#CaptialismFAIL‏

Edward Snowden, Hero

(Click to enlarge.)

Social Media in a Nutshell

The Dalai Lama

(As always, click to enlarge.)

TSA forces woman to disrobe at checkpoint

I've been meaning to post this woman's account for a while, but with so many TSA stories to keep track of (and more in the pipeline), it got away from me. 

Down the Drain

Drone On

New passenger discovers TSA grope policy

ADDENDUM March 1, 2016: Since I originally wrote this post, two years ago, the weasely, lying, criminal TSA has, of course, eliminated several of the pages to which I linked. If you click on those links today, you'll get an error message: "Page Not Found." Why is it not found? Who knows? Because the TSA is incompetent? Because it doesn't want people to learn what its policies are, we the people who pay every stinking salary at that stinking agency? I don't know. But I do know that I've gone through hundreds of past posts I've done at TSA News and corrected, repeatedly, broken links, only to find, later, that they become broken once again. I give up. The TSA is trying to hide its policies because its policies are abusive. And when it doesn't outright hide them, it tries to obfuscate them with weasely language. So take what you will from this post. Everything I wrote here is accurate and true and was backed up with empirical evidence. The TSA's hiding or removing of that evidence is par for the course.
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Charlotte Ann Kimbrough is a 57-year-old retired law enforcement professional. She worked for 32 years in an administrative capacity with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and other federal law enforcement agencies. She has two metal hip replacements.

USA Today

Another namby-pamby Congressional response to TSA abuse

As we've been reporting here for years, many of us have used all sorts of methods to fight TSA abuse. 

Capitalism by Michael Parenti

Single Carrot Theatre Gala May 2014

Dawna Cobb (in red) and Lisa Simeone (in white) at the Single Carrot Theatre gala in May 2014. Are we rockin' it or what?! 

Maybe

From the Guardian, by Trevor Timm: 

Summer air travel predicted to increase, despite TSA

As if on cue after yesterday's post about train travel in the U.S., the largest airline trade association in the country has just come out with a prediction about summer air travel. And to anyone who thinks the TSA has put a damper on that travel, the stats appear to indicate otherwise. 

Stony Brook Survey

Stony Brook University has an on-line survey they'd like you to take. You may have seen bits of it in a New York Times article a few weeks ago. It's entirely anonymous, and results of the survey will be posted publicly on the university website when it's all done. Here's the link and the blurb:  

Their Eyes are the Window to Your Soul:  Researchers Seek Participants in Online Study 

TSA supervisor arrested for sexual misconduct, assault on minors

From New York, we have word of yet another TSA agent — in this case a supervisor — being charged with sex crimes. Sex crimes with minors, no less.  

Americans: TSA abuse is fine, just don't make me pay for my bags!

Yet another article in the mainstream press with people whingeing about the fact that they have to -- gasp! -- pay a few extra bucks to carry on and/or check their luggage.  

UPDATE to Cecily McMillan Case

A couple of updates to the case of the injustice carried out against Cecily McMillan, which I wrote about earlier today. 

The updates are from the UK paper the Guardian, which has given this story comprehensive coverage throughout, unlike the American mainstream press, which, if it covers it at all, usually buries it -- in the case of the New York Times, in the NY Region section, even though it's a case with national implications. 

(Oh, and I'm still looking for it at NPR, whose website shows nothing about the case. Surprise, surprise.)  

Cecily McMillan, Victim of Police Assault, Found Guilty, In Jail

In the continuing cavalcade of innocent people put in prison in this country -- the vast majority of whom are poor and/or people of color -- we now add Cecily McMillan, an Occupy activist who was assaulted by a New York City cop and who is now in jail for it.

You read that right. She was assaulted by him. Yet she is in jail. And he -- with a history of committing abuse -- is walking free.  

TSA Pinches Pot Purveyor on Plane

Danger! Danger! Pot on a plane! TSA to the rescue!

I'm so glad the brave men and women of the TSA rifle through our luggage, leave cheeky notes, and in general stick their noses in our business. Because otherwise, we would all be in danger of being blown out of the sky due to concealed greenery.  

DHS and Corporate Honchos Punked by Yes Men

From my pal and indefatigable comrade-in-arms Kevin Zeese comes this account of a brilliant stunt by The Yes Men. (When you see "RuPaul's wig designer" as a photo caption, you know you're in for a good time):

New GAO report again finds TSA waste; Congress clueless

One of our esteemed members of Congress has once again opened his mouth and revealed how out of touch he is with not only his constituents, but reality in general. He's also only too happy to spend more of their -- and our -- money on the TSA, believing that the $8 billion a year we already pay to be bullied, harassed, robbed, and assaulted isn't enough.  

"Judgmental Map" of Baltimore

God knows I loathe the jargon word "judgmental" (and loads of other words, phrases, and locutions -- I'm an insufferable schoolmarm and long overdue for a post or two or three pertaining thereto), but this site, Judgmental Maps, is hilarious. 

Though I'm not a native Baltimorean, I've lived here so long and love the city so much I consider it my hometown. This map is a riot. And very un-pc. So if you're one of those p.c. types, just skip it. This is black humor, folks, "black" in the literary, not racial, sense. It's dark. It's meant to be. My god, how pathetic that I have to explain this. Thanks to Meg of the brilliant blog Pigtown Design for alerting me to this map. As always with images here, click to enlarge (or go to the original site at link):  

Guns in America: Suffer the Little Children to Come Unto Me

Nah, this country isn't fucked up.  

Police State USA: Supreme Court Refuses to Hear NDAA Challenge

The U.S. is a fucking police state. I don't care how many people don't get it, I don't care how many of them have their heads up their asses, the U.S. is a police state. Thank god my activist friends get it; at least I have a few people I can talk to.

The latest from the Supreme Rubber Stampers of the land, via the Rutherford Institute:

Dianne Feinstein the Hypocrite, Part Deux

As I wrote on March 12, 2014, Dianne Feinstein is a hypocrite. She was fine with the egregious, relentless spying on us peons by the "intelligence" agencies, but got her knickers in a twist when that spying was suddenly turned on her.

It's the same with hypocrites everywhere: it's always okay when other people take it on the chin; it's just not okay when you or yours do.

DHS TSA corruption - so what else is new?

A report came out last week exposing corruption at the Department of Homeland Security, with the DHS inspector general in cahoots with other officials high up in the administration.

United State of Authoritarianism

Macho posturing with deadly results in the United States of Authoritarianism:

"Now ask yourself: What sort of person would be attracted to a career in law enforcement based on the images and activities depicted in that video? And is that the sort of person you’d want wearing a badge and carrying a gun in your neighborhood?" Balko asked in the online edition of the Washington Post.“

Police State USA: FBI Uses No-Fly List as Retribution

This country is a fucking police state.

Suit Charges FBI Used No-Fly List as Retribution Against Muslim Men 

Muslim-Americans say FBI used list to coerce them into informing on their communities

“I do not want to become an informant, but the government says I must in order to be taken off the no-fly list,” said Awais Sajjad, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “How can the government tell me that the only way I can see my family again is if I turn my back on my community?” 

The men say they believe that the FBI used the no-fly list in attempt to coerce and intimidate them into being spies for the bureau. Some were told that infiltration could get their names wiped from the list, while others were threatened with being placed on the list if they resisted recruitment. 

Being placed on the no-fly list had severe repercussions in all of their lives, including loss of jobs, stigma, and being cut off from family members and loved ones.

The manner in which the US government manages the no-fly list remains secret. People who find themselves on this list do not receive explanations or due process. According to CCR, there were over 21,000 people on the list as of 2012. 

We've out-Orwelled Orwell, out-Huxleyed Huxley, and out-Kafkaed Kafka. 

Stacey Armato settles lawsuit against TSA

*UPDATE BELOW. Stacey Armato, the lawyer and mother who was bullied, harassed, and made to miss her flight by the TSA in 2010, has reached a settlement in her lawsuit against the TSA. We've written about Armato and her case several times. Information about her case is also in the Master List of TSA Crimes and Abuses.