Mr.bill

Wandering

[Mr.bill @OldBoyBillyO]

@JasonBassler1

[Nav Toor @heynavtoor]

A US senator walked up to an airport checkpoint and refused to have his face scanned.

His name is Jeff Merkley. He is the senator from Oregon. He has spent three years trying to get the TSA to tell travelers something the TSA already admits on its own website.

The face scan at the checkpoint is optional. Almost nobody is told.

There is one sentence that stops it. Here is the sentence, and everything the TSA does not want you to know about saying it.

First, the TSA's own words. From the TSA website:

"Travelers who do not wish to participate in the facial recognition technology process may decline the optional photo, without recourse, in favor of an alternative identity verification process, which does not use facial recognition technology to verify their identity."

Optional photo. Without recourse. Those are their words, not mine.

The TSA also says this on the same page:

"Travelers will not lose their place in line for security screening."

And using the alternative method "does not take longer."

So the two things a TSA agent might tell you at the checkpoint, that you will hold up the line or take longer, are ruled out by the TSA's own website.

Now the sentence. When you get to the checkpoint, before the scan, say this:

"I do not consent to the scan and would like to have my ID manually verified."

That is it.

The officer will take your physical ID, either a driver's license or a passport, and check the photo against your face the way they did for the last twenty years. Merkley has documented himself doing this on flights between DC and Portland.

Here is why almost no one knows.

Senator Merkley has been pushing this since July 2023. He went to Reagan Washington National Airport that summer to publicly demonstrate the opt-out and to challenge the TSA on how the program is being run. The Washington Post covered it.

In May 2025, Merkley introduced the Traveler Privacy Protection Act with Senators John Kennedy of Louisiana, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Roger Marshall of Kansas. Two Republicans, two Democrats. The bill is endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Public Citizen, and three other watchdog groups.

Merkley's own words from that press release:

"Folks don't want a national surveillance state, but that's exactly what the TSA's unchecked expansion of facial recognition technology is leading us to."

And:

"Americans have the right to opt out of using TSA's facial recognition at the airport, and we need to protect that right. Our Traveler Privacy Protection Act safeguards the freedoms and privacy of all Americans by making sure no one is required to have their face scanned to travel."

Here is what the TSA is planning.

Facial recognition is currently at more than 84 US airports. The TSA plans to expand it to more than 430. That is nearly every commercial airport in the country. And per the bill's findings, the TSA is "eventually planning to make this technology mandatory for all travelers."

Right now it is optional. That window is closing.

The TSA says the technology is not being abused. Their exact wording:

"Biometrics are not used for surveillance. Facial recognition technology is solely used to automate the current manual ID credential checking process and will not be used for surveillance or any law enforcement purpose."

Take them at their word. The point is not that the TSA is doing something illegal. The point is you get to choose.

Here is the 5-minute action you can take tonight, before your next flight.

- Memorize the sentence: "I do not consent to the scan and would like to have my ID manually verified."

- Have your physical ID out and ready. Driver's license or passport. Not a screenshot on your phone.

- When you get to the podium, hand the agent your ID and say the sentence in a normal tone. Do not apologize.

- If the agent pushes back or tells you it will take longer, calmly repeat the sentence. If they still refuse, ask for a supervisor.

- This applies to TSA checkpoints only. International arrivals into the US go through Customs and Border Protection, which is a different agency with different rules. For most US domestic flights, the sentence above is what you need.

Here is the last thing.

The TSA already admits, on its own website, that this is optional. A sitting US senator has spent three years asking them to put that in plain sight at the checkpoint. They have not. The signs at the podium do not tell you. The agents often do not tell you. The airline app does not tell you.

Congress is being lobbied by the airlines to keep it that way. Reuters reported in July 2025 that the airline industry publicly opposed Merkley's bill.

Right now, before the 430 airport rollout, you still have a one-sentence way out.

Say the sentence. Show your ID. Walk through.

[😱 Scary Larry 😱 🇺🇦✊🏻🇺🇸🗽 @aintscarylarry]

Reminder that besides trump, Howard Nutlick is the one member of the regime who is the most scared of the Epstein files being released. They had ceramic masks of his face hanging on the walls of the room at Epstein Island where they pulled kids’ teeth out.

[Pastor Ben @BenjaminPDixon]

This is a lie. They were in bible study with me

[Mimi 🇫🇷🇪🇺 @FacciniMyriam]

🤣🤣🤣

[ADAM @adamemedia1]

Trump just signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America" to “punish” Canada for beating him in the trade war.

And literally no one cares.

It's Lake Ontario.
It's Gulf of Mexico.
It's 34k mentions in the Epstein Files.

[Patrick S. Tomlinson @stealthygeek]

The day Dolly Parton died, we were flooded with stories of her quiet philanthropy, grace, compassion, and kindness to people of all races, faiths, and orientations.

The day Donald Trump dies, we will be flooded with stories of hidden horrors beyond human imagination.

[Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran]

They are lowering US flags to half-mast for a week, but if the government really wants to pay tribute to Dolly, they should fund education, the arts, and medical research instead of trying to eradicate them.

[Aaron Parnas @AaronParnas]

I totally envision Trump renaming the San Andreas Fault to Joe Biden’s Fault, and I am just putting this out there so I can say I predicted it one day.

[Kentucky Statesman @ky_statesman]

Epstein was providing children for Satanic Kabbalah sex rituals.

[SaltyGoat @SaltyGoat17]

Anyone else think the government should suspend personal income taxes until they can prove they've removed all of the fraud that's corrupted our country for decades?

I'm sick and tired of paying for their corrupt schemes

[GBC @GBC_Press]

🚨 BREAKING:

Reporter: "Will Canada wait for a new US president to build a good relationship?"

🇨🇦 Carney: "We won't wait. We'll move forward. We've already tripled our trade with non-US countries."

"Canada will no longer depend on the mood of an 80-year-old man." 💀🔥

Carney is now the world's most popular leader thanks to his incredible courage. 🫡

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

She nailed that one.

[Sal the Agorist @SallyMayweather]

3 patriots who rid a South Carolina community of their warrantless surveillance devices 🫡

[James Fishback @j_fishback]

The word “compromise” doesn’t appear in the 4th Amendment

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

Can Americans even fathom what it's like to live in a country where the people of that country struggle with basic economic security while their "corrupt regime continues to squander enormous sums abroad"?

[The Artist known as Jess @ElofsonJess]

If I'm being honest
I'm kind of pissed the fuck off Bob.

[David J. Bier @David_J_Bier]

Setting aside the fact that Trump was convicted of fraud, here are all the people who committed fraud and were pardoned by Trump:
Rod R. Blagojevich (Wire fraud under color of official right (8 counts)), Brian KelseyBrian Kelsey (Conspiracy to defraud the United States), Devon Archer (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud), Trevor Milton (Securities fraud; wire fraud (2 counts)), Jason Galanis (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud (2 counts); securities fraud; investment adviser fraud), Ozy Media, Inc. (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud), Carlos Roy Watson (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud), Michele Fiore (Conspiracy to commit wire fraud; wire fraud (6 counts)), Scott Howard Jenkins (Honest services mail fraud; honest services wire fraud (3 counts)), Julie Chrisley (Conspiracy to commit bank fraud; bank fraud (5 counts); wire fraud), Todd Chrisley (Conspiracy to commit bank fraud; bank fraud (5 counts)), Lawrence S. Duran (Conspiracy to commit health care fraud; health care fraud (11 counts)), Michael Gerard Grimm (Aiding/assisting preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns), Marian I Morgan (Conspiracy to defraud the United States; wire fraud (7 counts); transfer of funds taken by fraud (5 counts)), John G. Rowland (Conspiracy to defraud the United States), Charles Overton Scott (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud), George Anthony Devolder Santos (Wire fraud — the Party Program Scheme), Glen Casada (Conspiracy to defraud the United States; honest services wire fraud (4 counts); use of fictitious name to carry out a fraud), Cade Cothren (Conspiracy to defraud the United States; honest services wire fraud (6 counts)), Robert Henry Harshbarger, Jr. (Health care fraud), Joseph Lewis (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud (2 counts)), David Gentile (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; securities fraud; wire fraud (2 counts)), Enrique Roberto Cuellar (Honest services wire fraud; honest services wire fraud conspiracy), Imelda Rios Cuellar (Honest services wire fraud; honest services wire fraud conspiracy), Jacob Deutsch (Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud), Adriana Isabel Camberos (Conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud; wire fraud (7 counts)), Andres Enrique Camberos (Conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud; wire fraud (7 counts)), Julio M. Herrera Velutini (Honest services wire fraud (2 counts)), David Levy (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud), Hollie Ann Nadel (Conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud), Mark T. Rossini (Honest services wire fraud), Wanda Vazquez Garced (Honest services wire fraud), Terren Scott Peizer (Securities fraud; insider trading (2 counts)), Timothy S. Smith (Conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service), Stephen E. Buyer (Securities fraud (4 counts)), Joshua L. Davis (Conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act), Matthew Sidney Geouge (Conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act; tax evasion), Adam R. Kidan (Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud; wire fraud), Danny Preston Conrad (Embezzling by postal employee), Jack Charles Harvard (False statement to a federally insured bank, and aiding and abetting), Jeremy Young Hutchinson (Conspiracy to commit bribery; aiding and abetting filing of false income tax return; conspiracy; criminal forfeiture)

[DW 🇺🇲 @deedoubleyou74]

People just voted for a woman with zero political experience. No political platform. No plan. She is the sister of one of the worst politicians in the history of America. People voted for her only because Trump told them to. We are truly fucked.