{"id":9252,"date":"2016-03-23T12:09:31","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T16:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=9252"},"modified":"2016-03-23T12:09:31","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T16:09:31","slug":"counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/","title":{"rendered":"Counterpunch: TSA\u2019s Punitive Gitmo-style Groin Grinding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photoshop<\/a>Counterpunch<\/strong>, March 23, 2016<\/p>\n

TSA\u2019s Punitive Gitmo-style Groin Grinding<\/a><\/h2>\n

The Transportation Security Administration finally obeyed a 2011 federal court order March 3 and issued a 157 page <\/a>Federal Register<\/em><\/a> notice<\/a> justifying its controversial full-body scanners and other checkpoint procedures. TSA\u2019s notice ignored the fact that the \u201cnudie\u201d scanners are utterly unreliable; TSA failed to detect 95%<\/a>\u00a0of weapons and mock bombs that Inspector General testers smuggled past them last year while the agency continues to mislead the public about its heavy-handed treatment of travelers.<\/p>\n

The Federal Register <\/em>notice is full of soothing pablum about how travelers have no reason to fear the TSA, declaring that \u201cpassengers can obtain<\/a> information before they leave for the airport on what items are prohibited.\u201d But it neglects to mention that TSA can invoke ludicrous pretexts to treat innocent travelers as suspicious terrorist suspects.<\/p>\n

Flying home from Portland, Ore.,\u00a0on Thanksgiving morning, I had a too-close encounter with TSA agents that spurred me to file a Freedom of Information Act request. On March 5, I finally received a bevy of TSA documents and video footage with a grope-by-grope timeline.<\/p>\n

As a silent assertion of my rights, I opted out that morning from passing through the \u201cnudie\u201d full-body scanners. A TSA agent instead did a vigorous pat-down and then, after running his glove through an explosive trace detector (ETD),\u00a0announced that I showed a positive alert for explosives. He did not know what type of explosive was detected and refused to disclose how often that machine spewed false alarms. Regardless, I was told I would have to undergo an additional special pat-down to resolve the explosive alert. I was marched off by three TSA agents to a closed room. TSA states that \u201ca companion of his or her choosing may accompany the passenger\u201d but I was never notified of that right.<\/p>\n

TSA disclosed exhaustive video coverage of my every movement in the Portland airport, even detailing which chair I chose after getting a Starbucks coffee. But there is a tell-tale gap. The video timeline notes \u201c7:50:29 group arrives at Private Security room. 7:50:55. Door Closes. 7:57:28 Door Opens.\u201d\u00a0The seven-minute gap in the recording is where travelers\u2019 rights vanish.<\/p>\n

TSA\u2019s power is effectively unlimited behind closed doors. The lead Transportation Security officer (LTSO)\u00a0proceeded to carry out a far more aggressive patdown, tugging on my shirt as if he thought it was a tear-away football jersey. The procedure was only mildly aggravating until he jammed his palm into my groin three times. Perhaps that pointless procedure was retribution for opting-out or my scoffing at their security theater.<\/p>\n

The post-incident report by one agent in that room noted that \u201cthe pax (passenger)\u00a0was asking about the false-alarm-rate of our machines. The LTSO explained several times that \u2018there are things that the average person comes in contact with every day\u2019\u201d that trigger alerts. The agents talked as if, because innocuous items set off the detectors, TSA\u2019s groin-jamming is also innocuous.<\/p>\n

I had used hand sanitizer that morning \u2014 something which is notorious for spawning TSA explosive alerts<\/a>. Aarin McCarthy, TSA\u2019s Customer Service Support Specialist\u00a0at the Portland airport, noted in an internal email a week after I was searched that \u201cI have received several other complaints lately about ETD testing and \u2018false positives\u2019\u201d at the Portland airport.<\/p>\n

Millions of airline passengers use hand sanitizer every week. Yet, TSA entitles itself to treat anyone who triggers false alerts more intrusively than the Pentagon was allowed in 2013 to treat accused enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay. A Justice Department lawyer, Edward Himmelfarb,\u00a0told a federal judge that intrusive searches at Gitmo were no big deal: \u201cIt\u2019s basically like a TSA \u2026 supplemental search<\/a>\u00a0\u2026 The genital area is touched through the clothing with a flat hand, the way the TSA does.\u201d Federal judge Royce Lamberth ordered \u201cthe military to stop touching the groins of detainees,\u201d the\u00a0New York Times<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>reported.<\/p>\n

An appeals court overturned his decision<\/a> but not before Himmelfarb sought to recant his TSA remarks because of \u201csensitive security information.<\/a>\u201d But his revelations were no secret to scores of thousands of people who have been victimized by TSA supplemental searches. TSA\u2019s pelvic pawing is especially traumatic to survivors of sexual assaults or those who have had surgery in that area.\u00a0A TSA agent vigorously patted down<\/a> the entire body of a 10-year-old girl in the Raleigh-Durham airport\u00a0in December after she triggered a false explosive alert; her father Kevin Payne\u2019s video of the groping sparked a national uproar.<\/p>\n

When TSA published a preliminary notice in 2013 of its new regulation on scanners, it received more than 5,000<\/a> comments\u00a0overwhelmingly opposed<\/a> to its screening policy. TSA\u2019s response last week noted the profusion of complaints about its privacy and civil liberties violations but brushed off such concerns as if they were narrow-minded quibbles. But Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth told Congress<\/a> in November that the results of the most recent testing of TSA checkpoints at eight airports \u201cwere disappointing and troubling\u201d and \u201cwe found layers of security simply missing.\u201d Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman Ron Johnson, after seeing confidential reports on the dismal failure of full-body scanners, suggested last August that passengers should be required<\/a> to go through old-fashioned metal detectors after passing through the new scanners.<\/p>\n

TSA\u2019s Federal Register <\/em>self-vindication omitted any mention of treating American travelers like Gitmo detainees. But even 44,000 words of bureaucratic wind cannot blow away the fact that TSA continues to be far more effective at hassling travelers than at assuring airline safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Counterpunch, March 23, 2016 TSA\u2019s Punitive Gitmo-style Groin Grinding The Transportation Security Administration finally obeyed a 2011 federal court order March 3 and issued a 157 page Federal Register notice justifying its controversial full-body scanners and other checkpoint procedures. TSA\u2019s notice ignored the fact that the \u201cnudie\u201d scanners are utterly unreliable; TSA failed to detect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[818,819,821,816,813,55,76,820],"class_list":["post-9252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abuse","tag-explosive-alerts","tag-federal-register","tag-gitmo","tag-guantanamo","tag-secrecy","tag-tsa","tag-video"],"yoast_head":"\nTSA Punitive Gitmo Groin Grinding<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TSA uses the same groin-grinding searches as Guantanamo guards use. TSA victimizes travelers with false explosive alerts & then grapples them vigorously\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TSA Punitive Gitmo Groin Grinding\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TSA uses the same groin-grinding searches as Guantanamo guards use. TSA victimizes travelers with false explosive alerts & then grapples them vigorously\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-23T16:09:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"510\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"475\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Counterpunch: TSA\u2019s Punitive Gitmo-style Groin Grinding\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-23T16:09:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":920,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png\",\"keywords\":[\"abuse\",\"explosive alerts\",\"federal register\",\"Gitmo\",\"Guantanamo\",\"Secrecy\",\"TSA\",\"video\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/\",\"name\":\"TSA Punitive Gitmo Groin Grinding\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-23T16:09:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"description\":\"TSA uses the same groin-grinding searches as Guantanamo guards use. TSA victimizes travelers with false explosive alerts & then grapples them vigorously\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png\",\"width\":510,\"height\":475},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/23\\\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Counterpunch: TSA\u2019s Punitive Gitmo-style Groin Grinding\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TSA Punitive Gitmo Groin Grinding","description":"TSA uses the same groin-grinding searches as Guantanamo guards use. TSA victimizes travelers with false explosive alerts & then grapples them vigorously","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TSA Punitive Gitmo Groin Grinding","og_description":"TSA uses the same groin-grinding searches as Guantanamo guards use. TSA victimizes travelers with false explosive alerts & then grapples them vigorously","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2016-03-23T16:09:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":510,"height":475,"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"Counterpunch: TSA\u2019s Punitive Gitmo-style Groin Grinding","datePublished":"2016-03-23T16:09:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/"},"wordCount":920,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png","keywords":["abuse","explosive alerts","federal register","Gitmo","Guantanamo","Secrecy","TSA","video"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/","name":"TSA Punitive Gitmo Groin Grinding","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png","datePublished":"2016-03-23T16:09:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"description":"TSA uses the same groin-grinding searches as Guantanamo guards use. TSA victimizes travelers with false explosive alerts & then grapples them vigorously","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Photoshop-2-jpb-walking-Snapshot-3-3-14-2016-10-49-PM.png","width":510,"height":475},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/counterpunch-tsas-punitive-gitmo-style-groin-grinding\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Counterpunch: TSA\u2019s Punitive Gitmo-style Groin Grinding"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9253,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9252\/revisions\/9253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}