If standing up to the government and inadvertently ruining holidays for thousands of people is your bent, you’re in luck. A rogue activist committed to protesting the use of full-body scanners in airports has decreed Wednesday, November 24, 2010, as National Opt-Out Day.
All you have to do on November 24 is tell the TSA official manning your security checkpoint that no, you don’t wanna go through the scanner, get your dangly bits photographed and sent away to federal agents who, despite promises to the contrary, are saving these images for purposes unknown.
Opting out is well within your legal rights, but …
“The Transportation Security Administration recently announced that passengers who opt out of body scanners at airport security checkpoints would be required to undergo an enhanced physical pat-down that would include agents using open hands and fingers to touch and press chest and groin areas of passengers. In the past, agents were instructed to use the backs of their hands for pat-downs,” Wired reports.
Prefer hardcore molestation without the free dinner? Sounds like opting out is for you.
Oh, and November 24 is the day before Thanksgiving—one of the busiest travel days of the year. That means anyone who chooses to dodge those full-body radiation sarcophagi of X-rated mayhem will gum up the security line quicker than an artery after a McRib sandwich.
“The goal of National Opt-Out Day is to send a message to our lawmakers that we demand change. We have a right to privacy and buying a plane ticket should not mean that we’re guilty until proven innocent. This day is needed because many people do not understand what they consent to when choosing to fly,” the website, which was set up by Brian Sodegren, reads.
Sodegren also writes, “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,'” which I find hilarious.
National Opt-Out Day won’t fly (bad pun intended). As much as people should be wary of full-body scanners and the shady data-collecting Feds, I highly doubt the average air traveler is keen on forfeiting Thanksgiving.
If you’d prefer the quieter approach (and one less likely to get you murdered by an angry mob), the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is holding a TSA oversight hearing on Wednesday, November 17. Call your senator!
I’m thinking of just taking off my jeans and T-shirt next time I have to go through. TSA people would be able to check for whatever it is they’re checking for without touching me or exposing me to the scanner, and it would be faster than the pat-down. Perhaps if everyone did that, the pat-downs would stop.
TSA NEWS ROUNDUP — Bis Sis calls emergency TSA staff meeting in Washington DC http://bit.ly/9Wlghf ; TSA protest rages across US http://bit.ly/bpR7Ac ; TSA adds enhanced neck-licking protocol http://bit.ly/aOd93i ; TSA named in mass-paternity lawsuit by ACLU. “Their DNA is all over it, if you know what we mean.” http://bit.ly/ah1IiQ
I think all these perverts will be applying to work at the airports.It is disgusting what the TSA is trying to put in to place. They are telling the general public that most Americans want this the lies they will tell to get what they want .What a sick group of people .
I’m Chris Hansen with dateline NBC. In our series, “To Catch a Predator”, we’ve exposed grown men seeking intercourse with underaged children, including an investigator for the Department of Homeland Security. Now that our program has been cancelled by politicians, molesters can freely gain access to our children by working at the Transportation Security Administration.
So this Thanksgiving, exercise your rights as a citizen and ask your TSA officer.. why don’t you have a seat right over there?
The real protest to this would to refuse the body scan and the government groping and offer to strip naked. That would cause a sir especially if it was on a day of protest and you could not be accused of hiding anything. Problem is that most North Americans are uncomfortable with nudity and would not do it.
This is something no one wants to think about, but women do. What about women on that time of the month wearing, god forbid, a sanitary napkin. Agent – excuse ma’am, we’re going to have to feel your crotch, we can’t figure out what that thing near your vagina is. Woman – I’m on my period. Agent – oh, well I have to feel it to be sure. Ok. Seriously – this is how up close and personal things are now. They are feeling groins. Is everyone comfortable with this? I’m certainly not. It’s truly shameful that as Americans some… Read more »
better yet…OPT-OUT…wait in-line for a pat-down, miss your flight and sleep on the floor of the airport for thanksgiving…end result…tsa goes home for a nice thanksgiving dinner and sleeps in their warm beds. the next day you will have the same options: body scanner or pat-down…security isn’t going to lessen because you idiots slept on the floor in an airport for thanksgiving.
fly, drive, train, bus, walk or stay home…you have plenty of options.
Your right Gene, the only people who will be slowed down are those that opt-out, but then some of the people on this site are not interested in the facts; they are ruled by emotions.
for example: when you got the airport you are voluntarily submitting yourself and property to be searched, they are constitutional; images are not saved nor are the machines connected to any type of network.
Now for the emotional outcries…………
No. This is not an emotional outcry (though I would not dispute that one may be warranted in response to what the TSA is doing), but your comment is not very well thought out. The “you voluntarily submit to this search by wishing to board a plane” argument doesn’t work. By that logic, the government could install screening areas in train stations, shopping malls, grocery stores, schools, etc. and then say “well, you’re voluntarily agreeing to the search by wishing to enter xyz.” Right now it’s just airports. That doesn’t mean it’ll stay just airports. This is why the 4th… Read more »
If anyone considers these images “porn” then you have a problem anyway. You might as well get in line with the trans-gender who doesn’t know who he/she should pick to give a pat down. The images are nothing close to porn and they look like no-one. There are too many opportunist journalists trying to get fame through irresponsible and sensationalistic reporting. If you opt out of the imager, you are not molested. Far from it. Quit crying and take Greyhound. Sit on a bus for 10 hours and pee in a toilet where your ass sticks to the seat. That’s… Read more »
Don’t join the TSA in their cowardly attempt to blame their victims. They created the awful policies, decent people rightfully balk at it, and they want to blame delays on those who aren’t willing to be victims.
If there are big delays before Thanksgiving, let’s place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the armed aggressors who insist on violating the human rights of their fellow men and women instead of those willing to stand up for what is right.
Using the scanners and the enhanced pat down do very little to actually protect anyone but could do a great deal of harm to someone who has ever faced sexual trauma. Sure, to the average person, a body scan may seem like not much, but to someone who has been the victim of rape or other sexual trauma being forced to choose between a scanner or an “enhanced” pat down could bring back the horror of their experience. There are many non-invasive options when it comes to securing our airports, scanning or forcing individuals to undergo an enhanced pat down… Read more »
Does anyone know how to hack into a scanner? Oh goodie. Please do so and disable the lot of them…. Please please…
Hey how about trans gender people? I mean to put it bluntly, a chick with a dick? Either the scan or feel up would probably result in some further action by TSA. Now add to that the fact that it is done in public and watch out kids.
Maybe these citizens will have to be required to carry a government authority card for their sex change so TSA won’t freak out…..
Life sure is getting interesting. When are we going to tell TSA to fuck off?
boo hoo if you don’t like it don’t fly. flying is not a right. man i cant beleive all the cry babies. oh my rights oh my rights how about the RIGHT TO BE SILEINT!!!!!!! try it Prove it causes cancer…. oh wait you most know more the the people that designed it. Go cry somewhere else
Dave, I’ve heard this argument before, and it doesn’t hold up. We could say that about anything. “Don’t like being felt up at a security check point before entering another state? Don’t travel to other states.” “Don’t like being subjected to scanners using radiation? Don’t go to the baseball game.” Etc. Etc. Etc. In today’s world, people have to fly. The 4th Amendment to the Constitution IS a right, and it prevents unreasonable search and seizure. Having INNOCENT EMPLOYEES be subjected to either irradiating scanners or graphic pat downs by government employees is ‘unreasonable’. “Those who give up their liberty… Read more »
So when I want to fly to Europe next I’m going to take a bus to Mexico then fly from there to London and return the same way. A little extra expense but that’s OK with me.
It’s pure and simple Tyranny! Do you think people in the government have to go through this treatment? Of course not! The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave have become the home of Cowards willing to sacrifice EVERYONE ELSE’S RIGHTS so they can feel more secure in a Land of Tyranny! Our friend DAVE is one of those cowards that would give up everyone else’s rights so that litlle scared him is not hurt by no big ole mean govt. propoganda pushed terrorism. DAVE would very much like fthe Police State to come to everyone’s house on… Read more »
http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/gc_1285774534288.shtm
who is responsible for privacy at TSA? this has gone too far. whoever is responsible should resign and the policy should be changed.
I have a better idea. All TSA personnel including the big shots should have naked scan pictures of them posted right near the security stations where they work so we all can ogle them… tee hee…
If the scanner images turn you then you are one sick puppy
These scanners and pat-downs present a serious problem for transgender and intersex people like myself who want to pass as the gender we feel we are. By all accounts I look and sound male, I am legally male, but the genitals appear somewhere in between male and female. Government employees are not without personal prejudices…an already awkward situation becomes even more uncomfortable. It’s worth it to fight for our rights and privacy.
Your kidding me, right?
So, the images are only soft-core porn of you, nor hard-core — and that makes everything perfectly OK? Also, the backscatter X-RAY machine do in fact use low-dose ionizing radiation which is probably — although not certainly — harmless in single exposures. But any busy traveller will be increasingly exposed to these machines, and eventually those mREM’s add up. Is there a conclusive risk? Not yet, but there’s also not conclusive evidence of safety. Considering that, e.g., cargo is still not checked, this is clearly security theater — a SHOW of security, not the real thing. I think that a… Read more »
Right on the sheep comment. How often are we admonished “don’t rock the boat”? Or some other such remark. People are afraid to assert themselves. We all need to say no to bullshit.
The misinformation is a bit much. If you have a political or moral objection to body scans, fine, but let’s not mix in bad science. First, when you go through a regular old metal detector, not a scanner, it creates a magnetic field, which is a form of radiation. However, the magnetic field is a form of non-ionizing radiation, which does not do any damage to body tissue and is harmless. X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation, and in high dosages they can cause damage; however, in very low doses at low intensity they are harmless. Second, there are… Read more »
Radio waves are not harmless. Depending on the frequency and radiated power they can indeed cause burns to tissue inside the body. Usually if this happens it is to bone marrow.
Next point is who cares if the X rays are a low dosage? The point is the humiliating intrusiveness, not the potential for physical harm.
Bullshit is bullshit no matter the package in which it is presented.
Awwwww..You saw your own body scanner! That means you work for the TSA, or else who are you who are allowed to see your own image and are so passionately defending the scanners? Regarding radiation, you are not well informed. Yes, it can damage DNA. Do your research. Here is something for you to start reading (http://www.blip.tv/file/3379880). Regarding driving, well, I can’t drive or take the train to Europe. I can only fly to see my aging mother, and you (bastards of the TSA) are not going to touch my private parts or see me naked. That’s a violation of… Read more »
While I can understand your wanting to show both sides of the argument, I totally disagree that folks will be unwilling to forfeit Thanksgiving in return for having an unknown person touch their genitals. Alternatively
we can risk the xrays and archived photographs of our private parts.
Neither choice fits our Constitution—you should try reading it before you join the dark side.
I love the term “Anus Bomber.” Well played.
-Brennon
Hey Brennon
Those Scanners subject you to Radiation which increase Cancer risk. Also they don’t detect anything in your Orifices . I guess when they get the scanners in all the airports we will get a ANUS BOMBER , Then WHAT ?
I guess you will be OK with getting Cancer and having a PROBE / SCANNER so you wont be late for dinner.
As a American we are not to be subject to SEARCH without probable cause . Read your Constitution .