Isn't that considered libelous, even if the man is an illegal?

He was behaving like a Mexican...

Think of how much money we are now going to waste deporting this guy to the same place he was trying to get to on his own!!!

SPOT = Stupid Program Of TSA

Perhaps this man will slap them with a libel suit. Labeling a man who has not been convicted as a murderer - a MAN AGAINST WHOM THE CHARGES WERE DROPPED - is clearly an actionable offense.

I'm ashamed that these so-and-sos work for me.

My thoughts exactly.

However, TSA would have missed a valuable PR op, and that was more than worth the money to deport him.

Hey Hawley you worthless pissant, don't you have a phone booth to dedicate somewhere?

(shameless Simpsons ref)

^

Spiff, you're the best.

Why don't you start telling us how you really feel?

That may not be such a bad thing:

If direct protests to my elected representatives don't do any good, then maybe publicly advocating civil disobedience as a philosophical position will turn some heads if I'm no-listed for protected free speech. If principles are worth protesting about and fighting for, them I must be willing to trade some anonymity and present comfort to help achieve them.

Right. Mythos-building is such an expensive proposition these days, even when your underwriters are manning the printing presses.

What an absolutely Mastercard Moment this was. Just priceless.

DHS/TSA is looking for positive PR for SPOT. Who's surprised that they want to sell a program that is a waste. DHS/TSA is much about waste. I can't wait for the ship to be cleaned up.

Or, the exact behaviors exhibited are identical to what we expect from an illegal immigrant ?

"identical to what we could see" - makes no sense at all (well, except to the TSA whose command of English is about as good as their command of security). Fools.

True. I hope they pick on a few more people like this.

Taking my first trip in a while in a couple weeks. Will be proudly wearing my KHIAI T-shirt thru IAD.

I've gotten the SPOT routine from a few screeners before. I'm actually a bit surprised that on days I'm running late for my flight, haven't had enough sleep, and have run into long lines, that they didn't feel my responses characteristic of a terrorist.

The most obvious is when a TSO approaches you as you're getting your belongings from the belt and ask, "Where are you traveling today?" or something equally inane; I have to bite back really hard not to respond, "To the land of mind your own darn business!"

However, the better applications of SPOT ("better" being a relative term) are made in the pretext of polite conversation, such as a TSO seeing a bird field guide in my bag and asking if I expect to see anything good on my trip or if I know any good local spots to visit, or commenting that they've read books by the same author as the book I'm carrying and liked this or that, etc., or asking if the XM radio I'm carrying is "worth it" as they're considering buying one, etc. Heck, these may even be genuine conversations out of the TSO's interest, but they get much more honest answers from me than they otherwise would, and would seem more effective at conducting "behavioral profiling" than canned questionnaires.

I wouldn't poo-poo SPOT as a valid technique. As for the article, yeah, TSA went into PR-overload and made it bigger than it should have been. However, the basic facts are that the techniques worked as far as detecting a person who was acting suspiciously. And that's about it.

I believe that SPOT ought to be something that is much more subtle and should be trained to all TSOs not just a "select few." The technique is effective when it is incorporated into the routine rather than made into a big special deal.

It's a lot like the old country boy who went on a double date with his city friend. After dinner, they went to Lover's Lane, and the first thing the country boy did was ask his date if she wanted to have sex. Of course, that ended the evening right then and there. His friend later told him that he needed to develop a smoother approach, start up a conversation on something of common interest, and, if he played his cards right, perhaps he could get "lucky." Well, they soon went on another double date, and the country boy asked his date if she liked green apples. She rolled her eyes and said she didn't care for them. Then the country boy asked, "does this mean we're not going to have sex?"

TSA should refrain from asking about green apples.