I Hate the TSA as Much as Anybody But Come On

OK I hate the TSA just as much as everybody else, possibly more. But after seeing a story on Dvorak Uncensored I have to call bullshit. Let’s see if you can find what’s wrong with this story. The story is titled, “Child rape charge rocks TSA.” Here is the story opener:

A Transportation Security Agency worker who pats down members of the flying public was charged with multiple child sex crimes targeting an underage girl yesterday.

The bust outraged privacy and passenger advocates who say it justifies their fears about Logan International Airport’s full-body scanner.

So what do you think happened? If you answered the TSA agent used his authority to take a child to the back interrogation room and raped the child you would be completely incorrect. Here is what happened (Buried towards the end of the article):

The 14-year-old victim watched a movie at his house, Okeeffe said. She said during the film, he massaged the victim’s thigh and touched her under a blanket, then during the February school vacation the girl stayed at his house with his daughter.

So what’s the point of this article? The huge majority of the article makes a big fuss about the fact that the TSA have naked body scanners attended by agents. It makes a huge fuss about one of these TSA agents being a pedophile. But the fact the perpetrator was a TSA agent is COMPLETELY irrelevant here since everything he did was done at HIS house not the airport. At no point was any evidence brought forth stating he made initial contact with the child at the airport or through his “authority” as a TSA agent. In fact the kid was apparently friends with his daughter. Yes instead of focusing on the crime it’s made into a hit piece about the TSA.

I hate the TSA with a passion. The entire organization is nothing more than security theater run by people given a badge and just enough authority to feel they can toss people around. But this hit piece is fucking stupid. It’s akin to making a hit piece about a police department because on of the officers committed a crime off company time and at his place of residence and didn’t in any way use his position or authority to commit the crime. The fact that a man committed statutory rape and was also a TSA agent are completely irrelevant. Yes the article focuses almost exclusively on the fact the person was a TSA agent and purposely misleads you to believe the crime happened at the airport. Finally the fact that the crime happened at the agent’s house is briefly mentioned in the second to last paragraph. Fuck!

Oh and since I’m on a rant I might as well point out the following bloody obvious:

TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said Shanahan had passed two background checks, neither of which picked up any record that would prevent him from getting a job.

That’s right background checks don’t determine if you’re going to commit a crime, only if you have committed a crime and got caught. But Dippity Dipshit says:

“It’s a huge, huge issue,” said Kate Hinni of FlyersrRights.org. “The TSA needs a complete overhaul… If you have a pedophile looking at those naked pictures, they’ve got all your information, it’s a gross violation of their authority…. They should make sure none of them is corrupted in any deviant sexual manner.”

So how in the Hell are those hiring TSA agents suppose to make sure any applicant isn’t corrupted in any deviant sexual manner? Answer me that. What you don’t have an answer? Maybe that’s because it’s fucking impossible. This article is just full of stupidity from start to end.

Second Amendment Rights For Sale

Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell points out an Arizona training company called Insight Firearms Training Development (Not to be mistaken for InSight Firearms of Seattle) is writing customers to oppose Arizona’s House Bill 2347 and Senate Bill 1108. These bills are the ones on the table that would allow Arizona citizens to carry without having to obtain a permit.

Apparently Insight Firearms Training Development make enough money off of permit training that they want to ensure Arizona doesn’t becomes a true right to carry state. I find this sickening to a degree that I can’t put into words. These are the type of people who aren’t helping the cause and those of us for the second amendment should boycott such companies into bankruptcy.

Veteran Affairs Hospital Puts up to 11,000 Veterans at Risk of Contracting HIV

Wow this is a world class fuck up of massive proportions. And apparently nobody is reporting on it. Found via the excellent No Agenda podcast. Granted I looked for a more “credible” news source than the one they posted because if I didn’t people would scream bullshit. So here it is via the Washington Post (not at all credible but many think it is).

What happened is one of the hospitals wasn’t properly sterilizing anal probes colonoscopy scopes after use. Instead they only sterilized them at the end of each day and more or less rinsed them off between uses. So far the damage is as follows:

As of Aug. 3, eight of those patients have tested positive for HIV, 12 for hepatitis B and 37 for hepatitis C, according to VA.

A veteran of the Army, Juan Rivera, is rightfully suing after being tested positive for HIV. He was prompted to get tested when his father found out that the hospital wasn’t properly sterilizing the scopes. This sums up the problem:

“This is just a question of neglect and sloppiness,” Leesfield said. “They just run people through like a mill.”

This better end up being a case of criminal neglect as well on the part of the doctors (the ones trained on the equipment and hence were the ones told the scopes must be sterilized after each use) performing the tests. Seriously you’re sticking a probe up a person’s ass. At what point do you think it’s OK not to sterilize it after every use? Shit isn’t sterile like urine, in fact it’s the exact opposite.

Our soldiers put their lives on the line to defend this country. They survived their tours of services only to end up being exposed to diseases that there are no cures for and are always fatal. Further the fact this story isn’t on the front page of every news site is rather alarming. I guess we have bigger stories involving dead people.