Nigerian Man attempts to blow up Plane

[KSUViolet06]

I'm flying to Vegas in about 2 weeks, I can't tell you how overjoyed I am that our airline is now recommending that you arrive at the airport THREE to FOUR hours in advance due to increased security measures.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

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.

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.

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I'm flying to Vegas in about 2 weeks, I can't tell you how overjoyed I am that our airline is now recommending that you arrive at the airport THREE to FOUR hours in advance due to increased security measures.

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.

[DaemonSeid]

^^^ Bring me back sumn!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

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.

Thanks, I'd appeciate that. And no Porto Allegre, just CLE to McCarran and back. lol.

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

^^^ Bring me back sumn!

HAHA.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by bignasty

Do planes still go from NY to LA?

They were only instituting that for international flights, someone asked what good that would do, I quoted what they were saying on CNN as the reasoning for it. Will it really do anything? Probably not, but I didn't make the rule or justify it!

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I'm flying to Vegas in about 2 weeks, I can't tell you how overjoyed I am that our airline is now recommending that you arrive at the airport THREE to FOUR hours in advance due to increased security measures.

They said on our news this morning that it was causing all kinds of problems that people were showing up 4 hours early for flights and asked people to STOP showing up that early. They said 2 to 2 1/2 was sufficient.

Originally Posted by KSig RC

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.

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?

I think, as someone who suffers from Crohn's Disease, I can't even consider flying out of the country as long as that one hour rule is in place and that's kind of sad.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

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

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

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

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?

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 will accept and apologize for my ignorance of Detroit. But PM Mama, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A bomb is a bomb. You are making my point. Whether we save the cities or not, we are still leaving the people in our airplanes in danger with nuts strapped with explosives with cheesy "sit in your seat for the last hour" solutions to solve an attempted terrorist plot. Was he in the bathroom when he tried to detonate the bomb? NO! Would that rule have prevented him from assembling the bomb an hour and 10 minutes before landing to go back to his seat and detonate it when he wanted? NO! The rule, as I previously said, is STUPID! The ONLY reason that plane didn't blow up was because the detonator FAILED. Not because of any security measure in place. I for one feel no safer for any safety measure thought of so far.

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.

As for my respect for other's lives, before you question other's dedication to human life, question your own dedication. What do you do in a single year, much less a day for anyone in your xenophobic, can't get into an elevator with anyone other than a child, scared of her own shadow life than yourself? I measure my respect for other's lives in more tangible ways than respect for a dumb rule thought up on the fly after a scary near miss that also produced a thoughtless comment like, "Our system worked" from Janet Napolitano. Maybe if you thought about something beyond yourself, you might too.

Oh, and BTW, if you can't find humor in the situation or compassion for the poor Nigerian man who was ripped off the toilet and arrested for having a GI bug, than you have no soul.

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.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by agzg

.........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.

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...

Yesterday, 08:32 AM
AOII Angel
Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Baltimore, MD
Posts: 2,145

Quote:
Originally Posted by PM_Mama00
What do you mean in Detroit? That makes no sense. I'm glad you're taking a terrorist attack attempt so lightly. --- end post PM_Mama00

Oh don't start putting your racist mumbo jumbo crap and making me look glib (calling all Tom Cruise jokes). I certainly don't take terrorist attacks lightly, but sitting in your seat for an hour is a ridiculous solution to save us from a future attack. So is stopping men from boarding planes with arabic writing on their shirts which, if I remember correctly, you were all for! I fly at a minimum 20 weekends a year, and let me tell you, sitting in my seat for the last hour of a flight will sure make me feel so much more secure knowing some guy in the back could have some PETN bomb strapped in his underwear, but he can't get to the bathroom to detonate it.

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.

[charlie2010]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

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.

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.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

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

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.

Yeah...you like to pretend you weren't being aggressive with what you said, but basically you accused me of taking terrorism lightly and not valuing human life. You got it back because YOU don't know me and presumed that your experience exceeds my own with regard to these topics. How do you know what I have or have not experienced? I know more about you and your opinions because unlike me, YOU have expressed your BIGOTRY and irrational thought processes on other threads. If you don't want someone to throw it back in your face, be a little more polite about expressing your opposition. Saying "What are you talking about?" would suffice. Adding, "you obviously don't take terrorism seriously" is inflammatory, so don't be surprised when you get an inflammatory response! By the way, living in Detroit doesn't give you a corner on the market of life experience.

[DaemonSeid]

**munching** can someone please pass the salt?

MMmm this is good. This is GOOOOOOOOD...what's this Orville Redenbacher?

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by charlie2010

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.

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. It's part of the process and doesn't really take that long. I chat with the TSA people while they do it. It's kind of neat. I like it better than the air machine KSig RC was talking about...if you aren't a shirt tucker, you gotta watch out. That thing can blow your shirt over your head! What has irritated me, though, was getting screened in Louisville after my Radiology boards. The TSA guy forgot to mark my ticket that I'd been screened and my ticket was marked for mandatory screening since it was a last minute ticket. When I got to boarding, I couldn't board until another TSA guy came to re-screen me. This was after they'd canceled my flight the night before, told me that I could fly out the next morning at 6 am, told me the next morning that I actually had not been booked on that full flight and instead would have to sit all day in the airport to fly out on the 6pm flight! Yay me!

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

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.

I really hope you are not serious in making this statement. I REALLY do because otherwise this just looks . . .


No one person is a smear on a WHOLE country. I hate when people say things like that.

omg

[DaemonSeid]

She already cleared it up....leave it be.

[charlie2010]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

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!

Mmmm... I guess that would explain why we were picked out.... We're all tall and blond.... (runs in the family...)

Those people are just doing their jobs, and if they do it well, we'll all be that much safer.

[DrPhil]

Damn tough crowd.