Slashdot Mirror
TSA Groper Files Suit Against Blogger
An anonymous reader writes "TSA employee Theldala Magee has filed a lawsuit against a blogger demanding $500k in damages for alleging a particularly invasive search involving multiple incursions of a finger into the passenger's vagina. The passenger, who likened the feeling to being raped, is being sued for defamation for supposedly sullying the otherwise good name of a checkpoint smurf."
No more bullshit welfare-to-work program for her.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I have traveled to many seemingly "worse" places on earth (Russia, China, Cambodia and other south east asian countries, Africa) and NOWHERE I have experienced stuff like that. USA needs to stop playing the security theater. It doesn't work and it's only absolutely stupid towards normal people. Fingering your vagina and ass, seriously? Stuff like this is why I don't even want to travel to US.
That being said, there are many people who still travel. I guess it doesn't count much if I don't want to travel to US. Like for example here in Europe many students still want to spend an year in US university. I guess it's a little bit more relaxed there, as here government pays for the university classes and you actually have to study to stay there. In the US your parents pay it, so you can take it more relaxed, have fun and drink beer. A dream for many Europeans, who usually actually have to study, learn and work hard. And don't get me wrong - there's lots of innovation in the US, but generally (and in the internet) it feels like US people just don't know much. But innovation can be made more easy if you drink alcohol and take drugs - the ideas just come to your head. That's why I think US is the number one country in the world regarding innovation.
I actually wanted to travel there to see the country myself, but if the welcoming basket is like this, just forget about it.
It's hard tho, when you can't decide if you want to work for the TSA or for McDonalds. On the one hand you get to alienate people by doing whatever you want to them in the name of security and in the other you get to spit on their burgers. What to do? What to do?
Mean what you say...say what you mean.
If they knew what woman wrote in her blog, she was not only raped. She was stalked too.
"supposedly sullying the otherwise good name of a checkpoint smurf.""
Really? No wonder CmdTaco left.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I don't understand this. Is there a Wikipedia article about this that i can read that has VERIFIED FACTS? This blog post seems unreliable at best.
I dunno... giving the TSA goons a name like "smurf" certainly doesn't give a hint as to their sinister side... Of course one is a little, invasive, annoyingly-voiced bastard that won't just go away, and the other is a smurf.
Perhaps we should call them "checkpoint trolls" or "checkpoint pervs"?
It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
Thedala Magee is a rapist!!!
This is bullshit.
The TSA is garbage.
Despite the Slashdot headline, from reading the article all I can tell is that nastygrams were sent by both parties and it hasn't entered the courts yet. I'd like to see a judge get involved, to be honest.
I hate to say it, but with things like this happening, the Terrorists are winning. We're now exposing our people to horrors from within our own borders. No one should have to suffer this type of invasive screening.
I'm going to be modded into hell for this, but oh well, my excellent karma can take it.
Wow, so this is it? This is the point where Slashdot isn't afraid to show its radical bias in blatant bold-faced type on the front page?
You pepper the TSA agent with derogatory remarks ("Checkpoint smurf", "Groper") based on allegations filed in a lawsuit? Do any of you ever look at a murder trial and immediately go "Oh, hey, look at that MURDERER on trial. They're on trial, so they must have killed someone." This crowd froths at the mouth when anyone in government is accused of doing something wrong, but they're the first to stand up and yell "innocent until proven guilty" when someone they can relate to is in the spotlight for something. You're all pathetic. Absolutely, 100%, without a doubt pathetic.
Now I understand why CmdrTaco left. I'd abandon my life's work, too, if this is what it turned in to.
go fuck yourselves. You invasive, dim witted slugs. Nobody but you agrees with the way you treat people. You want $500k because someone called you out for being dicks? Suck it.
How bout $500k for the woman assaulted...and every other victim that has passed through a TSA line.
So suing the TSA over this is a "non-starter" and even writing about it gets you sued by the molesting thugs... Why do the people in the USA put up with something like this? I thought you were scared witless by terrorists, not authorities, but I guess I was wrong.
"I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
I am driving to Canada and catching a flight from there. Within the country, I'm driving.
I have daughters, and I don't think I'll be able to sit by and watch while they're sexually assaulted. Daddy would be going to jail.
If an UFIA is rape, then an UFIV is rape as well. Plus, it's not like she only got UFIV'd once.
We're all in agreement that the TSA security measures are stupid, inefficient, unlikely to actually stop any actual threats, and invasive to our privacy. TSA policy resembles a large scale version of the Milgram experiments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment/
This doesn't mean that TSA employees are not people to. They have lives, they have names. They have friends and families. Sure, TSA employees are often incompetent and stupid. The TSA could try to hire retired police and retired MPs but they seem to out of their way not to. But, the low level employees are not deciding policy. They have the same rights as everyone else not be defamed and libeled if they didn't actually do something. So when one of them exercises their legal rights mocking and insulting them is uncalled for. They are just doing their jobs. In the current economy there aren't many jobs out there and the TSA employees want to get paid and not starve like everyone else. You might be smart and well-educated and have a steady job. Good for you. Now meet everyone else.
And since someone is going to probably twist "they are just doing their jobs" into some ridiculous example of Godwin's Law, let's be clear: this is not the same thing as the Nuremberg defense. "I was just doing my job and following orders" has a very different meaning when one is being told to murder people than when someone is being told to do something to someone who knew what they were getting into and elected to go flying anyways.
Instead of insulting and labeling individual TSA people, try to fix the actual issues, a general culture of fear and a succession of US Presidents who have minimal respect for the Constitution.
Of course if the TSA person did do what the blogger claimed (which wouldn't be that surprising) then the TSA person should be fired and does deserve to have their name plastered everywhere. But let's not rush to judgment ok?
I hate the TSA, and body scanners, and taking my shoes off as much as the next guy. But if the blogger was lying, then that is some pretty serious defamation of character that took place.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
http://cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article35.htm
That's what this whole TSA thing reminds me of only on a national level with invasive searches. The bonus in this article is the teacher is throwing in a bonus of legal action against the learner if they don't comply.
America is getting to be a frightening place to live these days. The sad part is it all most likely boils down to some jerk wanting to make a buck off everybody's fears.
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
While rape is probably too strong a word to use here from an objective standpoint, someone describing it that way in a blog is fully justified. This lawsuit is ridiculous, and will only accomplish a Streisand effect against Thedala Magee and the TSA as a whole.
I understand that what this woman experienced was, if described accurately, very unpleasant and physically similar to a moderately traumatic and invasive sexual assault.
Nevertheless, I wish people would stop demeaning the experiences of actual rape victims by throwing out the word for every possible unpleasant physical experience involving the groin or breasts. It only makes the kind of people who dismiss the seriousness of sexual assault in the first place that much more insulated from the gravity of real sex crimes. In my opinion rape requires an intent to invade, control, and discomfort for sexual reasons, and (also in my opinion) the fact that the crotch was involved doesn't automatically make something sexual. There's nothing inherently sexual about a security screening, no matter how roughly or ignorantly done and no matter the body parts checked, so please stop calling it rape based solely on the physical characteristics.
Is it any coincidence that the victim in this case happens to be a columnist and a blogger? I call BS on this, but she'll win no matter what because she'll get the ad revenue, book sales and speaking engagements.
We need a new level of meta responses to this sort of post. Around 2007 the last person online became a cynic and mastered sarcasm. We need a third declension of retort that is new and beautiful. I've gotten so tired of our homotextual replies.
slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
By filing suit Theldala Magee made exactly the right move, for me to poop on.
Theldala Magee meet Barbara Streisand.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
All the Slashdot complainers who want to whine about people's "rights" being violated for REFUSING a body scan in 3...2...1....
This is a serious accusation on the part of the blogger. If she's exaggerating, which sure as hell sounds to be the case, this is an up-and-down defamation case. "So-and-so raped me" when that's not the case stands a fantastically good chance of ruining that individual's reputation and causing them problems in their future prospects, particularly if it's all over Google when you type in her name.
If the alleged event actually did take place, blogs are the wrong place to rant about it, particularly publicly. If it were true, it'd be a job for the police, lawyers, and the courts. The fact that this vitriol is all over a blog suggests to me that it was a search performed "properly" that this person didn't like.
I hate the TSA. I don't like their employees, who frequently are powertripping. But there's no convincing evidence that this actually happened as described - and if the employee was doing her job the way she had to do it, why ruin her life? The problem is the policy of her employer. Complain all you want about the search if you don't like it, call the police and a lawyer if you believe it crossed the line, but don't ruin an individual's life without cause.
The barista at Starbucks fucked up my coffee by using burnt beans (what do you mean that's what Starbucks coffee tastes like?). So I went and wrote a blog entry, using her name and blaming her personally, where I likened drinking that coffee to being poisoned. That's not OK.
I didn't RTFA (this is Slashdot, after all). It could be that this did happen as described, (which is definitely not OK), the DA wasn't interested in prosecuting it, and she couldn't afford a lawyer so she's fighting back the only way she could by naming the perpetrator publicly. That's certainly possible, but the style of language doesn't convince me.
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
Haha,
This is fucking hilarious watching you rip yourselves apart. Whilst your less well educated, and therefore more patriotic, citizens still trot out the land-of-the-free bit, your actual living conditions are descending to that of the former soviet union. Not that anyone can see this stuff from the inside because that's a universal human weakness. A blindspot for what you see daily.
Keep on going. I want to see you plough yourselves into the dirt. But don't kid yourselves. The world WILL keep turning.
Coming from The Netherlands, I traveled to the US this week, and could compare both procedures. I heard a lot about the TSA, and generally think that their outer appearance appears to be not very good. But in The Netherlands I think we are even a bit further away from having good grades.
In Amsterdam I kindly requested for the pat down, as opposed to the scanner. The first reaction of the gentleman was "why do you want this?", and sent me over to the scanner : "just go through there" - apparently thinking I am naive. I waited in front of the metal detector and insisted he put me through there, which he finally did. On the other end, the security guys were still patting down someone else, when I kindly waited and announced that I opted for the pat down. The security guy that patted me down *again* began to ask "why do you want this" in a not too nice tone - added with remarks that this is much more invasive than the scanner etc etc, and I became a bit pissed and said that I did not want to have this discussion anymore. So far for the Amsterdam experience: F-.
The US experience was when leaving back for The Netherlands. At the security checkpoint a sign is posted that the scanner is optional, so I made use of this right (as many others btw). No questions asked, the TSA employee immediately opened the door and requested for a male pat down attendant. He quickly came over and introduced who he was, asked if I knew what he was about to do and whether I wanted to let him change gloves. Additionally, he asked if I had any painful areas that should be taken into consideration. The pat down took longer than in Amsterdam, and was much more thorough - but during the pat down he kept being nice and polite (as he had been from the start), and inquired a bit on what I had been doing in the States. While the pat down took twice as long as in The Netherlands, and still only is - imho - a bunch of security theater (ie. not everybody has the same treatment), I generally felt much more comfortable with this approach: B+. For me, this puts things into perspective: in The Netherlands we have a system where rights are not respected without doing some reasonably serious talking, and in the US the critical traveler changed it into quite a respectful (if superfluous at times) procedure where the individual is informed of their right to opt-out and treated like a human being. This is 1 experience, your mileage (pun intended) may vary. I guess I'll check the lame option, it's sad that some things cannot be expressed anymore.
I had no clue who Thedala (correct spelling) Magee is. Now that Amy Alkon (who I have never heard of) has been threatened with a law suit, I will read her post about the TSA.
FTA:...stuck the side of her gloved hand INTO my vagina
In the trial, will TSA smurf have to try "it" on for size like OJ?
A few observations:
The only animal life presented in the few photos returned from a Google image search for TSA employee "Theldala Magee" is captioned "Slug on Cabbage."
Is being a rapist a disability? Will the EEOC protect Ms. Magee's right to rape airline passengers as it protects the rights of alcoholic commercial truck drivers to drive trucks?
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
Traveling with family out of country I noticed 2 things.
1. families tend to be 'guided' towards the full body scanners...
2. twice going through I got 'no resolution' yelled out when I was scanned.
twice I had my balls lifted too and fro, they didn't find a bomb, in fact being modest, I doubt I could hide much down there.
even when it goes well its not pleasant, when it doesn't go well I can only imagine, without suspicion we have gone entirely too far
in the interest of 'safety' and though he is dead I can hear George Carlin laughing on this one.
Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
... but they're the first to stand up and yell "innocent until proven guilty" when someone they can relate to ...
It goes beyond the reasonable "innocent until proven guilty" comments. When a well known FOSS developer is actually charged with murder the sentiment around here seems to be "He's a well known and respected FOSS developer, I can't believe he did it".
Now consider the accusations against Assange(*). The accusers are of course CIA pawns, they couldn't possibly legitimately feel that they were abused.
(*) I wasn't there so I don't know what happened, neither do you.
TSA employee Theldala Magee has filed a lawsuit against a blogger demanding $500k in damages for alleging a particularly invasive search involving multiple incursions of a finger into the passenger's vagina.
Video (if she's hot), or it didn't happen.
The person stating they were violated is trying to sell a book, possible publicity stunt to get viewers to her blog for more revenue?
Did this place get taken over by Digg ?
That would explain why Mr Malda left....
This looks like the case might have a good chance of decent outcome. The blogger has a real law firm behind her, while the TSA rapist only has a discount lawyer whose website doubles as her Hollywood resume: http://restmycase.com/filmography.html
I understand we pair up females to search females, males to search males, to eliminate a sexual element from the search. But this is a bit offensive, completely ignoring the fact we have homosexuals in our society.
So it's possible our little smurf joined the TSA because she's lesbian and wanted to be able to legally grope women. Same would apply for a gay male TSA agent.
And is there any consideration made for the gay male who would be feel sexually assaulted if searched by a man, but not by a woman? Or vice-versa? Shouldn't we have lesbian women searching gay men? How do any gays here feel about that?
But if you allow for that, wouldn't most guys claim they're gay at security in order to get felt-up by a woman? We now need certification of sexual orientation.
... with TSA handling more packages per-day than both UPS and FedEx combined, it's no wonder SnailMail is on the ropes.
help me i've cloned myself and can't remember which one I am
her private parts without explicit consent and complete freedom to decline without repraisal is sexual assault.
And that person will be physically injured by me unless he or she is lucky enough to have the cops get there first.
It's Tasty Beef Jerky's birthday, and all you clowns can think to do is argue about some TSA thug digitally maniupulating a suspect? GET SOME PRIORITIES!!!!!!
Thugs
Sexually
Assult
Sorry, but if you do not log in, we cannot account your godwin points.
Not to defend the TSA, but the defendant of this suit seems to be a bit of a drama queen (I read some entries from her blog). I could easily see her bending a few facts to make her story sound more interesting.
If they "examine" enough travelers, they're eventually going to hit one who has a mouthpiece.
Who has kids and who doesn't. Your creative turn of phrase definitely shows.
I had no idea I could ever be this protective. Touch my girl, you die. Simple, isn't it?
I'm going to need to learn to tone it down a bit before they start dating. Other parents may not like their sons threatened with a 12-gauge when they haven't even done anything.
So if your job is, ostensibly, securing airports from travelers bringing in threats (be it knives, bombs, toxins, drinking water, or nuclear material) it's OK to repeatedly touch someone in an intimate area, much less to the point of penetration? (note, penetration is ill defined here since i did RTFA and this was *through* clothing) This exceeds what an ACTUAL cop can do when *arresting* you for a crime.
Assuming the chain of events flows as claimed, logic fails in this case. First, body scanners will NOT penetrate your body. Hiding something *inside* your vagina, anus, stomach, or any other bodily cavity you care to name will defeat the scanner. Heck, you can bring in metal which would otherwise NOT make it through a metal detector. Therefore poking around in and about her vagina is pointless unless you're going *inside* which exceeds the capability of the 'accepted' and preferred detection method.
Now, it's possible the gropee made this up or greatly exaggerated. However given the number of videos of the TSA groping children (and the recent prohibition of filming security procedures in the sake of 'security') that are out there I'm much more likely to disbelieve the groper.
I read both letters and this looks more like lawyers arguing for fame than anything else (and heck, a blogger looking for her 15 minutes? nooooo). The first letter is from a lawyer who owns the "rest my case" domain. Seriously. The second reads more like a second rate politically rally speech. It devolves from 'my client' to 'i bet you".
You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
I'll take my chances at the border.
I haven't had any problems with the TSA, including flying when my drivers license expired.
I've had more problems with the Post Office Smurfs who even say they don't care what the regs are, they're going to do what they want.
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
The same one, over and over, down the responses, nothing to differentiate the content
Sorry, but if you do not log in, we cannot account your godwin points.
You know who else counted other people's Godwin points? Mussolini!
AC for obvious reasons, duce.
Surprised that someone hasn't pointed out this simple factoid in the last 204 comments: No matter how damaging it may be to the parties involved, the truth can never be defamatory.
Be cleaning the 12-gauge when the daughter happens to bring him over to meet. Only he says he honestly did it accidentally, had just returned from shooting skeet and she didn't tell him she was bringing the boyfriend over.
Seriously though, I'll try to be nicer. And at least for my oldest rely on the fact that she herself could probably kick his ass if necessary.
But all boyfriends will know dad is lurking in the background.
This could be because the government has taken our ability to sue the TSA about groping, and the only avenue left is to bitch about it online.
If anyone else touched her in the manner described, it would be a clear case of sexual assault and filing charges would be no problem. Try doing that when TSA does it though and you'll find out why she hasn't "filed in the appropriate venue".
Then change it to your subject. If you're subject is still the same, don't change it. But you still put the subject there, not the first part of the body.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
There, happy?
At least they didn't get sand up there.
Or did they? (Based on the lawsuit.)
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Slashdot is dead: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/24/gawker-7-other-formerly-popular-sites-dead-or-dying/
Tobey is suing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole; she should, too.\
"My opinions are my own, and I've got *lots* of them!"
....and ignorant. Ever heard of Papal bulls? The Pope's letters on doctrine have the first words as the title. The use of the first few words of something as the title has, in fact, a very long history; far longer than email. You are just demonstrating your lack of education and narrow cultural prejudices
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
I have heard complaints from some TSA agents who signed up initially, before groping was standard, back when Penn was able to get the police involved when he was groped*. The generally say "I didn't sign up for this" but in this job market they can't afford to quit.
* This is all his fault. Not long afterwards, they changed the policy to allow groping.
In Bivens versus six unnamed agents (1971), the US Supreme Court said that sovereign immunity does not apply for violations of Constitutional rights; moreover, liability goes all the way to the top, to the official which sets the policy. And the 7th Circuit recently said that Donald Rumsfeld gets to enjoy that lack of immunity, for what happened at Gitmo.
"My opinions are my own, and I've got *lots* of them!"
just googling Theldala Magee there are thousands of blogs with this info and spreading like wildfire
I bet this TSA molester is wishing she never said a word at all.
There are sites linking Theldala Magee to search keywords from r@ygold to TSA rapist
http://goo.gl/QZ15r
I'm sorry, but no matter much this woman felt violated -- and surely she was bothered by the search -- I find it hard to believe in "....a particularly invasive search involving multiple incursions of a finger into the passenger's vagina." I just find that somewhat implausible unless either the woman wasn't wearing any pants or underwear or else the TSA person was a remarkably talented person with a fair degree of privacy for what I would expect in a security line.
Somewhere, maybe, there is some exaggeration going on.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
This ambulance chaser was standing in the security line when she heard the commotion and handed her business card to the TSA agent, just in case she should ever need representation.
Bark less. Wag more.
If I thought these security measures actually worked, I would be all in favor. I don't believe they do. I believe someone with a moderate level of expertise should have no problem bringing the materials through such a screening that would be sufficient to cause a fair degree of mayhem either on board a plane or even in a terminal.
Hell, if I really thought we'd be more secure, I'd walk through the damn scanner bare ass naked. I'm not exactly a body double for the statue of David, but what the hell, it is only a human body and nothing to be so ashamed about. A little less body shame and a little more violence-shame wouldn't hurt our society at all.
Since it does not really add to the security of the situation, however, I am not in favor of this kind of intrusive search strictly for the purpose of security theater. Hiring lowest dollar contractors at least possible wages to perform such an important role is itself a fool's game.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
I'm not going to get into any details, but I travel a LOT and I've seen some nasty examples of humanity waiting to go through security.
I don't know anything about what may or may not have happened here, but I've definitely seen individuals go through security a few thousand Big Macs beyond what a normal human being should eat, sporting a body structure in which you couldn't do a pat down without the horrid risk of probing beyween the labia.
Again, no idea what happened here, but I legitimately feel bad for some of the creatures the TSA agents need to occasionally deal with.
AFAIK we can't sue them, but apperently they can sue us? something doesn't seem right here.
LOL when I was in HS I went on a date with the daughter of someone who was a friend of my father's. Before we left her house he made sure to show me pictures of the elk and caribou he and his son killed with "that rifle right there" while on a hunting trip to Canada. Looking back on it I laugh now. At the time I was "ummm.... that's cool...."
... having been one myself... AAAAARARRRRGGGG. Not ready for that yet. Also don't like the idea of them ever having a TSA grope. A pat down? Well, ok. Grope?!?! no. That ain't right, ya hear? For anyone, adult, kid, male, female. How is this necessary? How has it come to this?
She turned out to be a skank btw. Only one date.
Now, I have 2 daughters of my own. They are both under 10 but the thought of them on a date.... with a teenage boy
Flappinbooger isn't my real name
"I accidentally [no verb] blah" is an internet meme dating back to 2008. See the following:
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally
http://ohinternet.com/I_accidentally
Isn't truth an absolute defense against allegations of libel/slander?
If the woman did indeed "rape" her (which I think is vaginal penetration by *anything* against someone's will, assuming they're not in prison or a similar circumstance; please correct me if I'm wrong), then these allegations against the passenger go nowhere.
The fact that the TSA employee is suing for defamation AND that neither she nor her lawyer actually stated the accusation was false is...interesting. Offense is the best defense??
With the first link, the chain is forged.
Doesn't Amy Alkon know the basics of the law? She got lucky she wasn't arrested for resisting rape.
Its a shame that we had to figure out that you started your comment in the subject, because most of us move on if your post doesn't make sense right away. The first half of the sentence in the title does just that.
If you don't like the "Re:" feel free to change the subject of your post. If you want us to care what you are saying then don't place part of the comment there.
I'm guessing your the same type of person who doesn't follow naming conventions.
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
I know of Amy Alkon as an advice columnist with an attitude, so it would not be surprising that she has an attitude elsewhere.
If the TSA agent really did do something wrong, perfect storm
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Give the TSA a break, they perform a necessary function. Sure there are bad apples, but they are there to keep you safe.
I wonder what would happen if someone combined the Milgram experiment with the Stanford Prison experiment? Any guesses?
They're called the Titty Squeezing Asshats for a reason.
Here come the idiots who misconstrue arguments, and misuse words to attempt to slam those they disagree with.
"... for REFUSING a body scan..."
SO FUCKING WHAT, asshole? We refuse, and oped out hoping for alternative screening that was not invasive like these pat downs are, and just as effective if not more so, and that, somehow, is a contradiction? LEARN WHAT A FUCKING CONTRADICTION IS THEN.
If you believe in privacy, and believe you have "nothing to hide" at the same time, you're a goddammed idiot
I mean if TSA can do it, why shouldn't everyone else?
Are they above the law?
Of course! WHAT law?
WHAT was I thinking...
How has it come to this?
That's simple. Fear overrides logic and reason, and judging by our political arena of late, we don't exactly have a whole lot of logic and reason to begin with.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
I have a feeling they don't take kindly to killing TSA agents.
Plus they've probably legally defined TSA sexual assault as not sexual assault.
Is there a picture of Theldala floating around on the Intertubes, it'id really help me to visualize the incident ... :o
Amy Alkon Advice Goddess
I really cannot understand how the USA is putting up with this rogue agency that breaks laws on radiation safety and civil liberties as part of normal operation. Recently it appears as if they are deliberately seeing how much they can get away with.
They are a massive drain on the economy without producing anything of value. Professional law enforcement in airports as used elsewhere is far cheaper and more effective as shown in places that actually do have a high risk of terrorism.
Now it's just part of a huge unaccountable welfare operation under the name of "Homeland Security".
As the economy continues to decline this drain is going to increasingly hurt the country and many of the people that could actually benefit society will have instead taken easy money to run around in circles and yell about the sky falling.
From what I can tell from reading the article, the woman must have moved her hands up and down the blogger's thighs right up into her crotch. Sounds pretty standard. She didn't finger-bang her or anything...
What if you like being molested? Isn't this the perfect way I can spend my millions so that I can have my crevaces checked by a random stranger? How else am I to be satisfied by my hard earned taxeses if I don't also get my thrill?
Twice a week. Every week.
Did I mention I refuse to go through the full-body scanners? I do NOT agree that they are safe. I always chose to opt-out.
None of my pat-downs have been that bad. But, prior to October 2010, there was a STRONG push by TSA for pat-downs - they hoped it would get people to accept the Full-Body Scanners their bosses got kickerbacks er... bought with tax payer dollars.
For the record - most TSA agents hate this as much as you do.....but they don't set policy. Most of them recognize that when I choose to opt-out of full body scan, I'm helping to keep more of them employed. :-)
Here's another one: Woman has to pay $1,122 medical bill after being forced to undergo a cavity search by police who allegedly acted "on credible information from a reliable source". Makes me wonder what's next on the agenda for the United Slaves of America...
"I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
Is it? Isn't it a state issue where it is likely to vary from California to Florida?
Also note that the poster was making an absolute statement which I suspect is not even true where the case is being considered. Any real lawyers from that area wish to chip in?
When I was a teen, the best girls for a Good Time where those with dads who showed off their weapons. If you raise a kid in fear like that, it means a hummer at least and usually full action the 1st date. If you go out with her a 2nd time, it means ass to mouth. Seriously, like 90% of the time. Thanks for keeping up the good work! And get your daughter on the pill!
...for being equipped with an internal compartment capable of carrying explosives.
Plus, what was a TSA worker doing in the kitchen anyway? Oh wait, she was female too.
I kid, I kid.
-Styopa
Visits [to the airport] always give pleasure: if not on arrival, then on the departure. -- Edouard Le Berquier, "Pensees des Autres"
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Yeah, I'm quite certain those with balls enough to post as AC on Slashdot got all sorts of action in their teens.
10 to 1 is was your ass and your mouth.
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I can't remember a state in which I lived (or foreign country for that matter) where putting any part of one's body in contact with another person's genitalia without permission wasn't sufficient for a rape charge... much LESS actual penetration...
It's really time to end this charade and issue every passenger a five inch steak knife as they board!!!
I am very familiar with the Milgram's experiment and similar experiments since, and I am well aware that there is a certain amount of "human nature" to following orders. But the fact that most people have a tendency to obey authority is NOT a valid excuse to commit atrocities. That, in fact, was precisely what the Nuremburg trials determined: that just being a sheep and following along is NOT an adequate excuse, and that the worse the crime, the less adequate it is.
All that means is that "normal society" is willing to punish individuals who exhibit a bug in human evolution (ie. high levels of conformity). I guess it seems reasonable to imbue an evolutionary selection against those who "fail" the Milgram experiment test (in whatever flavor), but that's just an example of society enforcing systematic eugenics. How much conformity is too much? How much conformity is too little, ye nerds?
I am not saying that I disagree with your conclusion, merely that it's fraught. Many of those who disagreed with "right thinking" in totalitarian regimes were liquidated on such a basis. Is that okay?
Human beings have an obligation to exercise judgment.
...and if I disagree with the particular bent of the powers that be? Am I required to conform to the majority as long as it doesn't involve crimes against humanity? What if the state's policies are merely unethical against a "few" individuals that I am required by duty to the state to force to comply/conform? Is anything short of causing their death okay, and requisite to my conformation to the majority rule? At what point do I get to disavow the entire government of my nation-state because I disagree with certain policies? When is it okay to start slitting throats to try to oppose an oppressive state?
These are hard ethical questions, and most aren't couched in simple black & white.