

TSA Pays Blogger to Mock People Harassed by TSA - cwan
http://reason.com/blog/2010/01/19/tsa-pays-blogger-to-mock-peopl

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DavidSJ
The title is pretty misleading. It makes it sound like the TSA was paying
"third party" bloggers to shill for them on their behalf, under a false
pretense.

In fact, this was just on the TSA blog. Doesn't make it okay, but let's try to
keep sensationalist, misleading titles off of HN.

~~~
billymeltdown
Agreed, title is misleading. Still, an interesting, if outrageous, article.

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pyre
The article content was interesting, but the title is highly link-bait. I
don't cwan though, because it is the exact title of the actual article.

[EDIT] I'll make the additional comment that claiming that "there are no
children on the No-Fly List" is dodging the issue. Just because terrorist
"John Smith" is on the No-Fly List and isn't a child doesn't mean that a child
named "John Smith" won't be hassled because the name "John Smith" is on the
No-Fly List.

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philk
It's disturbing to think that these people are responsible for the safety of
our flights.

~~~
modoc
They aren't. Not in any useful way. You are always responsible for yourself,
and flying is risky. Not as risky as driving a car, or showering, but there is
a risk at putting yourself in a tin can 30k feet up etc...

But yes, the TSA is a mockery of actual security, and the general american
public is the one being laughed at.

~~~
fretlessjazz
True that you're responsible for yourself, but would you rather go to an
airport with no metal detectors, no X-ray machines or armed personnel?

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modoc
You mean a train station? Yes I would.

Blowing up a plane/train/stadium/airport security waiting line/etc... is easy.
The "real" risk I guess is people using jets full of fuel as flying missiles.
However, post-9-11, no passengers will permit that use. Hijacking planes is
over.

So the scenario you describe: getting onto a rapidly moving tube of metal with
a couple hundred people who haven't gone through metal detectors or x-ray
machines is exactly what happens every time I take the train. In fact, the
lack of hour long security lines, having to remove my coat, belt, shoes,
etc... is one of the reasons I strongly prefer the train.

~~~
gaius
_You mean a train station? Yes I would._

Get on L'Eurostar at StP and you'll get your bag X-rayed. Get off at GdN and
there are soldiers with assault rifles guarding the place.

The least-hassle way to cross a border is usually by sea. It'll just take much
longer.

~~~
modoc
Here in the US, the land of the TSA, I've taken trains both domestically and
internationally (Canada) and never been x-rayed, metal detected, told to
remove my shoes, or seen anyone with a gun other than the occasional cop. Even
the border crossings are super easy when you're on a train.

~~~
gaius
I wonder if that's true on the Mexican border...

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lmkg
The TSA is apparently working on a fix for this sort of situation. I fly a
lot, and recently on Southwest's booking system, I've started to see a form
field for entering a special "I am not a terrorist" ID for people with
coincidental identifying information. I don't know what it takes to get one,
but I'll copy-paste the help file:

> _The Redress # is a unique number issued by the DHS (Department of Homeland
> Security) that is used to facilitate passenger clearance for persons who
> have the same name as someone on the TSA (Transportation Security
> Administration) watch list._

> _For more information about the Secure Flight program, visit TSA's Secure
> Flight Web
> site:<http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/index.shtm> _

~~~
invisible
And to be fair, the blog that does poke fun at the media's sensationalism does
point out that a) children under 8 should be automatically de-selected, and b)
there is a redress option in place for those that are afraid they may have a
similar name. It's obvious this TSA guy just doesn't have anyone proof reading
his post for air-headed comments. The rest of his post was informative.

~~~
anamax
> children under 8 should be automatically de-selected

"should" doesn't matter if SOP is that they are.

> there is a redress option in place for those that are afraid they may have a
> similar name.

That's the claim, but the folks involved say that the redress option doesn't
actually work.

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pinstriped_dude
The title is very misleading. It almost sounds like TSA paid some random
blogger who was anonymously mocking people stopped by TSA. (which is not the
case). The guy is an official TSA blogger. And I sense more exasperation in
his entry, than mocking. Also "harassed" is a little harsh. The Airport
security screening system is far from perfect. But the actual agents at the
airport have no choice but to screen a person, when there is a match, or a
near match on someone's name. They have been told to err on the side of
caution (after the Underwear bomber security breach).

I request the person who posted this entry to edit the title and make it less
sensational.

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param
What I've never understood about this situation is the fact that the list,
apparently, only contains names to identify people. Someone would have thought
that in a country of 300m and a world of 6b, there would be multiple people
with the same name.

Atleast the last 4 digits in the SSN or the passport/visa number should be
used to identify people when needed.

~~~
ojbyrne
When traveling from Canada, you're required to give your name, gender and
birthdate. You would think the birthdate would actually be significant, but
apparently not.

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redwax
If there are no children on the list - why do they check children against the
list ?

~~~
redwax
Given the attitudes of the previous administration who set this up I would
think it likely that there is a correlation between being on the list and
being as it were 'left-wing'.

The suggestion that the list was set up to hassle lefties rather than stop
terror is not untenable.

Be interesting to see if in fact this list is not a great danger to America by
subverting its advertised purpose for political ends.

A nice mashup perhaps would be party membership of those on the list.

People are prepared to give up liberty in emergencies - the abuse of such
powers to harass pacifists, enviromentalists in the UK anyway puts us all in
danger for when a real emergency requires fast action.

Similar to the fable of the boy crying wolf (but a more sinister young fellow
with political ambitions).

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tlrobinson
Ugh, talk about sensationalism. The mother who is "appalled" at this is more
annoying than the slightly insensitive TSA blogger.

She even made a Facebook group: [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Get-Mikey-OFF-
The-List/2971719...](http://www.facebook.com/pages/Get-Mikey-OFF-The-
List/297171996040)

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qeorge
What would you do if it were your kid?

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tlrobinson
I would hope not overreact. She's taking it personally, acting as if her kid
is being insulted by being on the watch list. I too am sometimes flagged as
being on some kind of list for no apparent reason, and can't check in online.
I do not take it as an insult.

If it happened more often I might take the time to file the paper work, which
is sounds like she finally _just_ did.

~~~
briancooley
I know I'd take it _very_ personally if I had to watch my little girl get
frisked every time we boarded a plane, and I think most parents would feel the
same.

I agree with your point about filing the paperwork, but if the TSA maintains
that no kids are on the watch list, why are agents subjecting kids to the
process?

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tlrobinson
I missed the part about him getting frisked... that is pretty ridiculous.

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qeorge
Yeah the reason.com article didn't highlight that as much as it could have. I
can definitely see how you missed it.

The original NY Times article has more detail. In particular:

 _The first time he was patted down, at Newark Liberty International Airport,
Mikey was 2. He cried._

 _After years of long delays and waits for supervisors at every airport ticket
counter, this year’s vacation to the Bahamas badly shook up the family. Mikey
was frisked on the way there, then more aggressively on the way home._

 _"Up your arms, down your arms, up your crotch - someone is patting your
8-year-old down like he’s a criminal," Mrs. Hicks recounted. "A terrorist can
blow his underwear up and they don’t catch him. But my 8-year-old can’t walk
through security without being frisked."_

<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/nyregion/14watchlist.html>

With that context, its a lot easier to understand her frustration.

