Noon news on CBS out of NYC says no one is "opting out" at the airport.

[Ilsa]

Apparently everyone flying is happy enough to go through the nude-o-scopes. "I want to feel safe," they keep saying. Nevermind that the cargo isn't totally screened.

[robinlynne]

1. I had a mammogram last week. i asked the xray technician how strong the xrays are and what she

thought. She said she will not go through the scanner. I could care less if someone sees my bones, but unnecessary xrays, not going to happen. That side isn't even being discussed.

[Ilsa]

5. ITA. I believe it is unreasonable to subject people

to radiation that does not serve a medicinal (diagnostic or therapeutic) purpose. I don't think all frequent flyers realize the long term effects of this. The pilots and flight crews certainly do, which is why they opted out before being exempted.

[LisaL]

20. Did she explain what her concerns were?

Information out there is very contradictory so how dangerous does she think it is?

[robinlynne]

24. I'll put it this way. i smoke. i asked my doctor to do a chest xray to see how I am doing.

he said no. It is too dangerous. not worth doing. xrays are bad for you. that is why the people doing the xrays stand behind a lead shield.
Going through nonce is not going to kill you. Going through over and over again is dangerous. there isn't a specific amount of xrays a person can tolerate. I don't know the answer to your question. but I know you only do xrays when they are necessary.

[PADemD]

47. From the CDC on prenatal radiation exposure

"The possibility of severe health effects depends on the gestational age of the fetus at the time of exposure and the amount of radiation it is exposed to. Unborn babies are less sensitive during some stages of pregnancy than others. However, fetuses are particularly sensitive to radiation during their early development, between weeks 2 and 15 of pregnancy. The health consequences can be severe, even at radiation doses too low to make the mother sick. Such consequences can include stunted growth, deformities, abnormal brain function, or cancer that may develop sometime later in life."

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/prenatal.asp

[MineralMan]

2. A large percentage of those who are vehemently opposed to

these new screening techniques do not fly, and never intended to fly this week. For whatever reason, they do not fly and they are not at the airport. Those folks who are at the airport are there for a single reason. They intend to get on a plane and go somewhere. They're not interested in the fine points of airport screening. They want to get on their plane and make their way to their destination.

They didn't read about this protest or, if they did, they shrugged and went about the business of flying somewhere. This lack of protest was easily predictable. Virtually nobody books a flight so they can protest the screening. Almost everyone at the airport is there go go somewhere, and they will do that.

I'll do the same on Christmas Day, when I'm flying to California to visit my 86-year-old parents and the rest of my extended family. The security screening is a few minutes of my time. The visit with my family is worth that hassle and even more. And, as usual, the security screening will go smoothly, and I'll be on my way. I'm not going to the airport to protest something. I'm taking a trip. If I wanted to protest these screenings, I would do so in other ways. I go to the airport to catch a plane. Nothing more.

[krabigirl]

4. Yep. The best way to protest is not to fly at all if you can.

However when or if I do fly again, i will be opting out. No scanner for me.

[LisaL]

9. I looked at the wewontfly website and they actually

were encouraging people to opt out of flying alltogether, not cause some massive disruption at the airports.

[blondeatlast]

28. Well, that's a win-win for them. That way they can count those of us who didn't have plans to fly

anywhere among their ranks.

Manipulation isn't wholly owned by the RW.

[MineralMan]

13. Yes, that's one way. Of course, if you don't fly anyhow, nobody

will know. And that's the case with a lot of those who are vehemently opposed to this screening. So, the way to protest is to make your feelings known to people who can change things. The airlines don't care about the feelings of those who don't fly anyhow. The only ones who can do anything about this are the legislators. Letting them know your objections is the only protest that can have any result.

The planes will be full of people who don't give a damn, one way or another. If you don't fly, that's one more seat on a crowded plane for someone who want to take that flight. If you don't fly anyhow, your not flying isn't a protest at all. It's just your choice.

[LisaL]

17. If a lot of people don't fly airline travel will drop and somebody will know.

[MineralMan]

21. It's not going to happen, you know.

People need to go places. They'll keep doing that. As the economy slowly recovers, the airline business will grow again. The planes will stay full. Those who don't fly will be replaced by others who do. This is a country of over 300 million people. The flying will continue.

[LisaL]

22. Well I am certainly going to avoid flying whanever possible.

[MineralMan]

25. OK. That's your choice.

And, if you don't fly, you won't be subjected to any of this stuff. For those of us who do fly, the whole thing is a non-event, pretty much. Don't fly. You'll avoid it all. It's that simple.

[LisaL]

27. Just wait a bit before you are subjected to this everywhere

if you want to use transportation.
"The secretary has defended the new screening methods, which include advanced imaging systems and pat-downs, as necessary to stopping terrorists. During the interview with Rose, Napolitano said her agency is now looking into ways to make other popular means of travel safer for passengers and commuters."
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/130549-next-step-for-body-scanners-could-be-trains-boats-and-the-metro

[MineralMan]

31. I'll put it this way:

I drive or I fly. I have not been on a train or bus in a couple of decades. If I do decided to use one of those means of transportation, I guess I'll get screened. I will have chosen my means of transportation and will be subject to whatever screening is done on them, just as I now am on for air travel.

Read downthread. This current screening stuff is nothing to me. It's just one more thing to do before I get on the plane. I make my choices. You make yours.

[tsuki]

26. They already know. Tourism from Europe, conventions, etc, is down

because of the 2007 incident where they shackled the Icelandic girls and deported her. The PM ask why, and TSA told him to fark off. It was a pretty big story in Europe.

[rfranklin]

6. Wait til they grab your junk!

Then let us know.

[krabigirl]

11. I agree. I won't need to fly again for a few years..wonder how much worse it will be by then :(

[MineralMan]

14. I can already tell you how I feel about that. I don't give a crap.

That's nothing to me. It probably won't happen, because I don't beep the metal detector and, if selected, I won't raise any concerns in the scanner. If for some reason, they want to do a hand search, well, my body parts are pretty much the same as anyone else's. Feel away. I still don't pose a threat. Then, I'll go to my gate, get on the plane, and travel to my destination. That's why I went to the airport.

I've been frisked dozens of times in non-airport situations. I used to work in very high security areas, and getting frisked was a commonplace event.

[taught_me_patience]

29. +100 this is exactly how I feel n/t

[emulatorloo]

15. Some interesting info on the Junk Guy from The Nation

Posted by frazzled in another thread:

http://www.thenation.com/article/156647/tsastroturf-washington-lobbyists-and-koch-funded-libertarians-behind-tsa-scandal

So far, all we know about “ordinary guy” John Tyner III, the freedom fighter who took on the TSA agents, is that, according to a friendly hometown profile in the San Diego Union-Tribune, "he leans strongly libertarian and doesn’t believe in voting. TSA security policy, he asserts ‘isn’t Republican and it isn’t Democratic.’”

Tyner attended private Christian schools in Southern California and lives in Oceanside, a Republican stronghold next to Camp Pendleton, the largest Marine Corps base on the West Coast.

At least one local TSA administrator wondered if Tyner hadn’t come to the airport prepared to create a scandal. Tyner switched on his recording device before even entering the checkpoint—and recorded himself as he refused to go through the body scanner. Most importantly, Tyner recorded himself saying “If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested!”—which quickly morphed on blogs into the more media-savvy tagline, “Don’t touch my junk!”

...

Strangely enough, just a few days before Tyner’s episode, another self-described “libertarian,” Meg McLain, went online telling almost the exact same story of oppression and attempted sexual molestation at the hands of TSA agents. McLain is an occasional co-host of a libertarian radio show out of a libertarian quasi-commune located in Keene, New Hampshire. As reported in the Washington City Paper, the libertarian “Free Keene” movement where McLain makes her home is yet another libertarian project tied to the billionaire Koch brothers, the prime backers of the Tea Party campaign, through the Koch-funded Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

[MineralMan]

23. Yah. That woman who complained about her experience

was also a FreeStater. The video of what actually happened shows a completely different set of things that happened, compared to her fanciful tale. Not everyone tells the truth about these things.

The little shirtless boy? Daddy pulled his shirt off.

The 3-year-old girl? That video was shot before this stuff was even in place. The girl was in a tantrum, as 3-year-olds often throw. Her teddy bear was taken from her and run through the X-ray machine.

We're hearing about "gropes," "sexual assaults," "penetrations," "probes," and all sorts of loaded words used to describe events that are none of those. While it's true that a few unfortunate things have occurred, millions of people are flying with no trouble or concern at all. This is a theoretical political battle more than anything. Many of the loudest voices in these discussions admit that they don't fly, anyhow. Those folks have no dog in this hunt.

[somone]

34. FWIW - They left out Tyner's college education

He graduated from the University of California, Riverside - a very public and non-religious institution.

[LisaL]

48. And? Is there something wrong with being educated?

[lunatica]

8. Excellent post. Only those who don't care or have to fly are going this week

Protesters are staying away.

[sabrina 1]

60. What does flying have to do with this? This is not about flying, it is

about Constitutional rights abuses and has been since Bush and his gang first tried to put them in our airports. As a Liberal, I am sure you were also, since I never met a liberal during the Bush years who was not.

This is not as you keep trying to claim, about 'flying' or 'not flying', it is about the abuse by the Government of people's Constitutional Rights using fear to enrich Big Business. We now learn that this president is good friends with the CEO of Rapiscan, a clear conflict of interest and a clarification of why he has taken the position he has against the interests of the American people.

I'm not surprise that some people will choose convenience over fighting for our rights. It has never been a large number of people who achieved the freedoms you enjoy today. It has always been a relatively small number of courageous individuals who have stood up for everyone's rights.

I am very happy to support that small number in whom I have faith that they will succeed in getting rid of these grotesque scanners. But is sad that they had succeeded to stop Bush from doing this all these years, only to have Democrats do it instead.

Lawsuits are being filed now, the TSA has already started backing down and will back down more in the future. But one thing we know, the president's friend, Deepak Chopra, CEO of Rapiscan, has made a fortune over the past year. So, the most important purpose of these scanners has been achieved.

[treestar]

3. The M$M tried so hard too

They were trying so hard to get some good conflict to cover for the holidays!!

[emulatorloo]

19. As did the rightwing commentators, Rush, Huckabee, Drudge etc

Funny they never cared about patdowns during the Bush admin.

[phasma ex machina]

51. Politics makes for strange bedfellows. I am grateful for any and all support in America's fight

against fascism.

[rocktivity]

7. I thought it was the patdowns that you were supposed to opt out of.

A body scan plus a patdown is what adds the insult to injury.

Besides it's only 12 noon EST -- let's see what happens when the offices start closing early.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[LisaL]

12. If you opt out of patdowns you won't get on the plane.

[sally cat]

10. Apparently the media isn't hyping this after all. CBS anyway.

[KharmaTrain]

16. Too Late For Many...

Most tickets have been purchased weeks and months ago. At $200 or more a throw, that's a heavy chunk of change for most of us and cancelling at the last minute is both a major inconvenience (gonna call mom and tell her you're not coming??) as well as not getting most of your money back if you try to get a refund.

This is also the case for Xmiss travel. The boycott (and when was the last time a boycott has been effective??) may start being felt after the first of the year as more people opt out of flying, but they won't be carrying placcards, they'll vote with their pocketbooks. I know until they stop all this security theater and violations of the 4th ammendment, I'll drive or take a train if I have to do any traveling. I've long had enough of the hassles with both the TSA and the major airlines.

[Newest Reality]

18. The Cow Goes MOO! The Sheep go BAAAH!

Not that one day of such a trivial kind of resistance would actually be effective, anyway. Who can bother with freedoms and other unprofitable activities these days?

The times seem right to draft the Un-Constitution:

We, the Deadbeat Rich Owners of the Global Corporations, in Order to form a more perfect conglomeration, establish territories, insure domestic pacification, provide for increasing profits, promote the corporate welfare, and secure into perpetuity our Liberty to do as we please, now undo and re-frame the old Constitution as Policy of the United Corporations of the World.

Of course, they should have a Declaration of Social Independence,(from the rest of us) as well:

We hold these lies to be self-evident, that all Corporations are created People and they are endowed by their Owners with nothing but inalienable Rights. That among these, (but not exclusive to) are Huge Profits, Social Control and No Liability for their Actions ... etc.

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. Doesn't that SUCK! I was hoping for huge delays today, cancelled flights...

family disruptions, and the ruination of family get-togethers planned long before this came to pass.

Fucking American people. Sheeple. They won't even do my protesting for me. Just what in the hell is this country coming to that family get-togethers are more important than grass-roots protesting? Fuck this place. I wanted to see airports SHUT DOWN today. I wanted to see the government with its tail between its legs. Yeah... Yeah... that's what I wanted!

That sheeple would willingly walk through an x-ray machine in order to board a flight is absolute evidence that The American Dream is now deader than a doornail. What the fuck are those people thinking? Don't they know that by possibly foregoing a chance to see family on Thanksgiving, they can thumb their nose at The Man? What is wrong with this place? Fuck. The. Man! Fuck. The. Man! Come on, after me: Fuck. The. Man!

I'll tell you what. The TSA is lucky I'M not flying today. I'd be down there in my speedos and a tight tank top DEMANDING then OPTING OUT of then DEMANDING then OPTING OUT of whatever screening process they wanted me to endure. I'd be showin' 'em, let me tell you yessiree. Alas, I have no where to fly today. Their luck, huh?

God Damn I hate this country. Which country can I move to, any suggestions? Surely there are hundreds of countries out there where the living is better and the citizenry is more worthy of my admiration... Anyone?

Come on, let's all meet at the airport! If we hurry, maybe we can disrupt something like Good Americans should.

[jberryhill]

36. Sheeple - "people who don't do what I want them to do" /nt

[EFerrari]

38. I bet on Monday or so, we'll find out that the airlines had a terrible weekend. n/t

[Desertrose]

39. Bet you're right...right now they want a positive spin in this crap.

We may not hear for awhile how much flights are down.

I am still amazed how many people think this crap will make them "safe". What a joke!!

[EFerrari]

44. There are folks that will defend authority to the death.

The airlines and the retail industry in general does this every year, don't they? A whole weekend full of telling us how great their sales are and then on Monday or Tuesday, the same reporters come out with the bad numbers. lol

:hi:

[sabrina 1]

61. Lol, true. As if this issue was just about flying anyhow.

[Pholus]

40. Hahahaha! Funny and sad at the same time.

I didn't see my fellow DU'ers upset when I was pissed about 1st amendment zones.

I didn't see my fellow DU'ers upset when I was pissed about the Iraq War.

I didn't see my fellow DU'ers upset when I was pissed about warrantless wiretaps.

I didn't see my fellow DU'ers upset when I was pissed about not getting the universal right to marry.

I didn't see my fellow DU'ers upset when I was pissed about the Bush Tax cuts.

But to feel like I don't want a Rape-i-scan or a Freedom pat in the name of a security system that ISN'T WORKING. Oh, NOW I've done it. I've went and caused an outrage. I guess it seems to be because I might make "the wrong person" look bad.

Enjoy your groupthink. We both know that if it an R gets back in power you'll suddenly come around to my way of thinking on this.

Predictable, and pathetic.

[jberryhill]

42. Being pissed, and advocating a stupid response are two different things

The thread is about the planned organized disruption of airport security checkpoints by armchair activists.

Did YOU participate in the "opt out day" protest today?

If not, then you are in no position to complain that others didn't.

Why didn't you buy a ticket and get down to the airport today?

[Pholus]

46. Let's see your CONSTRUCTIVE side. Let's say I don't like this at all.

1) I no longer do discretionary travel by air.

2) I wrote my representatives.

3) I complained to the TSA.

4) I complained to the airlines.

So what's the next step? Constructively (if you can). Because like metal detectors the rape-i-scans are going to diffuse out into other applications if they're not stopped here.

[jberryhill]

50. Those are all constructive things to do

I do not need to provide you with a to do list in order to observe that disrupting people's travel is a stupid idea.

Remarkably, I can spot a bad idea without having to offer a good one, and I reserve the right to do so.

[Pholus]

52. Yup, as I thought. Always easy to be the critic.

[jberryhill]

54. As it is to be the keyboard "activist"

[Pholus]

69. You're the one panning an active protest. I was asking for alternatives. YOU offered none.

[glitch]

49. Pure unadulterated bullshit. DUers have been fucking livid for 10 years.

Where were you?

[Pholus]

53. I was pointing that out, actually.

For 10 years, angry about it all. And now, on THIS issue, all of a sudden (to borrow from the post I replied to) "Fuck. The. Man." is somehow unacceptable. I guess it's hard to get excited about an issue when it says less than positive things about your values.

[Individualist]

32. The nation has been spoon fed propaganda by government (both republicans and Democrats) and media

since the 9/11 attacks. With some exceptions, this has become a nation of sheep. :(

[Rowdyboy]

33. People want to get where they're going without needless delay....Amazing!

Whoever would have guessed that this "movement" was primarily media hype.

[highprincipleswork]

35. Enjoy your police state

Amazing to find how many people accept these intrusions into their civil liberties as if they were nothing at all.

To me, it just shows how far a frightened people will go. Literally "scared out of their minds".

If you think these policies are sensible, we have a completely different idea of what sensible is. And perhaps a completely different idea of "land of the free and home of the brave". If we can come close to calling this country that anymore.

[jberryhill]

37. Enjoy your brand of fear mongering /nt

[Pholus]

41. Cause we all know the motivator for taking this crap isn't fear, right?

[frylock]

57. the ironing is delicious..

remind me again who is fear-mongering?

[jberryhill]

59. The TSA AND the screaming meemies

Fear mongering is an equal opportunity occupation.

Simply because I do not buy into your fear mongering, does not mean that I subscribe to the fear mongering on the other side.

A reasonable balance needs to be struck here, and that purpose is not served by hysteria about terrorists OR the TSA.

[frylock]

62. current TSA procedure anything but reasonable

[jberryhill]

65. Aside from asserting a conclusory statement as argument

I never said it was.

One might infer that someone who says "a reasonable balance needs to be struck" is a person who does not believe the current situation reflects a reasonable balance.

That is, if conversation were something other than some sort of weird Whack-A-Mole game, where the first one who says "nazi" wins.

But you are so reactive, you cannot seem to gather the meaning of the statement "a reasonable balance needs to be struck", is not a statement of support for the status quo.

That is an approach to conversation which seeks merely to polarize.

[highprincipleswork]

68. Words

Words can enlighten, educate, entertain, or they can be woven for all sorts of other reasons.

To me, these actions are those of a police state - right here and right now. And I am certainly not alone in this opinion. I have heard from friends in other countries who are astonished and horrified to see these activities going on in U.S. Their news, which covers real news and not infotainment, is covering this story 24/7. So, apparently it represents a very big deal to them. Or else they are mocking this, as in the well-circulated Japanese TV.

If only we could mock it or get around it, but it is here. It is present right now. And if these aren't the actions of invasion of privacy to an extreme degree, then I don't know what is.

Check out the various posts detailing the stories being collected by the ACLU.

I am not fear-mongering about some future police state. I am commenting on how like a police state we are right now. And I take this seriously. And my words would serve to question the logic of anybody who does not.

[Bragi]

45. Yep, Americans are among the docile people anywhere /nt

[Lucian]

70. I agree.

It's sad those very people don't see the infringement of our civil liberties with those scannings and gropings.

But hey, it only takes a few minutes and they're really "not a big deal." :eyes:

Idiots.

[The Backlash Cometh]

43. I don't believe it. do you?

[frylock]

55. give me convenience, or give me death

[truthwillprevail]

56. Most are in denial as you can see from some of the responses here

Most people are swimming in a sea of delusion and denial on what is happening and it is understandable with so much going on in their daily lives.But know this,there will be breaking point if the decline continues and then what they think of as their daily lives will be nothing that they could ever imagine.And don't think for a minute that the situation is not that dire.This country can't continue down this path very much longer and the tipping point is coming.People may chose to see the warning signs and or they may ignore what is going on around them.

The wake up call in this country is coming soon and it won't be coming from Muslim terrorists, it will be coming in the form of millions standing in bread lines and tent cities.But by all means some people keep buying the illusion that they're someone that this corrupted government is protecting and looking out for.It doesn't matter who they vote for or or how they label themselves or what brand of political religion they're buying into.In the end they're disposable collateral damage on the road to complete control over the resources,money supply,and every aspect of the daily lives of the citizens of this country by fascist authoritarians controlling government and corporations in this country. They count on cowards and enablers to advance their agenda.

Republicans attend Tea Parties and Beck and Hannity fests and scream they are taking back "the party" that long ago abandoned them and the rights and freedoms they claim to be fighting for.Democrats get Rachel Maddowed and attend intellectual lectures on how civility and proper education in liberal and progressive policy will take back "the party" that long ago abandoned them and the rights and freedoms they claim to be fighting for.In the meantime any suggestions or ideas that defending their rights and freedom from oppression involves more than partisan politics and "voting for the right party" brings whales and cries of righteous indignation and more vindictive emotion towards the "other side" who must be destroyed at all costs because by all means the "Democrats" and "Republicans" that we put in power in our wonderful "elections" are so much different when it comes to defending the rights and freedoms of the unwashed masses in this country.The enablers should pay more attention to the financial terrorism and fraud being wrought on this country by fascist corporate rule,the military industrial complex,the federal reserve bank,credit card companies,wall street corruption and a government and congress that are complicit in the looting of this country every day of the week rather than directing sarcastic rants at people who refuse to buy into the fascist puppet shows and delusions of an "American Dream" that that long ago died.

[TheWatcher]

63. truthwillprevail, I liked your post so much I am reposting it.

I don't know if this is showing up the same for everyone, but on my PC there was no paragraphs or spacing, and it was a bit difficult to read. Since there is a contingent on DU that uses this as an excuse not to read anything that interferes with their Comfort and Convenience at any cost bubble, I am reposting it in an easier to read version, so they at least have to stand on the merit of their own willful ignorance and denial, instead of blaming it on format.

Everyone needs to read this.

Thank You for posting it.

The unreachable will ignore it. i hope those who can still listen, will heed it.

Most people are swimming in a sea of delusion and denial on what is happening and it is understandable with so much going on in their daily lives.

But know this,there will be breaking point if the decline continues and then what they think of as their daily lives will be nothing that they could ever imagine. And don't think for a minute that the situation is not that dire.

This country can't continue down this path very much longer and the tipping point is coming. People may chose to see the warning signs and or they may ignore what is going on around them.

The wake up call in this country is coming soon and it won't be coming from Muslim terrorists, it will be coming in the form of millions standing in bread lines and tent cities. But by all means some people keep buying the illusion that they're someone that this corrupted government is protecting and looking out for.

It doesn't matter who they vote for or or how they label themselves or what brand of political religion they're buying into. In the end they're disposable collateral damage on the road to complete control over the resources, money supply, and every aspect of the daily lives of the citizens of this country by fascist authoritarians controlling government and corporations in this country. They count on cowards and enablers to advance their agenda.

Republicans attend Tea Parties and Beck and Hannity fests and scream they are taking back "the party" that long ago abandoned them, and the rights and freedoms they claim to be fighting for.

Democrats get Rachel Maddowed and attend intellectual lectures on how civility and proper education in liberal and progressive policy will take back "the party" that long ago abandoned them and the rights and freedoms they claim to be fighting for.

In the meantime, any suggestions or ideas that defending their rights and freedom from oppression involves more than partisan politics, and "voting for the right party", brings wales and cries of righteous indignation, and more vindictive emotion towards the "other side" who must be destroyed at all costs, because by all means the "Democrats" and "Republicans" that we put in power in our wonderful "elections" are so much different when it comes to defending the rights and freedoms of the unwashed masses in this country.

The enablers should pay more attention to the financial terrorism and fraud being wrought on this country by fascist corporate rule, the military industrial complex, the federal reserve bank,credit card companies, wall street corruption and a government and congress that are complicit in the looting of this country every day of the week, rather than directing sarcastic rants at people who refuse to buy into the fascist puppet shows and delusions of an "American Dream" that that long ago died.

[truthwillprevail]

66. Thank you Watcher

Thanks Watcher,i am very familiar with yours posts here and have respect for your views.I have been reading this blog for ages.Just really don't take the time to post because of the useless snark and intellectual superior crap of some here and anything i post usually sinks like dead weight anyway which is fine.I still put one up here now and then to maybe get some people to think a little about their motives and how their views contribute to the dire situation this country is heading for.

Thanks for taking the time to fix up the sentence structure and the grammar.It is not my strong suit and an unfortunate byproduct of a misspent youth.I am a working class street guy and i make no apologies for it to anybody anymore.It in no way diminishes what i see going on around us and most who understand this, like yourself, will make allowances for the poor grasp of grammar and get to the message being sent.Thanks again and keep on speaking truth Watcher.

[TheWatcher]

67. Thank YOU, my friend.

You don't need to apologize for anything. :)

The message is powerful, thoughtful, and speaks truth To Power.

And that is all that matters.

Hope you have a good Holiday.

Like you say, dark times are coming.

And though we must prepare to fight and resist, we must also take the opportunity to enjoy and embrace periods of light when afforded. :)

Thank you for taking the time to share, and my Best Wishes to you and your family.

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. realize that it is 2% who are screened for them

(I would not be shocked if the numbers actually dropped)

So most folks are still going through a metal detector.

And this is key. they WANT to be safe...

Adult conversation on this here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9624487

[SoCalDem]

64. It costs a LOT to buy a ticket..most are non-refundable

Not many people are going to pay $400-$500 for a ticket & then cause a ruckus at the airport & be tossed out of the place..with no money-back..