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Feds Undertaking Massive Passenger Profiling Plan

Logic Bomb writes: "The Washington Post is running an overview of a rather big-brother-ish airline passenger screening system the government is proposing. Keeping track of people's ticket purchases is one thing, but correlating people's addresses and living arrangements...! This attempt seems closer to completion and implementation than any other that's been proposed so far."

8 of 556 comments (clear)

  1. Who says it is going to be a hijack next time? by Ice+Tiger · · Score: 1, Troll

    Apart from the issue that 911 started the death of the US by itself, who says that the weopen (an aircraft) can't be chartered, purchased, or by any other means aquired?

    One day the US will wake up and realise it is no longer the USA.

    Very sad.

    --
    "Because we are not employing at entry level, offshoring will kill our industry stone dead."
  2. Hey... by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 1, Troll

    If it keeps more planes from crashing into buildings, then I'm all for racism. Gotta weigh the pros and cons here, folks, It's not like we're locking people up over this.

    - A.P.

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  3. Re:They should start here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    FEDS ARE A BUNCH OF FUCKING NIGGERS!

    They are a pitiful shadow of what they used to be under J.E. Hoover's direction.

  4. Re:So...? by EllisDees · · Score: 2, Troll

    but we have freedom of speech

    Right. Try having a public speech in support of forming a Nazi party and see how free you are to speak.

    I can buy/rent a zone 1 DVD at any video store.

    So can we...

    I can publish code to decrypt DVDs without any limitation.

    Ok, you got me there.

    I can practice cryptography [technion.ac.il] without being targeted.

    There are absolutely no laws in the US that keep me from using any form of cryptography I want.

    --
    -- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
  5. if the shoe fits by xeeno · · Score: 1, Troll

    I'm sure this will offend pretty much every tree-hugging PC person that reads this, but I don't care. Grow a fucking spine.
    Whereas we haven't declared official war, we
    *are* at war right now. If profiling is one of the tools that we need to use to prevent the death of more innocent people, then fine. Would you guys be whining right now about racism if it were the israelis profiling arabs that fly into their country looking for palestinians? Do you think it would help if you did? Hell no. The israelis would look at you like you were a madman, and then point out the last 30 or so suicide bombers that have set themselves off in malls or local businesses in the last 6 months. They have a problem over there.
    Likewise, we have a problem over here. In my mind, it is our responsibility to treat the problem before it develops into a disease. If certain ethnic groups over here don't like the profiling, then my suggestion is that they lean on the people that they damn well know are involved in terrorist acts against the states and either turn them in, make them stop, or eliminate them.
    Now. As a sidenote.

    Black man says nigger - it's culture.
    White man says nigger - it's racist.
    Italian man says wop - it's culture.
    Asian man says wop - it's racist.
    Indian man says chink - it's racist.
    Asian man says chink - it's culture.

    So. Where's the racist act? In saying the word, or in differentiating between the speaker?

  6. Re:So...? by CofWheat · · Score: 0, Troll



    I am all for war crimes in Afghanistan, I want to see many dead Taliban and Al-Qaeda Scumbags. And yes I voted for W. This guy means what he says and takes no shit from liberal pukes like you.

  7. Re:what's wrong? by Flower · · Score: 4, Troll
    Well, now we have a prime example of why this is a bad idea. How about we stop profiling the Irish once all those stupid micks cease blowing up shit. Oh, how about we stop profiling people from Spain? Or haven't you heard about the ETA? Hrmmm, better profile the Japanese too. They use chemical weapons.

    Do you even have a clue that Muslims are just as ethnically diverse as Christians? How long before we have a John Walker, clean-cut and solidly integrated in society blow up another federal building. Oh wait. That's right. The first terrorist to do that wasn't Islamic.

    Finally, you have an extremely small percentage of the population committing these acts so now you want to profile the whole community under the same brush. Well going back to McVeigh, does that mean I should profile caucasian christian males? What? Oaklahoma City isn't big enough now? Not recent enough?

    Your "boring math" is weighted by some human's criteria. It is in no way pure and merely analytical. And as someone who wouldn't flag a single criteria mentioned in the article it still really bugs me that my personal history is coming under such scrutiny. imnsho, this intrusion isn't worth the 15 minute savings I'd get at the airport.

    --
    I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
  8. GOOD! by simetra · · Score: -1, Troll

    If this helps capture terrorists, great.

    Do I give a rat's ass if the Feds "find out" the great terrible secret that I am married, and live with my wife and child? No.

    Is there any good reason why this is a bad thing? No.

    Believe it or not, there is no evil motive behind our government. The government really doesn't give a rat's ass about paranoid geeks. Those who argue that it's an invasion of privacy are very naive, and paranoid. You're really not as interesting as you might think. Unless perhaps you are a criminal, in which case, hey, those are the chances you take.

    The likelyhood that you will erroneously be labeled a criminal, dragged off to the torture chamber, and severely abused, is very, very small, virtually non-existant. Even that miniscule chance is a very small price to pay for not being blown up by a terrorist.

    And for anyone who wants to stand behind that silly quote by Ben Franklin, keep in mind, you can make up anything. The fact that he made up that statement doesn't really mean a hell of a lot. Really, he was a 1700's guy who invented a stove, bifocals, etc. Just because he spouts something, doesn't make it necessarily true. Especially given the 200+ years difference in our times and culture since he did the spouting.

    So essentially, if you've got reason to be paranoid about this, you're probably up to no good, and should realize the risks associated with criminal activity. If not, you should be fine, and in all likelihood, a lot safer.

    Any whiny-ass Anonymous Cowards who want to blather about free speech, stop and think; if this free speech is so great, why are you hiding behind the moniker Anonymous Coward?

    --

    "Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou