
TSA apologizes for forcing 4-year-old to remove leg braces at airport screening - jacquesm
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/02/tsa-apologizes-for-forcing-4-year-old-to-remove-leg-braces-at-airport-screening/1
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sigstoat
4 years ago while i had a severely sprained knee, denver tsa made me hop about
20 feet total without my crutches. that was awesome fun.

~~~
jacquesm
Bastards. That's not without risk, if you had fallen your sprained knee might
have turned a lot worse. Reflexive response to a fall is not something you can
overrule even when injured.

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gridspy
TSA is killing tourism to, from and through America.

~~~
mrduncan
What evidence do you have of that? (I'm genuinely curious)

Anecdotally, while agree that they are a complete joke, I certainly haven't
flown any less recently.

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gridspy
I didn't provide any evidence because I haven't got the research to back my
claim up. The only way to gather real data would be to publicly proclaim some
random blocks of calendar dates to be TSA free and see how much tourism
changed during that time. I'm sure it would be interesting to see how much
terrorism changed over that period (any effects would probably be
exaggerated).

I can tell you it affects my personal travel plans (I try to avoid a stopover
in the US on the way from NZ to London for example) and it makes me feel more
negatively about the US overall. It doesn't take much to tip the balance from
"I'd love to go" to "I'd like to go, but xyz location seems easier / more fun"

Since I live outside the US, I have an actual choice - if you lived inside the
US you are pretty much forced to tolerate the TSA whenever you fly. I read a
lot of horror stories online, and I don't like being near people with
sidearms.

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mrduncan
Fair enough. I suppose, being already inside of the US, that I don't really
have a choice in the matter if I need to go somewhere. I certainly haven't
thought twice about flying instead of driving, in fact I'd definitely prefer
to fly if it's more than a couple hours drive. Being a fairly frequent flyer,
I guess I've just gotten used to their "process".

I'm reminded of a post from a little while ago about Israeli airport security.
Highly recommended if you haven't seen it before -
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1024850>

~~~
gridspy
Yes, that is how security should be done. I read that report and am
simultaneously amazed that this system is being embraced and disgusted that it
isn't more widely adopted.

All the TSA does is turn people off US travel - it is 'letting the terrorists
win' by having huge effects on the USA's standard of everyday living.

Once again, all rhetoric, no evidence. I keep waiting for the TSA to realise
that this is all security theatre and change to an invisible, but effective
security system.

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chuhnk
An apology in this situation is like giving the kid a towel rack. Giant
corporations apologize to cover themselves, that does not make up for what
they did and it's not going to change the way they act in the future.

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gridspy
Especially since they said "I'm sorry, we should have done xyz demeaning and
frightening testing in private instead"

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rekcuts
"Rubin writes that the TSA, in its apology, said Ryan should have been taken
into a private area and swabbed for traces of explosive materials."

How is wearing leg braces probable cause for terrorism?

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jacquesm
You mean you haven't heard about the new wave of disabled child terrorists?

This is so sick it makes me pretty upset. That poor kid has a lot in life to
deal with already, these people have turned a brief rest from those issues in
to a nightmare of humiliation and fear.

A letter of apology ? After a year ? And only because of media pressure ?
Disgusting.

~~~
smallblacksun
Because terrorists would NEVER use children in their attacks:
[http://www.literaturejunction.com/showthread.php?8100-Iraq-i...](http://www.literaturejunction.com/showthread.php?8100-Iraq-
insurgents-used-children-in-car-bombing) (sorry about message board link, the
linked yahoo story is down). As you allow one group to bypass security, you
have two problems. First, you open yourself to discrimination charges by
people you don't let bypass security. Second, you run the risk that terrorists
will recruit someone in the protected group to carry out an attack.

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mickt
Your damn right there smallblacksun. The IRA started a "proxy bombing"
campaign in the early 1990's (the 1st modern terrorist group to do so). If
they can do something like that, you can bet yer arse that the people who send
suicide bombers wouldn't hesitate to do the same.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_bomb>

~~~
jacquesm
Right... because it happened in the past we must now and until eternity take
away the dignity of handicapped children all over the world, even those who
aren't even close to fitting any profile whatsoever, and do so in the most
coarse and rude way available.

~~~
mickt
Your absolutely right that they shouldn't have treated the kid that way. But,
to ignore the possibility that terrorist group will follow tactics of other
organisations isn't very sensible.

But, to exclude any section of the population from security checks is inane
(that assuming the security checks are worth the trouble in the first place).

The only reason the IRA stopped "proxy bombings" is because of the public
outcry. Do you think someone on a jihad will have any qualms at the public
outcry of using a 4-year handicapped child's family hostage and forcing the
kid to do something pretty nasty.

Read some of the quotes here:
[http://www.palacebarracksmemorialgarden.org/Royal%20Irish%20...](http://www.palacebarracksmemorialgarden.org/Royal%20Irish%20Rangers.htm)

"A man was told to drive where the soldiers would be and if he did not comply
his two sons would be shot. He was to tell the soldiers they had forty minutes
to get clear but within seconds of reaching the check point the bomb
exploded."

And this is in nice civilised Ireland. Don't think it could happen here?

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petercooper
I can't believe it! The TSA I know would never apologize for anything or to
anyone :-)

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callmeed
My daughters got "Junior TSA" stickers at the Burbank airport:
<http://img124.yfrog.com/i/ts1q.jpg/>

Dream big!

