Posted on 07/01/2008 6:50:40 AM PDT by Hank Kerchief
Still Think You Are Free?
The first thing you lose when you walk into an airport is freedom of speech, according to Walter Williams article "Airport tyranny". You do not even have to say any particular thing to find yourself arrested. Even if you say something totally innocent (in a country with free speech everything is innocent), if some TSA thug claims it distracted him or her.
Quoting James Bovard, Williams wrote: "According to the February 2002 Federal Register, people can be arrested if they act in a way that 'might distract or inhibit a screener from effectively performing his or her duties … A screener encountering such a situation must turn away from his or her normal duties to deal with the disruptive individual, which may affect the screening of other individuals.' That means it is a federal offense, and a fine of up to $1,500, for any alleged 'nonphysical interference' ..."
The next thing you lose is your dignity and privacy. In my story, "An Uncivilized People," I revealed the TSA is installing security scanners "which can see through passengers' clothing and reveal details of their body ... in 10 US airports." TSA foresees 30 of the machines installed across the country by the end of 2008.
The third thing you lose is the security of your property and private information. The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) which apparently has, "... the authority to search electronic devices without suspicion in the same way that it would inspect a briefcase," is now confiscating, "... computers, portable storage drives, and BlackBerries .... Congressional investigators and plaintiffs involved in lawsuits believe that digital copies, 'so-called "mirror images" of drives' are sometimes made of materials after they are seized by customs."
In addition to the problems this causes business travelers who are immediately deprived of, "the very data and revenue a business trip was intended to create," or find themselves "effectively locked out of [their] electronic office indefinitely;" duplicated information can contain, "corporate secrets, legal records, financial data, medical files, and personal E-mails and photographs as well as stored passwords for accounts from Netflix to Bank of America," for example.
Still think you are free? How about if you could be thrown in jail for just the way you look?
Perhaps the most disturbing thing in Walter Williams article was this:
"The TSA aims to have 500 'behavior detection officers' (BDOs) in airports by the end of this year. The job of the BDOs will be ... [to examine] passengers for "body language and facial cues ... for signs of bad intentions." Quoting McClatchy Newspapers, Williams wrote, "New airport agents check for danger in fliers' facial expressions," (August 2007) that Jay Cohen, undersecretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology, "wants to automate passenger screening by using videocams and computers to measure and analyze heart rate, respiration, body temperature and verbal responses as well as facial micro-expressions."
And what "micro-expression" are they looking for? According to Jay Cohen, undersecretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology, "fear and disgust are the key ones." Who could fly today without being filled with both these emotions?
(If you want on or off this list please freepmail me.)
Hank
The TSA is bunk, true, but flying is not a guaranteed Constitutional right.
“What’s the philosophy behind the ping, Hank?”
Ethics, Political philosophy, Capitalism, and Individualism.
Hank
The oppression is that they pull attractive sub-urban soccer mom types aside and check over them while Achmed walks by.
“signs of bad intentions”
Any normal person who is tired, worn, hungry, thirsty and in dire need of a restroom will show signs of stress. They will have bad micro-expressions.
People who plan to make the plane crash for the glory of their deity are very calm, peaceful, and happy. They will have good micro-expressions.
This garbage is designed to make us “feel safe” while keeping a specific segment of the population from getting mad at us.
I was sorely disappointed in the security in the ######, US airport we left out of. High School drop out types were herding us around like cattle and could care less I think whether someone bad or not got on the plane, at least that was my impression.
In Germany it was professionalism all the way. In Germany you had big tough cops with guns walking around carefully eyeing you while you were patted down making sure you weren’t armed. A bad guy wouldn’t have got past their security points. I was very impressed with them.
The Israeli screeners who work for El Al are very professional too. The polar opposite of the typical TSA lunkhead.
They look for terrorists, TSA looks for grannies who forgot to put their knitting needles in their checked luggage.
Well, let's take a look at those then,
Ethics - " that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. "
Rightness and wrongness, with respect to human conduct, in the case of the TSA.
Is it right, or wrong, to conduct searches of baggage, and passengers, in order to protect life and property?
I contend that it is right for the TSA to do these two things.
Even to the point of electronically screening passengers using the old "X-Ray vision" specs that actually work.
Why should a man, or woman, be worried about someone electronically seeing underneath their clothes when they can be pulled from the line and strip searched if deemed necessary?
Confiscating electronic equipment that is not suspected of being an immediate danger to the life, or property, of airlines and/or passengers is wrong.
However, it is not the TSA that does this, it is the Customs Service which is another thing entirely.
Is it right, or wrong, to hold passengers responsible for creating a disturbance that might distract a TSA employee from their duty?
I contend that it is wrong to hold a passnger responsible for accidental disturbances but right to hold a passenger responsible for intentional disturbances.
There is a difference between a screaming baby, or a very good looking woman or man dressed scantily, and someone screaming because they don't want the TSA to screen a passenger behind them.
Should the TSA have the power to make that call? Someone has to.
As for "Behavior Detection Officers", what's the big deal?
They do it now, just with people that have not been trained in ANY type of detection techniques.
Israel uses, and has for some time, this type of detection technique but carries it some steps further.
Anyone that is flying on an Israeli airline is interrogated by officers trained in this type of technique.
Ever seen the person checking your ID take a close look at your face? Unconsciously they are looking for these types of signs in your expression.
Would you rather have someone untrained looking for a sign or someone trained in the technique looking for some sign?
Political philosophy - I believe that almost anyone born in the USA before the year 1960 and raised to adulthood here is very uncomfortable with the political philosophy behind any of these things. They were raised in an era of freedom rarely seen.
They decry the need for these but recognize that there IS a need for, at least, some of them.
Capitalism - The government has taken much upon themselves. It is no longer a matter of capitalism. It is not the carriers that do these things.
The carriers may agree with the things being done but it is the government that does them.
Individualism - More and more, individualism is being lost throughout the world, not just in the USA.
Conform or face the consequences - philosophical, social, monetary, etc.
In the words of some Star Trek TNG characters, "You will be assimilated".
Tell that to the Israeli agents that do it for El AL.
Will ours meet the same measure of professionalism? Probably not.
That doesn't mean that it is an entirely useless measure or that it oversteps the bounds of what government can, or should, do.
“The TSA is bunk, true, but flying is not a guaranteed Constitutional right.”
Yes, it is, as prohibiting or unfairly regulating travel or commerce is not a right of the government. We the People retain all rights not given to the government or did you forget that part of the Constitution?
Achmed can just mosey across the border.
I fly every week. have seen nothing but professionalism. and frankly it takes me no time at all to get thru security, so i think this is overblown.
i do have the “clear” card though that lets me skip the regular line. i would reccomend it.
I tend to agree with you on this point. Should the government start to really get tough?
Or should everything about the TSA be disbanded and let the airlines decide how much security to provide?
How many security cameras have to go up before we're safe enough?
How many of those security cameras are the government and how many privately owned and operated?
We haven't seen the tip of the iceberg of what COULD be done.
Is there some authorization for the federal government to regulate or restrict speech that occurs while traveling by plane?
(If you mention the interstate commerce clause, does that mean there are no checks on intrastate travel? That’s not terribly significant for those of us from Connecticut, but Californians would be a different story.)
Unless it is mentioned in the constitution, then action is reserved for the states or the people.
In the Constitution? No.
However, was flying a mode of travel when the Constitution was written?
I'm playing Devil's advocate here. I think the TSA is the biggest joke the government has ever played on the traveling public.
It seems to me that the government may have a legitimate concern for the safety of the citizens flying for travel.
If that effort is hindered intentionally, by causing a disturbance, it seems to me that the government may have a legitimate reason to regulate that.
Thank God I no longer have to fly.
I tend to agree with Hank and Walter E. Williams. Government’s job is to keep us safe, but do they have to be so intrusive and buffoonish about it? I got caught trying to enter Six Flags with a pen knife, so I had to take it back to the car. This is the worst part: Other entities mimic our government’s actions, but in an even more ridiculous manner.
>What has happened to the people in this country?<
Without realizing it they have swapped individual liberty for security by socialists. Why? Because the stress of being self reliant is too much strain.
The same people who cheered for the Patriot Act are griping about its policies now that they are affected.
I agree with that statement.
I didn't support the Patriot Act in it's original form and I think the TSA is the biggest joke ever played by the government on the traveling public.
But as the official Devil's advocate on this thread........
The government has a legitimate role in the security of this country.
I consider myself as the backup to the military and one of the primaries on keeping the government honest.
A government is an organization that claims the right to initiate the use of force against individuals to satisfy its own purposes. An individual that does this is called a thug. A group of individuals who do this are called gangsters, that is, unless they write down their intentions in noble terms and call it a Constitution; then the gangsters are called presidents, senators and congressmen.
After she went through again, nothing set the metal detector off, but she was sent to the side to be wanded. Her jewelry, camera, watch, purse, cell phone and a computer were laying there barely in her eyesight.
Further into the security line were several mid eastern men and I'd bet the TSA agents didn't think twice of asking them to step aside if anything happened. The TSA is lucky that I couldn't get close enough to them, because I'd have given them a piece of my mind.
>I consider myself as the backup to the military and one of the primaries on keeping the government honest.<
Do you actually believe this government is honest and deserves our support. Do you believe the military is to protect you or to further enforce the policies of our government?
“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.”
- Mark Twain
>What would you have me comment on?<
The contents of that article and the comments of the readers.
Good point!
I believe this FORM of government is the most honest and deserves our support.
I believe the military is there to do both.
My protection, as a citizen of the USA, should be one of the top priorities of the military as set forth by the government.
And that actually is one of my all time favorite quotes.
>I believe this FORM of government is the most honest and deserves our support.<
I’ll agree with you there but I think it is time that we installed the newer model. The fact we can’t have federal term limits tells me that we are corrupted above the ears with this government.
We have many youth that are willing, and able, to take up, and use, a firearm to protect against the invasion of our nation.
In my eyes we started going downhill, as a nation, when the term, "political career", became a reality.
Thank you for the long reply. I found myself in agreement much more with your last three paragaphs than the others. I’m almost 70 years old—I know what freedom is. I told a freiend recently that we used to celebate freedom on the 4th of July, but today it’s only nostagia. We’ve lost our freedom in this country, and most never know what was lost, because they’ve never known it.
By they way, do you really believe anything the HLS or TSA does makes a single American or his property safer? I don’t!
I consider them a much bigger threat to the lives and property of all Americans and any possible Muslim threat.
Hank
“I fly every week. have seen nothing but professionalism. and frankly it takes me no time at all to get thru security, so i think this is overblown.”
In every oppressive country, only some of the people feel the oppression first, and those the government has not chosen to target yet don’t notice the oppression until eventually it affects them directly. Good luck with that.
Hank
“We haven’t seen the tip of the iceberg of what COULD be done.”
So we should wait ‘til they start hauling us off to the prison camps to begin putting a stop to it, right!
Hank
just reporting what i see, from a guy who flys every week.
Thank God I no longer have to fly.
Well you can still fly without all these hassles, if you can afford to fly privately. I think more and more of that is going to happen.
Hank
Oh, man....I'm in trouble now.
I know.
I was trying to play Devil's advocate and find myself slipping back into my true form.
No, hauling us off is OK.
It's when they start putting cameras into the bathrooms of the prison camps that we have to put a stop to it. ;^)
Freedom of travel most certainly is a right.
Read farther into the thread.
Hank
“The TSA is lucky that I couldn’t get close enough to them, because I’d have given them a piece of my mind.”
So are you—lucky, that is. I certainly understand, but I’m afraid it would have gone hard for you, and would have accomplished nothing. Still, someday this bullying oppression is going to be too much for someone to stand and there will be a real disaster. What these TSA and HLS thugs are a real threat every day to thousands of people who will never be threatened by any terrorist.
Hank
I thought I had stolen it from a FReeper’s post on a thread of yesteryear. Thanks for sourcing it.
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