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DHS Gets Public Comment, Whether It Wants It Or Not
OverTheGeicoE writes "The motion to force DHS to start its public comment period is still working its way through the court (DHS: 'We're not stonewalling!', EPIC: 'Yes, you are!'). While we wait for the decision, Cato Institute's Jim Harper points out another way for the public to comment on body scanners, tsacomment.com. Even before this site existed, of course, the government was receiving public comment anyway in the form of passenger complaint letters, which they buried in their files. Even so, the public can get a chance to view those comments as the result of Freedom of Information Act requests. An FOIA request about pat-downs by governmentattic.org yielded hundreds of pages of letters to the government from 2010, including frequent reports of pat-down induced PTSD and sexual abuse trauma."
DHS = Department of Homeland Security
FOIA = Freedom of Information Act
PTSD = Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
EPIC = The most overused word ever, next to fail. for even more asshole points, use them together to form "epic fail." (quoted from Urban Dictionary)
Yes, they were readily available for public inspection in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of The Leopard".
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Don't call me Shirley.
Why do you say they are ignorant? TSA is responsible for making sure that terrorists don't crash airplanes into our office buildings and work places. You don't have to fly to know that there haven't been any planes flown into office buildings in some time in the US. Now, I do fly a few times a year - and the security theater is pathetic. I'm about to fly again in two weeks and am not looking forward to it. However from the point of view of "average person who doesn't fly" - why would they not be satisfied that someone seems to be keeping planes from falling from the sky? It might be the same in principle as the old "tiger preventing rock", but to them it must be working.
Actually, I have this whistle that keeps Seattle safe from tigers.
Works fairly well for lions too, but not so great for bears.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
You need to tune in again. The History Channel is now predominately the "pawn shop" channel.
Discovery is the weird jobs channel.
A&E is the law enforcement channel.
HGTV is the real estate channel.
It has all turned to crap.