82-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Demands Apology From Airport Security Over Screening
from the threat-assessment dept
This isn't a TSA story, since it takes place up in Canada, but it involves the Canadian equivalent, who apparently had a bit of trouble dealing with an 82-year-old woman who had a (gel-filled) prosthetic breast to replace the one she lost in a mastectomy due to breast cancer. By failing to alert them to this "gel" on her body, she was later accused of lying to officials. She was also put through one of the lovely new full body scanner machines, in which passengers are required to lift their hands above their head. The problem? This woman is no longer able to do so. Rather than understanding this, security officials told her she had to. She then tried to lift her left arm with her right arm, and again security told her she was not allowed to do that. At this point she broke down and started crying. Eventually, security did let her get on the plane, but you have to ask what exactly they accomplished here in embarrassing this woman and making her cry.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: airport search, canada, privacy, security
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The Goal is Not Safety
Just because it's not physically possible for you to comply is no excuse. Obey or be punished.
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Re: The Goal is Not Safety
Just because it's not physically possible for you to comply is no excuse. Obey or be punished."
Actually, that's EXACTLY the way it's SUPPOSED to work.
Trouble is, it's supposed to be US saying that to government, not the other way around....
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Re: The Goal is Not Safety
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Re: Re: The Goal is Not Safety
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Re: Re: The Goal is Not Safety
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Re: Re: Re: The Goal is Not Safety
Actually there may be some blame to throw around. American Homeland Security puts a lot of pressure on Canada to 'bring their security into compliance'. I've no doubt that they made security demands to increase security to match US standards.
Where I live (Vancouver), there was a wonderful restaurant down by the docks named the Cannery.
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/the-cannery-seafood-restaurant-vancouver
After 9/11, there was huge pressure on Canada to secure everything. After that, in order to go to this restaurant, you had to pass through a security checkpoint and have a photo of your drivers license taken. The Cannery survived due to being spectacular, but was eventually forced to close by the Harbour Commission. Point being, different country but don't be surprised to see the TSA's fingerprints in this.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: The Goal is Not Safety
And yet they still have to re-check my bags every time I fly from Canuckistan to the states, and have stop-over in some American city. I just love sitting on my connecting flight and listening to people around me griping because they have to do a luggage check of the international luggage.
"Bring your security in line with ours, but we still aren't gonna trust you"
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Re: The Goal is Not Safety
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Monty Python
slighty paraphrased:
"I've got no arms"
[TSA] "Yes you do! Raise them!"
"Look at me, I have no arms!"
[TSA] "Raise them anyway!"
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Re: Monty Python
"You've got cancer!"
"No I haven't."
"Your tits off!"
"It's just a flesh wound..."
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Re: Re: Monty Python
good job... i think?
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Re: Re: Re: Monty Python
That answer is that the two aren't mutually exclusive.
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Re: Re: Monty Python
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transparency: It isn't just for governments.
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Re:
A cancer survivor, Strecker had a mastectomy five years ago and now wears a prosthetic breast — which is made of gel.
When she pointed that out to security officers, Strecker said she was accused of lying when first asked about liquids and gels.
While in the full body scanner, Strecker said she was also told to raise her arms above her head, something she can no longer do.
“I told (the security officer) I can not do that (with her left arm) and she said I had to so I yanked it up with my right arm and she said ‘you can’t do that, you have to keep both arms up.’
“By then I started crying.”
Clear case of you didnt respect my authoritah!
AC she failed to disclose or did you fail to read? I know you were so anxious to try to pounce on TD. Better luck next time.
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They enforce and become mini dictators of a situation. More than likely, no one asked her what was the problem. Usually, it's like programming
Do X
If X :=Y,
Do Z
If Z :=X
Repeat
(No, it's not a serious program. It's to say that people can't go past what they do to control a situation. I bet if ONE person had asked, it may have given her time to tell her story.)
The entire environment of security theater is the problem here. I don't know how big the bureacracy of Canada is for airports but when you have people not beholden to the airport for their screwups, there's bound to be problems.
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The rest is just you off on a stupid rant.
After all, if disclosure didn't mean anything, why is it part of the story?
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After all, I'd hate to think that you're just an idiot when you may have an excuse for being such a cold hearted a-hole.
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And why would an 82-year-old woman need a doctors note to tell everyone around her that she's fucking 82 years old and probably a little more frail and a little less flexible than the rest of us?
Hey, old man taking forever to cross the street! Show me your doctor's note for that cane or else I'm running you down!
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The Airport should apologize and the mouth breathers responsible should be fired!
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If old ladies don't raise their arms, they will turn them into suicide bombers. Just wait until the terrorists find out that their grandparents can be used for play destroying fodder. You'll be sorry.
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If old ladies don't raise their arms, they will turn them into suicide bombers. Just wait until the terrorists find out that their grandparents can be used for play destroying fodder. You'll be sorry."
If it weren't for the snowflake then I'd actually think you were the previous anonymous coward. Much better than sarc marks.
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Re: up front
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Re: anonymous coward
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---
We apologized for not having met her expectations and expressed our regrets for the unpleasant experience, and that doesn't change, regardless of the results of the review,
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Which sounds like the bare minimum they can say and still get a headline of Airport Security Apologizes to Elderly Woman.
They are doing an investigation and have video of the incident. Interestingly, they say they will not be publicly releasing either the video or the results of their investigation.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/01/15/16903496.html
Hopefully there will still be some public pressure on them to actually make changes and not just to damage control.
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Re:
Well that sucks. If only there was a website some concerned CATSA employee could send that too....
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Oooh, oooh, I know one, I know one! I read about it in the news once!
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If it can be believed then they are more concerned with complaining in the article comments about the journalist not using the word "alledged" [sic] in the story. What's weirder is that I can't find anywhere to insert the word in the story. They don't make any libelous claims, but merely report what Ms Strecker said. Perhaps they wanted the title to say 'Cancer survivor demands investigation after alleged Calgary airport screening'?
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Hilarious. They are sorry that she had the expectations for them to be perfect, and they apologize that her absurd expectations weren't met! Clearly she was expecting caviar and wine with her horrible screening.
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Water Is The Most Successful International Terrorist Ever!
All year round water strikes across the planet. Some how it keeps slipping past those naked scanners and sexually arousing groping pat downs.
Just when will we have a war on water!?!
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Re: Water Is The Most Successful International Terrorist Ever!
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Re: The Goal is Not Safety
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...
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Where are we going? ...
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Basically what I'm saying is that, with the TSA I felt that their invasive screening procedures are standard across the board and the staff are under-trained and incompetent whereas with CATSA that was most likely an isolated incident. We'll see if CATSA management rectifies this (even in Canada, I wouldn't hold my breath) but even if they don't, I still have confidence in the average CATSA agent, something that I cannot give to TSA.
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Why does gel matter
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How many octogenarians have blown up airliners?
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Canadian domestic flights often fly over U.S. airspace. The U.S. demands full screening of passengers/cargo on these flights as if they where landing in the U.S.
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If you can't comply...
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Re: If you can't comply...
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Re: If you can't comply...
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thoughts...
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Re: thoughts...
i think the only real passenger ships that do that these days are cruise liners though...
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Re: thoughts...
I love the way the government has managed to brainwash the totality of the American public into thinking that the routine and necessary activities of modern life are mere privileges that may revoked by some bureaucrat at their whim.
Pretty soon they'll be telling us that breathing is privilege not a right and if we want to continue doing it, we'd better shut up and get on board with whatever they're requiring of us.
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Behaving just like...
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More to it than you realize
Second she should of only had told them she had a mastectomy. For which I am pretty sure she did, and anyone can see this for what it is in a body scan. Regardless of whom did her scan, or pat down, it does not matter most mastectomies are done one way or the other. Following picture outlines two versions of a mastectomy. Most are done to er on caution to be sure they get all the cancer.
This is just a drawing.
http://cancer.osu.edu/NCI/Media/CDR0000415523_full.jpg
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Re: More to it than you realize
I don't think she should have even had to tell them that much. Between the full-body x-rays, physical examinations, and interrogations, they may just as well be giving people medical examinations (except that real doctors at least change their gloves between patients, which these "agents" don't).
What's next, side-of-the road body cavity exams? I'm not kidding, that's exactly where it's heading. "Oh, but it's to catch terrorists, so don't complain, unless YOU'RE A TERRORIST!"
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Apartide Travel
When it's easier to travel to China, Russia and Iran to do business I'm sure the Americans would start rethinking their policy.
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TSA
None of this seemed to impress the mouth-breathing mongoloid running the screener, who insisted that TSA regulations said he had to walk through, therefore he just had to get over his paralysis.
Apparently the TSA is the modern-day equivalent to Jesus and can heal any malady with nothing bit a well-placed regulation.
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Revenge . . .
However, that wouldn't stop such as the sheep that thought it was a wolf . . . until "it" has to pay more taxes to make up for what that new member of "The Tax Refusal" is no longer paying.
Speaking of which:
"The Tax Refusal" has been receiving hits from all sorts of "Law Enforcement" types.
*************************************
Add your voice to reason's call.
Join the Tax Refusal.
*************************************
http://www.TaxRefusal.com
****************** *******************
And the related effort to wake the world:
http://www.StopYourEngines.com
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