Mother Jones - Comments for "The Cheese Bomb Incident: Terror and the TSA"

Security Theatre at its best.
What about martial artists? I hold belts in several disciplines. Should I be allowed on a plane?

Halt! Willkommen to America, please display your large yellow star at all times. Can I see your identification papers please? Now strip and squat in a good German fashion,etc etc etc. Not a good look, guys...

The TSA admits that known terrorists are not on the "no fly list" because the government doesn't want to "tip off" suspected terrorists. That means that the only people on the list are those they know not to be terrorists and the high profile terrorists that know they are on the list. How cool is that?

Also, why do they allow someone on the list, someone they claim is so dangerous that they can't be let on a plane, return to the community? I mean,how can someone that is too dangerous to be allowed on a plane be sent right back into the community where they could blow up a school or shoot up a mall?

I know I'm being ridiculous in my example there but it does make you think.

Finally, I believe that this is just harassment, pure and simple. They do it just to let us know that we are powerless to stop it. ID implants are next! and what are the cowards that allow themselves to be mistreated by their own government every time they fly gonna do about it? Nothing! They've already accepted far worse.

Seig Heil!

If you're a member of a peace or human rights group you're sure to get extra scrutiny, despite the fact that their ideology is antithetical to terrorism. It's political harrassment by the Vaterland Security Department, pure and simple.

So our government, under republican control, has become a modern version of Hitler's despicable regime. How are Bush and Chaney still in office? Wnd how much more damage are they going to do.

I've listened to '99 Red Balloons' recently, and Bush's war is exactly what it's talking about - destroy something before you even look for a reason.

a few years ago my mom went down with a brain aneurism in Texas where she was living. all 7 of us kids flew to her bedside coming from Australia, New York, Virginia, and Indiana. She never awoke from the surgery. one of my brothers asked for a lock of hair at the hospital and the staff supplied him with a plastic bag and scissors to clip a lock with. when we returned tto our homes we flew out of Dallas/Ft Worth. my brother was called away to be interrogated about the lock of hair in his checked baggage because it was a pre-printed labeled bag that said "human remains". it was the only type of bag the hospital had. the TSA were concerned that it was impregnated with a contaigon that was to be spread. it was fortunate that we all had copies of mom's death certificate to prove his story of what it was. even so, all of us were pulled out of line and made to empty out pockets, turn them inside out, remove our shoes, and get patted down. my sister had her purse empties and completely rifeld through. and i mean completely. they removed every piece of paper from her wallet and unfolded each individually. every photo was removed. even her tampons were checked for signs the wrapper had been tampered with. my billfold suffed the same fate; every bill was individually inspecet, every pocket had every buisiness card removed and individually inspected. it was unreal. i also had a pack of cigarette papers and the rifled through each leaf. i though that would lead to a strip search for me but it didn't. it made me decide right then that i would never fly again unless drive time to my destination was unreasonable. and things are supposedly stricter now.

the government under control of republicans gives expanded media ownership rights to a handful of wealthy pro republican media moguls. the media moguls show their appreciation to the republicans in power by spinning anything that is beneficial to the administration. quite simple. i believe that the reason AT&T and the other communications giants were so willing to co-operate with the government on the public spying program was to show the government how much they could do to both monitor the population, but control the flow of information. when the chinese had their uprising in tianamen square all governments on this planet saw first hand the power of the internet in getting information out to the rest of the world. it was not a lesson that was lost to them.

Usually, "if it smells like bull[deleted], it is bull[deleted]!"

Shoelaces: can be used to garrote flight attendants to negotiate admittance into cockpit.

Belts: likewise.

Pens: in your eye.

Clothes: can be used to restrain flight attendants.

Laptops: can be used as blunt objects. Also, lithium batteries can be made to explode.

Knees, elbows, and heads: can be used as objects of attack...

Seriously -- anything, including information, can be used as a weapon. The fact that we have not had another 9/11 cannot be put down to keeping all hazardous materials off the airlines, because that hasn't happened. What's made most of the difference is us "terrorizing" the "terrorists" by making them afraid to try. The problem is that we travelers have to pay the price for such a show by letting TSA get in our hair over harmless stuff.

But letting our government stampede us at will, by leaking scare stories to the press, is as much to say that truth no longer matters. What matters is controlling public perception.

I find it deeply disturbing that as an American citizen with no criminal record, my bags are searched by TSA. To me, that falls into the "unreasonable search and seizure" category.

I had a toothpaste tube confiscated, too...

but when they found a bottle of water in my backpack and asked me to throw it away, I motioned like a threw it out and then stuck it back in my pants pocket...all completely unnoticed by TSA, of course....

Hey, have you ever squeezed too hard and got toothpaste in your eyes? It could be used to disable a flight attendant momentarily. Pens are much more lethal, however.

Serves you right - don't you know toothpaste is a dangerous weapon?

Yeah, me too...

Fascinating. Those bastards took my toothpaste yesterday. I'm not happy about it.