The Atlantic Monthly's Jeffrey Goldberg, no fan of the TSA himself, got his hands on a letter from Captain Dave Bates, president of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 11,000 American Airlines pilots.

Goldberg wonders:

"It is a source of continual astonishment to me that pilots -- many of whom, it should be pointed out, are military veterans who possess security clearances -- are not allowed to carry onboard their airplanes pocket knives and bottles of shampoo, but then they're allowed to fly enormous, fuel-laden, missile-like objects over American cities."

Anyway, here's the note sent to APA members by Captain Bates:

Fellow Pilots,

In response to increased threats to civil aviation around the world, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has implemented the use of Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) body scanners at some airport locations.

While I'm sure that each of us recognizes that the threats to our lives are real, the practice of airport security screening of airline pilots has spun out of control and does nothing to improve national security. It's long past time that policymakers take the steps necessary to exempt commercial pilots from airport security screening and grant designated pilot access to SIDA utilizing either Crew Pass or biometric identification. As I recently wrote to the TSA Administrator:

"Our pilots are highly motivated partners in the effort to protect our nation's security, with many of us serving as Federal Flight Deck Officers. We are all keenly aware that we may serve as the last line of defense against another terrorist attack on commercial aviation. Rather than being viewed as potential threats, we should be treated commensurate with the authority and responsibility that we are vested with as professional pilots."

It is important to note that there are "backscatter" AIT devices now being deployed that produce ionizing radiation, which could be harmful to your health. Airline pilots in the United States already receive higher doses of radiation in their on-the-job environment than nearly every other category of worker in the United States, including nuclear power plant employees. As I also stated in my recent letter to the Administrator of the TSA:

"We are exposed to radiation every day on the job. For example, a typical Atlantic crossing during a solar flare can expose a pilot to radiation equivalent to 100 chest X-rays per hour. Requiring pilots to go through the AIT means additional radiation exposure. I share our pilots' concerns about this additional radiation exposure and plan to recommend that our pilots refrain from going through the AIT. We already experience significantly higher radiation exposure than most other occupations, and there is mounting evidence of higher-than-average cancer rates as a consequence."

It's safe to say that most of the APA leadership shares my view that no pilot at American Airlines should subject themselves to the needless privacy invasion and potential health risks caused by the AIT body scanners. I therefore recommend that the pilots of American Airlines consider the following guidelines:

Use designated crew lines if available.

Politely decline AIT exposure and request alternative screening.

There is absolutely no denying that the enhanced pat-down is a demeaning experience. In my view, it is unacceptable to submit to one in public while wearing the uniform of a professional airline pilot. I recommend that all pilots insist that such screening is performed in an out-of-view area to protect their privacy and dignity.

If screening delays your arrival at the cockpit, do not cut corners that jeopardize the safety of the flight. Consummate professionalism and safety are always paramount.

Maintain composure and professionalism at all times and recognize that you are probably being videotaped.

If you feel that you have been treated with less than courtesy, respect and professionalism, please submit an observer report to APA. Please be sure to include the time, date, security checkpoint and name of the TSA employee who performed the screening. Avoid confrontation.

Your APA Board of Directors and National Officers are holding a conference call this week to discuss these issues and further guidance may be forthcoming.

While I cannot promise results tomorrow, I pledge to dedicate APA resources in the days and weeks to come to achieve direct access to SIDA for the pilots of American Airlines. In the meantime, I am confident that you will continue to exhibit your usual utmost professionalism as you safely operate and protect our nation's air transport system.

Well, it's official - this week's "Suck It" award goes to...the TSA! Congratulations, all.

And what of joe public ......... ?

Expect Federal Fondling ....

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution states:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

I specifically draw the reader's attention to the first eight words. Our nation's founders clearly affirmed "the right of the people to be secure." It's equally clear that they saw the kind of wholesale, unprovoked assault against persons and privacy that is being committed within our borders today as a serious threat to that security - serious enough, in fact, to write it down in the Bill of Rights.

What is happening in the U.S.A. today is not safe. The things our government is doing do not make us secure or protect us. On the contrary, it is now necessary for us to protect ourselves from our supposed protectors. My wife and I teach our children to defend their bodies, and not to allow anyone to touch them in certain ways - not even friends or relatives. But if we wish to travel by air as a family, we must now deliver our children over to such abuse at the hands of strangers and tell them it's okay because these are security guards who work for the government and wear uniforms with shiny badges. We will not. It is not okay. And we urgently implore our neighbors everywhere to protect themselves and their families as well.

Protect Yourself and Your Family Against TSA Tyranny

For the past year, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and its parent, the Department of Homeland Security, along with Members of Congress from both parties and the Obama Administration, have been demanding Americans give up our basic civil liberties and our fundamental right to privacy, by submitting to a full-body scan - amounting to a virtual strip search - simply because we need to fly on a commercial airliner. At least one American hero - Express Jet pilot Michael Roberts - has said "enough is enough," and refused to participate any longer in this demeaning security charade.

Tellingly, after this privacy-infringing technology was installed recently at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who claimed that scanners "represent an important way to stay ahead of the ever-evolving threat that faces the aviation sector," declined to walk through the machines. She instead gave the floor to volunteers to demonstrate the scanners. Mere mortal air travelers, however, do not enjoy such personal discretion.

Recently, even after passing through normal security measures at Memphis International Airport en route to his assigned flight, Roberts was selected for a full-body scan. This was demanded of the pilot notwithstanding he had passed through security at the very same airport for the last four years without being subjected to additional screening. He refused, and also turned down a "pat-down," the only other alternative left to him by TSA as the prerequisite to boarding the flight he was scheduled to pilot.

Roberts' stand is very simple, as he explained in an interview with Good Morning America, "The Fourth Amendment [protection against unreasonable searches and seizures] is there for a reason." Unfortunately, and unlike Napolitano, his stand for his privacy and desire not to be treated like a criminal may ultimately cost him his job.

Roberts, a true patriot, is still not sitting by idly. He is suing in hopes of changing these unconstitutional procedures. His heroic stand against an intrusive government, and his refusal to surrender his liberty on the Altar of Security is an example we should admire and emulate. And in my eyes the courage he exhibited in this instance, and his demonstrated understanding of the Bill of Rights, places him in the top tier of candidates seeking the office of President of the United States in 2012.

Express Jet Pilot a Political Hero

To help put things in perspective, in the 9 years since 9-11, there have been exactly 0 incidents of hijackings or terror attacks by individuals boarding domestic aircraft in the US (not an international flight originating from another country). When coupled with the facts that there are over 30,000 commercial departures per day with an average passenger load per flight easily exceeding 25, then this most recent mathematical history teaches us:

That the odds of being subject to a terrorist attack on a domestic (US) commercial airliner today are greater than 22 BILLION, 173 MILLION, 750 THOUSAND to 1 (22,173,750,000) .... woefully lower than getting hit by lightening, attacked by a shark & a refund from the IRS; all at the same time!

An American cancer survivor says she was asked to remove her prosthetic breast and show it to airport security during an "enhanced" pat-down, a report on US television said.

Cathy Bossi, a flight attendant for three decades, told WBTV television in Charlotte, North Carolina, that a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent asked her to go through a full-body scanner and she was then sent to be patted down.

Airport security staff in the US are randomly selecting passengers and airline crew members to pass through new scanners being deployed at airports as part of stepped-up security measures.

They are supposed to be given an "enhanced" pat-down, which includes a frisk of their genitals, if they refuse to go through the X-ray machines or if the scanner shows something suspicious.

Ms Bossi said the TSA agent who patted her down "put her full hand on my breast and said, 'What's this?'

"I said, 'It's a prosthesis because I have breast cancer.' And she said, 'Well, you'll have to show me that.'

"I did not take the name of the person at the time because it was just so horrific of an experience that it just blew my mind. I couldn't believe someone had done that to me."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/20/3072000.htm?section=justin

Gus: there was this other fellow who secretly taped his pat down, warning the "officer" that if he touched his junk, he would sue him...

Are these transportation security authorities looking for terrorists or a hard on?

Why would 19 agents and police officers need to handle - and watch - a 20-something woman who happens to be 'smoking hot' get her breasts squeezed and twisted?

TSA Targets Woman For Naked Scan; Fondles Children

A woman is suing over an incident where airport staff allegedly pulled down her top and joked about her breasts in public view.

The 23-year-old traveller, from Amarillo, US, is suing the US Government for the emotional distressed she says the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents caused.

The woman says she was singled out for "extended search procedures" while preparing to board a plane to Amarillo in May 2008.

"As the TSA agent was frisking plaintiff, the agent pulled the plaintiff's blouse completely down, exposing plaintiffs' breasts to everyone in the area," the lawsuit said.

"As would be expected, plaintiff was extremely embarrassed and humiliated."

The lawsuit claims that other employees laughed and made jokes about the incident "for an extended period of time".

The distraught woman left the screening area to be consoled but when she re-entered the boarding area employees allegedly started joking about the matter.

"One male TSA employee expressed to the plaintiff that he wished he would have been there when she came through the first time and that 'he would just have to watch the video,'" the suit said.

She wishes to remain anonymous due to privacy reasons.

Lawyers for the US Government confirm that the woman went through secondary screening but deny airport staff acted inappropriately.

Airport staff 'exposed woman's breasts, laughed'

Before boarding a flight in Grand Rapids, a woman says the search at the security checkpoint was violent, unnecessary and extremely upsetting.

"When I got on the plane all I wanted to do was sob," says traveler Ella Swift.

Swift was one of an increasing number of passengers Transportation Security Administration officers are thoroughly searching by hand. They call it an "enhanced pat-down."

Swift says they told her she was singled out because she was wearing a skirt. She says the search earlier this month was very rough and left her in tears.

"The female officer ran her hand up the inside of my leg to my groin and she did it so hard and so rough she lifted me off my heels," she says. "I think I yelped. I was in pain for about an hour afterwards. It just felt excessive and unnecessary."

After reviewing the incident, a TSA spokesman says officers involved in the Grand Rapids search acted "appropriately and respectfully."

Enhanced Pat Down Leaves Grand Rapids Airline Passenger in Tears

meanwhile .....

A cancer survivor flight attendant was recently forced to remove her prosthetic breast during an airport pat down, the veteran flier has revealed. Cathy Bossi, who worries about the cancer risks of excess radiation, reluctantly went through a body scanner before boarding a flight at the Charlotte Douglas International airport for a recent shift. She was then taken for unknown reasons into a private room and subjected to what she called an "aggressive pat down."

The agent "put her full hand on my breast and said, 'What is this?' I said, 'It's my prosthesis because I've had breast cancer.' And she said, 'Well, you'll need to show me that'." An angry Bossi was forced to remove the breast and show it to the security agent.

"There are dogs out there that can sniff out bombs," she told WBTV. "There's no reason to have somebody's hands touching your body parts."

The TSA is investigating.

Cancer Survivor Forced to Remove Breast in Pat Down

back at the top end of town .....

The backlash against new TSA airport screening procedures has reached a deafening crescendo, and so you would think that the politicians in Washington D.C. would be getting the message.

But so far, most of them seem to be just as supportive of the TSA as ever. For example, what did the chairman of the Senate committee overseeing air travel, Jay Rockefeller, have to say to TSA chief John Pistole during a Senate hearing on these new security procedures the other day? "I Think You're Doing A Terrific Job." Yes, you read that correctly. Senator Rockefeller had nothing but praise for Pistole and the new screening procedures. Apparently Rockefeller thinks that TSA officials feeling up the genitals of U.S. air travelers with the fronts of their hands is a wonderful thing.

It is even being reported that in some instances TSA officials are actually reaching down the pants of men and up the skirts of women during these enhanced pat-downs.

Not only is this totally criminal, but considering the fact that TSA officials do this countless times without changing their gloves it is also a serious health hazard. But most of our "leaders" in Washington D.C. continue to insist that we should stop protesting because this is all being done "for our own good".

But should we expect anything less from elitists such as Rockefeller? This is the same guy who is publicly talking about how wonderful it would be if the FCC would just go in and shut down Fox News and MSNBC. He also has publicly expressed his belief that we would probably be "better off" if the Internet had never been invented. Obviously Rockefeller is not a big fan of freedom of expression.

Not that it is just Rockefeller who is applauding these new TSA security procedures.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar seems convinced that the American people will change their minds once they understand the reasons behind these new rules. According to Klobuchar, the American people "have to understand that this is being done for their best interests and their safety."

Senator Rockefeller to TSA Chief John Pistole: "I Think You're Doing a Terrific Job"

The recent outrage expressed by white males and females over intrusive airport pat-downs may have an upside. At least at the nation's airports, non-minority airline passengers who seek to board an airplane are being sensitized to the indignities that are a routine part of the lives of some men of color who merely walk or drive down a street.

For reasons purportedly related to public safety, African-American, Hispanic and Asian males are disproportionately stopped and frisked by law enforcement officers on American streets and highways. Recent news stories have focused on the creation of a database from the 600,000 police detentions in New York each year. As the New York Times has reported from analysis of the data, frisks or pat-down searches occur in almost 60 percent of the stops and at a rate that is disproportionately higher for minorities. The rate of frisks for blacks and Latinos in New York is nine times that of whites who are stopped. 

Although the creation of a database from the stops has fueled debate, the stop-and-frisk is not just a New York Police Department tactic or even an urban phenomenon. Police detentions and the concurrent clothing frisks are just as prevalent in other cities, suburbs and rural areas as in New York City.

Pat-Downs Hit Middle America Where It Counts

The body-scanners are only a small fraction of some hugely controversial security issues that are changing forever the way we travel and indeed live and work. In his famous post 9-11 speech, former President George W Bush said: "What is at stake is not just America's freedom.

This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom." I do hope Americans are realising the value of their real freedoms - the freedom to hold their lying, war-mongering elected officials accountable - and are willing to take a stand to preserve their rapidly diminishing roster of remaining freedoms. Like in a court of law, this commentary and the stories in this dispatch are designed to raise reasonable doubt about the so-called "security threats". A healthy dose of scepticism is long overdue. Billions of dollars worth of military and defence equipment is now seeking civilian markets. To create demand, disinformation becomes a primary, mind-bending marketing mechanism, especially if basic human rights and freedoms are likely to be the first casualties.

In an uncanny Orwellian twist of "1984" newspeak, the security industry is trying to repackage and reposition the assault on fundamental freedoms as the price to be paid for protecting those freedoms. So what's next? Body-cavity searches? If so, let's start with the basic premise of a democracy that no-one is above the law and ensure that the U.S. security, government and political officials are the first in line when this starts.

'War On Terror' Chickens Come Home To Roost