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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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What were they stealing...? Free feels..?
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philo
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2015 - 07:20pm PT
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THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY
Musician Morrissey files a complaint against the TSA for being totally gross
Module Voice Image BONNIE KRISTIAN, RARE CONTRIBUTOR | POSTED ON JULY 31, 2015 10:14 AM
While some politicians are eager to see the TSA’s invasive security theater expanded into all our public spaces, it’s refreshing to see some impassioned opposition to tyranny at the airport.
Unfortunately, that enthusiasm was occasioned by yet another case of TSA overreach—except this time, the agents overreached onto musician Morrissey’s pants. He took to his website to tell the tale:
At 2:30 in the afternoon I went through the usual airport security procedure including the stand-up ‘scanner’, and all was well — no bleeps and nothing unusual.
Before I could gather my belongings from the usual array of trays I was approached by an “airport security officer” who stopped me, crouched before me and groped my penis and testicles. He quickly moved away as an older “airport security officer” approached.
When Morrissey spoke to British Airways employees about the incident, they encouraged him to go back and complain. Per his account, that conversation went like this:
You have just sexually groped this man.
Officer: That’s just your opinion.
What you have done is illegal.
Officer: That’s just your opinion.
You have no right to do what you have just done.
Officer: That’s just your opinion.
But it’s Morrissey’s comment on the interaction that really nails it:
Apart from “that’s just your opinion”, he would not comment, even though, since the penis and testicles were mine and no one else’s, then my opinion must surely have some meaning. But, of course, what the airport security officer was saying was: your opinion will never count in the eyes of the law. The words “that’s just your opinion” volunteered themselves from this “officer’s” mouth before he had even heard the question. He knew he could be confronted, but he also knew that he could never be challenged…
Morrissey lodged an official sexual assault complaint but, predictably, the TSA won’t say it’s sorry. To the contrary, a TSA representative announced that “Upon review of closed circuit TV footage, TSA determined that the supervised officer followed standard operating procedures in the screening of this individual.”
And that’s what makes this whole thing so galling: this wasn’t a rogue agent. It wasn’t ignorance of procedure. It was the TSA being gross in exactly the way it wants.
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Bonnie Kristian is a columnist at Rare, a contributing writer at The Week, and a communications consultant for Young Americans for Liberty. You can find more of her work at www.bonniekristian.com or follow her on Twitter @bonniekristian
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Philo...That's called a ball cup...This happens quite often on supertopo..What's your Beef..?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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The TSA version of the Wicked Witch Of The East had fun with the wife two weeks ago at
SLC when she gleefully discovered the wife had not fully drained her Platypus bladder. The
niece and I were discretely enjoying the show from a nearby bench when suddenly the wife
points at me and appeared to say
"That's him! That's the guy that gave me this pack to carry on board!"
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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I lost a 60 dollar chunk of flour glide wax at the Detroit airport...Luckily they didn't the red klister..rj
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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I usually keep my rock shoes, harness, etc in my carry on. Never want to get to the rocks without them.
Attached to the chalk bag is a Leatherman Micra and it made it through for 8 years after 9-11.
Then one day it was a weapon, so I had to mail it to myself. After that if I had a checked bag it went there. It's kind of a pain, because I keep forgetting where it is.
When I go to Argentina I also put a Leatherman Wave in my checked bag and put the bits you can get for it in my carry on. Rental cars need work sometimes out on the pampas. USA TSA never gives me a problem with the bits. They are tools which are allowed.
On the way back last trip, Argentina TSA confiscated the bits - they said they looked like bullets on X-ray. They were too much to mail, so I left them. I then had a connection in Houston and had to go through USA TSA and customs. But when I unpacked at home, the Micra was in my computer bag I had carried on and forgotten about. Cleared both security checks again.
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Bullwinkle
Boulder climber
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Recent T.S.A. Tests showed that out of 70 tries 67 weapons were carried thru T.S.A. security. . .They exist to instill fear, fear of them doing such an incredibly incompendent Job, I guess losers need work too. . .
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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The loser politicians demand such services to pretend they are saving Amerika...
... let's endorse a grope a Congress member day where they get a dose of their efforts!
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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The TSA was even going to allow small pen knives again. They even had published the guidelines.
Then some congressman raised a stink. So the TSA backed off and kept them on the banned list. That was around when my Micra got nabbed.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Like all large governmental (and private) agencies the TSA has flaws aplenty but we are better off with them without them. They may have not apprehended any terrorists but we will never know how many they have thwarted.
It's easy to criticize but it is very difficult to offer up vIable solutions to that which we are critical of.
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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it was the flight attendant's association ( seriously)
...and congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee from Texas, and Congressman Eric Swalwell from California.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/14/travel/tsa-knives-congress/
I thought Texans wanted everybody to carry a piece.
The thing is, the TSA allows tools under 7" in length, including screwdrivers, which the Dallas police will tell you is a deadly weapon. They shot a mentally ill man to death because he wouldn't put one down.
Then they insert verbiage that they can arbitrarily deny your ability to carry them if they want, which makes it is all just a crap shoot. If you work for a living, you have to choose whether check your tools and risk having them ripped off or not check them and risk having them confiscated.
There should be a receipt and claims system when others take your stuff.
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philo
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2015 - 08:03am PT
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I think that the TSA has been an abject failure. Test after test done by federal agencies have proven the ineffectiveness of the system in the U.S. I for one would prefer they used trained detection dogs. They are vastly superior at the job and at a fraction of the cost. I for one would rather have a dog sniff my junk than a humorless goon groping my goods. Dogs don't steal and they like ear scritches and belly rubs. Last time I tried to belly rub a TSA agent it didn't go so well.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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The fact that Mr Milktoast and Philo ever get shaken down at the airport tells you TSA is an institution run and staffed by complete idiots.
If the time the TSA wasted searching those two had instead been spent doing their homework, Philo and Milktoast would just walk right onto the plane unmolested.
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philo
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2015 - 08:28am PT
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Carrying a few pounds of surgical metal in my body gets me singled out for extra attention every time.
This is a hilarious video by Key and Peele on the Diabolical TSA.
http://youtu.be/IHfiMoJUDVQ
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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The TSA was even going to allow small pen knives again.
It'd be pretty easy to hide a carbon-fiber knife. The TSA is a means of keeping the fear in the populace.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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I'll take the TSA AND dogs.
One 9/11 was enough.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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I'd feel better if they could breed some of the dogs' intelligence into
the TSA people.
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