Jetsetting Terrorist: Blog from a guy who is branded "SSSS" by the TSA

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It seems the author isn’t aware that having SSSS on a boarding pass isn’t the merely mark of being on “The List”, it happens when you buy a ticket the same day (done for business reasons), traveled to certain countries that aren’t necessarily forbidden but might not be the most friendly to the US (ditto), and at least a couple other reasons. Thankfully, that went away for me after a year or so.

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I would get them when flying on a one way ticket

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The link… it is not so much working.

Boo Hoo. I always travel for the DOD, I have never been in any trouble with the law, ever. I am not a member of any groups. I am white, clean-cut and polite. I travel almost constantly worldwide, and have done so for 25 years. Yet I am always given the “SSSSS” designation, and put through the whole stupid routine. Every single time.

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I think that this further proves that the TSA is a joke.

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My dad was, for a short while, put under heavy surveillance when he flew. The TSA agent told him that it was because he had a common name.

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Apparently the SSSS stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection. What do 5 S’s stand for?

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There was a time when you got screened up the wazoo if your name was David Nelson.

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My crime resulted in a loss of profits to several businesses. No one was injured. And it wasn’t even a felony.

All right, but I want to know what he did to get on the terrorist list, cut a power cord? Glue a keyhole? Blast Spice Girls songs 24/7 from military grade loudspeakers??

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When I was flying 4S, it was to handle a messy aftermath of a messy death of an estranged relative. Everything about that trip was awful, but the sadistic power tripping I encountered from these guys put the experience beyond awful. I’m no longer on the list, but I still don’t fly if I can help it. I suppose as far as the TSA is concerned, that’s “mission accomplished”.

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I used to be SSSS quite often when I traveled with flexible and changing itineraries (flexible in terms of times, not destinations) through the US for business. It really wasn’t a big deal. I applied through the TSA website for a review of any special status I may have inadvertently acquired. They don’t reply (they say they won’t) but shortly thereafter the SSSS disappeared from my passes, never to return.From that time forward, I also had MUCH less questioning at US immigration when entering the US.

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That’s pretty much everywhere then?

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I never counted them. maybe there are just four,

“Boo hoo.”

I have this distinct idea of who you are as a person, and that person is rather hyperbolic (ironic, right?).

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So what you’re saying is that you’re not as educated on the subject as you are trying to make it seem? You don’t say!

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My guess is some reactionary, standing-up-to-the-man activity like squatting in a vacant property - all as a political statement, of course - the fact that it saved on rent for six months is coincidental.

Certainly no reason to be classed as terrorist.
Mind you, judging by his attitude to … um … anyone else, I’d say that he should be classed as obnoxious a**hole.

What I find most ironic is the personal level of his spite to TSA workers and the way he seems to think that he is the one who “wins” each time he meets one.
Whatever the case, he is just another attitude-laden loser whose journeys are made that little bit more stressful because he thinks that his “political” opinions trounce the laws of the land (be they right or wrong) pfft.

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I wonder what the TSA agents would do if you added more Ses to the four the airline printed on your boarding pass?

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It says on his site that his crime included buying a tool at a hardware store for $30. I am curious but I guess my imagination is up to the task - I’ll take him at his word that it wasn’t a crime worthy of being deemed a potential security threat for the rest of his life.

I’d like to see a post from him on whether he has sought to get removed from the list through any channel and if so what the results were.

I found his writing to be funny and engaging. He’s within his rights to treat people that work for the TSA with contempt. People are capable of taking responsibility for the politics of the job they hold. See Clerks (discussion of destruction of second Death Star).

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, Suckah

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