Sunday, June 05, 2005

Watch Out For Terrorist Grannies!

From the inimitable SusanHu at Booman Tribune, comes this latest example of Homeland Security in action:
"You've committed a felony. And you're considered a terrorist," security screeners at LAX told Cecilia Beaman, a 57-year-old grandmother and principal at Pacific Middle School in Des Moines (a Seattle 'burb).

Beaman helped chaperone 37 middle school students to a Heritage Festival band competition in California, reports KOMO TV. She made sandwiches during the trip, misplaced a bread knife, but alerted screeners to the other two knives in her checked luggage. LAX's finest found the missing knife "deep in the outside pocket of a carry-on cooler."

Beaman apologized but "was told her name would go on a terrorist watch-list" and that she'd have to pay a $500 fine.

"[W]hat about my constitutional rights? And they said 'not at this point ... you don't have any'," Beaman said.
Well, I am certainly sleeping better, knowing that the TSA is keeping us safe from grandmothers with bread knives...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny article.

I like your writing style.
Your articles are good means to improve my understanding of English language.

Thijs

Other Lisa said...

Thijs,

thanks for the compliment - but the bulk of that article was written by SusanHu - she posts regularly at the Booman Tribune and is a great writer. Check out her posts at: http://www.boomantribune.com