passengers must provide gender...

[Wendae]

I often laugh when I see the box marked "SEX" as I am very tempted to just print "YES"

I believe that was Groucho Marx's line.

[Bernice]

There is no reason to be insulting the folks who work for TSA. Bernice why don't you get a job where you deal with annoyed irritated people all day for low pay and then see how pleasant you are after a year or two. Especially when you have a boss whose idea of CYA is for them to make your job unpleasant.

Was I insulting? Perhaps. What is the average IQ of TSA employees? I guess I should have had a source for that, rather than basing my guess on observations of TSA spokespersons. Shame on me.

I agree, there's no amount of money for which I would do what TSA people do. I find what they do to be every bit as immoral as prostitution and mercenary work. IMHO, the US would be a better place if they all quit, but I also know that for many, this is perhaps the only job they could hold, especially in this economy.

Hugs,

Bernice

[Bernice]

Nonsense. I've travelled en femme with male ID numerous times and have never had any problems. It's a common enough situation I suspect TSA agents have specific training because they've generally been quite courteous. In fact I had far more problems when presenting male. Now it seems I don't fit any kind of threat profile.

I have no doubt you are correct about this. But these new procedures (only in the last several days) have me worried I might still be right. Do keep us posted.

The effective way to fight something like this isn't to make the lives of the screeners difficult – they're simply doing their job. The challenge has to be taken to the people in charge through political channels, or through the courts. Arguing with an authority figure isn't a helpful move. They're trained not to put up with it because it undermines their authority in everyone else's eyes and the whole point of putting them in a position of authority is to ensure that the policy is followed.

Again, I agree fully. You don't see me arguing with TSA screeners, do you? I've avoided them altogether since November 2005. On the contrary, I've brought the issue to light in a community in whom I trust and believe. I hoped that transgendered people would see the danger, and pursue political remedies. Unfortunately, my presentation lacks credibility, and I'm taking quite a thrashing.

Forget everything I've said so far, and just watch this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXDLQPfq ... ture=share

I know, you'll object, because the characters are cartoon characters, so it is obviously fiction. However, the script sure sounds 100% plausible to me, based on what I've been reading recently. Then tell me (again) that I've got it all wrong.

Hugs,

Bernice

[Bernice]

We have a number of men and women fighting to preserve our freedoms.

I think the public can do their part as well to preserve our freedoms by accepting this type of scrutiny is necessary these days.

Et tu, Brute?

Hugs,

Bernice

[SilverLady(SO)]

^ I mostly agree with you, Bernice.



The donkey shoots off its mouth like a braying jackass . . . but the elephant never forgets.


- SL

[DonnaT]

I reckon, Bernice

There are a number of rules/laws which infringe our freedoms based on the need for public safety.

Such as, speed limit laws.

[Michelle Miller]

There are a number of rules/laws which infringe our freedoms based on the need for public safety.

The problem is, who will eventually draw the line, at where to stop with 'for the good of the people' vs. 'is this really the 'land of the free'?

One of the best articles I've read on the 'war on terror' was written earlier this year by Jeremy Clarkson, for Top Gear magazine.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/jeremy-clarks ... or-2010-04

I hate airports.

I wish someone would start an airline called "I'll Take My Chances Air" . It would work on this principle: you drive up to the door of the plane, you get on immediately with no checks whatsoever, and then it takes off. If it blows up, it blows up and it will have been a small price to pay.

Sadly, however, no one has started such a business which means we are forced to endure stupid - and pointless - searches before we may board. And don't argue. They are pointless.

In the olden days, you were scanned to make sure you didn't have a gun or a sword with which you might hijack the plane, but those measures did nothing to stop those who think that by committing suicide, they're in for a life of milk and honey and a million vestal virgins. In other words, a metal detector does nothing to stop Johnny Suicide Bomber.

[Absaroka]

I used to work with the retarded, and whoever said screeners have an average IQ of 60 has absolutely no idea what they are talking about. I assumed it was just a random insult.

The idea that we could all just get on a plane armed and thus shoot the (probably better armed and definietly better rehearsed) hijackers is appealing, but it ignores reality. The passengers on flight 93 were able to prevent the hijackers from using the plane as a missile, they might not have succeeded if the hijackers had carried automatic weapons, unless the gunfire blew enough holes in the plane to kill everyone.

Personally I really don't care if they give me a body scan. I run around half naked all summer anyway....

[Paula G]

Many years ago, in fact 18, I had been working as a musician in the Beer Hall at the Expo '92 in Seville. I had a lift down to Seville with the drummer in the Band, but he decided to stay on when the job finnished, so I flew back to London. Three seats were duly booked by our Canadian employers, even though they managed to send us to the wrong London airport. Three seats, one for the Accordian player, one for me and one for my Tuba.

The point is, because the tuba had a seat, it had to have a boarding card, to complete the boarding card it had to have a name so "Tuba" then a Title, I didn't think I would get away with Reverent, or maybe Lady, so opted for Mrs, hence Mrs Tuba, now known as Mrs T. Ubtill then I hadn't realised tubas had gender, but apparently they it if they fly!

This episode has also given my blog a name, in this case it is the Tuba that's Mrs T.

[Absaroka]

That's pretty funny Paula. I know the same is true for instruments like the bass, cello and other instruments too fragile and expensive for the cargo bay. I assume the bass is usually mister.......... THey really ought to have a box marked other or not applicable

[DonnaT]

A TSA representative said although agents are allowed to ask to see and touch any passengers' prosthetic, they are not supposed to be removed and will investigate this matter.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z15lGFTwZG

[Bernice]

I reckon, Bernice

There are a number of rules/laws which infringe our freedoms based on the need for public safety.

Such as, speed limit laws.

A very ironic choice to justify your apparent unquestioning support for a totally authoritarian government, given that www.motorists.org have substantially proven that speed limits do not make us safe, and that most are not set according to any sound engineering practice, but rather according to each jurisdiction's appetite for revenue.

“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin

I think this whole thread has become too political, and should perhaps be moved to hot topics. My original intent was to warn ladies (and I use "ladies" with it's very specific narrow connotation) not to fly on commercial airlines. But now, I must concede that 80 percent of the population (according to a CBS news poll) likes the idea of government fondling under threat of civil lawsuit. Go figure.

It's all sour grapes for me anyway since I wouldn't fly commercial even before this latest round. Why should I care about your rights if you don't?

Hugs,

Bernice

[Bernice]

The problem is, who will eventually draw the line, at where to stop with 'for the good of the people' vs. 'is this really the 'land of the free'?

Amen and thank you!

As Jeremy Carlson wrote: "The only way you can defeat terrorism, ultimately, is by ignoring it. If you react to every tiny thing by running around, waving your arms in the air and screaming, the idiots will know they're getting to you. And if you paralyse(SIC) the world's airports, then they know they're not just getting to you; they're winning."

If this thread made just one thinking person think, then it was worth the thrashing I've been taking.

Hugs,

Bernice

[Lydia]

Recently we returned home from Israel and were boarding a flight from Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. My SO was subjected to a search. This is routine for her since she has a metal knee, a metal hip and titanium rods in her back. She was "wanded" efficiently and quickly, and not patted down. By the way, we were not asked to take our shoes off.
If any place in the world has to be careful about security, it would be Israel.

Back home as soon as we got off the plane to change in Atlanta, we were subjected to body scanners, pat-downs, and shoe examinations by surly TSAers. Why are we so paranoid?

Hugs,

Lydia

[Absaroka]

I do think that the American government, not just the TSA, is sometimes more about looking like they are doing something than actually doing something.

As for ignoring terrorists, that has the same problem that the whole behaviorist approach to troubled children has. It's only a matter of time till they do something you can't ignore.

The concern is not that hijackers will again crash planes into buildings. That only works once, next time the passengers will likely frustrate their efforts although it's quite likely the plane will crash. And it would be easier to do that with a bomb in the luggage compartment than a terrorist.

Back in the day folks used to hijack planes to Cuba. That stopped for 2 reasons. One is heightened security. The other was Castro's policy of handing out 20 year jail sentences in a Cuban jail to the hijackers. Terrorism will end when support for terrorism ends, but that is a very complicated international problem, given the idea that war and terrorism are considered extensions of politics by extraordinary means.

But hey, if the government was serious we'd be really waging asymetical warfare by having found an alternative to oil, and legalizing heroin while growing our own poppies, both of which are probably equally unlikely.