One says:

"We think this is a just punishment. We broke rules we shouldn't have broken."

I say: what is wrong with youth today, that they are not willing to decry injustice at the hands of the man to the very skies?

The Disney Goons are everywhere.

I used to work in the Portland Saturday Market. They came under the Burnside bridge, stating that they were lawyers, and badgered one of the vendors about the Disney character goo-gaws she was selling. Of course, she was _selling_ Disney character goo-gaws, and she knew she sold more goo-gaws with Disney characters than without...

Also, in 1989, they ran a friend of mine out of the Disneyland parking lot for getting stoned. That, too, is probably reasonable behavior on their part.

Still, goons is goons, and goons in a golf cart saying "give us all the drugs" is funny.

#58 You are right. Where the article said "a sick teenager", I assumed it meant he had gotten sick using the contaminated back up tube. He probably never used it.

Also, I agree that TSA should be abolished as soon as possible. I think we should abolish the Department of Homeland Security too. Neither does us any good.

No one is apologizing for the TSA goons. They are a manifestation of the greatest threat to the United States, which is the use of fear against the public in the interest of expanding government power.

I think there are two good questions so far:

1. When did the kid use the contaminated tube?

2. Where were the kid's parents?

The kid has a feeding tube. This qualifies him as special-needs in my book, such that, at fourteen, he shouldn't be traveling alone.

Furthermore, the kid knew the tube was contaminated with TSA Goon Germs. When the goon opened the tube, it became trash. In what situation could he have used it?

Seriously, if your life is in danger without the backup tube, you cannot allow the tube's packaging to be opened. If that means listening to Eminem in a holding cell while the issue is straightened out, which I don't think would happen, so be it. If the kid cannot be relied on to make that judgement, he should not be flying alone.

#33 BOLERO

The sad thing is you are probably right. TSA are goons, especially in major airports. I abhor them and the culture of fear they represent.

I think, though, that their abuse of power will never end if nobody calls their bluff. The article indicates the kid had a choice: a contaminated back-up tube, or no flight. Given that choice, I would head for the bus terminal.

Even if the TSA goon then tried to detain the kid, chances are a supervisor gets involved, since TSA is all about escalation. You might be able to reason with the supervisor. The trick would be remaining calm, of course.

...and the dumb kid let him do it. Don't get on the plane if the screening is life threatening.

Also, it was a back-up tube, which, the article says, he later needed. Did he need it on the plane? If not, why didn't he get a new one and throw the contaminated one away?

TSA are goons, sure. This story, though, is about a kid who gambled his health against having to change his travel plans and lost.

Wow, you guys are good. I signed up for an account to point out Tanta's post at Calculated Risk, only to find that it is noted already.

The pertinent quote from that post, I think:

"But if consumer attorneys want to create a situation in which the simple fact of loss of or irreparable damage to an original note vacates the debt, I can promise you you will not like the consequences of that. If it turns into Total War here, don't ever lose an original cancelled check."