose was arrested last night after he took off all his clothes at a checkpoint in what he said was a protest against security procedures. John Brennan, whose name I'm using in hopes that he will become a national hero, told the San Jose Mercury News that he did not feel especially harassed by the TSA workers in question, but had stripped to protest the whole process....

Of course, the same people who had previously wanted him to walk though a scanner that would let them see under his clothes then objected when he let them see under his clothes. They called police, who also objected, but by this point it had become a protest. "I stuck by my guns," Brennan said. He said that the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that nudity is protected speech, and especially in this context he's almost certainly right.

http://www.loweringthebar.net/2012/04/t ... t-way.html

Jebus! That might be a way of protesting the idiotic TSA procedures (which has nothing to do with real safety or security, BTW) which might - just might - bring a change to the system. If many enough people simply insisted on walking through naked...

Now how to best turn the idea viral?

[Coito ergo sum]

I still don't get what's so troublesome about the procedures. I've flown several times recently. You check in, go up to the line through security, put your bag on the conveyor, making sure all metals are out of your pockets. You walk up to that scanner, get inside. 2 seconds later you move through. I was patted down, and it wasn't really a big deal. The hand bumped my junk a little, and they do a bit more of check in the nook and cranny, and they went up under the pits and whatnot, but is it really that big of a deal?

From my experience, this stuff is mostly overreaction.

In what way ought the procedures be modified? Ought we not have a security screening at all? What sort of screening ought to be done? To me, the concept seems reasonable - scan the bags -- and make sure that people don't have stuff that shouldn't be on them stuck in the ass cheeks or up the butt/vagina. That seems to make perfect sense.

I think what I would call on them to do is improve the effectiveness of the screening so they're not so sloppy. The government workers are behaving precisely as expected. Inefficient, sloppy and without independent thought.

[Svartalf]

When they make you take off your shoes and belts, it IS trouble some, it's an assault on my dignity, not to mention how bothersome it is for a man of my girth to bend down and relace one's shoes.

[Coito ergo sum]

When they make you take off your shoes and belts, it IS trouble some, it's an assault on my dignity, not to mention how bothersome it is for a man of my girth to bend down and relace one's shoes.

Do they do the same thing in France? What is the reaction of French citizens by and large?

Taking off shoes and belts is no big deal. The reality is that when traveling you know that to be the case and dress accordingly. Comfortable pants with an easy to remove belt, and slip on shoes. Frankly, if there is a better way to determine if someone's shoes have something unwarranted in them, then please by all means suggest it. If there is a better way to make sure the metal in the belt doesn't set off the metal detector, then also - suggest the better way.

If the solution to suggest is that we just don't worry about what might be in the soles of shoes, etc. - then I don't see that as a viable answer.

[Warren Dew]

I still don't get what's so troublesome about the procedures.

I think the concern is that some of the TSA people might think like this:

I'd want to pat her down with my tongue....

[Coito ergo sum]

I still don't get what's so troublesome about the procedures.

I think the concern is that some of the TSA people might think like this:

I'd want to pat her down with my tongue....

I have no quarrel with addressing that problem.

However, to then suggest that there is no reason for there to be airport security is quite another. If we aren't going to pat people down, then what ought to be done?

I know what Bar Rafaeli said she felt like being patted down. But, her perception may not be indicative of what really happened anyway. The TSA agent may well have just been given the usual hand in the crannies routine.

It's happened to me - you stand there, arms out and the hands go briskly over the body. Up into the pits, then down the waste and over the stomach and back, down the legs, and up to the crotch. There is a bit of manual inquiry right up to the taint and under the ball sack, sort of just to make sure there isn't something tucked there. It's over quickly and you move on.

What's the problem? Is that not the usual experience?

[maiforpeace]

Oregon man says naked airport protest was about free speech

[Coito ergo sum]

Oregon man says naked airport protest was about free speech

Brennan said he lives in Portland and was traveling to San Jose, California, for business. After he went through the metal detector and was patted down, a screener told him he tested positive for explosives, he said.

Brennan said he felt "humiliated," and decided to take off all his clothes.

How is that humiliating?

"I'm choosing liberty because my privacy and constitutional liberties are worth fighting for," he said.

I agree - but, what, in this case does he want done? Does he want there to be no screening at the airport? If he doesn't go that far, then how far does he want to go? Back to pre-9/11 procedures?

Frankly, I flew a lot pre 9/11 and a lot post 9/11, and in the 1990s, the procedure wasn't that much different. Baggage on the conveyer, take all metals out of pockets, remove metal belt buckle and/or metal soled shoes. Go through metal detector. Proceed to plane. Some folks were stopped for a closer inspection if the detector went off. Now, it's a little different, with the addition of some pat downs that bump under women's boobs and give quick "how to you do" to the undercarriage.

Is this really a problem?