Friday, November 19, 2010
Vice President Joe Biden: Airport screening pat-downs a 'necessary policy'
Vice President Joe Biden defends those "love pats" so many Americans who opt-out of full body scanners are forced to endure, as administered by the TSA:
Vice President Joe Biden is defending the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) controversial new pat-down technique, calling it a "necessary policy."Are elected officials subjected to "love pats" or do they get special treatment? Vice President Biden is exempt from being checked by the TSA when he flies.
It's only a "love pat" to Democrats
Biden acknowledged people have concerns that the TSA's use of full-body scanners and pat-downs are frustrating and intrusive but argued they are crucial to prevent another incident like the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing.
"Well look, Larry, maybe because I spend so much time every morning dealing with the threat assessment that's out there and the fact that it's real — I understand peoples' frustration, but I — unless there's a new technology that comes along pretty quickly, I think it's — I think it's a necessary policy," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live" program. "I think it will have the effect of saving lives, intercepting explosives."
Even though the TSA's new policy has riled lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Biden's comments indicate the agency will continue to scan or pat down passengers at the nation's airports.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Woman in tears at airport after incident with TSA; TSA policies break up families
From the Los Angeles Times:
...
One 32-year-old woman said she was in tears after a full-body scan Monday as she boarded a flight out of Los Angeles International Airport to attend a family member's funeral. Adriana, who asked that her full name not be used, said she was molested as a child and that the screening experience was so traumatic that she is actually considering train travel for the first time in her life.
"People who have not been violated before can't understand how it feels for a stranger to see more of you than your doctor," she said. "Someone should try to explain the situation for those that quietly and continuously take the torment."
Sandra Elliott of Denver said she is no prude but that a recent pat-down at John Wayne Airport was so humiliating that she is considering no longer traveling to see her grandchildren in Newport Beach.
"These women's hands were thrust firmly in my crotch. They pulled up my sweater and stuck their hands inside of my pants, plus thoroughly groped my breasts," Elliott said of screeners she encountered before her Nov. 1 flight back to Denver. "Please know that I am not a prude. I am not adverse to being touched by others, sometimes intimately, but this was absolutely overboard."
...
Traveler who resisted TSA pat-down is glad his moment of fame is nearly over
...
One 32-year-old woman said she was in tears after a full-body scan Monday as she boarded a flight out of Los Angeles International Airport to attend a family member's funeral. Adriana, who asked that her full name not be used, said she was molested as a child and that the screening experience was so traumatic that she is actually considering train travel for the first time in her life.
"People who have not been violated before can't understand how it feels for a stranger to see more of you than your doctor," she said. "Someone should try to explain the situation for those that quietly and continuously take the torment."
Sandra Elliott of Denver said she is no prude but that a recent pat-down at John Wayne Airport was so humiliating that she is considering no longer traveling to see her grandchildren in Newport Beach.
"These women's hands were thrust firmly in my crotch. They pulled up my sweater and stuck their hands inside of my pants, plus thoroughly groped my breasts," Elliott said of screeners she encountered before her Nov. 1 flight back to Denver. "Please know that I am not a prude. I am not adverse to being touched by others, sometimes intimately, but this was absolutely overboard."
...
Woman: The TSA agent touched my vagina
From Prison Planet:
Sexual Assault: TSA Goon Gropes Woman’s Vagina
I have an incident to share that occurred late Friday afternoon, November 12, 2010, around 5:15 in the Dayton International Airport.
I realize the publishing this publically on the internet puts me into a delicate situation, given that I am a high profile blogger and author. This is a difficult incident to share, but it needs to be said…Because I will not be a silent victim.
I will share the facts of the incident in as a matter of fact manner as I can.
I checked into my flight and had a boarding pass printed that included “plus infant.” My baby and I were flying from Dayton, OH, to San Antonio, TX, so I could run in the San Antonio Half Marathon. I was taking my baby along because he is still breastfeeding for part of the day.
I entered the security line, removed the special formula that I had with me for the baby, as well as my quart size baggie with my other liquids. I went through the x-ray machine and metal detector, carrying the baby, with no incident.
Because I was traveling with baby formula, I knew to expect that they would test it with the paper circles for explosives. The TSA agent took all of my belongings over to the table in the center of the explosive screening tables. She asked me, “Are you aware of the NEW policies for carrying liquids through security that were instated 4 years ago?” (capitalized to show the emphasis that she placed on that word.)
I replied, “Yes, I fly with him every several weeks.”
She scanned the formula, then turned to me and said, “Remove your shoes and stand on that black mat for a patdown.”
I said, “OK, what do I do with the baby?”
“You cannot be holding him.” (I am traveling alone.)
So I placed him into his stroller. She instructed me, “Spread your feet apart and hold your arms out to the side.” I obliged.
She patted my left arm, my right arm, my upper back and my lower back. She then said, “I need to reach in and feel along the inside of your waistband.”
She felt along my waistline, moved behind me, then proceeded to feel both of my buttocks. She reached from behind in the middle of my buttocks towards my vagina area.
She did not tell me that she was going to touch my buttocks, or reach forward to my vagina area.
She then moved in front of my and touched the top and underneath portions of both of my breasts.
She did not tell me that she was going to touch my breasts.
She then felt around my waist. She then moved to the bottoms of my legs.
She then felt my inner thighs and my vagina area, touching both of my labia.
She did not tell me that she was going to touch my vagina area or my labia.
She then told me that I could put my shoes on and I asked if I could pick up the baby, she replied Yes.
She then moved back to my belongings to finish scanning them with the paper discs for explosives. When she finished she said I was free to go.
I stood there holding my baby in shock. I did not move for almost a minute.
I stood there, an American citizen, a mom traveling with a baby with special needs formula, sexually assaulted by a government official. I began shaking and felt completely violated, abused and assaulted by the TSA agent. I shook for several hours, and woke up the next day shaking.
Here is why I was sexually assaulted. She never told me the new body search policy. She never told me that she was going to touch my private parts. She never told me when or where she was going to touch me. She did not inform me that a private screening was available. She did not inform me of my rights that were a part of these new enhanced patdown procedures.
When I booked my ticket, I was given no information that the TSA had changed their wand and unintrusive patdown procedures to “enhanced” patdown procedures that involved the touching of all parts of your body, including breasts and vagina on women and testicles and penis on men. I was not informed by any signs on the front side of security about the new procedures. I had not seen any media coverage about the issue, so I had no idea that this was a new government sanctioned policy.
Another important piece in this story, the Dayton airport does not have the new body scanners. I was not given any other search options. It was enhanced patdown, or nothing. (And I would have opted for the body scanner, if I were going to be subject to a sexual assault.)
I asked to speak to a supervisor immediately. I had a very unpleasant conversation with him that lasted 20 minutes. I moved to the back of the security area, made a few phone calls, including to my lawyer. He did some quick research, and learned that I had indeed been sexually assaulted because she did not follow the SOP (standard operating procedure) for the new search.
During our first conversation, the TSA acting manager of the shift told me that the TSA agent who sexually assaulted me was supposed to inform me about the new search procedure and tell me when and where she was going to touch me. He also apologized on behalf of himself and on behalf of the agent who sexually assaulted me. I was not allowed to speak to the agent who sexually assaulted me, nor did the acting manager provide me with her name. (I did not have the presence of mind to look at her nameplate, as I was in shock.)
I also spoke with the Dayton police, the Dayton airport police, and left a message for the TSA manager for the Dayton airport. I intend to request the TSA to arrange for counseling services to be provided to me, so I can deal with the aftermath of the sexual assault that took place, caused by the specific touching actions and failure to inform me of the policies by the TSA agent.
I am speaking out against the TSA and share my sexual assault case to ensure that this does not happen to anyone else, anywhere.
I will not be a silent victim of sexual assault by a TSA agent. Total Sexual Assault.
I am calling for immediate change to this new enhanced body patdown search.
I am calling for the TSA agent who sexually assaulted me to be fired.
I am calling for you, a fellow American, to stand up against these new enhanced full body patdown search procedures of the TSA.
Please note: I do plan on flying back to Ohio on Monday, because it will take me too long to drive home from Texas. I do not however intend to fly again until this search policy of sexual molestation is revoked by the TSA.
I will leave you with this thought: “It is acceptable and encouraged that a TSA government official can do something to an American citizen that US military personnel cannot do to a member of the Taliban.”
TSA agents harass American soldiers returning from war
From Red State:
A friend of mine sent me this about his TSA experience. He, unlike most of us, was coming back into the country from Afghanistan on a military charter.
As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from Afghanistan, I witnessed the following:
When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we flew out of Baghram Air Field. We went through customs at BAF, full body scanners (no groping), had all of our bags searched, the whole nine yards.
Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After that, we had to stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop off about 100 folks from the Indiana National Guard. That’s where the stupid started.
First, everyone was forced to get off the plane–even though the plane wasn’t refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane, rather than let the 100 people from the ING get off. We were filed from the plane to a holding area. No vending machines, no means of escape. Only a male/female latrine.
It’s probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying weapons. Everyone was carrying an M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were also carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B machine guns. Of course, the weapons weren’t loaded. And we had been cleared of all ammo well before we even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN at customs.
The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered making us unload all of the baggage from the SECURE cargo hold to have it reinspected. Keep in mind, this cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece by U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing dogs give it a one-hour run through. After two hours of sitting in this holding area, the TSA decided not to reinspect our Cargo–just to inspect us again: Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already been inspected, reinspected and kept in a SECURE holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever. So we lined up to go through security AGAIN.
This is probably another good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.
So we’re in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they’re going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:
TSA Guy: You can’t take those on the plane.
Soldier: What? I’ve had them since we left country.
TSA Guy: You’re not suppose to have them.
Soldier: Why?
TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.
Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I’m allowed to take it on.
TSA Guy: Yeah but you can’t use it to take over the plane. You don’t have bullets.
Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?
TSA Guy: [awkward silence]
Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the f**k out of here. I’ll buy you a new set.
Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security]
This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns–but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.
Another TSA Outrage
As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from Afghanistan, I witnessed the following:
When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we flew out of Baghram Air Field. We went through customs at BAF, full body scanners (no groping), had all of our bags searched, the whole nine yards.
Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After that, we had to stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop off about 100 folks from the Indiana National Guard. That’s where the stupid started.
First, everyone was forced to get off the plane–even though the plane wasn’t refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane, rather than let the 100 people from the ING get off. We were filed from the plane to a holding area. No vending machines, no means of escape. Only a male/female latrine.
It’s probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying weapons. Everyone was carrying an M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were also carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B machine guns. Of course, the weapons weren’t loaded. And we had been cleared of all ammo well before we even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN at customs.
The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered making us unload all of the baggage from the SECURE cargo hold to have it reinspected. Keep in mind, this cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece by U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing dogs give it a one-hour run through. After two hours of sitting in this holding area, the TSA decided not to reinspect our Cargo–just to inspect us again: Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already been inspected, reinspected and kept in a SECURE holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever. So we lined up to go through security AGAIN.
This is probably another good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.
So we’re in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they’re going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:
TSA Guy: You can’t take those on the plane.
Soldier: What? I’ve had them since we left country.
TSA Guy: You’re not suppose to have them.
Soldier: Why?
TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.
Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I’m allowed to take it on.
TSA Guy: Yeah but you can’t use it to take over the plane. You don’t have bullets.
Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?
TSA Guy: [awkward silence]
Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the f**k out of here. I’ll buy you a new set.
Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security]
This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns–but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.
TSA: We now think that our agents should touch children's private parts
From USA Today:
No 'enhanced' pat-downs for kids, TSA says
Children going through airport security will no longer be subject to the aggressive pat-downs that have riled some passengers and will instead face less-intrusive hand searches from screeners, the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday.
"After a thorough risk assessment and after hearing concerns from parents, we made the decision that a modified pat-down would be used for children 12 years old and under who require extra screening," TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee said in a statement.
The TSA last month began "enhanced" pat-downs on passengers who decline to enter body scanners that create graphic images of people under their clothes and are viewed in a private room by screeners. Some passengers complained the pat-downs were intrusive, while others have protested the body scanners as a privacy invasion.
The TSA decision to ease screening for children came as the agency was sued Tuesday by two airline pilots seeking to block the use of body scanners and enhanced pat-downs. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by Michael Roberts, an ExpressJet Airlines pilot who created a minor stir last month when he refused to undergo a body scan and a pat-down at Memphis International Airport, where he was trying to board a flight to his base in Houston. The other plaintiff is Continental Airlines first officer Ann Poe.
No 'enhanced' pat-downs for kids, TSA says
Children going through airport security will no longer be subject to the aggressive pat-downs that have riled some passengers and will instead face less-intrusive hand searches from screeners, the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday.
"After a thorough risk assessment and after hearing concerns from parents, we made the decision that a modified pat-down would be used for children 12 years old and under who require extra screening," TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee said in a statement.
The TSA last month began "enhanced" pat-downs on passengers who decline to enter body scanners that create graphic images of people under their clothes and are viewed in a private room by screeners. Some passengers complained the pat-downs were intrusive, while others have protested the body scanners as a privacy invasion.
The TSA decision to ease screening for children came as the agency was sued Tuesday by two airline pilots seeking to block the use of body scanners and enhanced pat-downs. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by Michael Roberts, an ExpressJet Airlines pilot who created a minor stir last month when he refused to undergo a body scan and a pat-down at Memphis International Airport, where he was trying to board a flight to his base in Houston. The other plaintiff is Continental Airlines first officer Ann Poe.
Grandmother fondled by TSA agent
From the Boston Herald:
A local grandmother’s Nov. 12 wardrobe choice of cargo pants with zippers made her victim of the federal government’s new full-body pat-down searches at airports.
Diane Bitter said she was passing through Manchester Airport en route to Arizona last Friday when her pants zippers triggered a metal detector.
“Of course you can’t just take your pants off,” she said, explaining she was then directed to step aside for an “insane” inspection.
“Right out in the middle of everything,” a female airport screener began patting Bitter’s body in places she did not expect.
“She touched my private parts,” said Bitter.
Pressed for details, the 67-year-old Rye Beach resident said the airport employee put her hands inside the waistband of her pants, felt around her waist, passed her hands over both her breasts, and rubbed her hands up and down the insides of her legs - “twice in front and twice in back.”
“As it got more invasive, I thought, ‘why am I consenting to this?’” she said. “It was totally humiliating.”
Bitter said after the screener “finished feeling me all over,” she removed a pair of blue latex gloves, rubbed them with “a detecting pad,” put the gloves into a machine and got a reading clearing Bitter for hazardous substances.
“I didn’t hang around to see if anyone else got the treatment,” she said.
...
The ACLU is collecting reports from passengers about their pat-down experiences and advertising that it wants to hear from passengers who “suffered from rough, rude and humiliating manhandling and groping of breasts and crotch areas, sexual comments, and a lack of privacy.”
Reports can be made online here.
NH Grandma groped by TSA blasts ‘invasive’ body search
A local grandmother’s Nov. 12 wardrobe choice of cargo pants with zippers made her victim of the federal government’s new full-body pat-down searches at airports.
Diane Bitter said she was passing through Manchester Airport en route to Arizona last Friday when her pants zippers triggered a metal detector.
“Of course you can’t just take your pants off,” she said, explaining she was then directed to step aside for an “insane” inspection.
“Right out in the middle of everything,” a female airport screener began patting Bitter’s body in places she did not expect.
“She touched my private parts,” said Bitter.
Pressed for details, the 67-year-old Rye Beach resident said the airport employee put her hands inside the waistband of her pants, felt around her waist, passed her hands over both her breasts, and rubbed her hands up and down the insides of her legs - “twice in front and twice in back.”
“As it got more invasive, I thought, ‘why am I consenting to this?’” she said. “It was totally humiliating.”
Bitter said after the screener “finished feeling me all over,” she removed a pair of blue latex gloves, rubbed them with “a detecting pad,” put the gloves into a machine and got a reading clearing Bitter for hazardous substances.
“I didn’t hang around to see if anyone else got the treatment,” she said.
...
The ACLU is collecting reports from passengers about their pat-down experiences and advertising that it wants to hear from passengers who “suffered from rough, rude and humiliating manhandling and groping of breasts and crotch areas, sexual comments, and a lack of privacy.”
Reports can be made online here.
Peverts apply for TSA jobs en masse
From GlossyNews.com:
“R. Kelly gets busted for child pornography, but Baltimore International’s got five showings of my kids naked — with no admission charged,” complained one parent. However, failure to submit to a full body scan will result in “enhanced” screening processes carried out in person by TSA officers, including the touching of genitals. It was after refusing to enter the scanners that John Tyner was subjected to TSA groping. In the video of the incident, Tyner threatened to have TSA personnel arrested for touching his “junk.” The Airline Pilots Association also supports Tyner’s claims, calling the TSA pat downs “sexual molestation.”
...
Despite the backlash from consumers, TSA procurement officials claim that since the groping procedures were enacted, the number of job applicants has tripled. Barnes Hamroid, the TSA’s vice president of Human Resources, said, “I think people in America are smarter than the media portrays. They understand the need for these safety protocols, and the mountain of resumes on my desk supports that.
...
TSA Groping Incident Attracts New Employees to Agency
...“R. Kelly gets busted for child pornography, but Baltimore International’s got five showings of my kids naked — with no admission charged,” complained one parent. However, failure to submit to a full body scan will result in “enhanced” screening processes carried out in person by TSA officers, including the touching of genitals. It was after refusing to enter the scanners that John Tyner was subjected to TSA groping. In the video of the incident, Tyner threatened to have TSA personnel arrested for touching his “junk.” The Airline Pilots Association also supports Tyner’s claims, calling the TSA pat downs “sexual molestation.”
...
Despite the backlash from consumers, TSA procurement officials claim that since the groping procedures were enacted, the number of job applicants has tripled. Barnes Hamroid, the TSA’s vice president of Human Resources, said, “I think people in America are smarter than the media portrays. They understand the need for these safety protocols, and the mountain of resumes on my desk supports that.
...
Pilot: The TSA wanted to see my private parts.
From HotAir.com:
Pilot to Hannity: The TSA wanted to see my penis
Yeah, he really said that, which caught Hannity completely off guard. What he was really talking about was going through the airport scanners. Michael Roberts, a pilot who is now suing Homeland Security decided to forgo the airport scanners and the fully body ‘love pats’ and took the third option of going home, which is where he’s been every since. He says that he’s always gone through the metal detector, but this is going way too far.
A point that Hannity made which I find interesting is that the logic fails on scanning and searching pilots because they can ultimately crash the plane anyway. There’s no procedure in the world that can prevent that and it just shows how ludicrous these measures have become. Last night on the O’Reilly Factor, Ann Coulter asked if body cavity searches would be next, considering that terrorists have already used this method to conceal explosives.
What we really need to do is to take a page out of Israel’s playbook and begin doing background checks on airline passengers and putting people on the ground in the airports that are specifically trained to interview suspicious passengers. These methods are much less invasive, and highly effective according to the former Security Chief of El Al airlines.
I’ll be glad when we get some common sense in Washington. This is really getting pathetic.
Pilot to Hannity: The TSA wanted to see my penis
Yeah, he really said that, which caught Hannity completely off guard. What he was really talking about was going through the airport scanners. Michael Roberts, a pilot who is now suing Homeland Security decided to forgo the airport scanners and the fully body ‘love pats’ and took the third option of going home, which is where he’s been every since. He says that he’s always gone through the metal detector, but this is going way too far.
A point that Hannity made which I find interesting is that the logic fails on scanning and searching pilots because they can ultimately crash the plane anyway. There’s no procedure in the world that can prevent that and it just shows how ludicrous these measures have become. Last night on the O’Reilly Factor, Ann Coulter asked if body cavity searches would be next, considering that terrorists have already used this method to conceal explosives.
What we really need to do is to take a page out of Israel’s playbook and begin doing background checks on airline passengers and putting people on the ground in the airports that are specifically trained to interview suspicious passengers. These methods are much less invasive, and highly effective according to the former Security Chief of El Al airlines.
I’ll be glad when we get some common sense in Washington. This is really getting pathetic.
Annual family tradition of thirty years ended because of TSA policies
From MSNBC:
Fed-up fliers protest airport security measures
For 30 years, Marcia Miller has flown across the country to Toledo, Ohio, to join four generations of her family for Thanksgiving dinner. But scared off by newly ramped-up airport security measures — including full-body scans and, in some cases, “enhanced” pat downs by TSA workers — Miller has decided instead to dine alone in L.A.
She is opting out.
“Am I really supposed to let a total stranger rub my private parts because I bought an airplane ticket?” said Miller, who runs the jewelry and fashion website, ILoveAccessories.com. “Would you allow your daughter to be patted down by a stranger and not feel like punching the person that did it? It leaves scars... just like a rape leaves scars.”
Miller has some company in both her personal protest and her fear of the Transportation Security Administration’s new methods.
A grassroots group of fliers who say they are fed up with airport “feel ups” and who call TSA X-ray machines “porno scanners” are cooking up a Thanksgiving Eve revolt that, they vow, will turn the nation’s heaviest travel day into “holy hell.”
Fueled by two new websites — OptOutDay.com and WeWontFly.com — as well as by several awkward, security-point frisking videos that recently went viral, movement members are vowing to unleash a surreal spate of Nov. 24 disruptions just as millions of Americans fly off for annual family feasts. Atop the protesters’ tactical list: urging passengers to “opt out” of full-body scans, forcing TSA employees to instead administer “enhanced,” hand-sliding, pat downs that can include feeling a person’s inner thighs and buttocks.
One X-ray glimpse typically takes TSA employees about 30 seconds, but the more-intimate, physical searches — implemented by the federal government three weeks ago — can last several minutes per passenger. If a large enough portion of travelers choose to “opt out” of the scans, security lines could potentially coil to record lengths at multiple airports — and travelers may miss their flights.
...
“TSA is not going have the manpower to stick their hands in the pants of every man coming through there,” said James Babb, a 42-year-old advertising consultant from the Philadelphia area who co-founded WeWontFly.com. “We are really encouraging people to not just opt out of the radiation scan but also opt out of the groping by not flying at all.”
Even lawmakers are considering whether it is time to "opt out."
Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who helped write the bill creating the TSA, now says it might be time to eliminate the government agency, NBC's WESH-TV reports.
Mica, who will chair the House Transportation Committee in the new year, has sent letters to 150 airports suggesting that they dump TSA screeners and hire private security. Florida's Orlando Sanford Airport, which handles 2 million passengers a year, already plans to replace "testy" TSA screeners with private contractors.
The federal law that created the TSA gives airports the right to use private screeners, as long as they follow the Department of Homeland Security's rules and guidelines.
"As TSA has grown larger, more impersonal, and administratively top-heavy, I believe it is important that airports across the country consider utilizing the opt-out provision provided by law," Mica wrote in the letter.
It's only a "love pat" says Missouri Sen. McCaskill
 |
| Sen. Claire McCaskill calls it a "love pat" |
Transportation Safety Administration chief John Pistole and several senators from both parties defended the new, enhanced airport security screening procedures as necessary in the face of a persistent and evolving terrorist threat in a hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
Pistole, calm and confident in the face of an increasing public outcry against the procedures, talked extensively about the repercussions of last year's attempted Christmas Day bombing being the impetus for the enhanced screenings before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, TSA's oversight committee.
"We know the terrorists' intent is still there," Pistole testified. "We are using technology and protocols to stay ahead of the threat and keep you safe. (Several near-misses by terrorists on airplane bombings) got through security because we were not being thorough enough in our pat-downs."
Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said prior to Pistole's testimony that she believed TSA was in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation, because people would be hopping mad at TSA if Christmas bomber Umar Farouk Adbulmutallab had succeeded. She went on to say the new advanced imaging technology--which has caused uproar because of its leave-no-secrets imaging and potential health risks--is more of a blessing than a curse.
"I'm wildly excited that I can walk through a machine instead of getting my dose of love pats," Sen. McCaskill said.{emphasis added}
It begins: Orlando's Sanford Airport to opt-out of TSA Screening
And so it begins, as the first airport has opted-out of utilizing TSA screeners:
Let this be the beginning of a restoration of sanity around the nation.
The backlash continues over those new TSA screening measures, and now one Central Florida airport has decided to go with a private security screening firm.
Orlando Sanford International Airport has decided to opt out from TSA screening.
"All of our due diligence shows it's the way to go," said Larry Dale, the director of the Sanford Airport Authority. "You're going to get better service at a better price and more accountability and better customer service."
Dale says he will be sending a letter requesting to opt out from TSA screening, and instead the airport will choose one of the five approved private screening companies to take over.
Congressman John Mica, who's expected to lead the powerful Transportation Committee next year, says the TSA is crying out for reform.
"I think TSA is overstepping its bounds," said Mica.
Dale says, if all goes as planned, the private security firm could take over in about 12 months.
The TSA points out that even if an airport decides to use a private firm for security, the screeners still must follow TSA guidelines. That would include using the full body scanners if they are installed at the airport.
Barney Frank's "Pervert Airlines"
From Human Events:
AUDIO: Barney Frank's Pervert Airlines
The Obama Administration has a premiere civil servant leading the TSA this holiday season: Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts! The mission, which he enthusiastically accepted, is to ensure that all of Barney's fingers end up on every organ of every American...every day! Homeland Security has now become Homeland Perversity! All of the groping security-check madmen will now model their behavior on Barney!
Won’t it be fun to run the gauntlet of drooling mouths, fat hairy bellies, and sticky hands? And, if Barney is busy while you're late for that flight to grandma’s, get ready to reach second base with DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano! It’s time to lose your airport virginity to Frisky Frank and his team of sexual predators! Click the player below, and hop aboard Pervert Airlines. It's an experience you can’t wash off!
Fox and Rice Experience: Pervert Airlines by HumanEvents
AUDIO: Barney Frank's Pervert Airlines
The Obama Administration has a premiere civil servant leading the TSA this holiday season: Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts! The mission, which he enthusiastically accepted, is to ensure that all of Barney's fingers end up on every organ of every American...every day! Homeland Security has now become Homeland Perversity! All of the groping security-check madmen will now model their behavior on Barney!
Won’t it be fun to run the gauntlet of drooling mouths, fat hairy bellies, and sticky hands? And, if Barney is busy while you're late for that flight to grandma’s, get ready to reach second base with DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano! It’s time to lose your airport virginity to Frisky Frank and his team of sexual predators! Click the player below, and hop aboard Pervert Airlines. It's an experience you can’t wash off!
Fox and Rice Experience: Pervert Airlines by HumanEvents
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
California District Attorney: I will prosecute TSA perverts
From FOX News:
California DA Vows to Prosecute Airport Screeners Who Touch Travelers Inappropriately
The public outcry over the government's new pat-downs gained momentum Wednesday, as a California district attorney vowed to prosecute any complaints of inappropriate touching by airport security screeners and a U.S. congressman called for screeners to receive improved training.
The developments came as the head of the Transportation Security Administration, John Pistole, acknowledged that the new pat-downs are more invasive than what travelers were used to in the past.
The "enhanced" pat-downs of airline passengers who opt out of using the high-tech body scanners require screeners to touch travellers' breasts or genitals.
...
Steve Wagstaffe, the incoming district attorney in San Mateo County, told FoxNews.com that he would charge screeners with sexual battery for complaints of inappropriate touching with sexual or lewd intent.
...
"It becomes a crime when someone does that touching, reaches under the blouse and fondles breasts," he said. "That's a crime under California law."
If convicted of a misdemeanor, TSA screeners would face up to one year in the county jail; for a felony, which would involve skin-on-skin contact, they would face up to three years in state prison.
...
Ron Paul introduces anti-TSA legislation
From the U.S. Congress:
Introducing the American Traveler Dignity Act
Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation to protect Americans from physical and emotional abuse by federal Transportation Security Administration employees conducting screenings at the nation’s airports. We have seen the videos of terrified children being grabbed and probed by airport screeners. We have read the stories of Americans being subjected to humiliating body imaging machines and/or forced to have the most intimate parts of their bodies poked and fondled. We do not know the potentially harmful effects of the radiation emitted by the new millimeter wave machines.
In one recent well-publicized case, a TSA official is recorded during an attempted body search saying, “By buying your ticket you gave up a lot of rights.” I strongly disagree and am sure I am not alone in believing that we Americans should never give up our rights in order to travel. As our Declaration of Independence states, our rights are inalienable. This TSA version of our rights looks more like the “rights” granted in the old Soviet Constitutions, where freedoms were granted to Soviet citizens -- right up to the moment the state decided to remove those freedoms.
The incident of the so-called “underwear bomber” last Christmas is given as justification for the billions of dollars the federal government is spending on the new full-body imaging machines, but a Government Accountability Office study earlier this year concluded that had these scanners been in use they may not have detected the explosive material that was allegedly brought onto the airplane. Additionally, there have been recent press reports calling into question the accuracy and adequacy of these potentially dangerous machines.
My legislation is simple. It establishes that airport security screeners are not immune from any US law regarding physical contact with another person, making images of another person, or causing physical harm through the use of radiation-emitting machinery on another person. It means they are subject to the same laws as the rest of us.
Imagine if the political elites in our country were forced to endure the same conditions at the airport as business travelers, families, senior citizens, and the rest of us. Perhaps this problem could be quickly resolved if every cabinet secretary, every member of Congress, and every department head in the Obama administration were forced to submit to the same degrading screening process as the people who pay their salaries.
I warned at the time of the creation of the TSA that an unaccountable government entity in control of airport security would provide neither security nor defend our basic freedom to travel. Yet the vast majority of both Republicans and Democrats then in Congress willingly voted to create another unaccountable, bullying agency-- in a simple-minded and unprincipled attempt to appease public passion in the wake of 9-11. Sadly, as we see with the steady TSA encroachment on our freedom and dignity, my fears in 2001 were justified.
The solution to the need for security at US airports is not a government bureaucracy. The solution is to allow the private sector, preferably the airlines themselves, to provide for the security of their property. As a recent article in Forbes magazine eloquently stated, “The airlines have enormous sums of money riding on passenger safety, and the notion that a government bureaucracy has better incentives to provide safe travels than airlines with billions of dollars worth of capital and goodwill on the line strains credibility.” In the meantime, I hope we can pass this legislation and protect Americans from harm and humiliation when they choose to travel.
Introducing the American Traveler Dignity Act
Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation to protect Americans from physical and emotional abuse by federal Transportation Security Administration employees conducting screenings at the nation’s airports. We have seen the videos of terrified children being grabbed and probed by airport screeners. We have read the stories of Americans being subjected to humiliating body imaging machines and/or forced to have the most intimate parts of their bodies poked and fondled. We do not know the potentially harmful effects of the radiation emitted by the new millimeter wave machines.
In one recent well-publicized case, a TSA official is recorded during an attempted body search saying, “By buying your ticket you gave up a lot of rights.” I strongly disagree and am sure I am not alone in believing that we Americans should never give up our rights in order to travel. As our Declaration of Independence states, our rights are inalienable. This TSA version of our rights looks more like the “rights” granted in the old Soviet Constitutions, where freedoms were granted to Soviet citizens -- right up to the moment the state decided to remove those freedoms.
The incident of the so-called “underwear bomber” last Christmas is given as justification for the billions of dollars the federal government is spending on the new full-body imaging machines, but a Government Accountability Office study earlier this year concluded that had these scanners been in use they may not have detected the explosive material that was allegedly brought onto the airplane. Additionally, there have been recent press reports calling into question the accuracy and adequacy of these potentially dangerous machines.
My legislation is simple. It establishes that airport security screeners are not immune from any US law regarding physical contact with another person, making images of another person, or causing physical harm through the use of radiation-emitting machinery on another person. It means they are subject to the same laws as the rest of us.
Imagine if the political elites in our country were forced to endure the same conditions at the airport as business travelers, families, senior citizens, and the rest of us. Perhaps this problem could be quickly resolved if every cabinet secretary, every member of Congress, and every department head in the Obama administration were forced to submit to the same degrading screening process as the people who pay their salaries.
I warned at the time of the creation of the TSA that an unaccountable government entity in control of airport security would provide neither security nor defend our basic freedom to travel. Yet the vast majority of both Republicans and Democrats then in Congress willingly voted to create another unaccountable, bullying agency-- in a simple-minded and unprincipled attempt to appease public passion in the wake of 9-11. Sadly, as we see with the steady TSA encroachment on our freedom and dignity, my fears in 2001 were justified.
The solution to the need for security at US airports is not a government bureaucracy. The solution is to allow the private sector, preferably the airlines themselves, to provide for the security of their property. As a recent article in Forbes magazine eloquently stated, “The airlines have enormous sums of money riding on passenger safety, and the notion that a government bureaucracy has better incentives to provide safe travels than airlines with billions of dollars worth of capital and goodwill on the line strains credibility.” In the meantime, I hope we can pass this legislation and protect Americans from harm and humiliation when they choose to travel.
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