TSA: Thugs Sexually Assaulting

Ever since 9/11, this country has been in inflamed in a new wave of paranoia. There are people and governmental bodies who are becoming increasingly suspicious of foreigners, especially ones who were from the Middle East. Even people that aren't from the middle but look like one were given "the eye". New government agencies were formed and people in security were trained better in ways of looking out for danger. There have been already two other waves of paranoia prior to this recent one and they were back in the 1950's. That is when everyone in the United States were afraid of the "red scare". The raising power of communism freaked people out like no other because they were so paranoid and misinformed. Also back then, our CIA agents were trained better to look for suspicious activities relating to communism and probably new government bodies were created to look into that matter. The main point I will try to get at in this blog is that, this country will go to great lengths to try control the situation even if people's basic civil liberties get in the way. In this blog, I will highlight the situations where the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) would use such outrageous tactics to basically bully people in the name of safety.

 

First of all, lets look into the statistics regarding TSA's new procedures and devices for "safety". Over 64 percent of Americans say they approve of the new body scanners and 32 percent said they opposed. They polled only 514 people and they seem to have a saying for the rest of us. I, myself, highly disapprove of such a device, not only due to health reasons and also for your basic privacy reasons. "Experts" say that the amount of radiation from those body scanners are well within normal limits and the radiation that you are exposed to are equivalent to that of flying in an airplane. Wait a darn minute, if I'm already been exposed to radiation while flying why would I want more radiation as an appetizer prior to fly??? Do those experts even know what they are talking about? Radiation causes mutations which can cause cancer and last time I checked, there isn't a cure for cancer yet. Please, I must insist on passing on the radiation appetizer prior to receiving more radiation. You can say that I am scared of radiation and I stress the issue too much, but let us be serious, do you honestly want to be exposed to more radiation? I think not and until they can provide with much safe alternatives to X-rays, I will always will be in opposition. Also, the thought of some random person seeing your privates is so awkward and wrong.

Alright, lets move right along to the second part of the poll conducted about the new tactics that the TSA is using. About 48 percent of Americans (by Americans, they mean 514 people) thought the pat downs are justified and 50 percent thought it gone too far. These are close numbers but I think it does put into perspective that most Americans are more or less against the new pat down procedures. I would be riding shotgun with the ones that are against of course. Many people say that the pat downs aren't too bad and if you want to fly, quit your whining. I would say to those people, please get your head screwed on straight and it is very sad that you don't even recognize when your basic civil liberties are being infringed upon. Other people will say, it is for safety. What is it that we are trying to be safe from? Are we anymore safe from terrorists than before we had these new devices and procedures? The only thing that these new additions are doing is fueling our paranoia of everyone inside and outside of America. The terrorists are probably watching our news and laughing out loud in their caves right now and having a good life watching us act so ridiculous against our own people. My family and I don't fly as much, maybe every 5-7 years but even that is enough to oppose such an abusive piece of work. I can't imagine for the people who have to fly everyday and even though they might not have to be pat down each time, it can still be very frustrating and awkward for someone you don't know to keep groping you day in and out.

The intrusive nature of the pat downs needs to stop and better ways of scanning needs to be develop so this matter can be put to rest. It also doesn't hurt to give the TSA "thugs" as many would like to call them, sensitivity training. The video above is among many of videos that will demonstrate my point exactly. That poor girl had a concussion, her arms were twisted so far behind her back that they nearly popped off, and also not to the mention the psychological damage she will have to endure for a while. Instead of introducing a new technology such as the body scanner, maybe we can focus more on the betterment of the metal detectors. Perhaps we can make them much more sensitive to detect various elements are needed to make an explosive device. In conclusion, what have we learned? We do not need to be exposed to anymore radiation than we already are exposed to on a daily basis so that we can fly. This is not the Fallout World and gaining radiation does not give anyone any special abilities like glowing in the dark. Another thing that we can learn from this is, is that the TSA needs to stop hiring random thugs off the streets or straight from out of prison to be agents. Please don't get me wrong, I'm all for rehabilitating criminals so they can be reintroduced into society but this is too much of kick to start them out with.  I know this thugs and criminals things has been used to death but I think it is still the best reference to use when watching TSA agents work.