“Appearing to do something” has long been a political favorite. In many ways, politicians prefer it over “Actually doing something.”

It’s also a perfect example of why the stimulus funds should have had a few fucking strings attached. One job? I’m sure that was helpful to the one person employed. No doubt a relative of Pistol or Skeletor.

The Israelis don’t use these machines:

A leading Israeli airport security expert says the Canadian government has wasted millions of dollars to install “useless” imaging machines at airports across the country.

“That’s why we haven’t put them in our airport,” Sela said, referring to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, which has some of the toughest security in the world.

Ron Paul giving the BEST speech so far. Where are the Democrats on this? Where is Obama on this?

I have a feeling that in the near future we will be seeing previews in movie theaters like this “Coming soon at the nearest Airport, cavity checks or free instant Colonoscopy, satisfaction guaranteed ”.

porno-screeners!

Olbermann actually had an El Al representative on TV last night to talk about how useless these machines are when it comes to security.

Well, this settles it, I’m never flying again. Be irradiated or groped? No thank you.

Looks like Morning Joe will now be calling ‘em “Porno-Scanners”

Go, Jane!

TSA: We must grope and assault people in order to protect their rights and freedoms

And of course the TSA contracts it what looks like the lion’s share to Covenant Security.

If our spineless idiot President had a clue, he would pull these machines today. It would probably get him 10 points in the polls.

Has any Republican or a Democrat asked this guy, John Pistole, ? why so much obsession with air planes security ?. What about trains, buses, sports stadiums, or casinos to name a few ?.

Thanks for the heads up. I don’t watch TV anymore. Stomach can’t take it.

“If you don’t let us feel you up, the terrorists win. Why do you hate freedom?”

My wife has to travel next month. I suggested for health reasons that she should choose the groping and, when the woman paid by the govt to grope her asks if she’d like to have it done somewhere private, to say, “I’m fine either way, but I’ll understand if going somewhere more private would make you feel more comfortable.”

Oh, if they get their way, they’ll do that. I’m they have a plan to put them in those places. That’s why they don’t want to back down. Because this is an early step in the complete subjugation of the American people.

Trailers of colonoscopy checks. Might need it;s own Oscar category.

I can’t help but notice that all of this current cycle of hysteria seems to have been triggered by the euphemistically titled “Times Square Bomber”. This, despite the fact that his “bomb” had zero chance of actually detonating in the universe that I occupy.

Haha, shame them into getting rid of this stupid policy. I like it.

The device is useless pregnant women don’t want radiation and have every reason to not want anyone touching them when they are feeling fat and well hormone moody.
If terrorists needs to sneak something on a plane they will send pregnant women or guys dressed as girls with those movie pregnant belly shirts.
A false id saying your a woman is easy to fake and who or how are airport security going verify a woman is pregnant without pornoscreeners molesting them won’t fly plus the terrorists could recruit pregnant women suicide bombers..

Yeah, we don’t even need a successful terrorist attack anymore to lose more of our freedom.

Orlando airport says enough is enough!

While officials said AITs performed as well as physical pat downs in operational tests, it remains unclear whether the AIT would have detected the weapon used in the December 2009 [Abdulmutallab] incident based on the preliminary information GAO has received.

Why buy tech that can’t detect the weapons terrorist are already using the GAO is not sure this tech can work to detect stuff then WHY BUY what you don’t know can get the job done?

On tv, someone mentioned the Xmas bomber.
What’s in your wallet pants?

Because Michael Chertoff wouldn’t get $$$?

Thanksgiving flying season is coming how many delays can the airports expect with the new grouping policy?
How many people with cancer or who have had cancer before will refuse radiation pornoscanners?

Yet another unsuccessful attempt at lighting a bomb that wasn’t going to go off under current rules of physics. Yet the TSA has managed to parlay these weak, lame, ultimately stupid attempts into panic, (and more importantly, profit) inducing events.

Good Answer I expect him to get his cash and run now that the heat is on after Thanksgiving flights get delayed the broke airline industry is sure to use their lobbyists to make sure Christmas does not get delayed time is money in the airline business.
Plus I assume it takes extra long to search fat people and America has an obesity problem.

I’d bet that the only way these scanners get canned is if it becomes clear that it’s affecting the airline industry’s bottom line.

So, I suggest an FDL petition called “No-Fly Zone USA: Pledge Not to Fly the US Skies.” The Pledge could cover one month, maybe Jan 2011.

I bet FDL would get hundreds of thousands of signatures or more AND that some big-name people would sign it, too.

That combination would get noticed in the board rooms.

We are living in the age of Panic and Profit. Someone should write a book with that title. I’m kidding, of course.

Haha. Let me know if you want to wager. I’ll bet you that he’ll be around milking the terror/security freight train for a long long long time. There will a next generation machine and another and another.

Sen Joe Lieberman pushed these through I wonder if he gets a direct cut of the action or if he does a favor on this and someone who gets a direct cut of the action does him a favor through an unrelated company paying him in some fashion?
We really need to update conflict of interest laws.

Somebody should ask Holy Joe why he isn’t concerned about security in Israel since they don’t use the machines.

Sigh I am being hopeful again aren’t I? I was hoping for a quick one time scam but if Obama’s Justice Dept keeps doing nothing to investigate anything about the wars, Homeland security etc then yes this scam can go on forever.
The airports and passengers complaining during the holiday season are the only hope we have of ending this scam.

I’d like to see McCaskill and every other Senator that thinks they are “love pats” to submit to a through physical pat down publicly and then have their body scans released to the public for scrutiny.

Twice with the good questions. Next ask Joe why Israel has National Healthcare and gets American aid and Americans don’t get healthcare.
AZ is cutting medicare for people who need transplants now.

OT: Rick Perry on MSNBC saying that thousands of Americans should lose their jobs if their companies’ executives are irresponsible jackasses and/or criminals. “That’s the way America works,” he said.

Rick Perry is a certifiable moron.

Oh yeah. This is a critical moment for progressives and libertarians to put their differences aside and get the American people to stand up and say enough is enough. I don’t want to overstate it, but it is time to get people to wake up. I’ve been blasting my friends and writing letters.

Print this letter as ammunition to opt out of the scanner. Carry it with you. Distribute copies in the security line. I’m involved with radiation physics, can’t have any more skin dose, and I’ll endure the grope if I have to.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3685/cancer-ray-opt-out.pdf

I’d like to see the actual official TSA pat-down procedure and carry that as well, so I can complain if necessary. Anybody have it?

I suppose you can’t politely advise the TSA person, ‘you grab my balls and I’m calling the cops’. That would be harrassment. ‘Am I sore anywhere? Why yes, in my groin. I’d put on a second pair of gloves if I were you.’ That is being helpful, and should be allowed if you can say it with a straight face.

I bet if we added these procedures to private aviation it would go away quickly.

I have informed Delta that I will be using surface transportation until this goes away and I am a Million Miler

Rick Perry on MSNBC saying that thousands of Americans should lose their jobs if their companies’ executives are irresponsible jackasses and/or criminals

Sooooo, everybody who works for the state of Texas should lose their jobs?

For some Arizona residents, the massive fiscal crisis gripping their state and others has put their lives at risk, NPR reports.

Thanks to a $1.5-billion budget deficit, Arizona has had to make some tough choices, including cuts to certain liver and heart transplants paid for by the state, according to NPR. Last spring, Arizona’s GOP-led legislature instituted the cuts to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s version of Medicaid. Sacrificing the life-saving procedures saves the state an estimated $4.5 million annually, or 0.3 percent of its present deficit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/17/arizona-budget-cuts-organ-transplants_n_785107.html

Don’t worry I’m sure private insurance will step up as government steps out./s

CLARIFICATION TO OT: Rick Perry on MSNBC saying that thousands of Americans should lose their jobs if the irresponsibility and/or criminal activities of their company’s executives cause the company to go bankrupt. “That’s the way America works,” he said. Moron.

Two days after “intelligence officials” put Undie on board Flight 253, Skeletor was pimping for his cancer causing machines and lying about their effectiveness.

Was Undie searched? It is still secret.

“This plot is an example of something we’ve known could exist in theory, and in order to be able to detect it, you’ve got to find some way of detecting things in parts of the body that aren’t easy to get at,” Chertoff said. “It’s either pat-downs or imaging, or otherwise hoping that bad guys haven’t figured it out, and I guess bad guys have figured it out.”

Snort.
And, may I point out that everytime I refresh and reread Jane’s title, I want to run out and get a hamburger. Burger King should make a large donation to FDL today.

Or avoid these airports. And make sure to tell airports you avoid why you are doing so.

Ha ha! I paraphrased what he said more clearly in comment @ 43.

He was asked if he was ok with GM workers losing their jobs, which would have happened had the govt not done something. He answered that the govt should have let GM go down because people should lose their jobs if what they do causes the company to fold (btw, I agree: bank executives should lose their jobs). Without realizing it, he lumped together millions of hard-working Americans with the loser executives and said that the former should pay for the latter’s mistakes. Moron.

the problem will be the return flight

Hey, I’m sure all of those true-red patriots in Arizona who are in poor health will be more than happy to die to say the state some $$$$$. I mean, if you aren’t healthy, then you’re obviously not meant to be alive, right?

Would it not be better if the executives who run their company into the ground lose their jobs and not get golden parachutes just to go away?
Executives may hate Unions but they have benefits Unions only dream of why should failure be rewarded with anything but an unemployment check?
We need to attract and keep top talent the GOPers say?
Well would not top talent not run their companies into the ground?
CEO’s can’t control everything sometimes they are not at fault!
Well neither are workers CEO’s can save part of their paycheck just incase the market goes own like everyone else.
But we will lose talent to foreign countries!
Really did Toyota, Germany, or even South Korea ever try and steal GM CEO’s?
I bet American bank CEO’s who lead us into the banking crisis get paid more than foreign bank CEOs.

Well, you would have to avoid scanner airports at both ends.

Check out Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine”, if you haven’t already.

Ask Gov Perry just where Texas would be if GM and Chrysler went under and fuel saving foreign cars were besides Ford the only cars sold for the last to years.
Perry imagine just how big the cut in American demand for oil would be?
Imagine how broke Texas would be? Imagine all those trained auto workers in the Blue States working for Toyota just to meet the demand for cars hole left by GM.

That’s why I said I was kidding. There have been several books already written, including Klein’s.

How many reporters fly everywhere for stories? I don’t think the MSM will not cover this story it touches them directly.
How many female anchors putting off child birth want to risk extra radiation making them sterile 1 or 2 X Rays a year probably no worries but for reporters who fly to be on location at every big story maybe 50 porno screenings radiation exposures that would make even pro nuke reporters worried.

Would it not be better if the executives who run their company into the ground lose their jobs and not get golden parachutes just to go away?

Of course! You’re preaching to the choir but I suspect you knew that. :)

Ah yes, we can hope that eventually the abuses get so bad that even the minions of the elite who have otherwise devoted their lives to ass licking will eventually take offense.

Yeah, whenever somebody grabs my privates I always think it’s because they “love me”…and I return the favor by kicking them in the dangly parts.
I can’t believe McCaskill said that. What a world, what world.

The song sounds sweet even if its only to the choir besides there are the GOP trolls, the Rahm trolls, Tea bagger trolls, Rand Paul trolls and probably the FBI since they are not busy looking at Glen Becks followers.
All them trolls pop out here when we say something that offends them.
Just say Al Gore is getting another award and they all pop out very quick.
Since we are being monitored I wonder if we can convert them.

I wonder if private plane fliers are screened? Lots of rich terrorist fly private planes I bet but do they get screened like the rest of us?
Are private airports doing screenings? How many Arab oil types fly private planes and also give cash to Ossama?

Imagine a small private corporate jet lands in a crop duster field in Texas picks up some top of the line explosives from the back room of some gunshow militia nut a paid white male is used as a go between of course.
The top of the line explosives are smuggled off an army base by troops who picked up heroin habits in Afghanistan, Speed habits flying planes, or pain pill habits for injuries or maybe they just liked to party.
Who cares there are troops with monkeys to feed and explosives pay well safe crackers need them.
The plane full of explosives is piloted by a terrorist who then flies into a building.

Come on. I’m surprised you even ask the question! There are many many small airports that cater to the rich and they don’t have to go through these machines. The rich don’t fly to JFK and, if they do, I’m pretty sure that their private jets are served by a terminal without scanner machines/pat downs. The double standard in America is almost total.

If all planes are not checked well the terrorists will only go on planes that are not checked.

Then Porno scanners are even more useless than I thought.:)

I know. they’re just now discovering CARGO HOLDS fercryinoutloud!

Someone’s jumping around singing “we’re in the money.” (which is great because I hear that now one in seven Americans face hunger. No exchange of guns for butter to see here /s). I believe this comes from Obama plus some, but if ever we needed more reasons to scrap the Dept of Heimt Security aside from all the other corruption, it would be: Lieberman, no bid contracts, and Chertoff.

One in eight, last yr according to this heavily rotated commercial featuring the President: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98spM-aw_bI&feature=player_embedded

Well, everyone knows the rich are fine, upstanding pillars of the community! Esp white men

“One of the things most people don’t realize is that those boarding private jets at Boeing Field or Paine Field (or anywhere else in the country) aren’t subject to the same security proceedures as the rest of us.

Sure, they are officially subject to TSA screening regulations, assuming that their plane is of sufficient size. But they leave it to the flight operators to conduct their own screening. I don’t fly private jets, but I’ve been observed flight operations for private jets at Boeing Field on a few occassions, and I’ve never seen the passengers subjected to anything more than an ID check.”

You will eat shit and like it slave.

Oh well, that’s OK then

No it has risen to one in seven this year. USDA statistics. Commercial is outdated. : ((
No butter, but we got guns!!! Rah Rah!

Ron Paul giving the BEST speech so far. Where are the Democrats on this? Where is Obama on this?

Oh, but Ron Paul is the crazy one, according to the diehard Democrats. I hope Paul runs in 2012. If it’s Paul versus Obama in the general (can you imagine the debates?), Paul would win in a New York minute. Sure, I don’t like all of his ideas concerning the economy, but Obama’s entire ideology is becoming more and more frightening every day.

Good one.

Rick Perry: small-minded + narrow-minded. In fairness to him, I think he sincerely doesn’t understand any of the implications of what he’s saying. Most Democratic and Republican leaders are smart enough to know that they’re spinning the facts and lying to the American people. Perry, not so much.

Rand Paul is equally frightening.

Oops sorry misread.

And Claire McCaskill. When did she start to sound like a sycophant at some corporate meeting, ” Yes, yes, ditto ditto. No not harassment. it’s not. The people just need more information. that’s it. They don’t understand you. They don’t understand that groping and pornoscans are like love pats.”

Well, some people refuse to join hands with anybody who challenges the two party paradigm. They hate to acknowledge common ground on any issue. For example, the founder of the Tea Party is outraged over the TSA, but rather than acknowledge common ground, they vilify on some other grounds or just change the subject.

I’ll hold hands with many. Greens for one. No to tea party. Big fat NO.

Physics, Schmysics. I suppose you believe in that gravity crap, too. /s

What the fuck does that mean? Why not go issue by issue? So wouldn’t you have held hands with Stalin to defeat Hitler?

In fact, I’d rather see challenging the 2-party paradigm as challenging the 2-party paradigm. We actually have other parties, like the Green party. So we don’t really need to hold hands with racists.

I was snarking. I forgot the /s.
Actually I’ve stopped believing gov figures several years ago. It’s probably ore like 1 in 5. at least that’s what I hear: for every job there are 5 applicants.

It means No to teaparty. Their platform is not the same as mine. Check off each issue yourself. There maybe one and a half things we agree on. But that’s it. Other parties are a different story.
Really you offer a limited choice teaparty v. Dem, and based on what? One issue.

Look, the Tea Party has been coopted and it is made up of individuals. Blanket calling everybody who so identifies a racist is factually wrong and politically idiotic. Go issue by issue and stop vilifying.

And then developed the A-bomb to hold off any probability of peace and expand American empire? Shore, why not?

I’ll gladly answer, but I don’t follow you.

I got you. And I was snarking too.
And I think you’re probably right about it being more than 1 out of every seven.
can you imagine what would happen if someone actually campaigned on that? I think noone would dare challenge unemployment etc. w/o sounding awful.

Whatever. Whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying.
Go Green!

;-/

The issue on the table today is the TSA. It is not some other amorphous hypothetical. And anybody who says enough is enough to the TSA should be an ally today. Tomorrow, on a different fight, things could be and almost certainly will be totally different.

BTW. language. gentle.

Yeah, so we agree today, on *one* issue. Why do you have to bring up party affiliation now, like we’re going to hold hands with you and Pam Gellar and whoever else.

Whatever? Lol. Way to stop discussion. With the catch all wisdom of a teenager. For the record, the Greens are great.

I didn’t bring it up. Others did.

Don’t insult teenagers. I know some far wiser than er . . . tea party glen beck and all.

Thanks for keeping the lights on this big fat old cha-ching money-maker for Chertoff & other members of the Bushco gang. Glad to hear that conservatives are waking up to how the fix is in & how stupidly ignorant some of this waste of money & time “Homeland Security” b.s. is.

Obama is as knee-deep in this doo-doo as any Bushco loyalist.

Let’s look at what Israel does & learn something useful from the Israel’s for a change, rather than just dumping money on Isreal and sucking up to them. Sheesh. Get a clue, citizens: this is your new reality. Ripped off by greedy bastards who don’t give a sh*t about you, the security of our nation or anything other than themselves.

Whatever.

ron paul (whether you like him or not) is introducing legislation that will take away immunity any federal employee might have for groping people. He also said the american people need to wake up and stand up and stop letting themselves be treated like cattle. he said if the political elite had to go through these invasive procedures he would bot have to introduce this bill, because politicians would have put an immediate stop to tsa.

Our govt (both parties) are corrupt and do not work for us. WE need to stand up and fight back. This is democrats pushing this TSA groping – and dems have defended bush policy of rendition and torture, dems are defending the AG to be held above the law and not be held liable for negligence and so on and so on

I agree. Young Americans are going to get screwed, but they are far more open-minded and tolerant than their parents or grandparents. Too bad it’s hard to get enough of them out to vote! Then again, maybe they don’t because they’re smart enough to see that the current choice between Blue sellout and Red sellout sucks. After 20 years of supporting and voting for Democrats, I agree: we need far better alternatives.

I’ll drink to that. (coffee)

Just brewed some myself.

It’s not a matter of liking Ron Paul or not. It’s a matter of trust. Here there’s none, until whatever it is in passed, in black & white with non screwed up fine print, no handouts to buddies, no etc. and enacted.

Oh & the legislation has to be effective, like: why focus on just immunity? Does Paul want to penalize some inconsequential workers rather than focus on the big picture? Point the fingers at a “few bad apples” (Republicans are good at that. Like preserve the torture regime, by pointing a few fingers at the “bad apples” at Abu Ghraib)? Is he doing a little grandstanding? Does he have intent to pass whatever it is he is proposing?
There are always a lot of questions. Some of them really need to be asked. So in short, this not like or dislike. It’s about trust.

Ha, life insurance maybe.

Correction @104. It’s true I can’t stand demagogues. So that might fall into like or dislike.

It is time for us to figure out that we fit, at least as well with republicans like Paul, as we do with any democrats. Don’t hold your breath on obama. He is standing up for the corporations that are making him a very rich man. What would happen to his money he has invested in these machines?

no doubt and the cattle will accept it.

I keep wondering what this is going to do to the airline industry. My problem is I was planning a trip to South Korea. You know the country that has strong labor and cares about the environment.

if you would have listened to the questions yesterday you would have wondered who had a gun to the heads of the questioners.

some of us have to no insurance and could use a colonoscopy.

Do you think Chertoff will stop at selling these porn machines to airports? Don’t people who go to malls, ride trains and the subway or go to football games want to be “safe,” too?

We also need a list of airports without the scanners and we could go to the nearest one.

when is she up for re-election. she has to go

You have to wonder when it is going to be widely accepted among progressives that something very much like this is indeed going on.

Check my #46 above!

thank you so much

Stimulus funds were used to buy these porn scanners??? Someone needs to be fired! That money should have been used to train TSA workers to detect deceitful human behaviors, something all terrorists have in common, no matter what weapon they will use to terrorize us. We would have been creating jobs and we really would be safer, like the Israelis.

We will know when they have the guts to stand up and tell us. I am thinking more and more of Paul Wellstone and the rest fell in line. Imagine what he would have been doing all these years.

But then you have to remember how deceptive people like obama has been. that is why they would never trust those measures because they know how easy it is to put on and get away with it. Or maybe if they trained people in that detection, we would stop electing politicians because they are the best at fooling us.

this is the free health care we were promised, public but still without the option.

You know, honestly, if airline travel is now so unsafe as to require sacrificing basic human rights and dignity, then we should abolish air travel.

I think some are installed at court houses, with no option.

If John Pistole hasn’t taken a bribe yet, then he probably understands that when he leaves the TSA he’ll be rewarded with a high-paying job at Rapiscan.

The “Top Talent” is dstroying this country. One wonders if the natural trajectory of (out of control) capitalism is simply a fascist corporatocracy where the tricle-up mentality continually pressures us into a ruling class vs peasants economic model. We can’t even get an honest investigation of the profits being made on these scanners from the MSM.

Unequal justice, more prisons, less privacy, less healthcare, fewer living wage jobs = more liberty? We’ve been there before and we’re headed back it seems. The only difference now is they’re rewriting the history books in real time.