airport radiation

I'm really not sure what topic this belongs in. But I've flown 4 round trips this past year, which means 8 times in the TSA security lines. And 7 of those times I've been asked to go through the bare-naked radiation machine, which they insist is harmless (and which I really don't believe). One of those times, I did notice that other middle-aged white women were also singled out.

I just flew 5 days ago and it happened again, so I asked one of the agents what was it about my face that I'm constantly singled out, and was it that I'm a middle-aged white woman? She (a middle-aged white women) sympathized and told me to complain to TSA and said they'd listen.

I'm thinking that probably the people who do the screening don't want to be accused of profiling, so they pick on the people they think won't complain -- like the ones in wheelchairs and...the middle-aged white women. So, I filled out the card in Phoenix, and now I must contact the other cities I've been to.

Has anyone else noticed this?

DJ,
You have my sympathy. Middle-aged white woman are on their radar screen. Since 911, companies providing computer-assisted legal research services have run amuck, invading everybody's life. They're so big and powerful, nobody can stop them.

All I'm saying is it isn't just Transportation Security that's targeting our age group, Lexis/Nexis and all other spy-posting security firms are as well. And Yes. I've noticed. They've turned my life into a nightmare.

DJ and Jabber,

I haven't flown anywhere for over a year now, and not since right around the time they introduced the newer scanners at airports. Thankfully I haven't had to experience anything beyond the scanners we're been used to for awhile.

So all of this is new to me. For example, I'd thought Lexis/Nexis was just a service lawyers used to do research, I didn't know, until Jabber mentioned them earlier - and I searched on Google - that they also did "security" work.

My decision not to fly has not been deliberate, it merely happened that I've had no reason to fly anywhere for awhile. But based on what you are saying, I'm not in a hurry to fly for awhile...

Anne,
My situation is NOT connected to flying; it's with living. Nemeses lied to Lexis/Nexis about me; they believed her/them--there's 3 grown women and husbands; 1 grown man and wife.
L/N is everywhere; they employ all ages in every city worldwide. And they sell information to business owners for a subscription price. They spy on ordinary citizens and go to people, a person does business with, i.e.: doctors, dentist, eye doctor, bank, grocery stores, meat market, neighbors, and friends. They move into your neighborhood and follow you everywhere. If you complain to the parent company, they just up the surveillance. Putting up with this garbage for what seems like a lifetime is annoying to say the least. And L/N is unrelenting; bullheaded; and won't listen to the truth. They ruin people's reputations and think nothing of it. I wonder how they would feel if someone were doing to them what they're doing to others. They focus on innocent people and let riffraff run around shooting folks. I pray somebody brings 'em down!!!

It sounds awful, Jabber. Like a "big brother" nightmare.

I am sure you have looked into legal ways you might be able to get them to leave you alone? Short of entering into the equivalent of a witness protection program, what did you find out?

I'd rather take a train. Have no flown since 2008 and really don't want to either!

Train would be fine with me, I almost mentioned that I'd like to consider train travel. However, at the moment I still have to drive a few hours to get to passenger train service. They have been talking about (re-) bringing it to my area, but I suspect is still 10 years off.

Right now we only get passenger train service to Galena one weekend a year - for a big fall festival weekend. And then, it's just a connection from Chicago...

The rest of the year, loads of trains travel through town daily - they just don't stop.

Anne,
L/N is huge; it's a worldwide organization with billions of dollars to back 'em. It would bankrupt us to try and fight them. So I just let them have their fun; am watching them, watch us. I'd like to see them stopped so other people wouldn't have to go through a similar nightmare.

Don't like flying. Enjoy riding a train now and again. Guess that's why we go RV'ing. WB won't fly and he gets seasick. So there ya go!!! LOL...

Flying certainly is not fun. Decades ago, maybe so. But not for the last few years.

Planes these days remind me of well-packed buses - except for the fact that they don't take off if people are standing in the aisles!

I do enjoy cruising by ship however... especially if you can get a mini suite. We did a "repositioning cruise" a few years ago, traveling up the west coast from LA to Vancouver, and it was delightful - and very affordable. (As in cheaper than spending the same 5 days in a decent motel, and buying food in restaurants.)

We did this because we had two conferences we needed to attend in Vancouver. They were a week apart, and we were trying to figure out whether to fly home and back, stay in Vancouver, or find some other way to spend the interval. This solution was a treat!! (And we got the suite for the same price as a balcony room.)

Took a train from Tucson to Mississippi a few years back. It was okay. I would love to take one of those scenic trains through maybe Canada or the northern US. Best would be the Orient Express, though that's quite expensive I hear!

Oooh, what an adventure that would be. Something you could write a fictional story about...

yonuh,
A favorite cousin and I used to talk about taking the train
from WNY to Calgary. It never happened but what a great thought!

OK, here's something that literally "takes the cake" when it comes to our discussion of air travel hazards and the TSA.

I am sure most of you have read by now about the woman who had her frosted cupcake in a jar confiscated from her at the Las Vegas airport because the TSA said the frosting on it was a gel and exceeded the 3 ounce limit.

Here's more on THAT story, but if you don't have time to read all of it, just enjoy the punchline: the bakery which produces those tasty cakes has renamed that the red velvet delight which caused the uproar: It's now called "National (Security) Velvet."

And, there's more: the LA Times reports there's now a bakery in Rhode Island which has capitalized on the story by creating a cupcake that meets TSA standards...

Love that this story has apparently become known as "Cupcakegate."

G-U-F-F-A-W!!!! Funny!


The TSA and some of these other security agencies are going a bit overboard, wouldn't you say!!!