Airports: No Bill of Rights Here

Airport security is now suspending the Bill of Rights: explicitly, not imagined or assumed:

"A traveler frustrated with recent changes to airport security procedures found himself detained in Milwaukee after writing a message critical of the TSA's leader on a plastic bag presented for screening. The message, which read "Kip Hawley is an Idiot," resulted in a confrontation with law enforcement, the traveler being told that his right to freedom of speech applied only "out there (pointing past the id checkers) not while in here [the checkpoint]." The story, which is detailed in a rapidly-growing thread on a discussion forum catering to frequent flyers, has attracted the interest of the ACLU, an AP reporter, and many others. The incident raises a number of interesting questions and concerns regarding just where our rights end."

The death of rights in America continues.

www.flyertalk.com Note: This site has been Slashdotted, the database crashed as of this morning. Wait a while for the rush to slow down.

Well, it's not just for secret prisons anymore!

ah yes, Milwaukee's finest hard at work.

How much are these people paid, above minimum wage?
How are they selected, any kind of psych screning?
When some people get a little power, the chip on their shoulder shows.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SmartWombat

How much are these people paid, above minimum wage?
How are they selected, any kind of psych screning?
When some people get a little power, the chip on their shoulder shows.

---

In my experience, a good portion of these people are basically rent-a-cops. They have a few actual policemen there, but a lot of the guys appear to be from a security company.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SmartWombat

How are they selected, any kind of psych screning?

---

I'll bet there's some basic economics at work here - not a lot of people would want that job and they only have so much money budgeted for screeners, so they get what they get (no offense to any screeners out there :) ). Like a lot of situations, you'll run into mostly reasonable people and a few unreasonable ones who just want to make life difficult.

You're all probably familiar with the new regulations as of last Tuesday - I flew on Thursday and didn't see anyone taking advantage of the change, or any signs up at screening. I heard yesterday about someone with two tubes of toothpaste that only had about one squeeze left in each. Since each tube was 5.5 oz (when full) they weren't allowed. Obviously I don't see any harm in it, but OTOH I try to follow the regulations to the letter and have never had a problem. I don't want to miss a flight or go thru who-knows-what just to make a point.

Did anyone watch Saturday Night Live last night? They had a skit on there about the TSA and the new regulations. It was pretty funny!

Yeah, I caught that part of SNL :)