Remember those lines from every World War 2 movie you have ever seen? Always some jack booted a/hole demanding to see the heroes papers before he gets on a train and escapes.
I even joked about it coming to that after 9/11 and the rush for everyone to have a proper ID (papers)…..this would guarantee our safety and help control the bad element……it was humorous post on my part…..but recent events have come to light that make it not so humorous anymore……
This from a short piece in Time’s leisure section…….
Starting in 2016, travelers from five U.S. states will not be able to use their driver’s licenses as ID to board domestic flights—a pretty major development considering an estimated 38 percent of Americans don’t have passports.
The standard licenses from New York, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and American Samoa are considered “noncompliant” with the security standards outlined in the Real ID Act, which was enacted back in 2005 but is being implemented in stages. Why are these specific licenses deemed sub-par? In these five states, getting a license doesn’t require proof of citizenship or residency.
The new rules will go into effect sometime in 2016 (the exact date has not been announced), and there will be a three-month forgiveness period, during which people with these licenses will be warned that their IDs are no longer valid for flights.
Here’s the breakdown: if you’re from one of these states, “acceptable” IDs include passports and passport cards, as well as permanent resident cards, U.S. military ID, and DHS trusted traveler cards such a Global Entry and NEXUS. (what about those damn silly voter IDs?)
The TSA will also accept Enhanced Driver’s Licenses, the kind that are currently used to replace passports for travel to and from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Of the noncompliant states, only New York and Minnesota issue enhanced licenses.
For families from these states, at least children under 18 years old do not need ID when traveling with a companion.
Only thing missing since TSA and others are wearing black uniforms will be the line….”Papers? Show me your papers”…….
As long as we are talking about flying and the chance of a TSA grope…..how about this piece about flying?
Source: Flying the Unfriendly Skies of America by Tom Engelhardt — Antiwar.com
Can you remember when traveling was an enjoyable pursuit? I can. Those days are gone, my friend.
Yes, I do remember those times, and I liked flying then. Now…I’d rather walk!
Walking is a safer way to travel these days, huh?
Maybe all the excitement is somehow connected to the thousands of illegals who are forging licenses or who are being granted them because of false applications —
Not everything is about immigrants….I think it is just more population control since 9/11….
Probably a bit of pragmatism on the part of the wary and the wise.
We’re becoming a fascist society faster than Ben Johnson ran the 100M if you tripled his steroid use. About the only thing still missing from Orwell’s 1984 is a leader with bushy facial hair.
As you pointed out with the TSA, every police/security outfit in North America has “butched-up” their already butchy uniforms as a deliberate act of intimidation aimed toward civilians. It’s a minor example of the Police State we’ve become, but it makes their intent crystal clear. What other reason for such uniform changes is there? What the fuck ever happened to Officer Friendly???
My last flight to America involved a lot of utterly pointless “fun” at the Orlando airport. After landing, I headed to Customs, where my party was asked questions that had little to do with Customs. This included naming where we were staying, as if expected to already have rooms. After being asked if she was staying at the same address (which they read aloud) as her last trip 5 years ago, one idiot in my party said she liked this because it made her “feel safer”. Somehow, the US government knowing (and keeping on file) where she (a foreign national they don’t give a shit about) was staying made her “safer”. Just in case..uh..an instant hurricane carried her off to sea? Like so many others, this fucktard just loves Big Brother!
I collected my luggage and walked to the baggage room exit. There, everyone on my flight was told to put their bags on a conveyor belt 10 metres from where we just picked them up. We then were put in…of all things…a security line-up! It’s worth noting this was a charter flight that terminated in Orlando. At this point, we all had finished our journeys, cleared Customs and were just trying to leave the airport. There was even a visible public exit to the airport right beside the door to this room. But no!!! We needed to be searched before leaving.
There were more cameras in this small room than people in it and that was a lot. Even though my flight accounted for 100% of the people in the room, we were packed like sardines. There were only 2 baggage screening lines for thecarry-on baggage already screened at the airport we left on a direct flight from. But only 1 line was open and it seemed understaffed. However, there were at least a dozen security people just wandering around telling people to “keep moving” in this motionless line. And they were rather rude about it too. A hundred times worse than my Checkpoint Charlie experiences.
In fact, some were standing right at the baggage screener. The bags were moving through as fast as you could walk to the pickup point, even if they weren’t putting you through metal detectors and waving their wand at every single passenger. As a result, bags, shoes and trays with coins were continuously falling off the end of the short conveyor belt and spilling. Instead of helping, or slowing it down, or opening up the other line, these TSA fuckwipes were barking at shoeless people to “pick up your bags & get moving”, even while standing still for the wand-swiper. They even barked at the wheelchair bound to hurry up.
Once through all this pointless humiliation, I expected to be taken to a mass shower room. Instead, I had to turn, not toward the airport exit right in next to me, but into the shopping mall they herd everyone through to get to their flight. Oddly, you don’t to be screened to get in there. Meanwhile, had there actually been something -er- “fireworkish” in my checked bags, I could have turned right and safely left the building completely unhindered.
I then walked through what seemed to be the entire airport to get to the baggage re-pick-up room. It felt like it was on the other side of the wall of where I picked up my bags the first time. Finally, hours after landing, I was allowed to escape.
The whole thing had the feel of one of those (not-so) hidden camera psychological tests. It reminded me of the “button pushing” episodes of Lost…which is an ironically appropriate for invasive, but directionless, airport security that actually provided no security whatsoever and was far more likely to cause disgruntled passengers to violently act up. But the goons were ready & hoping for that.
Fortunately, departing was oddly less intrusive than our arrival. Thousands of people were funnelled into the massive security line that took about an hour to get through. While in the security line, I came up with a way to generate a far more statistically impressive “event” than if there was NO security at all & we could walk on board carrying anything we wanted. I won’t say how because CSIS, the NSA and other Thought Police agencies are listening…and are very eager to add it to my file of Thought Crimes.
Just to be difficult, I “exercised my rights” (insert laugh here). I demanded to avoid the Rape-scan and opted for the pat-down. Surprisingly, it took 10 minutes…on the INSIDE of the barricaded safety zone…before they found somebody to do the pat-down. I jokingly suggested a female guard I’d have liked to do the pat-down, but to no avail.
The whole experience was as intrusive as it was ineffective. As I said, if I were so inclined (and equipped), I could have rung up stats rivalling that Sept day in NY. Which makes any person with 2 functioning brain cells left to question the validity of the bullshit narrative we’ve been sold since that day. If it’s so easy I could do it, why hasn’t anybody done it yet? Perhaps because there’s nobody trying to!
I apologize for the rudeness of our d/bags…..but welcome of America…LOL Sorry could not resist.
I have a metal plate in my leg….imagine the crap I have to go thru trying to get into an airport…..even a doctor’s letter is not good enough for TSA…..If I travel I drive…fuck airplanes…..or boats….so I do not go too many places….LOL
Oh, after I got put on a “list” for mailing a nasty letter to a Cabinet Minister (long before 2001, thank God), I’m used to border hassles. Your metal plate must be a bitch. Almost every time I can’t possibly avoid flying, I see some poor sap with a metal plate/hip/knee getting hassled, mostly decrepit seniors.
But this Orlando thing just doesn’t make ANY sense on ANY level (other than the Lost psychological experiment, or just sheer intimidation) Everybody on the flight was already screened & cleared at the Canadian airport we left from. We had cleared Orlando customs & picked up our checked (and, no doubt, rifled through) bags. Not one person on the flight was transferring. We were all 100M from the building exit, which is all any of us wanted to do. What the fuck was taking away our bags, sending them back to another baggage claim area and body searching us as were about to leave the building going to do??? Give some old geezers heart attacks because they had to walk the length of the airport 2 more times for no reason?
Meanwhile, any fuckwipe could walk in off the street through that exit right in front of us and into that airport mall WITHOUT getting searched….and pick up our bags and walk away with them. Sheer idiocy.
Oh…yeah….”Welcome to America.”
Orlando…Disney owns Orlando….I do not truest them as far as I can spit them….all this is just silly…..TSA is a joke at best….,