Terror watch list redux: people being listed to meet quotas.

In light of today's ruling:

Federal judge rules U.S. no-fly list violates Constitution.

Some might say "hey, what do I care, this doesn't affect me, I haven't done anything wrong".

Well, in the New United States, you don't have to do anything "wrong" (like say you don't like the government).

Just wanted to remind people that you could be added to a government terror list for no reason at all.

This story is from 2006, but I doubt anything has changed under Obama:

Marshals: Innocent People Placed On 'Watch List' To Meet Quota.

Some federal air marshals say they're reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it.

The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they're required to submit at least one report a month. If they don't, there's no raise, no bonus, no awards and no special assignments.

"Innocent passengers are being entered into an international intelligence database as suspicious persons, acting in a suspicious manner on an aircraft ... and they did nothing wrong," said one federal air marshal.

a reply to: gladtobehere

Regarding the quota system...

I note one important part of the article, and it has nothing to do with the management branch of the Marshals.

The quota being filled affects the performance review of the Air Marshal involved, whether or not he or she gets a raise, and so on. But it does not state anywhere in that article that those Air Marshals are in danger of losing their jobs if they do not fill an SDR every month.

Also, filling out an SDR means adding to the "intelligence" collected to combat terrorism.

Therefore, Air Marshals are filling these things out when unnecessary, which is tantamount to running a disinformation campaign against their own government, and all because they want more money, and to get ahead in their jobs.

Sure, the system sucks, but continuing to adhere to a rule which devalues the intelligence that anti terror organisations operate from, purely to keep themselves financially solvent makes bastards of the entire mess of them. Every Marshal that followed this edict, has effectively rendered themselves enemy agents by complying with this garbage, and all for money.

Why is it that they have not, en masse, defied this edict, despite the risk to their financial security? The threat to their financial solvency is a trifling concern surely, when compared to the risk to the US, posed by bad intelligence, and the risk to the liberty of its citizens, by making overblown comments about them in some form! Have the people who went ahead and followed this order, no shame or altruism in them at all?

Hate to be the wet towel, but that's as out of context as it gets.

That story was backlash from a group of Marshals who had a 'problem' with their supervisor. Some complaints got to the supervisor about how lazy and unmanaged the Marshals were on-board the aircraft. I'd be willing to bet there was a lot more to it than just laziness ... but what I was hearing was unsubstantiated.

Anyway, the supervisor had these guys generating reports just to make sure they could account for activities on-board the aircraft. Was what they 'reported' ever entered into a database? ... I highly doubt it, but truth can be stranger than fiction.

Found my last name listed on that 3100 page list. Different first name though, that's good.

a reply to: rickymouse

Was the list on the source or linked within one of the source?
Would be curious to look at it

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: rickymouse

Was the list on the source or linked within one of the source?
Would be curious to look at it

www.no-fly-list.com...

I'M STILL FREE! I can go over seas and -"PHHHIT,thud.

I would like to point out though that the 'terrorist watchlist' and the 'no-fly list' arent exactly the same thing.

For example, I am on the 'watch list', but not the 'no-fly list'. This I can prove physically (just not on the net).

I would assume Ive never been placed on the 'no-fly' because I have never traveled commercial nor have I ever stated any intentions to.

But, the title is a bit misleading, as those are two seperate lists.