Jesse Ventura vs the TSA

Former-governor Jesse Ventura is no stranger to controversy. As a former pro-wrestler, you might say he thrives on it. And he has been a tireless campaigner for Libertarian values. So, it should come as no shock that he has decided to take the TSA to court over the new pat-down or scan policies of the Transportation Safety Administration. He has an interesting different take on the situation as he has both a Libertarian angle and an Americans-with-Disabilities Act angle, as he has a titanium hip.

According to the lawsuit, Ventura received a hip replacement in 2008, and since then, his titanium implant has set off metal detectors at airport security checkpoints. The lawsuit said that prior to last November officials had used a non-invasive hand-held wand to scan his body as a secondary security measure.

But when Ventura set off the metal detector in November, he was instead subjected to a body pat-down and was not given the option of a scan with a hand-held wand or an exemption for being a frequent traveler, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said the pat-down "exposed him to humiliation and degradation through unwanted touching, gripping and rubbing of the intimate areas of his body."

It claims that under TSA's policy, Ventura will be required to either go through a full-body scanner or submit to a pat-down every time he travels because he will always set off the metal detector.

Outrage has become somewhat muted (or numbed) since the original flare-up around Christmas. It'll be interesting to see if this is a catalyst for more activism, or if the American people are too tired of the issue to care at this point.

The TSA's "Grope-Gate" is strengthening the Tea Party

There are times when President Obama looks like a true genius - parsing and analyzing the national mood with piercing insight. And there are times when he truly seems to be tone-deaf to the American people.

"Grope-gate", the policy of enhanced scanning and invasive pat-downs by the TSA at airports, has triggered a chorus of outrage. It started small, with a few malcontents looking to stir the pot on civil liberties issues, but it has steadily grown as anecdotes about hands down pants, medical equipment pulled out and destroyed, and people being threatened with jail or massive fines for attempting to opt out have filled the news. In light of this outrage, a savvy politician had two choices: (1) decry the bad policy and call for change, or (2) release the intelligence that showed why such intrusions were necessary.

Instead, President Obama has supported the invasive procedures without giving any concrete evidence of their necessity (or effectiveness).

The result is likely to be a Republican Congress even more bold and unbending than would have been seen otherwise. The Tea Party rose with a very simple (some would say simplistic) narrative: "Government has gotten too big and wants to intrude into every aspect of your life." Instead of defusing this idea, the TSA policies give a concrete picture to what "government intrusion" looks like - it is agents taking naked pictures of you and making fun of them, or literally feeling you up and punishing you if you say "No." This, more than anything else, is likely to become to defining image of President Obama's America for 2011. And unlike the economy, it is nothing he can blame on anyone else. It was a policy that was ordered under his watch, for conditions that developed under his watch, and a policy which he has publicly endorsed.

Your move, Republicans. Almost anything you can do or say from here will look like the calm and reasonably approach in contrast.

What have we come to?

From Townhall.com.

This definitely matches my last airline experience

Still, it is a lot better than most. From Sheldon Comics.

Continental Express Misdirects Unaccompanied Children

I have always thought parents who sent children by plane without a responsible adult were putting their children at risk. I know there are rare circumstances where it is the only choice, but these are RARE cases. Recently, Continental Express proved just how dangerous it is by misrouting two children in two days.

Taylor Williams of College Station, traveling alone on a Continental Express commuter flight departing from Bush Intercontinental Airport, went to Fayetteville, Ark., instead of her destination of Charlotte, N.C., where her father was to meet her.
The next day, 10-year-old Miriam Kamens boarded a Continental Express plane at Boston’s Logan airport and landed in Newark, N.J., instead of her intended destination of Cleveland to visit her grandparents.
The two Continental Express flights were operated by ExpressJet under contract with Continental.
In a statement Tuesday, Continental spokeswoman Kelly Cripe said both incidents occurred when flights with different destinations were loaded simultaneously from the same doorway and that “miscommunication among staff members resulted in the child being boarded on the wrong aircraft.”

To be fair, the airline took care of the children the whole time, and eventually got them where they were supposed to go. But let's honest here - unless you have absolutely no other choice, sending a child alone on an airplane is a bad idea. Be responsible parent and either go with them, or find someone who can.

WiFi Comes to Airplanes Again

Delta has announced that they'll be offering wireless internet access on domestic flights, powered by GoGo. Costs will be $9.95 for shorter than 3 hour flights and $12.95 for flights lasting at least 3 hours. Alaskan Airlines and Southwest Airlines are testing a different technology. It appears that American Airlines either already has or is planning on using the GoGo service as well. While having wireless internet in the air would be nice to pass the time, the bigger issue really is battery life. I'd prefer that they actually finished putting AC outlets in every row before they started offering something like WiFi. And at $9.95 / $12.95, would it be worth it to you?

US Airways Takes Another Step away from Customer Comforts

US Airways announced today that they will begin charging immediately for what used to be their complimentary water, soda, coffee or tea on their flights. Water and soda will cost $2 and coffee and tea will cost $1. I can't really say this is morally wrong or anything, but I think it is poor business. A drink costs them under $1 in materials and on longer flights, the flight attendants aren't doing anything else productive during that time.

Airline "Extras"

We have been planning a flight in late July to attend a friend's wedding and have been amazed by what the airlines now consider "extra" in order to squeeze a few more dollars out of every consumer.

Extra Lithium Batteries Banned from Checked Baggage

Not sure how this one slipped by without anyone noticing. Apparently, it is not illegal to have an extra battery in your checked baggage for your laptop or digital camera or pretty much anything else. Apparently, it is permitted in unchecked luggage, but only if carried in a plastic bag and even there limits exist.

The claim is that this is to reduce the chance of fire, as lithium batteries have been blamed for a number of otherwise unexplained fires. But I can't help wondering if this is really to discourage use of laptops as entertainment devices on long flights, so people will pay for the little video screens and other extras.