DHS Gets Public Comment, Whether It Wants It Or Not

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DHS Gets Public Comment, Whether It Wants It Or Not

Posted by timothy on Thursday September 13, 2012 @05:50AM from the why-not-just-sell-your-dhs-stock? dept.

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."

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Popular vote by girlintraining · 2012-09-13 05:51 · Score: 5, Insightful

I believe I speak for many Americans when I say my comment is "Go away."

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1. Re:Popular vote by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 06:00 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  There was recent poll (on CNN I believe), that claimed people in general were satisfied with the TSA (note that some of them dont fly at all, and have never experienced the TSA, but decided to vote)
2. Re:Popular vote by seepho · 2012-09-13 06:16 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  People have opinions on subjects they're ignorant of? Surely you jest.
3. Re:Popular vote by cpu6502 · 2012-09-13 06:18 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The majority also supported the roundup of Japanese-americans during WW2, depriving them of their liberty, property, and right to a jury trial. That doesn't make the majority's trampeling of individual rights okay, either then or now.
  
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A little help ... by jest3r · 2012-09-13 05:57 · Score: 5, Funny

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)
1. Re:A little help ... by gstoddart · 2012-09-13 06:00 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Or, you know, the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
  Just saying.
  They've been around since '94, before 'epic' became such an overused word.
  
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2. Re:A little help ... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 06:08 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  So in other words, they were EPIC before EPIC was EPIC.
Re:nice bias. by Hatta · 2012-09-13 06:00 · Score: 5, Funny

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".

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Re:This is going to get ugly by Lucas123 · 2012-09-13 06:09 · Score: 5, Interesting

It hasn't worked so far. By comparison, as you can see by the number of attempted airline bombings after 9/11 -- all thwarted by observant passengers -- and security test failures (journalists and security experts smuggling weapons past airport security) technology and pat downs have failed.
Re:This is going to get ugly by Joce640k · 2012-09-13 06:19 · Score: 5, Insightful

They don't have to beat the TSA. They can blow themselves up in the queue for the scanner and have pretty much the same effect.

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Re:Popular vote or the severe lack of tigers by WillAffleckUW · 2012-09-13 06:53 · Score: 5, Funny

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.

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Re:What good is public comment by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 06:57 · Score: 5, Interesting

Let's have two classes of airline - one with TSA fully funded from ticket fees and another that has no TSA and standard security. Let the market decide.