Opt out day and the end of TSA pat-downs

The backlash against TSA airport scanners and pat-downs is growing, and an opt-out day is planned as a big protest action. The idea is to bring these procedures down, as they are invasive, and ultimately ineffective, and only make travel a more horrendous experience than it already is. So, will you be joining the protest next time you travel?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101122/ts_yblog_thelookout/more-tsa-horror-stories-emerge-while-agency-ponders-what-to-do
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
Opt Out Day sounds like these people are planning to meet idiocy and ridiculousness with idiocy and ridiculousness. Way to accomplish nothing! I would be enraged if my flight was somehow delayed because of such a thing.

Then again, I if I was the only person passing through the electronic scanner instead of standing in line for a pat down it would be that much easier to get through security. Maybe I'd even have the plane to myself.

I think I may have missed a previous forum topic about this TSA mess, but why are we so angry that security is tightening up around the holidays when so many more people will be traveling and the threat of terrorism becomes that much more viable?
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Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I think the only way to send a clear message to the TSA that 6-hour waits are unacceptable is to participate in this kind of protest. Sure, on one day there will be massive delays, but afterward the TSA will have to actually TRY HARDER to get their act together, because they'll be under pressure from airlines, from government, from everybody, really. That's why it's a good idea. I'm really tired of being abused and patted down at the mercy of the TSA honchos. All you have to do is travel once and see all those security attendants forced to pat people down visibly CRINGE each and every time, to understand the misery being enacted upon us all with these dumb rules.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I think I would rather go through the body scanner. Okay there is a chance that the video maybe leaked on the internet but 99% nothing will happen.Opting out will create huge backlogs as every passengers will have to be patted down and that will cause huge delays. I do actually want to spare a thought for those TSA agents, they are following instructions and it must be quite a task for them as well.
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Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I'm just saying that creating a protest will force the TSA to rethink all of this and try a little harder to improve both scanners and search methods. It seems like the only way to get them to listen is to insist.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish here is one of the protests its not an opt out but has a guy in Salt lake city wanting to go through in a bathing suit!
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2010/11/tsa-protest-flier-strips-down-to-speedo-at-salt-lake-airport-/132577/1
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
Here's another report of a passenger stripping down to his underwear this time in San Diego seems like the protests are taking place in earnest all over the country.
http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=13560120
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hhusted 2yrs+
@Everybody: I don't think the government cares about the protests. The airlines may see it as in poor taste. But the bottom line is that if the airlines believe TSA is necessary, they will continue with the program. We can talk all we want about it. Not sure if it will do any good. As for me, I would rather do a complete body scan. What is to hurt in doing it. I rather be safe than sorry.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@hhusted its the fear of these scanned images being leaked on the internet that is making people wary of them. I too would rather be scanned then be patted down.
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I saw some of the leaked images - they certainly don't look prurient or scandalous to me! Just like slightly lumpier X-rays. I wouldn't be that upset if my picture ended up on the interwebs, to be honest. How could anyone even tell it was me?
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist I agree. This whole protest thing is madness. Americans are being a bunch of Puritans, when they should be thinking about, um, safety.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist that's what I think as well that's why I don't seem to mind the scanners as much as the pat downs. I actually have been subjected to a thorough body search in 2008. I was flying out to Spain from Gatwick in London and either the wire in my under wired bra or something in my shirt was setting off alarms. It was quite embarrassing.
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JenMac 2yrs+
I actually don't have a problem with either one. I fly a lot but I'm still rather terrified of flying. Anything that can be done to protect us when we really are, essentially, in a building on it's side shooting across the sky is ok in my book. But, the thing that baffles me is that the TSA honestly believes that people who terrorize for a "living" aren't going to figure out less obvious things to bring to create a problem? Oh, and btdubs, TSA, I'm pretty sure that thing isn't going to be my face cream. I have my bag rifled through nearly every time I go through security.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@JenMac I asked myself that same question after the failed liquid bombing. All these checks on liquids, even water and baby formula are the terrorist going to use the same methods again? highly unlikely don't you think?
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
The anticlimax that was opt out day seemed to get just as much press for being undramatic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/opinion/28rich.html?_r=1&scp=19&sq=november%2028&st=Search

Thought this New Yorker cover was adorable: http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2010-12-06
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hhusted 2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: I agree with Ajadedidealist. Even if they were to show my skeleton on the Internet, no one would know it was me.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBk You need to be subscribed to the New Yorker to access your link :(
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@uptowngirl Really? Because I'm not subscribed to the New Yorker and I viewed it...?
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK maybe its blocking me because I am accessing it from China?
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Considering that some guy made it onto a flight with a loaded gun (by accident; at the end of the flight, he turned himself in, saying he'd forgotten that the gun was in the bag) all this security theatre seems even more pointless.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist Really? I seem to have missed that news report..when/where was that?
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hhusted 2yrs+
@Ajadedidealist: Yeah, I missed that news report to.
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Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I thought the New Yorker was available free online? I've always been able to access all the content.
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish Me too.

@uptowngirl Just click "close" when the notification pops up, then you should be able to see the content?
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK youre right its totally adorable!
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
:)
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hhusted 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish: I wouldn't doubt if the New Yorker eventually charges for online subscriptions, especially if they begin to lose too much money.
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Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@hhusted That would be a real pity. The content is excellent, no matter what the old-time New Yorker die hards say. The feature articles are always interesting and in depth.
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@hhusted The online version of The New Yorker sells ad space as well; there is money to be made in paperless journalism, don't forget. Especially now that the majority of readers do much of their reading online. Subscriptions are not how magazines make their real money - the money's in the ad space.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBk Magazines are getting sneaky about online orders as well! I use a e-reader called Zinio and last April when I moved I subscribed online to Marie Claire for $8 for a year and I just received a renewal notice that it will cost $20 to renew my subscription for a year that is much more than a print subscription in the US. You can get 2 years for that price. Similarly the price for the online Conde Nast publications is as much as the newsstand price.. I think $4.99 per issue.
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@uptowngirl Can't you go through a third party vendor like Amazon? But I do know that international subscriptions tend to be the same cost as newsstand price! I've tried to find a good deal on British Vogue to no avail. It is absolutely abhorrent that the cost of a digital magazine should be as much as the paper version. How can they expect us to believe they have the same value?

And oh, man - what about automatic subscription renewals? When both my Harper's and Harper's Bazaar subscriptions ran out a few years back both magazines sent me letters thanking me for my "automatic renewal" and demanding money for renewal subscriptions I hadn't even ordered! Um, no thanks. And I so would've renewed my Harper's subscription if they hadn't made me so mad by doing that!
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK the British magazines are way more expensive even in the U.K..Its crazy..but I am so addicted to my magazines that I do renew my subscriptions when they run out. I treat them as business expenses they contribute to research after all!
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK Also isnt the digital version cheaper to produce? Its almost as if its a scanned copy of the print version so it doesnt cost the publishing house much more to create it but because they know we are getting addicted to e-reading they are trying to milk the cow as much as they can. Little do they realize that some technological advance will soon destroy that revenue model.( I hope!)
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@everyone. Sorry for the delayed response; here's the news story I was talking about last week. http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/gun_airplane.html
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist this is scary!! and I thought all the checks and scanning were supposed to make us safer not miss guns!
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hhusted 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK: Yeah, but what if the advertisers decide to stop using the New Yorker. Then the New Yorker would need to depend on subscriptions for income. Actually, the NYTimes went this way. Or at least they considered it.
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@hhusted Advertisers won't "decide to stop using The New Yorker" so long as it can prove it has readers. That's how it works.

@uptowngirl Tell me about it - when MP3's first went on sale through legal mediums we were all promised a cheaper product, since it costs less to produce. But did that happen? I'd hardly call $9.99 for a digital album a deal against $12.99 for a physical album that comes complete with the lost art of liner notes. The same goes for ebooks!

@ajadedidealist That is scary! Can't wait to fly home next week... But, I have to say that if it were my job to screen bags all day I don't see how my mind wouldn't drift off once in a while. It seems like those people should take turns - one should screen bags for a half hour and then switch to standing guard at the metal detector or something.
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hhusted 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK: Don't think that way. I've read of newspapers that had great readership, but advertisers pulled their advertising as a way to protest what the paper was doing. Plus, if the paper begins charging too much for advertising, that is another reason for advertisers to pull out. Don't think it is automatic because of readership. That is not how it works.
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
Um. Advertising is essentially selling a readership. If you have a large one - and a highly literate, intelligent one like The New Yorker has is worth a pretty penny if that's who you want to market to - you'll find someone who wants to advertise with you.

Slightly unrelated example: a ton of advertisers pulled their commercials from MTV show The Jersey Shore after it received flack for the way it was portraying Italian-Americans. But because so many people watch the show MTV has no problems lining up the infomercials that target to the show's demographic.

OBVIOUSLY there are other factors in advertising, but you don't go out of business if you maintain a huge audience - that was my point. I didn't say there aren't advertisers who don't pull their ads in protest. I didn't say all companies can afford to pay for ads in every magazine no matter what. I'm not going to have another futile argument with you, so go ahead and nitpick; I won't be responding.
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hhusted 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK: I'm not nitpicking. I am merely asking you to keep an open mind and look at it from another perspective. Case in point. Glenn Beck is considered a famous TV host. Well, since he has been accused of racism, and doing other unmentionable things on his program, all the major advertisers pulled their ads from his show. His show is still on TV, but he isn't making money for the network. So, the network is considering pulling his show.

Magazines and newspapers can survive even without major advertising. They just have to depend on subscriptions for income, at least till advertising picks up.

You do have great points, however, when it comes to advertising. But, if a newspaper's subscriber-base falls off, advertisers will also ease up with their advertising. Why pay ads that aren't going to be seen.

I studied advertising while in college and covered this fully. It was part of my English degree program.
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
YOU are asking ME to keep an open mind? Also, what are you talking about? And why am I bothering?

Glenn Beck's audience has been dwindling away for the past year, so besides offending citizens and subsequently putting off advertisers he has that working against him. And what is my point? Oh yeah, that audience directly correlates with advertising. They didn't teach you that in your college English program that apparently implements in-depth marketing studies?

You suggested that The New Yorker may suffer from some huge drop in advertisers and I'm suggesting - again - that your suggestion is absurd. All of the media we've so far mentioned - The New Yorker, Jersey Shore and the lovely Glenn Beck - are all incredibly reliable in that you know what you are going to get from each one before you get it. It's highly unlikely that The New Yorker is going to suddenly scare all of its advertisers off without running the risk of losing its audience. It's highly likely that Glenn Beck is going to continue to spurn hatred within his rabid following.

Also, the fact that a company would pull an ad from a show says more about their target demographic than anything else. It's more likely that a company fears offending its buyers than it is that they are actually offended by an offensive program. Again, it's all directly related to who is watching.

Your point seems to be that someone who advertises with The New Yorker might decide they don't want to anymore. Is that right? Obviously that can happen. OBVIOUSLY. It's also obvious that if a paper's readership drops off, they may see a subsequent drop-off in ad revenue. This is not only obvious but it goes along with what I said in the first place.

Excuse me while I go and pound my head against a brick wall for a while.
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hhusted 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK: I understand your point of view. But I also know advertising. Anyway, as my girlfriend said to me recently, "we agree to disagree" and leave it at that, okay.
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JenMac 2yrs+
I don't get where there can be a disagreement in the realm of fact vs not fact. But, then again, there are avid evolution deniers. . . .
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@JenMac Yeah.....
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