There’s a reason why the classic story of the frog and the boiling water is such an enduring parable. Time and time again, it’s proven to be a very honest reflection of human nature. You can get almost anyone to put up with absolutely awful conditions, if those conditions are introduced over a long period of time.
The TSA is a perfect example of that. That agency does things now that absolutely no one would put up with before 9/11. Even up until a few years ago, there was a widespread movement to boycott the agency’s body scanners. But these days, stories of airplane passengers challenging the TSA are few and far between. Over time their behavior has been normalized, and the average person has finally accepted them as an unfortunate, but unavoidable fact of life.
And it’s certainly not because the TSA’s behaviour stopped being disgusting and authoritarian. Their employees are just as abusive as they’ve always been. In fact, a man from Dallas recently filed a lawsuit against the TSA, after an agent injured him during a pat down last March.
In a federal complaint filed Wednesday, Stavropolous detailed how he was stopped after stepping out of a full body scanner by an agent who asked if he had anything in his pockets.
“I pulled out a dollar bill,” he said. “I asked if I should go through the scanner one more time and he said no, we’ll do a full body patdown.”
It was during that patdown, he said, that the agent drove a hand into his groin so hard, twice, that he was immediately hit by waves of pain.
“I turned around and said, you injured me,” he said. “I’d like to talk to your supervisor!”
Stavropolous claims that he still experiences pain and bleeding from the incident, and has to visit a urologist twice a month. His injury is so bad that he’s scheduled to have surgery in October to repair the damage. And unsurprisingly, he’s pretty hesitant to go back to the airport.
Stavropolous says not only did he not make his business trip to Dallas that day in March—he hasn’t flown since.
“I’m kind of fearful of going through TSA and having another event like I had,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to look forward to that!”
The fact that this story hasn’t been widely shared in the rest of the media is a testament to our ability to accept terrible conditions. Most people remember a time when a trip to the airport didn’t mean being treated like cattle, yet we still accept it as normal. Until Americans grow a backbone and demand an end to the TSA’s abusive practices, situations like this won’t stop happening. If anything, they’ll probably become more frequent.
I have not flown since the TSA came into being and I will never fly again. I have a strong ban hand. The only thing I have control over is my own behavior and I chose to boycott the Airlines.
I will NEVER watch cable TV again. I wont go to the Movie Theater to watch a movie. I will NEVER shop at Target again.
It’s not much but it’s the least I could do, and never let it be said I didn’t do the least I could do!
What will some do for a paycheck.? We will be faced with that fact? I do it for my children. We all do it for our children?
There was a whistle blower that said that the TSA agents are really just unhirable thugs that couldn’t get a job at McDonalds because they would not be qualified. These thugs want these jobs because they get paid $15 an hour.
I see these guys working part-time at the LA Fitness I belong too. Seems like all these companies feel they need to hire 300-LB gorillas just to stay in business. It is certainly not to protect their customers.
I havent flown in a long long time and i wont be. They can blow me
NB, some don’t have much choice. I have to fly, on occasion, cause of my job. Matter of fact, depending on how bad this hurricane is, I might be going to Texas very soon. I have never experienced or seen anything like what some people go through, however the analogy about the boiling frog fits perfectly. From the mad rush of taking off your shoes and emptying your pockets to getting treated like shit by those egotistical flunkies, it’s very frustrating. Then to hear stories like this and many others. Compare the way it is now to anytime pre 9/11 and it really feels like there’ll never be good times here again. I say that because if you couple this to other things that are imposed on us, you’ll see a change so profound that it is frightening. The asphyxiating taxes, rules, regulations, you can’t do this, you can’t do that. I hold a CDL. Just the hoops that we jump through to get it renewed is rediculous. You have to start the process at least a couple months now before it expires, if you hold a haz mat endorsement, it’s even longer. Our technology is so advanced, people don’t even consider privacy as a right anymore. I mean sit down and really think about all this stuff sometime. It’s not leading us anywhere good. I wish everyone the best cause when this balloon bursts, it’s gonna be so fucking loud, you’re not even gonna hear it.
Stay quiet Be smart
Im feelin that pain my friend,,,
What the hell happened? The worst part is thet we are viewed as the enemy to the gov pricks
I have flown in hurricanes before: Hurricane Andrew and others. It is WILD but you will survive it. The key thing is to relax and let the movement flow through you. I know the natural tendancy is to resist the turbulance and seek stability. But that will only freak you out and make the experience very unpleasant. Relax, ride that b#tch and you will get through it.
I used to do regular military flights and they fly HARD: hard take-offs, turns and landings. It is way wilder than civilian flights. You get used to it. Try doing a dark landing in a war zone at night avoiding missiles. That will grow you a set of nuts.
By far the most annoying part of flying these days is the security crap and especially when you go to politically correct countries where they get women in hijabs to frisk you, just to rub it in. Also stay away from any airline that attracts drunken Brits, or connector flights from India: their behavior on aircraft is shocking.
Most Foreigners are savage like scum and they need to stay in their Third World gutters and NEVER ever come to the US and or attempt to move her – keep ALL filthy rotten rude foreigners the fuck out of this jacked-up enough country.
Oh good grief, remember that the underwear bomber was stopped by a Dutch guy flying to Detroit. So much for foreign scum.
I’ve always said since then that we’d be much safer if we just shut down TSA altogether, and offered to let Dutch guys fly free on international flights to the US. Plus, this way this poor man in the article wouldn’t need surgery now, thanks to this AMERICAN scumbag employed by TSA…
Frank, thanks but maybe I misrepresented myself. The company I work for has a bunch of terminals in Texas an Louisiana. I’ll be going to help get back on track but not till after the storm. My apologies. As far as dark landings, never did that. We jumped in.
Every time the TSA gets in trouble it only doubles down. If you were unhappy with the previous scandal all you have to do is wait. The next abuse of power is guaranteed to be worse than the one that came before. The only way to stop this is to end the TSA.
I have a feeling that one day a TSA agent will go too far and get the sh*t beat out of them — right in front of the seething masses. Others will see this and decide to take matters into their own hands. And another. And another. The airport will have a full blown riot on their hands. Airports will be burned to the ground. There will be a lot of grounded planes, delays and cancellations. It will spread from one airport to the next.
The government hates this kind of thing. Even the airline lobbyists will be forced to admit: “Boy. That really escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand.”
Meanwhile, this will go on until it can’t go on any longer.
Same thing with the airlines. If you complain about to cost of the ticket, the airlines just institute fees. If you complain about the fees, the airlines just add more rows of seats. Complain about that and they put the seats closer together.
The airlines just keep doubling down.
If airline passengers demand a Bill of Rights then the airlines double down again by double booking. Complain about that and the airlines flaunt the Bill of Rights by making the jets sit on the runway all that much longer. If the passengers revolt, the airline brings on private security and beats the passengers up. The only way this ends is badly.
Eventually, the public will just revolt, and stop flying commercially for a year. That would solve this mess in a big hurry. Perhaps, an alternate airline company will be formed and the ban on the offending major carriers will become permanent. Then the major offending carriers will cease to exist and just go away.
I got rid of the television a long time ago. They are putting themselves out of business.
I won’t go to a movie theater because of the people and their use of cell phones during the movie; the talkers; the parents who are too cheap to leave their crying babies at home with a sitter; the high price of admission; $10.00 popcorn and $5.00 sodas. The movie theaters are putting themselves out of business.
Target, Sears, JC Pennys, Macy’s, Kohls, Dicks, K-Mart, Walmart, the Malls — they are all putting themselves out of business.
Same thing with U.S. Government, these professional politicians, MSM, the rich elites, and the corporate oligarchy. They are putting themselves out of business. Eventually, all these endless wars, and taxes, and corruption, and cronyism will be the end of them. The people will just go someplace else and “Poof.”
Go someplace else means- leave the (((monopoly))).
Passive resistance does not work, because they have authorized the use of force, at their own discretion.
Speculation is besides the point, because it is not a market.
If you live alongside these people, and accept them as normal, blame yourself. A majority of people consider this acceptable, or they would be disowned.
@Beaumont. I agree with you. Once the government authorized the use of force against its own people they violated the social contract. All bets are off. Same thing with the TSA. Same with the airline companies. It doesn’t matter what you saw. When the airlines (their agents, employees and flight crews) started bringing in private security to be mothers and fathers, they started something. The people will finish it. Deny it all you want to. It is in our blood.
There are places even evil cannot go safely.
Some resistors will try to get hurt, on purpose, because they think it is against the rules, for an authoritarian to be an authoritarian.
The agent can justify it, with specious reasoning, then, sleep well, at night.
The statists are never formally going to recognize it as a form of martyrdom.
It is not helpful, in and of itself, to say that agents are hurting people.
You know who they are, in your book clubs, neighborhoods, churches, grocery stores, family functions, or whereever. You then, regard them, civilly, in the same light as normal civilians. I am not proposing anything, illegal, per se. Just shunning, I guess. It can ostensibly be brought to their attention, without breaking any formal laws, that there are higher laws.
But, most people seem to think this injury is legitimate, or they make rationalizations.
Justice, Nb, and b-e. Couldn’t agree with you more.
The honest, hard truth is that SO MUCH about this once awesome country is now a massive pile of steaming shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything is so out of control and difficult and expensive and all about fucking us over every which way but loose.
You need to go to Elizabeth City, NC. There is only one theater in town, but it has two screens and only charges $4.50 per ticket.
Hint about the high price of snacks: my wife has a very large purse.
I stopped flying 8 years ago due to the Gestapo TSA. I gave up cable TV at the same time and have never missed it. Giving it up was like walking from the twilight into the sun. Cable TV is full of stupidity, depravity and is mind numbing. I go to one movie a year and it is when one of my children invite me. I preferred Target to other big box stores so I did miss it when I gave it up but have adapted. Other things I have given up for better health is all things related to microwaves like the microwave oven, the wi fi router and the fancy tablet. Radiation accumulates and it is very detrimental to the health. I think a lot of the up is down and peace is war thinking is from microwave scrambled brains. Whenever I hear of another company supporting the insanity of today’s socialism/communist movement, I stop buying anything from them.
I go visit my neighbors house every few days, and they have TV on and its just painful sitting there watching all the mindless crap on. I get agitated and ask that we go outside for sunshine, fresh air and nature. Its the best remedy for your health, fresh air, sunshine and nature. Dump your cable and use that money to go buy a bicycle. A good Mt Bike for $400-$500 hundred dollars. You will live longer be healthier and happier and save money.
You are confused. Radiation and radio waves are two entirely different things. My microwave and wifi have never bothered me in the slightest. The microwave is shielded so that the radio waves stay inside and the food will cook. The wifi signal is so weak that you get more lifetime radio wave energy through you from radio and TV than you’ll ever get from wifi. If you really don’t want a wifi router, go old school and run cables. Just be prepared for a lot of repairs.
I don’t have cable or satellite TV because they’re overpriced. I have a Roku and wifi in case I want to watch a movie or old TV show that I don’t already own on DVD.
Ditto!
Justice, good for you. We also don’t have cable, our TV (seldom used) is in a cabinet that we close so we don’t even have to look at it. I will also NEVER shop at Target, NEVER go into Starbucks, and, e.g., when Macy’s a few years back disciplined a CA employee for not letting a man go into the women’s bathroom, I walked into our local Macys to talk directly to the manager about this. I’ll bet I was the only one who did so. I wasn’t nasty, confrontational, etc.; just quickly and calmly explained that my wife would never shop there again if she had to confront a man in the womens washroom.
Now, imagine if just a couple dozen people got off their lazy derrieres and also talked to the manager? Again, no vitriol, no taking massive amts out time (I took maybe 5 minutes, if that), etc.
As Vince Lombardi once said, fatigue (or in this case, laziness) makes cowards of us all. I was disgusted I was probably the ONLY person to talk to the Macy’s manager. Interestingly, he too, was upset about the ruling, and agreed with me.
Sum of the matter: People need to get off their derrieres. Why does the left do it for their lies and ignorance, and we who are conservatives or libertarians dont?
Good on you, Justice, that you did what you good do! The only thing for evil to triumph is for…. oh, you know the rest…
Ditto Here Justice. Have not flown in 5 years, since I watch my Mom get molested by the TSA because she had breast cancer and had a breast removed and had a fake breast. It was humiliating to watch her get patted down like a criminal. It took everything in my body not to beat the crap out of the TSA agent. My Mom refuses to fly again, and I have no desire, and I will drive if needed. Cancelled Cable TV 30 months ago, no regrets either. My brain has become unbrainwashed.
Hey Justice, I’m with you there. Target sucks! Wal Fart is also on my boycott list since that episode with the Isis battle flag cake.
For reminders: Wal Fart would not make a cake with the rebel flag on it but DID make a cake with the Isis crap on it. It has been a while back but I read about it on this site and some others as well.
all the people the world over have to do is grow a pair and boycott the airlines for one day and TSA will be gone.
Justice, I do likewise and wish people would quit flying and fun those bastard airlines out of biz. Here is what I read on another website about cashless and chip implants. Keep writing checks to pay bills, don’t use on line banking, and use cash when practical. We use credit card and or pay pal online purchases. Oce cash is banned, we will be enslaved and agenda 21 will be enforced in full.
I too have not flown since the TSA Nazi’s came into being. I never sit foot in a WallMart and never will. As long as people act like sheep they will be treated like sheep and abused like sheep. Just wait until TSA starts using the newly available anal ultrasound unit that can pick up drugs and money hidden in the colon; I’ll bet less than 90% will resist.
What do you expect from the domestic enemy?
All TSA agents should be Filipino women. At least then the could give us a hand job while they were patting us down.
Too much?
Those TBFM are great.
How to identify the domestic enemy? They all drive forign cars? But not for long?
Are any cars made in America anymore? I thought they were all made in Mexico
Saw a 60 year old man with his brand new Toyota pickup . What is he thinking? And what do we think?
Toyotas are all made in the US
In Texas too. Cheaper labor than in Japan.
The Nissan North America HQ is about a half mile from where I’m sitting right now. I can see the building from my office on the sixth floor of my building. The huge plant is about 25 miles away. All pickup trucks are made here. If not there is a huge tax on them. Have you ever seen a Mercedes PU here? We still build cars here, but not a whole lot else. Not like in the past.
He is thinking reliability, dependability, efficiency, excellent service!! and I worked as sub-contractor for the big three – inferior product and they get away with murder!!!
Such complacency – and government sell out!!!
China bank runs? Even the Chinese are FED up?
Is it getting easier to separate the wheat from the Tares? We are expected to do are part? Luke warm? Or red hot? Our time has come? Pick a side. And as the apostles. Never submit?
I read one commenter saying he’s come to the point that he hates democrats. I hate traitors. Is that a bad thing? Hating soddom and Gomorrah. You better recognize. Hating the Soddomites is Gods way? Like it or not? Pick a side? It will be your last pick ?
Airport molesters.
Don’t worry. When whoever sets off that EMP that we all hope doesn’t happen, Ain’t nobody gonna be flying anywhere!
It has been said that secretly — deep within everyone’s heart of hearts — everyone wishes the world would end.
“The Earth is Evil. Nobody will miss when it is gone.” — Melancholia
Don’t touch my junk. HAHAHAHA
Next time I fly I am going to pop a Viagra before the pat down.
Then when the incredibly obese black woman TSA agent pats me down I can make some dick jokes.
I saw a cartoon where an enterprising guy was standing beside the scanner line at the airport selling Viagra to the men.
It’s scary to think that, while sitting on the ground for hours, something could overheat and somebody opens an emergency exit because they think they smell smoke.
Safety first, don’t cha know.
Repeal The Patriot Act:
It seems Mr. Stavropolous got kicked in the balls. The Patriot Act has kicked every American in the balls. The Ziogarchy need a good swift kick in the balls their own damn self.
_
The FEDS don’t need the patriot act to spy on us. They will do it without legal authority.
The “near” exact thing happened to me several years ago trying to fly out of Bend, Oregon. I am a double hip replacement survivor. You can imagine what I endure every time I go through an airport scanner. The result was a very vigorous pat down that included having the TSA agent slam his hands both times into my groin patting down my legs. Despite my verbal complaint after the first time, he proceeded to pat the second leg with more force. Although there was no damage other than the usual short lived discomfort, It took a lot of restraint on my part not to smash my knee into the idiots forehead. And, I didn’t want to spend more time in Bend, behind bars. I guess he just wanted to make sure I didn’t have a 1911 tucked into my underwear.
These guys are unprofessional, unfriendly, un-needed, pseudo authoritarians that serve little purpose other than to add to the swelling government payroll.
I think the next time I get patted down at the airport I will piss my pants just as they are groping my groin.
You might be on to something there. Pinch a loaf in the scanner. Run a batch off right before they swab your hands. Don’t change your socks for a week, hell don’t shower either. Plenty of silent protesting ideas to come up with. Roast beef and jack Daniels for dinner the night before, then fart till you can’t fart no more. Making friends everywhere. Damn john, look what you started.
These bastards! My service chihuahuas rectum has never healed properly after what they did to it the last time I flew…bunch of filthy perverts they all are!
Even something as routine as it once was like renewing your drivers license has become ridiculous and grossly overpriced. I took a friend to renew his license, they wanted a birth certificate which he did not have so money wasted there getting a copy from the home state. All the while holding a legal unexpired photo drivers license from this state. Also told the cost will be four times what the existing license issued in 2009 cost. This was Obama required legislation. The place was packed with what looked like a third world nation including the people who worked there.
Just wait till they start setting up checkpoints on the roadways in the name of safety,,, if people dont revolt then they never will
Every time I drive on interstate 10 between Texas and Louisiana I see a TSA patrol car sitting in the middle of the highway.
……”The fact that this story hasn’t been widely shared in the rest of the media is a testament to”………How incredibly stupid it is and anyone with half a brain to actually believe it with out some very extenuating circumstances that have got to omitted to accentuate this story.
I fly every three weeks, like clockwork, this is a bunch of BS.
Possible….sure
Likely or even probable, no.
@ Anon. Frankly, it really doesn’t matter if the story is true or just propaganda from the other side. Enough of the stories are true so that the truth doesn’t matter anymore.
The last time I flew was in 2006.
I was on an over-booked, red eye, traveling cross country, with a mother who had two unruly children sitting behind me. The kids were out of their minds because it was 11:30 at night and they were exhausted and pissed off that they were still up. If you are a parent you know exactly what I am talking about.
Both of these brats were driving a hole through the back of my seat with their feet.
A real cold bitch of a stewardess, threatened to report me to the pilot if I didn’t sit down and STFU. All I had asked was to be placed in another seat. She and I both knew the plane was completely full.
My seat was on one of these Airbus’, the ones with leather seats padded with bricks.
That’s when I vowed to stop flying until the revolution came.
I generally am flying cross country. For years I took the red eye because even the a**holes were too exhausted to make trouble at this ungodly hour. Even that option went to sh*t after a few years.
I am willing to bet that United picked that doctor for the same reason that bullies pick on the smartest, the pillars of the community first — to set an example, and scare the rest of traveling public into submission.
Trouble with that is that there usually is just one or two bullies and lots and lots of people unwilling to be victims. The people know that eventually the bullies are going to come for them, regardless of how compliant they are.
Here we have United up against its whole customer base. A couple hundred up against millions?
There is only one way for this to go. Someday, this is going to get real bloody. The government, the airlines, TSA and the whole entire industry knows that they have crossed a line. They will double down. The bullies always go one victim too far. Always.
Quit griping and just buy yourself a plane and fly yourself anywhere you want to go with it.
The same way you can buy a car and drive yourself anywhere you want with it.
No TSA to contend with that way.
WORKS FOR ME.
You don’t have to buy a plane. I haven’t flown commercial in the US since this TSA nonsense was started. There are lots of small airports where people can make friends with a pilot that owns a plane or they can hire a pilot tha owns a plane or they can get on a charter flight which means they don’t have to deal with the TSA.
There are options. If I want to leave the country I can fly out of Canada. Will it be annoying? Yes, but at least you are treated in a civil manner in Canada.
I fly regularly and very seldom have an issue with the TSA only that the lines, at times, get rather long and they only have one speed… slow. On my last visit the guy was so busy, who was watching the monitor, bsing with his friends that my son’s wife was able to get a bottle of water through, and he had some pre-workout powder that he normally gets questioned on go through. Wonder how many knives and guns got through that day?
HANG that TSA, brown shirt, cock sucker!! The TSA is one of the worst Gov’t agencies ever to exist in US history.
Folks, this Gov’t has FAILEd us miserably! Enough is enough my God, come on.
Not much difference between being booked in jail or trying to take a flight. Both require people to submit.
The TSA is nothing but a government jobs program for morons that wouldn’t be hired at the local mall. Security theater. There are too many third-worlders that have access to planes, every day, in the US and Europe.
Sounds like he was raped to me. Have him go and file a private citizens complaint against this guy. I’m not joking about this.There are numerous LEGAL remedies that can be taken. This shit has got to STOP!!
I don’t fly anymore. I cannot bear the thought of some hand that’s touched who knows how many people in all kinds of sweaty maybe filthy areas and then touches me. Nauseating at the least. Last I flew, I carried my cats on board. Do they pat down animals too? My current kitty would traumatized by such rough handling.
I have a friend I’ve not seen unless she happens to be on the East Coast. Now I’m thinking in terms of how long it takes to drive to AZ. I’m not rich so I’d have to camp (never camped with cats so that would be a new experience LOL) on the way there and back. Camped a lot in scouting days so not a newbie to that.
I have cable so I can watch the oldies channels. Boy, attitudes have changed a lot in my lifetime. I check the news occasionally but treat it as sitcom/fantasy since it doesn’t even seem to be the same as what can be found online. It’s like a parallel universe.
I don’t patronize most department stores. They are too big, too full of nasty people on both sides of the counter, too full of poorly made goods, and too hard to find service. If I need a tool, I don’t want to walk through miles of socks, sheets, and kitchenware to get there. (Rather take a walk in the woods and take in good air.) Kinda hate shopping too. Can’t recall the last time I was in a mall.
Movies?? why pay the high prices for such trash. And it will be on TV in a few months. Don’t buy all the latest music for the same reason.
My job is ending soon (mid-Sep) and I’m eagerly looking forward to time preparing healthy food–maybe even canning some small things like jams and ketchup or fruit conserves and relishes. MMmmm… I have loads of other creative and fulfilling projects waiting for me too. Might be time to fix up the house to sell and head for the country.
I rarely go to the movies either. I can’t stand the idea of giving some ignorant leftist actor like Sally Fields a penny of my hard earned cash. At least 80% of these so-called “celebrities” want to disarm me, make me buy health insurance for other people, and go to jail for questioning the global warming tax scam. She and her ilk can kiss my ass.
I’m of a respectable age( over 60) and have never flown. I even won a totally free trip by plane for a week to Atlanta Georgia. Chose not to fly and not to go, and will never fly. Would never want to go to Atlanta either for obvious reasons. Don’t have cable, a smart phone, or go to movies. I guess I really should stop shopping at Wally World, those sorry a$$ sobs that make cakes with Isis sh&t on it. They already were lower than a snakes belly.
Minimum $Billion$ Law suit. We need to drive the TSA out of business.
I call shenanigans on this story. I’m a frequent traveler, and certainly no fan of TEA, but I travel enough to know that if he came of of the body scanner and it alarmed on his pocket because he left a dollar in it, they don’t do a full body pat down. They just tell you to take out whatever you left in your pocket, check it out, then pat that pocket down after you’ve removed the item. Me thinks this is either fabricated or there is a whole lot of the story he’s not telling acvurately.