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I am a middle eastern looking young male ... well, not so young anymore, but still well under 50. And as I said in a previous post, I've never had any real problems with bringing a laptop past airport security on domestic or international flights. And I have had problems before -- big problems -- with airport security (and US Marshals) on a domestic flight. But none of those problems focused on a laptop, and I've never been asked to show what was on my laptop other than once I had to open it up and show that it actually did run. I suppose if someone looked like a child sex tourist flying from Bangkok they might be interested to see what photos are on their hard drive, but by and large their scrutiny is going to focus on whether you're a threat to the other passengers, but do you really think they are looking for vacation_photo_with_osama.jpg?

I am a middle eastern looking young male ... well, not so young anymore, but still well under 50. And as I said in a previous post, I've never had any real problems with bringing a laptop past airport security on domestic or international flights. And I have had problems before -- big problems -- with airport security (and US Marshals) on a domestic flight. But none of those problems focused on a laptop, and I've never been asked to show what was on my laptop other than once I had to open it up and show that it actually did run. I suppose if someone looked like a child sex tourist flying from Bangkok they might be interested to see what photos are on their hard drive, but by and large their scrutiny is going to focus on whether you're a threat to the other passengers, but do you really think they are looking for vacation_photo_with_osama.jpg?

http://www.studentsfororwell.org/

of course, the secret service actually comes to the door of many kids...

here are 3 diff examples:
http://www.progressive.org/mag_mc100405
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/170992_prosser 28.html
http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000379.php
http://shockandblog.com/blog/modules.php?name=News &file=article&sid=16
http://shockandblog.com/blog/modules.php?name=News &file=article&sid=18

Let me guess. Everything bad that is happening is made up. All of it. They are all partisan attacks to make George Bush look bad. We are actually living in the freest paradise on the planet and nothing bad happens here. ...

http://www.studentsfororwell.org/

of course, the secret service actually comes to the door of many kids...

here are 3 diff examples:
http://www.progressive.org/mag_mc100405
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/170992_prosser 28.html
http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000379.php
http://shockandblog.com/blog/modules.php?name=News &file=article&sid=16
http://shockandblog.com/blog/modules.php?name=News &file=article&sid=18

Let me guess. Everything bad that is happening is made up. All of it. They are all partisan attacks to make George Bush look bad. We are actually living in the freest paradise on the planet and nothing bad happens here. ...

http://www.studentsfororwell.org/

of course, the secret service actually comes to the door of many kids...

here are 3 diff examples:
http://www.progressive.org/mag_mc100405
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/170992_prosser 28.html
http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000379.php
http://shockandblog.com/blog/modules.php?name=News &file=article&sid=16
http://shockandblog.com/blog/modules.php?name=News &file=article&sid=18

Let me guess. Everything bad that is happening is made up. All of it. They are all partisan attacks to make George Bush look bad. We are actually living in the freest paradise on the planet and nothing bad happens here.

http://www.studentsfororwell.org/

of course, the secret service actually comes to the door of many kids...

here are 3 diff examples:
http://www.progressive.org/mag_mc100405
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/170992_prosser 28.html
http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000379.php
http://shockandblog.com/blog/modules.php?name=News &file=article&sid=16
http://shockandblog.com/blog/modules.php?name=News &file=article&sid=18

Let me guess. Everything bad that is happening is made up. All of it. They are all partisan attacks to make George Bush look bad. We are actually living in the freest paradise on the planet and nothing bad happens here.

I got paid a visit for reading material that was hardly "subversive" -- it was published by the U.S. military! Read all about it here and here... I was reading the literature on a plane, to be sure, but a home visit from the feds seemed way over the top. To their credit, however, the Marshals seemed to be nice enough and they didn't seem to think I was a threat to national security, and I haven't been bothered since the visit to my house. Though I wonder whether there are now federal files on me, and whether I'm being looked at funny at the airport.

I got paid a visit for reading material that was hardly "subversive" -- it was published by the U.S. military! Read all about it here and here... I was reading the literature on a plane, to be sure, but a home visit from the feds seemed way over the top. To their credit, however, the Marshals seemed to be nice enough and they didn't seem to think I was a threat to national security, and I haven't been bothered since the visit to my house. Though I wonder whether there are now federal files on me, and whether I'm being looked at funny at the airport.