I've just returned from Spain today, having left ORD on New Year's Eve. I was able to avoid the NOS because the TSA already had someone in their clutches, an older women standing on the "secure" side of the cancer box, waiting to be assaulted. As I was gathering my belongings, this women was being escorted by a phalanx of TSA thugs to an interrogation room. Other then quietly stating that she didn't understand what the problem was, she put up no resistance.

A couple days ago I was in the central plaza in Madrid (Puerto del Sol), where a large group of people were marching around with placards. They also had a table set up, where I picked up an English language flier. Apparently, they meet every night to demand justice for General Franco's victims. There are still thousands of people who have "disappeared", and are still not accounted for by the Spanish government, even almost 40 years later.

At ORD, I couldn't get away from the security checkpoint fast enough. It was pretty frightening watching the arbitrary abuse of power people are now subjected to. In Madrid I began to realize the terror the Spanish people must have felt, being surrounded by Franco's police.

This is clearly the direction we are headed to in the U.S. TSA checkpoints are popping up at bus stations, train stations and roadside checkpoints. They have made no secret of the fact that they want to expand the scope of the TSA to even include private property such as hotels and malls. It is not hard at all to envision a near future where the TSA will be stopping people at random on the street to check our papers and question our activities. If they don't like our answers, we will probably disappear for interrogation. May God help us all.