​After months of intense internal debate, the TSA decided that mistakes were made when two elderly women -- who claim they were subject to strip searches (!) -- were examined at Kennedy Airport in November, The Associated Press reports (via USA Today).

Homeland Security Officials, prompted by the women's complaints, wrote U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and state Sen. Michael Gianaris this week, saying that security screeners did screw up -- by not following general screening policies.

Officials still disputed the women's statements that they were asked to strip and show screeners medical devices under their their clothes.

They stuck to the screeners' story: that the women disrobed voluntarily.

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​Remember the brouhaha in October over the vibrator discovered by a TSA agent, who left a note in the suitcase inspected saying, knowingly, accusingly, "Get your freak on girl"? (Perhaps most upsettingly, that statement could have used a comma.) Remember how that TSA agent was hunted down and canned, post-haste? Well, the latest in missives left by TSA agents (this really should be a Tumblr, if it isn't already), according to rapper Freddie Gibbs, who both tweeted about and took a photo of his own special TSA love note, is this mild, all-in-all rather friendly admonishment (after the jump):

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​Even though it's the most wonderful time of the year does not mean that any of us should lose even an iota of vigilance and dedication to the cause at hand which is, of course, our safety, and any inconvenience dedicated to such. Thus, while you might be getting ahead of things and purchasing all your gifts and even wrapping them, obsessive-compulsively and perfectly, as you do, the TSA is under no obligation to just leave the presents be, and might actually have to unwrap them if they seem slightly or majorly sketchy. However...you knew this already, right? This is the year 2011?

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​• Good morning! It's the fourth day of this current heat wave and it's going to be the worst so far, apparently, with humid, sticky temps in the low to mid 90s by afternoon (so it feels like 103). By tonight the humidity will take a slight dip, then we're back to hot and sticky through the week, and possibly into the weekend. Remember how much you love summer? Call 311 if in need of a cooling center. [NBC NY]

• The Episcopal Church is divided in its response to legalized same-sex marriages in New York. Some bishops, such as Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano, are allowing priests to officiate at same-sex weddings in Brooklyn, Queens, and on Long Island, while other bishops, in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, are not allowing priests to officiate. [NYT]

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​Yes, we're all for excited for the government subsidized handjobs many of us are about to receive courtesy the TSA during our holiday travels. And by excited, we mean: "preemptively traumatized, and preemptively pissed." But do you ever imagine how the TSA screeners themselves feel?

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