Video shows young girl receiving full pat-down, drug test from TSA **UPDATED**

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Eric Wilbur, Boston Globe Staff



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba030UmbkCo


The TSA's pat-down policy has been widely criticized, but a video that popped up on YouTube today illustrates the possibly absurd levels to which agents take the process.

Here's a clip of what is said to be a six-year-old girl receiving a full pat-down from a TSA agent, who then leads her to another area of the security checkpoint to perform a drug test. It's not clear whether the girl's parents elected not to put their child through a body scan, however the opening moments of the video do show a woman, believed to be the girl's mother, asking the TSA agent, "Can't you just re-scan her?"

While the decision to pat down a young girl can be debated, was a drug test really necessary?

[RBP]

Sometimes I wonder if stuff like this isn't our own propaganda. Hard to imagine.

[FBD]

The TSA is getting beyond ridiculous

[Muddy]

I see this video... But really.. From my experience... The TSA were very kind and accommodating and made me feel safe about boarding the plane..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I see this video... But really.. From my experience... The TSA were very kind and accommodating and made me feel safe about boarding the plane..

So it's okay to shake down a 6 year old girl (and I'm pretty sure that so far we haven't had any 6 year old girls hijack planes or fly them into buildings) yet you can't even raise an eye at someone who even looks muslim for fear of upsetting them?

[Muddy]

So it's okay to shake down a 6 year old girl (and I'm pretty sure that so far we haven't had any 6 year old girls hijack planes or fly them into buildings) yet you can't even raise an eye at someone who even looks muslim for fear of upsetting them?

Im not saying that... Im saying that there are always going to be cases of extremism in anything that occurs on a large scale. In my experience flying ( And 99% of the time I fly through Atlanta, which is huge) I have never seen anything like that. It's like seeing a cop punch a brother in the head on the street (on an internet video) and saying all cops are racist and out of control.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Im not saying that... Im saying that there are always going to be cases of extremism in anything that occurs on a large scale. In my experience flying ( And 99% of the time I fly through Atlanta, which is huge) I have never seen anything like that. It's like seeing a cop punch a brother in the head on the street (on an internet video) and saying all cops are racist and out of control.

No, I hear ya...I'm not saying this kind of thing is widespread by any stretch, but to me it's just completely asinine to be patting down a 6 year old girl like this when if someone even questioned a muslim, there would be lawsuits against the TSA and cries of racism everywhere.

I am absolutely sick to death of all the PC bullshit in this country.

[Muddy]

No, I hear ya...I'm not saying this kind of thing is widespread by any stretch, but to me it's just completely asinine to be patting down a 6 year old girl like this when if someone even questioned a muslim, there would be lawsuits against the TSA and cries of racism everywhere.

I am absolutely sick to death of all the PC bullshit in this country.

Agreed.. I wonder wtf prompted that officer to go to such extreme measures.. Really I wonder if we are getting the whole story..

[Hal-9000]

I do wonder what prompted the second run through and the excessive patting of the 6 year old?

they must have been alerted to something the first time

[Muddy]

Maybe it was an instructional thing? Or the mother was talking to the child about what they do and asked them to show her? I would hope there is some form of back story...

[beowulf]

was reading this elsewhere earlier today...heres a link i pinched

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/13/tsa-to-review-airport-screening-policies-after-6-year-old-girl-f/

[Hal-9000]

I think Lance nailed the non parity of the situation...a Muslim gets asked to remove her burka and all of a sudden the ceremonial daggers and threats come out claiming that we're infringing on human rights.Yet...a 6 yr old 'homegirl' gets the intimate treatment not only once but twice?

I believe in being safe when I fly and I'll submit to their checks.As long as each person through that turnstile submits to the same checks without complaint.

[Muddy]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l8ZBsSeLPxk/TOg4kiDDf1I/AAAAAAAADdU/2cHnSQsPiwY/s1600/art_205x205_1-2.png

[Deepsepia]

So far as I know, TSA doesn't perform drug test for security screening purposes. The comment about a "drug test" appears to have been made by a bystander

They do sometimes take a chemical swatch to test for the presence of explosive residue.

If you're entering the country, you may be "sniffed" for drugs -- generally by dogs.

To have an effective security program, you can't leave "holes". We know that Middle Eastern terrorists have actively sought and sometimes used "non-profile" passengers to carry explosives (for example a pregnant Irish woman).

So all I see here is a girl who's set off the alarm, who's getting a patdown -- no different than I receive when I fly, and not "groping" by my lights.

You want to fly on the airline that announces "we don't screen everyone"?

[FBD]

How's El Al's track record?

Right, now how about that new argument you were working on? :razz:

[Noilly Pratt]

My 8 year old, on seeing this on the news (we usually screen the news but I was out of the room for just a few seconds) said in a most indignant voice "That's Inappropriate!"


To have an effective security program, you can't leave "holes".

So quit hiring underpaid airline workers and have trained security personnel handle the luggage at every turn. People can be bought. Or co-erced. My nephew didn't even go through a criminal check and was hired by the airport to load the planes in Vancouver.

Unless you're going to have everyone fly naked, with no baggage, there will be holes. What if an explosive could be as thin as the fabric sewn into my underwear's stitching? Not beyond the realm of possibility.

Trying to plug every security hole is a myth to give us the feeling of safety. They can't do it. Too many people have access to the plane and the contents therein. I'm not saying leave it wide open, but there's a limit to what one can do without starting to infringe on civil liberties.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

To have an effective security program, you can't leave "holes". We know that Middle Eastern terrorists have actively sought and sometimes used "non-profile" passengers to carry explosives (for example a pregnant Irish woman).

So....exactly how many white American 6 year old girls have been involved in hijackings the last 50 years? :-k

[Deepsepia]

@Noilly Prat
Yes, there will always be holes. To some extent, TSA's strategy will always leave some holes. Intelligence matters a lot there. We do know that al Qaeda has mounted a major effort to find bombers and bomb-carriers "who don't fit the profile". They have only had a limited effort to actually get airline employees (there was a British Airways steward, if memory serves)

Ultimately, you have to rely on your intelligence to give you an idea of where the threat is going to come from. Screening doesn't protect against someone outside the airport with a shoulder launched missile (and there are a lot of those around)



So....exactly how many white American 6 year old girls have been involved in hijackings the last 50 years? :-k

Children are frequently used to carry drugs, so far they have not been used to carry bombs.

But pregnant white women _have_ been used for precisely this purpose.

Defending against an enemy who is observing your security, and only needs to be right, once every couple of years means being vigilant.

The fear with a child would be not that they want to blow up the plane, but that some third party has hidden something on their person.

This is done all the time in the drug trade.

[Acid Trip]

The fact we have TSA agents groping small children is a sign that the terrorists have won. Apparently the 4th Amendment is no longer valid in Airports. If it were then all TSA agents performing pat downs would be arrested for infringing our civil rights.

Each freedom our government wrangles from us is a victory for terrorism.

[Deepsepia]

The fact we have TSA agents groping small children is a sign that the terrorists have won. Apparently the 4th Amendment is no longer valid in Airports. If it were then all TSA agents performing pat downs would be arrested for infringing our civil rights.

Each freedom our government wrangles from us is a victory for terrorism.

You're free to sign up for a flight on "no search airlines" -- any takers?

The whole "groping" blather is nonsense. I fly for work all the time, get frisked all the time, and it truly is nothing. I've tried to tell the TSA guys to stop apologizing and just do it, but given the hysteria they insist on running through a long explanation of what they're going to do.

The biggest annoyance for me is that I can't get them to stop with the warnings and just go ahead and do it.


How's El Al's track record?

Right, now how about that new argument you were working on? :razz:


El Al were the folks who caught the pregnant white woman who had a bomb in her luggage (packed by her --she thought-- boyfriend, not present-- she didn't know she had it on her)

El Al also has a security screening process that's vastly more onerous than TSA. Arrive at the airport hours before your flight, undergo an interview with a not-so-nice Israeli intelligence guy, who asks all sorts of questions that would be way out of bounds for the US (eg "are you jewish? Why are you going to Israel? To support Hamas? Have you ever written anything for publication about Israel?" )

If you think people bitch over a pat down, they'd howl over El Al's security measures, and as a practical matter, we couldn't begin to do them. Israel has a handful of international flights a day . . . its a practical matter to screen them this way. The US has a massive domestic airline network, we don't begin to have enough intelligence officers to start grilling people, and as a civil liberties matter we don't want to.

[FBD]

:roll: that's right, I forgot they switched and started making kids gloves out of blue nitrile...

[Muddy]

The fact we have TSA agents groping small children


I missed the groping in the video.. Lemme go back and watch again.. :)

[Teh One Who Knocks]

El Al were the folks who caught the pregnant white woman who had a bomb in her luggage (packed by her --she thought-- boyfriend, not present-- she didn't know she had it on her)

El Al also has a security screening process that's vastly more onerous than TSA. Arrive at the airport hours before your flight, undergo an interview with a not-so-nice Israeli intelligence guy, who asks all sorts of questions that would be way out of bounds for the US (eg "are you jewish? Why are you going to Israel? To support Hamas? Have you ever written anything for publication about Israel?" )

If you think people bitch over a pat down, they'd howl over El Al's security measures, and as a practical matter, we couldn't begin to do them. Israel has a handful of international flights a day . . . its a practical matter to screen them this way. The US has a massive domestic airline network, we don't begin to have enough intelligence officers to start grilling people, and as a civil liberties matter we don't want to.

El Al uses trained profilers....there's no way they would have pulled this little girl aside and frisked her like this unless she fit a profile or the family was acting suspicious. ;)

[Muddy]

El Al uses trained profilers....there's no way they would have pulled this little girl aside and frisked her like this unless she fit a profile or the family was acting suspicious. ;)


You know thats a good point.. Someone in the family may have been acting suspicious..

[Acid Trip]

You're free to sign up for a flight on "no search airlines" -- any takers?

The whole "groping" blather is nonsense. I fly for work all the time, get frisked all the time, and it truly is nothing. I've tried to tell the TSA guys to stop apologizing and just do it, but given the hysteria they insist on running through a long explanation of what they're going to do.

The biggest annoyance for me is that I can't get them to stop with the warnings and just go ahead and do it.




El Al were the folks who caught the pregnant white woman who had a bomb in her luggage (packed by her --she thought-- boyfriend, not present-- she didn't know she had it on her)

El Al also has a security screening process that's vastly more onerous than TSA. Arrive at the airport hours before your flight, undergo an interview with a not-so-nice Israeli intelligence guy, who asks all sorts of questions that would be way out of bounds for the US (eg "are you jewish? Why are you going to Israel? To support Hamas? Have you ever written anything for publication about Israel?" )

If you think people bitch over a pat down, they'd howl over El Al's security measures, and as a practical matter, we couldn't begin to do them. Israel has a handful of international flights a day . . . its a practical matter to screen them this way. The US has a massive domestic airline network, we don't begin to have enough intelligence officers to start grilling people, and as a civil liberties matter we don't want to.

You're entitled your opinion. I would glad go through a no pat down, no x-ray, metal detector only lane. I did that for over 20 years when the TSA didn't exist and I'm here to tell the story.

[FBD]

You know thats a good point.. Someone in the family may have been acting suspicious..

Nope, that was all SOP - you dont pay attention and set off the metal detector, you get the special treatment.

Keep it on the down low, in your underwear, dont set off the metal detector - and all you need is for your matches to work properly and you've got success :rolleyes: Thankfully the morons trying it lately havent been quite so sharp.

My question is, what's going to happen when its shown that these methods are ultimately ineffective? Backscatter for every single flyer?

[Muddy]

Nope, that was all SOP - you dont pay attention and set off the metal detector, you get the special treatment.

Keep it on the down low, in your underwear, dont set off the metal detector - and all you need is for your matches to work properly and you've got success :rolleyes: Thankfully the morons trying it lately havent been quite so sharp.

My question is, what's going to happen when its shown that these methods are ultimately ineffective? Backscatter for every single flyer?

How often do you fly?

[FBD]

Not so much that I'm going to be concerned with radiation, really. Shitty thing is, Bradley is always among the first to get these nifty doodads, so if I fly outta there I can probably expect some newfangled garbage waiting there. Hm...45 min there vs 2 hours to NY...no guarantee I'll avoid 'em at jfk or something. I'm honestly torn about how to treat these - I see the whole TSA schtick as a serious affront to civil liberties and I really dont want to subject myself to their bullshit. But sometimes you have little alternative but to fly if you want to get where you need to go. Which is part of the sad part, the government is one of the only entities that gets to fcuk you over and there isnt jack shit you can do about it. Its why government should not be in the business of doing anything but...GOVERNing...

[Muddy]

Not so much that I'm going to be concerned with radiation, really. Shitty thing is, Bradley is always among the first to get these nifty doodads, so if I fly outta there I can probably expect some newfangled garbage waiting there. Hm...45 min there vs 2 hours to NY...no guarantee I'll avoid 'em at jfk or something. I'm honestly torn about how to treat these - I see the whole TSA schtick as a serious affront to civil liberties and I really dont want to subject myself to their bullshit. But sometimes you have little alternative but to fly if you want to get where you need to go. Which is part of the sad part, the government is one of the only entities that gets to fcuk you over and there isnt jack shit you can do about it. Its why government should not be in the business of doing anything but...GOVERNing...

Is all this an elaborate way to say 'Never' ? :mrgreen:

[FBD]

:mrgreen: we'll see. although, for certain studies, its plane or one HELL of a long drive :lol:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd53eoB1WxE

[Muddy]

:mrgreen: we'll see. although, for certain studies, its plane or one HELL of a long drive :lol:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd53eoB1WxE


Thats funny as hell, but you know as well as I do that it's total BS.. :lol:

[Deepsepia]

El Al uses trained profilers....there's no way they would have pulled this little girl aside and frisked her like this unless she fit a profile or the family was acting suspicious. ;)

El Al grills every passenger, asking questions that you would consider way out of bounds.

And they frisk all sorts of people, take apart toys, do whatever they think is necessary.

Its far more intense than anything shown in this video, which shows nothing, so far as I'm concerned.

We've got evidence of children being used to smuggle drugs, its not a safe idea to say "lets not search kids, there's no way someone would use them to carry contraband or weapons" -- because they do all the time.

Again, El Al requires that passengers arrive at the airport three hours before flight time, that every passenger be interviewed by an intelligence/security officer, and the entire group of passengers is under observation by security officers before they get on the plane.

There's not a chance of doing that in the US, simply as a practical matter. Israel's chief airport handles 12 million passengers a year, who all speak English or Hebrew. The US handles more than 800 million passengers per year. And we have folks who speak all sorts of languages . . . attempting to implement Israeli-style security would mean hiring many thousands of security agents, whose work would be an infringement of liberties and a waste to boot.

A pat down like shown in the video really is nothing to freak about, and there was no "drug test", just someone in the crowd who said so . .

[Teh One Who Knocks]

El Al grills every passenger, asking questions that you would consider way out of bounds.

And they frisk all sorts of people, take apart toys, do whatever they think is necessary.

Its far more intense than anything shown in this video, which shows nothing, so far as I'm concerned.

We've got evidence of children being used to smuggle drugs, its not a safe idea to say "lets not search kids, there's no way someone would use them to carry contraband or weapons" -- because they do all the time.

Again, El Al requires that passengers arrive at the airport three hours before flight time, that every passenger be interviewed by an intelligence/security officer, and the entire group of passengers is under observation by security officers before they get on the plane.

There's not a chance of doing that in the US, simply as a practical matter. Israel's chief airport handles 12 million passengers a year, who all speak English or Hebrew. The US handles more than 800 million passengers per year. And we have folks who speak all sorts of languages . . . attempting to implement Israeli-style security would mean hiring many thousands of security agents, whose work would be an infringement of liberties and a waste to boot.

A pat down like shown in the video really is nothing to freak about, and there was no "drug test", just someone in the crowd who said so . .

I've seen interviews on TV with Israeli security forces and El Al spokesman and none of them have described anything like you have just mentioned. In fact, they have all stated that, on a percentage basis, they frisk far fewer passengers than the TSA does here in the US and they do it on a profile basis, not randomly frisking Girl Scouts and Betty White.

[Godfather]

You know... this is the first one of these videos that has offended me :-k Maybe my mind could be changed, but my instant gut reaction here was to be kinda chapped.


I'm happy to take off my shoes, have my bag swabbed, stand around in lines and all that shit. But I'm not six.


I've seen a lot of these videos and stories... this one is just a piss-off

[Deepsepia]

I've seen interviews on TV with Israeli security forces and El Al spokesman and none of them have described anything like you have just mentioned. In fact, they have all stated that, on a percentage basis, they frisk far fewer passengers than the TSA does here in the US and they do it on a profile basis, not randomly frisking Girl Scouts and Betty White.

You arrive at the airport three hours before your flight -- its right there on their website.

Every passenger is grilled.



Despite their current anxieties, Americans also might balk at El Al-style ethnic profiling. Staff scrutinize the passengers' names, dividing them into low-risk (Israeli or foreign Jews), medium-risk (non-Jewish foreigners) and extremely high-risk travelers (anyone with an Arabic name). These people automatically are taken into a room for body and baggage checks and lengthy interrogation. Single women also are considered high-risk, for fear they might be used by Palestinian lovers to carry bombs.

{snip}

Even for regular El Al customers, the security process never feels comfortable, and the pre-flight probing is sure to make you feel somehow suspect. Watching closely for contradictions, the screener dissected my typically haphazard travel plan as though it were a lethal conspiracy.

"Why did you buy your ticket at the last minute?" the screener asked. "I changed my plans," I said.

"Why are you carrying wrapped boxes?" "I like to bring chocolates when people invite me over for dinner," I said.

"Who chose them in the store?" she asked. "I did," I replied.

By El Al's standards, my screening was light — only 10 minutes of questioning by two well-paid officials with full military training. It ended with one of them locking all the zippers on my suitcase with plastic ties. "Open these when you get to your hotel," she instructed before sending me to the check-in desk.

El Al's process is so time-consuming that passengers are required to arrive three hours before all flights. Passengers can be interrogated separately by three different screeners.

And questioners ask passengers where they purchased their tickets to compare their answers with ticket codes representing the purchase location.

Full story at http://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2001/10/01/elal-usat.htm#more


Is way beyond anything we could do or would accept, and beyond that, it wouldn't work. Our population is far more diverse than folks traveling to Israel.

And a pat down is just a pat down. Its not "groping". I've got some metal in me, so I get it every time. Its nothing, and by my lights TSA does a good job with an incredibly hard problem.

"Policies" always can look silly, because they have to be applied broadly. One of the things that looks very rude is that folks in wheelchairs and with crutches are scrutinized very carefully . . . now you can say "what kind of a threat is 'crippled grandma'?" -- but you have to look at it from the adversary perspective "what can I use to get an explosive on board a plane?"

[FBD]

You arrive at the airport three hours before your flight -- its right there on their website.

Every passenger is grilled.



Is way beyond anything we could do or would accept, and beyond that, it wouldn't work. Our population is far more diverse than folks traveling to Israel.

And a pat down is just a pat down. Its not "groping". I've got some metal in me, so I get it every time. Its nothing, and by my lights TSA does a good job with an incredibly hard problem.

"Policies" always can look silly, because they have to be applied broadly. One of the things that looks very rude is that folks in wheelchairs and with crutches are scrutinized very carefully . . . now you can say "what kind of a threat is 'crippled grandma'?" -- but you have to look at it from the adversary perspective "what can I use to get an explosive on board a plane?"

:lol: the basic fact is, the TSA by the very nature of its political correctness, is prohibited from doing a good job - e.g. they are prohibited from asking the right questions to people, which is what El Al does. If somebody gets a question asked of them they dont like here, my gosh they're offended and somebody is going to sue! (Unless you actually do have grounds, like in all of these groping cases...that is where you get nothing, nowhere, because its uncle sam touching your genitals and there aint shit you can say about it, if you want to get on that plane.)

There is undue sensitivity placed on certain things, and in light of the politically correct, it makes the only 'feasible' approaches to this a violation of your 4th amendment rights, in the eyes of the government. Therefore, what 4th amendment?

We certainly cant just ask people blunt, straightforward questions :roll:

[Deepsepia]

:lol: the basic fact is, the TSA by the very nature of its political correctness, is prohibited from doing a good job - e.g. they are prohibited from asking the right questions to people, which is what El Al does. If somebody gets a question asked of them they dont like here, my gosh they're offended and somebody is going to sue! (Unless you actually do have grounds, like in all of these groping cases...that is where you get nothing, nowhere, because its uncle sam touching your genitals and there aint shit you can say about it, if you want to get on that plane.)

There is undue sensitivity placed on certain things, and in light of the politically correct, it makes the only 'feasible' approaches to this a violation of your 4th amendment rights, in the eyes of the government. Therefore, what 4th amendment?

We certainly cant just ask people blunt, straightforward questions :roll:

You don't even agree with yourself.

In your post, you're simultaneously alleging that TSA is too intrusive, and yet because of what you claim to be "political correctness" not permitted to be intrusive enough.

We have very limited ability to interrogate domestic airline passengers, who're suspected of no crime (passengers to or from Israel are international passengers-- when you cross an international border you have given the government the right to search and interrogate you more or less as they see fit, very limited constitutional protections.)

Within the US we do maintain a "do not fly" list and we do flag people for additional searches based on all sorts of criteria. You can bet that 25 year old Arab guys are getting a much more thorough going over than six year old girls.

The basic TSA screening applies to everyone precisely because you don't know whe the next threat is coming from. We've had other kinds of terrorism in the US, Oklahoma City, the anthrax mailer, the Unabomber.

[FBD]

***NO PERSONAL CRAP***

[Acid Trip]

You arrive at the airport three hours before your flight -- its right there on their website.

Every passenger is grilled.



Is way beyond anything we could do or would accept, and beyond that, it wouldn't work. Our population is far more diverse than folks traveling to Israel.

And a pat down is just a pat down. Its not "groping". I've got some metal in me, so I get it every time. Its nothing, and by my lights TSA does a good job with an incredibly hard problem.

"Policies" always can look silly, because they have to be applied broadly. One of the things that looks very rude is that folks in wheelchairs and with crutches are scrutinized very carefully . . . now you can say "what kind of a threat is 'crippled grandma'?" -- but you have to look at it from the adversary perspective "what can I use to get an explosive on board a plane?"

I flew out of Tel Aviv about 3 years ago and I didn't have to arrive 3 hours early nor did they grill me for 10 minutes. When did that happen to you Deep?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

New TSA Patdown Furor Over an Eight-Year-Old Boy
Hareyan Publishing Company



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr9qHqkLGHg

Eight-year-old Spencer Sheahan was pulled aside for a TSA search at Portland International Airport. Just as with the earlier incident, which involved six-year-old Anna Drexel, his mother couldn't understand why the TSA would pull aside such a young child.

However, Heather Sheahan admitted that, whatever the reason, the worker was "just doing his job." Despite that, she said it was difficult watching her son being patted down. Spencer said, “He [the TSA worker] said to stay calm. He patted me down almost everywhere: my socks, my shirt, my pants.”

Spencer, however, couldn't understand why he was singled out. “I’m not even dangerous,” he said.

In the earlier incident, Selena Drexel said her family went through body scanners last month at the New Orleans airport. Six-year-old Anna was given a pat-down. Although she asked, Selena Drexel was not given a reason for that pat-down.

[Hal-9000]

Could it be that they're making a point of demonstrating that there are no prejudices?

Almost sounds like this is a secret mandate...single out targets that are low risk so if some shite comes up over the way someone else is treated,
they can use this behavior as a fallback saying - No one is exempt

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I'm waiting for the next story...where a muslim dude hijack a plane or tries to blow it up or something else bad and the TSA will release a statement saying, "We have no idea how the explosives got on the plane, we thoroughly checked all the children"

:rolleyes:

[Hal-9000]

exactly...and thanks.For some reason you just placed a disturbing image in my mind of a Muslim child with 50 pounds of C4 stuffed up his butt :lol:

[Deepsepia]

I flew out of Tel Aviv about 3 years ago and I didn't have to arrive 3 hours early nor did they grill me for 10 minutes. When did that happen to you Deep?

Were you flying El Al?

These are El Al procedures, not those of other airlines (even other airlines flying in and out of Israel)

[FBD]

***NO PERSONAL CRAP***

Its just pretty amusing when somebody replies as if something is so painfully obvious, when its painfully obvious that something entirely different was the case, if one of the parties was paying attention ;)

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Its just pretty amusing when somebody replies as if something is so painfully obvious, when its painfully obvious that something entirely different was the case, if one of the parties was paying attention ;)

I don't care, I thought it was uncalled for and that's all that matters here ;)

[FBD]

Yis Mastah! :bow:



:razz:

[KevinD]

Here's my take....The pat downs, trace tests, etc are supposed to be random (unless warranted by a flag such as failing x-ray/metal detector) As such children, handicapped folks, etc are all going to be subject to the same procedures you and I are. I see no problem with the pat downs of either videos in this thread. The TSA agents acted in a professional manner. What I DO have a problem with is that in my mind, it is necessary to even have these measures at all. This is not a failure of Government, is is a failure of people as a whole. I read an interesting article recently about the whole endemic situation that has forced the Governments to perform things like this. Again, I see this a a failure of people in general.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Yis Mastah! :bow:



:razz:

Sarcasm isn't going to win you any points

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Here's my take....The pat downs, trace tests, etc are supposed to be random (unless warranted by a flag such as failing x-ray/metal detector) As such children, handicapped folks, etc are all going to be subject to the same procedures you and I are. I see no problem with the pat downs of either videos in this thread. The TSA agents acted in a professional manner. What I DO have a problem with is that in my mind, it is necessary to even have these measures at all. This is not a failure of Government, is is a failure of people as a whole. I read an interesting article recently about the whole endemic situation that has forced the Governments to perform things like this. Again, I see this a a failure of people in general.

Remember that feeling next when you read a story in the near future when a muslim guy gets pulled out of line to be patted down and then he sues the TSA for racial discrimination. Or the story that I mentioned on the last page about when a muslim guy hijacks a plane and the TSA claims they have no idea how the explosives/weapons/whatever made it on board the plane because they made sure to thoroughly check all the children before they boarded.

Maybe the TSA should add the Girls Scouts and the Boy Scouts to the list of terrorist organizations that they need to watch out for....I hear they are ruthless and devious.

[Acid Trip]

Were you flying El Al?

These are El Al procedures, not those of other airlines (even other airlines flying in and out of Israel)

Yes, I was flying El Al. I got to the airport 1 1/2 hours before my flight and was questioned for maybe 30 seconds. My US passport, business suit, and Texas accent were all they needed to see/hear.