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TSA 'Warning' Media About Reporting On Body Scanner Failures?

OverTheGeicoE writes "When anti-TSA activist Jonathan Corbett exposed a severe weakness in TSA's body scanners, one would expect the story to attract a lot of media attention. Apparently TSA is attempting to stop reporters from covering the story. According to Corbett, at least one reporter has been 'strongly cautioned' by TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz not to cover the story. If TSA is worried that this is new information they need to suppress to keep it away from terrorists, that horse may have left the barn years ago. Corbett's demonstration may just be confirmation of a 2010 paper in the Journal of Transportation Security that concluded that 'an object such as a wire or a boxcutter blade, taped to the side of the body, or even a small gun in the same location, will be invisible' to X-ray scanners."

16 of 465 comments (clear)

  1. TSA has this covered. by Xandrax · · Score: 5, Funny

    Much like the underwear bomber, TSA has this all planned out.

    1. Allow terrorist onboard with a weapon hidden at his side.
    2. Civilians on plane stop terrorist when he attempts to take over plane.
    3. TSA announces that the system worked.

    These "reporters" are clearly interfering with step #1.

  2. Re:Warned about what? by Kenja · · Score: 2, Funny

    But the TSA is no more a "three letter agency" then TWA is.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  3. BS? Barbara Streisand? by HiggsBison · · Score: 5, Funny

    I call BS.

    I was wondering who would bring up the Barbara Streisand Effect first.

    So now, Barbara Streisand is a Terrorist!

    --
    My other car is a 1984 Nark Avenger.
    1. Re:BS? Barbara Streisand? by martin-boundary · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh yes, didn't you know? Between gigs, she flies her pink six-wheeled Ford to some island in the Pacific, where she sips Pernod by the pool, and launches rocket planes with tiny puppet vigilantes in them who terrorise world governments and bring Freedom to their asses.

    2. Re:BS? Barbara Streisand? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      Gee, you notice that now? I heard her sing, that was proof enough!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Re:hello tsa: by Voogru · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't worry, they will have their checkpoints soon enough so they can grope her.

  5. Re:Easy fix? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Honestly, I feel bad for the people who work around the machines. There's no shielding. When TSA agents start getting cancer, part of me will feel bad for them. But part of me will be laughing hysterically.

  6. Re:They're hardly perfect by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Luckily, neither brass nor bronze are of any value for either holding an edge or inflicting blunt trauma...

    And no need to even mention ceramics or the fancier plastics, that shit is totally harmless.

  7. Re:Warned about what? by artor3 · · Score: 5, Funny

    But I thought that if we see something, we're supposed to say something?

  8. Re:Warned about what? by jonamous++ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Except the KGB actually had some badasses in it. Have you seen TSA agents? I could make a run for it and still get on the plane, stow my carry-on and calmly wait for takeoff before they managed to make it to the gate.

  9. Re:Warned about what? by ArieKremen · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...but there is nothing to see, ergo you're not supposed to say anything! Being consequent helps.

    --
    -- Cave quid dicis, quando, et cui
  10. Re:They're hardly perfect by slippyblade · · Score: 4, Funny

    I typed out an entire response about the Bronze Age before I realized you were being sarcastic... My sensor is busted today I guess.

  11. Re:Warned about what? by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's inhumane. Nobody deserves light opera.

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  12. Re:Easy fix? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    But how do we get every TSA worker to swallow it?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  13. Re:Warned about what? by msauve · · Score: 2, Funny

    /. is a US site, and 10.000.000 is a version of software, not a number.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  14. Re:Warned about what? by Fjandr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Eh, lots of countries prove you can call yourself a republic and be a dictatorship at the same time.

    Anyway, since we have a two-party dictatorship we're obviously 50% more free than a single-party dictatorship like North Korea.