Thursday, April 2, 2009

TSA detains a man for carrying U.S. currency

In another sign of our times, the TSA in St. Louis recently detained a man who was carrying $4,700. What this has to do with public safety, I don't know. Last I heard, cash does not explode, nor do most people find it very threatening, although some of the portraits on the bills do leave me feeling a bit nauseated (particularly $5, $10 and $50 bills).

What makes this all the more interesting, however, was that the detainee was able to record much of his conversation with the TSA thugs. It's illuminating to say the least. Note the part where a TSA rep exclaimed "Are you from this planet?" when he asked them what law required him to answer their questions about where he got his money from.

Flyer beware.

1 comment:

Thom Jefferson said...

Hello Robert,

Off-topic here, sort of...I have been looking for a place to contact you, and this looks like it.

Just wanted to say congratulations and thank you for your article, "Nullification Revisited."

I had recently emerged from 300 or so pages of notes chronicling the Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution in Convention at Poughkeepsie (New York, 1788). It struck me that it was not the United States of America that ratified the Constitution for the United States, it was thirteen delegations representing the respective Peoples of the individual States (or colonies or territories).

Then the panic set upon me: How do I explain to family, friends, and neighbors that these seeming semantics are not merely semantics?!

And then I found that you did it for me. Wonderfully written, brilliantly argued, and easily digestible facts. I will revisit often.

Bless you, Sir.

All the best,

Thom