4 ms·

Man protests airport security - naked

84 points by pwg 15y ago

jambo 15y ago
It's pretty strange to me that the very act of non-lascivious public nudity would be illegal. In more liberal parts of the world(and I would've guessed Portland), this sort of protest is considered protected speech.
- tejaswiy 15y ago
  Indeed. Police don't seem to have a problem when animal rights activists protest fur by going around naked.
- krig 15y ago
  I've never understood what the idea is there, why would seeing a naked person be so damaging to children? It just seems so ridiculous. What's supposed to happen to a child that sees nudity? Around here, kids see naked people all the time (for example in the changing rooms of public swimming pools).
  - replax 15y ago
    Exactly! I think might even be bad for children NOT to see naked people. It could indeed have a bad effect on them, I think, e.g. cause self-confidence issues when they grow up, because they wouldn't know what things are going to be like, if it's normal etc. Moreover, it allows for creation of totally unrealistic, photoshopped beauty ideals, because children/teens see (nearly) naked people mostly in some kind of highly altered adverts. Seeing the real thing brings them down to earth...
  - kooshball 15y ago
    > Around here, kids see naked people all the time (for example in the changing rooms of public swimming pools). This happens in locker rooms here as well. How else do you change out of your swimming trunks?
    - philwelch 15y ago
      Wrap towel around waist. Remove swimming trunks. Don pants. Remove towel.
- bermanoid 15y ago
  Yes, in Portland this probably should be protected, see http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2008/nude-bike-riding-protected-first-amendment http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2008/nude-bike-riding-protec..., for instance. The relevant bit there: We read the challenged ordinance as focusing on the goal of regulating conduct which the city council has determined to be injurious to health, safety and morals, i.e., the prohibition of public nudity or indecent exposure not intended as a protected symbolic or communicative act. Id. at 82. In other words, the court specifically acknowledged an exception to the ordinance in order to protect symbolic or communicative acts (the other alternative would have been to declare the entire ordinance unconstitutional, as it's fairly well established that no-exception bans on public nudity violate the first amendment), which this clearly was, so he should be fine. Of course, all bets are off since this happened in an airport, because terrorism.
lopatin 15y ago
"He works for a computer company in California. He does something with the Internet". Now I want to know what company!
- wisty 15y ago
  Full quote: "This is quite a shock. He hasn't been under any stress that I know of. He's never really under any stress. He works for a computer company in California. He does something with the Internet, which is just kind of mystical to me. This is quite a surprise" It's no surprise to me that he "does something with the internet". Who else would protest TSA procedures by walking through naked?
  - KeithMajhor 15y ago
    I've felt like that at times but I think it's important to be unbiased. We're not the only people who give a shit.
  - cwp 15y ago
    Note also the beard.
    - wyclif 15y ago
      Ten bucks says he's a sysadmin.
- caladri 15y ago
  Looks like Seagate: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=9922065 http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=9922065 .
  - reledi 15y ago
    There's no need to publicly identify him. edit: Sorry, you're right. I somehow missed that in the article. I fully agree with you that he deserves to be supported, but regardless of his profession. If his actions get linked to his employer somehow, it could have a negative outcome on his career.
StavrosK 15y ago
Somebody had to. I wonder how people think it's acceptable for the TSA to take naked scans of their children, yet if someone strips naked they close the children's eyes...
- jaredsohn 15y ago
  You are comparing two very different things here (can TSA agents see children naked vs. can children see naked people.) The first could at worst encourage pedophile TSA agents to do certain things, while the second could at worst encourage children to do certain things. One could have a different opinion on the severity of each of these actions based on their belief in the behavior caused by seeing naked people in each of these contexts.
  - StavrosK 15y ago
    This is true, I just consider someone seeing you naked when you don't want to much, much worse than you getting naked if you want. I have no problem with the human form, I have a problem with coercion.
benatkin 15y ago
That's quite a view from security. In the major airports I've gone through recently I don't remember shops being visible. It should make it harder for misconduct by the authorities to go unnoticed.
sgentle 15y ago
Well, good for him. I hope he has the presence of mind to send a statement out, because this article makes him sound crazy rather than fed up with ineffective, privacy-invading bullshit and brave enough to get arrested naked in an airport for his beliefs.
alain94040 15y ago
I did once go topless at the airport, figuring it should help the TSA scanners not miss anything, but the look from the TSA agent convinced me to put back my thirt in a hurry.
slamdunc 15y ago
"Tales of Airport Security" is one of my favorite parts of Le Show - though the stories are typically sent in by listeners regarding their first-hand accounts of TSA ineptitude, I could see Shearer delivering this one himself... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Show#News_segments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Show#News_segments
staunch 15y ago
1. Submit to the potentially harmful government scanner that takes pictures of you nude. 2. Submit to having your privates groped by an agent of the state. 3. Go through security fully nude. Sadly #3 may actually be the least offensive option.
oodalolly 15y ago
The last time I refused the full-body scanner, I was taken off to the side for the pat down and was asked, "Do you want to do this behind a screen?" My response was, "Why, are you going to take my clothes off?" The TSA officer became a bit indignant and said, "No, we don't do things like that!" I was then fondled in a way that was jarring, to say the least. "Good for him" is an understatement.
loverobots 15y ago
The powers that be are one step ahead of him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual-Predator_Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual-Predator_Law He most likely ruined his life. (In some cases they have charged teens for having naked pictures of themselves!) He might try use free speech as defense, trying to make a point by radical action (INAL)
- shrike 15y ago
  According to the article he was charged with "...disorderly conduct and indecent exposure." not any sort of sex crime. Has that changed?
  - harshreality 15y ago
    I don't know about Oregon, but public nudity, streaking, etc does get you on the list in some places. It's crazy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender_registration#Application_to_offenses_other_than_felony_sexual_offenses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender_registration#Appli...
tzs 15y ago
Here's how I want air travel to work. I'm in the Seattle area. Suppose I need to go to San Francisco for a couple days. 1. I go online, and book my flight and my hotel. 2. The night before my flight, I set out all the items I wish to take with me. 3. I take a sleeping pill and go to sleep. 4. People from the airline come and transport me (still sleeping!) to the airport. They also take the stuff I set out. 5. I and all the other passengers are packed onto the flight. The only non-sleeping people are the flight crew, and medical technicians who monitor us, and make sure we are kept sleeping. 6. At the destination, passengers are delivered to their hotels, put into bed, their luggage is unpacked, and they are administered something to counteract the sleeping drugs. So, from my point of view, I go to sleep in my bed in the Seattle area, the night before I need to be in San Francisco, and I then wake up the next morning in bed in my hotel in San Francisco. It would be like my bed has become a magical teleporter. No security hassle. No airport to traffic to deal with. For those who fear flying, less to fear. Yes, I know this isn't practical.
- stickfigure 15y ago
  This only works for north-south flights with no timezone changes.
- r00fus 15y ago
  Only works if you're named Tyler Durden.
stickfigure 15y ago
I'll pledge $20 to his legal defense fund.

84 points by pwg 15y ago

jambo 15y ago

It's pretty strange to me that the very act of non-lascivious public nudity would be illegal. In more liberal parts of the world(and I would've guessed Portland), this sort of protest is considered protected speech.

tejaswiy 15y ago
Indeed. Police don't seem to have a problem when animal rights activists protest fur by going around naked.
krig 15y ago
I've never understood what the idea is there, why would seeing a naked person be so damaging to children? It just seems so ridiculous. What's supposed to happen to a child that sees nudity? Around here, kids see naked people all the time (for example in the changing rooms of public swimming pools).
- replax 15y ago
  Exactly! I think might even be bad for children NOT to see naked people. It could indeed have a bad effect on them, I think, e.g. cause self-confidence issues when they grow up, because they wouldn't know what things are going to be like, if it's normal etc. Moreover, it allows for creation of totally unrealistic, photoshopped beauty ideals, because children/teens see (nearly) naked people mostly in some kind of highly altered adverts. Seeing the real thing brings them down to earth...
- kooshball 15y ago
  > Around here, kids see naked people all the time (for example in the changing rooms of public swimming pools). This happens in locker rooms here as well. How else do you change out of your swimming trunks?
  - philwelch 15y ago
    Wrap towel around waist. Remove swimming trunks. Don pants. Remove towel.
bermanoid 15y ago
Yes, in Portland this probably should be protected, see http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2008/nude-bike-riding-protected-first-amendment http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2008/nude-bike-riding-protec..., for instance. The relevant bit there: We read the challenged ordinance as focusing on the goal of regulating conduct which the city council has determined to be injurious to health, safety and morals, i.e., the prohibition of public nudity or indecent exposure not intended as a protected symbolic or communicative act. Id. at 82. In other words, the court specifically acknowledged an exception to the ordinance in order to protect symbolic or communicative acts (the other alternative would have been to declare the entire ordinance unconstitutional, as it's fairly well established that no-exception bans on public nudity violate the first amendment), which this clearly was, so he should be fine. Of course, all bets are off since this happened in an airport, because terrorism.

lopatin 15y ago

"He works for a computer company in California. He does something with the Internet". Now I want to know what company!

wisty 15y ago
Full quote: "This is quite a shock. He hasn't been under any stress that I know of. He's never really under any stress. He works for a computer company in California. He does something with the Internet, which is just kind of mystical to me. This is quite a surprise" It's no surprise to me that he "does something with the internet". Who else would protest TSA procedures by walking through naked?
- KeithMajhor 15y ago
  I've felt like that at times but I think it's important to be unbiased. We're not the only people who give a shit.
- cwp 15y ago
  Note also the beard.
  - wyclif 15y ago
    Ten bucks says he's a sysadmin.
caladri 15y ago
Looks like Seagate: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=9922065 http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=9922065 .
- reledi 15y ago
  There's no need to publicly identify him. edit: Sorry, you're right. I somehow missed that in the article. I fully agree with you that he deserves to be supported, but regardless of his profession. If his actions get linked to his employer somehow, it could have a negative outcome on his career.

StavrosK 15y ago

Somebody had to. I wonder how people think it's acceptable for the TSA to take naked scans of their children, yet if someone strips naked they close the children's eyes...

jaredsohn 15y ago
You are comparing two very different things here (can TSA agents see children naked vs. can children see naked people.) The first could at worst encourage pedophile TSA agents to do certain things, while the second could at worst encourage children to do certain things. One could have a different opinion on the severity of each of these actions based on their belief in the behavior caused by seeing naked people in each of these contexts.
- StavrosK 15y ago
  This is true, I just consider someone seeing you naked when you don't want to much, much worse than you getting naked if you want. I have no problem with the human form, I have a problem with coercion.

benatkin 15y ago

That's quite a view from security. In the major airports I've gone through recently I don't remember shops being visible. It should make it harder for misconduct by the authorities to go unnoticed.

sgentle 15y ago

Well, good for him. I hope he has the presence of mind to send a statement out, because this article makes him sound crazy rather than fed up with ineffective, privacy-invading bullshit and brave enough to get arrested naked in an airport for his beliefs.

alain94040 15y ago

I did once go topless at the airport, figuring it should help the TSA scanners not miss anything, but the look from the TSA agent convinced me to put back my thirt in a hurry.

slamdunc 15y ago

"Tales of Airport Security" is one of my favorite parts of Le Show - though the stories are typically sent in by listeners regarding their first-hand accounts of TSA ineptitude, I could see Shearer delivering this one himself... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Show#News_segments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Show#News_segments

staunch 15y ago

1. Submit to the potentially harmful government scanner that takes pictures of you nude. 2. Submit to having your privates groped by an agent of the state. 3. Go through security fully nude. Sadly #3 may actually be the least offensive option.

oodalolly 15y ago

The last time I refused the full-body scanner, I was taken off to the side for the pat down and was asked, "Do you want to do this behind a screen?" My response was, "Why, are you going to take my clothes off?" The TSA officer became a bit indignant and said, "No, we don't do things like that!" I was then fondled in a way that was jarring, to say the least. "Good for him" is an understatement.

loverobots 15y ago

The powers that be are one step ahead of him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual-Predator_Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual-Predator_Law He most likely ruined his life. (In some cases they have charged teens for having naked pictures of themselves!) He might try use free speech as defense, trying to make a point by radical action (INAL)

shrike 15y ago
According to the article he was charged with "...disorderly conduct and indecent exposure." not any sort of sex crime. Has that changed?
- harshreality 15y ago
  I don't know about Oregon, but public nudity, streaking, etc does get you on the list in some places. It's crazy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender_registration#Application_to_offenses_other_than_felony_sexual_offenses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender_registration#Appli...

tzs 15y ago

Here's how I want air travel to work. I'm in the Seattle area. Suppose I need to go to San Francisco for a couple days. 1. I go online, and book my flight and my hotel. 2. The night before my flight, I set out all the items I wish to take with me. 3. I take a sleeping pill and go to sleep. 4. People from the airline come and transport me (still sleeping!) to the airport. They also take the stuff I set out. 5. I and all the other passengers are packed onto the flight. The only non-sleeping people are the flight crew, and medical technicians who monitor us, and make sure we are kept sleeping. 6. At the destination, passengers are delivered to their hotels, put into bed, their luggage is unpacked, and they are administered something to counteract the sleeping drugs. So, from my point of view, I go to sleep in my bed in the Seattle area, the night before I need to be in San Francisco, and I then wake up the next morning in bed in my hotel in San Francisco. It would be like my bed has become a magical teleporter. No security hassle. No airport to traffic to deal with. For those who fear flying, less to fear. Yes, I know this isn't practical.

stickfigure 15y ago
This only works for north-south flights with no timezone changes.
r00fus 15y ago
Only works if you're named Tyler Durden.

stickfigure 15y ago

I'll pledge $20 to his legal defense fund.