Wednesday, December 15, 2010

A little holiday seriousness...

Now that I've shown the lighter side of TSA airport abuse, er, security...

This mother was detained for over an hour, missed her flight, and was threatened with arrest, for requesting a TSA approved, alternative screening of her breast milk (she did not want to pass it through the x-ray machine).

The video is about 10 mins long, and sped up in places to compress for time.





Here is the blog from the TSA's website describing the situation resolution:

http://blog.tsa.gov/2010/12/tsa-response-to-tsa-breast-milk.html

Updated on 12/9/2010 at 8:25 P.M. to add that proper procedures were followed.

Nearly a year ago, a passenger going through airport screening on two separate occasions requested that her breast milk be visually inspected and not screened by the X-ray machine.  She filed a complaint with TSA regarding her screening experience. TSA investigated the matter and sent a letter of apology to the passenger in March of this year. The passenger has flown since these events occurred and has provided TSA a written confirmation that she no longer experiences issues.

After the investigation, the officers received refresher training for the visual inspection of breast milk (an infrequently requested procedure). I’d like to reassure readers that while our top priority is to prevent a terrorist attack and to ensure that your family, friends and loved ones arrive safely at their destinations, we also strive to provide the highest level of customer service to all who pass through our security checkpoints. Our policies and procedures focus on ensuring that all passengers are treated with dignity, respect, and courtesy. We go to great lengths to train our security officers in the proper way to inspect individuals and their personal items.

We extend our sincere apologies to any passenger who may have experienced discomfort and inconvenience during the screening process. 
We appreciate hearing from passengers and encourage you to share your experiences with us.  Although the proper screening procedures were followed at the time, we acknowledge this particular passenger experienced an out of the ordinary delay, and have worked with our officers to ensure we proceed with expediency in screening situations similar to this.
 You have to love the minimalist attitude the TSA takes, even in an apology... saying things like:
1. I’d like to reassure readers that while our top priority is to prevent a terrorist attack and to ensure that your family, friends and loved ones arrive safely at their destinations...
Yes, we do all of this FOR YOU our loyal subjects.
2. The passenger has flown since these events occurred and has provided TSA a written confirmation that she no longer experiences issues.

It couldn't have been THAT bad, I mean, come on, she's still flying with us...

3. After the investigation, the officers received refresher training...
The government's answer to everything - TRAINING. I wonder how that session went? "Ladies, Gentlemen, government agents... I know we really shoved this up her you know what and broke it off, and this <expletive> woman deserved every second of it, but be smarter... you are on camera during all of this, and we don't want to get caught violating our citizens rights, in this manner. Please initial the sheet saying you attended this training".

And of course, the real ball-buster...
Although the proper screening procedures were followed at the time, we acknowledge this particular passenger experienced an out of the ordinary delay...
SOOOO you write a letter of apology, for not only your own screeners violating your own alternative screening policy that this woman SHOWED THE SCREENERS... you apologize to her IN WRITING and on a blog... when it's all said and done, at the end, you have the audacity to say "the proper screening procedures were followed"???

Is it the policy of the TSA to leave a pregnant woman standing in a glass cube for an hour, to miss her flight, to harass her and threaten her with arrest for not wanting you to irradiate her breast milk?

Nothing is sacred, and yours and my rights are fast going the way of the Dinosaurs... Maybe if Congressmen, Senators, the frigging President, and the other executive elite, had to be subjected to the same indecent treatment that we, the huddled masses and subjects to the crown, er, Congress, are forced to endure, this treatment wouldn't happen. After all, Ted Kennedy was on a no fly list and look what he did to fix the laws... oh wait, yeah, he made a phone call, got it fixed in seconds, and was on his way... my bad.

What this article doesn't say, is that this woman had flown recently, and insisted on the same policy before. The screeners knew about it already, and when the local barney fife, er, incompetent police officer, talked to her in the box, among other things, told her they remembered her from the week before... so basically saying screw you for screwing us...

Here is the link to the  TSA's policy for alternative screening of breast milk, that these inept scum chose to violate, in the name of yours and my freedoms.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/formula.shtm

Of course, there that took me 20 seconds to find... wonder what kind of training those TSA agents got on internet browsing... there is no "last updated on XX/XX/XXXX" comment on the page, so this may be changed in response to the incident, and not the actual policy in effect at the time of the incident... gotta throw these morons an honorary "underhanded softball pitch" to say I wasn't entirely one-sided in this post...

Well, I'll end this post with a quote often attributed to both Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin (but actually unknown who actually said it):
 If you will sacrifice a little liberty for a little security, you will lose both and deserve neither...

Although the proper screening procedures were followed at the time, we acknowledge this particular passenger experienced an out of the ordinary delay

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