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> A right in the US is what's defined in the Constitution. Can you back up this specious claim with hard evidence?
The burden of proof is on the person who's making the claim: if flying is a right, then surely being turned down from flying should be reason enough to call the ACLU and sue the government for discriminating against you, right?
Exactly. Prove your claim.
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Driving actually is a privilege. Hence the reason it can be taken away from you due to misconduct. People in the US agree with this practice. Every driver in the US has to pass a driving test in order to be legally allowed on the road. Is air travel somehow different? Maybe all you folks should be boiling your blood over the fact that you have to prove to the government you're capable of driving!
You're right, driving was a bad example. That being said, it's silly to continue adding modes of transport to things that are "privileges, not rights" until people really have no real and significant freedom of movement. Perhaps my example should have been "walking around outside your house".
Here is the deal: flying brings you conveniences and comes with inconveniences. It's entirely up to you which one outweighs the other, but whatever the choice you make, you can't claim that a right is being taken away from you if you are turned away from a flight.
If you really think you have a case, call the ACLU and see them laugh at you.
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Which part of Eastern Europe? I don't know the whole Eastern Europe really well but speaking for the Czech Republic (where I was born) I would say exactly the opposite is true at least when we are talking about tolerance to homosexuality... which might be related to the fact that unlike in the US or UK, religion has practically no influence here. I base this mostly on what I see around me but I just tried to quickly…
I'd say people in Eastern Europe are quite used to despising Jews. Also, if you are black or Hindu or Pakistani in Czech or Poland, you will notice. Homophobes, well, not sure how it's in Czech Republic, but say Poland makes Bible Belt look like a bunch of agnostic wusses.
And also Eastern Europe is apparently not as homogeneous as I made it to be - there are big differences for example between catholic countries like Poland and atheist countries like Czech Republic (tolerance to homosexuality, abortion and stuff like that are strongly related to religious views). Despising Jews? I have seen it way more in Western Europe than here.
And if you are black or Hindu or Pakistani please excuse that some people have some bias... please try to understand that this has been very closed society and up until recently there were no black or Hindu or Pakistani people at all. People could not travel during communist regime... there was basically no opportunity to learn tolerance to different cultures etc. Yes, there are some racists here (like everywhere else) but I believe that Czech people are generally above average tolerant. But I am obviously biased.
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true. So is the rest of the world. We are just lacking in the political correctness department.
..and Russians are just putting what you are lacking into a law.
Dear LekkoscPiwa, did I get it right?
I am sure you did not mean it that way but it might be interesting to know that many people would be seriously offended here if you included Russians into the perception of 'them' - people from outside of the Eastern block do not see internal differences important to people who lived inside - like the fact that 'Rusáci' occupied us for many years and are still perceived as the enemy by many people here. To make a simplified example to make it understandable - imagine someone talking about 'you western countries' and including example of 'your' behaviour - Nazi Germany.
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[citation needed]
http://www.policymic.com/articles/58649/russia-s-anti-gay-la...
Non-American here. Can someone point me to what exactly happens if you opt-out of these screenings? What happens on this 'opt-out floor-mat of shame'? I'm asking out of pure curiosity and prefer not to search those keywords and get added to some list and have an eye-in-the-sky suddenly trained on me. It is completely understandable if you choose not to answer this question. Thanks for reading, though. :)
You get pulled aside while the agent manning the scanner yells for a "male/female assist" (depending on your sex). It takes somewhere between 30 seconds and 30 minutes for them to find someone to grope you. You're then taken around the scanner, asked to identify (but not touch) your luggage. They pick up your luggage, lead you over to a screening area (which is in public view; they give you the option of a private pa…
> give you a very thorough groping which includes putting their fingers into your waistband and feeling your junk and buttocks with the backs of their hands
> fingers into your waistband and feeling your junk and buttocks
> feeling your junk and buttocks
Wat? Are they expecting that the bad guys will walk in with explosives stuffed up their private parts and extract them out later for their intended purpose? Also, honest question: why would anyone want to go through this? I mean, given the option, I'd probably opt to walk through the scanner than let someone handle my junk. (I felt extremely uncomfortable just saying that.) Surely the scanners cannot be more invasive than THIS?
Or am I reading the whole thing wrong? Is the rejection of scanners not because of privacy issues but because of health issues? So many questions...
I kept reading and a few lines later, you said:
> ...given an even more thorough search.
I can't even begin to imagine what an 'even more thorough search' would be/look/feel like. The closest word I can think of is 'rape' but surely it can't be THAT bad, can it?
Where I am from, we do have pat-down searches at private places like malls, but the public places are largely ignored, surprisingly. Even the pat-down searches at the private places are more customary than anything else. Then again, our record at homeland security isn't all that great, as witnessed by recent events. In comparison, your track record since 9/11 seems to have considerably improved, though how much of it should be attributed to all of this is another question entirely.
As a white male living in the US of A, I think I understand your outrage. If this were to happen to me, in my country, I'd probably be up in arms, and so would the rest of the country. However, as a brown male, living outside of the US of A, and having never been to your country so far, I wouldn't know what it truly feels like, so I might just be talking out of (pardon my french) ass here.
I'm just too confused, surprised and horrified at the moment to fathom the weirdness of it all.
Thanks for your detailed reply, though. I hope the situation resolves into something amicable for both parties - you and the authorities.
PS: As a brown male who has never been to your country but who would like to visit some day, your comments have unsettled me somewhat. I like to keep a lush beard and I have long hair. Sure, I'm an atheist, but does that even count?
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..and Russians are just putting what you are lacking into a law.
LekkoscPiwa's comment and your reaction to it are IMO very interesting example of a different perception which can lead to so many misunderstandings. Your comment only makes sense if you include Russia into the term 'Eastern Europe' and technically you are right - Russia is part of Eastern Europe. But I am pretty sure that LekkoscPiwa did not mean it this way - when he said 'we' he almost certainly did not mean also…
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>On a final note. I'm Irish and lived (US) here 12 years. My family and I can move to Ireland at any time without worry for some of the larger barriers; visa and language. An aside, but why did you move from Ireland to the US? I'm semi-seriously considering moving to the UK or Ireland, not out of any "argh america is literally hitler, i'm out" impetus, but to be closer to my girlfriend's family and for adventure.
The short (and unhelpful) answer is that I didn't intend to move here. I came here for a long vacation of sorts (quit dev job in Ireland, swore never work in IT again, first stop on taking a year out to travel the world...). I was at a point where I'd over-stayed tourist visa and was getting ready to move on and then I met a girl...
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They perform a meaningless task with no purpose other than to instill a certain emotion in their audience. Lots of job titles fit that definition, I like to use the word "clown." Edit for a slightly less flippant response. I do not respect the job these people do, and I like to degrade their position of authority. I like to make them hate their job, which is one of the reasons that I opt-out of the naked scanners and…
> I want to tear the TSA down to where it was pre-9/11 So non-existant. > I do not respect the job these people do, and I like to degrade their position of authority. Then you're just an asshole. Do you seriously think most people become TSA agents to go on a power trip? Do you actively degrade prostitutes as well? What about newspaper editorialists you disagree with?