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That is incredibly aggravating NOG. :/ Really makes you think our government is based on the entirely wrong concept of human nature...

Could have her arrested? I mean, it's good the police came into the picture at least somewhat on her side, but it doesn't seem like he did much to help. If I was in his position I would certainly have told the TSA Manager to go bleep himself and stop violating TSA guidelines.

Edit- Just watched the 11 minute video in the article. Even more aggravating. I don't understand how that happens.

 

The incident perfectly captures the moronic 'better super safe than sorry' mentality that after 9/11 has taken grip of American security circles. Faced with a situation they were unfamiliar with the TSA goons decided to err on the side of super-caution, and in doing so subjected the citizen to their harassment (and exceeded the scope of the law) and approached her with paranoid suspicion and petty anger about her daring to talk back at them, presumably while also checking for 'preversions'. Colonel 'Bat' Guano lives, but he has stripped himself of his inhibitions.

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Good article on the isssue

'nuff said.

 

Here's a recent editorial from my paper that I liked -- it's short, so I'll post it here:

 

I disagree with him on one point. The blame doesn't fall on PCness (or at least not mostly). The blame falls squarely on the TSA and DHS administrators that ordered these procedures. That goes all the way up to Janet Napolitano, and possibly even Obama, in that I'm sure he could order a stop if he desired.

 

A friend of mine is a jester. When he flew to London with his g/f a while back, he underwent the usual indignities of security screening, like passing the metal detector, taking off his shoes etc. Naturally, nothing objectionable was found. When he was finished and put on his shoes again, he beamed at the security officer, and emphatically declaimed: "Haha! And now I am going to strangle the pilot with my shoelaces!" The security officer cracked up (ah yes, the Brits and their vaunted sense of humour, and proportion). That was it.

Considering the zero tolerance attitude of the TSA to about anything, the incident would have led to his arrest, his probable addition to a no fly list as a 'possible security risk', and invariably to the stern question by some stone eyed (brained?) person: "Why do you want to strangle the pilot with your shoelaces?"

 

A jester? Do you mean a jokester? When you say jester, the image that springs to mind is a brightly dressed guy with bells on his hat and/or shoes ... which would be funny in and of itself in seeing him go through airport security.

 

Is jokester a word?

 

Yes, from Merriam-Webster:

Function: noun
Inflected forms: plural joke·sters
Meaning: a person who tells or makes many jokes ; a joker

 

I prefer jester. The imagery is better. Of course, I don't think jesters typically wore shoe laces, so that could present a problem.

 

You're all are being so dour

 

Althought they thought the idea was funny, the TSA agents strongly discouraged my use of the "Captain Morgan pose" -- plus they wouldn't let me see the picture.

 

I'm guessing that was for the scanner, not the pat-downs? It amazes me how sensitive those machines must be to pose. It doesn't make any sense.

Oh, and I saw a new report out a little while ago about how terrorists could conceal a whole host of things, such as explosives, knives, and even guns, using packaging designed to fit in with the contours of the body. Basically, fake fat rolls. Of course, now I want to go through one of those in a fat-suit, just to see if they could catch it.

 

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