10 Years ago today I woke up in the morning astonished as to what I was seeing on the news.  I woke up that morning to head to class, it was my senior year of high school.  As always I watched the news while getting ready and at first I thought it was an ad for some new movie.  Then I watched the second plane crash into Tower 2 live.  I collapsed on my bed and yelled to my mom to turn on the TV down stairs.

We knew that nothing would be the same, sadly as my dad seemed to be able to do, he called what would happen.

A friend of mine nailed the correct response to the question, “Where were you 10 years ago today?”

His response, “A more free America.”

He’s right, everything has been done in the vain of security but the result has done nothing but destroy the freedoms and liberties we have.  My dad was right in his call because after that morning, we have done more damage to ourselves than they ever possibly could.  If they hated us for our way of life and freedoms prior to that day, they needed to do nothing more than watch us destroy ourselves.

Not even a month before the 9/11 attacks I walked on to a plane carrying my pocket knife.  While I was a scout in uniform, I can tell you that A Security Theater would molest me and steal my property today.  With DHS deeming us Scouts nothing more than terrorists that are intent on a suicide mission.  Sadly though I think that’s the point, none of this has been for security, but instead to destroy the freedoms we had.  If the TSA was about security, explain this, this, or this.  (I could keep going but you probably get the point.)

My dad actually called me to make sure I wasn’t going to run and enlist, he knew exactly what I was feeling. In the end I felt that it would do nothing to help, and it would be far better for me to continue the existing plan of going to the Academy or doing NROTC.  I received an appointment to Rice University the following February. 

I have not forgotten, nor will I ever forget. 

I have not forgotten what happened that fateful day, nor will I ever forget what America once was and what it should be.  This is no longer America.

Like JayG I’m still angry.  I however am not just angry at the people who perpetrated this attack, but also pissed at my elected representatives who seized on the opportunity to squander away my freedoms and that of my children.  Those freedoms are NOT yours to take.

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about the TSA.  The reason for this is much along the same lines as Dave talked about here.  What I came across tonight though damn near caused me to crack a tooth my jaw clinched so tight. 

The DHS and the TSA has been constantly claiming the screenings are needed for our own safety, even the full search of a 6 year old girl.  They constantly use fear mongering tactics claiming that the terrorists will use any exploitable advantage given them.

To every complaint leveraged though they claim that their screeners are thoroughly trained and are thoroughly screened themselves.  So it must be completely unfathomable that a screener was busted today for distributing child pornography.

Federal agents also allege that Transportation Safety Administration Officer Thomas Gordon Jr. of Philadelphia, who routinely searched airline passengers, uploaded explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site on which he also posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform.

Remember these are the people who are searching violating your wives and your children.  This individual, if he operated a body scanner, had at his disposal numerous images of people disrobed by the force of government.  The TSA is an out of control monster who has again and again abused the American people under the guise of protecting them.  It is reasonable to suspect at this point that the government itself is trying to empower these criminals, especially given the fact that the TSA has never stopped any terrorist attack.  The have however stopped US representatives on their way home, cause you know those congress critters are totally terrorists.  So here’s a list off the top of my head of things the TSA has done to different American’s under the force of government.

• Forced passengers to be felt up and viewed naked by a  child pornographer.
• Force passengers to be felt up and viewed naked by a convicted rapist.
• Stole from the luggage of passengers.
• Harass and humiliate a rape victim for refusing a pat down.
• Humiliate a woman over properly stored breast milk.
• Humiliate a cancer survivor covering him in urine.
• Humiliate a cancer survivor forcing her to expose her prosthetic breast.
• Humiliate a 4 year old with leg braces.
• Forcibly separate parents from children.  (Note they employ child pornographers, wonder why they separate parents from kids.  They claim it’s not policy but it’s happened enough.)

There are countless more incidents, I probably should start making my own counter called the TSA counter, cause you notice when dealing with the TSA how it always starts with, “The Stupid Asshole.”  I know of a couple ways that we could shut down the TSA, but none of them are really legal and well I’d rather avoid that route.  Something obviously needs to be done though.  The government is using the threat of force to hand ourselves and our children over to sexual predators.  Failure to comply will result in your ass heading to jail at worst, at best your walking home. 

The only thing I think we can do currently is to ostracize anyone who works for the TSA.  If you have a “friend” who works for the TSA, they’re no longer a friend.  Do not associate with anyone who works for the TSA, provide the bare minimum of interaction, and sure as hell tell them to leave you alone afterwards.  These are not your countrymen, these are not your friends, these are not patriots on the front line of the defense of liberty.  If anything they are the antithesis of the above.  A person who was any of those things would strive to defend your liberty, freedom, and safety from the government they are claiming to represent.

The bottom line is that the TSA is A Security Theater and all their claims about the strict professionalism of their employees is bull.  While some may remain professional, the bottom line is they still aren’t telling their bosses NO.  These searches are pointless, unnecessary and do nothing more than verify our subservience to the state.  To prove that point, if you voice your displeasure towards these practices you will receive special treatment.

A couple weeks ago this came across my desk however it finally made it far enough for some ice cream to flow.

Fans attending this year’s March Madness games will be greeted by a video of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and NCAA President Mark Emmert encouraging them to “say something” if they see suspicious activities.

Everyone’s gauge for suspicious is different.  Many will call in when they should actually be minding their own business.  There are people who call in about an AK-47 when it’s obviously not.  This is nothing more than further pushes to desensitize people and make them more willing to report on their neighbor.

While something bad could happen how is reporting every “suspicious” activity going to help.  How do you separate the large volume of unnecessary noise from the actual incidents?  This is a basic problem of security in general, large amounts of false data result in you decreasing your sensitivity.

Overall this whole scheme is doing two things:

• Make the sheep feel more comfortable by the use of a security theater.
• Make people more comfortable and amiable to the idea of calling in their neighbor.

My response is this: Go to hell.

The vote on the Patriot Act extension was today and there was a small surprise at the end.

With the three provisions set to expire February 28, lawmakers voted 277-148 in favor of legislation to renew them until December 8, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed under House rules.

It is disappointing that it was not a complete and utter blow out, but it’s still nice to see they couldn’t scrounge up the votes.  Of course Obama is crying that it is necessary to protect our borders and national security.  The only thing that Act has done is allow the government to abuse its citizens.  Hopefully that pile of garbage will stay dead and expire, though they will probably find a way to resurrect it.