Hostile commenters ‘overwhelm’ TSA blog.
The Transportation Security Administration is having trouble with its new blog, which launched on Wednesday. The team of bloggers tried to set a friendly tone by introducing themselves with lines such as: “Hi! My name is Ethel and I’m from Wisconsin. I like music, I love ice cream, and I adore weird facts.” But by mid-day yesterday, comments had already been turned off the original “Welcome” post after “things started to get ugly.” A highlight of the comments:
– “Funny how the government stresses ‘anti-bullying’ in schools but promotes bullying by the TSA.”
– “DHS and TSA are fundamentally broken. Disband both immediately and return our civil liberties.”
– “I think TSA are idiots.”
– “I would like someone to explain the ‘liquids’ thing. It makes no sense to me.”
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It, once again, demonstrates a clear lack of vision!
February 1st, 2008 at 1:36 pmThey can’t handle the truth!
February 1st, 2008 at 1:37 pmIt, once again, demonstrates a clear lack of vision!
Comment by Doc Rock — February 1, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
Not only that, TSA demonstrates the clear disregard for The Constitution and common decency.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:44 pm“Thousands Standing Around”!
February 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pmI muttered a lot of that same kind of thing last night as I was packing to fly to New Orleans.
Those people are IDIOTS.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:49 pmthat site was included in this morning’s blog roundup at C&L…
i may have helped by posting that on the FAST thread here…
some thin skinned folks there…
February 1st, 2008 at 1:52 pmbut really, one should always TRY to be at least civil…
As a frequent traveler, I find the TSA incredibly frustrating. The front line workers are under-trained and frequently incompetent (no doubt they are under-paid). Anyone who travels to Europe knows that security in European airports is vastly more professional (I actually get a kick out of the security interviews performed by the Dutch workers at Schiphol, but nothing compares to the Israelis). But competence aside, it is obvious to many people that TSA procedures are meant to create the appearance of security without actually providing security. Glaring loopholes in security are reported by the media and acknowledged by TSA management, but nothing is done to close these loopholes. Meanwhile everyone has to put up with the phony-baloney liquids ban. My conclusion is that the top people at the TSA want to promote fear, and undercut real security. Sound familiar?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:56 pmI must say, I feel bad for TSA airport employees. That has to be one of the most thankless jobs there is.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:57 pmI was in Hong Kong Yesterday..
I go thru security, and I’m at the gate, so i buy 2 cokes and waters for my 16 hour flight home… and the HKG security took all liquids away from pax as they boarded the flight ” drinks bought in the secure area at the AIRPORT” !
nobody told us we couldnt bring liquids BOUGHT AT THE AIRPORT IN SECURE AREAS !!!!!!!
THIS IS A 16 HOUR FLIGHT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
THERE WAS A PILE OF WINE AND DUTY FREE LIQUOR WORTH ABOUT 2 DOLLARS THERE AT THE GATE.
new USA homeland security rules. It just gives you the impressionm theyre grasping at straws. These people couldnt stop anything if it was going to happem… theyre just there for appearances.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:00 pmBe careful what you ask for. Something may be gaining on you!
February 1st, 2008 at 2:01 pmWhat do those front line workers make, anyway? 9 dollars an hour?
I agree with toaster, I feel badly for those hapless workers when we all know that the problems stem from the top of that agency, not the bottom.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:11 pmGee, sound like fun to be a hostile commenter @TSA.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:12 pmTHERE WAS A PILE OF WINE AND DUTY FREE LIQUOR WORTH ABOUT 2 DOLLARS THERE AT THE GATE.
new USA homeland security rules. It just gives you the impressionm theyre grasping at straws. These people couldnt stop anything if it was going to happem… theyre just there for appearances.
Comment by overlap — February 1, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
Is this a new rule? I just flew internationally two weeks ago and this wasn’t in effect. You could take anything from the secure area on the plane.
Did your plane have an onboard duty-free catalog? I’m wondering if this “homeland security” rule isn’t more of an “airline profit margin” issue.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:12 pmThey aren’t paying for PROFESSIONALS, people who really know what they’re doing.
They’re paying for people who couldn’t get hired at Wal-Mart.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:16 pmTHERE WAS A PILE OF WINE AND DUTY FREE LIQUOR WORTH ABOUT 2 DOLLARS THERE AT THE GATE.
Comment by overlap — February 1, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
Wow. Either alcohol is really cheap in Hong Kong or it was a very, very small pile.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:31 pmThe liquids thing makes no sense to me either. I think it’s some muckety-muck somewhere pretending to be useful and insightful, who’s causing millions of people inconvenience and money just to say they’re “doing something”. The eedjitcy is akin to the dread peril of diver’s watches which I commented on a while ago.
The “liquids” stuff was of course approved by the Dubya maladministration powers-that-be (that is, the Regent-U-grads/college-Republicans/political-hacks/horse-judges that Dubya hands out jobs to), who think that fear-mongering and threat-hyping not only ensures them their sinecures, but also serves the double purpose of tipping a wary and fearful public into the authoritarian and “protective” arms of the Republicans. Of course, scaring the bejeezus out of the public only works for a little time; sooner or later, most folks will start to catch on and get more irritated than afraid….
Cheers,
February 1st, 2008 at 2:53 pmFWIW, let me add that many of the TSA folks at the airport seem to be pretty reasonable people, doing their job as best they can, given the rules from on high. I try to make it a practise of wearing political T-shirts (Tom Tomorrow’s “A Few Bad Apples”, a “Four More Years!” Munch “Scream”, etc.) on airplane trips, and many TSA folks have laughed at them and appreciated them. None have given me a hard time for wearing such….
Cheers,
February 1st, 2008 at 2:57 pm#18 Gin:
Disband the TSA and put airport security back in the hands of private companies. The TSA is another government boondoggle backed by the unions, it’s almost impossible to fire these incompetents.
Gin, you can’t sh*t here. Your a$$es are in Washington. See above.
Cheers,
February 1st, 2008 at 2:58 pm“Hi! My name is Ethel and I’m from Wisconsin. I like music, I love ice cream, and I adore weird facts.â€
Oh, STFU, Ethel!
Heh.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:59 pmCan you imagine if our health care system was run by a governmental agency?
Comment by Gin — February 1, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
Single-payer health care systems (in which the government provides the insurance, but health care is delivered by the private sector) are proven to dramatically outperform our screwed up system of private insurance. Single-payer systems in other developed nations produce superior health care outcomes on nearly all quantitative measures of performance commonly used in public health science, and they do it at half the cost.
Better health care, half the cost. So what’s wrong with that?
February 1st, 2008 at 3:01 pmCan you imagine if our health care system was run by a governmental agency?
Comment by Gin
Hell, no. I would want Blackwater type companies to take care of women. /sarc
February 1st, 2008 at 3:03 pmIf anyone here wants to learn anything about the superior performance of single-payer health care systems, see this web page of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development:
http://www.oecd.org/ topicstatsportal/ 0,3398,en_2825_495642_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
Compare what they spend to what we spend. Then compare the number of doctors per 1000 people, infant mortality, life expectancy, etc.
February 1st, 2008 at 3:08 pmChertoff has zero skills for his job.
I’d wager if he submitted a timesheet, 75% would involve working closely with Israel.
Chertoff, why not copy the Israeli security practices? At least they work, & you could spend more time with Mossad.
February 1st, 2008 at 3:19 pmHey maybe the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act folks will start a Blog too … suggested guest authors: DHS/NSA/CIA/FBI, and an open comments section. Now THAT would be fun.
Just incase that Blog is set to launch I wanna be the first kid on my block to asked some questions:
1) Why did you secretly start domestic spying BEFORE 9/11?
2) Did the Bush Administration use DOMESTIC spying to woretap their political opponents like John Kerry’s campaign folks?
February 1st, 2008 at 3:20 pmDisband the TSA and put airport security back in the hands of private companies. The TSA is another government boondoggle backed by the unions, it’s almost impossible to fire these incompetents. Comment by Gin — February 1, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
Private companies were in charge when 911 happened, that’s why they REVERSED the private companies - which is what you suggested we use. You still have a PRE-911 mindset - TARD. You plan on replacing the MILITARY with BLACKWATER as well? ROTFL!!
Can you imagine if our health care system was run by a governmental agency?
Comment by Gin — February 1, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
We already can imagine. Medicare is much more efficient and easy to deal with than private insurance - just ask people that have both if you don’t believe me. You live in a fantasy world - TARD.
Wow republicans are DUMB! ;)
February 1st, 2008 at 3:23 pmThey have to follow orders from a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats in DC that can’t be fired.
Do you want you health care run the same way?
Comment by Gin — February 1, 2008 @ 3:11 pm
that’s under a Republican government. Get rid of Republicans, and that problem is solved.
February 1st, 2008 at 3:24 pmExactly my point zuch, the asses are in Washington screwing up the whole system. Like you I don’t blame the drones at the airport, they are just following orders. But that’s the problem. They have to follow orders from a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats in DC that can’t be fired.
Do you want you health care run the same way?
Comment by Gin — February 1, 2008 @ 3:11 pm
The DRONES were the ones working for private companies that ALLOWED 911 to happen - TARD! Those INCOMPETENT COMPANIES were replaced by the government - and you’re an IDIOT if you think they can’t be fired!! ROTFL! DUM BASS!
As I stated before, medicare is better run, more efficient and cheaper than private insurance… So YES we do want it run that way! TARD!
February 1st, 2008 at 3:25 pmthat’s under a Republican government. Get rid of Republicans, and that problem is solved.
Comment by Lefty Patriot — February 1, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
But see, the Republican LEADERS always INTENTIONALLY RUN THINGS POORLY to excuse DESTROYING THEM to TARDS like this! But THEY are always too STUPID to see the republicans are the ONLY problem! ;)
Just look at FEMA, it was well respected and responded well under Clinton, but under Bush, they can’t wipe their own @sses! ;)
February 1st, 2008 at 3:27 pmGin, quit fishing. Medicare has lower overhead than your average HMO. If you want to debate facts, we can look at healthcare cost/benefit in other developed countries and we are being vastly underserved here in the US.
Buh bye…
February 1st, 2008 at 3:29 pmhey! anybody listening to randi rhodes?!?
that was ME!!! “katy in illinois”!!! ME!!!
February 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pmComment by Gin — February 1, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
So Britin is trying to adopt American practices, is what you’re saying, gin? because that’s exactly how people get treated here in the USA, only by the millions. and, of course, it’s the doctors who are objecting to working for a living, unlike here in the USA, where the insurance company bigwigs are the ones who avoid working for a living. Thanks for pointing out the weakness of your own argument!
February 1st, 2008 at 3:50 pmkaty, that’s so cool, sorry I missed it. What were you talking about on the show?
February 1st, 2008 at 3:51 pmWell, personally, I’m wondering why the shoe based security is so lax overall. Sure, we take our shoes off and have them X-Rayed, but what about the laces? Shoes can be de-laced, and the shoelaces can be used as effective strangulation devices. I say the TSA should confiscate all shoelaces prior to boarding, and give them back after the flight has landed and everyone has gotten off of the airplane. You can’t be too safe in this day and age can you? No. No you can not.
February 1st, 2008 at 3:55 pmfrosty - hee hee! i’m still high! silly, huh..
she was upset with all the hollywood stars at the debate last night…
my argument was that it was THEIR town, their home…
they can’t help what the cameras were showing… blahblahblah…
:-)
(copied from the o’lielly thread, #18)
February 1st, 2008 at 4:02 pmike - i heard the other day that there is a rise in complaints from frequent fliers about athlete’s foot infections…
February 1st, 2008 at 4:05 pmAthletes foot is curable, having a pilot strangled with a shoelace, then having the terrorist who strangled him fly the plane into a building or populated area is not.
February 1st, 2008 at 4:21 pmBTW… my first comment was my sarcastic remark I left for the TSA on their blog. I don’t really feel that shoelaces are a threat, nor do I feel that not screening shoes is a threat, nor do I feel that many of their ’security’ procedures help at all.
February 1st, 2008 at 4:22 pmWe need all the visitors we can get. It’s all we have going for us until business starts coming back.
Comment by Southern Man — February 1, 2008 @ 4:19 pm
well, you can thank your moron deserter-in-chief for that situation.
February 1st, 2008 at 4:22 pm#24 Gin:
Exactly my point zuch, the asses are in Washington screwing up the whole system. Like you I don’t blame the drones at the airport, they are just following orders. But that’s the problem. They have to follow orders from a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats in DC that can’t be fired.
Yes. Like “You’re doing a heck of a job” Brownie. Like Preznitential Medal of Wankerdom winner Paul Bremer. Like the raft of children of Republican bigshots sent to “reconstruct” Iraq in the model of a Very Modern Laissez-Faire Market. Like the Regent University hacks that litter the current maladministration. Like the tons of political hacks that are “rewriting” science for the maladministration (as TP points out pretty much on a weekly basis).
Do you want you health care run the same way?
Do I want Brownie or Bremer there in charge?!?!? Hell, no! So if we can’t hang the corrupt Rethuglicans from lamp-posts in the Latin style, let’s at least ride the crooks out of town on a rail.
I’d note, FWIW, that single-payer (and universal) medical insurance need hardly be any worse that SS, which is a quite well-run (and low overhead) operation. And most people like Medicare, so don’t try this “scare” crapola on us; it just ain’t gonna work….
Cheers,
February 1st, 2008 at 4:34 pmput it to bed, now…
it’s not government RUN healthcare…
it’s government PAID health insurance…
and WE, THE PEOPLE are the government…
and, yes, that’s what i want. and you do to.
February 1st, 2008 at 4:50 pmI have to wonder if some TSA employees suffer from the same syndrome as some law enforcement officers, the “I’m getting revenge for being picked on in school” syndrome. Hence they take out a lifetime of frustration once put into a position resembling authority.
Having said that it is also a thankless job. It is yet another example in the US of the dualistic “us against them” syndrome. Divide and conquer at it’s best/worst.
February 1st, 2008 at 9:17 pmIts comforting to know that DHS will be deciding which of you get to fly starting early 2009. If the airline does not get approval from DHS they are unable to issue you a boarding pass. This should eliminate the burden on TSA. Of course, if you have a family emergency and need to fly out the same day or next day, you can always drive or charter your own plane.
And if you are on the list for some reason, good luck getting off and kiss your job good bye if you need to travel on your job.
http://www.tsa.gov/ what_we_do/ layers/ secureflight/ index.shtm
People should consider that 9/11 was made possible because our airlines did not see the need to have cockpit doors that could be locked, and that the planes were used as weapons that not only kill the occupants of the plane, but orders of magnitide higher (especially if they hit buildings that mysteriously explode 1 hr after impact). What happend in 2001 simply could not happen again, unless it was the pilot who took over the plane from the computers. If someone just wanted to explode a plane, they need not be a passenger, or at least thye do not need to carry it on them and can check it in (not all baggage is screened). And while that is tough for the passengers, airlines and insurance companies involved, such events do not terrorize the population at large unless it happens frequently, and the government can always lie like they did with TWA 800 and say it was not related to terrorism.
The security company that was fired in 2001 also ran security for European airports. They said security was better in Europe because the Europeans requested the security level given terrorism was more common there, and they were willing to pay for it, whereas in the Us the airlines wanted the cheapest level of security possible. That said, from all accounts, the hijackers took over planes with boxcutters that were allowed under FAA regulations, so their was no airport security breakdown that allowed 9/11, and no real reason to socialize this industry.
This liquid and shoe thing is simply to inconvenience you and get you used to following orders and as a reminder that you need to be afraid, very afraid of the cavemen who want to kill us because of who we are and our way of life. We need good security for airline travel, and I am glad we are taking it seriously, assuming we really are. But if a terrorist wants to do some damage, don’t you think they might choose an easier target that has much less security.
February 1st, 2008 at 9:20 pmIs the TSA blog a method of gathering a list of people who have gripes about TSA in order to put them on the no-fly list? (wry smile) :-)
In these days of wholesale lying and deceit by multiple government agencies about “terrorist events” and “security threats”, nothing would be a surprise. Keeping the public in line by scaring the living daylights out of them is an ancient tactic, used on countless occasions by rogue governments of all stripes: unfortunately for civilization and human advancement, it usually works. Hence the existence of the “Homeland Security Department” and its ugly offspring, the TSA.
Some observations:
The “binary liquid explosives” scare of two years ago was a classic scam, employed by an administration intent on demonizing a section of society, while simultaneously scaring the public by broadcasting bogus threats and falsehoods via a complicit media. Any qualified chemist must have had an attack of laughing hysterics at the idea of someone manufacturing triacetone triperoxide while on a commercial plane! The article on The Register is worth a read, for a welcome reality check.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/ 2006/ 08/ 17/ flying_toilet_terror_labs/
It’s also strange, that in our capitalist world driven by the need to privatize everything, the privately owned company responsible for airline security lost their airport contract in the wake of the 9/11 disaster, only to be replaced by a large government agency: such are usually labeled by as being far more inefficient by those who favor privatization! (This fact was borne out in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: it is impossible to imagine a more lax “response” to a catastrophe, unless the “lack of response” was deliberate policy, of course).
Two personal recollections of the TSA’s performance within the last 2 years, both at LAX:
(a) on arrival at LAX, I found my (expensive) suitcase had been wrecked (it had not been locked). It arrived at baggage claim swathed in grey duct tape to hold it together, and I only recognized it as mine due to a unique and colorful sticker still visible between the lengths of duct tape. In a rather testy mood, I complained to airline staff, asking where the TSA office was, only to be advised that any display of annoyance to TSA staff could result in my being arrested (!), so I waited until I got home before composing a letter. Did I get any response? (Ha! ha!, silly question!). Did I get reimbursed for my destroyed property? (Ha! Ha!). Incidentally, when I arrived home, I did find a consolation prize, comprising a single, lonesome shoe, not belonging to me, nestling amongst the contents of my suitcase, while some CDs had gone mysteriously missing. Fortunately I hadn’t packed anything of significant value. TSA = Trash your bags, Steal the contents, Assume no responsibility?
(b) on Christmas Eve 2006, while waiting for my connection to Albuquerque, suddenly there was a high pitched, high intensity bleeping/warbling noise coming across the PA system, throughout the entire concourse. The hundreds of waiting passengers put their hands in their ears; the volume was painful. After 5 minutes, I went over to the airline desk to ask what was going on. I was informed that “an unauthorized person” might have entered a secure area. Half expecting a phalanx of airport police, TSA, FBI etc. to arrive en masse, I waited for some action. The bleeping din went on for another 30 minutes; when it ceased, there was a loud spontaneous round of applause from the weary crowd, and not a sign of a single security person in the entire area. It would take far less than a half hour for someone, intent on doing something untoward….. get my drift?
International terrorism is, fortunately, an exceptionally rare occurrence here in the West: the probability of witnessing, or being killed/injured in an attack of such nature is far less than the unlikely event of being struck by lightning, for example. I have no problem with the presence of an efficient screening system to catch the “common or garden” type of nutcase or criminal who might try to pull a stunt on a plane. The really bothersome part however, is knowing full well that the TSA, or any other agencies will have no power to prevent attacks by “privileged” terrorists who can get past the security system because they are either part of that system, or have no accountability to that system. As common sense tells us, those are the kind of attacks that succeed, but we are collectively reticent to admit it.
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pmtoasterhead what has the TSA done other than insulting and disrespecting respectful people to be thanked for.
most of the TSA are sick and pathetic people, who know nothing about respect, their level of understanding is nothing higher than an animal because they treat people like animals, they deserve nothing but to be insulted
June 26th, 2008 at 4:49 pmwell said leftside, they really are people who couldn’t find a job a bathroom cleaner at McDonals’s
June 26th, 2008 at 4:52 pmzuch works for the TSA, you cheap sick idiot
June 26th, 2008 at 4:55 pm