Intolerable Consent: 2010

Body scanners and pat-downs are supposed to make passengers safer by detecting devices that could bring down an airplane.

But the federal government’s latest, more-intrusive screening measures appear more useful in finding drugs and wads of cash than tools of terror, a review of Indianapolis Airport Police records suggests.

The Federal Government has turned airport security into a police checkpoint that is able to do warrantless searches just because it claims that the TSA isn't with law enforcement powers. Sure, just like social services folks claimed they could do search and seizure without a warrant. These are bogus arguments.

http://www.ibj.com/controversial-airport-scanners-identify-more-crooks-than-terrorists-/PARAMS/article/23926

Rage against the dying of light (bulbs)

Rage against the dying of light (bulbs)
Nolan Finley

We've been bullied and brainwashed into accepting the ever-growing intrusion of politicians, regulators and do-gooders into our personal decision making in the name of the greater societal good.
We're told that if we give up some of our individual freedom to buy what we want, drive what we want, smoke and eat what we want, the world will be a better place.
But we can't be trusted to make the right decisions on our own just because we understand the need to conserve and may hope to save a few bucks. We need laws to make sure nothing is left to chance.
Those mandates have already saddled us with toilets that won't flush, washers that won't wash, ethanol-laced gasoline that burns up our lawnmower engines and electric cars that aren't nearly as comfortable, powerful or practical as the models they're supposed to replace.

http://detnews.com/article/20101209/OPINION03/12090334/Rage-against-the-dying-of-light-(bulbs)

A nude awakening — TSA and privacy

A nude awakening — TSA and privacy
Evan DeFilippis/The Daily

Consider a quote from United States v. Guest (1966): “In any event, freedom to travel throughout the United States has long been recognized as a basic right under the Constitution.” Another quote from Shapiro v Thompson (1969): “‘The constitutional right to travel from one State to another . . . has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized.’ … This constitutional right, which, of course, includes the right of ‘entering and abiding in any State in the Union,’ is not a mere conditional liberty subject to regulation and control under conventional due process or equal protection standards. ‘[T]he right to travel freely from State to State finds constitutional protection that is quite independent of the Fourteenth Amendment.’ As we made clear in Guest, it is a right broadly assertable against private interference as well as governmental action. Like the right of association, NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 449, it is a virtually unconditional personal right, guaranteed by the Constitution to us all.”

If we have both the right to privacy and the right to travel, then TSA’s newest procedures cannot conceivably be considered legal. The TSA’s regulations blatantly compromise the former at the expense of the latter, and as time goes on we will soon forget what it meant to have those rights.

http://www.oudaily.com/news/2010/dec/06/column-nude-awakening-tsa-and-privacy/

Are All U.S. Citizens Equal?

TSA Tells Children Pat-Down is a "Game" With the Intolerable Consent of the Parents

TSA telling children “pat-down is a game” sends a wrong message

Ken Wooden, founder of Child Lures Prevention, [warns] regarding a new TSA technique for getting children to cooperate with airport screeners by telling them that “pat-downs are a game.”

Wooden notes that the touching-is-a-game line is one of the most commonly used ploys by sexual predators to initiate inappropriate contact with a child.

http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-in-national/tsa-telling-children-pat-down-is-a-game-sends-a-wrong-message

The Coach Class Rebellion

It is intolerable that the Executive Branch of the Federal Government should exempt certain classes of people, such as Congress critters, heads of bureaucracies, pilots and flight attendants, but require the rest of the U.S. Citizens to submit themselves to degrading procedures simply because they are not an employee of an airline and don't have the economic means to fly charter or general aviation.

It is good to see that local politicians are recognizing this injustice while federal politicians turn a deaf ear. We want our freedom back!

----
Note:
State, local lawmakers seek alternatives to TSA airport screenings
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/2/state-city-lawmakers-seek-tsa-options/

The Madness of a Lost Society

The Audacity of Grope: A TSA Exposé

Why Do Western States Tolerate The Federal Government Grabbing All Their Land?

Why do the western states tolerate this?

291 - Federal Lands in the US
Frank Jacobs

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Another Obama stealth land grab: Salazar and the NCLS
By Michelle Malkin

"The TSA isn’t the only one with grabby hands"

http://michellemalkin.com/2010/11/22/another-obama-stealth-land-grab-salazar-and-the-ncls/

Family: New Jersey man serving 7 years for guns he owned legally

Family: New Jersey man serving 7 years for guns he owned legally
By JASON NARK

EVERYTHING Brian Aitken was or had worked for was wiped away one winter afternoon after his mother called the police on him.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20101130_Family__New_Jersey_man_serving_7_years_for_guns_he_owned_legally.html

Was autistic teen assaulted by TSA worker?

Though Gilmore tried to explain her son’s medical condition and even presented the TSA agents with a card which explained the position of the rods, the workers still subjected the disabled teen to an invasive body search.

Parents told WVEC 13NEWS: “We had to hold his arms out. He went down with the back of his hands through his bottom around to the front and up through his groin area.”

*Reporter’s note: It is difficult for anyone to understand the need for or even the legality of such offensive contact, let alone for someone with autism.

Imagine this disabled young man’s fear as he was being groped by a stranger with his parents looking on.

How much longer will the flying public tolerate government-sanctioned assaults on their children?

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-norfolk/was-autistic-teen-assaulted-by-tsa-worker

Nine Ways of Being an Accessory to Another’s Sin

Nine ways of being an accessory to another’s sin.
1. By Counsel
2. By Command
3. By Consent
4. By Concealment
5. By Defense of Evil Done
6. By Partaking
7. By Provocation
8. By Praise
9. By Silence

From the traditional Catholic moral code.

'Humiliated': Female passenger subjected to patdown 'because her sanitary towel showed up on body scanner'

A female passenger has claimed that she was assaulted by TSA agents when she was ordered to be patted down because her sanitary towel showed up on the body scanner.
The woman was wearing a flannel panty liner, that evidently aroused suspicion, causing her to endure what she described as a 'horrible' experience.
Humiliated by her experience, the unidentified Army vet wrote to women's health company Gladrags to detail what happened.

TSA Breast Milk Screening Harassment

New Mother Harassed and Threatened by TSA because she requests alternate screening for her breast milk. As a repeat traveler, the TSA singled her out to make an example out of her. She spends over an hour in the "Special Inspection" area and is forced to miss her flight.

Federal Attacks on Women, Children, the Elderly, and the Handicapped Are Now Routine for “Security” Reasons.

Woman: TSA Agents Singled Me Out For My Breasts

Eliana Sutherland recently flew from Orlando International Airport and told Local 6 she felt the two male TSA workers were staring at her breasts and chose her for additional screening because of their size.
"It was pretty obvious. One of the guys that was staring me up and down was the one who pulled me over," said Sutherland. "Not a comfortable feeling."

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/25902334/detail.html

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Hey, Baby, Want an Enhanced Pat-Down?
by Lew Rockwell

A woman reports that TSA agents at the Orlando airport leered at her build, and then singled her out for “additional screening.” Say, weren’t we all lectured endlessly about sexual harassment by the State and its media? As Karen De Coster shows, this sort of conduct is now routine for the government. Let some businessman tell an inappropriate joke at his office, and OMG, he must be destroyed. But federal attacks on women, children, the elderly, and the handicapped are now routine for “security” reasons

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/71147.html

Soon, To Go On A Train, Boat or Metro, Will Require Consent to Virtual Strip Search, Grope or Massive Fine

Next step for body scanners could be trains, boats, metro
By Jordy Yager

“[Terrorists] are going to continue to probe the system and try to find a way through,” Napolitano said in an interview that aired Monday night on "Charlie Rose."

“I think the tighter we get on aviation, we have to also be thinking now about going on to mass transit or to trains or maritime. So, what do we need to be doing to strengthen our protections there?”

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/130549-next-step-for-body-scanners-could-be-trains-boats-and-the-metro-

Senate Conducted Hearings On Another Ridiculous U.N. Treaty That Won't Die: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

Dangerous United Nations Womens Treaty Looms On Horizon
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/5271-dangerous-united-nations-womens-treaty-looms-on-horizon

The Case against the U.N. Women’s Treaty
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/253400/case-against-un-womens-treaty-christina-hoff-sommers

No U.S. senator can in good conscience vote in favor of ratifying CEDAW as a foreign-policy tool. The treaty is aimed at the United States, and risks for American freedoms are too high.

In-order To Fly, TSA Requires Consent to Be Rubbed Down and Panties Searched. Withholding Consent Could Lead to $11k Fine

Yukon Woman Humiliated By TSA Pat Down
http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=13549921

Bubb said the TSA employee touched her breasts and private areas outside her clothes and then inside her pants. Bubb said she was mortified and had to leave her daughter for about 20 minutes during this process.

"It's not a pat, it's a rub. They grip you, and they rub going all the way down your body," Bubb said.

At one point, Bubb said the screener put her hand in Bubb's pants.

"She told me you can thank the underwear bomber for this one," Bubb said.

She contacted TSA and the Colorado Springs airport. The airport responded by saying the employees were just doing their jobs.

TSA Forces Citizen To Consent to Felony Sexual Assault; Media Defends Gov'ts Presumed-Innocence

The subject is a felony sexual assault. What's the media's headline and sub-title? Headline: "TSA Pat Down Went Too Far, Agency Chief Says". Subtitle: "TSA Administrator Says Search of Passenger's Underwear Should Have Never Happened, Agency May Rethink Protocols".

Say what! Why does the media make this the headline? Why is it that the Federal Government is presumed innocent, but its own citizens are guilty until groped!

"Oh, it was just a simple mistake of breaking protocol. The TSA ~~Officer~~ Goon will receive better training." to paraphrase the government's response. Give me a break. How's this for a response: "This TSO will be arrested and charged with felony sexual assault, and will spend the rest of their life in jail and then on a sex offenders list. Furthermore, all management in the Federal Government, who were responsible for promoting and defending these practices, will be fired and prosecuted for accessory to these high crimes against the citizens of this formerly-great nation." Where are the state's prosecutors?

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TSA Pat Down Went Too Far, Agency Chief Says
TSA Administrator Says Search of Passenger's Underwear Should Have Never Happened, Agency May Rethink Protocols

An ABC News employee said she was subject to a "demeaning" search at Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday morning.

"The woman who checked me reached her hands inside my underwear and felt her way around," she said. "It was basically worse than going to the gynecologist. It was embarrassing. It was demeaning. It was inappropriate."

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/tsa-responds-passenger-outrages-underwear-search-happen/story?id=12208932

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Repeat after me: I WILL NOT CONSENT!!!

Former High-ranking Federal Officials Getting Rich By Stealing Civilian Liberties

Who is Michael Chertoff? Why are former high-ranking federal officials getting rich by stealing our liberties?

TSA Forces Traveling Citizen To Consent to Covering Himself in His Own Urine

TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urine
By Harriet Baskas; msnbc.com

“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 was absolutely humiliated,' said bladder cancer survivor

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40291856/ns/travel-news/

Republican Rep. John Mica is an Anti-TSA Fraud

TSA ‘Privatizers’ Reveal the Way Washington Works
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/70433.html

Airports consider congressman's call to ditch TSA
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkv8DAy2qgKuuVCICy6HASaKlFFQ?docId=c5e727bff09845e393608ea000909811

For Republican Rep. John Mica of Florida, the way to make travelers feel more comfortable would be to kick TSA employees out of their posts at the ends of the snaking security lines. This month, he wrote letters to nation’s 100 busiest airports asking that they request private security guards instead.

Private contractors are not a cure-all for passengers aggrieved about taking off their shoes for security checks, passing through full-body scanners or getting hand-frisked. For example, contractors must follow all TSA-mandated security procedures, including hand patdowns when necessary.

TSA officials would select and pay the contractors who run airport security.

This is not a true private solution. A true private solution would be where the airlines would select and pay the contractors, not the government!

TSA Antagonizes Father Into Disrobing Son

Hotel TSA -- $11,000 fine, arrest possible for some who refuse airport scans and pat downs

It is intolerable that citizens are required to consent to this scenario in order to board a commercial flight. If a citizen is at an airport and they hold the opinion that they are being sexually assaulted, then they should not be facing the prospect of an $11k fine plus prosecution, to be able to flee the situation.

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$11,000 fine, arrest possible for some who refuse airport scans and pat downs

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is warning that any would-be commercial airline passenger who enters an airport checkpoint and then refuses to undergo the method of inspection designated by TSA will not be allowed to fly and also will not be permitted to simply leave the airport.

That person will have to remain on the premises to be questioned by the TSA and possibly by local law enforcement. Anyone refusing faces fines up to $11,000 and possible arrest.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-airport-scans-pat-downs-refual-20101121,0,5604032.story

Fire the TSA -- Stop The Humiliation

It is intolerable that the TSA has grossly violated their authority and the public’s trust in establishing a systematic means of government-endorsed criminal sexual misconduct. This must be stopped immediately.

The security policies need to be taken out of the bureaucratic hands and put into the private sector, and I don’t mean what Rep Mica has mentioned about private contractors adhering to TSA edicts. I mean ownership by the private airlines of the security and the terminals, what Ron Paul has been suggesting for a long time. Maybe you think this is crazy, but it’s not. This airline is doing it: “http://www.seaportair.com/features”. Why can’t the states enable others to do so as well? Let each airline run the security operation. They have a lot of interest in protecting their capital investments and reputation. I’m sure the Federal government would issue some baseline security guidance as they can’t help their meddling ways, so this isn’t suggesting deregulation. What I’m suggesting is that it’s time to shift the mentality away from the idea that the government can and should strip us of our rights in order to protect us.

It’s time to right the ship. In the name of security, the TSA has condoned and systematized sexual crimes in administrative law, and they demand we consent to these procedures and consent on behalf of our children. Do I need to go into detail about these activities. Are not the injustices of these behaviours plain? Nothing is happening at the Federal level to stop these activities, so it’s time for the State to step in and protect the citizens within its borders.

If this activity is allowed to stand unchallenged, then America has entered into a very dark chapter. Please, tell the TSA that they have lost the trust of the citizenry and we will not live in a police state (which means no virtual strip search, no custody search and no biometrics).

A Mom's Message For the TSA -- Don't Touch My KIDS!

It is intolerable that the government would put a mother in this situation.

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A Mom's Message For the TSA -- Don't Touch My KIDS!
By Penny Young Nance

Trust me, if that were my beautiful, modest thirteen-year-old daughter being intimidated and groped, I couldn’t be held responsible for my actions. I have had two children, and my modesty level at this point in life is pretty minimal, but someone touching my kid is another story. That person is likely to get their eyes scratched out, TSA Agent or not. I am not kidding: Moms won’t abide someone messing with our children. Keep the cameras ready; it’s only a matter of time before one of us snaps. Hope it’s not me.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/11/19/moms-message-tsa-dont-touch-kids/

Ron Paul Debates TSA Screenings - CNN 11/19/10

44 Ways to Say TSA: What do the initials "TSA" really stand for?

Implants, Piercings and Prosthetics, Oh My! What You May Reveal to TSA Employees

Implants, Piercings and Prosthetics, Oh My! What You May Reveal to TSA Employees
By Colleen Cappon

With holiday travel season quickly approaching, new rules on airport security scanners are on the minds of thousands of U.S. travelers. Think you know what to expect? Well, you may be revealing even more than you thought.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/11/19/implants-piercings-prosthetics-oh-reveal-tsa-employees/

TSA Demands Tom Keane Consent to Unwarranted, Unjust and Humiliating Invasion of Privacy

Invasion of privacy
The TSA search policy is unwarranted, unjust, and humiliating
By TOM KEANE

“You want to opt out?’’ a guard asked.

“I don’t want to go through that,’’ I said.

From several TSA employees came cries of “Opt out!’’ “Male opt out!’’ I was pulled over to the side and told I would be searched.

The TSA has just recently implemented what it euphemistically calls an “enhanced patdown.’’ The agent firmly ran his hands over my entire body, head to toe, front and back. He rubbed his hands over my buttocks and in between. He put his hands in my pants and ran them all around my waist. From behind, he ran his hands along my legs, all the way up my thigh as high as he could go and onto my genitals.

Then he moved in front of me and then did the same thing again. Remember the question once asked of candidate Bill Clinton: “Boxers or briefs?’’ My TSA examiner knows.

I have never been sexually molested or raped, so I have no idea how my experience compares. But I walked away feeling invaded, sickened, and humiliated. During the long drive after I landed, those three minutes kept obsessively turning over in my mind. Late that night, in a strange hotel room, I suddenly woke with the panicked belief that rough hands were prodding my body. That time, it was only a dream.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/11/19/invasion_of_privacy/

Reader Story – 6 Year Old Aggressively Patted Down in Charlotte

En route home through Charlotte, our 6 year old son was subjected to an aggressive pat down by a female TSA employee. He was pleading for me to help him and I was admonished for trying to comfort him. His genitals area was groped. He walked down to the plane in tears. When the stewardess asked why he was crying, I explained my frustration and I was further admonished for not being more compliant. My wife was in a wheel chair so she also recieved the pat down by another very unfriendly TSA worker. She felt violated afterwards.

http://wewontfly.com/6-year-old-aggressively-patted-down

Cancer surviving flight attendant forced to remove implant during pat-down

Cancer surviving flight attendant forced to remove implant during pat-down
By Molly Grantham

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A local flight attendant and cancer survivor contacted WBTV after she says she was forced to show her prosthetic breast during a pat-down.

http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13534628

Enhanced pat down leaves Grand Rapids airline passenger in tears

Enhanced pat down leaves Grand Rapids airline passenger in tears
Phil Dawson Christa Graban

"The female officer ran her hand up the inside of my leg to my groin and she did it so hard and so rough she lifted me off my heels," she says. "I think I yelped. I was in pain for about an hour afterwards. It just felt excessive and unnecessary."

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=140233&catid=14

Krauthammer: Don't touch my junk

Don't touch my junk
By Charles Krauthammer

Take my shoes, remove my belt, waste my time and try my patience. But don't touch my junk.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/18/AR2010111804494_pf.html

Woman says her Lambert Security Screening Was Forced to Consent to Sexual Assault So She Could Board Plane

Woman says her Lambert security screening was sexual assault
KMOV.com

Moroney explains “Her gloved hands touched my breasts...went between them. Then she went into the top of my slacks, inserted her hands between my underwear and my skin... then put her hands up on outside of slacks, and patted my genitals.”

“I was shaking and crying when I left that room” Moroney says. “Under any other circumstance, if a person touched me like that without my permission, it would be considered criminal sexual assault.

http://www.kmov.com/news/mobile/Woman-says-her-Lambert-security-screening-was-sexual-assault--109114934.html

Is Four Loko dangerous? The FDA doesn’t say

Is Four Loko dangerous? The FDA doesn’t say
By Jonathan Strong - The Daily Caller

Since Americans have been mixing rum with caffeinated cola beverages for over a century, and in recent years, voraciously downing Red Bull vodkas, you’d think the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in breathlessly moving to ban Four Loko and other alcoholic energy drinks this week, would have distinguished the two.

But according to the FDA, they aren’t different at all.

http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/19/is-four-loko-dangerous-the-fda-doesnt-say

Warren Buffett's Humbug

Warren Buffett's Humbug
By David Stockman

Contrary to the Oracle of Omaha, taxpayers should not be grateful for TARP, bailouts, or quantitative easing.

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/david-stockman-warren-buffett-general-electric/11/17/2010/id/31189

This Lame Duck Session Should Be the Last

This Lame Duck Session Should Be the Last
By BETSY MCCAUGHEY; WSJ

In 1933, Americans ratified the 20th Amendment to eliminate lame duck Congresses. For two decades Washington has been ignoring its intent.

Americans ought to make this lame duck session of Congress the last in history. Members who lose re-election have no moral authority to continue governing: They were fired by the voters, who should demand that they clean out their desks and go home.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704648604575620440847127442.html

Ohio Woman Describes Sexual Assault By TSA Agent

NH woman challenges airport full-body scanners

Just as the busy holiday travel season is starting up, a New Hampshire woman has a warning to anyone who's flying.

She says her experience with those new full body scanners at the airport security line was frightening and humiliating.

http://www.necn.com/pages/landing?blockID=352618&tagID=72158

QE II - The Fed's Last Stand?

My Very Own TSA Nightmare

My Very Own TSA Nightmare
Posted By Andrew Ian Dodge

So in just five minutes I was told I looked like a notorious porn star by a TSA female employee and then had my scar examined by a man. I was so very pleased to be reminded of the painful and frightening (I had post-op complications including “dying several times”) experience of a few years ago.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/my-very-own-tsa-nightmare/?print=1

TSA Agents Take Small Child Out of Parents Sight

tsa agents took my son

My son was taken from me by the TSA agents at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport yesterday.

He was taken away from me and OUT OF MY SIGHT because his pacifier clip went off when I carried him through the metal detector.

According to the Transportation Security Administration website, “We will not ask you to do anything that will separate you from your child or children.”

Bull*** TSA.

You took my son. MY SON.

...

She told me “Ma’am, we’re trying to be nice to you. We don’t know which one of you went off in the metal detector. Stay here so I can search you.”

“But my son… where is my son?” I asked over and over again.

The female TSA agent called a second female TSA agent over as she began to search me. Apparently the second female TSA agent could hear me protesting and asking for my son.

“Ma’am you need to calm down or I’m going to have to involve the authorities,” she told me.

Now I was pissed.

Horrified. Terrified. Enraged.

“You ****ing get the authorities,” I told the female TSA agent while the other continued to wand me and forced me to unbutton my jeans because the button beeped when she went over my abdomen with her wand.

“You get the ******* authorities right the **** now and tell them to GIVE ME MY SON,” I said.

http://www.mybottlesup.com/2009/10/tsa-agents-took-my-son/

Brian Aitken's Mistake

Brian Aitken's Mistake
By Radley Balko

A New Jersey man gets seven years for being a responsible gun owner.

Sue Aitken called the police because she was worried about her son, Brian. She now lives with the guilt of knowing that her phone call is the reason Brian spent his 27th birthday in a New Jersey prison last month. If the state gets its way, he will be there for the next seven years.

http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/15/brian-aitkens-mistake

Houston man claims TSA pat-down went too far

Local man claims TSA pat-down went too far
Andy Cerota

Mollman was patted down and taken to a body scanner, where he claims a TSA officer inappropriately touched him in what was now his third search.

"I was wearing shorts at the time - between the underwear, right on the skin, all the way around the back, all the way around my front, 360 degrees, touched inappropriately," he said.

Mollman, who by this point is humiliated, says he was never given a reason for the invasive searches and was sent on his way.

"This was an assault. This was no different than a sexual assault," said KTRK Legal Analyst Joel Androphy.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7780727

FIRST, THEY CAME FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN...

FIRST, THEY CAME FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN...

Regular readers know what I think and how I feel about the war on drugs. I think the Fourth Amendment has been systematically violated, and the violations go a lot further than mere illegal searches of drug suspects. They seek legal power to test saliva of all stopped motorists, and they already have power to invade the medical records of millions. Other than crank out these inadequate rants, I can't do much about any of this, as it's part and parcel of the war on drugs.

But fortunately (and I hate using that word in an awful case like this) when an innocent pregnant woman has her baby taken away because she ate a poppy seed bagel, that makes ordinary people ask questions

http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2010/11/first_they_came_4.html

Eat a Bagel, Lose Your Baby

Unfortunately for Isabella's parents, Elizabeth Mort and Alex Rodriguez, Jameson sets the cutoff level for its opiate test so low that it can be triggered by poppy seeds, which is why two caseworkers and two Neshannock Township police officers visited their home the day after baby and mother returned from the hospital. LCCYS seized the three-day-old girl and put her in foster care for five days before conceding it had made a mistake.

http://reason.com/blog/2010/11/09/eat-a-bagel-lose-your-baby

The Baltimore City Health Department issued its first environmental citation for repeat violations of the city's trans fat ban.

http://www.wbaltv.com/r/25508790/detail.html

Amputee Coalition of America unhappy with TSA

Amputee Coalition of America unhappy with TSA
Written by Surae Chinn 9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com

She says TSA agents not only told her to remove her prosthetic leg and run it through the detector, but also the sanitary lining that covers her limb.

Chenoweth says, "I don't think the general public realizes how personal an amputee residual limb is. It's similar to asking a regular person to go bear breasted through the metal detector, or expose their genitals. It's that private of an area."

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=205010&catid=28

Airline Security "Applesauce Assault": Woman Accused of Hitting TSA Agent Cleared

Airline Security "Applesauce Assault": Woman Accused of Hitting TSA Agent Cleared
Posted by Caroline Black

A year ago, 58-year-old Nadine Hays was going through security at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., with her mother, who was 93 years old. Headed to a wedding, Hays wouldn't surrender her blue cooler filled with snacks for her elderly mother, and ended up in jail, reports CBS station KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.

"I had things like applesauce, cottage cheese... I apparently reached over and grabbed the ice chest with my second hand and that's where the prosecution is saying I supposedly hit the supervisor," Hays told KCBS.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20003047-504083.html

Another Terrorist Stopped by Vigilant TSA Officer: 4-Year-Old Boy in Leg Braces

4-year-old Ryan Thomas is developmentally disabled as a result of being 16 weeks premature and has to wear corrective braces. His ankles are malformed and his legs have little or no muscle tone. He only just learned how to walk, briefly, on his own, according to thePhiladelphia Inquirer.

But that didn't seem to matter to the Transportation Security Administration screeners at Philadelphia International airport.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-6212730-504083.html

A Message From Transport Canada

Safety First!