Follow the identity trail of data brokers.

A  great article by Tamara Thompson about shady consumer oriented data brokers.  Buyer beware.

Dispatch: Al Shabaab Claims Somali Explosion.

September 11

It seems only fitting to comment on the ten year mark since the terrorist attacks on the U.S. But I cannot say anything that has not been said more profoundly by others.  I still worry about the same things I worried about ten years ago like, how will my kids turn out, who will die first, me or my wife, and why does any of it matter?

Last week in federal court in Baltimore a 29 year-old woman with no arrest record was on trial for conspiracy to distribute crack.  I worked on the case for her defense attorney and was astounded that such a weak case would end up in federal court.  She had been held in jail pending trial for months.  The admitted addict walked out of court a free woman after the judge granted a defense motion for acquittal.  There just was no evidence against her. Plenty against the co-defendants. But not her.

What does one have to do with the other?   Thousands dead and more wounded and maimed in the Global War on Terror, and one crack addict gets slammed with a bogus indictment.  How are they related?

Hey, I don’t have all the answers.   Gimme a break.  But somehow they are.  Trust me.

Tonight seemed like just another night at BWI Airport waiting for another kid to arrive, but something was different.  The usual recorded TSA voice droned repeatedly with warnings not to accept bags that were not our own or they may be destroyed for security reasons, blah, blah, blah…

Tonight it was more…much more.

It was more than a common sense precaution, more than an obvious “DUH, don’t do that”, more than an out of control TSA telling us when we can or cannot wear shoes.   Eventually, the endless repetition (“the bag may be destroyed”), the mindless intoning over and over (did I mention the flight was late?) induced in me an almost hypnotic….NO, a zombie-like state of mindless anticipation.  The voice….

Waiting….watching….almost expecting disaster.  The voice… it just would not stop….It became my personal mandate. That is what TSA wants from us, right?  We are all part of the solution, right?  The voice …..my personal mantra…..I became one with the voice.  I WAS the voice except now the voice seemed to say, if someone hands you a bag that is not yours it MUST be destroyed for security reasons…it must …be….

My daughter needed a new backpack anyway.  Talk about awkward.

Who will stop this madness?

May 2, 2011

The United States delivered justice yesterday with a bullet to the head of Osama bin Laden in what appears to have been a textbook operation, capping years of painstaking work.  As usual, the conspiracy theorists immediately questioned the reports as a hoax, and the political hacks lobbed their partisan grenades back and forth.  Revelers celebrated in the manner of drunken sports fans after the World Series.

Many of us would have willingly been the trigger puller who killed our most reviled enemy since World War II.   Some fear revenge, as if Al Qaeda needed a reason to attack us more.

I am glad the man is dead.  I am glad we did it.  And I am especially glad the job came off with no loss of Americans.  But I don’t feel like celebrating.  For me to celebrate is to forget what was like on 9-11, and to forget the families who lost people in the attacks and in the war that continues.  It is a somber time.

The War on Terror won’t end with Bin Laden’s death.  This war began a long time ago, long before 9-11.  We just didn’t know it.  And, it is not easy to pinpoint a date.   But of one thing I am certain, extremist muslims declared war against the United States long before most of us ever heard of Osama Bin Laden.  Here is a short list, just a few of the actions taken against the U.S. in this war we didn’t know we were in:

• 1979-Takeover of the US embassy in Tehran and hostage taking;
• 1983-Beruit Barracks bombing;
• 1985-Hezbollah hijacks TWA 847, murders a US sailor.
• 1986-Pan AM flight 73 hijacked in Pakistan, 22 killed, blamed on Libya.
• 1989-Muslim Terrorists firebomb a New York publisher because they were offended by Salman Rushdie’s book, Satanic Verses.
• 1990-An early element of Al Queda murders Meir Kehane in a Manhatten hotel lobby.

The list is endless.  But the list is pointless without understanding.  Bin Laden’s death is pointless without knowing.

The war is simply a battle between good and evil.  Not an abstract archetype, but a fight against evil.  Can the war be won? If we win, how will we know?     “Where were you on 9-11?”  Most of us can answer quickly. If you were alive at the time you probably remember where you were when President Kennedy was assassinated.

If Bin Laden’s death matters, will you and I remember where we were on May 1?  It may not matter. What truly matters are the innocent lives lost, and the lives lost while bravely meeting the enemy.  “A soldier marches toward the sounds of the guns.”-unknown



WorldFamousPrivateEye Blog    April 18, 2011

Now what?

Now what?

I really want to write a blog on some topic other than TSA, but they won’t let me. PLEASE, TSA, STOP BEING STUPID SO I CAN CRITICIZE SOMEONE ELSE.

Their latest public relations fiasco, if you managed to miss it, is the involuntary “pat down” of a skinny six year-old girl in the New Orleans airport last week.  Watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3sH1GaO_nw&feature=player_embedded

She definitely looked like she was hiding something.  All six year-olds are guilty of something.

Words fail me. Stupid, moronic, senseless, ineffective and incompetent, all seem inadequate to describe the TSA, and most particularly its director John Pistole. He and he alone is responsible. (Okay, Janet Napolitano is to blame as well.) According to the TSA blog this example of child molesting was entirely consistent with agency policy:

“A video taken of one of our officers patting down a six year-old has attracted quite a bit of attention. Some folks are asking if the proper procedures were followed. Yes. TSA has reviewed the incident and the security officer in the video followed the current standard operating procedures.”    -  4/13/11

Bizarre.

Former Governor Jesse Ventura and some commercial pilots are suing TSA over the constitutionality of airport screening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j4Q4NXCKu8

And, NJ State Senator Doherty considers the search of this child to be a sex crime.

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4643449

HELLO TSA.  You have gone too far.  I said it months ago. Others have said it.  You don’t get to abuse the trust that WE gave you.  We gave it to you. We can take it away.

It is obvious there is only one solution, a complete dismantling of TSA starting at the top.  Pistole should just go. Go away.  And Secretary Napolitano, go back to Arizona.  The two of you obviously cannot learn from your past mistakes.  You are embarrassing.

But in the spirit of being fair and balanced, check out the TSA Puppy Program. Seriously, I could not make this stuff up.

http://blog.tsa.gov/2011/04/tsa-welcomes-its-500th-puppy.html

March 3, 2011

It is nearly impossible for a blogger like me to keep up with the daily reports of the latest TSA mess. Just as I try to comment, something new and more interesting than before just pops up in the news.  Like the Biblical story of the oil in the lamp, just when you think it is over the stories of TSA craziness keep flowing.

The Federal Times and other news outlets reported TSA employees want union representation and collective bargaining.  TSA Director John Pistole promises to fire any TSA worker who strikes.  Why is congress even asking about strikes? President Reagan kicked PATCO in the rear and shocked Air Traffic Controllers by firing the striking controllers in 1981.  Remember, federal employees cannot strike. Period.

The big news in Baltimore in February was First Mariner Bank’s Chairman Ed Hale forgot he had a gun in his briefcase when he wanted to go through airport security.  He was charged by a summons with a misdemeanor.  It’s easy to forget when you have a permit and the gun becomes just another thing to keep track of.  I imagine it’s easier to forget a gun than a bank’s fourth quarter loss of 33.4 million dollars, but I digress.

And on Tuesday a 43 year-old TSA Behavioral Detection Officer in Buffalo was arrested for giving information to and helping drug dealers get through security.  Do they make these people pee in a bottle or take a polygraph?  What next? I am afraid to even go there.  No doubt the agency will continue to make headlines.  If you want to see what they are really accomplishing just visit the TSA website and scroll down to their pathetic “TSA Week at a Glance.”

Can TSA Survive SNL?    December 7, 2010

Years ago I knew a counterintelligence type guy who had a sign in his office that said, “You know it’s going to be a bad day when a 60 Minutes crew is waiting for you when you report to work.” He knew from experience it was true.

Today you know you have arrived when Saturday Night Live devotes a skit to you as they did recently for TSA. Hopefully even TSA could admit it was funny.

Recently critics of TSA of which I am one (a critic that is) have challenged the leadership of TSA and DHS to try and do their jobs without embarassing, offending, or degrading airline passengers with their stupid and ineffective screening procedures. The rhetoric hit full volume in the week before Thanksgiving leading to predictions of demonstrations and widespread refusals to submit to the procedures.

If you slept through the news that week, to recap:  The body scanners use radiation much like x-rays and essentially allow a screener to see a traveller’s naked body under their clothes. As an alternative a traveller can opt-out of the machine and submit to a pat down. News reports portray the so-called pat down as a physically aggressive and overly intrusive form of groping.

If one passenger standing in line felt up a stranger in the same manner it would no doubt result in an arrest for sexual assault. So according to TSA these are the only tools available to protect the public from another 9-11 style hijacking, or shoe bomber. So you get a choice between a voyeur or groper.

How many terrorists has TSA caught? According to the agency’s website during the week of November 29 to December 5 they found,  “Two artfully concealed prohibited items, ” (What does that mean?)  “12 firearms found,” (What kind, how were they concealed, did the passenger have a permit? Honestly, people who carry a weapon legally sometimes forget it’s there.) “Seven passengers arrested…suspicious behavior…fraudulent travel documents.” Tell us more. And let us know how many of these arrests lead to convictions.

Today (Dec 7) USA Today reported some members of Congress are demanding TSA release information concerning radiation levels emitted by machines used to screen passengers and luggage. I don’t know why Congress should be concerned, although in 2008 the CDC reported TSA on several occasions failed to detect instances when machines emitted excessive radiation. The report also noted some machines were missing protective equipment such as lead shields.

Not sitting idly by, the TSA has decided the best defense is an offense. WHAT?? Did they raise the threat level to mauve? No. Are we at DEFCON ONE?   No.   Could they possibly embarass themselves more?   Only if you think a federal agency creating its own Twitter account updated by “Blogger Bob” who dispels the rumors with an authoritative, “Don’t you believe it,” is a bit undignified.

I sometimes feel bad that I don’t know how to Twitter or tweet or whatever. But not at this moment. Maybe later. If I was the TSA director I would be following the well worn path from DC to Wilmington like so many former high ranking FBI people. (Think banks, and chemicals… and no sales tax, but I digress.)

Two questions for TSA Chief John Pistole and DHS Secretary Napolitano:

Does the use of these machines and the alternative “pat down” really enhance security over the use of less intrusive magnetometers? And are you substituting technology for people?  (It’s been tried at the CIA under Carter and Adm. Turner, but that is old news.)

And what will you do to detect prohibited items concealed in body cavities? (Okay I know that is three questions.)

I said in my last blog I would have constructive suggestions even though criticism comes much more naturally. So……

DHS SAYS they train employees to recognize the behavior of bombers. I don’t know how bombers behave but if TSA really knew how to effectively observe and question travellers they might not need to invade our privacy to the extent they claim is necessary. Must we completely waive the fourth amendment to visit family or travel for business that drives this not-so-robust economy?

Anyone who has ever been in law enforcement or any related field has likely received some level of training in the detection of deception, interviewing, so-called body language, ad nauseum.   Some folks have a gift for discerning the truthfulness in a person’s statements. Others can develop some level of skill through training.  There is a difference though when it comes to quickly sizing up a person in the brief time available to screen passengers boarding planes or entering the country through Customs, and when interviewing one person over a period of time such as in an investigation.

What are the traits needed to note behavioral inconsistencies, nonverbal cues, subtle changes of intonation, or other indicators that a person is not what they portray?  What training or experience can best develop those skills? Who might already fit the bill?

The body of research on the detection of deception through polygraphs, voice stress analysis, observing pupil dilation, and all the other schools of thought is extensive. Extensive, yes. Conclusive, no. But hopefully before DHS issues a grant to make a study of the subject, a study that will undoubtedly conclude that more study is needed (they all say that), DHS and TSA will discover and seriously consider the implications of a study published in 1991 in American Psychologist by Ekman and O’Sullivan, titled, Who Can Catch a Liar?

The researchers compared groups on their ability to correctly assess the truthfulness of a person after watching a tape of an interview. The groups included members of various law enforcement agencies, judges, mental health professionals and others. The results were striking. The Secret Service Agents in the study were superior to the other groups in assessing deception, In fact, they were the only group in the study whose performance was statistically greater than chance.   And they were merely observers of taped interviews.

Those results make sense when one considers the work of Secret Service agents requires watching crowds of people, looking for the anomaly, the behavioral inconsistencies that most of us would miss.

Should the Secret Service take over TSA? No, no, no, no, no. No.

There are lots of retired Secret Service agents, representing decades of experience, who could be either retained as contractors or rehired annuitants. Put them in the airports. Take their wealth of experience and use them for passenger screening, and training the existing staff of screeners.

No money for that? Sell the stupid machines, reassign Bob from the blog to an airport.  And quit hassling us, please.

Douglas B. Wolfe ©2010   www.mdsleuth.com

November 23, 2010 From an undisclosed Jersey Shore location.

As holiday travelers prepare for the annual Wednesday before Thanksgiving travel nightmare I wonder, can the public relations nightmare for TSA get any worse? The answer is up to DHS Secretary Napolitano and TSA Chief Pistole. Already, passenger outrage over the use of body scanners and abusive “pat downs” for the passenger who dares to opt-out of machine induced nudity has the TSA screeners complaining of verbal abuse from the public they say they are protecting. One passenger reportedly punched a screener. Can’t imagine why, but if even half the reports of the insulting comments and abusive behavior of screeners is true something needs to change.

On Monday on NBC Pistole said the agency was “constantly evaluating” their procedures. It seems too little too late, at least for one passenger. Pistole called to apologize to a 61 year-old retired Michigan teacher after the traveler endured the unbelievable humiliation of being soaked in his own urine when the genius screener ignored the passenger’s warning about his ostomy bag. Apparently TSA did nothing to help. Common decency would dictate giving the man clean pants. How are people expected to respond to this kind of repugnant treatment by an indifferent and arguable stupid employee?

The union representing TSA screeners called on the agency to take steps to protect its employees from angry passengers. MSNBC reported, “Union president John Gage called on TSA to provide educational pamphlets to passengers…” suggesting an explanation of the reasons for the controversial procedures will help the travelling public understand that the screeners are simply carrying out policies enacted by higher-ups.

Maybe a few minutes reading mind-numbing bureaucratic prattle has a calming and conformity-inducing effect on some, but I suspect airports will end up resembling a polling site after an election, with candidates’ flyers littering the floor, and no one remembering or caring what they said. A simple, to the point message may do more to encourage the submissive, obedient demeanor that will virtually guarantee a passenger boards his flight on time. How about, “Punch a Screener, See a Judge?” Or, “Don’t blame us, we voted for Palin.”

In an interview with Charlie Rose Napolitano said we can expect expanded use of body scanners to protect trains, boats and subways. Perfect. Brilliant. The New York subway system would be ideal for a trial run. The average New York commuter will welcome another minor inconvenience in the name of security, twice a day!

And Monday Napolitano visited Trenton, New Jersey with Senator Lautenberg to expand the department’s “See Something, Say Something” campaign across the state. “Expanding the ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign across New Jersey will help ensure citizens know how to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper law enforcement authorities” said the Secretary.

Regarding the airport pat downs she said, “It’s something new. Most Americans are not used to a real law enforcement pat-down like that.” This has to be her dumbest comment to date about the procedure, probably reflecting a basic lack of knowledge of police procedure. In almost 30 years of law enforcement I searched or observed the search of hundreds of arrestees. Some were armed. All preferred not to be arrested, and a few violently resisted. We never searched them with the intrusiveness Napolitano thinks is “real law enforcement.” Real law enforcement officers can usually tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys. And even when dealing with a bad guy we show them basic courtesy.

So here I sit at an undisclosed but very comfortable Jersey Shore location. It’s a beautiful thing compared to the nightmare that is to come in a few hours for those travelling by plane, train, and automobile. So I ask myself, what is the solution? How can the government keep bombers off planes without passengers and screeners resorting to fisticuffs?

The concept is not new. Others have talked about it. In the next episode I will explore not only the basic idea, but who is best equipped to carry it out.

© 2010 Douglas B. Wolfe My Blog is Worldfamousprivateeye.com