Touch my junk and I'll have you arrested!

For the past 4 1/2 years in my current job I have flown at least 90,000 domestic commercial air miles. Tonight I am in NYC having flown here today from Sacramento and today's flight put me over 100,000 just on United, all of it domestic. I travel about 35-40 weeks a year.

I have had 2 knee implants for the past 5 years and have dealt with the TSA and their wands and pat downs every flight.

Doug on Go Aweigh hit this on the head. The TSA does nothing....except make the general occasional flying public feel safer....maybe. In reality, TSA couldn't catch a cold. And the really scary part is they actually think they are making a difference. Anyone that flies on a regular basis knows better.

I fly to Washington DC a lot and on one flight a year ago I met an official with Homeland Security and we discussed this situation for the better part of several hours. The most revealing thing he said was, "....we should have never issued the TSA metal badges."

I will continue to travel the airways and endure the BS because that is a part of my job. But my biggest fear is one of the boneheads in the middle east is going to easily circumvent the TSA crack security and bring down an airliner killing hundreds and only then will some official in Washington say, "Oops....I guess we should have re-thought this TSA thing."

Take all the annual millions spent on the TSA and put more air marshalls on the planes and allow them to use force where needed. And then take the rest of the money and take a ride East and start kicking some serious a$$ over there and stop screwin' around.

Lastly, if the TSA wants to fondle my junk then they need to earn the right. If you want to pat me down then you better take the guy next to me with the olive skin, black hair and beard with the towel on his head, throw him against the wall and order him to assume the position. Now search him like he should be searched. And if its not politically correct to do so, then let me do it 'cause these are the guys that are messing around with my travel day.

Now if all of that is racial profiling then too bad. I think with what has happen in the last 10 years Americans have earned the right.
 
NorCal Boater said:
For the past 4 1/2 years in my current job I have flown at least 90,000 domestic commercial air miles. Tonight I am in NYC having flown here today from Sacramento and today's flight put me over 100,000 just on United, all of it domestic. I travel about 35-40 weeks a year.

I have had 2 knee implants for the past 5 years and have dealt with the TSA and their wands and pat downs every flight.
Click to expand...

I hope that you are up for all of the "goon gropes" that you are going to get. Next in line - cavity search!

I guess that my memory is going. When, exactly was it that we voted to abolish the 4th amendment? Oh, excuse me my memory again, I forgot that the government can usurp those things that protect us from the government by saying: "security".
 
So, I'm mixed on this...

First, I think the guy is a troll. How many of you start your video recorder before you send it through security? It's like the guy was expecting something to happen. Or, perhaps, encouraging it.

Second, I applaud the efforts of anyone who is trying to keep our country and our citizens safer. I too think airport security is a pain, and maybe even ineffective. But face it, it's run by a bureaucracy, and it isn't perfect. Everyone who flies knows the TSA is following a procedure, using whatever tools and training they were provided. Is it enough to keep us safe? Probably not. But hey, neither are all the containers arriving at port everyday. Does it help? I'm sure it does, to some degree.

Fly international sometime. It isn't just us. Airports in Asia require screening to get into the airport, screening at the gate, and sometimes screening when departing for a transfer. Not to mention the infrared detectors intended to identify anyone who may be ill (these were implemented around the time of the avian flu virus - and are still pretty much standard in some major Asian airports). I think someone already mentioned the well-armed guards.

Third, I don't want to give up my liberties anymore than the next guy does. There needs to be a balance, and we would like for the actions to be relevant to the outcomes. You drive a car, you are subject to being pulled over. You fly, you are subject to being screened. Are the methods appropriate? I don't know. I'm not an expert.

So, here I sit, comfortably straddling both sides of the fence on this issue, with one foot firmly planted in each camp.
 
I would rather TSA spend money on training dogs to sniff for bombs and drugs... I don't mind a dog sniffing my junk verses some perv TSA told to do it and I think that would be an appropriate choice to allow those who don't want to be hand molested or zapped with xrays...

JMTC...
 
How about if the TSA agents looked like this...:smt043
megan-fox.jpg
 
Then she would be busy - because about half of the males going through the line would look like they were packin'!
 
The problem that I have is that there is no criteria or judicial review. It is a warrantless search. There need not be any prima facia evidence of any wrongdoing. You are guilty as soon as you step into the airport and you have to prove your innocence. Security measures? Sure. But, let's use some common sense before we go groping all over someone.

When there is absolutely nothing to trip a red flag, why is it necessary to be so indiscriminate? That video of the 3yr old girl being groped by a goon at the Chattanooga airport posted by Monaco Mike says it all.
 
The crazy part is that all these well screened/and otherwise unhappy people are all flying around inside a big metal tube filled with UNSCANNED cargo that is really the problem. If the TSA would focus their attention on this issue there wouldn't be enough time left for the them to look sideways at the passengers.

I will never fly commercial as long as these issues are unresolved. I too hate being treated like a criminal. Next thing you know we'll have to be fingerprinted just to get on an airplane. Until something changes, I'll either fly myself or drive, but otherwise I'll just stay home. I was once a road warrior and I have to say that the best days I've flown were the few days right after 9-11. Lines were short, security was adequate and reasonable and the planes were nearly empty. Of course, this wasn't so good for the airlines but it certainly was wonderful for a few days anyway.
 
This issue bothers me as well and as a County Sheriff you would think that I would support this type of search, however I don't.

To search every person who flys shows that the airport security and TSA does not clearly know how to identify potential candidates that may intend to cause harm therefore search everyone.

My deputies who arrest criminals don't use the front of the hand when searching those arrestees they use the back of the hand and that is on people who have committed a criminal act. I believe it is wrong to use the front of the hand and is overly intrusive.

Those people that have medical concerns such as diabetics with insulin pumps etc are in for a tough time as they cannot send those pumps through the x-ray machines and they will show up on the full body scanners and then they will get hand searched anyway.

I believe there is a better way to do this without assuming every person is intending to do harm.

There are other investigative techniques available to weed out potential criminals, if you look at the number of people searched and how many criminals intending to cause harm that have been stopped at the TSA search points, the percentages are so far below O.

I fly alot and have transported handcuffed criminals across the country but I know that we can come up with a pro active non intrusive program that balances the needs of the flying public and of those charged with security.

There are many potential areas to look at like General Aviation where private pilots come and go with ease and can cause major damage if the desire was there.

Just my 2cents worth and I will step off my soap box.

Gerald
 
Sfergson727...you have hit thenail right on the freakin head here......AMEN TO YOU!

Let me come at it from this angle. This is a direct result of TSA harassing grandma and allowing Mohammud to walk through the security line unscathed. We are so damn politically correct in the nation and it is THE root cause for the issues we are having now. "We" know who the enemy is, but "we" are so damned afraid of appearing to be racist, cultural-phobic, unsophisticed, what have you, "we" are unwilling to watch the individuals that need scrutiny. So we blanket everything and harrass grandma and her blond haired, blue eyed grandson.

Anyone who has worked near aviation since 2001 knows exactly what I mean.
 
I am so over the edge with this homeland security crap! I know a TSA agent and they are always on these alerts that never pan out. Someone always crying wolf and they go through the motions to make everyone "feel" protected. Then you give up your rights as if they were tokens at an amusement park. A little freedom for security, a little privacy for security, a little dignity for security.

It's the biggest ingress of government since Hitler commissions the SS troops. I would rather die free than a slave of the state.

If any of these no knock's bust my door unannounced they'll find their A$$ blown back on the porch.

Which is better, feeling safe against the terrorist or the government? I'll take my chances with the terrorist who doesn't keep track of my personal life like the government does.

Just my opinion while I'm still free to voice it.

 
The only real problem with it is that it is not a "warrantless" search because you imply consent when you purchase a ticket to fly. Its not the same as yanking you off the street and searching you.
 
Well.................
I stopped travelling anywhere that meant I had to go through America about 7yrs ago because of all the agro you have to go through and it only seems to have got worse as time has passed. There is now way I'm going to let my family be subjected to that level of invasiveness. Travelling by air is a stressful pass time at the best of times without having to go through all that.

Its a shame because it is such a wonderfully diverse country and we met great people and have many friends their. Its just the thought of all the hassle and spending almost as long getting into or out of the airports as it does to fly there in the first place.

Absolutely nothing personal to all our American friends is just the authorities have ruined it for us and I must say we are not alone in our decision.
 
Hey guys, you're looking at it all wrong. The TSA just needs to hire a bunch of girls from venues like Goldfingers in Manhattan!! They can take you in the back room and touch your junk all they want!! Just make sure to have lots of small bills!!!:grin:
Todd
 
I'm gonna open myself up for some ridicule here and if it had been mentioned previously please excuse this, but why do you have to get searched manually?
Isn't it an option if you don't want to use the new scanners? Why wouldn't you want to use the scanners? If you have a prosthetic joint or implant do you automatically get kicked out of scanner and headed to a pat down? I thought the idea of the scanner was to eliminate the need for pat downs for surgical implants.

I understand that there is a small amount of radiation received but that is minimal compared to what you encounter over a lifetime. Do you know that if you fly from NYC to San Francisico 5 times a year you will recieve a years worth or radiation. The skin on the planes is too thin to stop all of the sun's radiation.
I plan on walking through the scanner if given the option. Now if we can just get to scanning the luggage.
 
I still say they need drug and bomb sniffing dogs as an option for those that don't desire the xray and or pat downs...

Let's not forget, every terrorist since 9/11 on aircraft were caught by civilians... not TSA nor the one or two homeland security air patrol on each aircraft...
 
sfergson727 said:
Consider the average airline pilot or flight attendant who must pass through these machines everyday while at work, sometimes multiple times a day. These same individuals must then spend ten hours or more in a little metalic tube with electrons running through it, (electromagnetic radiation) and operate in an enviroment well above the protection of Earth's Atmosphere, (solar radiation) and the risks are much greater.

Don't forget there are people out there that must work in this enviroment, the media only talks about Joe Smoe who flys once a year or so, or the occasional business traveler, (although we love your business) who doesn't come close to approaching the number of times and hours doing this as a pilot or flight attendant would.

Of course, to me the whole idea of screening pilots and flight attendants as if they are passengers is pretty stupid anyway.
Click to expand...


I agree with the employees arguement. My mother was a 25 year flight attendent- who is also a breast cancer survivor. (Don't get me started on the increase of cancer rates for airline employees) My father averaged 4 flights a week for almost 20 years for business. I understand the need to selectively screen. There should be a seperate room/ line for employees. At the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Airport in the main terminal there is a seperate room for screening of executives and corporate fliers that eliminates the main concorse security lines - I have used it. Certain corporations pay a fee to allow acces for their employees.

Is the guy who started this taped this conversation an employee or frequent flier? Is he usually selected for extra screening? Was he profiled?

Everyone needs to be screened. Some should require more screening than others.
 
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