Backscatter

[Queerasfck]

It's already been done.

[Rockinonahigh]

Grrrrr..I dont like flying anyway and for anyone to require me to stand and be scaned for inspection like a side of beef is invasive as all hell,if I wanted them to see my naked body I would be streaking in the airport.I mean after all befor long we may well be serched even worse than now.The last time I flew I walked thrue a metal detector,had a wand passed over me then ask ..or told should I say..that I would heave to be checked by a female guard cause my drivers licence and my apperence didnt match as much as it should..Yeah I was soft packin and shure didnt look as much like me as my dl says I should..but there was no doubt it was the same preson as on my Id.They confiscated my gear, and all things that may have anything to do with it.Thank goodness that one thing was all I had with me,everything else was at home.They also took my cane at the gate ( my knee was messed up at the time) but gave it back when I departed the plane at destanation.Had to get help if I had to go to the bathroom or use the seats for support walking.I know we need to be safe from terroist but they r going to far.

[Kobi]

I'm thinking it would just be easier have all luggage shipped UPS - and cheaper too, and once everyone is on the plane......just pipe in some nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and fly the friendly skies!

On a positive note....an airport cavity search is cheaper than a dentist.

[Unndunn]

just to clarify for research purposes, I checked the wrong answer. I meant to check the third option (a necessary evil) but instead checked the first one. Phew, I feel better having cleared that up. I don't want to mess up any polls.

[tuffboi29]

I've got one word for this all.....AMTRAK.....wait..no...two words....BOAT...
Never will I fly let alone be subjected to this horrible abuse of 'athority'.

[Rockinonahigh]

Dean Thoreau..U r right bout the humor,after I read you post I laughd a bit and thought why the hell not.

[Dean Thoreau]

The Airport Solution

Here's a solution to all the controversy over full-body scanners at the
airports.

Have a booth that you can step into that will not X-ray you, but will
detonate any explosive device you may have on you.

It would be a win-win for everyone, and there would be none of this crap
about racial profiling and this method would eliminate a long and expensive
trial. Justice would be swift and efficient. Case closed!

This is so simple that it's brilliant. I can see it now: you're in the
airport terminal and you hear a muffled explosion.
Shortly thereafter an announcement comes over the PA system, "Attention
standby passengers we now have a seat available on flight number..."

[Nat]

John T: I don't understand how a sexual assault could be made a condition of my flying.
TSA Lady: This is not considered a sexual assault.
John T: It would be if you weren't the government.

[RockOn]

The prices we pay in this world in which we live.

When I fly, I follow the rules. No way around it. Follow rules or stay on the ground.

Someone mentioned it is optional. I say needs to be mandatory that everyone must have the scan or no one gets scanned.

Perhaps I am missing something here but what purpose does "optional" serve?

[DomnNC]

I too get the lil visit to the glass room and the pat downs because I set the scanners off everytime I go thru. It matters not that you carry a card from your surgeon stating you are a medical implant patient, lol. However, I'm all for anything that will guarantee the safety of the passengers aboard a plane to make sure there are safe arrivals and departures. Like someone said, it's a privlige to fly and there's always going to be some necessary evil to go along with privilige. I also found out during said scan that the foil inside a cigarette pack will set the damn thing off, sensitive persnickery lil machines they are.

[Kobi]

What I heard was a choice between an invasive xray or a patdown including between thighs and between buttocks.

If someone, someday, is found smuggling some potential device stuck up their behind, are we all supposed to bend over and take one for the country?

We have become slaves to terrorism. We are allowing terrorists to rule our lives. We are allowing the threats of terrorist to strip us of our rights and freedoms.

When is enough, enough?

[justkim]

I am not so sure if it is a privilege to fly... If I was going to pay that much to reach a destination of my choice and now you want to search me... In the process would you mind pulling my hair and smacking my ass? I have been stopped and frisked... The culprit... my ummm... nipple rings... serious? Dean, I love the idea of EVERYONE stepping into a little box... Win Win situation all the way around... Check this site out below... I know this isn't a laughing matter for many but sometimes humor is the only way to approach things...

http://wewontfly.com

[Linus]

It is not a privilege to fly but it is a right to ensure privacy of one's self. It's interesting to see where the outcry is coming from this. The trans community has been speaking out against the back scatter scanners for a while since it violates our right to privacy (regardless of what is said as to how the info isn't kept, it has been proven otherwise) as well they have received sensitivity training in regards to trans individuals (so far, I've never been challenged).

I try to avoid the back scatter simply because of the amount of travel I do. There are airports/transportation systems elsewhere in the world (Israel, I believe) who have far more stringent rules. I just wish TSA had a "business" travelers line so I'm behind people who know the rules, get through and go on.

[Corkey]

I have to bypass all magnetic machines as I have a neuro implant. The times after 911 I did fly were frisky moments. Now I refuse to fly, if we cant drive there forget it, we don't really need to be there. I have and continue to receive x-rays, CT scans beyond "normal" levels because of my conditions, I sure as hell don't need TSA adding to my chances of getting that one dose that puts me over my bodies limit to withstand radiation.

[weatherboi]

the frustrating thing about all of this xray machine stuff is it is not necessary.
they have dogs to do the sniffing so i dont understand why they deem this a necessary avenue. it is a ridiculous solution and to boot they want to be able to also pat our bodies down in ways that make me cringe!!!

Originally Posted by Corkey

I have to bypass all magnetic machines as I have a neuro implant. The times after 911 I did fly were frisky moments. Now I refuse to fly, if we cant drive there forget it, we don't really need to be there. I have and continue to receive x-rays, CT scans beyond "normal" levels because of my conditions, I sure as hell don't need TSA adding to my chances of getting that one dose that puts me over my bodies limit to withstand radiation.

[Nat]

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Nat

This is insane.

[Nat]

TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urine
'I was absolutely humiliated,' said bladder cancer survivor

A retired special education teacher on his way to a wedding in Orlando, Fla., said he was left humiliated, crying and covered with his own urine after an enhanced pat-down by TSA officers recently at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

“I was absolutely humiliated, I couldn’t even speak,” said Thomas D. “Tom” Sawyer, 61, of Lansing, Mich.

Sawyer is a bladder cancer survivor who now wears a urostomy bag, which collects his urine from a stoma, or opening in his stomach. “I have to wear special clothes and in order to mount the bag I have to seal a wafer to my stomach and then attach the bag. If the seal is broken, urine can leak all over my body and clothes.”

On Nov. 7, Sawyer said he went through the security scanner at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. “Evidently the scanner picked up on my urostomy bag, because I was chosen for a pat-down procedure.”

Due to his medical condition, Sawyer asked to be screened in private. “One officer looked at another, rolled his eyes and said that they really didn’t have any place to take me,” said Sawyer. “After I said again that I’d like privacy, they took me to an office.”

Sawyer wears pants two sizes too large in order to accommodate the medical equipment he wears. He’d taken off his belt to go through the scanner and once in the office with security personnel, his pants fell down around his ankles. “I had to ask twice if it was OK to pull up my shorts,” said Sawyer, “And every time I tried to tell them about my medical condition, they said they didn’t need to know about that.”

Before starting the enhanced pat-down procedure, a security officer did tell him what they were going to do and how they were going to it, but Sawyer said it wasn’t until they asked him to remove his sweatshirt and saw his urostomy bag that they asked any questions about his medical condition.

“One agent watched as the other used his flat hand to go slowly down my chest. I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants.”

The security officer finished the pat-down, tested the gloves for any trace of explosives and then, Sawyer said, “He told me I could go. They never apologized. They never offered to help. They acted like they hadn’t seen what happened. But I know they saw it because I had a wet mark.”

Humiliated, upset and wet, Sawyer said he had to walk through the airport soaked in urine, board his plane and wait until after takeoff before he could clean up.

“I am totally appalled by the fact that agents that are performing these pat-downs have so little concern for people with medical conditions,” said Sawyer.

Sawyer completed his trip and had no problems with the security procedures at the Orlando International Airport on his journey back home. He said he plans to file a formal complaint with the TSA.

When he does, said TSA spokesperson Dwayne Baird, “We will review the matter and take appropriate action if necessary.” In the meantime, Baird encourages anyone with a medical condition to read the TSA’s website section on assistive devices and mobility aids.

The website says that travelers with disabilities and medical conditions have “the option of requesting a private screening” and that security officers “will not ask nor require you to remove your prosthetic device, cast, or support brace.”

Sawyer said he's written to his senators, state representatives and the president of the United States. He’s also shared details of the incident online with members of the nonprofit Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, many of whom have offered support and shared their travel experiences.

“I am a good American and I want safety for all passengers as much as the next person," Sawyer said. "But if this country is going to sacrifice treating people like human beings in the name of safety, then we have already lost the war.”

Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network executive director Claire Saxton said that there are hundreds of thousands of people living with ostomies in the United States. “TSA agents need to be trained to listen when someone tells them have a health issue and trained in knowing what an ostomy is. No one living with an ostomy should be afraid of flying because they’re afraid of being humiliated at the checkpoint.”

Eric Lipp, executive director of Open Doors Association, which works with businesses and the disability community, called what happened to Sawyer “unfortunate.”

“But enhanced pat-downs are not a new issue for people with disabilities who travel," Lipp said. "They've always had trouble getting through the security checkpoint."

Still, Lipp said the TSA knows there’s a problem. “This came up during a recent meeting of the agency’s disability advisory board and I expect to see a procedure coming in place shortly that will directly address the pat-down procedures for people with disabilities.”

[betenoire]

Ugh, that makes me so angry Nat. They totally robbed this man of his dignity.

[Nat]

one blogger's experience:

She scanned the formula, then turned to me and said, “Remove your shoes and stand on that black mat for a patdown.”

I said, “OK, what do I do with the baby?”

“You cannot be holding him.” (I am traveling alone.)

So I placed him into his stroller. She instructed me, “Spread your feet apart and hold your arms out to the side.” I obliged.

She patted my left arm, my right arm, my upper back and my lower back. She then said, “I need to reach in and feel along the inside of your waistband.”

She felt along my waistline, moved behind me, then proceeded to feel both of my buttocks. She reached from behind in the middle of my buttocks towards my vagina area.

She did not tell me that she was going to touch my buttocks, or reach forward to my vagina area.

She then moved in front of my and touched the top and underneath portions of both of my breasts.

She did not tell me that she was going to touch my breasts.

She then felt around my waist. She then moved to the bottoms of my legs.

She then felt my inner thighs and my vagina area, touching both of my labia.

She did not tell me that she was going to touch my vagina area or my labia.

She then told me that I could put my shoes on and I asked if I could pick up the baby, she replied Yes.

She then moved back to my belongings to finish scanning them with the paper discs for explosives. When she finished she said I was free to go.

I stood there holding my baby in shock. I did not move for almost a minute.

I stood there, an American citizen, a mom traveling with a baby with special needs formula, sexually assaulted by a government official. I began shaking and felt completely violated, abused and assaulted by the TSA agent. I shook for several hours, and woke up the next day shaking.