We can not allow the American people to be threatened by the world's most dangerous nipple rings.
We don't want the smoking tit to be a mushroom cloud over Des Moines.
hector
· 1 year ago
more from the lunatic fringe, moving to the center
Oklahoma Lawmakers Say Student Guns Can Stop Violence (Update1) March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Oklahoma lawmakers have a plan to prevent violent outbreaks at colleges: let students carry guns. The state's House of Representatives voted March 13 to allow students and employees who have law-enforcement or military backgrounds, or who undergo training, to carry concealed weapons on public campuses. If the measure is enacted, Oklahoma will be the fourth state where collegians can be armed legally, as a result of legislative, court or administrative action in the past five years.
A group called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus has sprung up, claiming 23,000 supporters including members at Harvard University, since a senior at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg killed 32 people last April. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109...
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Yeah, sorry.
Have to take off ALL jewelry.
Makes sense to me.
EdNSted
· 1 year ago
Sure. Go ahead and laugh but I'm telling you that it is only a matter of time before someone brings down an aircraft using highly explosive breast impants, a nipple-ring detonator, a bottle of Astroglide and a Hitachi Magic Wand...
Indigo
· 1 year ago
Oh, no! Not the dreaded Hitachi Magic Wand!
UncommonSense
· 1 year ago
As long as a female TSA officer does the inspection, I don't see how any reasonable person could object to them trying to determine why you're setting off the metal detector.
I would add that if the inspection determines that nipple rings are the sole cause of setting off the detector, that should settle the matter. I can't think of why the woman would need to remove them.
scooter in brooklyn
· 1 year ago
more 9/11 madness. if they can inspect your piercings why on earth should you have to remove them?
if someone invents a hairbomb, will we legitimately be required to shave our heads before we board?
nicho
· 1 year ago
How does removing the rings make things "safer," unless the rings are then confiscated or unless there is some secret weapon where rings in nipples can be made to explode. This is just either gross ineptitude, which is rampant in TSA security, or is harassment of people who are different.
So much depends on which chapter in the book the agent just finished. A few months ago I flew through three airports with a corkscrew in my hand luggage. At the first two, there was no problem at all. All of a sudden, in Chicago, a TSA agent started running around like her hair was on fire. "He's got a blade. He's got a blade." Apparently, she just finished the chapter on "blades."
I gave them the corkscrew, then got on the plane -- where they proceeded to give us a real metal knife and fork. But at least I didn't have my "blade."
I understand John's concerns about using decoys for terrorism, but I'm unclear about the threat from nipple rings and how they would differ from, say. earrings -- which people don't have to remove. Can you make your breasts explode, but not your ears?
scooter in brooklyn
· 1 year ago
ednsted: rofl :)
bunnyjump
· 1 year ago
And just wait until some terrorist hides an explosive "where the sun don't shine".
Dianne_in_DC
· 1 year ago
My mom's artificial knee sets off the machines, but I'm really surprised there's enough metal in nipple rings to set off the alarm. When I got my dental implants, I asked my doctor if it would set off the alarm. she said if it did we're all in trouble with what they are zapping us with.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
okay, from FIRSTHAND experience...
if you've got piercings, you check your pockets VERY CAREFULLY before going through the metal detector to prevent embarrassment.
I wouldn't be able to remove my nipple ring... not if I wanted to get it back in again anyway.
aquarius2
· 1 year ago
I don't mind one bit about the inspections but then I don't have nipple rings. I don't understand the body piercing but I think it might be awfully painful to remove certain medal adornments. The last time I flew, Easter Sunday, I did not have to remove any jewelery, none, so why would you have to remove nipple rings? I think some TSA people are a bit strange and get carried away, but still I would rather have the inspections than not. One thing I hate is the TSA pawing through my suitcase after it is checked in. You pack nice and neat and then open your suitcase to a damn mess. Ugh! I hate that.
Dianne_in_DC said "When I got my dental implants, I asked my doctor if it would set off the alarm. she said if it did we're all in trouble with what they are zapping us with."
Just FYI, they have the metal detectors at the San Francisco City Hall set up so high that they are set off by the little piece of foil in a cigarette pack. Only place I have ever seen where that happens.
Then of course there was that Border Patrol truck out on I-5 that could tell that a cat in a passing car had been treated with a radioactive isotope several days previous. Wonder what kind of rays THAT machine is bathing us with.?
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
John? you'd agree with nipple rings being worthy of removal for inspection??
a thought here, maybe they should have wands that are a bit more size sensitive.
please, I've never seen nipple rings that were big enough to even SET OFF a metal detector.
what the article doesn't state (and this MUST have happened)... they ran a wand over her chest... which means she had metal somewhere else on her.
her nipple rings DID NOT set off the walk through metal detector.
trust me... I've got a 10 gauge nipple ring and a 0 gauge PA that don't cause problems with the walk through detectors.
nicho
· 1 year ago
I was flying to Mexico a few weeks ago. There were a lot of spring breakers in the same security line. One "dude" kept setting off the alarm. Finally, they took him aside where one of the TSA agents told him to empty his pockets -- this was in plain view of everyone. The first thing that came out was a 12-pack of condoms, which were then lying on the table in full view. The kid turned beet red in front of his friends. I still wonder whether he got as lucky as he thought he was going to get.
But even the so-called "liquid bomb" hysteria -- which persists to this very day. (They also took a large bottle of hair gel from Condom Boy's hand luggage.) Here's what it would take to make a liquid bomb to blow up a plane. (Highly unlikely -- more on the damn near impossible side.)
What everyone forgets is that on 9-11 the weapons used WERE ALREADY ON THE PLANES. No one has ever ever investigated or reported on how that happened or who did it. Meaning that the terrorists who supplied the weapons could still be working at the airports.
Tom3
· 1 year ago
A pair of pliers? Ugh.
Nigel Elliott
· 1 year ago
Pew Research Poll: Obama Weathers the Wright Storm, Clinton Faces Credibility Problem National Discontent Approaches 20-Year High, Bush Approval at 28% http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?Pa...
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
another kinda humorous example...
My Husbear had a flight to San Francisco last year... decided to wear his formal kilt. He didn't even think about the buckles until they sent him through the walk through metal detector a second time.
the buckles on his kilt set of the metal detector twice.
finally, they pull him aside and use the hand held wand... his PA sets off the wand.
he told them what it was and asked if they wanted to look under the kilt :-)
of course, the answer was 'no, you'll have to go in that room over there and remove it'.
.
EdSikov
· 1 year ago
"We don't want the smoking tit to be a mushroom cloud over Des Moines."
HAHAHAHAHA! Though I must say I didn't know you could smoke 'em.
Paul_In_SF
· 1 year ago
"Though I must say I didn't know you could smoke 'em." You can only smoke 'em if you got 'em.
EdSikov
· 1 year ago
In all seriousness, I have little sympathy for air travelers who don't prepare themselves before going through the metal detectors. It's standard operating procedure, and if you know that you're carrying metal and don't remove it, you're an idiot.
Tom3
· 1 year ago
When nipple rings are outlawed, only outlaws will have nipple rings.
They can have my nipple rings when they pry them from my cold, dead nipples.
nicho
· 1 year ago
But, Ed, women, as far as I know, aren't asked to remove wedding rings or earrings. Maybe I'm wrong. Why are nipple rings any different?
EdSikov
· 1 year ago
My earring and my "wedding" ring don't set off the metal detectors. If they did, I'd know enough to take them off and put them in my backpack before going through the line.
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
I was going to make a snide comment about Sarkozy's wife, nipple rings, and recent nekkked photos of her on the web. But I decided not to.
EdSikov
· 1 year ago
Just this Saturday I found myself behind some moron who had to be told FIVE TIMES to take everything out of his pocket. Only after the third or fourth time did he think to remove his fucking cell phone.
nicho
· 1 year ago
Well, Ed, if you can make it through with a wedding ring and an earring, this woman must have had one humongous tit ring.
The problem is that she probably flew without problem before. The TSA rules and security devices are so idiosyncratic you don't know what will set them off. I had a plastic bag for my tiny toiletries that never caused any problem, until one high-school dropout in a small airport at 4:45 a.m. decided the bag was too big, as I stood there in my stocking feet with about 50 people shuffling along behind me, looking at me as if I were a terrorist.
My carry on has traveled through probably 100 different airport security lines with no problem, until one day, out of the blue, a TSA agent decided it was too big. I had to check it, meaning I had to get out of line, go back to the ticket windows, and then get back into the mile-long security line. But I've flown numerous times with it since -- and no further problems.
The problem is that there's no way of telling what they will find objectionable and what they won't. Boston hates my belt. San Diego hates my umbrella. No one else minds my umbrella.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
nicho 2 minutes ago
But, Ed, women, as far as I know, aren't asked to remove wedding rings or earrings. Maybe I'm wrong. Why are nipple rings any different? ---
True... and if you wear a wedding band long enough, probably %50 of the people COULDN'T take it off... do we cut off their fingers?
seriously, the amount of metal in nipple rings WILL NOT set off airport walk-through metal detectors.
HOWEVER, if you have something else that's metal on you (watch, keys, belt buckle) and they decide to run the wand over you... they WILL set off the wand.
If they asked me to remove my nipple ring, I'd have to say I'm not getting on the flight... because I CAN'T remove it and put it back in. after even a few hours, I'd probably have to have it re-pierced.
If they can't settle for 'I'll show it to you', then something's really wrong with their system.
if they can't figure out that the ring weighs less than 2ounces and is circular... then this whole system is completely fucked up and should either be scrapped completely or revamped so that it functions correctly.
we already give up enough rights when we enter an airport... no wonder tourism is down so much, even though THEIR money is worth more in this country... the hassle of travelling here isn't worth it.
EdSikov
· 1 year ago
True enough, nicho. There is no universal standard. At Pittsburgh (haha) "International" there are mostly regular metal detectors but then on the side there's the air-blower type. With the regular ones, they bark at you to take your shoes off; with the air-blower, they bark at you - "KEEP YOUR SHOES ON!" Then they make you take them off to go through the regular metal detector. As though a terrorist with powder explosives would elect to go through the air-blower to begin with!
PeteWa
· 1 year ago
The TSA is a joke. That is my thought, always has been. The Airport security is farmed out to a company who is not American. Just like Port Security, which is an even bigger joke. The real terrorists are still in charge, and the the people run around like frightened sheep, as they always have, as they always will.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
actually, the same is true about my earring... If I took it out, I wouldn't be able to get it back in without some tools. its a snap in curved barbell, used to be a nipple ring actually.
funny, someone mentioned a replacement knee... people that have operations have a card to prove this I think?
is it getting to the point where people with body modifications need to get a card from their piercing person??
c'mon. if the detection system can't tell the difference between a knife and a nipple ring, the system needs to be fixed.
not the person with the nipple rings.
EdSikov
· 1 year ago
Wow, Jeff! You wear a barbell on your ear, and it used to be on your chest! What a man!!!
Sarah B.
· 1 year ago
Either you're with us, or you're with the nipple rings.
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Paul_In_SF
· 1 year ago
We're fighting them over there so that we won't have to get pierced over here.
bobmunck
· 1 year ago
Why didn't we have this level of security before 9/11? People were hijacking and blowing up planes back then too. The difference, of course, is that the 9/11 hijackers intimidated the passengers and pilots with box cutters and, rather than demanding to be flown to Cuba, flew the planes into buildings. If the passengers and crew had known that was their intent, would they have let a few box cutters keep them from taking the plane back? No; the fourth plane showed that. AND NOW, EVERYONE KNOWS! We aren't going through all that absurdity at the airport to prevent another 9/11, but rather something much smaller. Seen in that light, is it worth it? I don't think so.
Rob Mule
· 1 year ago
Thousands Standing Around
T_Scheisskopf
· 1 year ago
The decision has been made at both the TSA and the HSA that they can do anything they damn well please and if anyone screws with them, they will screw back hard. Both Customs and Immigration(especially) went through many years of little attention or funding. Now that they are in the catbird seat, they are gonna play it for all it's worth.
It's gonna take Congress to rein them in.
mike31c
· 1 year ago
You know, these people that now work for TSA are really ignorant. It's bad enough they detain someone with a Mac Air because these hillbillies could not understand technology, ( http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/03/10/macbook.... ) but the actions of these nipple freaks are really scaring me.
What is going to happen if someone had a c*ck piercing???? Are they going to thoroughly inspect them too? And No, that won't be ME getting a piercing to find out... :p
I bet Osama and Company (not counting the Monkey King Bush and ASSociates) are laughing their butts off in their caves when reading about how TSA are "protecting" our air traffic with their ignorance and stupidity.
Sarah B.
· 1 year ago
And one more thing....
No one could have predicted that nipple rings would bring down World Trade Center Building No. 7!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah B.
· 1 year ago
Big Question for the MSM:
Why has the Bush administration done nothing to secure the loose nipple rings in the former Soviet Union?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
nicho
· 1 year ago
The point everyone is missing is that this is less about security than it is about creating a frightened and compliant population.
If you can make adults take off their shoes and belts, shuffle along in their stocking feet trying to keep their beltless pants up with one hand, remove their innocuous body piercings, subject themselves to random and humiliating pat downs by people with a GED, two weeks of training, and too much petty authority -- and then go online and say they're "happy to comply" or that they've learned, Pavlov-like, to anticipate the humiliation and comply without being asked, then you've already won the battle.
What we're undergoing is a fascist takeover of the country. This is just a small part of the plan, and it's working.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
mike31c 6 minutes ago
What is going to happen if someone had a c*ck piercing???? Are they going to thoroughly inspect them too? And No, that won't be ME getting a piercing to find out... :p ---
umm... that's why I said you MAKE SURE you don't have anything else metal on you ;-)
mine has never set off the metal detectors.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
Sarah B. 5 minutes ago Big Question for the MSM:
Why has the Bush administration done nothing to secure the loose nipple rings in the former Soviet Union?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
when the next cold war starts, it'll tighten up those loose nipple rings in the Soviet Union... or at least make them perky.
Sarah B.
· 1 year ago
when the next cold war starts, it'll tighten up those loose nipple rings in the Soviet Union... or at least make them perky.
Soundboy
This will be a new Cold War -- one which will set off a nipple ring race that will make the old arms race took tepid!
Nations will compete to build gigantic strategic missiles equipped with nuclear nipple ring warheads. Depend upon it.
The Bush administration only wanted us to believe that the 9/11 hijackers used box cutters, if you get my meaning….
With their usual brilliance, the Bushies thought it best not to reveal that nipple rings -- not box cutters -- were the real weapon of choice used by the 9/11 hijackers. The nipple ring secret still remains highly classified and resides in that giant man-sized safe in Cheney’s office -- because the Bushies didn’t want to tip off the terrorists who could then devise ingenious ways to avoid nipple ring detectors in the future.
The rumor is that Mohammad Atta’s nipple ring was found in the smoking-rubble pile at the WTC, but don’t tell anyone…or it will embolden the terrorists.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
jr
· 1 year ago
The police state's hubris knows no bounds. They want us all to lick their boots and be docile to their every perverted whim
McE
· 1 year ago
Something's fishy here. I have close to two dozen piercings, and I've yet to set off a metal detector with them. And I fly at least ten times a year for the last 4 years or so.
Also, why would you need to remove them if they've been identified? That's like asking someone to remove a pin from their knee after they present their prosthetics card and the wand detects it.
KerrynowCampau
· 1 year ago
My navel ring never sets off the metal detectors.
Must not be metal but I assumed that nipple rings were made with the same material. Guess not.
McE
· 1 year ago
Most body piercings are made from surgical steel. You don't get much more metally than that.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
McE 0 minutes ago
Something's fishy here. I have close to two dozen piercings, and I've yet to set off a metal detector with them. And I fly at least ten times a year for the last 4 years or so.
Also, why would you need to remove them if they've been identified? That's like asking someone to remove a pin from their knee after they present their prosthetics card and the wand detects it. ---
exactly what I've been saying... my piercings have never set off the detectors. you just make sure that you don't have any other metal on you. If they use a wand on you, you would set off the wand.
and there's no way I'm removing all my piercings... the PA comes out easily, the rest don't.
.
AngelaChanning
· 1 year ago
John, how do you handle the TSA with your nipple rings? :-) Snicker, snort. Hugs~
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
McE 1 minute ago 1 point Please login to rate.
Most body piercings are made from surgical steel. You don't get much more metally than that. ---
this also proves the futility of the whole 'metal detection' thing.
if the walk-through metal detector can't detect two dozen piercings on your body... what are the chances it'd be able to detect a small knife in your ass?
I mean, that's what they're checking for right? guns, knives, electronics??
its futile... and I agree with the posters that the ONLY reason its there is to demoralize travellers. the whole process is just supposed to make you feel that flying was safer after 9/11... but its obvious that the process is flawed, and they're not going to fix it.
so, you stand in line and are reduced to the sheeple that they want you to be. Docile, slightly embarrassed, and slightly scared.
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
My first thought: Americans are so trivial.
My second thought? Why the hell would people want to pierce something so sensitive? Thanks, but no thanks.
Then, they should have seen the piercings and passed them. Unless, of course, the woman had an attitude...that would set them off, I suppose.
KerrynowCampau
· 1 year ago
McE 5 mins ago
I figured that is what they were made of but have never set off a detector and never thought about it until this post.
McE
· 1 year ago
The zipper on my Levi's probably has more metal in it than a razor blade. Metal detectors are BS. I don't even bother taking my belt off anymore.
Soundboy_jeff got it right. It's all about the fear.
Oh, but wait! I forgot! They keep finding my lighter in my laptop bag. My apologies, the TSA is a fine and effective agency. </end sarcasm>
McE
· 1 year ago
OlderAndWiser 1 minute ago 1 point
Please login to rate.
My first thought: Americans are so trivial.
My second thought? Why the hell would people want to pierce something so sensitive? Thanks, but no thanks.
Then, they should have seen the piercings and passed them. Unless, of course, the woman had an attitude...that would set them off, I suppose. ----------------- First response, yup.
Second response: 'Cause it looks cool and can make a sensitive area even more sensitive :-) (though, for me, its more about aesthetics)
I also wonder about the "attitude' factor....
Sarah B.
· 1 year ago
nicho
Believe me, I get the point -- and the reality underlying the point doesn't get any easier to deal over time -- it only gets worse.
Frankly, the fascist TSA measures which you describe below have taken most of the joy -- and all of the convenience -- out of air travel.
Consequently, instead of looking forward with anticipation to a trip to New York or Boston or London or Paris or Barcelona, I now dread packing and dragging myself to the airport to only to suffer the predictable and various bizarre, arbitrary, and idiosyncratic humiliations and invasions of privacy that make the old Nazi trope, "May we see your papers?" seem highly preferable.
If only I just had to "show my papers" instead of the being forced to submit to the current drill -- having to "show" my shoes, shampoo and conditioner, skin-care products, and even the books I've chosen to read on the plane -- I would consider myself very fortunate indeed. Sometimes it’s easier and more relaxing to just stay home and fix a gin & tonic and read the books I’ve chosen in the sanctuary of my living room or the garden in summer.
Oh, for the halcyon days when I only had to "show" my by ticket and boarding pass -- and my passport when flying off to a foreign country -- it was pure bliss.
Clearly, the "terrorists" -- both foreign and domestic -- have won.
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Dumbo
· 1 year ago
Can we members of the public, uh, like, volunteer to be nipple ring inspectors for the TSA? I mean, really, 9/11 did change the whole world. Cant' be too safe. Honest, I'm just patriotic. And worried. About dangerous nipple rings and stuff.
nicho
· 1 year ago
Matt Taibbi explains:
In Russia they have a word, sovok, which described the craven, chickenshit mindset that over the course of decades became hard-wired into the increasingly silly brains of Soviet subjects. It's a hard word to define, but once you get it — and all Russians get it — it's like riding a bicycle, you've got it. Sovok is the word that described a society where for decades silence and a thoughtful demeanor might be construed as evidence of a dangerous dissidence lurking underneath; the sovok therefore protected himself from suspicion by babbling meaningless nonsense at all times, so that no one would accuse him of harboring smart ideas. A sovok talked tough, and cheered Khruschev for banging a shoe at America, but at the same time a sovok would have sold his own children for a pair of American jeans. The sovok talked like a romantic and lavished women with compliments, but preferred long fishing trips and nights spent in the garage tinkering with his shitty car to actual sex. It's hard to explain, but over there, they know what the word means. More than anything, sovok described a society that spent seventy years in mortal terror of new ideas, and tended to drape itself in a paper-thin patriotism whenever it felt threatened, and worshipped mediocrities as a matter of course, elevating to positions of responsibility only those who showed an utter absence not only of objectionable qualities, but any qualities at all.
We're getting to be the same kind of people. We can't focus for more than ten seconds on anything at all and we're constantly exercised about stupid media-generated non-scandals, guilt-by-association raps, accidental dumb utterances of various campaign aides and other nonsense — while at the same time we have no energy at all left to wonder about the mass burgling of the national budget for phony military contracts, the war, the billion dollars or so in campaign contributions to be spent this year that will be buying a small mountain of favors for the next four years.
Ahhhh... it was the "shoe bomb" before - guess this summer's threat will be the "breast implant bomb" - you know, you get the liquids, the larger then 2 oz.'s and a piece of metal (might be a fuse).
The post regarding SOVOK is spot on. This is getting ridiculous to say the least.
Sarah B.
· 1 year ago
Rainlion
You go to war with the breast implants -- or nipple rings -- you have, not those you might want.
Otherwise, the terrorists win and set up an Islamo-fascist caliphate in New Jersey!
Do you think it's just a coincidence that al-Qaeda is using women as suicide bombers in Iraq with increasing frequency?
I rest my case.
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ggm1957
· 1 year ago
Obviously, the people with nipple rings got them to show them off, so what is the big deal? Women can be terrorists, too.
Sarah B.
· 1 year ago
Obviously, the people with nipple rings got them to show them off, so what is the big deal? Women can be terrorists, too.
ggm1957
The fundamental flaws in your comment are as follows:
The facts:
(1) People who have nipple rings might well believe that the sight of their nipple rings is for the select few -- and, for that reason, their rings are best held closely beneath the vest, so to speak;
(2) The decision regarding whether to show one's nipple rings to the world -- or consign them to private viewing -- should be the province of the individual and not the prying eyes of the "security" nazis of the TSA;
(3) Your comment suggests that you harbor the illusion that only women wear nipple rings when nothing could be further from the truth;
(4) Yes, "Women can be terrorists, too" -- as you suggest -- but the vast majority of them are men.
(5) You suggest that for the woman who was forced to "show off" her nipple rings to the TSA nazi enjoyed some kind of bonus rather than a gross invasion of her privacy.
The rhetorical question:
What part of the U.S. Constitution don't you accept or understand? The First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of expression -- and such freedom of expression would certainly include nipple rings -- or, do you object to the Fourth Amendment with its protections from unreasonable searches and seizures?
Just sayin’….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pierced and lovin it
· 11 months ago
you're so ignorant.
i got mine done, and i got them done for myself. it's a right of passage for me. yes i understand that from time to time they will be seen by those i choose to allow to see them, but i didn't get them for anyone but me.
so kiss my ass retard.
BeccaM
· 1 year ago
John asks, "People like to laugh about over-inspections at airports, but I don't laugh anymore. Your thoughts?"
I don't like to laugh. I grit my teeth at the utterly pointless ways in which passengers are humiliated for illogical search regimens. A pair of rings is a negligible amount of metal. A properly wielded detector wand will show that.
To ask a person to remove a permanent body piercing was clearly an act of petty tin-pot vindictiveness on the part of the TSA thugs. There is nothing in the rules that says people cannot wear jewelry. Or metal-framed eye-glasses. Or travel with surgical implants.
If there was any 'reasonable' concern about this woman and her rings setting off metal detectors, it could have been resolved in seconds. Private booth, female guard, "Please lift your shirt... okay, thank you ma'am, sorry for the inconvenience, have a nice flight." Done.
Yes, John -- actually we DO trust people when their chests set off metal detectors. They're trusted when they happen to be a woman wearing an underwire bra. They're trusted when it's some guy with a pacemaker. "Professional" security understands how to do a proper 'pat-down' without making it feel like a gynecological grope. When there's concern or continued doubt, professionals know that you can give the traveler a chance to show they're of no harm.
Where does it stop, John? With TSA-issued paper clothes and no carry-on luggage allowed? Or perhaps everybody should be required to fly naked, and to submit to mandatory sedative drugs for the duration of the flight. That'd be safer, surely?
It's long since past time for people to stop behaving like frightened sheep. Life itself is a terminal condition.
TomJoad
· 1 year ago
It's been too ridiculous since they wanted to pretend fingernail clippers could be a weapon (answer: yeah, if you cut them too short on people and then jam a lemon wedge on their fingers...and just TRY and use the little file thingy as a knife...sheesh) but common sense goes out the window when someone just utters "well...they are doing this for OUR safety".
So, given that some people have metal implants, medically, for hips, shoulders, head wounds, etc. do you also think they should be given pliers and a field surgical kit and told to remove the pins holding joints together?
What about waving the wand over the person, and deciding that that is what is setting off the detector and leaving it at that?
fl79tr
· 1 year ago
You know what, I'll risk it, call me gutsy, call me ballsy, but I'll risk flying with nipple rings in other people's nipples, I can understand others might not feel comfortable with the potential risk involved maybe I'm just more macho than I get credit for, ...... not any more. ....and I can understand the inspectors desire to see boobies too, okay fair enough, but for Christ's sake wait till you get off work like the rest of us, thats why god invented the internet.
Ciarin
· 1 year ago
It's not about the stupid nipple ring. It's about the fact that there's a piece of metal on someone's chest and making sure the only thing alarming is the nipple ring. The only way to do this is to have the passenger remove the ring. The TSA is not permitted to pat down breasts or look at exposed breasts(in fact, anyone who exposes themself at an airport will be removed by state troopers).
But I guess no one's ever heard of people smuggling crap on to a plane, and there's simply no reason why the TSA shouldn't take a person's word for it since we know everyone who flies is completely honest and forthcoming.
She was ready and willing to show off her tits in front of people, but I'm supposed to believe this whole thing was "humiliating"? And since when does removing your rings involve pain? I remove my nip rings many times throughout the year and it's hurts no more than removing an earring. If she hadn't ever rotated or cleaned her rings, then she's gross.
She just trying to scam money from the government and get media attention. Maybe she'll be on a reality show now.
pierced and lovin it
· 11 months ago
i think that it's assanine and ignorant of the tsa officials to demand that a nipple ring be removed. i have had several piercings throughout the years in my face, and a)never set off a metal detector, and b)never made to take them out.
if they are really that concerned they should take you to a private area and a female tsa official request to verify that they are there... simple as lifting your shirt and going on your way.
however, this is a wake-up call to all of us that have nipple piercings, and that is to switch to bio or taigon jewelery before attempting to go through security as they are made from a variation from acrylic and plastics that are safe for piercings (and ironically more comfortable than steel)..
either way you slice it, it's sexual harassment people. you bet your ass if someone demanded that i remove my nipple piercings to pass security i would demand to speak to the head of security and request a valid explanation as to why removing them will make me any safer than verifying that they're there...
what's next? those with genetalia piercings being demanded to drop trow and pull out their piercings too???
this is the 21st century people. piercings are common let's not start acting like even more of an imbicile today.
All Comments
We don't want the smoking tit to be a mushroom cloud over Des Moines.
Oklahoma Lawmakers Say Student Guns Can Stop Violence (Update1)
March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Oklahoma lawmakers have a plan to prevent violent outbreaks at colleges: let students carry guns. The state's House of Representatives voted March 13 to allow students and employees who have law-enforcement or military backgrounds, or who undergo training, to carry concealed weapons on public campuses. If the measure is enacted, Oklahoma will be the fourth state where collegians can be armed legally, as a result of legislative, court or administrative action in the past five years.
A group called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus has sprung up, claiming 23,000 supporters including members at Harvard University, since a senior at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg killed 32 people last April.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109...
Have to take off ALL jewelry.
Makes sense to me.
I would add that if the inspection determines that nipple rings are the sole cause of setting off the detector, that should settle the matter. I can't think of why the woman would need to remove them.
if they can inspect your piercings why on earth should you have to remove them?
if someone invents a hairbomb, will we legitimately be required to shave our heads before we board?
So much depends on which chapter in the book the agent just finished. A few months ago I flew through three airports with a corkscrew in my hand luggage. At the first two, there was no problem at all. All of a sudden, in Chicago, a TSA agent started running around like her hair was on fire. "He's got a blade. He's got a blade." Apparently, she just finished the chapter on "blades."
I gave them the corkscrew, then got on the plane -- where they proceeded to give us a real metal knife and fork. But at least I didn't have my "blade."
I understand John's concerns about using decoys for terrorism, but I'm unclear about the threat from nipple rings and how they would differ from, say. earrings -- which people don't have to remove. Can you make your breasts explode, but not your ears?
if you've got piercings, you check your pockets VERY CAREFULLY before going through the metal detector to prevent embarrassment.
I wouldn't be able to remove my nipple ring... not if I wanted to get it back in again anyway.
http://www.fedspending.org/fpds/tables.php?tabt...
Just FYI, they have the metal detectors at the San Francisco City Hall set up so high that they are set off by the little piece of foil in a cigarette pack. Only place I have ever seen where that happens.
Then of course there was that Border Patrol truck out on I-5 that could tell that a cat in a passing car had been treated with a radioactive isotope several days previous. Wonder what kind of rays THAT machine is bathing us with.?
a thought here, maybe they should have wands that are a bit more size sensitive.
please, I've never seen nipple rings that were big enough to even SET OFF a metal detector.
what the article doesn't state (and this MUST have happened)... they ran a wand over her chest... which means she had metal somewhere else on her.
her nipple rings DID NOT set off the walk through metal detector.
trust me... I've got a 10 gauge nipple ring and a 0 gauge PA that don't cause problems with the walk through detectors.
But even the so-called "liquid bomb" hysteria -- which persists to this very day. (They also took a large bottle of hair gel from Condom Boy's hand luggage.) Here's what it would take to make a liquid bomb to blow up a plane. (Highly unlikely -- more on the damn near impossible side.)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_...
National Discontent Approaches 20-Year High, Bush Approval at 28%
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?Pa...
My Husbear had a flight to San Francisco last year... decided to wear his formal kilt. He didn't even think about the buckles until they sent him through the walk through metal detector a second time.
the buckles on his kilt set of the metal detector twice.
finally, they pull him aside and use the hand held wand... his PA sets off the wand.
he told them what it was and asked if they wanted to look under the kilt :-)
of course, the answer was 'no, you'll have to go in that room over there and remove it'.
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HAHAHAHAHA! Though I must say I didn't know you could smoke 'em.
You can only smoke 'em if you got 'em.
They can have my nipple rings when they pry them from my cold, dead nipples.
The problem is that she probably flew without problem before. The TSA rules and security devices are so idiosyncratic you don't know what will set them off. I had a plastic bag for my tiny toiletries that never caused any problem, until one high-school dropout in a small airport at 4:45 a.m. decided the bag was too big, as I stood there in my stocking feet with about 50 people shuffling along behind me, looking at me as if I were a terrorist.
My carry on has traveled through probably 100 different airport security lines with no problem, until one day, out of the blue, a TSA agent decided it was too big. I had to check it, meaning I had to get out of line, go back to the ticket windows, and then get back into the mile-long security line. But I've flown numerous times with it since -- and no further problems.
The problem is that there's no way of telling what they will find objectionable and what they won't. Boston hates my belt. San Diego hates my umbrella. No one else minds my umbrella.
But, Ed, women, as far as I know, aren't asked to remove wedding rings or earrings. Maybe I'm wrong. Why are nipple rings any different?
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True... and if you wear a wedding band long enough, probably %50 of the people COULDN'T take it off... do we cut off their fingers?
seriously, the amount of metal in nipple rings WILL NOT set off airport walk-through metal detectors.
HOWEVER, if you have something else that's metal on you (watch, keys, belt buckle) and they decide to run the wand over you... they WILL set off the wand.
If they asked me to remove my nipple ring, I'd have to say I'm not getting on the flight... because I CAN'T remove it and put it back in. after even a few hours, I'd probably have to have it re-pierced.
If they can't settle for 'I'll show it to you', then something's really wrong with their system.
if they can't figure out that the ring weighs less than 2ounces and is circular... then this whole system is completely fucked up and should either be scrapped completely or revamped so that it functions correctly.
we already give up enough rights when we enter an airport... no wonder tourism is down so much, even though THEIR money is worth more in this country... the hassle of travelling here isn't worth it.
That is my thought, always has been.
The Airport security is farmed out to a company who is not American.
Just like Port Security, which is an even bigger joke.
The real terrorists are still in charge, and the the people run around like frightened sheep, as they always have, as they always will.
funny, someone mentioned a replacement knee... people that have operations have a card to prove this I think?
is it getting to the point where people with body modifications need to get a card from their piercing person??
c'mon. if the detection system can't tell the difference between a knife and a nipple ring, the system needs to be fixed.
not the person with the nipple rings.
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It's gonna take Congress to rein them in.
What is going to happen if someone had a c*ck piercing???? Are they going to thoroughly inspect them too? And No, that won't be ME getting a piercing to find out... :p
I bet Osama and Company (not counting the Monkey King Bush and ASSociates) are laughing their butts off in their caves when reading about how TSA are "protecting" our air traffic with their ignorance and stupidity.
No one could have predicted that nipple rings would bring down World Trade Center Building No. 7!
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Why has the Bush administration done nothing to secure the loose nipple rings in the former Soviet Union?
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If you can make adults take off their shoes and belts, shuffle along in their stocking feet trying to keep their beltless pants up with one hand, remove their innocuous body piercings, subject themselves to random and humiliating pat downs by people with a GED, two weeks of training, and too much petty authority -- and then go online and say they're "happy to comply" or that they've learned, Pavlov-like, to anticipate the humiliation and comply without being asked, then you've already won the battle.
What we're undergoing is a fascist takeover of the country. This is just a small part of the plan, and it's working.
What is going to happen if someone had a c*ck piercing???? Are they going to thoroughly inspect them too? And No, that won't be ME getting a piercing to find out... :p
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umm... that's why I said you MAKE SURE you don't have anything else metal on you ;-)
mine has never set off the metal detectors.
Big Question for the MSM:
Why has the Bush administration done nothing to secure the loose nipple rings in the former Soviet Union?
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when the next cold war starts, it'll tighten up those loose nipple rings in the Soviet Union... or at least make them perky.
Soundboy
This will be a new Cold War -- one which will set off a nipple ring race that will make the old arms race took tepid!
Nations will compete to build gigantic strategic missiles equipped with nuclear nipple ring warheads. Depend upon it.
The Bush administration only wanted us to believe that the 9/11 hijackers used box cutters, if you get my meaning….
With their usual brilliance, the Bushies thought it best not to reveal that nipple rings -- not box cutters -- were the real weapon of choice used by the 9/11 hijackers. The nipple ring secret still remains highly classified and resides in that giant man-sized safe in Cheney’s office -- because the Bushies didn’t want to tip off the terrorists who could then devise ingenious ways to avoid nipple ring detectors in the future.
The rumor is that Mohammad Atta’s nipple ring was found in the smoking-rubble pile at the WTC, but don’t tell anyone…or it will embolden the terrorists.
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Also, why would you need to remove them if they've been identified? That's like asking someone to remove a pin from their knee after they present their prosthetics card and the wand detects it.
Must not be metal but I assumed that nipple rings were made with the same material. Guess not.
Something's fishy here. I have close to two dozen piercings, and I've yet to set off a metal detector with them. And I fly at least ten times a year for the last 4 years or so.
Also, why would you need to remove them if they've been identified? That's like asking someone to remove a pin from their knee after they present their prosthetics card and the wand detects it.
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exactly what I've been saying... my piercings have never set off the detectors. you just make sure that you don't have any other metal on you. If they use a wand on you, you would set off the wand.
and there's no way I'm removing all my piercings... the PA comes out easily, the rest don't.
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Most body piercings are made from surgical steel. You don't get much more metally than that.
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this also proves the futility of the whole 'metal detection' thing.
if the walk-through metal detector can't detect two dozen piercings on your body... what are the chances it'd be able to detect a small knife in your ass?
I mean, that's what they're checking for right? guns, knives, electronics??
its futile... and I agree with the posters that the ONLY reason its there is to demoralize travellers. the whole process is just supposed to make you feel that flying was safer after 9/11... but its obvious that the process is flawed, and they're not going to fix it.
so, you stand in line and are reduced to the sheeple that they want you to be. Docile, slightly embarrassed, and slightly scared.
My second thought? Why the hell would people want to pierce something so sensitive? Thanks, but no thanks.
Then, they should have seen the piercings and passed them. Unless, of course, the woman had an attitude...that would set them off, I suppose.
I figured that is what they were made of but have never set off a detector and never thought about it until this post.
Soundboy_jeff got it right. It's all about the fear.
Oh, but wait! I forgot! They keep finding my lighter in my laptop bag. My apologies, the TSA is a fine and effective agency. </end sarcasm>
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My first thought: Americans are so trivial.
My second thought? Why the hell would people want to pierce something so sensitive? Thanks, but no thanks.
Then, they should have seen the piercings and passed them. Unless, of course, the woman had an attitude...that would set them off, I suppose.
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First response, yup.
Second response: 'Cause it looks cool and can make a sensitive area even more sensitive :-) (though, for me, its more about aesthetics)
I also wonder about the "attitude' factor....
Believe me, I get the point -- and the reality underlying the point doesn't get any easier to deal over time -- it only gets worse.
Frankly, the fascist TSA measures which you describe below have taken most of the joy -- and all of the convenience -- out of air travel.
Consequently, instead of looking forward with anticipation to a trip to New York or Boston or London or Paris or Barcelona, I now dread packing and dragging myself to the airport to only to suffer the predictable and various bizarre, arbitrary, and idiosyncratic humiliations and invasions of privacy that make the old Nazi trope, "May we see your papers?" seem highly preferable.
If only I just had to "show my papers" instead of the being forced to submit to the current drill -- having to "show" my shoes, shampoo and conditioner, skin-care products, and even the books I've chosen to read on the plane -- I would consider myself very fortunate indeed. Sometimes it’s easier and more relaxing to just stay home and fix a gin & tonic and read the books I’ve chosen in the sanctuary of my living room or the garden in summer.
Oh, for the halcyon days when I only had to "show" my by ticket and boarding pass -- and my passport when flying off to a foreign country -- it was pure bliss.
Clearly, the "terrorists" -- both foreign and domestic -- have won.
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In Russia they have a word, sovok, which described the craven, chickenshit mindset that over the course of decades became hard-wired into the increasingly silly brains of Soviet subjects. It's a hard word to define, but once you get it — and all Russians get it — it's like riding a bicycle, you've got it. Sovok is the word that described a society where for decades silence and a thoughtful demeanor might be construed as evidence of a dangerous dissidence lurking underneath; the sovok therefore protected himself from suspicion by babbling meaningless nonsense at all times, so that no one would accuse him of harboring smart ideas. A sovok talked tough, and cheered Khruschev for banging a shoe at America, but at the same time a sovok would have sold his own children for a pair of American jeans. The sovok talked like a romantic and lavished women with compliments, but preferred long fishing trips and nights spent in the garage tinkering with his shitty car to actual sex. It's hard to explain, but over there, they know what the word means. More than anything, sovok described a society that spent seventy years in mortal terror of new ideas, and tended to drape itself in a paper-thin patriotism whenever it felt threatened, and worshipped mediocrities as a matter of course, elevating to positions of responsibility only those who showed an utter absence not only of objectionable qualities, but any qualities at all.
We're getting to be the same kind of people. We can't focus for more than ten seconds on anything at all and we're constantly exercised about stupid media-generated non-scandals, guilt-by-association raps, accidental dumb utterances of various campaign aides and other nonsense — while at the same time we have no energy at all left to wonder about the mass burgling of the national budget for phony military contracts, the war, the billion dollars or so in campaign contributions to be spent this year that will be buying a small mountain of favors for the next four years.
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13696
The post regarding SOVOK is spot on. This is getting ridiculous to say the least.
You go to war with the breast implants -- or nipple rings -- you have, not those you might want.
Otherwise, the terrorists win and set up an Islamo-fascist caliphate in New Jersey!
Do you think it's just a coincidence that al-Qaeda is using women as suicide bombers in Iraq with increasing frequency?
I rest my case.
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ggm1957
The fundamental flaws in your comment are as follows:
The facts:
(1) People who have nipple rings might well believe that the sight of their nipple rings is for the select few -- and, for that reason, their rings are best held closely beneath the vest, so to speak;
(2) The decision regarding whether to show one's nipple rings to the world -- or consign them to private viewing -- should be the province of the individual and not the prying eyes of the "security" nazis of the TSA;
(3) Your comment suggests that you harbor the illusion that only women wear nipple rings when nothing could be further from the truth;
(4) Yes, "Women can be terrorists, too" -- as you suggest -- but the vast majority of them are men.
(5) You suggest that for the woman who was forced to "show off" her nipple rings to the TSA nazi enjoyed some kind of bonus rather than a gross invasion of her privacy.
The rhetorical question:
What part of the U.S. Constitution don't you accept or understand? The First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of expression -- and such freedom of expression would certainly include nipple rings -- or, do you object to the Fourth Amendment with its protections from unreasonable searches and seizures?
Just sayin’….
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i got mine done, and i got them done for myself. it's a right of passage for me. yes i understand that from time to time they will be seen by those i choose to allow to see them, but i didn't get them for anyone but me.
so kiss my ass retard.
I don't like to laugh. I grit my teeth at the utterly pointless ways in which passengers are humiliated for illogical search regimens. A pair of rings is a negligible amount of metal. A properly wielded detector wand will show that.
To ask a person to remove a permanent body piercing was clearly an act of petty tin-pot vindictiveness on the part of the TSA thugs. There is nothing in the rules that says people cannot wear jewelry. Or metal-framed eye-glasses. Or travel with surgical implants.
If there was any 'reasonable' concern about this woman and her rings setting off metal detectors, it could have been resolved in seconds. Private booth, female guard, "Please lift your shirt... okay, thank you ma'am, sorry for the inconvenience, have a nice flight." Done.
Yes, John -- actually we DO trust people when their chests set off metal detectors. They're trusted when they happen to be a woman wearing an underwire bra. They're trusted when it's some guy with a pacemaker. "Professional" security understands how to do a proper 'pat-down' without making it feel like a gynecological grope. When there's concern or continued doubt, professionals know that you can give the traveler a chance to show they're of no harm.
Where does it stop, John? With TSA-issued paper clothes and no carry-on luggage allowed? Or perhaps everybody should be required to fly naked, and to submit to mandatory sedative drugs for the duration of the flight. That'd be safer, surely?
It's long since past time for people to stop behaving like frightened sheep. Life itself is a terminal condition.
So, given that some people have metal implants, medically, for hips, shoulders, head wounds, etc. do you also think they should be given pliers and a field surgical kit and told to remove the pins holding joints together?
What about waving the wand over the person, and deciding that that is what is setting off the detector and leaving it at that?
But I guess no one's ever heard of people smuggling crap on to a plane, and there's simply no reason why the TSA shouldn't take a person's word for it since we know everyone who flies is completely honest and forthcoming.
And I guess the bra bomb thing never happens...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9dA5Ksw7d8
She was ready and willing to show off her tits in front of people, but I'm supposed to believe this whole thing was "humiliating"? And since when does removing your rings involve pain? I remove my nip rings many times throughout the year and it's hurts no more than removing an earring. If she hadn't ever rotated or cleaned her rings, then she's gross.
She just trying to scam money from the government and get media attention. Maybe she'll be on a reality show now.
if they are really that concerned they should take you to a private area and a female tsa official request to verify that they are there... simple as lifting your shirt and going on your way.
however, this is a wake-up call to all of us that have nipple piercings, and that is to switch to bio or taigon jewelery before attempting to go through security as they are made from a variation from acrylic and plastics that are safe for piercings (and ironically more comfortable than steel)..
either way you slice it, it's sexual harassment people. you bet your ass if someone demanded that i remove my nipple piercings to pass security i would demand to speak to the head of security and request a valid explanation as to why removing them will make me any safer than verifying that they're there...
what's next? those with genetalia piercings being demanded to drop trow and pull out their piercings too???
this is the 21st century people. piercings are common let's not start acting like even more of an imbicile today.