Another TSA Crime: Word Disfiguration by Ira Katz Virtually every minute of every day the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is committing the serious crimes of arbitrary search and seizure ( a hunt by law enforcement officials for property or communications believed to be evidence of crime, and the act of taking possession of this property <http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Search+and+seizure> ) and assault ( an act that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent, harmful, or offensive contact <http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Assault+and+Battery> ). I contend every minute because international airports that have flights to the US have also been forced to implement TSA procedures. For me, an expat living in France <http://www.lewrockwell.com/katz/katz18.html> , the formerly cheerful anticipation flying back home is now perceived with dread. My recent trip through the Dallas, Denver and Orlando airports was typically awful, but with what I found to be another crime. In the spirit of Betty Akers <http://www.lewrockwell.com/akers/akers-arch.html> I will describe what transpired below. I travelled to Denver for a conference where I had purchased a small (perhaps less than 100 ml) snow globe with a buffalo in it as a gift for my three-year-old daughter. It was in my luggage when I passed through security in Denver for a flight to Orlando. Leaving Orlando for New York for a connection to Paris the globe was identified on the scanner and confiscated. I was politely offered to check my bag, but waiting another 30 minutes to go through security again is not a real option. So the little snow globe souvenir was gone. Luckily I had also bought a book for my little one. This admittedly small incident I believe accurately reflects the stupidity and inconsistency of the TSA. Traveling is inconvenienced, often to a great extent because Blair's government ginned up a case against a supposed cell planning to use liquids to make a bomb. We must take off our shoes because of a single attempted shoe bomb that failed. We must go through porno scanners and be groped because of a single attempted underwear bomb that failed. These were the thoughts passing through my mind as I gathered up my belongings in Orlando, sans my daughter's buffalo, when I spotted a stand with a stack of TSA Customer Comment Cards that cheerfully stated that the agency wants you to "Help us improve our customer service by completing and returning this card to a TSA drop box, to a TSA supervisor or by mail." CUSTOMER! This is a complete disfiguration of the word customer, which, as Orwell taught, is a grave crime when put to the service of state power. This use is akin to a slave owner calling his chattel employees. A customer is a person who purchases goods or services from another. The appropriate word is victim, a person who <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/who> suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency. Now I am sure travelers could complete reams of victim comment cards. The cards ask the victim to provide their name and contact information. It is likely that the comment card is simply a ploy to have on file the names of trouble makers. My trip back to France was without further incident. But I can tell you, traveling by train is much more enjoyable. http://lewrockwell.com/katz/katz31.1.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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