A don't fly day???

Begin forwarded message:

From: Frode Hegland <[email protected]>
Date: November 14, 2006 1:01:23 PM EST
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [IP] Tampon Rage - Ala. Gubernatorial candidate once  
again experiences security problems...


I have to ask all the Interesting People on this list, a list of  
pretty smart people:

    Why do you Americans let your government get away with this?

ONE attack. And the government can do whatever it pleases. Yes, a  
horrible attack. And now a horrible excuse for anything from security  
theater to invasions.

Dave, why don't you organize a 'No Fly Day'. Show the airlines at  
least, what happens when the citizenry unites against nonsense.

Pick a day, any day. Any takers?


On 14 Nov 2006, at 14:12, David Farber wrote:

>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Tim Meehan <[email protected]>
> Date: November 13, 2006 9:03:31 PM EST
> To: David Farber <[email protected]>
> Cc: Declan <[email protected]>, Loretta Nall <[email protected]>
> Subject: Tampon Rage - Ala. Gubernatorial candidate once again  
> experiences security problems...
>
> You may remember Loretta:
>
> http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ 
> 200504/msg00185.html
>
> And from this just past electoral campaign:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJQgsbcfzhM
>
> And now, the final insult...
>
> http://nallforgovernor.blogspot.com/2006/11/no-tsayou-cannot-have- 
> my-tampons.html
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Loretta Nall <[email protected]>
> Date: Nov 13, 2006 8:33 PM
>
> My trip to California the day after the election was my first trip on
> a plane in over a year. I haven't missed flying not one iota. I hate
> to fly. For one thing landing makes my eardrums feel like they are
> turning inside out while having ice picks driven into them. It's
> AWFUL! Not to mention that hurtling through the air in a metal tube at
> over 600 miles per hour 36,000 feet off the ground is a tad unnerving
> in its own right.
> Not to be outdone in the unpleasant department the federal government
> has made airport security such a cluster-fuck that from now on I think
> I will just show up in my bathrobe completely naked underneath with
> some lube and a rubber glove for the untrained TSA agent that
> apparently just walked in off the street. That oughta simplify shit
> immensely.
>
> Here is what happened this go round.
>
> Not having flown in over a year I had forgotten the latest assertion
> by the government that Gatorade and other liquids can magically
> transform themselves into bombs and blow up planes. Other liquids
> apparently include mouthwash, Oil of Olay, shampoo, body wash and hand
> lotion. You see....I bought a bunch of travel sized goodies for my
> trip and packed them in my carry-on luggage just like I always do.
>
> When my backpack went through the x-ray machine it was pulled and I
> got the usual "Who's bag is this?" from the TSA agent.
>
> Dammit, it's five a.m. too early for this...what could possibly be in
> the bag to set it off?
>
> Me: "It's mine"
>
> TSA Agent: "May I have a look inside?"
>
> Me: I wonder what would happen if I said no and if I really have any
> choice in the matter at all...
> "Yes you can look in the bag."
>
> The TSA Agent proceeds to paw through my personal belongings pulling
> out things like tampons, hair rollers, socks and so forth. He takes
> out my travel size Listerine, shampoo, body wash, my full size Oil of
> Olay, my chap stick and a few other small but costly items.
>
> TSA Agent: "All of the liquid toilet items must be under 3 ounces and
> they must all be in a clear plastic bag if they are in your carry-on.
> You can check them and they do not have to be in a clear plastic bag."
>
> I tell him I do not have a clear plastic bag and ask what difference
> it makes whether they are in a clear plastic bag in my carry on or
> loose in my checked baggage. He has no answer to that question.
>
> TSA Agent: "Dem's jus da rules ma'am."
>
> I am not sure there is any phrase that infuriates me more than that
> one. I'd almost prefer going deaf to ever hearing it again. Of course
> ome smart ass government official would teach it to the TSA agents and
> all other government nazi's in sign language so I suppose even
> deafness would offer no sanctuary.
>
> He tells me that the sandwich shop clear on the other side of the
> airport will sell me one for $1.50 but in order to go and get one I
> would have to go all the way back through security and come back
> again. Not gonna happen.
>
> He tells me that I can keep all of the stuff if I place it in my
> checked baggage. That too would entail going all the way back to the
> check in gate with a bag that had things I did not want in checked
> baggage packed in it, waiting in line and having to basically do the
> whole process over.
>
> The TSA Agent eyes my tampon box and says "This is too big."
>
> Me: Oh bloody Christ please spare me from a public fight with a TSA
> agent over the size of my tampon box at 5 a.m. I really don't think I
> can take it.
> "You can't take my tampons. I'm sorry but I simply have to draw a line
> there. They are not liquid...are you now confiscating things that
> might absorb liquid at some point in the future?"
>
> He shoots me a "OK wise-ass" look but wisely leaves the pons alone
> then tells me that if I don't have a clear plastic bag for all of the
> items I will either have to place them in checked baggage or they will
> be consifcated.
>
> I look at the stuff and decide to give it up....this time. There is no
> way I am about to navigate hell's gauntlet again over some toothpaste
> and shampoo. He takes my goods away. The total cost of lost goods was
> around $30.
>
> Me and the tampons proceed to our gate. I sit down and begin to take
> inventory of my goods. After all of the fuss and the adamant claim
> that I could not board the plane unless those items were in a plastic
> bag or the plane would blow up I find in the bottom of my bag the
> matching conditioner for the shampoo, my tooth paste, my deodorant, my
> make-up and tubes of lip gloss. All of those items are also on the
> banned unless bagged list and I guess I have single-handedly proven
> that they are indeed safe outside the confines of a damn ziplock. No
> one was hurt and it didn't take and goddamned government study at
> taxpayer expense to figure out that these airport rules they change
> every week do not keep anyone safe whilst navigating the friendly
> skies....if for no other reason than an untrained TSA Agent overlooked
> half of the contraband.
>
> God help us all! And I want my stuff back. I wonder what happens to
> the things they confiscate? I guess TSA agents and their families get
> to divy up the loot and live like kings and queens in toiletry heaven
> happily ever after.
>
>
> -- 
> The river I step in is not the river I stand in.
>
>
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Frode Hegland
ceo
The Hyperwords Company
www.hyperwords.net