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05 May 2010 13:10

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U.S.: Oops: The U.S. closes a loophole in its no-fly list

  • 24
    hours     the size of the
    intervals     airlines used
    to re-check no-fly lists
    before today
  • yes
    sir     Times Square suspect Faisal Shahzad managed to board a plane before the list was updated
  • two
    hours     the size of the new intervals to check for individuals with “special circumstances” source
  • » Our take: Why aren’t they using a high-security equivalent to Twitter to do something like this? Why isn’t it updated to the minute? It seems silly that it’s not.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2010 19:23

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Politics: Does the TSA need to take some style tips from New York City?

  • So far we have seen a New York-style rather than a Washington-style response to the threat. And while New York is the least ‘American’ of U.S. cities, its emotional and social response is just what America’s should be.
  • “The Atlantic” writer James Fallows • Discussing how New York’s response to the Times Square car bombing attempt is so unlike that of the Transportation Security Administration’s response to any problem. Essentially, Fallows argues that it doesn’t put people in constant fear that something’s going to happen, but emphasizes resiliency. (Note how quickly Times Square re-opened after the incident.) Regarding the TSA’s methods, Fallows explains: “It’s not just that they’re pointless, uninformative, and insulting to our collective intelligence; it’s that their larger effect is to make people feel frightened rather than brave.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2010 16:48

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U.S.: Security fail: A year later, Obama still doesn’t have a TSA head

  • 2 TSA leader nominees have withdrawn their names so far source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jan 2010 10:30

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U.S.: Sign of weakness? Obama’s TSA pick drops out after Senate fight

  • It is clear that my nomination has become a lightning rod for those who have chosen to push a political agenda at the risk of the safety and security of the American people.
  • Transportation Security Administration chief nominee Erroll Southers • Regarding his decision to drop out after a brutal, months-long stalling created by Sen. Jim DeMint. DeMint’s big problem with Southers? He didn’t like the fact that he might unionize the TSA. This nomination became contentious, by the way, after the attempted terror attack in Detroit last month. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2010 12:15

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U.S.: Someone’s gonna get in trouble for the Newark incident

  • The TSA guy who let the security-breacher through could feel the pain. Flights may be back to normal today, but last night’s security breach at Newark Airport won’t come without consequences. While they never caught the guy, everyone did go through a checkpoint again and subsequently had their night ruined. For its part, the Transportation Security Administration says they’re trying to learn lessons from the incident. “We’re reviewing the circumstances and its totality,” said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. “We’ll look and see if any lessons can be learned and take further action going forward.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jan 2010 19:46

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U.S.: Situation at Newark Airport; Twitter’s on edge once again

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jan 2010 21:08

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Politics: Caving in to the TSA: Should bloggers fight to protect sources?

  • Anyone working with Frischling now knows that he’ll respect your confidentiality, just so long as it’s not inconvenient to his liberty. And that’s not respect at all. He let all bloggers down the other day when he willingly handed over his computer to the government.
  • TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington • Regarding travel blogger Steven Frischling, who caved to TSA investigators regarding documents that he released in the wake of the underwear bomber last week. Arrington feels that Frischling let down a lot of bloggers by not fighting the subpoena and instead caving in. The situation has been resolved, with the TSA dropping the subpoenas (fellow travel blogger Chris Elliot didn’t cave), but Arrington feels that bloggers need to fight to protect their sources in cases like this – and as a tech blog on the front line of situations like this (although not as life-or-death), he has some experience with this. We’re with him, but would like to point out that there’s not a lot of institutional support for many bloggers in the same way as traditional journalists. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

30 Dec 2009 21:26

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U.S.: The TSA’s getting all annoying about bloggers posting documents

  • They’re saying it’s a security document but it was sent to every airport and airline. It was sent to Islamabad, to Riyadh and to Nigeria. So they’re looking for information about a security document sent to 10,000-plus people internationally. You can’t have a right to expect privacy after that.
  • Blogger Steven Frischling • On posting a document the TSA released about new airline security measures. He and another blogger were visited by the organization after posting the documents, subpoenas in tow. The documents weren’t classified, but the agency says security directives “are not for public disclosure.” Ugh, whatever guys. Go scan our shoes or something instead. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Dec 2009 20:17

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Politics: “Fire the TSA”: Gizmodo kinda says what needed to be said

  • There is no other way to interpret it: The TSA is saying clearly that they can’t prevent terrorists from getting explosives on airplanes, but by god, they’ll make sure those planes explode only when the TSA says it’s okay.
  • Gizmodo writer Joel Johnson • Regarding the Transportation & Security Administration’s decisions on security. The tech site gathered every logical thought on the Internet regarding security restrictions and came to a conclusion everyone was pussyfooting around – airline security is a joke. Instead of fighting terrorism in a way that actually works, the government has spent billions of dollars trying to cover every possible scenario, when the likelihood of a terrorist attack actually happening to the average person is slim to none, based on simple logic. In other words, kids, the TSA is wasting everyone’s time and money by forcing us to take off our shoes or do any of the other expensive stuff they do. We’re with Gizmodo on this one. Fire the TSA. If you want to actually stop terrorism, focus on intelligence, Obama. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Sep 2009 20:21

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Politics: Oh great; someone made the Shoe Bomber look like an amateur

  • Now we found someone who was made to believe he could kill people with an )#&hole bomb, and so it follows that the TSA will have to ban – or at least inspect – our #(^holes.
  • BoingBoing blogger Cory Doctorow • Discussing the hilarious/scary/sad/disturbing (choose one) revelation that some guy was caught with a bomb in his posterior attempting to kill a Saudi prince. Considering the way that the Transportation and Security Administration has handled similar incidents, Doctorow notes, it would follow that airport security would require anal cavity search for everyone. He’s not alone. Computer security expert Bruce Schneier, in a post titled “@I^ bomber,” makes this hilarious/scary/sad/disturbing (choose one) observation: “For years, I have made the joke about Richard Reid: ‘Just be glad that he wasn’t the underwear bomber.’ Now, sadly, we have an example of one.” • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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