Steven Frischling's Twitter Account Suspended!

Steven Frischling's Twitter account has been suspended for violating Twitter's terms of service!

Hey social media genius, perhaps you should not harass and threaten innocent people on Twitter! Perhaps you should not Tweet people's names, home addresses and employers, and libel them by accusing them of conspiring against you!

We of course must send heartfelt congratulations to Lufthansa USA, who invited this lame horse along to Frankfurt solely to TWEET all about today's historic flight, the first Lufthansa A380 to land at JFK. They flew him to Frankfurt and put him up in a hotel before flying him back today - all first class.

Bravo to the wise people in Lufthansa USA's PR office, Martin Riecken, Christina Semmel, and Natalie Hartman! That is money well spent! Maybe in a few days or weeks when he gets his Twitter account back he can actually Tweet about that first flight.

We wonder what the fine folk at Lufthansa Germany think about Lufthansa USA's brilliant decision to associate itself with this particular blogger?

Steven Frischling Loves Phone Sex (But Not Paying For It)!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Blogger Steven Frischling Lies About Being in Iraq

Of all the gross lies and exaggerations from Steven Frischling we have posted thus far, his tales about Iraq are possibly the most damning and offensive. (Yes, even more offensive than his lies about Sept. 11.)

Let's review the evidence and then take a look at his tales.

The RAF sometimes goes on patrol when they are not drinking in front of Steven Frischling.

Steven Frischling made his first (and evidently only) trip to Iraq in May 2003. He was not embedded with any unit. It was a public relations trip with Richard Branson (founder of Virgin) to drop off humanitarian aid at the airport in Basra. As Frischling brags repeatedly at every point, the total time on the ground was six hours. He never left the airport. The British provided security at the airport and Frischling has a picture of one of their armored vehicles in front of a sign at the airport.

His second trip to "Iraq" was in February 2004 as an embedded photographer for five days on a Coast Guard boat patrolling the Gulf, miles off the coast of Iraq. He claims to have been sent on assignment by Bloomberg News, but that is likely false. It would appear he paid his own way there and made arrangements to sell his photos to multiple agencies.

"All of my ventures into Iraq were for Bloomberg News. Bloomberg is a Financial News Service." Digital Wedding Forum, 5/22/07

However, the same photos from his boat trip appear on WorldPicturesNews (search for Frischling Iraq") and Getty tagged as Bloomberg. Bloomberg, according to our research, would not send a photographer on assignment and then allow him or her to resell the same images to some web agency. Outtakes, yes, but not the same images it paid for.

There are no other discussions, photographs or message board threads that would support Steven Frischling's claim of going to Iraq any other time.

However, as you will see, Steven Frischlings claims to have been to Iraq multiple times, has been shot at, has had "things exploding" near him, has been embedded with the Royal Air Force, spent "weeks" shooting in 120 degrees in Basra, had cameras fail in Iraq due to excessive dirt, has spent two weeks with the Coast Guard in Iraq, has won awards for his coverage of the Iraq war, and has hung out with drunken British soldiers in Basra!

It's all quite literally unbelievable.

Let's start with clarifying just how long he was on that Coast Guard ship...

"I recently received an e-mail from someone while I was overseas. I was unable to get online, or get any e-mail for five days, as I was in the middle of the Arabian Gulf on a Coast Guard Cutter." SportsShooter, 2/17/04

But that time suddenly grew from five days into two weeks!

"On an assignment in Iraq I had two 1D bodies and a 10D. One 1D's CCD became filthy and I switched to a 1D/10D combo. While I was extremely impressed with the performance of the 10D for the two weeks it was attached to me" Digital Wedding Forum 2/28/07

"While out with the US Coast Guard in Iraq one of my 1D CCDs got so dirty I switched to the 10D (my backup). The EOS 10D did almost 2 weeks with me in Iraq, out in some really nasty conditions and it performed flawlessly." Digital Wedding Forum, 7/30/06

He claims he has been to Iraq "multiple times" as well as other "areas of conflict" (WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS?)

"I have been to Iraq multiple times as a photographer, as well as other areas of conflict. When I have gone into an area of conflict I have to weigh my safety and security vs the subject I am shooting." Digital Wedding Forum, 11/08

His photos from Iraq were so fantastic, they won awards... (WHICH ONES?!)

"I have won awards for photos I have shot in the US, Canada the UK and Iraq. Does that make me international award winning? The awards are all US awards though (and I don't list them anywhere on my resume or profile because really, I don't put alot of stock in awards)" Digital Wedding Forum, 7/7/06

Remember his photo of the Royal Air Force at the Basra airport? Now he's been embedded with them!

"I was also an embedded journalist with both the British Military and the United States Military in Iraq." Digital Wedding Forum, 11/24/07

"I have been to Iraq with both the USGC and the RAF." Digital Wedding Forum, 5/22/07

Not only was he embedded with the Royal Air Force, he claims the British soldiers were drunk! Our photographer sources, who have photos to prove they actually have been to war zones, are adamant that alcohol is strictly prohibited in a combat zone and on bases and they never witnessed drunken American or British soldiers.

"Your wedding sounds scarier than my trips to Iraq in the past few years!.........although I was with some drunken heavily armed members of the RAF at one point in Basrah. Luckily a wedding didn't break out!" Digital Wedding Forum, 12/12/05

He claims to have suffered through extreme heat for weeks in Basra, with temperatures up to 120 Farenheit. Average temperature in May is 95 degrees Farenheit. Had he been there in the summer when it actually gets that hot (in the summer instead of in May), he would have surely mentioned the extreme humidity that they experience in Basra due to its proximity to the Gulf.

"I spent two weeks out shooting in weather than would go from around 120F in the day time to a cool 90F in the evenings while out in Basrah, Iraq." Digital Wedding Forum, 7/8/07

Not only was it hot, but he's been under attack! (NO PHOTOS TO BACK THIS UP)

"no more trips to a hot desert with things being fired at me or items exploding near me." Digital Wedding Forum, 2/8/07

He claims he's captured "scenes of war" (NO PHOTOS TO BACK THIS UP)

"I have documented the psychological struggle of first responders, the problems officers face when working in drug infested housing projects, the aftermath of hurricanes and floods, the scenes and emotions and two terrorist attacks (1993 and 2001) in NYC, been in the morgue following plane crashes and the scenes of war, as well as other life shaping events" Digital Wedding Forum, 5/22/07

He brags he was in "an active combat zone" (NO PHOTOS TO BACK THIS UP)

"I have worked in some close quarters, under some very intense situations. Walking into a house with paramedics to watch them tell a woman her father is dead and they need to call the coroner; working 1-on-1 with a presidential candidate ; getting into nasty situations while documenting law enforcement; being in the field in an active combat zone with the military, etc......these are things that have all taught how to be a fly on the wall."  Digital Wedding Forum, 7/19/07

It gets better. He claims to have nearly been "detained" for mouthing off to a "state trooper" in front of the state trooper's "supervisor" at a TSA checkpoint on his way to Basra for having a bulletproof vest. This is absurd considering he was only going to the heavily fortified airport. (Why would a TSA agent be seeking advice and assistance from a state trooper at an airport security checkpoint?)

"A few months ago my wise @$$ mouth almost got me detained before an international flight. I had my bullet proof vest in my carry on (I only had carry on) when security pulled it from my bag and handed it to a State Trooper at Logan airport. The Trooper asked "What is this?" My response was "You should know, you're wearing one." He asked why I had it and I told him I was off to Basrah, he responded with "I've heared it is pretty safe in the southern region of Iraq ." my response was "There were four shooting homocides in the Yukon Territory last year and a few hundred dead in Southern Iraq yesterday, I'll be sure to leave my vesy home when I go to Canada."
The Trooper was not amussed, luckily his supervisor was there and actully was ammused and prevented the Statie from taking my stuff to another area to have a little chat with me.....whew." Sports Shooter, 10/4/03

His cameras have seen it all and have "survived" (as they should) so many important "assignments"

"All the bodies have 1,000,000+ frames shot. Two of the bodies have survived multiple assignments in Iraq, all have enjoyed stints at the Final Four, World Series, Presidential pool gigs, etc........." Digital Wedding Forum, 9/16/07

"My bodies have not only done weddings, but have also been to war with me, riots with me, blown thousands of cycles covering NFL seasons MLB seasons, NCAA football, basketball and hockey seasons along with the daily assignments that don't require as much abuse." Digital Wedding Forum, 8/17/06

He claims that his camera got so dirty it was unusable. Keep in mind he was on the water at the time, where dirt should not be an issue.

"My 1D bodies have been to hell and back, literally and been just fine. While out with the US Coast Guard in Iraq one of my 1D CCDs got so dirty I switched to the 10D (my backup). The EOS 10D did almost 2 weeks with me in Iraq, out in some really nasty conditions and it performed flawlessly" Digital Wedding Forum, 7/30/06

"My lenses have survived riots, floods, hurricanes, war zones, blizzards, disaster sites and yes even a few weddings" Digital Wedding Forum, 3/9/07

He claims he was going to be embedded with US Air Force 439 AeroMed Evac Squadron but his adoring girlfriend Susannah Seefeldt refused to let him go. (Was the 439, which appears to be a reservist unit, even involved in Iraq at this time?)

"She nixed me going to cover the 439 AeroMed Evac Squadron as a short term "embed" photog. I really wanted to shoot it, but she was certain she did not want me to go, so I stayed home." Sports Shooter, 4/25/03

To add an even more absurd angle to this, he tries to give advice and directions about how to make arrangements to work in Iraq, even though he has never been outside the airport! He is immediately corrected by photographers who have actually been to Iraq and point out how dangerous it is for him to be spreading his bullshit.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=10130

Think of the thousands of soldiers, civilians and journalists who have been killed and injured in Iraq over the past eight years. These people truly had rockets fired at them and things exploding next to them. That Frischling would lie and claim this all happened to him, while insulting the British soldiers by implying they are a bunch of drunks, is further evidence of his sick need to seek attention for himself at all costs.

The fact that he continues to call himself a "journalist," and that Randy Petersen continues to host his blog on BoardingArea.com, is nothing if not disgusting.

Steven Frischling Assaulted by (Gigantic) Hugh Grant!

Umbrella-wielding maniac Hugh Grant

Is there no end to his fascinating adventures?

Yet another golden FishTale from the 1990s, apparently a most unfortunate time for Steven Frischling in his storied career as a "photojournalist." In addition to being assaulted by police, being nearly killed by Hurricane Georges and destroying a lens by dropping into onto Olympic ice, it seems Frischling was assaulted by movie star Hugh Grant in 1996!

Yes, according to Steven Frischling, the towering "Huge" Grant struck him in the head with his umbrella, leaving "an ugly gash."

We imagine you would need to be whipped quite hard by an umbrella to leave "an ugly gash." And it sounds like quite a scene, as Frischling claims he "almost punched out" a production assistant!

Unfortunately you will have to take Steven Frischling's word for it (which we do not recommend in any situation ever). Even though "Huge" Grant was already one of the most famous actors in the world, nobody has ever heard this story before! This certainly would have been one of earliest incidents of a star attacking a paparazzo (or "papparazzo" as Frischling would spell it).

Perhaps "Huge" Grant struck everyone in the head with his mighty umbrella to erase their memories? Or maybe he picked up the tiny little witnesses in his gigantic hands and shook them to and fro?

And again, you will have to ask Steven Frischling why he has no photos of "Huge" Grant coming after him with an umbrella, which surely would have sold for quite a nice sum.

alt.journalism.photo: "Papparazzi"

FishFotoJr Apr 16 1996, 1:00 am

Ahhhhhh........

Today I was one of them(papparazzi), I feel dirty and keep showering, but
still the filth of what they do is on me.

Ahhhhhhh..............

(almost had Huge Grant take my eye out with an umbrella, and almost punched out a production ass't)

Steven E. Frischling
Freelance News Photographer
NYPD Working Press #0067

Too young to be respected; Too old to not be taken seriously; INVINCIBLE!;
Fear was just a word in the dictionary; Life was a right, not a gift;
Death was only a concept; STRENGTH!--Nikon F4s ad 1992

-----------------------------------------------------

R. Clayton McKee Apr 17 1996, 1:00 am

FishFotoJr <fishfot...@aol.com> wrote:
>Today I was one of them(papparazzi), I feel dirty and keep showering, but
>still the filth of what they do is on me.
>Steven E. Frischling
>Freelance News Photographer
>NYPD Working Press #0067

Get thee hence, foul vermin!!
--
R. Clayton McKee
Photojournalist/Writer <> cmc...@brewich.com
P O Box 571900 <> 713/783-3502 voice
Houston, TX 77257-1900 <> 713/327-6120 pager

-----------------------------------------------------

Neil Barker Apr 22 1996, 1:00 am

In article: <4l1lob$...@newsbf02.news.aol.com> fishfot...@aol.com
(FishFotoJr) writes:
> Today I was one of them(papparazzi), I feel dirty and keep showering,
> but still the filth of what they do is on me.
*Grin*
> (almost had Huge Grant take my eye out with an umbrella, and almost
> punched out a production ass't)

Could have been worse - he could have mistook you for Divine....
--
Neil Barker : n...@nbarker.demon.co.uk
Birmingham, England.

-----------------------------------------------------

FishFotoJr Apr 23 1996, 1:00 am

Neil,

At least Devine got a million dollar book deal out of it, and about 5,000
pounds off the bat from Rex Features to pose for some photos (I used to do
work for REX USA Ltd (REX Features, London) ) and this had been mentioined
in their officer right after the event.

I just got an ugly gash over my eyelid.

Steven E. Frischling
Freelance News Photographer
NYPD Working Press #0067

Seven months later, he brings the incident up on NPPA, repeating that he was "cut" over the eye by Hugh Grant:

bit.listserv.nppa-l: "This is a working street."

Steven E. Frischling Sep 11 1996, 1:00 am

The last movie set I shot cost me a cut over my eye from Huge Grant. He was
filming whatever that movie that is out now with him and Gene Hackman.

I was informed that if Huge could see the lens I was to close and I would be
arrested, come on this is NYC, what the %$#& were they thinking? The film
crew had effectivly the closed 6th Ave and 23rd Street (no small feet in
Manhattan). The "media relations" person had stated he had a problem the day
before and today did not want to see the press, so he tried to have myself
and the other photogs thrown off the street, the DCPI (Police person in
charge) laughed at the film crew's request. As photographers do a few of us waited by his tour bus to shoot Huge Grant one photog ducked, I was dumb and caught and umbrella just over my eye.

This was so unusual that other photographers inquired as to whether it could have been an accident, and if not, whether he filed a lawsuit? But no, Steven Frischling said he would never do such a thing, worrying about how it would be "persived" and how it might lump the working press in with the "papazarri!" Plus it's no big deal for him, as he covers "violent situations mostly." Scoop just wanted to slap on a Band-Aid and go back to work!

Frischling also adds that obviously Hugh was in such a bad mood in April 1996 because he had "just been caught with hooker a few weeks before," however, this occurred nearly a full year before, in June 1995.

Steven E. Frischling Sep 12 1996, 1:00 am

Alex,

I am fairly sure that when he grumbled and pushed his umbrella into my head it was deliberate, he had to lower the umbrella about 4 inches to do so.

Grant is somewhat knows for being an @$$#@!* with photographers on the set.
I feel that if I had tried to sue Grant I would have been persived most
likley as a money grubbing paparazzi rather than a stringer who took the
assignment he was dealt that day. Despite my somewhat over anxious ego that
comes accross online I am not a glory hunter, yes I do have a big mouth
though, but I do not want to come off as a person who wants to be in the
tabloid , or use a bad incident for financial gains. In NYC the "working
press" often get lumped with the papazarri when shooting movie sets and the
job is hard enough as it is, if a photographer sued a star for something
that could have been avoided if Grant was in a better mood (or not just been
caught with hooker a few weeks before in Hollywood) then the shooting areas
become more restricted causing a harder job for other photographers.

The Celebrities often claim that the photographer provoked them into their
actions, so they see thier actions as justified, this makes photojournalists
look really bad in the eye of the public who often side with the celebrity,
never mind that fact they just injured a photographer. As for me, I was
standing their out of his way, just got a bad break. Besides I cover violent
situations mostly , no biggie on the scar list :-)

I got my $110 for my time, a few rolls of film, and a assignment later than
evening, I was pissed, but ready to forget it , put on a band-aid and go back
to work.

Steven E. Frischling
Freelance News Photographer
1(800)662-5306

"I'm broke, but I'm happy"

It seems you sure dodged a bullet there Mr. Huge! Good thing you assaulted a photographer with such high integrity!

Happy Lying!

Steven Frischling's Disaster on Ice

Olympic hockey arena in Lake Placid, site of Steven Frischling's finest hour

Here is yet another FishTale that has changed over time, and as he moved his online persona to a new forum.

First he mentions that he worked for Harvard University for one year, which included photographing the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) hockey championships, which was held at the Olympic hockey arena in Lake Placid from 1993 to 2002.

3/20/03 on SportsShooter

"In 93-94 I shot for Harvard's S.I.D. Fun gig to get at 18, considering Harvard won the Bean Pot, the ECAC and went to MN to NCAA Div 1 Finals where they kicked @$$. "

Four years later and the story is dramatically different, as he is now shooting the ECAC for an unnamed wire service! Not only that, he claims this unnamed wire service shipped him a brand new $5,000 lens just for the event! Our photographer readers say this is ridiculous. A professional might loan a newcomer such a valuable lens in person, but no way would a wire service ship a brand new one to an 18 year old!

In this story, he claims he was in the catwalks above the arena (where the lights are installed) and another photographer bumped him, causing his camera and the $5,000 lens to go crashing to the ice below!

May 3, 2007 Digital Wedding Forum

"My Nikon F3hp w/MD-4 once fell from the top of the catwalks high above the Olympic Hockey Arena in Lake Placid, New York. The 4 day old Nikkor 300f2.8 AF-I (the wire service I worked for had it delivered 4 days before what I am about to describe) with F3hp were being secured to the railing of the catwalk facing the goal. I had just begun securing the rig when another photog bumped into me, crossing behind me (a direct violation of working in the catwalks in Lake Placid) and my F3hp with the 300f2.8 AF-I fell more than 100 feet to the ice below.

The 300f2.8 AF-I was totally destroyed. It was a $5,000+ loss (it was insured, but I was 18 years old and terrified to make the phone call) . The F3hp had a totaled prisim (which you can pop off and replace) but despite it no longer working in aperture priority and the meter not being accurate, the body works perfectly. I managed to get a prisim shipped overnight and shot away for three days of NCAA Division 1 hockey (without the 300f2.8).

Is there any body besides a Nikon F3hp you can drop 100+ feet and still use 14 years later?

Luckily this was 7 or 8 hours before game time and no one was on the ice. The whole wreck caused a major crack and pot hole in the ice that needed to be repaired. The photog who bumped me had his credentials removed by the NCAA."

He claims that the lens was destroyed, and though it was insured, he was "too terrified to make the phone call." What does that mean? He paid to replace it himself? It was a gift from the wire service so he just shrugged it off to bad luck? Which wire service is this?

Additionally, he claims he told off a Harvard student who was giving him trouble:

January 23, 2008 SportsShooter

"I spent a year working as a photog for Harvard University's Sports Information Department. At some point during a conversation a grad student remarked to me, rather snottily "Well you know I go to Harvard." I smiled and snapped back " I got to Harvard 4 days a week and they pay me to do it!""

How very clever!

Thank you photographers who are filling our inbox with these catches. Even if we read these stories back to back we would not have caught it was the same event.

Happy Lying!

Steven Frischling's Category 5 Hurricane Tale!

Hurricane Georges: Frischling is under it somewhere

Once again we are presented with a Steven Frischling FishTale that becomes increasingly dramatic over time. In 1998, while Hurricanes Georges was bearing down on the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, Frischling claims the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) specifically called him (then a 23 year old freelance photographer) to accompany them to Florida! Frischling was faced with such a quandary over this situation that he posted the following to the National Press Photographers List:

from NPPA-L 9/27/98:

"On Friday FEMA contacted me and offered to  take me along on their releif mission to Florida from Andrews Air Force  Base outside of D.C. ( I live by JFK Airport in NY), they changed that  to The Gulf area, no problem.  Upon arrival at Andrews I am informed  that FEMA scrubbed the mission, but The Red Cross will help me out and  hook me up...no problem.  The Red Cross has always been helpful.  As of  Saturday morning I was supposed to goto Atlanta with a few staffers  (mostly nurses and mental health workers), 20 minutes after that call I  was informed that I'd have to drive to Atlanta from DC and meet them  (these people were leaving from Dulles Airport, outside DC).   and this  is how it has gone for three days now.  

I have decided that if I have no garuntee way to get what is my intended  assignment to head back to NY tomorrow morning.   I believe this  assignment to no longer be in my best interest for economic and time  reasons.   I discusses this with two folks before asking it on here  because one said departing the assignment is the best way to go, and the  other essentially told me "it is unmanly t give up"   Am I missing an  angle here?   3 days of non-stop conversations with FEMA, The D.O.D.,  Red Cross and military services where information gets lost and help is  always 2 steps away of red tape for me to get to......any suggestions or  is going back up to NY making more sense?  ....ack..... ( I love/hate this job, such a fine line between love and  hate, almost an illusion)" 

There is no follow up to the list to indicate that he did indeed go anywhere. You have to believe there would be, considering the dramatic scenes he later went on to describe in detail. In the next story, he actually did fly along with the U.S. Air Force to Puerto Rico. However their C5 military transport plane (which weighs 550,000 pounds empty) was apparently blown away by the winds!

from SportsShooter 9/26/02:

"A few years ago ('98?) I flew to Rosie Roads NAS via the good folks at the USAF to photograph preperations for Hurricane George. The flight was fairly simple, 4hr flight there, 4-6hrs on the ground, 4hr flight back (to Dover, DE, AFB). Nice relaxing flight, myself, a CBS twoperson crew, and the PIO. We land, we start to wander around, we go into the villages around the Air Statdion, we come back our C-5 was gone! 

All the cargo aircraft were ordered off the ground! Well at least I got some nice photos, and got back to my car in Delaware eventually (no ticket on the windshield :0) )"

Three years later, the story has become even more dramatic, and is now a life-and-death situation. This time he had to seek shelter in an aircraft hanger and the roof was ripped right off!

from Digital Wedding Forum 11/9/05:

"I protect my gear no matter where I am, which includes having taken my own gear to not only weddings (for the bride and groom and as a news photog), in hurricanes, blizzards, war zones, dozens of riots, countless baseball and football games (in New England, so lots of sports in down pours, ice storms and blizzards), etc etc etc. ....and a rain storm in Florida is probably a lighter rain than having your own gear in Puerto Rico while covering a hurricane (which ripped the roof off the aircraft hanger I was using for shelter)" 

Like all these other ridiculous situations he describes, we challenge Frischling to present photographic evidence that it ever occurred. Where are his hurricane photos? He even claims "at least I got some nice photos." Surely he is not so unprofessional that he "lost" all his photos. So where are they? Why are they not on his own website?

Happy Lying!

This Just In.... Steven Frischling Was Shot!

You can't make this stuff up! (Actually, he can.)

More from the treasure trove of Frischling FishTales! This time he discusses his fantastic combat skills and mentions he's been shot (we suspect in the head) and beaten (again we suspect around the head).

We're also quite concerned about his repeated use of the word "homocide." Just because people have a different lifestyle does not mean they deserve to be a victim of homocide!

bit.listserv.nppa-l: best shots come from little guy

Steven Frischling 10/1/97 

>So please remember, as the bullets fly around you and people are chasing
>you with iron bars, you have to be able to distill the situation in your
>mind and react fast enough to take the photos.
>
>It is a matter of skill and knowledge. 

Who's been shot more: Fiddy or Fishy?

Just a thought, these images happen right here in the U.S. of A., as well about 10 blocks from my house.  Although I have done some work overseas, the I.R.A. & Skinheads, I do my work here in my backyard and in other areas of the U.S. , I am not winning awards, and don't really care to, I am not world known, globe trotting and heavily published weekly, but  I do and have dodged bullets and have been chased by people with iron bars, I have had my bones broken, stiches requied to heal the wound, and have had to dispose of pannels on a bullt proof vest because it was used to protect myself. 

I have a number of images of gun play upclose & personal, have a few photos of guns being aimed at me, photos of riot situations from inside the riot & so on, I do not need to travel to find the wars, they are here.   I spend a lot of time when I can in the inner cities and in heavy drug & homocide areas , from parts of NYC to East Palo Alto (the homocide capitol of the US for 2 years). 

I had done a long story on a ravaged project, one with many homocides, and kidnapings , rapes & anything else you could find, an agency I had dealt with was totally unable to sell the images because it was from here in the U.S., so no US, Canadian or UK market was interested, it was suggested that I take my combat skills, and ideas for showing the story to somewhere like Israel's Gaza Strip or West Bank or Croatia.  The story is 100% different there, the images are dfferent , I shot this because it where I live, and I was shot & beaten and chased and no one cared because it was here.   That bothers me, but I still do it because I believe in the story being at home, I believe in the story being where you live, because that is where you should make a difference first. 

Please do not think dangers on exist overseas, sometimes they happen just over the highway. 

Steven E. Frischling
Freelance Photojournalist
New York City
1(800)662-5306
-No One Gets Out Alive, It's Only Life After All

By the way, where can we see these amazing photos he describes? Where are his photos of covering the IRA, or having a gun aimed at him or being inside a riot? Exactly when did this occur? Why aren't these surely incredible photos on his website?

Happy Lying!

Frischling Takes Control of Accident Scene from 22 Inept State Troopers!

Never Fear, Frischling's Here!

Yet another fantastic FishTale on the NPPA list. It seems Frischling arrived at the scene of an accident surrounded by "litterally" 16 state police cars. The policemen knew nothing about medical care it seems, so Frischling "took control of the scene" to save the day!

bit.listserv.nppa-l: Rendering Aid at wreck

Steven Frischling 9/4/97 

You are correct about EMT (or equivelent) training, most states have 150hrs of training, CFR (CFR-D in a few states) is about 100 hrs. In the Red Cross first aid classes they teach you not to move apatient if not qualified to do so, or prepared to so in a stable manner with a qualified person.  If the circumstances are such that they person is in arrest, car is unstable or further injury is inevitable then you remove the person from the situation because C-Spine injury is not at the top of the triage scale for life threatening injuries, although it can be crippling. 

The S stands for Steven!

Last week on my way to cover  an NY State Trooper' Funeral as I pulled up the highway exit I was quite litterally 16 NY State Police cars on the shoulder and pulled over.  I saw a car that had obviously rolled at a high speed and slammed a tree pinning one door.   Befre I arrived the Troopers asked the victim if she could walk and had her climb over the seat to the passengers seat (the back seat was gone as was most of the full metal roof).  Then were then moving her head around to wipe the blood off.  These are considered profesional rescuers , they carry a full medical box in their vehicle and NY State Troopers who's primary function on Long Island is Highway Patrol must see enugh accidents to not have 20 Troopers stand there as 2 Troopers further injur the victim. 

Normally this would have been a photo but I noticed things were to wrong with the scene so  I endedup taking control of the scene until the Fire Department arrived.  They were confused that a person with a press car around his neck had on gloves, shearss, stethoscope and was climbing into the shattered window.    The skills come in handy , sometimes you are not the first there, but if you can be the first to render aid properly it is just being human. 

Take a first aid, basic or advanced, class.  I don't say become a CFR, CFR-D, CMFR/CMFR-D, EMT ,Paramedic , etc....  but these are skills for life so you can fight for someones life. 

If you take a CPR class get a CPR mask, about $12 (I hate the disposable ones) because you NEVER want to put your mouth on someone elses, much like you never want to touch there blood. 

Just my $0.02 

Steven E. Frischling
Freelance Photojournalist
New York City
1(800)662-5306 

-No One Gets Out Alive, It's Only Life After All
_________________________________________

Happy Lying!

Frischling: New York Policeman Beat Me Up!

Here's a gem from the National Press Photographers Association mailing list, a goldmine of fascinating Steven Frischling FishTales. It's all now stored on Google Groups under bit.listserv.nppa-l.

In this particular adventure, Frischling describes having his head slammed into a car by a police officer, handcuffed, threatened with arrest and held for 90 minutes, then smacked in the face! The cop was "assisted" (what?) by a "volunteer medic" (what?) who was out to take revenge on Frischling because of a damaging photo Frischling had taken of the "volunteer medic" injecting someone with a needle without wearing gloves.

Frischling goes on to say that he has had 27 run-ins with this single police offer, plus more run-ins with his five buddies totalling 42 incidents over two years! (Though according to our math, what he lists adds up to 37, not 42.) Now, it is impossible to tell if any of this did or did not happen, who the officer was or even where in New York. We leave it up to you to decide if this story is credible. Our response is a hearty, "L dot O dot L dot."

A few of the responses on this mailing list are very interesting, so we include those too.

bit.listserv.nppa-l: Unwarranted Police Brutality

Steven E. Frischling 4/23/99

**WARNING THE FOLLOWING IS VENTING** 

This afternoon on my way to the bank I stopped to photograph an auto accident with entrapment, happened right in front of the bank.  As I stepped out of my car, no cameras in hand or anything, a cop who I have had minor run-ins with in the past came up behind me, pushing me, which resulted in my head being slammed into the car.  Following the unexpected head slam I was hand cuffed and held for 90 minutes, and given five field interviews. In the process the officer tried every single tactic he could to take me in, and in the processed enlisted the help of a local volunteer Medic (who is upset that I shot and published photo of him sticking a patient with a needle while not wearing gloves). 

The list of general reasons the officer tried to me arrested for are long and ended up being tied into two storied which did not go together and generated by two sources, one the cop, the other the medic.  The officer ran my car's VIN number for ownership, then ran me for wants-and-warrants. He tried to find a statute that would not allow me to pull off to the shoulder to photograph the extrication, when he found it, I informed him that I had an NYC Police Vehicle ID in my windshield, after he checked it out, he was informed that Nassau County accepts the NYC ID. The officer proceeded to check for me having an unregistered bullet proof vest in my car, after checked the panel numbers of the vest he learned I did own the vest and had registered the panel numbers with the NYC Police. Next angle was my radios, he lost that one when County Public Affairs notified him that an NYC Police Vehicle, ID allows for mobile one way radios, and that two-way radios are unregulated if they are a CB, and my other two way portable was set up for a private user (Metro Traffic and if I have a valid ID I can have and use it). The medic chimed in that I had a Star-of-Life sticker  on my back window, and maybe that constituted me impersonating an EMT (knowing my NYState EMT just expired), so they ran a check on me for that and were informed that that matter has to be dealt with by the NY State Dept. of Health or Dept. of Transportation, and not County Police, as well the sticker is in no way illegal to have on the car, esspecially if I am certifed in any area of EMS in another state, which I am.  After all of this, and a few other things,included the repeated question of is a freelance photog to be considered working journalists with county issued press credentials (public affairs said that I was a working journalist and they should give me my ID back).  I was let go with a solid backhand smack to the mouth, for what I don't know, I was still in cuffs and then released. 

The only thing they had on me was a non-arrestable or ticketable offense.  I have 30 days to transfer my California drivers licesne to New York State.  The fact that I have Conn. plates on my car is legal, as they werre informed by the Dispatcher, and DMV. 

I hope this makes some sense, I just a little pissed off right now.  I would go find a lawyer, except the only witnesses to the incident are three police officer and a vollie Medic who is also a full time County Police Medic. 

I know all I need to do right now is document  this situation, and be calm and clear on Monday in court when I have to appear for a notice to appear ticket that was served to me,  by this cop about a month ago while photographing a medi-vac on a Parkway, the charge was "Impeding Justice." I can find no law against this, as an accident is not justice, but medical rescue, and the Parkway is the State jurisdication, not the county's.
 If anyone has the comment of "you should not be shooting MVA's save it for  yourself."  Maybe I am wrong in this feeling, but I dislike having my head slammed into the hood of my car, being held in cuffs for 90 minutes and being smacked in the mouth. 

Happy Hunting Y'all 

Steven E. Frischling
Photojournalist
1(516)791-6114 - Voice
1(630)982-5179 - Fax
ste...@frischling.com
http://www.frischling.com/steven
                  -
Basic Elemental, Instinct To Survive,
Stirs The Higher Passions, Thrill To Be Alive 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

JJDubs 4/23/99 

Got any witnesses? 

John J. Watkins 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steven E. Frischling 4/23/99 

---- Begin Original Message ----
Got any witnesses?
John J. Watkins
---- End Original Message ---- 

John:
Yes, I have 3 witnesses, none of whom will be any help at all.  Two police officers, and a Vollie Medic who's fulltime job is as a County Police Paramedic, same medic mentioned in the rant. 

I am trying to get the swelling on my jaw line to show up on film,, no such luck, and the bump/mound on the side of my head under my hair, so no way to shoot that. Will see my Doc in the AM and have him look at it and document it. I am sure the bruises will hold over night if not iced that much.  Not a lot of discolouring, but swelling is obvious. 

Steven E. Frischling
Photojournalist
1(516)791-6114 - Voice
1(630)982-5179 - Fax
ste...@frischling.com
http://www.frischling.com/steven                
           -
Basic Elemental, Instinct To Survive,
Stirs The Higher Passions, Thrill To Be Alive
                  -
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Sean and Melanie Elliot 4/23/99  

Fish, Thanks for venting.  It makes a fascinating narrative.  I'm afraid I can't feel a whole lot of sympathy (not that you were asking) that you had trouble with police and ems whith whom you have a "history". 

It might be time to move to a different venue and see if you can build positive relations with cops and ems there instead of banging your head (pun intened) against the proverbial brick wall where you are now. 

This is not a flame.  You do fine work, but you do seem to have more problems per capita than most shooters I know. 

Sean
<------------>
Sean D. Elliot
The Day (New London, CT)
s.el...@newlondonday.com
<-----------------------> 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Steven E. Frischling 4/23/99
---- Begin Original Message ----
This is not a flame.  You do fine work, but you do seem to have more problems per capita than most shooters I know. Sean
<------------>
Howdy Sean: 

I have a somewhat high amount of incidents with the same six police officers in my local precinct.  The Medic is a County Police Medic in my local precinct.  My relations with about 90% of my local precinct is pretty darn good, up to an including the local precincts web site has a number of my photos on the home page. I have a long standing problem with one cop, his ex-partner and at times this medic (who is related to one of the cops, the one I had a problem with today).  The other three cops are all friendly with, or rotating partners with the cop I originally had a problem with. 

The initial problem never needed to happen. I was photographing a blood drive at a local fire house, and this cop was giving blood in uniform. I asked the cop if I could shoot him giving blood and a photo of him ran in the local paper giving me a thumbs up and smiling.  Turns out cops cannot give blood on duty and he was suspended for three days.  Ever since then he had been taking his anger out on me at any scene I am at. Aside from the medic being related to one of the cops I have a problem with, I shot a photo of him sticking a patient with a "hot stick", ie: not through an IV tube, and with out gloves.  Hot sticking is against medical proticol, and he was fined $200, as well he was not wearing any gloves on a heavy bleading victim, another $200 fine, and he had to sit through a refresher class on an unpaid day off.  So it is not out of the blue with these two guys, the other four are taking out these two guys vengence on me, I understand that. I do not agree with that. 

So while my problems might be high per capita, it is 27 documented run ins with the cop who started the problem, 6 (now 7) with his ex-partner, 3 with the medic and three other cops that make up the 6 I have run ins with.  There should be a limit to this kind or stuff, I think two years and 42 incidents has more than made up for these guys breaking the rules and getting caught on film. 

I did  not take your e-mail as a flame.  And my work could be better as of late, but thanks :0) 

Steven E. Frischling
Photojournalist
1(516)791-6114 - Voice
1(630)982-5179 - Fax
ste...@frischling.com
http://www.frischling.com/steven
           -
Basic Elemental, Instinct To Survive,
Stirs The Higher Passions, Thrill To Be Alive

                  -

Our leading suspects:

Happy Lying!

Steven Frischling: Genius Social Media Consultant

Steven Frischling's Twitter strategy: pure gold

Someone who must have just stumbled across this site asked in a comment, "Who is Fish?"

New visitors, we introduce you to Steven Frischling aka Fish, the most brilliant social media mind of all time!

Apparently he is not happy with some things on this site that cast serious doubt on his credibility, so he has decided that the most effective strategy is to use social media to drive as many people here as possible.

In fact, last Thursday and Friday he nonstop ranted and raved with more conspiracy theories as to who is behind the site. Team Frischling then created a fake Twitter (@yuckystalkers) to harass these people.

The result? Record traffic for this site.

As requested, here are some screenshots of last week's traffic that we copied over the weekend, representing traffic over the past week and over the past month:

That giant spike you see around the first week of February occurred when the photography industry got a hold of this site. 

Clearly, Frischling should use himself as a case study to attract clients. Let's say something unpleasant has come out about an airline, such as one or more employees setting up a blog leaking information that compromises the airline's credibility in the industry. Using Frischling's own actions as a template, here are the first 12 steps the airline should do to undo any damage:

Steven Frischling's Guide to Social Media Damage Control: Adapted for Airlines

1. Using the airline's official Twitter channel, spend several days discussing the unflattering blog with all of the airline's followers
2. The airline should put up its own blog defending itself and its practices while addressing a small fraction of the issue at hand. Be sure to admit shoddy business practices occurred in the past.
3. Tweet that the company has no problem having their own data/security independently verified and this is perfectly ethical.
4. When someone asks to independently verify the data/security, the company should then change its mind and say it will not allow this because it would be unethical.
5. Speculate wildly on Twitter as to who is behind the blog. Repeatedly refer to the employee as "our airline's stalker." The more times the airline announces it has finally discovered for certain who is behind it all, the more credibility it will reclaim.
6. When the airline thinks it has identified two flight attendants as the people who made the site, ignore all other business and have a full meltdown on Twitter for at least 24-36 hours. Discuss the people who are challenging your credibility as much as possible. This step is the most important to the strategy because your airline wants as many people as possible to visit the unflattering blog.  
7. Tweet your suspects' full names, cities and states they live in. Be sure to Tweet that the police will be there any minute, and that you have people breaking into their Twitter account.
8. The airline should set up a Twitter account such as @yuckystalkers (note: this step may require hiring an 8 year old girl to come up with such a good name) to harass the employees and their husbands.
9. Be sure to Tweet innocently that one of your airline's fans has set up the Twitter account, because this is very believable and everyone will be fooled.
10. When you see that one of the husband's Twitter handle identifies him as a lawyer, don't let this stop your company from openly harassing him.
11. Announce on Twitter that your airline has a contract for a lawyer, and is trying to establish how to raise donations to pay for legal expenses. Do not worry that this will expose your airline's serious financial problems and cast further doubt on its credibility. 
12. When you find out there's no evidence against these employees, start over. Announce you've caught a new suspect, Tweet a residential address in a third state and announce that the "mastermind" behind all of this lives there.

Nothing short of brilliant. This method should be employed not just by airlines, but by anyone facing a PR crisis. Governments, oil companies, disgraced politicians, celebrity criminals - all should hire Steven Frischling, the finest social media consultant out there today, to restore their credibility.

Wouldn't you hire him?

Happy Lying!

Frischling Stiffs Fellow Photographer, Part 1

It seems nobody despises Steven Frischling more than professional photographers. The pros can spot a fake when they see one, and they've been sick of his antics for years. Since they recently discovered our humble blog, the stories have been pouring in.

The following post occurred on Digital Wedding Forum, a place for wedding photographers. On July 22, 2008 a wedding photographer says that she responded to a post by Frischling who was in need of a photographer to shoot a wedding for him at the last minute because he had an emergency. She shot the wedding, he did not pay her and would not respond to her at all (sound familiar?). She noticed that during the weekend of the "emergency," he was updating his blog, and then the following weekend he shot two different weddings.

Also during this time, he was posting on the SportsShooter forum repeatedly, including about his book contract that went nowhere! Obviously he didn't think anyone from the SportsShooter forum would also be on the Wedding forum...

The frustrated photographer writes on the forum:

"What if you try to discuss the pay before hand and the photographer says:"Figure out what you need for compensation and I'll have my wife sort out how to get it done."Then when you say how is second shooter pay of $350 and he NEVER returns your emails?Then the bride contacts me and still nothing from the contracted photographer. Then you are really in a bad spot because you don't know what to do with the files or with the bride or the contracted photographer. Again, the contracted photographer has not communicated what to do with the files. What do I do?"

After some responses she continues:

"Not all of the photographers on here are generous. I have unfortunately found this out the hard way.
The photographer I filled in for has very questionable business practices. This is becoming more apparent as time goes by and he does not even email me and as other photographers surface with similar allegations. The bride contacted him and has not heard from him and she is upset. I've emailed him today and yesterday with still no response. I offered to send the files early on with very little compensation, but he never emailed me back.
This was an emergency posted ON THIS FORUM, so besides his posting, I really don't know him personally.  I can't even get him to respond to my emails and I don't have an address I could send files to. Still really don't know what to do."

Someone asked her if she has called him vs email and she responded:

"Several times. He does not call me back. He emails."

She continues:

"I felt like I was doing a favor and now I am in a difficult position. I don't know this other photographer personally, so how do I know he is not lying about his emergency? He did, after all, find time over the weekend I shot for him to post on his blog and went on to shoot two more weddings the following weekend. Maybe he has a celebrity call him up last minute and ask him to shoot a wedding and decided he would take advantage of the forum to cover the weddings he had. I can only guess because he does not communicate with me. Perhaps because this person flys all over the world doing weddings, he has no specific address, or perhaps he is trying to avoid having a specific contact as there are many people and clients who are frustrated with him."

Another photographer pointed out that Frischling has been active on SportsShooter forum and should have had time to call the photographer back:

"The point of my post was to indicate the photographer in question isn't in some far off land beyond the reach of modern communication.
On Tuesday July 22nd he posted at 4:09pm, 4:43pm, 8:06pm, 9:59pm, and 10:39pm about his new business deal on Sportsshooter.com
Then yesterday July 23rd he posted at 6:37am, 7:30am, 3:12pm, 3:16pm, 8:19pm, and 8:25pm again on Sportsshooter.com about the same subject.
In his first Sportsshooter.com post on the subject (Tuesday 4:09pm), he mentioned that the morning had been rather uneventful,
but that the afternoon had be spent finishing up negotiations with an international firm.
At 6:09pm on Tuesday he posted a rather lengthy post about the new deal with an international firm.
Just seems to me, that had he wanted to be reached, he could have been."

Frischling finally responded in typical Frischling style, laying it on thick with the excuses and accusations of misconstrued "facts," all while playing the victim:

"There is misinformation being posted here. There are words being missed either intentionally or unintentionally. At this point I'd like this to be settled.
It needs to be settled in writing, so there are no miscommunications. The beauty of the internet is that it does not matter who is right and who is wrong. It does not matter if either side is right or wrong. What seems to matter is who can shout louder and who can rally the most support.
Internet forums are a great place for facts to become irrelevant and those who speak the most and push the most opinion in the face of a silent opposition to become the victors. There are quite a few reasons I have remained absent from this discussion. For one it is not a discussion. Secondly I prefer to not enter into a mud slinging competition, no one wins and everyone looks foolish. I love that people count my SportsShooter posts, ones made from a Blackberry the other day while in the hospital on Tuesday.....and there an email explaining I'd be unavailble most of the day due to an exploratory procedure, which was explained to one party in the mud slinging session at 4:31pm on Monday by email, yet on Tuesday I get an e-mail stating she has not heard from me.......while I was in recovery.
Tuesday afternoon I was home and briefly awake. I was happy a contract had been agreed upon for me to write a book, that agreement came by e-mail, was signed electronically in under a minute and sent back. In the span of 20 minutes I posted about this in a few places and was then back to sleep for quite a while.
The next day, my expected 30-min follow-up consult lasted seven hours and spanned five doctors. I expected in an out and was hit with may more than I expected. Following this day of consults I couldn't give a crap about business, photography, or getting involved in a verbal jousting. In light of some options, nothing life threatening really, but some significant issues, I want to be done with it, move on, not play tit-for-tat and I don't give a shit what my reputation looks like after 48hrs.
As for me being able to work the weekend after I needed emergency help, I did that on heavy pain killers. I did work Wed-Thurs-Fri-Sat on both coasts. I did that because I can't afford not to work. I have no idea what people think of me, or what they think 'I Have,' but my guess is you have no idea what hole I am working out of. My guess is you have no idea how much pain I was in working those days. I never rented a car, I got a lift or took cabs because I knew renting a car would be reckless and highly illegal in my condition.
Maybe some people can afford to pay $15 more than then were paid for a job to have someone cover the, I sure as hell can't.
So feel free to get back to your opinions based on one sided facts. Enjoy your foray into the world of mud slinging just for the sake of mud slinging. I have much more pressing issues to try and sort out between now and my next doctors visit on the 28th of July. 

He dismisses his 11 SportsShooter posts about nonsense as "ones made from a Blackberry" while he was in the hospital, yet he cannot explain why he did not simply use that same Blackberry to contact this photographer and give her some instructions. Isn't that what a professional would do?

Frischling Caught in Another Lie: Meet Chester!

Apologies but we cannot get let this go.

In response to our post ripping apart Frischling's claim of being sexually molested, he Tweeted this address from the Maine Sex Offender Registry:

http://sor.informe.org/cgi-bin/sor/step3.pl?id=1809

It brings up a convicted sex offender named Erich P Pfeil. Frischling did not say this is the individual, but clearly he wants everyone to believe it is. He wants people to look at this nasty character and say, "Oh poor Stevie," and drop the subject.

Well we looked beyond the nasty face to the details and guess what... this cannot be the individual from Frischling's story.

Let's look at Frischling's original details that he "shared"  about this individual (who we've dubbed Chester) with the entire sports photography community here http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=25756

He moved on to Maine, near where his family lived. While in Maine he was involved in a community church where four boys filed charges. Nearly 50 charges. Two boys dropped the charges and he was allowed to plead guilty to somewhere around half-a-dozen minor sex offender charges. He was found to not be a threat, and unlikely to pursue sex offenses in the future, given a light sentence and probation. 

He is now on probation in a remote town on the Canadian Boarder....I am sure hurting young children away from the eyes of the law. 

This does not match Pfeil's history at all. On the very same page Frishcling sent out, you will see he was convicted in 1997 for three counts of gross sexual assault and four counts of unlawful sexual contact! If you take .0001 seconds to google him, you will find he was most certainly not given a light sentence and probation but was sentenced to 36 years years in prison! This was reduced to 15 years because of a plea agreement. He appealed and lost, and you can find all the details of his original sentence at http://www.courts.state.me.us/court_info/opinions/documents/98me245p.htm

Note that Frischling claimed four boys filed "50 charges" and "two boys dropped the charges." In the case of Erich Pfeil, he was indicted on 25 charges and there were three victims. At no point was he ever deemed "to not be a threat" and "unlikely to pursue sex offenses in the future." To the contrary.

If you read the court document, this is actually quite an interesting case and Pfeil is extremely stupid. He agreed to the plea and then later tried to go back and say the sentence was not fair.

Comment turned into post...

In response to these comments:

Everything on this blog is well within the law. We're simply compiling public records and other online information on Steven Frischling. We are not publishing things like his address, credit report or details on his poor children. In fact, the majority of the content is written by him in the first place! He claims to be a very important and famous blogger who "reports" on important information such as TSA actions, so it is within the public's right to call his integrity into question. We simply make fun of him for saying such stupid things: this is called freedom of speech. He certainly considers himself a significant individual, bragging constantly of his importance and influence. He voluntarily broadcasts intimate life details (albeit most are lies) in very public forums on the Internet, seeking out notoriety and attention from as many strangers as he can reach. He cannot claim he wants his privacy.

Additionally, he cannot successfully sue us for libel because we are telling the truth, an absolute defense against libel. I don't know where he would find a decent lawyer willing to take such a dumb case, given the evidence available and the cases already filed against him. Even if he were to get the necessary international subpoenas to track us down (as we use a proxy server through a non-U.S. company for everything related to this site) and then sue us in court, we would gladly step up. This would hopefully attract keen media attention, with all his stupid stories under fire. We would go point by point, and he would be the world's biggest punch line. Imagine exposing a blogger, much less a self-styled "social media consultant," to be a total fraud using only social media! Utterly historic! We have been called by some fans "The Wikileaks of Travel Bloggers" and it's flattering.

So yes, we also strongly suggest he choose option No. 4: Settle all debts and contracts. If he were to really repent and try to make up for what he's done, and pay back the people he's taken money from, things could be different. Instead he continues to lie and attack his victims who have done nothing wrong but make the mistake of doing business with him. We don't feel sorry for him. Do you?

Frischling Loses It On Twitter, Attacks Two of Our Followers!!

Someone's lost it...

Equal parts pathetic and funny, especially for a "social media consultant" to devote dozens of tweets publicizing the existence of a blog rightly exposing him as a fraud! Traffic has hit an all-time high!

Big apologies to two of our Twitter followers who blogger Steven Frischling just attacked on Twitter! Probably it's because their real names are showing on their Twitter accounts, and he's so stupid as to believe that means they are actually behind the whole thing! He tweets at the beginning of the tirade:

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish ...and it would seem that my stalkers, who have done so well at hiding, have personal Twitter feeds under their real names...

The funniest part is that he thinks he is just so very clever.

One of them is the poor bride from Canada who wrote the "Open Letter to Steven Frischling" awhile ago. She has still, after several years, never received her wedding photos she paid for. (Like untold others.) Now she's being attacked when she's done nothing but ask for what she's paid for. What amazing customer service. He's such a professional. Probably it's because she was the first one who followed us on Twitter (because she was probably the first person we told about the blog, because of her letter), and he's so stupid, he thinks that means she is involved. (Only an idiot, aka Steven Frischling, would create a fake Twitter account and then promptly follow it with his real Twitter account.) The other one is someone he tweets he has not seen in 12 years, but apparently is out to get him (he must always be a victim).

The funny thing is that he is still lying! He insists there are "paper trails" connecting them to us, which is impossible. As impossible as if he claimed the "paper trails" led to Barack Obama. And he tries to threaten the poor Canadian bride by telling her she should wait for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to arrive on her doorstep any moment! Let's hope she doesn't hold her breath.

The reason for him suddenly flipping out is that our continuous snooping into his background has unearthed some very unpleasant details. His jackoff photo, quite legendary in the photography community as multiple people recall it still, is not the worst thing. So now he is running scared as he sees his whole world collapsing. Being that he doesn't have two brain cells to rub together, he lashes out publicly so everyone can witness him having a meltdown. (We won't repost screenshots of the whole tirade out of respect for their privacy but you can check it out on his Twitter account.) He's repeating the CareCo Shoreline act all over again.

I wonder what the airline industry professionals and anyone in the media think of him now? He looks like even more of a raging lunatic. And he wonders why the TSA doesn't return his calls anymore.... perplexing.

Let us add that this shows you he still knows nothing whatsoever about social media! His never-ended tirade is sending way more people to our blog than we could hope to reach through periodic snarky tweets! And he tries to get massive consulting contracts, for five figures by the way, as a social media expert!

Frischling Asks if the TSA Has a Truth Problem!

You've got to be kidding. Why does he give insist on providing content for this very blog on a daily basis?

"Travel blogger" Steven Frischling, who's been fully exposed as a fraud, a thief and a pathological liar, has just posted a blog asking if the Transportation Security Administration has a "truth problem" because they won't give him the answer he wants on his inane questions about union meetings.

Does the TSA simply have a problem being honest [sic] transparent, even regarding the most minor detail, because it is a spiraling agency unable to control its own image?

First off, the TSA needs to stop replying to him at all. Steven Frischling aka flyingwithfish is not a legitimate journalist in any sense. He's an unemployed douche who blogs on a site that has no standards whatsoever for its members. Apparently all you need is an email address and a desire to type your thoughts about airplanes and Randy Petersen will let you have a blog on BoardingTalk (this according to Randy).

Let's summarize on what we've revealed so far on this site (scroll back through the blog). Steven Frischling:

• has been dragged in and out of court for fraud
• has been sued for breach of contract
• has been sued for not paying his bills, such as his cell phone or day care providers
• lied about being a sponsored snowboarder, an EMT and a firefighter
• claimed that while working as an EMT he was issued a gun for his safety
• claimed to have been sexually molested but provided details that cast suspicions on his story
• claimed he was threatened with treason charges and arrest on multiple occasions
• claimed he's had guns pulled on him by the police while taking photos
• fabricated work references from non-existent people and companies
• fabricated a work reference from a real person, and misspelled the guy's name
• fabricated disgusting quotes from TSA agents (and possibly other "anonymous sources") in his blog
• claimed to be in contact with professional airport thieves who shared with him how they operated
• created a forged sticker with the Homeland Security seal to try to get his items past TSA agents
• made up a story on Facebook about a client refusing to pay him because it run out of money because they spent their money at casinos, when in reality he was fired because he had not done the work promised
• possibly ripped off a story from a fellow blogger and claimed he was sent the same info
• brags he carries hidden knives on planes
• has nothing beyond a high school education, and lacks basic skills in punctuation, spelling and grammar yet asks no one to proofread his posts
• spends all day on Twitter because he apparently has no real job

In contrast, the TSA:

• is a government agency full of people who actually have jobs and are willing to do work
• while not perfect, the agency seems to be legitimately trying to do its job: make travel safer

Today's whine comes after his rant about the TSA ignoring his constant requests for info:

Despite my balanced coverage of the TSA, the Office of Strategic Communications has recently taken to refusing to answer my question. For the past ten days there have been no answers from the Transportation Security Administration. Not one answer to my 45+ phone calls and emails seeking statements from the Office of Strategic Communications.

Boo. Hoo.

Someone left a comment on this post calling him out as a phony, and he approved the comment, but it was likely only so he could respond and promote himself:

First he does not "regularly break stories" about anything, since most of his content comes from press releases or other people's blogs. Second, he's not frequently quoted by "other" media, not since his history of fraud and fabrication has come to light. Third, his blog was not singled out for syndication by USA Today. All of BoardingArea.com's content is syndicated on USAToday.com, but you have to go out of your way to search for it. (And again, BoardingArea.com has no standards whatsoever. Congrats, Randy.)

So we call on the TSA again to stop returning Steven Frischling's calls, period. The end. Finito. He is not a journalist nor even a half-assed blogger. Give your attention to the honest individuals out there who have earned some credibility and legitimacy.

Frischling Thought He Could Outwit TSA with Fake Homeland Security Stickers!

DHS to Frischling: Feel Free to Use This Seal 

What a total idiot. And he tries to sell himself as an expert on travel.

Huge thanks to a faithful reader/Frischling hater who directed us to a hilarious thread on SportsShooter about the TSA's decision to ban some lithium batteries back in 2007. Apparently there was some fear they could explode or be used as detonation devices or something.

Frischling's brilliant solution? Create some forged stickers with legit government logos to get his batteries past the TSA checkpoint!

I am switching from the 1D series bodies to the 5D series bodies. As I do this will be removing all the OEM stickes from my BP-511A batteries. In the place of the OEM stickers I will be placing on a label that reads this "NiMH - FAA Compliant."

I have a feeling this will go unchallenged from my extensive experiences dealing with the TSA Agent-Screeners.

To which someone responded,

"Have screeners given you grief about the batteries? If so, was it good enough to just show them the label on the battery?

Not that I'm suggesting that someone print up "NiMH" stickers that would fit on a lithium battery or anything. But if someone DID do that, I would HOPE the TSA's screening process would be thorough enough to detect it."

But according to Frischling the Fool,

The TSA has no way to check batteries on-site aside from labels

He then designed and posted a sticker that included seals from the Department of Transportation and the Homeland Security! Yes he did!

I have created labels that should be a viable solution to labeling batteries that meet the exempt guidelines as set forth by the US DOT and enforced by the US DHS (TSA). With the only verification system the TSA can effectively have in place is to have TSA Agent Screeners read battery labels this should speed up the process of having your bags processed

People essentially replied that he was an absolute idiot. Yet Frischling didn't seem to understand the larger issue of creating these stickers, saying the government seals are in the public domain!

People fired back,

"The fact that the logos are public domain wasn't my issue. It was the fact that you seem to be planning on using the stickers with logos to mis-label lithium-ion batteries as NiMH."

"you are treading on dangerous ground by creating what appears to be an 'official' label in an effort to convince agents of the U.S. government that someone with the authority of the symbol you are using has deemed the batteries compliant."

To which Frischling responded with this outright lie:

This is why I have already e-mail the PIOs at the DHS.

One I am friendly with sent me back a reply saying that if people can legally sell FBI, ATF, NYPD t-shirts and wind breakers that let pretend to be law enforcement they can't see the harm in labels being created to only identify batteries that are exempt from the Lithium restrictions.

Really!? A Department of Homeland Security official told him he couldn't see any harm in creating fake stickers with government seals to get banned items past airport security! Really!?

Sadly the original sticker with the logos is gone, as he apparently decided to "redesign" it, but like every other project he's ever started, never completed it: http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff207/fishfoto/UPx12_41.jpg

Unfortunately we can't crawl into Frischling's tiny brain, but here are some other great ideas using government logos he may possibly have thought of:

Department of Transportation: Print out this "Certified Sober" label to put on your forehead to get out of drunk driving charges!
Department of the Treasury: Print out these "This Is Really Real Money" labels to go on anything you like! Have a flier on your windshield? Turn it into a million dollar bill!
Department of Agriculture: Are your children hungry but you have no food for them? Print the "This Is Food" sticker and they'll eat anything it's stuck on!
Department of Homeland Security: Is your name Mohammed or are you just wonderfully tan? Print the "100% Not A Terrorist" label, stick it on your chest and you'll sail past airport security!
Department of Justice: Every citizen deserves one "Get Out of Jail Free" card. So why not make your own?
Department of Veteran Affairs: Tired of not being a veteran? You are now, buddy!
Department of Education: Does some stranger have a blog devoted to making fun of how stupid you are? Print out this official "Its obvious Im smart" sticker and plaster it on everything you own!

The funniest thing is that to this day, you know he doesn't understand what was so wrong with this idea. Is there any limit to his stupidity?