Originally Posted by DaemonSeid (Post 1879440)

or find the location of Quatto aka bin Ladin?

Hmmm that's what it is...bin Ladin is some kind of mutant fused to another human!

Originally Posted by bignasty (Post 1879540)

Do planes still go from NY to LA?

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06 (Post 1879573)

This is exactly what I was going to say.

Why does a person have to detonate a bomb on an international flight? Maybe the person has a connecting flight, and they set it off then. Or maybe the person has been living in the United States, and they set it off while flying from LA to DC.

There are many scenarios where a terrorist could be flying over the United States for more than an hour.

I don't think that this proposed change in policy is going to greatly deter anyone from attempting another attack.

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06 (Post 1879599)

Originally Posted by KSig RC (Post 1879614)

I'm flying tomorrow, the 7th, the 8th, the 12th, the 18th and the 23rd, so I'll let you know for sure either way, but domestic flights still recommend just the 2-hour window with the only changes coming at the individual airport TSA's discretion. I wouldn't worry too much, unless you're coming in from Porto Allegre.

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid (Post 1879619)

^^^ Bring me back sumn!

Originally Posted by bignasty (Post 1879540)

Do planes still go from NY to LA?

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06 (Post 1879599)

Originally Posted by KSig RC (Post 1879614)

Well . . . are you familiar with the difference in boarding security between, say, LAX and Lagos, Nigeria?

While screening procedures are imperfect, they are MUCH better within the United States. That air they shoot on you when you walk through security? Yeah, that's not meant to replace a pat down or reveal a gun - the air is tested for minute (nano-level) particles of explosive. Even the "bag in the crotch" would have been caught at LAX or LaGuardia.

The reason why the TSA is focusing on international flights is because that's the greater risk - yeah, it sounds stupid to say "no blankets in the last hour!" but it deters copycats, greatly reduces exposure to America citizens, and gives a general idea that the TSA is doing something about it until new procedures (like the full-body scans) can be implemented. That's A Good Thing (tm). The average flier has absolutely no clue what goes into airline security, or the interaction between airlines and DHS/FBI/etc. That's a good thing. You're DEFINITELY not 100% safe, but you're pretty damn safe from anything but the craziest, most expensive, wildest plot out of a movie.



I'm flying tomorrow, the 7th, the 8th, the 12th, the 18th and the 23rd, so I'll let you know for sure either way, but domestic flights still recommend just the 2-hour window with the only changes coming at the individual airport TSA's discretion. I wouldn't worry too much, unless you're coming in from Porto Allegre.

Originally Posted by PiKA2001 (Post 1879386)

WOW! That LITERALLY hits way too close to home for me. By the way, take that E from Clair and give it to Pointe :)

Originally Posted by AOII Angel (Post 1879419)

Yeah, right! And where did you learn that little factoid? Care to revisit the infamous thread? http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=102169 Are you really afraid of white people now, too, or did we just teach you to add Timothy McVeigh to your list to throw us off? BTW, is your "friend" a Pakistani or a Palestinian now?

Originally Posted by agzg (Post 1879427)

.........So, do you choose one person at random in each of these threads to attack about being un-American, a terrorist sympathizer, and void of compassion for human life? Stop being such a drama queen. AOII_Angel isn't really even disagreeing with you. Get off her damned back.

Also, I get that this is scary for you, being a resident of Detroit and all, but jumping all over someone else's shit because you're scared is counterproductive. I totally understand why this stuff would freak you out, but honestly, I wish more people could think about these things logically or even be "cold" about it, because emotional responses to things like terrorism and fear of other countries wind us up in places like Iraq.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel (Post 1879439)

After 9/11, I had to travel to San Fran for the American College of Surgeons Convention with two colleagues, one from Bahrain and one from Afghanistan. We told them to stay with us (white americans) at all times. We didn't want them to look suspicious! Who ended up getting flagged at security...both ways? Me, the giggly blonde. I thought it was hilarious.

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00 (Post 1879695)

Lol sorry Rick. I actually thought about you when I heard that.



You can bring up all the old thread topics you want. I've always seen Timothy McVeigh as a terrorist. No one taught me shit, except my history teacher at the time. And if you really care to know, my best friend is Pakistani, and I went to school in Little Middle East, aka Dearborn. Look it up, learn something.




I agree with you here, and I have to laugh at your quote about "nuts strapped with explosives", cuz literally they were strapped to his nuts.



Ha. Well for one I can't get into an elevator with a small child. I can't get into an elevator with anyone considering the fact that I'm terrified of elevators and small spaces. I have to psych myself out before getting on a plane so yeah I'm leery of everyone. No, not every terrorist looks creepy, and not every creepy person is a terrorist. But I'm still leery of them. Visit Taylor, Michigan and find out why (lol Dee and Pika would probably understand that).

I find humor in a lot of things. My favorite thing to do is laugh, and make people laugh. And I actually put everyone in my life before myself. (and I find it funny for someone on a message board to call me out about that lol like you know me?) But I find nothing about terrorism to laugh about. I have friends in the military who have fought or may fight in this war. I have a high school friend who was out of the military but decided to work for a private security company in Iraq and was murdered a few months ago. (think I'm making it up? Google Justin Pope of Riverview, Michigan). And lastly, my cousin was in the World Trade Center on 9-11 and lost his whole work crew, and my uncle lost many friends (the firefighters from Brooklyn). So NO. I have quite a soul and I think it's ridiculous for you to accuse me of not having one since I don't find humor in this situation. I do have compassion for the man who just had to take a shit, but I don't blame everyone for being scared seeing as the other incident was just the day before and someone was incessant on being in the bathroom.

It's sad that I have to put my proof in parenthesis to someone on a message board to prove that I'm not just making shit up and to stop being accused. I hope that one day our government finds a way to keep us safe so we don't have to worry about things like this. And if it means dealing with a stupid rule because they think it'll work? Fine. Pat me down, scan me, I don't care. Just keep us safe.

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00 (Post 1879700)

I had to go back and reread this thread to see where I started attacking her, and this is where it started. I said something made no sense cuz I actually didn't understand what she was saying. If anything, I got attacked...



What have I said, IN THIS THREAD, to make me look racist? And like a drama queen? I think if anything, homegirl needs to get off my back.

Originally Posted by charlie2010 (Post 1879762)

Last summer, on a flight from NY to Amsterdam, we were the lucky ones selected for additional screening, including our two-year old son. I wasn't even allowed to stay with him while they "searched" him (had to stay 15 feet away from him or so). I was a bit annoyed until my husband, rightfully, pointed out that if they don't do that it's just a matter of time before a crazy fundamentalist idiot uses a child (his own or someone else's) to carry explosives onto a plane. Sad but probably true!

The security guy who checked my son managed to turn it into a big adventure for him anyway. He told him to pretend he was an airplane (one of his favorite words he had picked up in America that summer) and gave him a high five (which he had just learned to do) so I don't think he's scarred for life or anything like that.

Also, I fly from Amsterdam to the US regularly and I am glad they have finally "upped" security measures there... I have heard too many stories of people who - unintentionally - ended up on planes with things like bottles of water and pocket knifes that officially should have been taken from them. Not saying that Amsterdam is the only airport where that happens, it's just that it's the airport I am most familiar with. This event (and the fact that the guy who managed to wrestle the Nigerian guy down was Dutch) made for most of the headlines over the past week here so let's hope it was a wake up call. A lot of people think that "stuff like that doesn't happen here," which is slightly naive, I suppose.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel (Post 1878795)

I'm gonna tease all my Nigerian friends today....I bet they are sooooo embarrassed about this! Every Nigerian person I know is so proud to be Nigerian that I know this guy is such a smear on their country.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel (Post 1879790)

Nothing irritates me more than when people get irrational about being screened. Some people start yelling that they are being profiled. I've been screened so many times, and unless they've added tall blondes to the list of terror suspects, they aren't profiling!

Originally Posted by AGDee (Post 1879663)

You're right on target. As they noted, this guy went through screening in Nigeria but NOT in Amsterdam (where this would have been more likely to be detected too) because he never left the secure area once he landed in Amsterdam. Therein lies part of the problem. If someone flies from a country with little to security to another country and changes planes, they do not get screened again. Maybe they should be, but can you imagine how long a lay over you'd have to make sure you had to be able to get through security screening again?

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06 (Post 1879599)

Originally Posted by ThetaDancer (Post 1879800)

FWIW, I have a few friends in town for the long weekend. They flew in from New York, Cleveland, and Boston. All of them said that security took no longer than usual, so they ended up just sitting at the airport for an excessive amount of time waiting to board their planes.

Originally Posted by charlie2010 (Post 1879799)

Actually, I heard different reports here (i.e. Amsterdam). I think he must have gone through some sort of security procedure, as you're being questioned and your bags are being checked right before you actually get on the plane, at the gate (at least, that has been the case the past 10 (or so) Amsterdam-US flights I took). All US-bound flights leave from a certain section of the airport, and security there is tighter than anywhere else in the airport (except, maybe, the El Al departure gates)

Don't know how much of an exception is made if you are on a connecting flight but since a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.......

I also heard (but that may be rumors) that this guy managed to wiggle out of screening in Lagos altogether as he (or his family) knew people in "higher places".

Originally Posted by AGDee (Post 1879811)

But do you actually go through the metal detector, air blower thing, etc. if you're connecting? CNN gave the impression that you don't. I have absolutely no personal experience with traveling outside of North America.

Originally Posted by charlie2010 (Post 1879829)

Metal detector, yes, (hand) luggage screening, yes (both x-ray and manual), taking shoes, belts etc of yes, being 'searched' in person: yes.

Have seen the air blower in a few European airports, though can't say for sure I have seen it in Amsterdam. Have had the pleasure of being x-rayed there, although, as per last week, that wasn't standard procedure yet. They say it will be now...

All in all, most times it is pretty similar to American airports (although they clearly messed up somehow last week....) but it still could, and should, be tighter. Then again, once a friend of mine flew out of DC, a few months after 9/11, carrying a pocket knife... so mishaps happen anywhere. It's not for lack of money, or even lack of expertise. I guess a lot of people here still believe that 'stuff like that only happens in America', or maybe in England. Well.... dream on!

Originally Posted by AGDee (Post 1879871)

See, now in my experience, I've only had to do all that at the first airport, not at every connecting airport. I've never ever had to go through security screening a second time, in the US when I was connecting flights. As long as I stayed in the "secured area" near the gates, it was all good.

Originally Posted by ThetaDancer (Post 1879800)

FWIW, I have a few friends in town for the long weekend. They flew in from New York, Cleveland, and Boston. All of them said that security took no longer than usual, so they ended up just sitting at the airport for an excessive amount of time waiting to board their planes.

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06 (Post 1879877)

Originally Posted by AOII Angel (Post 1879874)

A lot of airports make you go out of secure areas to connect to international flights. LAX and O'Hare both do off the top of my head...I'm trying to remember where I connected when I went to Brazil...we definitely had to leave security. Usually this involves flying on a non-US carrier so you actually have to check-in, get your boarding pass, then go back through security. These are usually shorter lines, though, because not that many people travel internationally....lots more domestic traffic. I like to fly direct from DC if I can to avoid all of that upfront!

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid (Post 1882879)