Fly The Paranoid Skies

Need anymore proof that the TSA needs some leadership?



That's right, no bomb in the underwear, no knife, gun, or a grenade, it's was Arabic language flashcards.

Having flown not long after Sept. 11th 2001, I can attest that TSA screeners are a paranoid lot that will question any and everything you have in your carry-on and in your pockets. I was selected for special screening twice - while leaving Kentucky for Colorado and coming back. Thankfully I didn't find myself in the situation that Nick George did, but I think that this shows the very nature of our society - we are told to be afraid of everything.

There's nothing wrong with taking precautions, but when you have a situation like this it makes me wonder what sort of training that TSA screeners get.

The Real Palin Derangement Syndrome

I've stated this many times, but it bears repeating again - conservatives love pretty, gimmicky, things. And when this is pointed out, conservatives suddenly think that those speaking against them are enshrouded in some cloud of fear.

S.E. Cupp love to use this schtick all the time.



Any reasonable person with a partially functioning brainstem can easily see that Palin is not a figure to be feared. At best, she's a thorn in the side of the conservative movement, continually making the caricature, cartoonish, image of the movement she is apparently trying to "lead" all the more real.

Recently, Oliver Willis posted on Twitter about this imagined "fear" that people like Cupp love to talk about. He stated that liberals and progressives fear Palin about as much as Brer Rabbit feared the briar patch.

That pretty much sums it up.

Dulles Int'l Airport Customs Sieze Reporter's Laptop - For No Reason

From U.S. News

Returning from a brief vacation to Germany in February, Bill Hogan was selected for additional screening by customs officials at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. Agents searched Hogan's luggage and then popped an unexpected question: Was he carrying any digital media cards or drives in his pockets? "Then they told me that they were impounding my laptop," says Hogan, a freelance investigative reporter whose recent stories have ranged from the origins of the Iraq war to the impact of money in presidential politics.

The extent of the program to confiscate electronics at customs points is unclear. A hearing Wednesday before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on the Constitution hopes to learn more about the extent of the program and safeguards to traveler's privacy. Lawsuits have also been filed, challenging how the program selects travelers for inspection. Citing those lawsuits, Customs and Border Protection, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, refuses to say exactly how common the practice is, how many computers, portable storage drives, and BlackBerries have been inspected and confiscated, or what happens to the devices once they are seized. Congressional investigators and plaintiffs involved in lawsuits believe that digital copies—so-called "mirror images" of drives—are sometimes made of materials after they are seized by customs.

It's a known fact that racial profiling has been/is taking place under the guise of 'national security'. But, as the 'fear' of the unknown grows within those that are members of customs, border patrol, local and state police forces, the risk for ANYONE to have their electronics confiscated increases exponentially.

One of the major issues that this raises, is how this will impact identity theft.

How are we, as American citizens, able to protect that information when confronted by a member of Customs or Homeland Security and asked to relinquish our cellphone, laptop, or PDA?

Our rights are increasingly disappearing.

Accoring to this ruling by the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals, The Departmenn of Homeland Security has every authority to search ANY electronic device on you without probable cause.