A Needed Change, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATION 279

A Needed Change

By

Roger Behra

Yes, it is still going on: the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) is still involved in their physically invasive security checks at airports in the U.S. A good deal of the negative response has subsided, but frequently something happens at an airport to remind everyone just how stupid are the actions of the TSA.

For the most part, the TSA has it all wrong. Roughly 90% of TSA's funding is spent on airport screening. That leaves only 10% for terrorist targets at ports, railroads, and infrastructure. That is very bad organizing and leaves many doors wide open to terrorists. It is a gigantic NO-NO. Why the TSA wastes most of the allotted funds at airport screenings is anyone's guess. It is just very wrong, as is the screening procedure itself.

Recently, June, 2011, a 26-year-old woman justifiably felt she was sexually assaulted and took out a lawsuit against TSA. She felt her breast fondling was unusually long and then repeated by the same examiner. A 95-year-old woman in a wheelchair was greatly embarrassed when her special diaper type undergarment was subjected to fondling and analysis by more than one examiner. Then there was the man who stood in line wearing only his undershorts. Another man was asked to lower his trousers. There everything was in broad daylight. No undershorts were being worn. Another woman grabbed the examiner’s breast and twisted it. She was arrested.

At LAX in Los Angeles a very unusual and touchy situation took place. One examiner was a transgender employee. She looked like a woman. She dressed as a woman. She acted like a woman. She lived like a woman, but there was a great and very noticeable problem. She was not all women because she retained the male sex organ. Co-workers noticed that when she used the women's room. They notified the proper authorities, and she was fired. Ashly contested the firing and received a settlement because TSA knew she was transgender but was not given a physical before being hired. It was a dual situation that caused Ashly and the TSA involved problems because Ashly did not have the necessary sex reassignment surgery.

What about items confiscated that do not remotely resemble dangerous terrorist items, while some that do are not confiscated? All the indications are noticeable that TSA examiners need a good dose of reality training very soon.

Most commercial airplane passengers and many others are of the same thinking. They believe the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) must stop being the Truly Stupid Agency (TSA). They must get real very quickly and Try Something Appropriate (TSA). It is never too late. It's very badly needed. The TSA should realize that Americans do not want to terrorize America. Those that do come from foreign countries and ware different apparel and turbans.

R. B.