WE WON'T FLY! - The Slow Bus to Totalitarianism

STOP FLYING UNTIL THE SCANNERS AND GROPERS ARE GONE - ACT NOW - TRAVEL WITH DIGNITY

This is a guest post by A.J.E. at http://wewontfly.com/guest-post-the-slow-bus-to-totalitarianism
“This new TSA business that Obama’s allowing is terrible! I hope the new congress can do something about it.”

As much as I would otherwise agree with this statement uttered by a friend in conversation, it contains an implicit fallacy. That fallacy is that the invasion of our liberty began in 2009, which is quite evidentially false. Liberty has been chipped away in America for many years, far longer than I have lived. Whether it be in the form of military conscription (legalized slavery,) the removal of posse comitatus and the writ of habeus corpus or the removal of first, second, fourth, and tenth amendment protections, America has not fallen so far in a day.

This incremental approach to tyranny is quite visible, especially in light of the amazing Declaration of Independance which gives us a glimpse of the grievances that caused the colonies to revolt against Britain.

Many of these grievances have strikingly modern similarities.

“He (the King) has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

This is very much like the bureaucracy that we are afflicted with today, and such offices and unelected bureaucrats have increased with the aid of both parties. Just the agencies and departments beginning with the letter “A” fill an entire page.

“He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our legislatures.”

The Posse Comitatus act is all but a dead letter, so replete with exceptions it doesn’t bear much concern. There is even a military theater command for North America, (I hadn’t realized there was war in North America or the United States, but indeed the global war on “terror” and drugs crosses all boundaries and jurisdictions. At least of those weaker than the federal government.) They explain a few of those

Also of note is the disarming of law-abiding citizens by the federal government. The U.S. Marshalls, the National guard and local police, which are all but co-opted by the federal government and militarized by the same, engaged in the disarmament of law-abiding citizens in New Orleans.

I know, we can’t let a good crisis go to waste.

“He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:…

–For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent”

Few would question the resemblance of this claim to modern events. Taxes, both direct, indirect and inflationary have been levied on us apart from the consent of the taxed. Most deadly and surreptitious of them all is the inflation tax. More people are coming to understand that the devaluation of our currency is a tax on all those that hold that currency, much like diluting a fluid to make it go farther. The one measuring out the dilution is the one who profits from it. Those who held a fixed amount of dollars in an account since 1913 have lost over 94% of the value that their medium of exchange once held. The trend has shown no indication of reversal.

“For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury,
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences…”

This is one where the modern similarities might seem to diminish for some. Quite the contrary, for the precedent has already been set which encouraged Barack Obama to maintain a hit list of American citizens that he deems guilty. “Strong evidence,” apparently, is needed. Whatever that means.

This may not bother some so long as such hits are carried out on foreigners with Muslim names, but the Declaration of Independence is at odds with such an idea, as said below:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

Note that these rights are not said to be granted only to American citizens, but that “all men are created equal” and are endowed by their Creator with these rights.

This also means that our rulers are not above the rest, though they often seem so when not campaigning.

Interestingly enough, most of the senators and representatives responsible for the agency now demanding un-Constitutional searches of fliers do not have to submit to such indignities.

These indignities, along with the bureaucracy propagating them were not created yesterday and have been pushed by both wings of our one-party State.

It’s been interesting to look back on the political stumping and screeching of the various politicians as the Democrats decried the beefed-up TSA and the Patriot Act, but upon the election of the Holy One, Barack Obama, these became “terror-fighting” and “necessary” things for safety’s sake. Meanwhile the Republicans and Republican-melded elements of the tea-party movement are decrying them suddenly as a form of “Obama’s tyranny.”

The truth of Vladimir Lenin’s statement, that “Politics is a question of who does what to whom,” shines clearly.

No, to get in the fight to reclaim our liberty against intrusion by the State we must ignore the false dichotomy of the modern right-left politik and attend to the protection of rights from both, any, and all political power-mongers who might remove these protections or ignore their defense.

The invasion of our rights was not begun yesterday, in 2009 or even 2001. Neither can we depend on either political party to protect our rights. We must take on the responsibility to protect those rights ourselves, and withdrawing our consent from such establishments of the State is a great way to start.

It’s important to know the nature and identity of the oppression, and that it often comes draped with a flag and carrying a cross.

Check out A.J.’s blog at www.woodscraps.blogspot.com

Here’s What You Can Do

1. STOP FLYING.
2. Join our Targeted Meltdown Campaign.
3. Join our National Billboard Campaign.
4. Join us for Dec 23rd – We Won’t Fly Day.
5. Take photos of TSA checkpoints.
6. Demand fresh gloves for pat downs.
7. Protest to the airlines.
8. Share your experience with EPIC.
9. File a complaint with the ACLU.
10. Make a fuss to the hotels.
11. Create a video saying why you won’t fly.
12. Read our daily TSA Resistance Blog.
13. Demand the pilots stand with us.
14. Get your local govt to ban the scanners.
15. Complain to the government.
16. File a TSA Civil Rights complaint.
17. Tell us your TSA story.
18. Tweet with hashtag #wontfly.
19. Got more ideas? Share them!

Obama voted for the Patriot Act twice, not once and is in full support of TSA.

Neither of the two scanners - millimeter wave or x-ray "backscatter" - have been proven safe. In fact, the TSA itself recently retracted an earlier claim that a Johns Hopkins study proved the scanners' safety. University of California scientists recently informed the white house that the radiation dosage is higher than what TSA will admit and disproportionately affects eyes, breasts, testicles and skin.

TSA screeners don't change gloves between pat downs, risking the spread of contagion, such as lice (see picture at right), scabies, the difficult-to-treat MRSA or worse. Do you want to become a casualty of this dangerous experiment?


We need real security, not security theater. Al-Qaeda is an agile, networked organization. The TSA is a top-down, lumbering bureuacracy. Al-Qaeda operatives are independent operators. TSA employees are order-takers. It’s like David and Goliath, the Viet Cong vs the US Army, Luke vs the Death Star. The TSA is structurally incapable of defending against this threat.

Airlines must work with us, their customers, to find effective security solutions that don't wantonly trample our dignity or health. Given choice, we can vote with our dollars. May the best solutions win. Privatization to crony corporations is not the answer. We need effective, accountable security informed by viable examples around the world.

The federal government's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently dictated new airport security procedures that leave us travelers with the choice of a virtual strip search in a full body scanner or a very hands-on pat down that touches breasts and genitals.

This security theater makes us less safe. It is ineffective and dangerous. It tramples our basic human dignity and liberty. It presents a serious health risk. Flying is simply not worth the trouble anymore. We Won't Fly is a consumer advocate that speaks out in defense of air travelers.


The scanners do not detect the explosives used by the underwear bomber - the pretext for rolling them out in the first place. A former head of Israeli airport security says he can get enough explosives through them to take down a 747. The pat downs can't detect weapons inside the body. The risk of dying from scanner radiation is equal to the risk of dying in a terrorist attack. And theTSA focuses on dangerous objects instead of dangerous people.

Passengers stopped the shoe and underwear bombers, not the TSA. In order to remain effective, passengers must be vigilant and focused. But the TSA lulls us into a false sense of security and often intimidates and humiliates passengers. This TSA security theater actually makes us less safe.


TSA agents routinely treat travelers like dirt. The scanner images - which can be saved and transmitted - leave little to the imagination. The "enhanced" pat downs involve touching, often directly, of breasts and genitals and, sometimes, removal of prosthetics.

There are reports of pants being dropped, strip searches behind closed doors, hands down pants and exposed breasts. The TSA is trampling our basic human dignity, not to mention our liberty. Without these, what do we have left? The TSA traumatizes the most vulnerable in our communities: children, grandmas and sexual assault survivors. Victims can be moved to tears or relive past traumas. Will you tolerate this?

Flying Not Worth the Trouble

http://wewontfly.com/

The Man Who Took on Bog Sis - Chris Liu: I am the YouTube airline pilot

COLFAX, CA - WORLD EXCLUSIVE: The airline pilot who lost his federally-issued gun and badge for posting video on YouTube critical of airport security has chosen to go public with his identity.

"My name is Chris Liu and I'm an airline pilot," Liu said during an exclusive interview Monday with News10 at his home in Colfax.

Liu's cell phone video tour of security at San Francisco International Airport led to a team of six federal agents and sheriff's deputies coming to his home on Dec. 2 to take his handgun and Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) credentials.

Liu's state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon was also suspended by the Placer County sheriff.

Liu contacted News10 last Tuesday to share his story, but insisted that neither he nor his airline be identified for fear of retaliation.

Liu decided to reveal his identity Monday because he wants to become actively involved in changing what he believes is a major flaw in airport security.

"I just found a disparity between what happens upstairs and what happens downstairs," Liu explained.

As Liu pointed out in the video, pilots and flight crew are subjected to real-time TSA security screening while ground crew are not. "Upstairs they're going through the metal detectors and the X-ray machines, and downstairs they're swiping a card," he said.
continued at http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=114138&catid=2

TSA solution: Name 'em and shame 'em
So far, the revolt against the Transportation and Security Administration has resulted in very little fundamental change, other than exemptions for special interests. By fundamental change, I mean the restoration of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures."

One misconception that lingers is that the traveler can choose between the Scylla of the scan and the Charybdis of the enhanced pat down. Even if you select what to you is a lesser evil, your TSA dominator or dominatrix could still pull you over for a once-over. After opting for the photons as opposed to the fondle, "a bladder cancer survivor from Michigan, who wears a urostomy bag that collects his urine," "was pulled to the side to be patted down by a TSA agent." Such stories abound.

A mushy-headed maxim followed in the U.S. holds that to be a victim – of crime, terrorism, one's own stupidity – is to be automatically conferred with oracular wisdom. The time was ripe to hear from relatives of those murdered on 9/11. At least two such Delphic sources have praised the home-grown terrorism of the TSA, advising Americans to play along with these probe-and-grope routines.

I give you "Mary and Frank Fetchet, whose son, Bradley James Fetchet, was killed on Sept. 11. [They] have … issued a statement in support of the new measures, citing the failed Christmas Day plot last December as a reminder that 'comprehensive security measures' are still needed." Another true believer is Alice Hoagland. Apparently, the fact that her son was killed in the Twin Towers gives her the (ostensible) authority to advocate for the rogering and radiating procedures.

Sign the WND petition demanding a halt to abusive TSA security checks now!

What can I recommend as resistance? Name and shame the perpetrators.

WE LIVE UNDER THE LAW OF RULE, AS OPPOSED TO THE RULE OF LAW. State workers are thus often shielded from the consequences of crimes they commit in the course of performing their "duties." Taking care to work around such legal protectionism, fliers who're frisked should document the name of the particular TSA perp who pawed them and expose him on the Internet. Footage of the victims is everywhere, but the agents – the stars in these horror films – remain nameless and faceless. Name, shame and dissociate from them.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=245733#ixzz19iOHp9HC
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=245733

Get your hands off me, TSA!

These airport so-called security measures amount to state-sponsored sexual harassment

Listen to this: "My freely chosen bedmates and doctors are the only ones allowed to see my naked body or touch my genitalia." For a sane person in a sane country that's the ultimate in "no XXXX, Sherlock" statement. But not where I live.

Not the United States of America. Not since 11 September 2001, when the government reacted to an attack on its citizens by lashing out against the very citizenry it claims to protect. No bureaucracy better embodies that reactionary principle than the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), whose contempt for American citizens has grown so great that they now require we submit to government agents either photographing our, to them, visibly naked bodies or groping us in molestation-style patdowns if we ever want to fly again.

I'm sick of the craven cliches TSA apologists have cited these past nine years:

"They protect us from terrorists."

No, they impose pointlessly superstitious security theatre, trample Americans' constitutional rights and make foreigners feel sorry for us. TSA protected nobody with its infamous "bathroom bans" after last year's Christmas terror attempt; rules like "keep your lap empty and your hands visible at all times" only demonstrated the agency's willingness to treat ordinary citizens like serial killers in supermax prison.

"You gave up your rights when you bought an airline ticket."

I never gave up any rights. The government stole them while cowards egged them on.

"TSA agents are just doing their jobs."

A lousy apologia and historically ignorant to boot; the civilised world established at Nuremberg that "just following orders" cuts no ice. And my fellow Americans are realising "it'll stop terrorists" cuts none either, at least not to justify low-grade sexual harassment as standard behaviour for government agents.

It's not hyperbole to call the enhanced patdown a low-grade sexual assault; if you don't believe me, go find some woman's boobs or man's balls, start cupping and squeezing them according to new TSA standards, and count how many offences you're charged with. Last month, an agent openly admitted that the purpose of the aggressive new patdowns was to intimidate people into choosing the nude scanners instead.

And Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano justified this Hobson's choice – and abandoned all pretence of being a "servant" accountable to the public – in an insufferably arrogant column she wrote for USA Today, burying outright lies beneath eye-glazing bureaucratic prose. "The imaging technology that we use cannot store, export, print or transmit images," she claimed – though this was proven untrue almost as soon as the scanners were put in use; last August, US marshals admitted to storing 35,000 images collected from one single courthouse – some of which have now been obtained by the website Gizmodo under a freedom of information request.

"Rigorous privacy safeguards are also in place to protect the travelling public."

You can't claim privacy points when ordering people to let you either see them naked or feel them up.

"The vast majority of travellers say they prefer this technology to alternative screening measures."

No, the vast majority realise Napolitano's gone too far this time, and the backlash has finally begun. November 24 – the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, and one of the busiest flying days of the year – is National Opt-Out Day, whose organiser Brian Sodegren calls for all Americans to refuse the nude scanners and insist the patdown be done in full public view, so everyone can see how law-abiding travelers are treated in the Land of the Free. Sodegren points out the obvious:

"You should never have to explain to your children, 'Remember that no stranger can touch or see your private area, unless it's a government employee, then it's OK.'"

Similarly, the group We Won't Fly calls for my fellow Americans to "Jam TSA checkpoints by opting out until they remove the porno-scanners!"

I've flown only three times since the inception of the TSA, and only when I couldn't avoid it: two business trips and a funeral I couldn't drive to. But I won't fly on vacation; and last winter, when I thought I'd need to cross the Atlantic, I made reservations in Canada – a 450-mile drive to the airport, but worth it to avoid the TSA.

I'm not alone. Industry leaders reportedly met with Napolitano to express their concerns; as one executive with the US Travel Association fretted, "We have received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from travelers vowing to stop flying."

continued at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/17/tsa-patdowns-scanner


Welcome to America, where you get yelled at when you arrive and felt up when you leave
Fig-leaf underpants – the new weapon against America's airport body scanners
continued at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/24/underpants-beat-airport-body-scanners?intcmp=239