Geoffrey McGann, 49, of Rancho Palos Verdes was arrested at Oakland International Airport after the brave men and women of the Transportation Security Administration saw that he was wearing an unusual watch, which they said could be used to make a timing device for a bomb.

Oh no! A watch could actually be used as a timing device…..for a bomb? OK, get ready to fly the friendly skies in the future without a watch. Unless I’m mistaken a watch has a purpose and that is that it is a “timing device.” There is no doubt that if someone knew what they were doing they could use any watch to make a timing device for a bomb.

However, this watch was a little weird in that it was an art project. It was an ornate watch with switches, wires and fuses, according to a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.

The bomb squad was also called in and arrived and determined that there were absolutely no explosives in the watch or on McGann’s person or in his belongings.

Still, McGann was taken to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and was charged, yes charged, with possessing materials to make an explosive device. Rather that just admit “hey this was a suspicious watch and there are no explosives” the TSA and the Sheriff’s department no doubt got together and looked to cover their collective backsides. McGann was in effect charged with having a time piece.

McGann was arrested under a section in the state’s penal code that says that “a person who possesses any substance, material, or any combination of substances or materials, with the intent to make any destructive device or any explosive without first obtaining a valid permit to make that destructive device or explosive, is guilty of a felony.”

The Associated Press reported that McGann was “carrying potentially dangerous materials and appeared to have made alterations to his boots, which were unusually large and stuffed with layers of insoles,” but McGann was not charged for carrying whatever those materials were, nor was he charged with adjusting his height with layers of insoles in his shoes.

A word of advice if you are flying this holiday season, don’t wear anything like a watch that might be a bit out of the ordinary, as you too could be a potential terrorist.

Don’t forget starting Monday November 19th-November 26th is opt out and film the TSA at all airports in the United States. Print out flyers here and distribute as you protest the invasion of your privacy against an intrusive federal bureaucracy.