Sister Sage's Musings

Posts Tagged ‘Airport security’

Everybody thought a police state wasn’t eminent?   It’s not enough to have some minimum wage flunkies gawking at a scan of your birthday suit before you embark on a big airplane, but  now, if Bill C-42, an insidious law Steve just put out before the closing out parliament (How conveeenient!!); the U.S. (ok, to be fair, applicable to any foreign nation) could and would have access to all info about passengers on board commercial flights merely flying above their airspace, without even landing on American soil.  It would mean that if we’re flying to to places like Cuba or France via American airspace, the U.S. would have the right to know every piece of information about all the passengers on board the plane. In addition, the U.S. would have every right to refuse to allow any given passenger on said airplane.  Imagine, you bought your tickets, reserved your hotels, had all the travel itineraries mapped out only to receive the dreaded call that our American friends just don’t feel quite safe with you over 25, 000 feet (or whatever the altitude is) above them. This sounds like a typical tea-bagger catered law.

This new bill flies in the face of our privacy laws in favour of suck up to the U.S.  This seems like a continuation of  the Softwood Lumber debacle when we started losing our sovereignty to the U.S.  Naturally, this takes a grand chunk more of our sovereignty away.

Gee Steve, How far do you wanna suck up to President Obama? Or is it more the tea-bagger hit parade you’re trying to impress, so they would invite you to  play your reindeer games? Either way, I’m not comfortable with this and I seriously doubt many Canadians would be comfortable with this new law neither.

And yes, this is all about the U.S., as this is strictly an American demand. On the Americans are this paranoid. The Europeans don’t seem to like it neither and  hint at putting up a resistence.

“They just opened the door to everybody without even so much as, ‘Hello, why are you doing this?’

“They can harass our airlines, harass our passengers, anything they want to.”

Liberal MP Joe Volpe said in a telephone interview with The Gazette.

“The government doesn’t feel very comfortable about what it is doing,” Volpe said.

“It is trying to put one over on the public away from the scrutiny of the press and the opposition.”

NDP travel critic Dennis Bevington says pretty much the same thing as Volpe (OH NO!! watch the Harpercon cheerleaders cry coalition!!), saying that this bill was presented at “the very last moment” before the June 17 adjournment.

“We’re doing this without understanding what the threat assessment is,” Bevington added from Hay River, N.W.T., in his Western Arctic riding. “There’s no way this is going to get an easy ride.”

Well, I think Steve is very comfortable with what he’s doing. He just hasn’t had time to get his media together to craft the message as to why this is necessary.

I have an idea. The same one I had when the body scans first came in. Stop flying! Boycott it! Only corporations have Steve’s ear.   The  Liberals may be fighting back but I have a feeling, once again, we won’t support them to vote against it (piss poor polling numbers will reflect that yet again, although, folks, that’s going to have to change; you want the opposition to step up to the plate, we have to support them). If we stop flying en mass, airlines as well as other companies in the travel industry will lose big time.  See where this is going, boys n girls?

I know we all like to travel. But we can live without it.   Many of us wanted the G20 to be teleconferenced, we could practise what we preach. If we really cared about the environment, we would leave less of a carbon footprint by not flying.

I was orignally trying to find a confirmation of the latest the wankiest thing Orly Taitz has come up  with to day.

that is all over Twitter about everyone’s favourite Bither queen,  the Gabor missing link. Unfortunately, couldn’t find anything confirming it, but I found something else a propos for tonight given Helean Guergis’s temper tantrum at the Charlottetown airport.

I caught this over at Huffington Post Comedy. Yes, ways to entertain one’s self while stranded at an airport, enduring a flight delay.

Ok, maybe we don’t want her highness driving, even if it is fake at such slow speeds on a baggage carousel.

The video below is a bit dated, it gives a new take on airport security. Although, I don’t think anyone should have to see Princess Helena wearing simply a plastic bag, although, it does save the trouble of that newfangled scanner.

There are plenty more videos with suggestions here

I wonder what would the reaction have been to Minister Guergis’ antics in the Charlottetown Airport, had she been wearing a Burka?

For those living in an igloo on Melville Island, Ms. Guergis remonstrated rather pithily with staff at the Charlottetown Airport when she was denied immediate and unrestricted access to her flight, describing the “Garden of the Gulf” in terms more befitting fertilizer for that garden. After banging on security glass, flinging her shoes, and otherwise behaving badly, she was allowed on the plane, the take-off being delayed for her boarding.

Suppose a woman wearing a Burka was to behave in the same manner in a Canadian Airport?

Would she be allowed to board? Would the flight be held?

Or… Would she have been Tasered, handcuffed, and thrown in the Hoosegow to await the tender attentions of CSIS and the RCMP?

This is, of course, conjecture, as rarely if ever would you see an immigrant woman of a middle Eastern culture behave in such a manner.

It would be instructive if an enterprising member of the Fifth Estate in Canada were to put this to the test.

Any takers?

Transport minister, John Baird announced new taxes user fees in flight ticket prices.  We have only ourselves to blame for this.   Let’s get this straight, folks: you will be paying higher prices to accommodate this government porn. What is wrong with this picture?

Strippers, lap-dancers and porn stars are paid for their trouble, thus they have more dignity than anyone who voluntarily submits themselves to paying extra for some rent-a-cop to gawk at your naked body.  I had already blogged about this, complete with a pic of the anatomically correct scans.

It has been said  that kind of machine would never have picked up the underwear bomber, as it does not pick up powders, plastic or liquids; key ingredients for homemade bomb making. So John Baird arguing that higher prices for these machines will keep Canadians (or anyone else for that matter) safe is bogus.

Are we willing to pay to undignify ourselves for a little sun? That question pisses you off? It should, but not at me: I’m only pointing out a truth. The solution is simple. Stay at home. Don’t fly anywhere. Only travel to places that can be done by bus, car or train. You’ll survive very well, if not, better without it.

Perhaps if these airlines start losing business due to folks not flying anywhere anymore, they can start doing what most major corporations do best: lobby. Lobby to get rid of those ridiculous rent-a-cop peep shows.

It’s the same thing for rising gas prices. It’s because they can get away with it. Folks are suckers for their cars and governments know it. Again, perhaps if people radically cut down on driving, thus the purchase of gas becoming less of a necessity, they would eventually have to lower their prices in order to stay in business. But no, not only are a lot of folks insistant on driving their cars only a few blocks away but a lot of them insist on buying gas guzzler mini-vans. I digress.

Thomas Mulcair, N.D.P. finance critic called the Harpercons for their euphemisms.

“They can call it whatever they want, but at the end of the day, a tax by any other name is a tax.”

Another thing that would keep Canadians safer? Read my previous post on this subject; there is also a link to a great article by Ric Salutin. Basically, it’s  how we approach the Muslim world and how attitudes need to change where that is concerned. Heaven help us that we should actually try getting along with each other rather than insisting on keeping up this silly and useless war.

Perhaps it’s about time to adapt that old line from the Wizard of Oz: ‘There’s no place like home…’

As a matter of fact, terrorists should be the least of those fears. Giving in to those fears does nothing but capitalize on a fact most of us already know but don’t want to admit aloud: they’ve won.

Fridays on CJAD, Tommy Schnurmacher has a segment on his show called “The Single Ladies”, usually during the last half hour of the show; Two of the usual suspects are Tatiana, the ‘star’ real estate agent and Tommy’s  producer, Laura Casella, a junior lightweight from the right.  Tommy, one word of advice; leave grown-up talk for grown-ups please; having them on, talking over each other like gossipy teen-agers is hardly dignified for serious discussion. Please Tommy, if you want to discuss airport security, have people that are more qualified to talk about the subject; such as people who have travelled to and from Israel in the last few years;  a witness to terrorism or an expert on terrorism. In other words, no one who’s sole qualification is having drank Bush’s  and now Baird’s kool-aid.

Laura and Tatiana just can’t seem to understand why Canadians would be outraged at the idea of a body scan. To paraphrase Laura, ‘just a quick pic deleted in 5 seconds’.  You want some underpaid, undertrained rent-a-cop gawking at your body. How do you know you don’t fall on a bad one who not only won’t delete it, but adds it to his/her porn collection? For those who didn’t know what they will see and didn’t watch this Morning’s Question Period, Here is what these rent-a-cops will be eye-balling:

Image courtesy of Natural News

Looks pretty anatomically correct to me.    Self-respect and human dignity are not applicable? Are you really willing to be stripped of your dignity and for what? Sorry, I think there is more dignity to going to be filmed in a porn peep show; pole dancing in front of oglers at the strip joint;  at least they’re paid for their trouble.

Yes, most Canadians seemed to be in favour of those scans. Those who drank the kool-aid Corporate media is feeding us. The  question asked was if they preferred it to being frisked. Of course the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’. Now, put this question forward:  Would you prefer to not have to be touched and be seen naked. The answer of course would be resounding No. It’s a no brainer. Especially if one stopped to take a look at what those rent-a-cops would be gawking at.  No, don’t count on them not being saved on some data base. They are in favor only because the likes of the corporate media spoon feeding us that we must submit or we will get bombed.

Well, Laura,  did you know that John Baird mentioned to Jane Taber on Question Period this morning that children under 18 will be frisked?  You don’t see anything wrong with it? Traumatizing a child for the sake of airport security. It’s bad enough with the new hand luggage restrictions, toys that occupy an otherwise restless child would be banned. Again, rent-a-cops aren’t the most professional and have those same character flaws; what if some poor kid is unlucky enough to be padded down by some  pedophile?

Did you or anyone else for that matter check up on studies about radiation exposure particularly to frequent flyers? Before submitting to lighting our naked butts like Christmas trees; shouldn’t there be a study about the potential harm of the radiation exposure?

By their own admission (governments and manufacturers), these scans don’t pick up powders, liquids or plastics. In otherwards, once someone got their jollies looking at the scan of his Birthday suit, the underwear bomber still wouldn’t have been detected.

John Baird also points out that people will be able to bring a purse or laptop or blackberry. Well, bombs can be made from laptops and blackberries.

What about travellers with babies? For those who are parents, you  know all too well that an afternoon play date for your baby with  the neighbour’s children requires a huge bag for just a few hours; diapers, formula, bottles, extra clothes, toys, some food if they’re old enough, etc. etc. Think Parents, that big bag you would insist on packing for your baby for just a few hours locally would no longer be allowed as hand luggage. Nor would many of its’ contents as they’re pretty much all powder, liquid and plastic. I can see parents making alternate plans before taking their babies or toddlers on board a plane.

Speaking of parents, do they really want to deal with a restless child for hours because they can’t have their crayons and gameboys?

What would be next? Drug mules have proven  to hide condoms or balloons filled with drugs and /or other contraband in body cavities such as the rectum. Does this mean rectal searches become the order of the day? Wanna risk permanent health problems because of some rent-a-cop with zero medical training? Some of them swallow it; are we going to induce vomiting?  Sounds disgusting and yes, undignified; it is indeed.

How about those with the prosthesis? Internal (pacemakers, hip replacement, screws to hold joints together, etc) or external (false teeth, artificial limbs).  It has been said that these items have set off detectors.

Another new rule is no one is allowed to go to the bathroom an hour before landing.  Great! Another potential health hazzard and certain discomfort. How is forcing somebody to endure a full bladder going to help us feel more safe? How does that deter a terrorist? Or perhaps diapers for all would become in vogue?

Folks, let’s get some perspective here.  A few brief points:

• Air travel is still considered one of the safest ways to travel
• Terrorists do bomb and cause mayhem in places other than air planes like public transit during Rush hour, yet, do we subject ourselves to virtual strip searches or restrictions on the bags and packages we may be carrying?
• Everybody seems to forget about the potential dangers of ground travel; nobody remembers that beheading of Tim Maclean on a Greyhound bus?

Then, we hear Laura or Tatiana (so hard to tell; they keep shrieking over each other) that “The Israelis are Laughing at us!” Let’s talk about that shall we?

I had heard that Israel, a known target to pretty much most of the Middle-East has not had one incident on an El-Al plane or at Ben Gurion Airport in 40 years. Here is why.  Profiling, lists, extensive questioning, signalling suspicious behavior like paying cash for airline tickets, travelling far away with no suicase or even a hand bag; no change of clothes;  Extensive questioning for some who sends off the slightest of alarm bells.

I did not read anything about underwear scans or anything as creepy and ghoulish. The idea of profiling makes me cringe, but, personally, I’d rather submit to a bag inspection and extensive questioning and background check by trained agents rather than being groped or doing a virtual striptease for government porn before some rent-a-cop.

Just to be sure, I got in touch with an old classmate from elementary school over the week-end; now a wife and mother of three girls living in Israel and travels fairly often to Canada & the U.S. In addition to not being well versed about the new body scans, she says that only very special cases may be subject to a body scan at Ben Gurion.  She admits the checks can be a pain, but over all,  in any given airport, she feels safest at Ben Gurion; with no mass virtual stripteases. They’re not rent-a-cops, but trained professionals who know exactly what to look for and how to zero in on it with efficiency.

Before the official announcement of these body scans,  Dan Delmar, who was subbing on CJAD  very intelligently pointed out that good security is not confiscating colouring books, crayons and gameboys from restless children and making everybody suffer through an exploding bladder. He says, quite rightly, that good security is something the general population don’t see or feel. Undercover (well trained; not rent-a-cop; Hell, El-Al and Ben Gurion Airport have trained secret agents dealing with this detail) agents around the airport and on board the plane posing as travellers or even flight attendants. It was the first and will probably be the only intelligent discussion about Airport security we’ll hear in the corporate media.  Good, intelligent, balanced talk show hosts like Dan Delmar usually only fill in. That is too bad, I hope CJAD would consider giving Dan his own show some day.  He is one of the few who is balanced. Even his callers sound less psychotic & more reasonable.

One of Dan’s callers also pointed out that the terrorists have won and they will continue winning.  So true! After all, isn’t a terrorist’s goal to keep their targets afraid? There is also mental terror. These clowns know their enemy so well. The United States as a whole basically lives in hate and fear of anything different or whatever they perceive to be a threat on their materialism and capitalist greed. They have gotten today’s corporate media to serve that McCarthy Kool-Aid at every turn; convincing us that if we don’t comply to human indignities and /or potential health risks (short and long term).  No Laura, I wouldn’t necessarily say the Israelis are laughing at us as much as those bushwhackers on monkey bars (paraphrasing Michael Moore).

They have won  because they have not been brought to justice.  With all the intelligence at our disposal, why haven’t these thugs responsible for 9/11 or any other subsequent Al-Qaeda related incident been caught and tried before some tribunal and then sentenced appropriately? They will continue winning as long as they’re still at large.  Contrary to the rantings of yahoos like General McChrystal and Georgie and his cowboy speech following 9/11, reminiscant of John Wayne, more troops and bleeding financial & human resources in Afghanistan will not accomplish this.

In fact, these wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are provoking these terrorists further.  Then again, would the U.S. ever be happy during peace? I’m starting to wonder if they need constant conflict to keep their juices going. Did life get boring when the Cold war ended? One must wonder.

Ric Salutin, one of the few responsible, balanced columnists at the Grope and Fail wrote a very intelligent piece. Read it; I highly recommend it. The basic theme is:

A mom at her kid’s karate class this week said: “They keep applying Band-Aids, but it doesn’t stop the bleeding.”

No, it certainly wouldn’t. What Salutin meant was that instead of feverishly trying come up with newfangled ways of security at the expense of human rights and dignities; it’s time for change in foreign policy.

This is what’s so irritating: The security issue seems to drain scarce public discourse resources from that other topic, foreign policy. You’d think both could be talked about at once but apparently not. We hear more on security and less on the sources of the problem. Why are they angry in Yemen? Because U.S. drones invaded their space and menaced innocent people, once in 2002 and again (shhh, it’s supposed to be secret) last month. They didn’t like the 2003 invasion of Iraq either. The first attack on the U.S. embassy in Yemen came right after that, long before the one planned recently.

It’s not an obscure subject. The U.S.’s 9/11 commission said chief planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was motivated by American Mideast policy. Osama bin Laden said he reached his decision to strike the U.S. while watching its ships bombard Beirut in 1983. The supply of terror will remain endless if you keep replenishing it with invasion, war and other such policies.

I am not excusing these terrorist acts; I don’t think Ric Salutin is neither or anyone else like minded.  However, we shouldn’t be provoking them neither. In fact, it is time to at least attempt to make peace.

Yes, for the time being, find better methods of security that we don’t see or feel. However, work at foreign policy. Accept governments that were democratically elected by its’ own citizens instead of discounting them as enemy terrorists, like Hamas. This ‘tough guy’  attitude of ‘We won’t talk to terrorists’  just doesn’t wash anymore.

After all,  years of IRA  & Sinn Fein terror came to end in Ireland and the Great Britain. NowSinn Fein  is a legitimate  party of the government of Ireland.

Until we end those wars in Iraq (U.S.) & Afghanistan, until we change foreign policy and until we stop scrambling for new fangled airport security measures which will cause more harm to innocent people than good,  until the media stops spoonfeeding us the anti-Islam McCarthyist mantra, and until we bring these thugs to justice; these terrorists are the ones yucking it up at the rest of the world’s expense.

Perhaps flying should be boycotted. There is no reason compelling enough to subject one’s self to indignity, gov’t porn and potential health risks. With today’s technology and communication; things like skype, video conferencing and such; one can still conduct business overseas without leaving home.  a few weeks of sun just isn’t worth that kind of trouble neither.

Perhaps when commercial airlines start losing business, they can start lobbying governments to get rid of body scans and such and replace with less invasive yet more efficient security measures. After all, with capitalism, the threat of losing dollars grabs everyone’s attention.

From  A Creative Revolution. Go!

Just a thought, We weren’t hit as hard as the U.S. by Global recession that Stevie’s big buddy, Georgie caused largely in part anyway.  Why is Stevie hell bent in turning us into Bush era U.S.?

When will you buy a clue? President Obama already pretty much told you to fuck off in his own way, while you were trying to look for another American buddy. He doesn’t want to be your buddy.

Oh Stevie,  if torturegate wasn’t important to Canadians, why run away? Why not show the uncensored documents to Canadians? If as you say it’s no  big deal…then show Canadians how it’s no big deal.

Looks like your merry band of thieves are introducing underwear scans with choice between visual or physical legalized gov’t pornography disguised as security.  What a high opinion held for the good citizens!

Now off to further  buffer the senate with your porky, illiterate friends.  I never want to hear that whining again about the Liberal stacked senate. Think again if you think Stevie will introduce the notion of an elected senate. Something tells me that if let loose with the dastardly majority,  there will probably be no more elections again. Whatever the case, after killing the Court Challenges Program and stacking the senate, I never wanna hear that whining about left winged idealogues dominating the courts.