TSA

[wbm.livejournal.com]

Hey there. This is a comics opinion of my own creation.



I've never flown. With what's happening in airports these days, I never will. Among my personal issues is a near-total mistrust of authority, & that's under normal circumstances. This developing TSA sitch isn't normal, but what if it becomes the accepted standard?

As many before me have, I try to ascertain where religious practices originate. One tradition's no pork/shellfish makes sense in a pre-refrigeration culture. With another tradition's three rinses of water over the body on the right & 3 on the left, it, too, makes sense when one realizes that a single rinse barely washes anything away; as a one-time floor cleaner, the first layer of water is applied to dissolve/absorb dirt & other substances; subsequent water applications then wash away the dirt-laden water.

So, with these new rules, where will our up-&-coming TSA agents come from? The standards set for the applications process for police, clergy, seniors care & daycare are acceptable if one assumes everyone is & remains reasonable & well-adjusted. And yet this is the tragic, human flaw that abusers find their way through in order to make contact with unassuming new victims.

Unless something changes, & quickly, this is going to become a worst-case scenario without ever seeing another bomb.

We are terrorizing ourselves with penetrating eyes & groping hand condoms.

Comments

[light-over-me.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but even if there are no pat downs at all, it's still an issue... because we don't really know yet if these body scanners are even safe (http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/airport-scanners-do-pose-cancer-risks/) for long term use. Especially for people who'd be using them all the time?? And if we start making passes for airport staff and frequent business travelers... and Muslim women...and whatever other group who decides to complain...what's the point? They haven't thought this one through at all. This not even getting into the privacy concerns, which are another whole can of worms.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

The Transportation Safety Administration is dedicated to using the most advanced security techniques to ensure your safety, and works hard to give the traveling public what it desires:

http://www.tsa.gov/approach/tech/ait/reading.shtm

In addition to providing up-to-date (out of date or cherry-picked) polls about it's new procedures, TSA provides polite euphemisms to avoid offense: "trained technicians who administer pat-downs" instead of a more descriptive term, such as "rubber gloved ass-probers who squeeze your family jewels".

[kinvore.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda torn on this whole thing. I think it's an abhorrent invasion of privacy but I think I'd be okay with it if it were able to guarantee no more bombs on planes with 100% certainty (which it doesn't).

Great comic, and welcome to our community!

[taurus-1.livejournal.com]

Great comic!
Ahem... Excuse me, is it a land of true democracy in a Constitutional Republic combined with true Liberty?

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

I second the commendation for the effort, both on the comic and dissecting the subject. Now thats what i was talking about.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

I must say you caught the essence of the issue very precisely in this cartoon. Actually several major issues all in one. You're good you know.

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

Wait, you're claiming that the new TSA rules will result in child molesters seeking out TSA jobs in order to molest children? Seriously? Let's not trivialize the actual real and potentially noteworthy issues here with irrational hyperbole.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the community.

The Ancient Israelite prohibition on pork was a general Levantine area (the Severan Emperors didn't eat pork either, and they were pre-Christian Syrians) due to pigs not really being an efficient food source in the desert. If Israel's religion had originated in Northern Europe the taboo would be goats.

The problem with this is that the United States appears to want to have its cake and eat it too. Sure, there was no terrorism problem in the Soviet Union, but then the state had spies in people's soup and the overall quality of life was......poor at the best of times. To understate it. Democratic societies must have standards, or else we end up with a "democracy" that in truth is nothing but dictatorship with a thin veneer of the old system over it.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

I hope you can find resolution for your personal issues.