frightening flight experience

[OnyxCougar]

Originally Posted by jane_says

I won't get deeply into the politics of it all, but would like to add, in case anyone missed it, that this woman used Anne Coulter as a cite in this article. The whole thing smells like a UL (and yeah, I'm aware it actually took place). I'm just sayin'. If there were air marshalls all over the plane, why did they need another passenger to write descriptions? If the airline or anyone else thought they were so F-ing dangerous, why weren't they questioned BEFORE they flight took off? The guy wouldn't return her friendly smile? Wahhh. Muslim men would consider smiling at a woman outside their own family way too intimate. Interesting to note that eating at McDonald's and needing orthopedic shoes should send up a red flag.

And if congregating around the bathroom was a crime, women all over the world would be in lockup for good. This whole thing rang of self-important, whiny, smarmy white-chick prejudice to me. NOTHING happened to the Precious Princess, and she still has to yodel about it.

You can take it as "self-important, whiny, smarmy white-chick prejudice" if you want to, (and I'm sure many do) or you can take it as a wake up call. Even if nothing happened on this flight, and 17 Syrians just happened to know each other but didn't board as a group, and have a need to urinate and/or defecate more than twice on a short flight, and "hang out" near bathrooms, and not have seats booked together, and have a cover story that was never checked up on or followed up, that doesn't mean that we should be suspicious about it, right? It doesn't mean that they were doing a "dry run" or anything. Just coincidence. Yeah. That's it. Coincidence.

Most of the attacks on American interests overseas were perpetrated by "Middle Eastern" men, so maybe, just maybe, we should not worry so much about "political correctness" and get serious about securing our nation. Yes, that means we're going to lose some personal freedoms. Yes, that means we'll spend more for a plane ticket and wait in longer lines. I'd rather pay $300 more for an airline ticket and wait for 2 hours to get through security and eat with plastic forks at the $50 for a bagel restaurant AND BE SAFE, rather than bow to the "politically correct" viewpoint and security miss something because "we can't screen more than 2 people of this type", and die for some nut's religious views.

You know what? If "racial profiling" applied to white folks, we'd have a serious problem. "We can't screen more than 2 white people per plane." How about I scream discrimination?

Why is it discrimination when it's Middle Easterners but not when its whites?


Edit to add: You know what? The terrorists discriminate, too. Anyone not them. There could be Islamists on the plane they blow up. How do they know? They don't care. Why should we?

[jaguar]

You dive in english weather? Ye gods that brings new meaning to blue balls, and here's me thinking Melbourne in the summer was bad.

To roughly paraphrase Doug Stanhope, buy the largest sex toy you can find. Cover it with a mixture of melted chocolate and ketchup, and let it dry. Find some flesh-colored foam and rubber-cement a few tiny bits onto the side of it. Wrap it in aluminum foil, stick it in your suitcase, and enjoy the spectacle when it goes through X-Ray.

"what's this for?"
"I use it to violently sodomise off-duty baggage inspectors"

It's almost be worth the ensuing imprisonment and cavity search.

[jane_says]

There were 14 Syrians, IIRC. And I agree, it should be a wake up call. We should be awakened to the fact that our prejudices don't always hold water. Their baggage was checked, just like everyone else's. Add that to not doing a fucking thing except making some white people uncomfortable. The widdle weporter was uncomfy on a fwight? Cry me a freaking river. Nobody proved they did ANYTHING wrong. WTF should they have to sit together? Maybe they booked their tickets on PriceLine and that's the only way they could get them. IT'S NOT OUR BUSINESS. THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG. I know! It must have been that weird, non-English language they were speaking. Ethnocentricity in action.

Who are the "terrorists" you're referring to here? Surely not these guys, as the only terror they caused was what Little Miss brewed up in her own mind. Again, they did NOTHING WRONG. But it's okay to discriminate against them, because they have dark skin... Go ahead and "scream discrimination" if that's what puts the starch in your socks. No skin off my teeth. Probably won't get you very far, unless you can back it up.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by jane_says

Who are the "terrorists" you're referring to here? Surely not these guys, as the only terror they caused was what Little Miss brewed up in her own mind. Again, they did NOTHING WRONG. But it's okay to discriminate against them, because they have dark skin... Go ahead and "scream discrimination" if that's what puts the starch in your socks. No skin off my teeth. Probably won't get you very far, unless you can back it up.

This is not the only instance.

A second pilot said that, on one of his recent flights, an air marshal forced his way into the lavatory at the front of his plane after a man of Middle Eastern descent locked himself in for a long period. The marshal found the mirror had been removed and the man was attempting to break through the wall. The cockpit was on the other side.

[jane_says]

BTW, who was who said that people who would give up freedoms for a little temporary security deserving neither? Not being snarky, I really can't remember. I agree though.

[DanaC]

Yeah.....what Jane Says

[Clodfobble]

Ben Franklin said it.

And while under the rules at the time they didn't do anything wrong, the FAA changed the rules because of them and other situations like theirs, such that you can no longer congregate in the aisles or at the bathroom, and a flight attendant will rigorously check the bathroom every two hours. So next time, they WILL be doing something wrong, and it WILL be our business.

[Happy Monkey]

Franklin said it, but I seem to remember that someone else (Jefferson?) had a very similar quote, so one may have borrowed it from the other.

[jane_says]

Yeah, next time, it will be. However, it wasn't "wrong" at the time, and had anyone else been doing it, they rules likely would not have changed at all.

Thanky for the amen, DanaC.

[jane_says]

Instance of what? Where did you read that one of these fourteen guys tried to break through a wall? Again, they were INNOCENT. Did NOTHING. They did nothing but offend the bigoted sensibilities of some white chick on a plane. That is all.

[Kitsune]

In this line of thinking, I have some other suggestions.

Students that attend High School that wear black clothing and listen to rock music should be subject to searches before they enter class. After all, as a nation, we cannot endure any more school shootings and to save our children, we must take note of those that are the most likely to be involved in such an activity.

African Americans, when pulled over for speeding, should automatically be subect to probable cause searches despite lack of it. They are, after all, statistically the most likely to be carrying an illegal substance or weapon in the vehicle.

In order to make security lines move faster at the airport, I suggest we have lines labeled "Dark-Skinned" and "Light-Skinned". Since very few people can tell the difference between someone from Greece, an Indian, and an Arab, everyone with dark skin should expect to arrive at the airport 2 hours prior to their flight and expect much more intense security checks than the rest. For the safety of the pilot and the aircraft, we should probably make all of them sit in the rear of the plane.

Sound familiar?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Did you read the link or just the quote?

"The FAMS never broke their cover, but monitored" the activity, Mr. Adams said. "Given the facts, they had no legal basis to take an enforcement action. But there was enough of a suspicious nature for the FAMS, passengers and crew to take notice."

Well the "Little Miss" wasn't brewing it up in her mind if the Federal Air Marshalls, other passengers and crew also noticed. The article cited other INSTANCES.

[jane_says]

I read the whole sordid many-paged piece of barf days ago. And what I want to know is why, if they were so suspicious, they were not questioned BEFORE THE FLIGHT OOK OFF. People "noticing" does not, hasn't ever, and WON'T equal another group of people doing anything wrong. Also, failure to follow up on their "story" says to me that whatever they were doing did not warrant them being harrassed any further by airport security, air marshalls or anyone else. It doesn't prove they were up to no good; rather the opposite.

Instances of what, I ask again? Instances of people freaking out over having to share the same space with "undesirables"? Unless they are instances of something actually taking place, rather than some imaginary wrongs committed against gunshy racists, I fail to see the problem.

[jane_says]

Reread the part you yourself quoted above. Specifically "given the facts".

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by jane_says

Reread the part you yourself quoted above. Specifically "given the facts".

That's right, the Air Marshalls don't interfere with people without cause. But they are there to watch for people acting suspiciously. That's their job, that's what they did.
Hey, go fly a plane. :p