Scopin' and gropin' in the Windy City

The Transportation Safety Administration is continuing its assault on innocent travelers - this time at Union Station in Chicago. Courtesy of @JNReports, this is video taken at Union Station on July 5, 2012 of TSA agents setting up what looks to be a checkpoint in the station.



We've dealt with the appearance of TSA VIPR teams in Houston. The way to confront the government's continuing attempts to erode your right to be left alone is to shine a bright light on them. As long as we raise a stink any time TSA tries to get itself involved in local law enforcement, the efforts will fail.

But, should we look away and allow it to happen in one location, before you know it, TSA will be everywhere subjecting everyone to the assault on privacy carried out at our nation's airports. Make no mistake about it, this is but another attempt to eviscerate what remains of the Fourth Amendment.

Talk back to METRO about the TSA

Once again it's time to voice your displeasure toward METRO's decision to ask TSA to send agents down to harass bus and rail passengers. During their time here last month, TSA agents kept their agency's perfect record in the War on the Constitution Terrorism. To date TSA has yet to detect one terrorist at any airport, bus station or train station in these United States.

The meeting will be held at 9am in the 2nd floor boardroom at METRO headquarters located at 1900 Main Street in downtown Houston.

A convenient leak

Bad economic news.

Race for Republican nomination down to one.

Growing discontent over the security state.

Must be time for another terrorist plot to be uncovered and leaked to the media.

Oh, but am I being too cynical about the timing of this story about how a plot was uncovered to use an advanced underwear bomb to blow up an airliner? A bomb that could not be detected at an airport security check. According to American intelligence sources there was never any danger of the bomb being used on a plane. The would-be bomber was a Saudi double agent who had infiltrated al Qaeda.

So let's get this straight. TSA has effectively made airports a 4th Amendment-free zone. Would-be passengers are forced to choose between a full-body scan that may or may not expose folks to potentially dangerous levels of radiation or a friendly pat-down from the government's own hired pervert. And yet, despite these measures that have seen Americans acting like lemmings, a person could have walked right onto the plane with Underwear Bomb 2.0?

The story was leaked to convince Americans that we must continue to cede our privacy and our liberty to agents of the state for our own protection. The story was leaked to convince Americans that the war on everything terror is being won. The story was leaked to convince Americans how important it is to have the TSA intruding upon our private lives. The story was leaked to convince Americans that it's more important to trade our freedom for security than it is to provide jobs for the unemployed.

All of the security measures at the airports are fighting yesterday's attack. Unless we're going to have people traveling naked, there will never be a way to make the airlines perfectly safe. We can sacrifice all the freedom in the world but it will never buy us complete security.

And who is left to question any of this? The mainstream media is too busy falling over itself to sell the government's story. There are no critical voices left except for those deemed on the fringe. Our liberty is being taken away piece by piece and no one questions the actions of the state. The media, who used to be our watchdog, is now a lapdog controlled by corporate interests who are more interested in jacking up advertising rates than in acting as a check on the power of the state.

We get what we deserve.

An app to fight profiling

Think you're being profiled by TSA personnel at the airport while you wait in line to board that plane? Well, now there's an app for that.

On Monday the mobile app Fly Rights became available for download. If you suspect you're being profiled you can open the app, answer a few questions and send a complaint to TSA (for filing in the cylindrical container under the desk, I'm sure).

The app was developed by the Sikh Coalition who came up with the idea when Sikhs living in Silicon Valley approached them about their fears they were being profiled in airports. Of course, TSA denies any claims that passengers are profiled; but we're not blind to reality. Passengers who "look" or "dress" Arab are more likely to be picked on than the next guy; just as a black or Hispanic male is more likely to harassed by the police on any given night.

And these are the same goons METRO decided to bring in to our fair city last month to harass folks who rode the bus. Well, that's not exactly true. METRO decided to subject black and Hispanic folks who rode the bus and not those who took the Park and Ride buses in from the suburbs. But that's probably just an unfortunate coincidence, wouldn't you say?

Yes, there is a need to make certain that air travel is safe for the flying public. But, if you take out the hijackings on 9/11, airline passengers have more pressing concerns than their plane being hijacked.

TSA security measures are overkill - and they are aimed at the last incident. The same holds true for most of our safety devices. We are looking to protect ourselves from what happened the last time. The police state the government has installed in our airports hasn't made up any safer.

It has been an interesting exercise in how willing the American people are willing to give up their privacy just for the asking. I haven't been on a plane since 2004 - before the most stringent security measures were enacted - and I have no intention of boarding a plane anytime soon. I don't feel the need to be a lemming.

HCCLA packs METRO board meeting

Yesterday the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association made its presence felt at the monthly Metropolitan Transit Authority's (METRO) monthly board meeting regarding the use of TSA's VIPR teams on April 13, 2012.

Click here for a link to the video of the board meeting.

Prior to the meeting a letter from METRO CEO George Grenias was circulated that attempted to explain all the confusion about whether or not there were random searches of bags on April 13. According to the letter the initial press release on April 13 and the blog post on April 16 quoted from TSA's national "campaign" literature. Board members stressed that they were unaware of any random bag searches on April 13. Of course some of the board members, namely Burt Ballanfant, said they were unaware of the controversy.

Metro letter 04/26/12

Earl Musick, president of HCCLA, spoke about the duty to uphold the Constitution. He read the text of the Fourth Amendment to the board and presented the board with a copy of the Constitution suitable for framing. Past HCCLA presidents Mark Bennett and Robb Fickman also spoke. Mr. Bennett let the board know that a viper is one of the most dangerous snakes on the planet and that once you let a viper in your house you may never get it out. Mr. Fickman told the board that if METRO police wanted to practice their counter-terrorism moves they should practice them on each other, not the citizens of Harris County. He decried the assault on the civil liberties of the bus-riding public.

Also speaking from HCCLA were Randall Kallinen who reminded the board of their fiduciary duty to protect METRO's assets from plaintiffs' attorneys, Franklin Bynum, who spoke "from the heart" about the respect that was due those who use METRO's services and yours truly who equated the war on terrorism with the war against individual liberty.

Also present and speaking at the meeting were US Congressional Candidate Steve Sussman (in his "Tyranny Response Team" T-shirt and members of the Houston Free Thinkers. One of the Free Thinkers quoted Benjamin Franklin's line "those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither."

According to METRO Chairman Gilbert Garcia, as long as he serves as chairman there will be no random bag searches on METRO buses. He also stated that TSA was here on METRO's request and that METRO set the parameters on the operation. While the purpose of the operation was supposedly to ferret out any terrorists who might be riding the bus, no terrorists were caught. The arrests were for prostitution and drug possession.

We were also informed that TSA agents had been on METRO rail many times in the past but that April 13 was the first time they had gotten involved with the buses. What were TSA agents doing on the trains? METRO serves the Houston metropolitan area. Every point of departure and arrival is within Harris County (with a few exceptions where the city limits stretch into Fort Bend County). There are already a bevy of law enforcement agencies in Harris County - we don't need to add TSA to the mix.

After the meeting, as we had lunch at Zydeco's, I was left with a couple of thoughts to ponder. First, if the board knew as little about the operation as they claimed, who's really running the show down on Main Street? Second, is anyone vetting press releases and social media posts before they get circulated?

See also:

"Metro says it won't do random bag checks," Houston Chronicle (Apr. 27, 2012)
"Metro faces public backlash over counter-terror initiative," KTRK-13 (Apr. 26, 2012)

Too much, the magic bus

If you were thinking about hopping on that Metro bus for any reason, you might want to think again. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, Metro is planning on subjecting more riders to TSA's brand new counter-terrorism measure.

That's right. Expect to see the police searching bags, asking for identification and running drug dogs around buses and bus stops for the next 60-90 days. They'll even have TSA's own behavioral detection officers who are trained to fuck with people for no good reason figure out who's a terrorist and who isn't.

According to the Metro police chief (that's the head of the bus cops), the Anti-Fourth Amendment brigade will be patrolling certain routes based on "crime data and trends and information" provided by drivers and passengers.

Looking for terrorists? Really?

How many terrorists did y'all pick up last Friday?

That's right - none. Because you know if they had found a terrorist the police would have made a lot of noise about it. But after gloating about the random bag searches, Metro began changing its story. First it morphed into bag were only searched if there was probable cause to search. Then Metro denied any bags were searched.

*   *   *

Law officials performed random bag checks, conducted sweeps with our K-9 drug and bomb-detecting dogs, and assigned both uniformed and plainclothes officers at transit centers and rail platforms to detect and prevent criminal activity.

Metro's in-house blog (4/16/12)

Houston METRO ‏ @METROHouston @

MarkWBennett NO random bag checks were performed during BusSafe exercise. We search only w/ probable cause or consent.

Metro's Twitter feed (4/18/12)

Houston METRO ‏ @METROHouston
@ChuckStanfield @frankbynum There were NO bag searches conducted during this operation..

Metro's Twitter feed (4/18/12)

*   *   *

If these guys can't even keep their stories straight, how can you believe anything that comes out of their mouths?

This assault on the people's right to be left alone isn't about finding terrorists on city buses. It's about finding excuses to arrest folks on nothing more than a hunch. The behavioral detection officers will provide the cover for the unlawful searches by claiming a passenger was acting in a suspicious manner. The uniformed officer will then use that "finding" to violate the rider's Fourth Amendment rights by conducting a search without either a warrant or probable cause. And guess what? No one's going to find any bombs on board - they'll find a little pot, some crack, maybe some powder and other assorted pharmaceuticals.

Law enforcement expects the public to eat up this counter-terrorism bullshit while they conspire to violate the Fourth Amendment rights of everyone who steps into a bus station, onto a platform or who rides the bus or train. We can't allow them to get away with it.

H/T Mark Bennett

Mussolini made the trains run on time

It was bad enough when airport harassment security was handed over to the newly-formed TSA following the attacks on 9/11. Of course the real tragedy was the attack on the Constitution by our own government using 9/11 as an excuse to crack down on rampant civil liberties.

It was a mild pain in the ass to travel by air prior to the hijackings. But since that time we have seen one more intrusion into our privacy after another. Every few months the muckety-mucks at TSA decide to implement a new strategy to fight yesterday's attack.

If you read Scott Greenfield yesterday you know about the sudden insights that Kip Hawley has had since he quit running TSA. While he is now troubled by the intrusion into travelers' privacy, it didn't seem to bother him too much when he was running the show.

Last night my colleague Mark Bennett posted a piece on his blawg that went beyond merely disturbing. Now Mark and I share a couple of things in common - neither one of us will fly as our little protest against the means by which los federales have used to trample the privacy rights of the citizenry. It turns out that TSA is not satisfied with fucking airport security up beyond belief. Now it's their mission to fuck up the rest of the nation's transportation system.

TSA's VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) unit descended upon Houston recently and trampled upon the rights of folks hopping a ride on METRO. That's right. Somehow it's now under TSA's purview to implement security measures for those so brazen as to take advantage of public transportation.

Law officials performed random bag checks, conducted sweeps with our K-9 drug and bomb-detecting dogs, and assigned both uniformed and plainclothes officers at transit centers and rail platforms to detect and prevent criminal activity. 

At a news conference last Friday, METRO Police Chief Victor Rodriguez called METRO's transit system one of the safest in the world. "We at METRO take our responsibility seriously. We have a safe and secure system," said Rodriguez. "This initiative is going to help us maintain and enhance the safety of our system. It takes this collaborative effort to synergize those expertise and skills for the benefit of all of Houston." 

Doyle Raines, general manager at the Transportation Security Administration, said Rodriguez invited the TSA to bring its viper teams to join in this grassroots pilot program that grew from a peer advisory group of mass transit police chiefs and security directors that included METRO's Rodriguez. 

The VIPR squad, assisted by the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the METRO police and Harris County Constables carried out a counter-terrorism exercise by subjecting riders to "random" bag searches and K-9 sniffs. The stormtroopers agencies recorded eight felony arrests.

So tell me, Mr. Rodriguez, just how many of those who got arrested were subjected to searches without probable cause? Not that it matters, I suppose, because the courts in Harris County aren't known for suppressing searches just because the police might (and i stress might) have overstepped their legal authority. I mean, the guy had the goods on him, didn't he?

Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (who has never missed an opportunity to mug for the camera) exclaimed that she was ecstatic that the TSA was subjecting bus riders to the same inconveniences that airline passengers put up with.

But how many people had their rights trampled upon? How many times did the police ignore the proscriptions of the 4th Amendment and subject folks to unreasonable search and seizure? How much more of this can we endure? How long until even the most docile American stands up and tells the government that enough is enough?

We used to have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Not any more. At the airport you have none. At home the NSA is downloading all of your phone calls and internet searches. And now, the people who take public transportation (and down here that's mainly folks who can't afford a working car) have none.

If you're fed up here's your chance to do something about it. METRO will hold its next board meeting on April 26, 2012 in the second floor boardroom at 1900 Main at 9:00 a.m. Let's pack the room and let METRO know how we feel about the steady erosion of our rights.

Mark is mad as hell and I can't take it anymore.

File it under "man bites dog"

We've read countless stories and seen videos of TSA agents groping young people trying to hop on planes. We've seen the Texas Legislature back down to threats from los federales.

The courts seem to be okay with this massive invasion of our bodies despite the fact, as Scott Greenfield points out, "scope and grope" hasn't turned up one terrorist.

But, oh, when the tables are turned, things are different. Very different.

Authorities say a Colorado woman who allegedly groped a female Transportation Security Administration agent at Phoenix's international airport is facing a felony count of sexual abuse. 

Phoenix police said Yukari Mihamae, 61, is accused of grabbing the left breast of the unidentified TSA agent Thursday afternoon at an airport checkpoint. 

TSA staff said Mihamae refused to go through passenger screening and became argumentative before she squeezed and twisted the agent's breast with both hands.
Police were called and said Mihamae admitted grabbing the TSA agent and continued to argue with officers before she was arrested.

Maricopa County jail officials said Mihamae was released from custody on Friday. They couldn't immediately provide additional information about her case.

So, while it's okay for an agent of the government to fondle your child, heaven help it if someone gropes the groper. Ms. Mihamae probably didn't do the smartest thing - but maybe, just maybe, her actions will make some people wake up and realize what we're allowing the state to subject us to. Maybe her actions will spur us to question the need for "scope and grope."

At some point I hope that we, as a nation, come to our senses and tell our government that we are sick and tired of being treated like criminals just because we have the audacity to board a plane. I hope that one day the draconian and intrusive security measures at courthouses and airports and tossed into the ash heap of history.

I fear, however, that meek sheep that we are when it comes to speaking up and doing something, that the future will bring not less, but even more intrusive measures all in the name of doing whatever it takes to protect us from whatever the threat of the month is.

Enough is enough? Apparently not yet.

By now nothing should shock us when it comes to TSA and the willingness of the American public to allow their rights and dignity to be thrown in the trash like a used paper towel.

In Florida over the weekend, TSA thugs security personnel requested that a 95 year-old woman, confined to a wheelchair, remove her adult diaper. The woman, suffering from leukemia and weighing just a tad over 100 pounds was taken to a glassed-in area and subjected to a pat down by TSA thugs security personnel. Feeling something "suspicious" on the elderly woman's leg, TSA thugs security personnel took her to a private room and notified the woman's daughter that she would have to remove her diaper because it was soiled. 

The TSA released a statement Sunday defending its agents' actions at the Northwest Florida Regional Airport.

"While every person and item must be screened before entering the secure boarding area, TSA works with passengers to resolve security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner," the federal agency said. "We have reviewed the circumstances involving this screening and determined that our officers acted professionally and according to proper procedure."

After taking off her mother's diaper, both the daughter and her mother were both asked to submit to pat downs -- which, of course, they did. But why?  

Jean Weber told CNN's Fredricka Whitfield on Sunday that the security officers may have been procedurally correct, but she still does not believe they were justified, especially given her mother's frail condition.

"If this is your procedure -- which I do understand -- I also feel that your procedure needs to be changed," she said.

Weber said the two were traveling June 18 from northwest Florida to Michigan, so her mother could move in with relatives before eventually going to an assisted living facility.

Why was it so important to get on that plane that a grown woman would subject her mother to that level of humiliation? Why do people continue to play this game with the TSA? At what point will the American public take a stand and say that enough is enough?

It continues to amaze me that people just accept that this is the way that it is and don't question the reason behind the police state tactics at our nation's airports. It riles folks up to read about the child who was groped patted down by TSA thugs security personnel. It makes people mad when TSA thugs security personnel take away an object from a mentally retarded man. It makes our skin crawl when a 95 year-old woman is humiliated in the name of air travel.

But no one questions the reason for the complete lack of sense and respect our government shows for its citizens at airports.

Does it make you feel safer that you've kissed away your right to be left alone by the state? Does it make you feel safer that you've gladly handed over your dignity to a person wearing a TSA badge that isn't qualified to work for the police department?

We have become a nation of complainers. We like to sit on our couches or behind our desks and complain about the latest humiliation we were "forced" to endure because we didn't have the courage to take a stand and say enough is enough.

Asleep on the watch

So Texas state senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston) is a poseur after all.

Governor Goodhair has decided to take up the reins for everyone opposed to groping at the airport. So what if los federales are threatening to cancel flights in and out of Texas as a result. The fair-haired one has found an issue that's dear to the hearts of libertarians everywhere.

I applaud Gov. Perry for his stand against the groping fingers of the TSA but I also wonder why his sudden love of personal freedom and privacy doesn't extend to anyone outside an airport. At least we have a choice whether we wish to subject ourselves to the groping hands or X-ray eyes of airport security. We don't have a choice when confronted by a police officer on the side of the road.

Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, sent a letter to Perry on Sunday urging him to defend the "privacy, dignity and constitutional rights of our citizens."

Where's the hue and cry for an end to the legal fiction of informed consent? Where's the outrage over the violations of the Fourth Amendment in the procurement of search warrants for blood? How about the coercive effects of "No Refusal" Weekends?


It's quite ironic that the law and order set has their panties in a wad over airport security considering TSA's license to grope was the result of the right wing's assault on the Fourth Amendment following 9/11. No one on the right seemed to mind the erosion of privacy at the airport while Bush the Younger sat in Washington torturing the English language. Would this even be an issue had it begun under W's watch?


Few folks on the right have raised any concerns about the steady erosion of the Fourth Amendment over the last 50 years. Maybe it was because that Fourth Amendment was for those who ran afoul of the law. As long as it was affecting them it didn't matter how intrusive the long arm of the law became. But guess what? Shredding the Fourth Amendment for those accused of criminal conduct allowed the state to take away everyone's right to be left alone.

A little of this and a bit of that

Here are a few odds and ends you might find interesting:

Bradley out as chairman of forensic commission

Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley's stint as chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission has come to an end as the senate concluded its session without voting on whether to accept Gov. Perry's nomination of Mr. Bradley.

Gov. Perry appointed Mr. Bradley to chair the commission in 2009 prior to a scheduled hearing in which the commission was to take testimony from Craig Beyler about the flawed science used by arson investigators that led to the execution of Cameron Willingham.

During his time as chairman, however, Mr. Bradley accomplished the fair haired governor's wishes to delay the release of the committee's findings until after the 2010 gubernatorial election.

Patrick cowers in fear

Texas State Senator Dan Patrick has once again proved himself to be a big bag of hot air as he withdrew his bill that would have criminalized groping by TSA personnel in airports. Mr. Patrick ran and hid in a closet after receiving a letter from the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas threatening that TSA might cancel flights in Texas should the legislation pass.

Every year on the Fourth of July, Mr. Patrick rides in a car at the Memorial Villages 4th of July parade; and every year my wife gives me an ugly face when I mock Mr. Patrick in front of my daughters. Certainly my lack of civility and uncouthness is far worse than Mr. Patrick's demagoguery.

One wonders, was Mr. Patrick worried that the bill might actually pass?

If Mr. Patrick is so concerned about privacy issues for airline passengers, why isn't he concerned with the steady erosion of the 4th Amendment?

Wanted man

John Joe Gray is on the lam for allegedly assaulting a peace officer in December 1999. He was bonded out of jail a few days later and never appeared in court. He has lived on his armed compound in Henderson County, Texas with his family ever since.

Years ago he warned local law enforcement officials to bring extra body bags if they wanted to capture him. The local sheriff has said he's not risking the lives of any officers to bring in Mr. Gray.

And the lemmings keep falling off the cliff

Here's your tax dollars at work. If a stranger did this to your child, you'd be calling the police. But, because it's our government making a mockery of the Bill of Rights keeping us safe from 6 year-olds terrorists, it's okay.

From the Houston Chronicle:

In a statement, the Transportation Security Administration says the officer followed proper procedure but that the agency is reviewing its screening policies for “low-risk populations, such as young passengers.” The statement says the agency is exploring ways to “move beyond a one-size fits all system.”

Enough said.