memos to myself...

[derien]

(am at work, so doing proper html is beyond me at the moment.)

Censorship (via beowabbit):
http://www.livejournal.com/users/hrafn/176238.html
story about the above: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_11_28.php#004131
press release from UCC about the above http://www.ucc.org/news/u113004a.htm


Chn_breathmint nervous about TSA:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/chn_breathmint/323025.html?
because of this story (which for some reason I cannot access from work.)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/strange_selkie/86835.html

I'm in Civil Rights class, so am feeling very pertinent at the moment.

Comments

[canaa.livejournal.com]

The one you can't visit (not due to work, but because she locked the post, due to not wanting to be put on some sort of no-fly-list for daring to be upset at how she was treated) and would be the traumatized entry a lady made after she was, for absolutely no reason she was ever given beyond "discrepancies in her ID," (I can't access the post to get the exact quote, but I believe those were her words) not only both strip searched and patted down, but from the sound of it, they did a minor sort of cavity search on her (she made a comment about how it's different when it's not your girlfriend's finger).

I'm sorry, but if the TSA can do that to me, legally, without a medical person, without giving me some damned good REASON why they think I might be smuggling something in my nether regions, then I'm walking to Yaoicon next year, and anywhere else I have to go. What amounts to legal rape is not something I plan to subject myself to. Ever.

Nothing against you, 'cause I know you wouldn't be like the people who did this to her, who were both insulting and laughing at her and the fact she was crying over the indignities the whole time.

[derien.livejournal.com]

TSA really can NOT legally do that. Only the police can do that. I suppose at this hour of the day, given the conversation that's been going on about this on metafilter , you're probably quite aware of that by now.

I'm really frustrated by this whole situation, I can't even tell you how annoyed I am. Assuming her story is true and correct (hang in, I'll deal with that comment in a minute) at the very least I have to be upset that my fellow TSA screeners are not following procedure and are doing things that are grossly wrong, and, in my opinion, horrible things to do.

I want to believe that she reported things as she understood them, and that maybe she didn't realize she'd been handed off to the police. If I assume that scenario, there may have been a whole lot of things going on that she wasn't aware of. I don't know anything about police procedures, but even if they were doing things completely by their proper procedures, her mistaken belief that this was the TSA doing this makes us look bad.

There is also the possibility that it may be factual but there may be other details she's not telling us.

I commented on her post, and was very supportive and encouraged her to get a lawyer and contact the ACLU. If this happened to her it doesn't matter who did it, it was wrong. I don't think anyone should get away with treating people like crap.

Oh dear, it's way past our bedtime. Gotta run.