Alaska state representative Sharon Cissna objects to airport search,

returns to Alaska by sea.

http://www.adn.com/2011/02/21/1714152/rep-cissna-objects-to-airport.html




So what is it about a mastectomy -- AFTER a full body scan -- that requires an invasive pat-down? This is bullshit.

TSA insanity knows no bounds. Any "security" system that operates on the assumption that everyone from the smallest infant to the eldest senior is a potential terrorist is deeply flawed and needs to be scrapped. As long as Americans are willing to suffer the indignities perpetrated by this stupid ass system, it will only get more draconian. Would love to see travelers' rights group organize boycotts of the airline industry until the airlines themselves put pressure on the government to cut this shit out. That's the only way it's going to happen.

And do you know who she is?

Is she a state representative? I didn't think so.

bra feel up treatment when pins in my ankle from an old injury set off the alarm. I pointed out the 6 inch scar to the screener and invited him to wand it, but he would have none of it. Instead, he called a nasty hag (and I don't use that term lightly) over to perform the bra feel up. It was ludicrous. I am a middle aged, frumpy "mom" type, no threat to anybody.

However, what happened to an elderly woman at the same checkpoint was a true travesty. She had to be 90, was in a wheelchair, all hunched over and frail. The TSA goons yanked off her shoes, hoisted her up, and gave her the full wand treatment. She was absolutely terrified. Her daughter stood nearby begging the TSA to leave her alone and explaining that she suffered from Alzheimers. Today that poor woman would receive the full all body feel up since she couldn't stand to go through the scanner. The whole system is a disgrace.

This is a principle well known in medical and infectious disease/epidemiological circles. One designs a lab test to be adequately sensitive so that it does not miss an actual positive result, yet specific enough that it does not false identify those without the disease, by callibrating it within a population that actually has a fairly high background rate of the disease for which you are testing. If one performs even a very "good" laboratory test (one with a low proportion of false positives) on a population with low likelihood of having the disease((low prevalence) then the positive results you get are more likely to be "false" positives. This then means the test will have low predictive value.

This is exactly why some method of pre-screening for likelhood of having the disease is necessary before applying a test. In medicine, that might be from the physical findings that are compatible, or medical history that suggests likelihood of exposure.

TSA is skipping all of the "pre-screening" that is necessary for any "test" (whether it be scanning or pat-downs or bomb-sniffing dogs) to be effective. It is inevitable that their methods are going to fail. This tactic is only likely to overwhelm the system with false positives, that conversely may just well allow a "true" positive to slip through.

IT is nuts.

The entire legal justification for random searching relies on the fact that it IS random, suspicionless searching.

In order to rise to the level of probable cause for a suspicion-based search, someone is going to have to pretty much be wearing an "I love bombing airplanes" t-shirt and chatting in line about their plan to take over an aircraft.

In order to send everyone through the metal detector, we have to send EVERYONE through the metal detector. In order to do additional searching on a statistically random basis, it has to be done on a statistically random basis, because the relevant legal doctrine does not permit a targeted search on the basis of anything other than probable cause.

and it was obvious from the full-body scan, would you want someone groping you there?

Which looks like some kind of foreign object?

that makes no sense whatsoever. If you want to justify denigrating an entire population for show, as an authoritarian/control measure, or whatever--then perhaps.

Randomness has nothing to do with it. We aren't looking for mere statistical significance here. The flying US population as a whole has an infinitesimally low probability of terrorist inclusion. If you can not select the population to be "tested" by some reasonable pre-screening to ensure that you have a least a minimum probability present in the population (whether it be seropositivity for an infectious disease or terrorist ties), then no technological test is going to have even a modicum of predictive value, but will simply be a waste of time, resources, and unwarranted intrusion with little to show for the effort.

IMHO the only value of the screening is likely deterrence, if that.

Nonetheless, much of the discussion amounts to "we need to lower the bar for probable cause", because the legal rationale for random searching is precisely that it is random. Unfortunately, the fourth amendment wasn't designed with maximizing the likelihood of catching suspects in mind.

which is perfectly fine but it really doesn't have anything to do with what I had posted.

I am talking about testing and how one can maximize efficacy as measured by Positive Predictive Value. There are established principles, which our TSA screening policies violate in every aspect--ensuring maximum disruption of the public for minimum positive outcome (assuming detecting true threats is the outcome of interest).

Some of these pricks???????Target them for equal treatment.

renting or buying a fleet of private jets and loading them with explosives?? - No measures
It is time to subject all private aircraft to the same safety measures as public airlines

... any less important than blowing up an Alaska-bound jet? Oh, but we couldn't possibly scan all the ferry passengers and their vehicles! The people would revolt!

Thus confirming that the TSA is in the business of security theater, not security.

We have a winner :applause: