Gothamist has this story about TSA screeners replacing NYPD for random bag checks in the NY subway system. For those of you who don't live here, since the London bombings in 2005 the NYPD has conducted random backpack searches at subway stations. I see the police checking bags about once every two months at my subway stop in Brooklyn, and I used to see them about once a month at my old stop on the Upper East Side. But the bag checks are voluntary, in that if they ask you to open your bag and you refuse, you aren't allowed in the subway at that stop, but you also aren't detained. You can just walk to the next station that doesn't have a bag check table, and enter the subway there. I've never been asked to show my bag to them. Most of the time, the cops are just standing at their card table talking to each other. But I've heard stories about these "random" searches unfairly targeting people of color. I cannot imagine how much worse the situation will get under the TSA's "theater of security" system. According to the linked story, the TSA screeners have had three hours of training on legal issues and the subway system. I'm sure that's going to smooth everything over.
Between this and the swine flu scare, maybe it's time to look into working from home. I've been wanting to use the HDTV as a second monitor.
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