TSA Gropings: Tables Have Turned Thanks to Yukari Miyamae, Charged With Grabbing Inspector's Breast

Check out these two Master Lists of TSA Crimes and Abuses that a colleague and I have compiled.  I agree that in any profession there will be people who abuse their power.  But the TSA is an agency that has absolute power.  And we all know the consequence of that, as Lord Acton pointed out ("Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely").

It's also why I have been constantly invoking the names Philip Zimbardo, Stanley Milgram, Solomon Asch -- the Stanford Prison Experiment, the Milgram Experiment, the Asch Paradigm.  These experiments, more than 40 years ago, amply demonstrated the tendency of human beings, when put in positions of authority, to dissolve the boundaries between decency and indecency, between dignity and cruelty.  The abuse the TSA is dishing out was predictable.

The two Master Lists:

http://www.travelunderground.o...

Lisa, I haven't personally seen these incidents you speak of either on domestic, or international flights. I guess they happen, but at what rate? TSA is like any other employer and will get people who abuse their position and authority. Again, I've not had a problem traveling alone or as a group.

The cockpit doors have since been reinforced -- something that had been recommended for years before 9/11 -- so commandeering a plane won't happen again.  And passengers will no longer passively submit, as proved by Flight 93, the Shoe Bomber, and the Crotch Bomber (the latter two so mentally disturbed that Al Qaeda itself refused to have anything to do with them when they tried to enlist).

I'm still willing to risk the infinitesimally small chance of my plane blowing up from a terrorist attack -- or the more likely scenario, from metal fatigue, shoddy aircraft maintenance, pilot error, etc.  43,000 traffic fatalities in this country every year.  Why are people willing to accept that?  Why are we still driving?

It's irrational.  And I wouldn't even care about that -- lots of things in life are irrational -- if it didn't mean that not only our bodies but our fundamental rights are being stripped.

A right once relinquished is very hard to get back.  And it's us -- the population of this country collectively -- who is allowing those rights to be stripped.  When things get worse, the abuses more egregious, as they will, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.

By the way, interesting coincidence re your service in Vietnam.  I have a friend who served there in Special Forces.  He's now a professional musician and has to travel a lot.  He's livid about the TSA.

Lisa,

I respect your opinion and perspective.

Here's mine: I served honorably in Viet Nam for a year. I saw some nasty stuff there that most folks should never have to see. Following that experience I served honorably as a police officer in a large metropolitan area for twenty years. I saw more stuff that most folks should never have to see or experience.

In my opinion the inconvenience of a scan or pat-down search is really not a big deal.

I also talk to the TSA agents and ask them how their day is going. Most of them have family and are hoping to return home at the end of their shifts. Most of them want to get through the shift with minimal conflict.

We do know that the terrorists who boarded the 757s on 09.11.01 were armed with razor knives they used to cut the throats of the pilots and then took over control of the planes.

We also know that another terrorist had explosives planted in the sole of his shoe as he attempted to board another plane.

We have intangible results that we simply don't know about because TSA has been able to stop some folks for getting on aircraft before they can do harm. We also have incidents of known terrorists attempting to enter the United States.

Again, I can't personally speak about any intrusions by TSA on my body or the bodies of any of my family members or friends. It hasn't happened yet, and I've been through hundreds, if not thousands, of screenings over the years.

Tommy, I think you're missing the point, or at least part of it.  Different people have different objections to the scanners for different reasons.

First, people have the right not to be virtually strip-searched.  Especially if they have committed no crime, and are merely exercising their right (yes, their right, as defined in legal jurisprudence and the commerce clause of the Constitution) to travel from place to place.

Second, this isn't about prudery.  It's not about showing one's bits.  I go to nude beaches.  But I decide to do that.  I decide who gets to see my body and when and where.  I object to the scanners.  And since I've been covering this issue for the past 18 months, I've seen the comments of dozens of people you might think would be ho-hum about showing their bits -- strippers, sex advice columnists -- also objecting to the scanners.  

I objected to them from the get-go, before we knew anything about the health risks, before we knew anything about the resolution of the images.  I object to the forced acquiescence, where one stands with hands in the air like a criminal, being examined -- for no reason, no less, since security experts have repeatedly demonstrated the inefficacy of these machines (will provide more links if you want them).  The scanners are the voice of authority veritably screaming, "we are in control of you and your body and we will make you do whatever we want."

Third, we don't know the resolution of the images.  Rapiscan and its cronies in DHS have repeatedly lied about the resolution, and I take seriously people's concerns about their naked bodies being viewed and/or stored.  A courthouse in Florida used the scanners and stored 35,000 images that were later leaked.  Oh, but "the scanners don't store images!"  Yeah, and I have a bridge to sell. 

Fourth, and this can't be repeated enough because people are still clueless about it, going through the scanner doesn't mean that, therefore, you will be spared a grope.  The two aren't mutually exclusive.  Thousands of people have acquiesced to the scanners, only to be hauled aside because of an "anomaly" -- the TSA's magic word that triggers a grope.  It could be a kleenex left in a pocket, a coin, a ponytail holder, or just because an agent woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day.  Again, absolute power.  They can choose to grope people at whim.  And there is nothing you can do about it, because their trump card is DYWTFT ("Do you want to fly today?").

I can't believe what's going on in this country.  And I can't believe the willful ignorance of so many citizens.  But then, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised.  To quote a past monster:  

"The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it."-Josef Mengele

A serious question, Ed. Would it be possible to have 100 of those scans taken, with your image included, and have one of your family members identify you from the 100? Just curious if they are of that caliber.

Agreed. Hong Kong was very tight security. Adelaide, S.A., Australia for intra country flights was very lax. However Adelaide for international to the U.S. was much tighter. It's been several years since I've been to the U.K. but I don't recall any problems or issues at security. My biggest hassle this last time was in Melbourne, S.A., Australia with customs. The guy asked what was in my bike case. I was tired and offered my smart ass answer, "my violin, of course", which lead to a full search of that case and my one checked bag... and yes, there was a mountain bike in the bike case..

Exactly, in fact most of the crazy security procedures that people point out as existing in other countries is required by the US government.  Flying out of Europe, you will notice that the security theater has been turned up to 11 for flights destined for the US compared to cities on any other continent.

I know right -- they could just view stuff online, but some TSA workers even go to the point of stopping people after they have been scanned for their enhance procedure (e.i. grouping time).  Don't kid yourself though.  Those machines do have strong resolution.  The images that they have allowed to hit the news are not of the same caliber as the ones they can really get and store for their biometrical database. 

I should also mention, if  flight touches down in the U.S., they have to follow U.S. rules.

Porno scans? Now that, my friend, is funny. If anyone gets excited over a shadow profile of an unknown person in another room.... maybe they need to spend some time on the internet where they see the 'real' thing in color. Funny...

I am not a security expert.  I've never traveled to the far-east, but I have traveled throughout Europe, and it is NOT the same.  Quicker, less intrusive, and statistically, more effective.   Now, if you want to base our system from China's civil rights record...  (being provocative on purpose...I know that's not what you're advocating)

Fact is...our system is not making us any safer.

 Fact is -- there can be security but there is no need for fondling and no need for the porno scans.  How is that unreasonable? They can still make you take off your five toe rings and do chemical tests on it if they want, but stop fondling and stop forcing people through their cancer causing machines.

I just went through security in Hong Kong. Same system, but stricter. You made a comment that made me think you have ideas that you're willing to share.

You are wise to get off the golf course.  You actually have a higher chance of getting hit by lighting than of dying from a terrorist attack.  But if you want to live in constant fear that the men in turbans are going to get you -- you are correct: To each his own.  I chose to stop living in fear.