Believe it or not a woman was refused entry into a federal courthouse by security guards until she removed her bra.

The bra in question had underwire supports and naturally it kept triggering the alarm. Lori Plato and her husband were both stunned when asked by the U.S. Marshal Service employees to remove her bra.

Geez, don’t they know that most bras have underwire in them?

“I asked if I could go into the bathroom because they didn’t have a privacy screen and no women security officers were available,” Plato said Wednesday. “They said, ‘No.’

“I wasn’t carrying a shank in my bra. If it’s so dangerous, why did they give it back and let me put it on?”

The U.S. Marshal in Boise, Patrick McDonald, stated that the appropriate security protocols were followed during the September 20th incident. Apparently the guards had suggested that she simply remove her bra in her car outside or in a restaurant washroom.

“She’s inflating it,” McDonald said. “All of a sudden she just took it off. It wasn’t anything we wanted to happen and it wasn’t anything we asked for her to do. She did it so fast.”

Plato, of Bonners Ferry, said she was parked on a busy street and wasn’t familiar with downtown Coeur d’Alene businesses. So her husband held up his coat to shield her from the rest of the people in the courthouse lobby while she removed her bra underneath her shirt.

Generally, McDonald said, undergarments aren’t considered a danger to security.

“I don’t think they’re considered a weapon, really, the last time I looked,” he said.

He declined to discuss other ways the federal courthouse guards could have screened Plato for weapons.

Plato wants the Marshals Service to apologize and stop forcing women to disrobe.

“It was very humiliating,” her husband, Owen Plato, said. “They could have handled it with a much more professional attitude.”

Interesting. I guess I’d better tell the wife to either not wear a bra or to wear one that doesn’t use underwire when we travel to the US in a couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want to have to take off her bra at the security check in area!

I’ve had some friends move to the US lately. One left for a better job, and another for a special course that he can’t take here in Canada. I try not to look at is a losing a friend but rather gaining a new place to visit.

One of my friends moved to Boise Idaho and he tells me that he’s really enjoying Boise. The people are friendly and there are lots of different things to do in and around the city. He’s sort of a renaissance man - enjoys theater, acting, fine dining, good movies, night life and he says he’s found all of those things in Boise.

I decided to try to find out a little bit more about the city that he’s moved to, and apparently it’s quite a popular place to move to these days. People are moving their for the atmosphere and style of living. I went to the Idaho real estate to have a look around at the homes and as I said to learn more about the city.

I was actually quite impressed by what I found. Boise has a number of cultural and historical activities, great schools, museums, an active art community - great for my friend - and has a number of fantastic sounding sports teams - some at University level.

I really didn’t think, when my friend was moving to Boise that it had that much going on, but it actually sounds like a very nice place to have moved to. Oh the real estate prices seem to be fairly reasonable as well. At least compared to Toronto prices the size of homes and the prices seem reasonable.

I’m happy for my friend now that I’ve had a look at his new city. I think he made a great choice.