Posted on 05/30/2007 2:18:45 PM PDT by SubGeniusX
C'mon. We're talking about a government employee here. Is it really that hard to believe?
Correction: The geniuses in the Congress provided that the TSA folks could also be Unionized on their path to getting FEDERALIZED in order to PROFESSIONALIZE the same numb asses that were formerly barely literate when hired by the airports and airlines...
MANY of the same players are still in place today - in a new uniform, still speaking nearly unintelligible English, but NOW they have lifetime employment, a higher salary and a generous taxpayer funded pension..
Such a freaking deal..........for THEM!
Now - they're prefect little tit sucking eye candy for the sheeple stupid enough to think they are safer now than before...
Anyone unsuccessful in downing an aircraft today -- simply isn't trying or simply too stupid for the task...
You haven't been to an airport recently have you? :-)
Who? The terrorists or our government?
I came from the UK after a week's vacation last year (suprisingly while there I didn't see the Muslims Faux News tells us are swarming London either). Getting on the domestic flight in NY to my hometown, I refused to take off my boots. Beside the fact it's just plain unsanitary walking barefoot where thousands of people were walking, I was just tired of taking off my boots every time. I didn't look like a terrorist, I didn't act like a terrorist, give me some slack. The TSA agent pulled me to the side, demanded in a not so friendly tone to take off my boots, swiped me several times, and then started asking me every question under the sun. Some freedom....oh right sorry < good American sunject> they're there to protect me < /good American subject>
Sometimes it's hard to tell the players apart, isn't it?
Another phrase, you don’t want to be overheard saying at an airport:
“HI, JACK!”
Well, eventually.
;^)
You either did not read the article or have never traveled overseas.
Now I don’t know about everyone else on this forum,but movie/tv industry slang is not high on my list of adaptive vocabulary. The TSA employee reacted to a very volatile statement the way that he/she was trained.
One of my pet peeves are people that throw out acronyms or work specific jargon in conversations. I used to smile and nod knowingly. Now I just ask them what in the hell they just said.
I always been asked the reason for my visit when going through customs.
(chuckle)
You can’t make this stuff up.
I read the article, and I had the same question, precisely because I have traveled overseas extensively.
I do not see where the article says Figgis was a foreign national (apparently a Brit), entering the U.S. from an overseas flight, and was questioned by immigration. Instead, the article says Figgis was questioned by TSA security, which you do not ever come in contact with when clearing customs in the Bradley Terminal at LAX, and I don't recall that when clearing customs through Terminal 2 either, unless you are rechecking bags for a follow-on domestic flight.
Then the article says the Figgis was held by immigration officials.
TSA and ICE, while both in the Department of Homeland Security, are two different organizations. The author of the story, Stone Martindale, clearly is ignorant of this fact.
Los Angeles International Airport. Cinematical's Scott Weinberg uncovered a gem regarding director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) and an allegedly true incident that went down at LAX.
Weinberg writes that Figgis was going through security at LAX "when he was asked the reason for his visit."
"I'm here to shoot a pilot," was what Weinberg claims Figgis responded.
The LAX immigration official took him at his word, thinking he was "here to shoot an airplane pilot with a gun."
Is it your time of the month? What a silly thing to get worked up about.
And so much to offer on the issue!
(Buzz off.)
Now that is a Monty Python sketch!
CAPTION: 'SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND, 1944'
The squadron leader enters an RAF officers' mess and takes off his helmet.
Bovril: Morning, Squadron Leader.
Squadron Leader: What-ho, Squiffy.
Bovril: How was it?
Squadron Leader: Top-hole. Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right in the how's your father. Hairy blighter, dicky-birdied, feathered back on his Sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harper's and caught his can in the Bertie.
Bovril: Er, I'm afraid I don't quite follow you, Squadron Leader.
Squadron Leader: It's perfectly ordinary banter, Squiffy. Bally Jerry...pranged his kite right in the how's yer father...hairy blighter, dicky-birdied, feathered back on his Sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harper's and caught his can in the Bertie.
Bovril: No, I'm just not understanding banter at all well today. Give us it slower.
Squadron Leader: Banter's not the same if you say it slower, Squiffy.
Bovril: Hold on then. (shouts) Wingco!
Wingco: Yes!
Bovril: Bend an ear to the Squadron Leader's banter for a sec, would you?
Wingco: Can do.
Bovril: Jolly good.
Wingco: Fire away.
Squadron Leader: (draws a deep breath and looks slightly uncertain, then starts even more deliberately than before) Bally Jerry...pranged his kite...right in how's yer father...hairy blighter...dicky-birdied...feathered back on his Sammy...took a waspy...flipped over on his Betty Harper's and caught his can in the Bertie...
Wingco: ...No, don't understand that banter at all.
Squadron Leader: Something up with my banter, chaps?
A siren goes. The door bursts open and an out-of-breath young pilot rushes in in his flying gear.
Pilot: Bunch of monkeys on the ceiling, sir! Grab your egg and fours and let's get the bacon delivered!
General incomprehension. They look at each other.
Wingco: Do you understand that?
Squadron Leader: No, didn't get a word of it.
Wingco: Sorry old man, we don't understand your banter.
Pilot: You know...bally ten-penny ones dropping in the custard...(searching for words) un...Charlie Choppers chucking a handful...
Wingco: No, no...sorry.
Bovril: Say it a bit slower, old chap.
Pilot: Slower banter, sir?
Wingco: Ra-ther!
Pilot: Um...sausage squad up the blue end?
Squadron Leader: No, still don't get it.
Pilot: Um...cabbage crates coming over the briny?
Squadron Leader: No.
Others: No, no....
Stock film of a German bombing raid.
Voice Over "But by then it was too late. The first cabbage crates hit London on July the 7th. That was just the beginning..."
“So Achmed, why are you here?”
“I am here to shoot a pilot”
“Ohh...haha...you must mean a movie. Continue on”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWWPk9jrvqk
The article mentions the TSA, which has nothing to do with immigration.
From the article: " ... Figgis was going through security at LAX "when he was asked the reason for his visit.""
Security does not ask this question. Immigration does. TSA is not ICE. Immigration does not ask the purpose of a returning citizen or resident, but may ask the purpose of their overseas trip.
Like I said, I have traveled extensively between the U.S. and foreign countries (56 foreign countries at last count), and I travel extensively domestically (about twice a week). I also have gone through LAX on international flights on average of about three times a year since 2001, as well as clearing immigration and customs at SEA, ORD, SFO, BWI, PHL, MCO, JFK, and ATL.
I read the article. It made no sense. It was poorly written. massgopguy's comment was valid.
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