TSA Thug Opens, Spills Grandpa's Ashes, Has A Chuckle About It
I don't go quietly at the TSA grope-points -- the question is, why do so many other people? These are not security officials violating our bodies, our possessions and our constitutional rights -- they're unskilled workers putting on a show of security, with little concern for common sense, common decency or any of the other qualities that used to be at least somewhat common in this country.
From theindychannel.com:
John Gross, a resident of Indianapolis' south side, was leaving Florida with the remains of his grandfather -- Mario Mark Marcaletti, a Sicilian immigrant who worked for the Penn Central Railroad in central Indiana -- in a tightly sealed jar marked "Human Remains." Gross said he didn't think he'd have a problem, until he ran into a TSA agent at the Orlando airport."They opened up my bag, and I told them, 'Please, be careful. These are my grandpa's ashes,'" Gross told RTV6's Norman Cox. "She picked up the jar. She opened it up.
"I was told later on that she had no right to even open it, that they could have used other devices, like an X-ray machine. So she opened it up. She used her finger and was sifting through it. And then she accidentally spilled it."Gross says about a quarter to a third of the contents spilled on the floor, leaving him frantically trying to gather up as much as he could while anxious passengers waited behind him.
"She didn't apologize. She started laughing. I was on my hands and knees picking up bone fragments. I couldn't pick up all, everything that was lost. I mean, there was a long line behind me."
The TSA's own website says that human remains are to be opened under "no circumstances," according to the story.
Surely, we don't expect the likes of those working at the "security" checkpoint to be able to read.
Here's the comment, slightly edited, that I left on the Indy site:
Another commenter wrote: "Unfortunately, because there are people who want to commit terrorism, we have to put up with the TSA."This sounds like thinking but it's actually nonthink.
The TSA has not caught a single terrorist in its $60 billion plus history. It hires unskilled workers who would otherwise be vying hard for a job in the fast food industry to violate other Americans' constitutional rights for pay -- while ignoring the vast security holes in cargo.
This is not how you root out terrorist plots -- it's by having highly trained intelligence officers use probable cause to find out who plotters are long before they ever get to the airport. What we have now is obedience training for the American public -- to be docile and polite as our rights are yanked from us...as they increasingly are these days.
Thanks for the coming police state, all of you who don't speak up. Here's what I suggest instead.
via @DebWilker
Wow! Ok maybe the laughter was nervous laughter, but still unprofessional and cruel. An apology and help should have been offered right away. When you mess up - fess up and help.
Once again, why are these people not up to date on rules. I mean it seems every week it is another agent messes up. Saying something is not allowed, when it is. Or checking something that does not need to be checked. Yes rules and regulations change but when it is your frigging job - learn em. Be a professional. For fuck sakes, are you not provided thick binders with information or god forbid can ya check out the TSA website. Whoops forgot this is a job that does not require a high school diploma. Reading and thinking skills optional.
If I have choice of an incompetent moron fascist or a competent professional fascist, please give me a professional. At least I know if I am going to get beat I will know it is for valid reason and the beating properly done.
I keep saying it common sense is uncommon.
John Paulson at June 26, 2012 6:37 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/06/26/tsa_thug_opens.html#comment-3244870">comment from John PaulsonOnce again, why are these people not up to date on rules.
You encountered any of these people? Let's just say most of those I've encountered don't look like they're big readers (many have the dead eyes of a person who watches a lot of Saturday morning cartoons -- as an adult).
Amy Alkon at June 26, 2012 7:20 AM
Amy, I think you link to the OCRegister is wrong, keeps taking me to the main page with links to many of your articles, not one specifically
lujlp at June 26, 2012 7:58 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/06/26/tsa_thug_opens.html#comment-3244917">comment from lujlpSorry, here's the link: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/tsa-335352-agent-rights.html
Amy Alkon at June 26, 2012 8:15 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/06/26/tsa_thug_opens.html#comment-3244919">comment from Amy AlkonCorrected in blog post, too. Thanks for the tip.
Amy Alkon at June 26, 2012 8:16 AM
Boortz is covering this today.
Radwaste at June 26, 2012 8:35 AM
Why do these people think their badge excuses them from acting like human beings?
Besides the fact that they exist, there's always been something about a lot of TSA workers that bothers me that I couldn't quite define.
And I finally figured it out the last time I flew. I had just shown my ID and was waiting by the bins for a family to load up all their stuff, take off their shoes, etc. I saw a TSA worker with a cart full of bins coming towards me and, thinking he was going to add them to the bins I was standing near, I took a step to the side. Actually, it turns out, he was going trying to get to the other line, and I was now standing in his way.
He said, "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to step back into your place in line. I have to put these bins in their proper place, and I'm going to need you to cooperate with me."
I mean, who TALKS like that, besides, you know, REAL police officers at a crime scene? Couldn't he have just said, "'Scuse me"?
...also if TSA had spilled my grandparent's ashes, there would be a scene of epic proportions involving lots of tears and me taking as long as possible to pick up every last (eek!) bone fragment.
sofar at June 26, 2012 8:50 AM
"It hires unskilled workers who would otherwise be vying hard for a job in the fast food industry"
The first time I read that, I thought it said "hand". And then I realized that would probably be more accurate. The alarming thing about TSA is that my 5 y/o, who travels often with us, regards the ritual humiliation as normal. Such is the way that tyranny is built.
Hal_10000 at June 26, 2012 8:57 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/06/26/tsa_thug_opens.html#comment-3244965">comment from sofarI mean, who TALKS like that,
People who've never earned any reason to have power over other people but suddenly find themselves having it.
Amy Alkon at June 26, 2012 9:03 AM
I read two stories today that really did a number on my serenity. I mean really. Do these types of things make anyone else as pissed off.... This story with the TSA/Ashes was the first.
This one was the other:
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/06/26/child-porn-and-molestation-scandal-shocks-sf/
I think I am done for news today. I'm cutting myself off.
Feebie at June 26, 2012 12:04 PM
People who've never earned any reason to have power over other people but suddenly find themselves having it.
Ah! Well put. This also answers my question, "Why would anyone WANT to work for the TSA?"
sofar at June 26, 2012 1:28 PM
There's a (long) article currently at SOTT.net by Henry Giroux, from Truthout, June 19, 2012. It's titled "Beyond the Politics of the Big Lie-- The Education Deficit and the New Authoritarianism".
If you haven't noticed, there IS a prevailing trend towards making us a nation of cultural and political illiterates. Just as an example, ask any inner city black kid to name ONE of his "Civil Rights".
TSA workers with any ability to see the contradictions between their so-called jobs, versus actual laws, would never get hired in the first place. TSA depends on a large pool of applicants who in fact LACK the ability to question what they're doing. Faced with such questions by the public, their response is typically sociopathic. It's why you cannot reason with these illiterates-- it's like arguing with an idiot: you'll only forget which side you're on.
jefe at June 26, 2012 4:09 PM
That was almost funny (in the sickest possible way), except for the fact that I'm taking my father's ashes back to Arlington to be interred this summer and -- oddly enough -- I wondered whether I would have a problem carrying them on. United said no when I called them, but United and the TSA apparently follow a different play book.
Robert Scott Lawrence at June 26, 2012 4:20 PM
I'm going to post my regular rant. Please do a search at Who Is My Representative and copy the text below the dotted line and send it to them. Please post back if any of them tell you why the TSA is needed.
=================================================
The TSA was not needed one hour and one minute after Tower II was hit!
The paradigm, the norm, the expected, what everyone was taught to do was to sit down, shut up and wait for the plane to land and the negotiations happen. That was the model from Entebbe onward.
The passengers on board did not really know what was about to happen on September 11, 2001 at 8:46:30 when Flight 11 struck Tower I.
Even the passengers on Flight 175 probably didn't realize what was about to happen when they struck Tower II at 9:03:02.
The Pentagon crash of Flight 77 at 9:37:46 may have been still a matter of ignorance.
At 10:03:11 on September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after the brave souls counter-attacked and caused the hijackers to crash the plane.
The time difference is 60 minutes and 9 seconds from Tower II being struck to the crash of Flight 93. The shoe bomber and panty bomber were taken down by fellow passengers as well. Recently, JetBlue's Flight 191 pilot was taken down by the passengers once he was out of the cockpit. Additionally how many times have you heard of passengers' concerns and diverted flights?
The TSA is and has always been a joke, no make that a total stupidity, that has wasted our country's fortune going down a rabbit hole.
If you don't believe me look at the 9/11 timeline.
There will never be another 9/11 style attack unless the attackers can arrange planes full of geriatrics, and even then it would be doubtful.
Jim P. at June 26, 2012 8:32 PM
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