Fear the heavy hand of the TSA!

Throttling bloggers for posting information already spread widely among its workers:

The Transportation Security Administration has discovered a major new threat, and is targeting it with all methods at its disposal. No, not terrorists. The agency is going after two bloggers, Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, for exposing its whopper of a policy document, issued Christmas Day in the wake of that day's failed terrorist attack.

[snip]

The subpoenas served on the two bloggers threaten them with "fines under Title 18, United States Code, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both" if they don't turn over all information they have about the source that leaked Security Directive 1544-09-06.

Both men insist they got the document from an anonymous source, and have no idea of the individual's identity. And the government may have a hard time tracking down that source, given that the "secret" document was circulated to thousands of airlines, airports and security personnel around the world.

The security directive required, among other things, a "thorough pat-down" at boarding gates of all passengers flying into the U.S, from oveseas and an inspection of "100 percent of all passenger accessible property."

And now...

The new year is starting off pretty well for bloggers Chris Elliott and Steve Frischling, who had been targeted by the Transportation Security Administration after they posted the TSA's bizarre Christmas Day Security Directive. Elliott reports that the agency has withdrawn its subpoena against him, and that Frischling, whose laptop was confiscated, is getting a new computer courtesy of Uncle Sam.