INTERSTATE HIGHWAY TERRORISTS! TSA to the rescue...

Tennessee now has the TSA pulling over people on the interstate for searches.

Better go remove those bumper stickers...

oh boy... out of all the states terrorism could hit...

Bloody Hell! If they're anything like the McDonald's drop outs I see at airports I travel, we're all going much slower for no apparent reason involving way too many TSAs and getting bitched at while waiting.

Maybe Tennessee will BORG them.

Now who's laughing at George Orwell's remarkably accurate predictions, he was just 30 years off in timing.

Seems like it will do about as much good as Maryland's "Report suspicious activity" signs, which is to say none. Those signs do nothing but berkeley with the flow of traffic

Does TSA actually have any law enforcement powers and the training like real police do?

No.

MG_Bryan wrote: Seems like it will do about as much good as Maryland's "Report suspicious activity" signs, which is to say none. Those signs do nothing but berkeley with the flow of traffic

I just want to know why people slow down to read a sign you can see from 1/4 away. Its not a novel It seldom has more than 8 words.

ThePhranc wrote:

MG_Bryan wrote: Seems like it will do about as much good as Maryland's "Report suspicious activity" signs, which is to say none. Those signs do nothing but berkeley with the flow of traffic

I just want to know why people slow down to read a sign you can see from 1/4 away. Its not a novel It seldom has more than 8 words.

I wonder that every single time I drive south on 95. From the passenger seat without corrective lenses and 20/200 vision in my left eye, I can still read those ridiculous signs. The suspicious activity crap is the default for those things now anyway and has been for a long time; yet people jab the brakes every time.

I hate Maryland.

Im very curious as to how many "terrorists" they find through their investigating? Is there any actual benefit, or does this Gibbons guy have a cousin tied to VIPR/TSA getting fat on tax bux?

Is this just a plot to make Americans stay in their homes and never go anywhere voluntarily?

T.S.A. = Travel Stoppage Agency

Lately they've been "assisting" the NYPD check bags going into the Subway. I've had and seen several of these checks when it's just the PD, and they rarely take more than two minutes unless they find something good like they night this guy had several fake penises (peni'?) stuffed with pot. The other day I watched them set up during rush hour at a busy 1 train stop. A whole bunch of 6-7 graders ran down to the train a the TSA lady grabbed short kid carrying a big bag and a trombone. She opened all the zippers on his bag and turned it over dunping his book supplies and lunch everywhere. By the time he picked it up he missed 3 or 4 trains and was probably late for school.

ThePhranc wrote: Does TSA actually have any law enforcement powers and the training like real police do?

Powers? Their federal police. My guess is that they don't want to share the training they have because of the implications it may have. You don't give away your weakness.

Don't confuse the TSA with the untrained, underpaid contractors the take pictures of your business through your clothes at the airport.

The Federal Air Marshals are now actually part of the TSA. Air Marshals get real training; I can't comment on the other portions of TSA.

Wally wrote: Lately they've been "assisting" the NYPD check bags going into the Subway. I've had and seen several of these checks when it's just the PD, and they rarely take more than two minutes unless they find something good like they night this guy had several fake penises (peni'?) stuffed with pot. The other day I watched them set up during rush hour at a busy 1 train stop. A whole bunch of 6-7 graders ran down to the train a the TSA lady grabbed short kid carrying a big bag and a trombone. She opened all the zippers on his bag and turned it over dunping his book supplies and lunch everywhere. By the time he picked it up he missed 3 or 4 trains and was probably late for school.

I am not really sure why this makes me angry - as when I was a kid I was just as likely to make a mess of a kid carrying a trombone for fun... but the built-in idea that they can stop and search anyone at any time sparks a real berkeley you! streak in me. I wonder how long it will be before people notice what kind of place we call "Free" these days.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Wally wrote: Lately they've been "assisting" the NYPD check bags going into the Subway. I've had and seen several of these checks when it's just the PD, and they rarely take more than two minutes unless they find something good like they night this guy had several fake penises (peni'?) stuffed with pot. The other day I watched them set up during rush hour at a busy 1 train stop. A whole bunch of 6-7 graders ran down to the train a the TSA lady grabbed short kid carrying a big bag and a trombone. She opened all the zippers on his bag and turned it over dunping his book supplies and lunch everywhere. By the time he picked it up he missed 3 or 4 trains and was probably late for school.

I am not really sure why this makes me angry - as when I was a kid I was just as likely to make a mess of a kid carrying a trombone for fun... but the built-in idea that they can stop and search anyone at any time sparks a real berkeley you! streak in me. I wonder how long it will be before people notice what kind of place we call "Free" these days.

Most of them will never notice. Sheeple comes to mind.

Toyman01 wrote: Most of them will never notice. Sheeple comes to mind.

By the time we wake up and get angry about this stuff the opportunity to unberkeley ourselves will already have been lost.

Knock-knock. TSA, ma'm. We need to search your house. It's just a routine inspection. Now if you will just step into the van...

The whole thing has me worried but the part that I find the most surprising is how we're now turning into what I was taught was wrong about the Soviets. This whole "Report your neighbor" thing. Keep an eye on your friends and neighbors. Report them if you suspect they're a little "off".

Another way we're like the Soviets. The whole "May I see your papers comrade?" A direct result of the War on Vague Concepts (War on drugs, War on terrorism, War on X - insert your favorite fear, etc). At what point are citizens considered innocent? Will we have to start reporting our travel soon as Soviet citizens did at the height of Communism?

Want to make government smaller and save tax dollars? Axe the TSA first.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I am not really sure why this makes me angry - as when I was a kid I was just as likely to make a mess of a kid carrying a trombone for fun...

I think that was the worst part. You could just see that he was that kid, and the last thing he needed was to be singled out as a terrorist on his way to school.

Wally wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I am not really sure why this makes me angry - as when I was a kid I was just as likely to make a mess of a kid carrying a trombone for fun...

I think that was the worst part. You could just see that he was that kid, and the last thing he needed was to be singled out as a terrorist on his way to school.

Freedom and happiness is such a small price to pay for safety. <- sarcasm.

Wally wrote: I think that was the worst part. You could just see that he was that kid, and the last thing he needed was to be singled out as a terrorist on his way to school.

I think it is just that I have a vivid imagination and picture a future where we are like Michel Palin in the dentist chair at the end of Brazil - hoping for the imaginary "resistance" to drop in and save us.

N Sperlo wrote:

ThePhranc wrote: Does TSA actually have any law enforcement powers and the training like real police do?

Don't confuse the TSA with the untrained, underpaid contractors the take pictures of your business through your clothes at the airport.

Say what? The TSA security officers are federal employees, with federal medical and pensions, and they start out making like, 25k a year. Hardly underpaid for a mouth-breather.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: Most of them will never notice. Sheeple comes to mind.

By the time we wake up and get angry about this stuff the opportunity to unberkeley ourselves will already have been lost.

That time, imo, has already passed.

Sadly, imo, most people are thrilled to see it go, and happily embrace the results.

But it's for the children! Do you want the terrorists to win?