Look, I'm as outraged as the next guy who has to have his nuts groped during the TSA's Master Security Theater, but 11 minutes? Couldn't someone boil down the hour of ridiculous harrassment of this "known mom" who opts to not have her breast milk irradiated when she goes through security to, say, three minutes? I've got a lot on my outrage plate right now.
On the other hand, I'd probably pay for the full-length, real-time TSA Director's Cut DVD, just on principle. That's how the Homeland Industrial Complex gets its way, by boring us into submission.
[In the two days this has been sitting in my browser tabs, I'm sure there've been a hundred new developments.]
Will somebody cue the Benny Hill music.
I'm one of those few people that thought this whole TSA thing got blown WAY WAY out of proportion...and now it's interesting to see one of the main culprits in blowing it out of proportion, the NYTimes, fess up to the same.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/business/media/29carr.html
Not really sure what to think of all this. Perhaps she would have done better to have had the breast milk properly stored in breast milk bags to begin with. But it clearly states if it can't be clearly passed under visual inspection, even medications must be x-rayed. I do tend to think they were just picking on this woman because she caused a hassle once before though. Honestly, it was a lot of uncessary waste of everyone's time.
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1374.shtm#4
@GFR: You're a grown up who knows that an opinion column is not the same as a retraction or even an editorial-board rumination. It's a man on a soapbox who happens to disagree with what his paper did. The fact that the paper did not "fess up" is so obvious to anyone who (a) follows that link and (b) knows how to read a newspaper that I feel like a stooge for presuming your good intentions.
More broadly: It is hard for those of us who do not think this "whole thing" got blown "way way" out of proportion to witness the current complacency of an historically proud and free people. Unless the spirit of the protest is heeded, other measures will follow, whether generally applied to the "traveling public" or targeted to groups or individuals. I don't go in for many slippery slope arguments, but when there's an ever-evolving antagonist pushing you down it, it's hard not to think we're ending up with the kind of "security" we deserve.
That said, I also think Rachel's right.
Speaking of which, here's an upbeat news report about a test run security checkpoint at a Greyhound Bus Station.
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/12/01/you-are-no-longer-fr.html