I looked into this and was astonished and infuriated at what I found. The Transportation Security Administration, which is the federal agency performing security checks at airports since 2001, has obtained and deployed at U.S. airports high-resolution machines that emit radiation over your skin surfaces and use the reflections to provide a highly detailed image of your naked body. They use this to see if there are any “igniters” coming out of your private parts, which would indicate the presence of a body cavity bomb.
If the screener cannot get a clear shot of those parts of you, as is the case with certain types of underwear or feminine hygiene products, you are further manually examined — the screener feels your private parts, and in some cases has gone inside underwear to probe. Women’s breasts are also being screened and imaged for bomb implants, and if anything looks unusual, those are also manually examined for unnatural substances.
Because of lack of training and/or machine problems, a large number of people scanned are also groped.
Those who refuse to be scanned are also groped following the procedures above.
The indecency of this invasion of privacy, of the humiliation of those being examined, is matched only by its illegality. The Fourth Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights in our US Constitution, part of the agreement between the states and the federal government created after the revolutionary war against England. It details what the federal government can and cannot do.
After all, the states had rid themselves of one tyranny and did not want to create another. The Fourth Amendment spells out clearly the limits of federal power over our personal privacy. The Fourth Amendment states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
This explicitly prohibits any federal agency from performing random strip searches, which is what those airport machines are doing, and it explicitly prohibits them from searching your groin, as they are now doing at airports, without any court order or warrant detailing exactly what the probable cause is for the target person to be searched.
TSA claims it can violate the Constitution because these steps are “necessary.” The disturbing thing is that the TSA simply violated the Constitution on its own, via presidential order from President Obama. The authority for this didn’t come from Congress — TSA did not seek any political agreement from the people. If a federal agency can do whatever it wants whenever it wants because of “necessity,” we are all in deep trouble.
The head of the TSA, John Pistole, says these machines and procedures are coming to train stations, subways, buses, sports events and other venues. Mobile vans are already patrolling streets, scanning cars and pedestrians.
The TSA claims “necessity” requires it to violate our Constitutional rights, yet Israeli airports do not have a single one of these machines. There is no terrorist target on Earth more desirable than Israel, yet the Israelis don’t use them because the Israelis say they don’t work — they can be easily defeated.
Now news reports are coming out that lobbyists for the companies that make these nude body scanners have paid huge sums to influence Congress to pay for the machines.
The degree of effectiveness for the strip-search machines? Zero, according to the head of El Al, the Israeli airline. And for this we are to surrender one of our most cherished rights?
And if we allow them to take that crucial one, other rights will also be taken from us, as “needed.”
Please call your congressman, senators and state politicians and tell them to stand up for us and force the TSA to stop violating the U.S. Constitution, our dignity and our privacy.
They will listen and want to hear from you on this issue.
• Doug Anderson is a resident of Tracy.
Notable Dialog During a Gate rape (3-striper was female observer):
" flyer: will you be touching my testicles today sir?
3-striper: no he will not.
boiflyer: okay.
tso agent: i'm going to be placing my hand on your inner thigh and go up until i meet resistance.
flyer: okay, you just touched my anus, sir. you didn't tell me you were going to touch my anus. i just want to know what is being done to me. nobody told me they were going to touch my anus.
tso: i told you i was going to be placing my hand on your inner thigh and go up. can't you deduce that?
flyer: no. i can't deduce that you were going to touch my anus.
...."
this, in the land of the free?
Even our returning troops are not exempted from TSA's probing and scanning... how crazy is that?
Terrorism Hysteria.
CN
Is this stone age or what? Take a look at this unbelievable discussion at flyer talk:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-safety-security/1152887-menstruation-arouses-tsa-suspicion-5.html
we cannot allow ourselves to participate in this insanity....
Yes it is too bad that it has really gone too far. I'm all for safety. But when people with poor judgement and no morals are doing these checks there are going to be problems.
Some cases like those described at
http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/press_release.asp?article_id=870
where a woman who had just had a mastectomy, asked the screener to search gently, and was brutally and painfully pawed. Her 17 y/o son objected asking the TSA folks "why didn't you pat me down?" "Because you don't have boobs" was the answer.
Or, in that same article, the businessman who had an enlarged testicle due to a childhood injury that the scanner picked up, and had his testicles repeatedly pawed by the blue-gloved smurfs at TSA, to the point where they caused him such pain he was forced to leave the airport and miss his flight.
Or, again in that same article, the 12 y/o girl who was whisked out of a line going to the metal detectors and forced into the scanner, without parental or guardian permission, without being told she had an option to not be scanned. She was the only one in the long line so chosen. One could only wonder why....
Fortunately, all of this has so offended and injured passengers that there are countless federal lawsuits going through the courts now and some relief may be forthcoming.
The aggravating thing is that both Democrats and Republicans voted in July to de-fund those machines so they would not be deployed, but Obama ordered the machines anyway. The CEO of the company that makes the nude body scanners accompanied Obama on his recent trip to India on Air Force One.
1. Anyone for any reason can be selected for a patdown, frequently even those going through the scanners. This means there is NO protocol for selection. You can be selected because they don't like you, because you're good looking, because you said something that torqued them off, or whatever. Given human nature, can there be ANY question that such discretion will be abused? Already stories are coming out that TSA employees can make the scanner alarm go off if they'd like to feel up a particular passenger.
2. If the enhanced patdown, which feels around the groin area and buttocks and around breasts, doesn't resolve something, again in the TSA EMPLOYEE'S opinion, you can be then completely groin searched to the point of a nude exam, and this includes touching/probing of genitals. Again, this on American citizens who are NOT under arrest. But they comply under co-ercion entirely because they will be stranded outside the airport if they do not comply. This is nothing other than consent at the end of a gun barrel.
3. Letting ANYONE having the power to do these things at their whim is just asking for abuse. Hmm. Let's see, I can choose who I want to pat down, whenever I want to pat them down, I can feel wherever I want, however hard I want, I can choose to humiliate if I want, I have you under my power. The TSA employees, who are not at the highest level of our culture, are the last people I'd want such complete power over my physical person. I would think most folks would not want their loved ones exposed to this chance. "Goodbye honey, only a 3 to 10 percent chance of getting sexually assaulted at the airport today! Have a nice flight... "
Again, in the agreement called the US Constitution, in the 4th Amendment, which alone legitimizes the exercise of governmental power, no-one has the right to conduct such violations of your physical person if you are not under arrest. It is not a power given to the federal level, either the executive, the congress, or even the judicial. It is a de facto exercise of tyranny.
You have a 3 to 10 percent chance of getting groped when you fly.
The answer to this problem... START PROFILING!!!!!
Just bout every other country does, and what problems have they had??? We are so worried about not offending the feelings of some that we violate the rights of others...
I completely agree with ya on th scanner an pat down bit. It's over th line an is really nothin more than a placebo ta give passengers a false sense of security.
Never quite understood th necessity of a terrorist ta actually board a flight ta bring it down unless they had a particular target they were tryin ta destroy on th ground, like th White House, World Trade Center or th Pentagon, all 9/11 targets.
Th reason is that they would have ta give up thair own lives ta do th deed when if all they wanted ta do was bring it down they could easily do it frm th ground without puttin thair lives at undue risk.
When Vietnam rice patty farmers could shoot down our aircraft with single shot rifles it don't seem to be very difficult ta bring one of these babies down if they really had a mind to.
Fer example, thair's still duck huntin going on in th south bay area an guess what? It's right below th flight path that th Oakland airport uses fer thair approachin aircraft ta land. Get th picture? An who is checkin out those people?
Also ya gotta remember that it seems most terrorists are pretty much bent on destroyin themselves. So puttin armed guards that fire on site in th SF Bay to protect arrivin an departin aircraft isn't gonna prevent th terrorist bent on killin himself frum takin action.
An ta be quite honest, what sort of damage an how many people would die in th security inspection areas of these airports should th terrorists decide to forgo boarding an aircraft an just take out all the TSA agents an passengers who just happen ta be in th area.
Talk about panic ta th public, how many of ya that are really worked up about makin our aircraft safe are gonna fly if they start hittin th screenin areas of our airports all over th world?
Let's stop this nonsense an get back ta some normalcy. What thair doin in these security inspection checkpoints is nothin more than a placebo an if ya think it makes ya any safer yer just foolin yerself. Yep, it might stop th moron that thanks they might do somethang but so far it really hasn't stopped anyone.
Anyone readin this remember that right after 9/11 that a mechanic over at SFO planted several box knives on an aircraft to show th rest of us now ineffective this type of security really is?
An who checks th people who arrive an depart on personal aircraft? What would prevent a couple of em from landin at an airport an walkin over ta an boardin a commercial aircraft ta plant thair bombs an do thair evil work?
But I have ta admit, lookin at all th photos of th good lookin women that are gettin virtually stripped searched an patted down shore is gettin interestin.
Does anyone but me wonder what th qualifications an certifications are necessary ta be a TSA agent? Don't seem that they do much in th way of security background checks either since a number of em have turned up ta be criminals with a criminal record. But it's OK if they grope yer junk isn't it?
Not against security or security measures but what we are currently doin is nonsense an doesn't make anyone one damn bit safer. It's all currently a placebo.
Sorry, I calls em as I sees em.
What I'm pointing out is that there is a difference between being safety conscious and being HYSTERICAL. We can maintain our safety without resorting to ridiculous, illegal, and dehumanizing means. Yes, we have been safe since 9/11, and yes, without the scanners and the sex gropes.
The scanners don't work. A German scientist demonstrated this a few weeks ago when he stuck a bottle of Thermite (explosive) in his jacket
pocket, put a detonator for it in his mouth, and walked past the nude scanner undetected. He then proceded to detonate the Thermite in a safe room,
to prove his point. The Thermite could have been stuck inside a body cavity instead of the jacket. Scientists at UC Berkeley did a similar demonstration last week. Bottom line, these things are easy to defeat and Al Qaida is smart.
Now, despite this FACT, you say we are under attack and have to use the scanners anyway. Even if they don't work. It is an argument from hysteria and panic. Do something, do anything. Yet the situation does not call for panic or hysteria. No aircraft have fallen since 9/11.
Make no mistake; if folks accept
the nude scanner and sex gropes today, they will be be cavity searched tomorrow because only cavity searches are thorough enough.
Scanner deficiencies will make this "necessary".
You also have to consider the safety issue of the scanners. One type uses microwaves that scientists at MIT proved damaged DNA. (millimeter wave). The new backscatter scanners use a mixture of hard and soft x-ray radiation that radiologists at UCSF and Columbia say will cause terminal skin cancer in hundreds of US passengers every year. The TSA workers are now demanding safety shielding for themselves since they are exposed to those rays all day.
I'm not trying to convince someone who does not care about his or her human dignity being stripped from them with VIOLENCE via the scanners and sexual groping, even though these procedures
are shown to be laughably ineffective. Or someone who does not care that the scanners cause skin cancers. I'm talking to those of you
who are not so overcome with panic and fear that you cannot see the difference between safety and stupidity.
Terrorism is not new, it’s been going on for hundreds of years, but we all were exposed to it first hand on 9/11.
So either you embrace today’s realities and understand the good ol USA is just as much a target of terrorism as a third world country these days. Meanwhile if I am inconvenienced a little in the process, I can live with that. I pay taxes, serve on juries but don’t feel like a second class citizen. At least we can say since 9/11 we have been relatively safe within our borders, and that wasn’t just accidental. But I would be naive to say we are 100% safe. It will happen on our soil again, only a matter of time.
Suppose the 9/11 terrorists tried this again. They could not access the cockpit today because it is locked and the pilots are armed. They would be overwhelmed by other passengers fighting for their lives. Take a look at the booking pictures of the Shoe Bomber. He was beaten pretty good by the passengers.
Or, do you mean the newer explosives being used? It is well known that these scanners don't detect those explosives if well hidden.
The scanners don't catch the newer explosives, so relying on them for this is foolish; again the Israelis and Germans rejected them for exactly this reason. They do pick up anyone wearing pantyliners, so beware.
Dogs do detect those explosives, which makes me wonder why they are not being used. Perhaps the dog handler lobby hasn't paid enough to Congress.
Again, most people are NOT scanned; it is luck of the draw. So if these scanners are so damned important, why isn't EVERYONE scanned? I think the truth is that they want to have an alibi if something bad does happen, and those machines serve that purpose.
"I understand something has to be done that will appeal to everyone"
The solution doesn't have to appeal to me; having to take off shoes doesn't appeal to me. But this solution goes way beyond those types of inconvenience. It is a violation of basic human dignity. Submitting to a strip search and genital/groin area searches, which are sexual assaults, watching my family be submitted to this is a fundamental violation of our dignity and privacy. It cannot be endured by anyone with self respect.
To those who say "don't like it, go Greyhound", I would have to ask, what made me a second class citizen in my own country? I work for a living, I pay taxes the same as you. I vote, the same as you. I serve on juries the same as you. Why the hell can I not travel in the same aircraft as you simply because I insist on the basic human decency, which is not to have my family sexually assaulted in front of me?
I've read that there are states trying to pass laws forbidding the use of body scanners in airports. That may be all fine and dandy but what do you think the headlines will read if other terrorists board a plane with 9/11 intentions? You're going to hear everyone who was against body scanners screaming that the proper searches weren't being used which allowed terrorists to board.
I understand something has to be done that will appeal to everyone but in the meantime what we have will have to do. I don't want to be on a plane and have my last words ... "Let's go" ... be printed on the morning papers.
New Jersey is one of the states passing laws making it illegal to ue body scanners in airports to screen passengers, makes it a 3rd degree felony to do the airport TSA style grope unless you are actually under arrest, and affirms that images generated by scanner machines constitute violations of privacy and are subject to New Jersey child porn laws.
check out
http://www.senatenj.com/uploads/doherty/mike-doherty-tsa1.pdf
http://www.senatenj.com/uploads/doherty/mike-doherty-tsa2.pdf
http://www.senatenj.com/uploads/doherty/mike-doherty-tsa3.pdf
your metal knee joints are, dogs, and even the police officer type frisks.
The courts have upheld these, since they meet the twin rule of being minimally invasive and effective. These have prevented any terrorist attacks for the past 30 years. (The 9/11 bombers carried box cutters aboard that were NOT illegal to carry aboard at that time; there was no failure of the screening process.) Those technologies continue to be effective are are still used; scanners are only a second line of defense.
So searches in themselves at the airport are not necessarily against the 4th. What "is" against the 4th are unreasonable airport searches. This would mean searches that are either unnecessarily invasive or not effective, or both. Having strangers peer into your crotch I would suggest is invasive to most normal people. Having strangers feel your sex organs is probably also invasive to most people. So the new scanners and the new grope (again, not a frisk; if a police officer did the airport grope to you he would be fired and sued) both fail the invasive test.
How about the effectiveness test? Again, we see only failure. The scanners do not detect the explosives that are being used today.
They can be defeated easily by using molded materials or other means. Which is why the Israelis don't use them, and now the Germans have
forbidden them to be used in German airports.
So what is happening when you accept these measures is that you have sacrificed much for no increase in safety. You have allowed yourselves
and your loved ones to become a naked spectacle for someone else, dehumanized naked spectacles, to be physically groped and demeaned. I suspect
that if you are willing to accept all of this for what is only an illusion of extra safety, it won't take much to get you to go along with a cavity search or whatever else is asked of you.
It is a sad thing to see people so fearful that they will cling to any promise. It seems as if there's a lot of people willing to sell their birthright for the first bowl of stew that passes by. Police states are made of such fears.
"after all and I are not in their shoes feeling those humiliations and indignity."
should have read,"after all you and I ....."
Hopefully, my suggestion will be to prevent further agony for these people.
All airlines should have some sort of record to verify the certain passenger does have disability upon booking and to treat them accordingly. Work with your airlines and see how it goes.
Those who are able bodied in good shape do not mind. But those who are overweight sure do.
It is easy to hide the weapons in the prosthetics.
But a veteran with records should let the airlines know he is not a terrorists!
Know your passenger with disabilities before booking and boarding.
One person told me of the time she missed her flight because of her platform shoe since her right leg is shorter than her left. They took the shoe away to examine it. Sad. Would it have made any difference if the airlines knew of it ahead of time???
CN
Advance the notice to the airport ahead of time?
Airport should make new regulations to recognize special patients needs and act accordingly. Airport could check with their doctors to back up the claim?
Hope this helps.
CN
One instance, HUMILIATION follow their insensitive patting downs... a woman had to remove her artificial breast to replace the one she lost to cancer, a man had to remove his prosthetic leg, a woman was humilated since they told her to take her "towel" off (sanitary pad).... an artificial eye was examined. Where is the limit?
Just plain humiliation for the American people delights the Terrorists.
TSA... re-examine your methods. It violates the person's dignity.
CN