TSA story
Printed From: Tippmann Paintball
Category: News And Views
Forum Name: Thoughts and Opinions
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Printed Date: 08 April 2026 at 3:13am
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Topic: TSA story
Posted By: Ceesman762
Subject: TSA story
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 9:12am
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Monday I began my traveling to Racine, Wisconsin with my usual trip to Laguardia, as I have done so many times in nearly 13 years. This trip was different. As you walk to security towards Terminal C, there is a men's room to the left down a hall way, so before I wait in line for security, I hit the men's room for a head call. After I relieve myself and wash my hands, I make my way to security. In front of me is a small group of people from the Middle East, the 4 women are wearing head scarves, walking behind 2 men speaking what I believe to be Arabic or something close to it. 3 TSA agents look at them and then look at me as I walk by the agents. One stops me and announces that I have been selected at random for a hand swabbing, they do this pretty loud so that the group of people in front of me, the Middle Easterns, stop, point at me and begin to talk. The agent swabbed both of my hands and it tests positive for explosive traces. (hand soap?) So now I am giving the option do I want to go in private for my pat down or in front of everyone in the security check point, well over 100 people. I choose to do this in front of security check point and the other passengers. Guess what happened next? That's right, my junk was touched. The agent ran his hand so close to my junk it touched, he was looking for something and I hope it wasn't a cheap thrill, I usually get dinner for that. Now I am pissed but decide just to glare angrily at the agent and ask my self, why did you select me and not any of the group in front of me and why is it only Caucasians being searched? 3 other people including my self are getting the same treatment and one guy, a Jewish guy ( see yamulke on his head), is loudly complaining about "why him? Does he look like a terrorist?" On the upside to my experience, I make it through security faster than the other 100 or so waiting to go through the metal detectors. On my way home from Racine via Milwaukee/Gen Mitchell Airport, I jump in the security cattle line again and once more, I get the tap on the shoulder forma TSA agent, "Sir, you have been randomly selected for a TSA search." I now get to walk through the visual scanner that has everyone in an uproar. I am not pissed about that but pissed about once again, there are quite a few Middle Eastern people there and none of them were selected. Just myself, a few old ladies, a teen age girl and a very irate and vocal Black guy dressed in a business suit. Turns out he was a Marine veteran too when we spoke about the whole damn incident waiting for the plane. I have no problem going through and being compliant with security procedures, but they could be a bit more selective as to who else gets searched. I think next time I am going to ask the TSA people at Lagaurdia to swab their hands first just to prove to me that the machine isn't on the fritz or rigged, what harm could that do? I want to see if the hand soap at LaGuardia is an ingredient bomb explosive making. Complaint over. ------------- Innocence proves nothing FUAC!!!!! |
Replies:
Posted By: GI JOES SON
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 10:02am
| i never really felt like the TSA was "randomly selecting" people. It always seemed more like they were avoiding racial profiling with, well, racial profiling of others. |
Posted By: Ceesman762
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 10:12am
Yep. ------------- Innocence proves nothing FUAC!!!!! |
GI JOES SON wrote:Posted By: procarbinefreak
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 10:13am
| you went to racine and didn't call mbro or myself? for shame. |
Posted By: Ceesman762
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 10:15am
all work and no play, long hours in a hot and humid machine shop. I ain't too sociable after all that and teaching on/fixing a machine. ------------- Innocence proves nothing FUAC!!!!! |
Posted By: Zata
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 10:27am
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Is anyone ever happy about being randomly selected? |
Posted By: mbro
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 11:12am
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Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos. |
Posted By: choopie911
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 11:56am
| Remember, it is not security, it is the theatre of security. Very little of what they do makes any difference. |
Posted By: Ceesman762
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 12:03pm
No doubt and agree 100%, I wish they could use the other players for that theater. ------------- Innocence proves nothing FUAC!!!!! |
Posted By: mbro
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 12:08pm
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Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos. |
Posted By: Ceesman762
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 12:09pm
Negative Ghost Rider!  ------------- Innocence proves nothing FUAC!!!!! |
Posted By: impulse418
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 4:57pm
| The security at the airport needs to be stricter!!! Because the terrorist will use planes again!!! |
Posted By: Rofl_Mao
Date Posted: 19 August 2011 at 11:32pm
| They swabbed my hands once without even asking, the lady just said "hold out your hands" and then she took a swab, rubbed my hand with it, and put it under a machine and then didn't say a word as I continued through the line. |
Posted By: procarbinefreak
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 11:44am
| Never fly through Mitchell international, in milwaukee, if you're on crutches with a leg brace. They have no idea what they're doing. They took my crutches to put through the x-ray machine and then told me to walk through... w/o my crutches. |
Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 12:06pm
Speaking form experience, this is truth. The punishments for racial profiling are so sever, everyone is afraid to do it. In order to keep from doing that, I had a pattern I followed. If the time was xx:x4, I would pick the 4th male in line. And so on. It wasn't very random, but it wasn't a mentally developped pattern either. One point that you brought up, one that was a peeve with me when I worked for TSA, was the whole," why me, why not him?" mentality. Everyone has this stereotype in their head of what a terrorist should look like. And if they don't look like that, we should leave them alone. The random screening isn't really meant to stop anything else. Its designed to create an unpredictability in the screening. Something that would cause hesitance in a plot. One person gets caught, the whole thing gets shut down. Creating that uncertainty is meant to dissuade terror groups. ------------- http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site 
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Posted By: *Stealth*
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 12:08pm
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It's interesting to me; for the purposes of diagnostic administration of ionizing radiation, ala X-ray, it is federally required to be ordered by a medical physician (X-ray is essentially prescribed), and typically under state law required to be administered by a licensed and registered technologist. I've always wondered exactly how the TSA works around this, as there is no specified dosage limits in the law, the only loophole being the specific usage of "diagnostic". ------------- |
Posted By: GroupB
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 12:13pm
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I like Mexico's method of random selection. You walk up to the station that has a guard waiting at it. You push a button, then either a green light comes on and you continue on, or a red light comes on and you are searched. That is about the only way to do a true random search. I was coming in to the gate last weekend and the guard was pulling literally every other car for a "random" search. ------------- 
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Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 12:13pm
They don't xray people, only luggage. I'm not sue how the Backscatter works though. I seperated from TSA when those were still being deployed. My roommate still works there, but as intelligent as he is, it works with magic. ------------- http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site
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Posted By: Lightningbolt
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 12:25pm
you're making funny ha-ha's right? |
Posted By: *Stealth*
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 12:29pm
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_X-ray - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_X-ray
Yes it is only Wiki. However, I do have specific training and physics level comprehension of Compton Scatter, and how it works. 'Backscatter' uses ionizing radiation (X-ray), admittedly very very low dose, probably posing nearly no health risks. Yet, the federal law doesn't specify limits, only "diagnostic". It is my opinion using ionizing radiation to locate and isolate metallic objects on a person falls with in the definable realm of "diagnostic", which means TSA's use of radiation would fall under a federal violation, as well as the previously mentioned state level legalities. I'm sure there is a law somewhere concerning national security that offers bypass to this issue, i'm just unaware where and what that law is.
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Posted By: Tolgak
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 12:31pm
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I don't recall any of the WTC attackers as dressed in traditional Middle East garb. I get the thing about racial profiling, but terrorists are smart enough to look inconspicuous in an airport. The next guy to try an attack will probably resemble the 9/11 terrorists in clothing and behavior.
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