6 ms·

The term "security theater" has been tossed around a lot, but I think it's pretty clearly coming to that. Asking the mainstream media not to cover something lik

The term "security theater" has been tossed around a lot, but I think it's pretty clearly coming to that. Asking the mainstream media not to cover something like this is completely indefensible from a security standpoint - what, terrorists only learn about security flaws from TV?. It's pretty patently only about keeping their budget. Also, just going to throw this out there, but it is fairly possible that the email is totally fake.

pavel_lishin 15y ago
It's incredibly suspicious to allude to an e-mail from the TSA, but not actually include a copy of said e-mail.
- tsaoutourpants 15y ago
  I'll be requesting a copy by FOIA... will post on my blog whenever it comes :)
  - pavel_lishin 15y ago
    Could you ask the journalist in question to forward you the entire e-mail as well?
    - tsaoutourpants 15y ago
      He doesn't want to ruin his relationship with the source by doing so, but again, it should be a public record releasable under FOIA
      - Nate75Sanders 15y ago
        How long does an FOIA request of that sort usually take? If there are multiple steps, could you give us a timeline?
        TimGebhardt 15y ago
        Probably depends on the request. I got a pretty quick turnaround (or at least it exceeded my expectations) on my request to the FBI for whatever they knew about my grandfather: About 3 weeks. Sidenote: if you're interested in doing the same just go to http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com/ http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com/
      - tsaoutourpants 15y ago
        It's supposed to take a month. But, the TSA ignored my last FOIA request, so I had to sue them for it.
        ShabbyDoo 15y ago
        Wow. That in itself is a great story which should be heard.
        tsaoutourpants 15y ago
        Thank you, story is on the blog, including this post: http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/confirmed-tsa-declares-checkpoint-tapes-ssi/ http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/confirmed-t...
      - pavel_lishin 15y ago
        Is this the same source that's threatening him? Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the email server suddenly lost a bunch of emails the day before the FOIA request went through.
      - samstave 15y ago
        What kind of relationship does he have with a TSA agent who is mildly threatening him or intimidating him at least?
        einhverfr 15y ago
        The TSA as a journalistic source?
  - Newgy 15y ago
    Thank you for your brave work on this issue, you are a true patriot. "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." -- Samuel Adams, Founding Father
    - cafard 15y ago
      Was the expression "brush fire" current in the late 1700s? In fact, the whole sentence looks a little questionable.
      - dpcx 15y ago
        Not really... http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=brush+fire&year_start=1700&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3 http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=brush+fire&... As well as http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams#Misattributed http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams#Misattributed
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
    - doug1001 15y ago
      sure but this only applies to a citizen's inalienable right to make beer (and seasonal ales).
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
- martey 15y ago
  It's not "incredibly suspicious", since the author is claiming that one of his media contacts was the recipient of the email. Also, I don't see how seeing a screenshot of the purported message from the TSA would be considered more valid evidence than the current screenshot.
- ChuckMcM 15y ago
  So you're saying that screen shot [1] of the redacted email was manufactured, or that the source of the redacted email was maybe trolling Jon? I'm one of those folks that when I see a redacted email like that with most of the identity cookie in it I wonder if one could track down the original. I mean mail.fourtentech.com actually has a web server sitting on it and all. Anyway, it could be a viralish stunt, but sadly its pretty credible that the TSA might say this. [1] http://tsaoutofourpants.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/caution_red.png http://tsaoutofourpants.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/caution_...
  - Nate75Sanders 15y ago
    I'm confused. I see something that looks like an email referring to the aforementioned email from Sari Koshetz. I do not however see an email that looks like anything from Sari Koshetz with or without redaction. EDIT: I agree with the user "martey" below, though, that this wouldn't necessarily be evidence of anything. It's way too easy to fake this kind of thing. The FOIA request for the email is the way to go. It'll probably find itself conveniently deleted or something, though.
  - scott_s 15y ago
    So you're saying that screen shot [1] of the redacted email was manufactured, or that the source of the redacted email was maybe trolling Jon? Or an infinite number of other things. Don't get bogged down in what the alternative scenario is. What is important is that if something is true, we should be able to find corroborating evidence to support it. If we can't, then we have reason to doubt the initial claim - and we can do so without arguing for a particular alternate scenario.
- tsaoutourpants 15y ago
  Second source confirms in comments! SmarterTravel March 8, 2012 at 3:34 pm | #11 Reply | Quote | Edit We were also “strongly cautioned” not to cover the story. We did anyway at SmarterTravel: http://tinyurl.com/7te5wj8 http://tinyurl.com/7te5wj8
  - nitrogen 15y ago
    For the cautious, the above tinyurl expands to http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/did-blogger-really-expose-fatal-flaw-in-airport-security.html?id=10723406 http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/did-blogg...
tibbon 15y ago
I think they are betting on security through absurdity (I initially meant to spell obscurity but this makes more sense).
- bdg 15y ago
  They're operating on the age-old wisdom of, "If you don't know where you're going, you're never lost."
  - joshAg 15y ago
    On the plus side, they're making good time.
anigbrowl 15y ago
Then again, this is arguably censorship theater. I thought the original post was blogspammy in the extreme, and this is more of the same. This does not make me a cheerleader for the TSA.
Bud 15y ago
No. It's not "coming to that". We're well past the security theater stage, and into the nightmare stage. Even hinting that any media not cover this or ANY story is so, so far beyond the purview of TSA that it is shocking (or should be shocking—it has become rather hard to be shocked by TSA) that they would even consider pulling this. The Supreme Court should slap them so hard that their acronym gets mixed up. This is an outrage. (edited to add snark) I thought of the perfect new acronym! STA: Security Theater Administration.
- tptacek 15y ago
  Hinting that media cover or not cover any story is so far beyond the purview of the TSA that no competent journalist would consider taking them seriously, making this a comparatively mild nightmare. The Supreme Court can't "slap them" for anything; someone with standing would have to bring a case, and for that case to have merit, some journalistic outlet would have had to have its discretion actually impinged by the TSA.
  - WiseWeasel 15y ago
    There might be a suit brought on behalf of one of these reporters and/or their employer arguing that the implication of consequences from such a powerful entity without a court order constitutes illegal interference with their business, possibly entitling them to some damages, and more importantly, establishing some very important precedent which might prevent the TSA from ever attempting such a stunt in the future. I could certainly see many lawyers salivating at the prospect of winning a suit against such a well-funded target, not to mention the notoriety such a contentious issue would bring them in any event.
    - jcampbell1 15y ago
      You are not familiar with Sovereign Immunity. No lawyer in the world salivates at the thought of suing the federal government.
      - praxeologist 15y ago

pavel_lishin 15y ago

It's incredibly suspicious to allude to an e-mail from the TSA, but not actually include a copy of said e-mail.

tsaoutourpants 15y ago
I'll be requesting a copy by FOIA... will post on my blog whenever it comes :)
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  Could you ask the journalist in question to forward you the entire e-mail as well?
  - tsaoutourpants 15y ago
    He doesn't want to ruin his relationship with the source by doing so, but again, it should be a public record releasable under FOIA
    - Nate75Sanders 15y ago
      How long does an FOIA request of that sort usually take? If there are multiple steps, could you give us a timeline?
      - TimGebhardt 15y ago
        Probably depends on the request. I got a pretty quick turnaround (or at least it exceeded my expectations) on my request to the FBI for whatever they knew about my grandfather: About 3 weeks. Sidenote: if you're interested in doing the same just go to http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com/ http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com/
    - tsaoutourpants 15y ago
      It's supposed to take a month. But, the TSA ignored my last FOIA request, so I had to sue them for it.
      - ShabbyDoo 15y ago
        Wow. That in itself is a great story which should be heard.
      - tsaoutourpants 15y ago
        Thank you, story is on the blog, including this post: http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/confirmed-tsa-declares-checkpoint-tapes-ssi/ http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/confirmed-t...
    - pavel_lishin 15y ago
      Is this the same source that's threatening him? Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the email server suddenly lost a bunch of emails the day before the FOIA request went through.
    - samstave 15y ago
      What kind of relationship does he have with a TSA agent who is mildly threatening him or intimidating him at least?
      - einhverfr 15y ago
        The TSA as a journalistic source?
- Newgy 15y ago
  Thank you for your brave work on this issue, you are a true patriot. "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." -- Samuel Adams, Founding Father
  - cafard 15y ago
    Was the expression "brush fire" current in the late 1700s? In fact, the whole sentence looks a little questionable.
    - dpcx 15y ago
      Not really... http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=brush+fire&year_start=1700&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3 http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=brush+fire&... As well as http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams#Misattributed http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams#Misattributed
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
  - doug1001 15y ago
    sure but this only applies to a citizen's inalienable right to make beer (and seasonal ales).
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
martey 15y ago
It's not "incredibly suspicious", since the author is claiming that one of his media contacts was the recipient of the email. Also, I don't see how seeing a screenshot of the purported message from the TSA would be considered more valid evidence than the current screenshot.
ChuckMcM 15y ago
So you're saying that screen shot [1] of the redacted email was manufactured, or that the source of the redacted email was maybe trolling Jon? I'm one of those folks that when I see a redacted email like that with most of the identity cookie in it I wonder if one could track down the original. I mean mail.fourtentech.com actually has a web server sitting on it and all. Anyway, it could be a viralish stunt, but sadly its pretty credible that the TSA might say this. [1] http://tsaoutofourpants.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/caution_red.png http://tsaoutofourpants.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/caution_...
- Nate75Sanders 15y ago
  I'm confused. I see something that looks like an email referring to the aforementioned email from Sari Koshetz. I do not however see an email that looks like anything from Sari Koshetz with or without redaction. EDIT: I agree with the user "martey" below, though, that this wouldn't necessarily be evidence of anything. It's way too easy to fake this kind of thing. The FOIA request for the email is the way to go. It'll probably find itself conveniently deleted or something, though.
- scott_s 15y ago
  So you're saying that screen shot [1] of the redacted email was manufactured, or that the source of the redacted email was maybe trolling Jon? Or an infinite number of other things. Don't get bogged down in what the alternative scenario is. What is important is that if something is true, we should be able to find corroborating evidence to support it. If we can't, then we have reason to doubt the initial claim - and we can do so without arguing for a particular alternate scenario.
tsaoutourpants 15y ago
Second source confirms in comments! SmarterTravel March 8, 2012 at 3:34 pm | #11 Reply | Quote | Edit We were also “strongly cautioned” not to cover the story. We did anyway at SmarterTravel: http://tinyurl.com/7te5wj8 http://tinyurl.com/7te5wj8
- nitrogen 15y ago
  For the cautious, the above tinyurl expands to http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/did-blogger-really-expose-fatal-flaw-in-airport-security.html?id=10723406 http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/did-blogg...

tibbon 15y ago

I think they are betting on security through absurdity (I initially meant to spell obscurity but this makes more sense).

bdg 15y ago
They're operating on the age-old wisdom of, "If you don't know where you're going, you're never lost."
- joshAg 15y ago
  On the plus side, they're making good time.

anigbrowl 15y ago

Then again, this is arguably censorship theater. I thought the original post was blogspammy in the extreme, and this is more of the same. This does not make me a cheerleader for the TSA.

Bud 15y ago

No. It's not "coming to that". We're well past the security theater stage, and into the nightmare stage. Even hinting that any media not cover this or ANY story is so, so far beyond the purview of TSA that it is shocking (or should be shocking—it has become rather hard to be shocked by TSA) that they would even consider pulling this. The Supreme Court should slap them so hard that their acronym gets mixed up. This is an outrage. (edited to add snark) I thought of the perfect new acronym! STA: Security Theater Administration.

tptacek 15y ago
Hinting that media cover or not cover any story is so far beyond the purview of the TSA that no competent journalist would consider taking them seriously, making this a comparatively mild nightmare. The Supreme Court can't "slap them" for anything; someone with standing would have to bring a case, and for that case to have merit, some journalistic outlet would have had to have its discretion actually impinged by the TSA.
- WiseWeasel 15y ago
  There might be a suit brought on behalf of one of these reporters and/or their employer arguing that the implication of consequences from such a powerful entity without a court order constitutes illegal interference with their business, possibly entitling them to some damages, and more importantly, establishing some very important precedent which might prevent the TSA from ever attempting such a stunt in the future. I could certainly see many lawyers salivating at the prospect of winning a suit against such a well-funded target, not to mention the notoriety such a contentious issue would bring them in any event.
  - jcampbell1 15y ago
    You are not familiar with Sovereign Immunity. No lawyer in the world salivates at the thought of suing the federal government.
    - praxeologist 15y ago