Don’t want to go through the TSA’s full body scan or porn-o-scan? The TSA has an alternative: “enhanced” pat-downs. These pat-downs gropings have one objective – coerce you into going through the body scanner.
T-shirts with the logo on the left are available here.
If a significant number of passengers choose to opt-out of the body scanners, the time required to do a normal pat-down would cause such delays that travelers would find alternatives to flying. The airlines would raise hell. To prevent this, the TSA has resorted to the terror tactic of “enhanced” pat-downs.
There is big money at stake here. Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff actively lobbies for the scanner manufacturer Rapiscan via his firm the Chertoff Group. Each unit has a price tag of $25 million and the Obama administration has provided $1 billion in stimulus money for the purchase of scanners.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed a petition for review and motion for an emergency stay with District of Columbia Court of Appeals. EPIC said that the program is “unlawful, invasive, and ineffective.” With this much money at stake, the Fourth Amendment doesn’t stand a chance.
I expect members of Congress to act outraged, hold hearings wherein they act outraged, and then do nothing. Politicians will use this opportunity to get their sound bites on the evening news, then something else will come along and distract us.
If you decide to go the “enhanced” pat-down route, you could pull a Meg Ryan:
Anon Nurse:
what is a fusion center?
anon nurse It’s all about the green stuff except for a few. Jerry Brown comes to mind as one of the few. Mark Dayton is another, but he went in rich.
(Thanks for the Adam Savage link, Buddha.)
The TSA’s “civil rights trampling” is impacting lots of folks, so we’re hearing about it. The anti-terrorism campaigns in our communities are being directed, apparently, at those who are “vocal and vulnerable.” We’re not hearing about them, because no one believes the victims.
Wikileaks is preparing to release more documents. Who knows… Earlier in the year, after the Washington Post expo, a Wikileaks tweet read something like the following:
“… by year’s end, lights on, rats out.” Let’s hope…
But there’s “money, money, money” in this (Chertoff is a tiny example), so it will be hard to stop. Fusion centers, for instance.
In some quarters, violence is being provoked to feed the system. On the surface, it’s about safety and security. At it’s core, it’s all about the green stuff…
Buddah You are right about that.
Smom,
If the topic is Washington? AY may have an argument for every thread being about hookers.
badtroll,
When you attack me, you make it about me. The problem with your strategy is two fold: 1) it’s a painfully transparent, easily exposed tactic and 2) your assumption your attacks make do anything other than giggle and you look just that much more the troll. I’m perfectly content to stay on topic – something you seem very adverse to when discussions turn to the abuses of Constitutional rights. This thread is a perfect example. You keep wanting to make me the subject instead the abuses of the TSA. Just about what one expects from you, a discredited Jew baiting troll:
Distraction.
AY Not every thread is about hookers.
Is the true definition of a Pro Noun a compensated Hooker?
Good call, puzzling.
Rae: Buddah has a dose of healthy narcissism which is a good thing.
On November 20th in the thread above I wrote:
It’s starting. The Associated Press is reporting that the TSA is exempting classes of elected and appointed federal officials:
“WASHINGTON – Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.”
Rae,
Repetition is a key to comedy. I care even less about what you have to say about me than about what your troll buddy says. Monopolize conversation? It’s you trolls that keep brining my personal life into a discussion about the TSA. But if you want to talk opinions?
You think I’m a narcissist and I think you’re simply a trolling douche bag and enemy of Constitutional rights and liberty.
You keep it up though.
Attacking me instead of the issue only shows the weakness in your stance regarding the actual issue.
Swarthmore mom:
As long as they are citizens of this country they have constitutional rights. But they do not have the constitutional right to proclaim sharia law or to bomb people and facilities.
If they do not conform to our Constitution, throw them out of the country. If they kill people, execute them. If they bomb facilities throw them in jail for as long as the law allows. If they are enemy combatants, execute them if they are not wearing uniforms. We shot enemy soldiers out of uniform in WWII, it was legal under the Geneva Convention due to the harm it caused to civilian populations.
And make sure the civilian citizen actors are afforded all the rights provided by the constitution.
hmmmm . . .
The video is of Mythbuster Adam Savage telling about how he got through the TSA screening carrying 12″ razor blades.
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staff
Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by dramatic, emotional behavior, in the same category as antisocial and borderline personality disorders.
Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:
■Believing that you’re better than others
■Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
■Exaggerating your achievements or talents
■Expecting constant praise and admiration
■Believing that you’re special and acting accordingly
■Failing to recognize other people’s emotions and feelings
■Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
■Taking advantage of others
■Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
■Being jealous of others
■Believing that others are jealous of you
■Trouble keeping healthy relationships
■Setting unrealistic goals
■Being easily hurt and rejected
■Having a fragile self-esteem
■Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional
Although some features of narcissistic personality disorder may seem like having confidence or strong self-esteem, it’s not the same. Narcissistic personality disorder crosses the border of healthy confidence and self-esteem into thinking so highly of yourself that you put yourself on a pedestal. In contrast, people who have healthy confidence and self-esteem don’t value themselves more than they value others.
When you have narcissistic personality disorder, you may come across as conceited, boastful or pretentious. You often monopolize conversations. You may belittle or look down on people you perceive as inferior. You may have a sense of entitlement. And when you don’t receive the special treatment to which you feel entitled, you may become very impatient or angry. You may insist on having “the best” of everything — the best car, athletic club, medical care or social circles, for instance.
But underneath all this behavior often lies a fragile self-esteem. You have trouble handling anything that may be perceived as criticism. You may have a sense of secret shame and humiliation. And in order to make yourself feel better, you may react with rage or contempt and efforts to belittle the other person to make yourself appear better.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3yaqq9Jjb4&fs=1&hl=en_US]
A prolonged campaign trying to smear me will net you nothing but my amusement.
Always about you
More Tales of TSA Ineffectiveness . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3yaqq9Jjb4
More Psychobabble
Mo I guess you don’t believe in constitutional rights for Muslims. These are your words: “You must either destroy them or change their philosophy”.