What's In Your Sippy Cup?

This is a test make no mistake about that.  America seems to take some of her biggest tests with no sense of its significance.  Water or koolaid in the sippy cup?  Miss your plane and clean up your mess.  Then STFU. End of test.

No that is the administration of the test.  In three days the grade will go on our permanent record.  A for absolute apathy will get another test soon.  F for fucking the public far beyond acceptance will get no recorded grade but a make up in the future.

In LA the scene of the woman, baby, and sippy cup has been on multiple times with the narrator asking is this woman being harrassed or not.  Did she drop or pour the water out?

I have been watching because I am getting wise to these pushed pulled tests.  Are you?

If this had been my sippy cup, I would have slowly and very completely dumped it on the floor.  I would have demonstrated my contempt to the cameras in no ambiguous acting.  I would have been very clear that the water in my sippy cup also had clear, cool common sense.

The protectors of the airport fear the water in a baby's sippy cup?  A mother is giving her baby something to drink that might explode an airplane or poison the captain?  Are they insane to even propose this reasoning?

Well, damn if I'm the mother I am going to pour this stuff out at once so eveyone can see and examine it.  It is so important that they send three different guards after me.  By all means, that is not harrassment.  The woman guard demands I wripe it up so I miss my plane.  And that is not harrassment.

I guarantee I would not have wiped it up.  If it was possibly so dangerous; it was too dangerous for me to wipe up.  I didn't know it was dangerous until they told me.  Now that they have told me the water in the sippy cup is dangerous; handling it is their problem.

Do not come to me and harrass my baby in an already trying situation, tell me some ridiculous story that no one else can imagine, waste my time, my patience, and my good will, and then tell me I can be arrested for disturbing the peace, obstruction of justice, or all the other BS being handed out by homeland security.  As my baby is deprived of his sippy cup, some guy just got a big wrench thru his carry on.

Mike Malloy went ape on this but everyone else is backing off and asking the public.  Do you think this woman got what she deserved?  Underlying this is the question are the poor guards just a victim of their jobs or are they the face of the administration empowered to do anything to anyone who does not kiss their ass?

So does the public get an apathetic A or a big F for WTF get the hell out of my face?

•  I *think* I understand what you're

  referring to, but it was rather confusing.  Perhaps a link to a news article explaining what happened?  What did the woman "get"?

  Not all of us watch the tv news....

  by aggieric on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:50:26 PM PDT

  •  I am sorry I do not know how to link.

    I am always surprised when what seems to be the MSM weird story of the week is not well known.

    People will have to put up what they think needs putting up.

    That has to be part of the test.  Making it known.

    by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:56:04 PM PDT

    •  if you just copy and paste

      it will work

      by dc 20005 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:56:40 PM PDT

      •  Can't do that either. I am brain dammaged and

        I have not been able to go back and learn this.  I know it sounds stupid but it is a long explanation.

        by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:06:24 PM PDT

        •  That's okay. I can hardly figure out how

          how to do any tech stuff. The links in comments are easy--you
          enter the link by copying and pasting URL using the link button,
          then enter your words in the "label" area. You hit preview to see
          if it works.

          Someone did post a diary about this before, but that doesn't matter,
          because it's a new day with a new take by you.

          Here is the Link to that

          And I did that link the way I just explained.

          by begone on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:12:05 PM PDT

    •  yoduuuh, to link anything on the Internet . . .

      . . . to your diary or comment, just hit the "Link" button below your diary or comment composition box, copy the web address of the other site (the link) into the box that says "URL" and, if you like, add a snappier title of your own in the box that says "Label."  If you add a "label," the label and not the web address itself will appear in your diary or comment.  But either way it will work as a link to the other site.

      by keikekaze on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:12:47 PM PDT

      •  Thanks for doing this for me but it does

        not mean anything to me.  I have to have people connect the words you are using to seeing how it is done.  Not my fault or yours that i cannnot understand.  Also takes a bunch of times before i get it.

        I was rehabed on the internet.  When I started i spent pages asdf to lay down synapses.

        by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:16:29 PM PDT

  •  She got humiliated in public

    for spilling water from her baby's sippy cup on the floor after being harassed by airport security because the water she was giving her baby might really be nitroglycerin.

    Warning: Don't fly with babies or old people. It's open season on them now.

    by FishOutofWater on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:57:24 PM PDT

    •  Olberman

      He had the clip on last night, she also works for the CIA.

      by chigh on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 11:26:59 AM PDT

•  White wine right now (but it's not a sippy cup)

  I hate airport security. I used to love to fly but those days vanished with Bush's 9-11 response.

  by FishOutofWater on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:52:00 PM PDT

  •  Heh. My initial thought was to

    respond with:  a central coast red zin.  But then I became confused.

    by aggieric on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:56:49 PM PDT

  •  Red wine now myself, and am thinking

    of bringing some in a sippy cup to the airport in a few
    weeks.

    That ought to go over well, especially if it spills.

    Blood! Terrorista!

    by begone on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:57:46 PM PDT

  •  First they came...

    First they came for the sippy cups
    and I didn't speak out since I don't have a kid.

    Then they came for the Mocha Grandes
    and I didn't speak out since caffeine makes me jumpy.

    Then they came for the Big Gulps
    and I didn't speak out, since I don't like corn syrup.

    Then they came for my Mango Soy-Milk Smoothie.
    And I couldn't speak out since my mouth was full.
    And nobody else was left to speak out for me ...
    Since, you know they were taken away with their sippy cups and their Big Gulps and their Mocha Grandes.
    Well, you get the picture. At this point I'm really fucked.
    Shoulda stood up for that sippy cup kid...
    Too late now I guess.
    But damn, this mango smoothie tastes great.

    by jfadden on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:18:28 AM PDT

    •  Sooo smoothly cool. nt

      by yoduuuh do or do not on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:43:13 AM PDT

•  i can't believe the responses

  I was reading comments on a site somewhere and the number of people who said something to the extent of "well if she had just followed instructions she wouldn't have had this problem."

  fucking sheeple.

  by dc 20005 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:52:54 PM PDT

  •  and I have to say

    for all of those that doesn't understand why some of us are confused at the airport...

    I've been living in New Zealand for the past two years.  Prior to that I had been flying every week from Dulles for work.  I got very used to the procedures and had it down pat.  But, in New Zealand we don't have these stupid rules.  You can actually go with you S.O. to the gate when they are leaving.  You don't have to take off your shoes or submit to a proctologist visit.  So when I get back to the US, I am completely clueless.  This last time I didn't even no about this stupid liquid rule, luckily I had no carry on.

    by dc 20005 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:55:36 PM PDT

  •  Your point is the one that should be taken.

    Where is the common sense most people possess.  If this is the best we can do, we deserve what we get.

    by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:58:09 PM PDT

  •  I wanted to answer your point first.

    But I screwed up.  Thank you for sharing your rage.  I hope over the lack of common sense that is supposed to be the basis of even common law.

    by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:59:39 PM PDT

•  I spend too much time

  going through airport security. I'm always amazed at how many Americans stand there and comment about how much safer they think they are. Too much Kool-Aid.

  by ord avg guy on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:54:46 PM PDT

  •  So, that's ORD as in O'Hare,

    rather than ord as in ordinary, average guy?

    ;-)

    by aggieric on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:00:07 PM PDT

    •  Funny you should say that.

      I use the same handle on a forum for frequent travelers, and that never occurred to me until after I created my account (when I saw a couple of other users with ORD in their name.

      It pays to lurk first, I guess.

      by ord avg guy on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:05:13 PM PDT

•  Yes. I absolutely believe.

  Not only in airports, but everywhere.  I've told the story over and over regarding my son being arrested...another example.  Pass ridiculous laws and promise scared parents that there will be "zero tolerance" policies in place at schools.  Put policemen in said schools to harass teachers, students and parents trying to exercise their rights in a way that plain old common sense demands.  Arrest student for questioning authority of petty cop...charge him with "assault" under "safe school ordinance" because asking a question is just the same thing, right?  Never mind that everyone, even the police officer, agrees there was no "assault" or even raising of the voice.

  Drag kid through the court system on said ridiculous charge.  Cost the parents an arm and a leg for a lawyer.  Spend kid's last summer before college chasing down vacationing teachers to get written statements.  

  Yeah.  We're just about there.  Can't kid ourselves...we're a police state.

  by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 10:59:28 PM PDT

  •  I could write a whole other diary about the abuse

    of zero tolerance as defined by who and when as well as where.

    I have seen kids lives ruined over this.  Totally redefining everything.  What was petting in my day and a private matter with teenagers is now molestation with a foreign object.  I wound up counseling a kid stuck with this--he used his hand to touch her.  He should have done it with his penis to be legal.  I kid you not when I got him thru court order I almost fell off my chair.

    He was my first just coming back out of retirement and new schooling.  Not even the school prepared me for the new police nonsense.

    by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:04:29 PM PDT

    •  My son's story:

      http://www.dailykos.com/...

      Posted about it several times a few weeks ago.  

      Other ridiculous rules...in our city, we've had children as young as 7 or 8 arrested and handcuffed in schools for, well, acting as if they are 7 or 8.  "Safe School ordinances" are also routinely used to keep parents OUT of the school...you know us pesky parents showing up and wanting to talk to a teacher, etc.  No more going in an office and telling someone you're not leaving until you're problem is addressed...you'll likely leave in handcuffs.

      A decade ago, people warned that our schools were turning into "prison tracks" where young children were taught early how to literally walk the walk.  Go into an elementary school sometime...especially one with a good number of minority children.  Most people would be shocked to see how similar many of the techniques used to "keep order" or to those commonly seen in prisons.

      by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:13:22 PM PDT

      •  In LA the prison environment is accepted.

        Lock downs all the time.  I would like to substitute but I cannot stand the feeling of just being there.  I feel really bad for these kids and I really understand why they are on slow boil.

        by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:19:25 PM PDT

        •  I hate the term

          "lock down".  I also hate the lights off in the lunch room and no talking.  Food being taken five minutes after the kids sit down.  Still more "no talking" until they are literally marched out, single file, half an hour later.

          by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:22:21 PM PDT

          •  This is one of the big reasons why there are so

            many charter schools springing up.  People who feel that kids and parents should be treated as if they matter are taking their kids out of public schools that think they are in the business of molding instead of motivating.  Molding requires breaking, melt downs, and conforming to one selected form.  I grieve for our kids.

            by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:31:49 PM PDT

            •  Its why we did.

              And I love public education.  However, just because education is a "liberal" pursuit, it doesn't mean that schools are being ran in a liberal manner.  I literally just about killed myself a decade ago working with other like minded community members in attempts to improve these aspects of public ed...all to little avail.  Ten years later and about 20,000 fewer kids attending our city's public schools.

              by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:34:41 PM PDT

              •  Hey I forgive myself. Even the Clinton's

                did not try to influence the schools in DC.  They sent Chelsea private.  I did the same thing.  It is actually more important when they begin.

                I will tell you no inner city schools even in Texas do what they do in LA.  It would not be tolerated.

                by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:47:49 PM PDT

                •  I'm sure its probably worse in LA

                  than it is in Ohio...but bad enough hear that people are fleeing by the droves.  We hung in there for about 10 years and it was literally destroying our family.  

                  by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:50:57 PM PDT

          •  No talking and lights out in the lunch room?!

            How do they expect children to learn how to behave in public situations when their parents are not around, how to make friends, etc. etc. etc. ? One of the purposes of school is social. This is truly scary.

               Mind-boggled,
               Heather

            by Chacounne on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:05:27 AM PDT

    •  This might help explain it.

      Over the entrance to the Presidio stockade in San Francisco is/was the legend:

      "OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW IS FREEDOM"

      It's consistent with the conservative world view that "all men are created evil" and the purpose of government is to make them well behaved.  It's also consistent with the belief that some people are better than others and therefor entitled to tell them what to do.

      by hannah on Wed Jun 20, 2007 at 04:27:01 AM PDT

•  When I saw the title I thought you were talking

  about this.
  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

  No juice: Toddler served margarita in sippy cup
  Manager at Calif.
  Applebee’s accidentally grabbed drink mix instead of juice

  ANTIOCH, Calif. - Kim Mayorga was confused when her 2-year-old started making funny faces and pushing away the apple juice he had ordered at Applebee’s. The explanation came when she opened the lid of the sippy cup and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec.

  The restaurant staff accidentally gave Julian Mayorga a margarita Monday. He grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.

  by JML9999 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:06:36 PM PDT

  •  That's what you get for defying

    airport security.

    A lush baby.

    by LithiumCola on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:16:36 PM PDT

•  Every time I go through airport security...

  I get this paranoid thought that I am really like a cow at the stockyard, or that I will get vaporized before I get to the other side. If you put chocolate sauce and whipped cream on a pile of sh#t Americans will eat it and say it is good for them and add," and I know we are safer for it."

  by undercovercalico on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:06:48 PM PDT

  •  Because we always just need

    someone doing what is best for us...

    by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:14:13 PM PDT

•  I was returning from Florida last year

  with my 76-year-old mother (kossack dogkeeper).  She had injured her knee on a walk on the beach and had put a knee brace elastic on it underneath her pantyhose. Something in the knee brace elastic set off the alarms in the airport.  My mother is a retired Lutheran school teacher, the sweetest woman in the world and obviously not a threat to anyone (well, maybe to those who abuse animals or children, but I digress).  The "searchers" made her pull up her pant leg to show the brace and then were going to make her take off her pants and pantyhose to search the brace until I intervened.

  Jeepers: what have we come to?

  by noweasels on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:08:23 PM PDT

  •  Ick. We need the worst airport stories to collec

    If we get a chance to reform homeland security with a new president, it will help to have portfolio of stories of over the top nonsense.

    Thank god you were there.  What are they thinking?

    by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:11:40 PM PDT

    •  I agree.

      Don't get me started about the time I almost got hauled off in chains for suggesting that my 6-inch by 4-inch purse did NOT constitute an extra "carry-on" -- and was sent back to initial security to "check it."  Or the time I was required to throw out the jar of honey (complete with comb) I had purchased from a woman who made her own honey from a garden near my former house.  I had been so looking forward to that honey.  After the screeners made me toss it, I noticed that similar commercial icky honey was available for purchase in the gift shop, and that I would have been able to board with same.  

      None of this makes any sense to me at all.

      by noweasels on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:18:02 PM PDT

      •  Well the "honey terrorists"...

        are so well known and wide spread these days. Obviously, these TSA people were just up on the latest scientific research.

        by undercovercalico on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:19:51 PM PDT

      •  I'm such a bitch.

        I often deliberately put about two or three lighters in my purse just to see if they'll catch them.  They rarely do.  On the rare occasions when they have, I just hand them over and say "they're yours now...knock yourself out."

        by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:20:50 PM PDT

      •  When I was taking Dan's ashes to DC

        a month ago, one of the workers said I had to check them. Fortunately, a supervisor intervened.

            Hugs,
            Heather

        by Chacounne on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:10:40 AM PDT

  •  My friend's wheelchair-bound mother (92)

    was made to get up and "walk." Words fail.

    by begone on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:14:43 PM PDT

    •  Oh, good night nurse.

      Unbelievable.  Except, alas, it isn't.

      by noweasels on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:18:49 PM PDT

      •  What this diary shows is its worse than I even

        thought.  It will get even more worse if we do not stop recording both the inhumanity of it as well as being no longer willing to accept the indignity of being treated like stupid sheep.

        by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:23:28 PM PDT

•  The government has been

  doing objective deliberate testing of our tolerance for oppression for years, and the message we are giving them is "bring it on".

  by phaktor on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:09:33 PM PDT

•  The last time I was in an airport...

  a really large (in every sense of the word) woman in a wheelchair was being told she could not take her water with her past the security check point area and she hollered, for the back row:

  Fine, I'm too tired to fight you. You can send this bottle of water to George Bush and tell him to shove it up his ass.

  Even the security workers laughed.

  by blueteam on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:10:50 PM PDT

  •  oooo I needed that belly laugh. nt

    by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:13:17 PM PDT

    •  Yeah, I could've kissed her.

      She had no idea how happy she'd made the rest of us - she was just fully pissed off.

      by blueteam on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:16:57 PM PDT

•  so fucking stupid

  as a well known rule bender I'll never understand zero tolerance. I was a victim of zero tolerance in high school. I was banned from my high school graduation ceremony for making a joke at the expense of our assistant principle at an all school assembly. I attended, but did as part of the crowd and not on stage, my parents were pissed, my classmates put a manikin in my place, dressed him in my gown and everything.

  by jbou on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:12:31 PM PDT

  •  My son did get to attend his graduation...

    but now in what I believe to a show of retaliation, neither he nor any of his classmates (who all have stuck up for him publicly) received actual diplomas!  They basically got an IOU saying that when we re-check your state test scores we'll send you your diploma.  Maybe they're just lazy and incompetent, but when you've been through what we've been through, you automatically assume the worst.

    by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:17:31 PM PDT

•  SOooo--does anyone think O'Hare, w/YKos

  attendees coming in to Chicago, is going to be on "High Orange"
  alert?

  I do! Pack wisely, folks--whatever that means.

  by begone on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:22:13 PM PDT

  •  Getting in won't be the problem, getting out will

    Any one thinking that certain people will not have special tests created for them is crazy or so naive they need a slap to wake up.

    by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:26:35 PM PDT

    •  Scary to think what those tests could be.

      I have to admit that I've upgraded using mileage both
      in and out of Chicago. Funny how they're usually nicer
      at security to 1st classers. It's all such a crock.

      by begone on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:30:00 PM PDT

      •  People should talk about how to react when

        accosted on the street.  Never go out alone.  Always have some recording device around.  We did all this in the 70s.  We carried zinc oxide in our pockets.  I do not think you have to fear any violence but they definitely have paid people on this site to scope out who is who.  Someone short tempered will be targeted to make them make fools of themselves in a bar or restaurant.

        by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:36:03 PM PDT

        •  Absolutely I expect

          there will be attempts at provocation.  That's how it works...face it, we're all human and everyone has limits.  

          by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:38:27 PM PDT

          •  They offer bonuses to those who succeed.

            My husband would not believe me about FBI infiltration of college organizations until I made him send off for some FOIA.  He was really surprised as a lawyer one of the last dinosaurs to find out his file was about 8 inches thick.

            He was in the Penthouse case representing a client.  When he moved his office, he found out it had been completely bugged.

            by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:43:44 PM PDT

            •  Back when I was involved locally

              in efforts such as the politics around education, you wouldn't believe some of the weird stuff that went on.  People having the trash bags stolen in the middle of the night, so many "clicks" on our phones you knew they were bugged, etc.  I'm not a paranoid person, but anyone would start to think that these just aren't "normal" occurences...

              by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:49:01 PM PDT

      •  First class

        Since I fly quite frequently, I haven't had too many bad experiences getting to my flight. And I am known at the airport by security and the airline employees. They don't check 1st class with the same scrutiny which I guess might one day bite them in the ass.

        by TheMomCat on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:41:29 PM PDT

        •  Which is insane

          because I believe several, if not most, of the 9/11 terrorists were in first class.

          by tjb22 on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:42:40 PM PDT

  •  I'm not going

    Sorry, I'll go to Hawaii to body surf and see friends, but YKos isn't worth the pain and suffering.

    by FishOutofWater on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:31:09 PM PDT

    •  Wow--I'm leaving Hawaii to go to Chicago!

      But mostly for family. YKos is a bonus at the end of
      my visit.

      This is a good karma moment, FishOutofWater.

      by begone on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:34:47 PM PDT

•  Secret Service Agent

  The lady with the baby was a member of the Secret Service. Keith Olbermann had the video that the TSA released on their web site in attempt to defend themselves. Needless to say, they failed miserably. I don't think they won any points with the Secret Service. Next time they should just apologize.

  by TheMomCat on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:34:59 PM PDT

  •  Wow. That is best news yet.

    The professional beaureaucrats are just so pissed at the general incompetent stupidity of the leadership displayed by this administration.  It allows all looney behavior to come out of the wood work.

    Problem will be that her agency won't let her sue.  The tapes I saw really made me mad.  Making her get down on the floor and clean up the water.  Not clear if she poured it or not.

    by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:40:05 PM PDT

  •  TSA not only wanted...

    ... her to get rid of the "liquid", TSA wanted to confiscate the sippy cup also; that was when the mom went off. It was the only sippy cup her little one would drink from.

    I'm sorry, but the TSA is just another wing of the Gestapo. I am so tired of this Homeland Security crap! Homeland Security? What kind of nazi propaganda shop came up with that? This is not a "Homeland", it is our Country and we demand it back!

    by justiceputnam on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:45:54 PM PDT

    •  How on earth did we arrive at the day

      when there's a TSA that is confiscating "sippy cups"?

      Not to mention 99% of our rights?

      It would be funny, maybe, if viewed from Pluto, the estranged
      planet..

      by begone on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:50:44 PM PDT

    •  The more you know the madder I get.

      And how was the sippy cup dangerous?  And homeland security let a known carrier of a rare an almost incurable TB get on another plane to come "home" ???

      What are they thinking?  Do they think?

      by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:52:27 PM PDT

      •  He flew into Motreal

        from the Czec Republic. I don't think his passport had not been flagged at that point  or the Czec's just didn't check. ;o)~. The problem was at the Canadian/ US border, where the border agent knew the passport was flagged and he let this guy into the US because he didn't look sick.

        by TheMomCat on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:58:59 PM PDT

      •  The TSA knows the sippy cup is not...

        ... a danger; what is considered a danger by the TSA (and by extension the administration) is individual freedom. The mom had to be put in her place.

        To not put her in her place would endanger the TSA.

        If just one innocent person can talk back to authority, what is the power of that authority?

        And don't even joke with them about the terroirists going underground; they'll dump your wine before they slap the handcuffs on.

        by justiceputnam on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:00:21 AM PDT

•  I would give my eye teeth for the next major dem

  debate ask each canidate the danger of water in babies sippy cup.  This is as important as the hypothetical rape case.  Can our dems use common sense in stating their directions to homeland security.

  Hopefully, not only would they be wise but funny making the stupidness of this administration more grounded in how it effects us everyday in everyway.

  by yoduuuh do or do not on Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 11:55:33 PM PDT

  •  Ask the Repugs instead. n/t

    by TheMomCat on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:00:24 AM PDT

    •  Actually you're right we should ask both.

      Show both republican stupidity about following the rules--can you hear them droning now?  And then showing they have no sense of humor.

      by yoduuuh do or do not on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:09:19 AM PDT

      •  You gotta know,

        that they'd use it as a reason to justify profiling.

        by tjb22 on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:10:28 AM PDT

  •  I gave up on hoping for sanity

    a long time ago.  All the fearmongering has worked too well.  I've seen too many smart, well educated people turned into cowering fools who will believe the unbelievable.  Everything from fearing that a kid who took a bite out of the Bible was the next high school killer to believing that Saddam did have magical drones that could fly halfway around the world delivering nuclear and biochemical weapons.  

    by tjb22 on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:02:04 AM PDT

    •  As the night progresses I move more your way.

      I am going to bed before my sense of the absurd is totally drained.

      by yoduuuh do or do not on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:10:38 AM PDT

•  I think we should all start carrying sippy cups

  everytime we go to the airport. Rub it in their faces.

  by rmonroe on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:13:24 AM PDT

  •  The Sippy Cup Brigade

    Put "made in the USA" labels on them even if they were made in china.

    by TheMomCat on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 12:17:13 AM PDT

•  DO NOT Take off your shoes in an airport

  this summer!! If we ALL object, what will they do?

  I have been saying since it began that this is a sheeple test. It used to be illegal to stand around on a public floor with sweaty, dirty, UN-shoed feet. (Anyone remember those signs? Ya still can't go to the grocery store that way, even though you can BUY nail-polish remover and hydrogen peroxide there...)  You simply cannot convince me that I am at a higher risk of my seatmate bending over and lighting his shoe on fire and nobody stopping it than I am of catching somebody's unchecked Athlete's Foot!
  As I have said here before and will repeat ad nauseum (or until I choke on the waterboarding I'm sure to get because I'm such a baaaaad citizen):
  #1.) If you smell rubber, leather, or even ANYthing burning while you are inside a building or an airplane, Look for the Source, Extinguish It if you can, Detain the Firebug, and hand him over. It's easier to run after him if you still have your sneakers on.
  #2.) From the research I've done, even if several co-conspiratorial mama's used their babies to hide the ingredients to make that homemade liquid explosive work on the plane, have you ever read the recipe? It seems to me, that if someone got into the airplane bathroom, and stayed there for three to four hours stirring contantly- (anyone ever made cream puff batter? Stop stirring and it lumps up and burns to the pan quick) - aside from the line backing up to the end of the plane and the stewardesses starting to notice, this is acetone-related stuff:
  Don't you think it would smell like a hair and nail salon in there? I guess it would have to be an international flight or something, since it's not just a drop of liquid going kaboom that we were worried about (are they also taking away
  Grampa's heart medication?), what They are saying We are threatening others and ourselves with is the kind of stuff that, if you are concocting it yourself, after you cook it, you have to spread it out for several more hours to dry... Here,
  wikipedia says it for me:

  Nevertheless, it has been pointed out that it's highly questionable whether such a plot could have been executed, due to the supplies needed, the smell mixing would create, and the time it would take to prepare without drawing suspicion from passengers and the flight crew.[13]

  So I say again: Mass Protest-
  Stop quaking in your boots and Stand Firm IN THEM! (and somebody give that baby something to drink so his ears won't pop so much and he'll stop crying!

  by peaceloveandkucinich on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 03:08:46 AM PDT

  •  Oh, for Pete's Sake...

    And then the business travelers behind you will miss their connections. Who are you punishing?

    Write, complain, protest---but not in line in front of me. The peons who work for the TSA have no authority to change the rules, and the only person you are hurting is me.

    by MrMichaelMT on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 05:24:17 AM PDT

    •  stand with me ONE day and we'll all

      be better off. Stop the nonsense now!

      Yes, right this minute I respect your position. That is why I have not done this standing in line alone and holding up others. That is WHY I am calling for civil disobedience in the form of a mass revolt. Visualize, for just a minute, the scenario:

      No One budges in the Chicago airport, and planes begin to back up because they won't let anyone get on but no one will take their shoes off in obeisance??? Not going to happen, right?   Not if we don't do something in defense of the truth: Security based on a false premise is no security at all. [And there is no privacy left in America either. I tried to buy a Train ticket with cash and they wouldn't sell it to me without seeing and inputting my driver's license. Then they sent me out to wait on the open platform where anyone could have climbed right up from the other side, especially if dressed as a workman, because there were building materials and fencing lying all around. Later that day I took digital photos of the laughable construction fencing on the left side of the Capitol building- you know the one someone crashed through the gate at and ran inside before they captured him? Good thing they put up a new metal detector checkpoint in that section right away.]

      If all the peons then proceeded to demand that management show up on the work floor [CEO's get paid how much, again?]and solve the situation (which on that day could easily be solved by upper management waiving the restriction until midnight, considering most of the "terrorists" already in transit probably threw away their sippy cups in order not to attract attention. Then they could work on repealing the bullshit.)

      I am not advocating doing this until there is a groundswell of agreement among the masses. I am just suggesting this scenario to spark ideas for civil disobedience, political theater, and a Peaceful General Strike for Freedom.

      by peaceloveandkucinich on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 06:33:26 AM PDT

      •  These rules are not made by anyone at airport

        They are a sham, a political ruse to make Americans think BushCo is doing something. Meanwhile the trains go through my back yard 24/7 with cartons out of Port of Miami that have not been expected.

        You are frustrated. But the people you would affect by your frustration and your proposed protest have absolutely no say in what is going on.

        The rules are created to pacify the masses, to make it possible for idiots like Bush and Giuliani to say they are keeping you safe. Frankly, the more they can inconvenience us, the better because ignorant infrequent travelers say "boy, they are trying hard."

        Meanwhile, I lose my income and my hair.

        Take your protest to the Republicans, not to my line, please.

        by MrMichaelMT on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 07:13:40 AM PDT

        •  Typo--and another thought

          Inspected--not "expected" of course (watching MSNBC as I write.)

          But another thought--The Bushies would like nothing better than your protest. It would thrill Fox News no end. They would get publicity and they'd put "Skeletor" on the television all day saying how tough they were, and how all this was for our own good, and how the Democrats were soft on terrorists.

          You'd do far, far more harm to the cause of reason and logic than you can imagine.

          by MrMichaelMT on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 07:31:07 AM PDT

        •  I understand that. So do "they."

          It seems "they" have us over a barrel. Where can "we" go to protest without hurting ourselves more than we hurt them? That is why I am calling out "ALL TOGETHER NOW" in hopes that "we" can stop the nonsense to benefit Everyone. Check this out: The frightening finding was that more often than not, the vast majority of teachers followed through with the command to continue the experiment...

          In fact, maybe I answered the question. Maybe everyone should go to the library.

          by peaceloveandkucinich on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 07:31:25 AM PDT

          •  No--Protest--but elsewhere

            Write

            Vote

            Don't buy

            Don't contribute

            Picket Homeland Security

            Impeach

            Or just don't fly...

            If you suggested that we all stay home for a day, and don't fly, I'd do it. But trying to box in government employees is just not effective or sensible.

            by MrMichaelMT on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 07:36:26 AM PDT

            •  Do not protest? Then we lose and Terror wins.

              All stay home and not fly for a day is an idea I will peruse. I tried to address the "box[ing] in government employees" by adding to the scenario that it is their co-operation we need as citizens first and workers second that day. If they create a work stoppage because we all-together have created such a large act of disobedience, then it will be up to their supervisors to come down from above and earn their CEO pay by dealing with the mess they have created through attempting to pull the wool over our eyes by false security. Please, allow me to remind people that:

              Nevertheless, it has been pointed out that it's highly questionable whether such a plot could have been executed, due to the supplies needed, the smell mixing would create, and the time it would take to prepare without drawing suspicion from passengers and the flight crew.

              I will no longer tip my hat to that, nor remove my shoes.

              by peaceloveandkucinich on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 08:01:14 AM PDT

              •  Understand, I couldn't agree more with your block

                But this is a ruse. The employees and your fellow passengers have absolutely no discretion. The TSA screeners could not allow a sippy cup full of water through the screening. They would have been fired. The mother was out of line to expect it--and if her toddler could not wait two minutes to sip, frankly she shouldn't have been flying.

                I will join you in any protest that targets the real instigators of this sham system and these sham rules--Homeland Security and the Bush Administration.

                It's like yelling at the clerk because your Wal-mart product was shoddy, or squirting your windshield wiper fluid at the toll booth agent because you think the turnpike has too many potholes. It's unfair and ineffective.

                by MrMichaelMT on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 08:17:37 AM PDT

                •  I know. I just hoped that the screeners too

                  could get their superiors to have to answer for the BS. We must think of something to do about this.

                  by peaceloveandkucinich on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 06:28:11 PM PDT

          •  I show Milgrom in my classes...

            Students can't believe it.

            by DrWolfy on Wed Jun 20, 2007 at 04:24:11 AM PDT

        •  They are a sham....

          They exist to make us feel both frightened and secure at the same time.

          Look what we have to do because of the bad guys out there that want to kill you.

          Aren't you glad we do it so you can feel safe?

          Assholes.

          Meanwhile, the baggage handlers, fuelers, food service, etc. are barely researched, and are NOT CHECKED at most airports.

          I heard an interesting story (don't know if it's true), but someone on CBC said that known terrorists are not on the no-fly list because the gov't doesn't want to tip them off that they are known.

          Cute, huh?

          by DrWolfy on Wed Jun 20, 2007 at 04:23:36 AM PDT

    •  NIMBYA?

      Not In My Back Yard's Airport?

      by Timroff on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 08:20:16 AM PDT

•  An Opposing View

  The rules are silly...I admit. They react to one (past) scheme, and ignore future schemes.

  But they are the rules. My husband just came off a horrendous treatment for head and neck cancer. He needs water constantly, as he has no salivary glands left. He knows the rules. He walks through security, then buys his water.

  I am a very frequent traveler. I am always totally ticked at people who don't know the rules. This lady knew the rules. All she had to do was read the sign, empty the cup before she got in the line, and refill it on the other side. Not brain surgery. In the meantime, business travelers were held up.

  Is the security system inept? Of course! But out of courtesy to other travelers, follow the rules and then complain where it's going to do some good.

  by MrMichaelMT on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 05:22:58 AM PDT

  •  You make it sound so simple

    And I'm glad that you're able to ALWAYS follow the ever increasingly complicated rules that change every time you arrive at the airport.

    Last week I was traveling and remembered to 1) remove all of my change and put in my carry on 2) remove my laptop and place it in a separate tray 3) remove my plastic bag with a prescription gel that I couldn't afford to have lost and place it in a separate tray 4) remove my shoes and place them in a separate tray 5) remove my belt and place it in my carry on 6) remove my cell phone and place it in my carry on 7) remove my watch and place it in my carry on proceed through security and discover I had missed 8) put my wallet in the tray.

    This then proceeded to subject myself and my travel companion to both complete searches, including pat downs, and complete examinations of the interiors of our carry ons with a wipe down with some mysterious swab. I was just about ready to drop trou, bend over and say "swab this".

    And we wonder how a woman with a squirming child could possibly forget about the sippy cup with liquids.

    GIVE ME A BREAK.

    I'm glad you're perfect. I'm not. But a system that insists we ALL be perfect and then punishes us for failing to meet these standards reminds me a lot of the rise of a certain German state in the late 1920's and early 1930's.....

    by kansasr on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 05:44:05 AM PDT

    •  Not perfect at all

      But there are BIG signs at the beginning of the line, and this woman was actually a veteran secret service employee, so she could read.

      "Mysterious swab?" That is a very, very standard test for explosives. Happens about half the time I fly--which means at least once a week. Change in your pocket? That's been a no-no for at least a decade.

      I am NOT defending the rules. They are stupid. They don't solve anything.

      But protesting when you are in the line is unfair to the people behind you. Whining doesn't change the system. Be prepared or don't fly, out of courtesy to the people who follow the rules.

      by MrMichaelMT on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 05:49:17 AM PDT

      •  I have read all of your posts.

        Maybe you are a sincere individual that truly believes capitulation solves everything.

        From reading your posts I have decided that you are one of those paid people representing homeland security that put silly stuff on the internet to counter any exploration of common sense.

        I have read extensively about the occupation of both Denmark and Holland and the problems it entailed.

        The people you have to fear most are your neighbors in an occupation.  You have to know them well.  To know how their thinking will support any justification proposed that will push aside common sense and simple morality in favor of being rewarded by an oppressor in any form.

        In Shoah the Polish people on a whole are not ashamed that they got Jewish property and possessions without having to pay any price for it.  They state they are glad the Jews are gone and do not want them back.

        I cannot accept any of your reasoning as being valid.  It only serves your perception of what is in your best interest.  Right now you are in the majority but we will not take this country back to a democractic republic until what is in the best interests of society as a whole regains a perspective in public policy.  The right to publicly protest any coercion of any kind by an authority figure who is overstepping their bounds is part of the process in America.

        Is water in a sippy cup specifically banned?  I doubt it.  The authority figure's authority is usually a gateway as to what is common sense or not.  Would a woman be giving her baby poison while waiting to board a plane?  Would a 76 year old crippled woman in a leg brace have a lethal weapon enscounced in it?  Playing the odds is what homeland security is about.  The baby and the lady are very low risk.  Failure to xray every bag and every piece of cargo is a much bigger risk.  If you were a serious terrorist which would you use?  A plotting terrorist is chuckling watching all the ramifications of hasseling the baby and lady as just another way he can cause a diversion in the future as the real risks pass under the radar.

        Nothing you can say will change my opinion that you are a dedicated mouthpiece to the other side.  I fear you and people like you but not enough to remain quiet and compliant and silently give my assent to behavior and belief systems that should have no part in a democratic system.

        by yoduuuh do or do not on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 01:30:18 PM PDT

  •  obviously

    you know nothing about babies or toddlers.

    by elmo on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 07:28:39 AM PDT

•  coffee

  by hypersphere01 on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 06:58:26 AM PDT

•  She was lucky her baby

  wasn't still breastfeeding. They might have tried to confiscate her boobs.

  by elmo on Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 07:29:47 AM PDT