Airport security?

[Josh]

Seeing as how my father and soon-to-be ex-stepmother are both Airline pilots I'm always at the airport greeting them back, or seeing them off, or going somewhere myself.

I was watching some show on TV a sec. ago about the Pentagon and stuff, and they were showing MP and it reminded me of something me and my father saw at the CIA(Charleston International Airport) a few days ago.

We were waiting in line to go through airport security(the metal detectors), and we saw a MP(Military Police) Officer walk up to the security woman, hand her his M-16(or whatever type of assault rifle it is that he was using) and walk through only to set the alarm off. He backed up, emptied his pockets, and all he had was a pair of toe nail clippers in his pocket. He made another pass through and this time didn't make it go off. After he walked through, the lady said, as she handed him back his rifle, "I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to have to confiscate these(nail clippers in hand) as there is a possibility that they could be used as a weapon."

Me and my dad just kind of looked at eachother like WTF? I just wanted to slap her for her ignorance, but I decided it'd be better if I didn't.


Don't even get me started on the stupid rent-a-pigs who stand outside and yell at you to move your cars every two seconds.

Anyone else ever see, or experience, stupid crap like this?

 

[ALPHA]

Surely the M-16 could've been used as a weapon could it not!

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by Josh

Don't even get me started on the stupid rent-a-pigs who stand outside and yell at you to move your cars every two seconds.

Anyone else ever see, or experience, stupid crap like this?

The last time I was at the airport picking someone up I just about got my car towed. I pulled up to a curb and sat there, drinking coffee. So the woman comes up to me and says "Sir, you can't park there." So, naturally, I moved the car up about a foot and said "Can I park here?" She got pretty upset about that, and was beginning to get a bit rude so I started arguing with her. Unfortunately she called her supervisor over, but by now I had been parked there so long, the person I was picking up was coming. So he got in, and we left. I've probably got a 'tow on sight' order for that car (which has since been sold).

 

[Joey]

why would she care if MP had weapons??

 

[Pupik]

Maybe we should bomb Iraq with nail clippers. If only we could get a tiny little camera on top of it...

 

[milefile]

Are you absolutely sure she was not maybe kidding with him? If not, that is one of the most amazing examples of stupidity I've ever heard. I'm literally trembling witht that desire to slap that biatch.

Another thing I've noticed are the so-called "random" searches. I've seen eighty year old women searched, little kids searched and not their parents. I've seen pregnant women have to take off their shoes...?

The sad thing is that this so-called randomness that is supposed to be indescriminate and fair is useless. Junior got his backpack searched while Ahmed got on the plane with nail clippers.

They should stop trying to not piss minoriities off and search the people who are most likely to have a weapon at hand. I guarantee it won't be an eighty your old lady or a little kid.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by milefile
Junior got his backpack searched while Ahmed got on the plane with nail clippers.

I'll hand it to you, milefile. This is the most racist sentence ever posted on the GTP (aside from a few of mayorbill's posts). Other than that, your message was fine, and about those 'random' searches: They're usually preformed on people who take a lot of one-way flights.

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by M5Power
I'll hand it to you, milefile. This is the most racist sentence ever posted on the GTP (aside from a few of mayorbill's posts). Other than that, your message was fine, and about those 'random' searches: They're usually preformed on people who take a lot of one-way flights.

Are you kidding me!? Are we not at odds with places like Afganistan? Iraq? Were the 9/11 bombers not all from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries? Are we not allowed to use common sense anymore?

If you were told to look for terrorists who would you look for? Especially in an airport?

All I can say is that I certainly hope airport security knows to scrutinize Arabs. If they don't then American politically correct liberal guilt has ruined this country.

If you're Arab or close to Arabs, I'm not apologizing. Go ask Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden or Arafat to apologize.

The death of common sense...

 

[-Fred-]

Originally posted by milefile
Are you kidding me!? Are we not at odds with places like Afganistan? Iraq? Were the 9/11 bombers not all from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries? Are we not allowed to use common sense anymore?

If you were told to look for terrorists who would you look for? Especially in an airport?

All I can say is that I certainly hope airport security knows to scrutinize Arabs. If they don't then American politically correct liberal guilt has ruined this country.

If you're Arab or close to Arabs, I'm not apologizing. Go ask Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden or Arafat to apologize.

The death of common sense...

idiot

guess i should add RACIST to that...

If you were told to look for terrorists who would you look for? Especially in an airport?

Everyone and anyone. You never know what goes through people's mind, there are crazy people from every nationality.

Clearly, you're generalizing here. Everyone from Saudi Arabia is a terrorist? That's like saying anyone from the United States is a racist idiot after reading one of your posts, or taking one look at George Bush.


people as ignorant as you make me sick. You, sir, are an ignorant fool, and you should be ashamed of it.

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by PunkRock
guess i should add RACIST to that...

Whatever floats your boat.

Everyone and anyone. You never know what goes through people's mind, there are crazy people from every nationality.

Name one act airline terrorism not commited by an Arab.

Clearly, you're generalizing here. Everyone from Saudi Arabia is a terrorist? That's like saying anyone from the United States is a racist idiot after reading one of your posts, or taking one look at George Bush.

No it's not.

people as ignorant as you make me sick. You, sir, are an ignorant fool, and you should be ashamed of it.

Does anyting you say matter to me? Nope.


It is clear that everybody is going to jump on the bandwagon and cry "Racist!", falling into their own accusations and using what they have just condemned to condemn me. C'est la vie.

So I guess I am the only one here who associates Arabs with airline terror, huh? If so, then I reiterate my previous comment regarding liberal guilt and political correctness.

 

[-Fred-]

Originally posted by milefile

Name one act airline terrorism not commited by an Arab.

Current and past US bombings in the Middle-East. Bomb thousands of innocent people just because they live there... same shit, different day.

Of course, you don't see that as a terrorist act, because you live in the United States. But to these people, how do YOU think they feel about getting their asses attacked by another country, just because their leader is taking decisions and they can't have a word in it? Do you think all Americans are thinking the way Bush does? or that all Canadians are as retarded as Mr.Chretien?

Christ, why do i even bother...

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by PunkRock

Christ, why do i even bother...

I really don't know.

 

[Josh]

This wasn't supposed to turn into a debate about terrorists and people from Asscrackistan, but...oh well.

And, milefile, yes I am sure she wasn't kidding with the MP. She actually took the damn clippers. Besides, don't know if you've been to an airport since 9/11, but there's not much joking going on from anyone.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by milefile
Are you kidding me!? Are we not at odds with places like Afganistan? Iraq? Were the 9/11 bombers not all from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries? Are we not allowed to use common sense anymore?

Do you know who Tim McVeigh is? Ted Kacyzinski? How about Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold?

If you were told to look for terrorists who would you look for? Especially in an airport?

Do you expect me to say, "I would look for and search all the A - Rabs?" Get real. I can think of just two recent incidents in the US where Arabs were the terrorists, none that took place in airports, and just one (9/11) that involved airplanes.

All I can say is that I certainly hope airport security knows to scrutinize Arabs. If they don't then American politically correct liberal guilt has ruined this country.

SCRUTINIZE ARABS?!??!? DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE LITERALLY TENS OF MILLIONS OF ARAB MEN AND WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY AND THAT NO MORE THAN FORTY HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR MAJOR BOMBINGS WITHIN THE US IN THE LAST 20 YEARS??!? That works out to exactly 0.0004%. Enjoy that statistic.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by milefile

Name one act airline terrorism not commited by an Arab.

Do you know who DB Cooper is?

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by milefile

So I guess I am the only one here who associates Arabs with airline terror, huh?

No, you're the only one who believes that little Ahmed gets on the airplane with his nail clippers, and that little Junior gets his backpack searched. Do you not see that as a generalisation? Does everyone called Ahmed bring weapons on airlines?

 

[Pupik]

Originally posted by M5Power

Do you know who DB Cooper is? [/B]

Only the most bizzare hijacker known to man.

He hijacks a plane, takes two stewardesses (well, it was 1967, now they're flight attendants) hostage, and demands some $250,000 in a suitcase. The plane lands at his requested destination (Seattle?), and he and the plane takes off again (with the same 2 stewardesses) with the money.

Now it gets weird. He jumps out the door of the plane with the satchel of money and a parachute. And D.B.Cooper is never found again, nor any of the money. This was over 35 year ago.

The point illustrated is that Cooper was a white American male, somewhere between the ages of 25 to 49, as I recall from a TV show.

Last week, I went through FLL, and they searched my baggage, my carry-on stuff, and asked me to remove my shoes. I had to show my ID three times before I could take my seat. And do you know what? I'm not in the least bothered by all this new "airport security".

True, all it takes is one idiot dashing through a security checkpoint to back up 10,000 passengers for at least an hour or two. I remember turning on the TV and hearing about Pan Am flight 103 exploding over Lockerbie, Scotland...baggage on the plane had explosives that were remotely discharged by a passenger. So when I saw that my belongings were obviously checked (a note was included), I felt annoyed at first, but soon somewhat relieved that security has improved greatly.

State what you have, I noticed, and you're okay. Act like you have something to hide, and you're in trouble. If you have anything metal on your person, or in your carry-ons, tell them. If you want something hands-searched, tell them so. That's their job to check, and your responsibility to do so.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by pupik
Last week, I went through FLL, and they searched my baggage, my carry-on stuff, and asked me to remove my shoes. I had to show my ID three times before I could take my seat. And do you know what? I'm not in the least bothered by all this new "airport security".

True, all it takes is one idiot dashing through a security checkpoint to back up 10,000 passengers for at least an hour or two. I remember turning on the TV and hearing about Pan Am flight 103 exploding over Lockerbie, Scotland...baggage on the plane had explosives that were remotely discharged by a passenger. So when I saw that my belongings were obviously checked (a note was included), I felt annoyed at first, but soon somewhat relieved that security has improved greatly.

State what you have, I noticed, and you're okay. Act like you have something to hide, and you're in trouble. If you have anything metal on your person, or in your carry-ons, tell them. If you want something hands-searched, tell them so. That's their job to check, and your responsibility to do so.

Nicely put Pupik.

Having travelled into and out of Philadelphia Airport in September, all I can say is that, in that particular airport at least, the facilities were woefully inadequate for the security measures now in place. We queued for 90 minutes in immigration, simply because there were not enough staff on-hand. This is not acceptable, not because of the checks themselves, but because airline schedules are determined a year in advance, and the airport should be able to cope with the demand.

On the outbound leg, from PHL, it took my wife and I 62 minutes to get through security at PHL. A good thing we had left plenty of time, because we needed it. I removed my coat and all hand portable items, including loose change and my wallet to my hand baggage before walking through the personal scanner. Which I set off. Must have been the combination of the eyelets on my CAT boots, my simple (but metal) belt buckle and my steel watch. These were all removed from me and sent through the X-Ray machine INDIVIDUALLY, while I sat shoeless and beltless in the security area.

Meanwhile, the guards had decided to search Susan's bag, which necessitated emptying the entire contents onto a table, then checking that each of her cosmetics was as it purported to be. The guard picked up her pack of contraceptive pills, read the label then hollered to a female guard some fifteen feet away "What's Microgynon?", as if it was some threat to national security. He had a good long look at the pin on her antique brooch, and then proceeded to invite others to look at her emerald engagement ring, which she tends not to wear unless it is a special occasion. He also had a long (like 30 seconds!) think about whether to remove the mirror in her compact.

All in all, I found the whole thing rather mindless, and pooly executed. In particular, the removal of my shoes was fairly humiliating, although I'd already been wearing them for some ten hours, so I would have exacted my own special kind of revenge on them (quite frankly, I think that at times like that, my feet are banned under certain articles of the Geneva convention! ), but Susan found it quite distressing. In particular, the male guard who searched her bag had little idea of what he was looking at, and showed complete disregard for his customer, especially during the pills incident. It was a rather distasteful end to the holiday.

Compare and contrast this to security at Heathrow Airport in London. There, all passengers go through the normal security scanner. In addition, other passengers are taken aside and searched on a random basis, just before they enter the jetway. The interesting thing with this is that there are two security personnel to each 'victim', but there are TEN security personnel not doing the searching. They are simply watching the crowd. It was a very subtle method of checking for any unusual behaviour. Finally, a security person of the appropriate sex checked the baggage of a chosen passenger.

It was much more subtle, and I think at least as effective at weeding out any potential threats to security. Let it not be forgotten that the British know a thing or two about terrorism.

 

[milefile]

I'm unaffected by any of these comments. I believe that airline terrorism is most likely to be commited by a Muslim fanatic. As far as I know almost all of them are Arabs. It's not racist, it's common sense. I could make the same arguments you are making. They are easy arguments, a politically correct script where all you have to do is fill in the blanks. Spare me.

And if you think I am a racist you don't know what racism is. Racism is about hate and I "hate" no one. Suspicion and caution are very far from hate.

Generalizations are not inherently bad. They exist for a reason.

I sympathize with Afganis ruined by their corrupt, evil government. I sympathize with Palestine and feel angered by Israel, and vice-versa.

I hate... Hamas, Taliban, Al Qaida, Al Aqsa, etc. I hate anyone who kills innocents to get attention, to make fear, no matter where they might be from.

Currently, terror is most likely to be used by who America is "at war" with. We are not at war with singluar wackos. We are at war with political terrorists, the people who burn American flags while chanting "Death to America." They are almost all Arabs. I didn't make it that way.

Why is the NSA, CIA, and FBI frantically searching for and recruiting Arab speakers?

 

[slip2rock]

I flew out of Heathrow to Geneva last Febuary for a weekends snowboarding in France, they took my nose hair trimming scissors from my washbag, gave me a recipt and explained where i could collect them from on my return..... Me, my mate Nookie and the guards all found it hilarious but i still handed them over.

 

[Pupik]

Originally posted by milefile
I'm unaffected by any of these comments. I believe that airline terrorism is most likely to be commited by a Muslim fanatic. As far as I know almost all of them are Arabs. It's not racist, it's common sense. I could make the same arguments you are making. They are easy arguments, a politically correct script where all you have to do is fill in the blanks. Spare me.

I agree. Although I admittedly gave a double-take to anyone who looked "suspcious" before boarding the plane, I was fairly confident that a few other passengers were giving a good stare at me too.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by milefile

And if you think I am a racist you don't know what racism is. Racism is about hate and I "hate" no one. Suspicion and caution are very far from hate.

"Racism -- Racial prejudice or discrimination." I wonder if you're prejudiced. You stated yourself that you associate Arabs with airline terrorism. That's prejudice.

I hate... Hamas, Taliban, Al Qaida, Al Aqsa, etc. I hate anyone who kills innocents to get attention, to make fear, no matter where they might be from.

I hate them too. But is every single Arab in America a member of those groups? Do they all want to kill innocent people for attention?

Currently, terror is most likely to be used by who America is "at war" with. We are not at war with singluar wackos. We are at war with political terrorists, the people who burn American flags while chanting "Death to America." They are almost all Arabs. I didn't make it that way.

Groups all over the damn world burn US flags for whatever reason. Even our own citizens do it. It is not 'mostly Arabs.'

 

[milefile]

Doug, I can't believe how narrow mided you are being. I never said all Arabs are terrorists. No reasonable person would think that, and no reasonable person would assume that's what I meant. It is a programmed, knee-jerk reaction, a mob mentality.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by milefile
Doug, I can't believe how narrow mided you are being. I never said all Arabs are terrorists. No reasonable person would think that, and no reasonable person would assume that's what I meant. It is a programmed, knee-jerk reaction, a mob mentality.

You did say that we need to scrutinize all the Arabs. Which is completely absurd, since nearly all of them have purposes other than terrorism.

I'd hate to be an Arab who gets assigned the seat next to you on a flight.

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by M5Power


I'd hate to be an Arab who gets assigned the seat next to you on a flight.

Why? Because I keep to my own small seat, sleep the whole time, and don't get up?

What do you think I would do?

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by milefile

What do you think I would do?

I think you would scrutinize the poor fellow.

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by M5Power
I think you would scrutinize the poor fellow.

Yeah. I would size him up, for sure. But I do that to everybody I sit next to, anywhere. Then I would probably try to talk to him about what it's like to be an Arab on a plane in America, just like I'd refuse to give money to bums but I'd talk to them for an hour about how they ended up on the street. But I'd probably get thrown off by the airline for bringing it up.

Would you just not notice?

 

[1X83Z]

So you're admitting you'd "size up" an Arab sitting next to you on a plane just like you admit that you're generalising and that Ahmed got his nail clippers through security while Junior got his backpack searched. You also say we need to be scrutinizing all Arabs based on the actions of 19 men.

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by M5Power
So you're admitting you'd "size up" an Arab sitting next to you on a plane just like you admit that you're generalising and that Ahmed got his nail clippers through security while Junior got his backpack searched. You also say we need to be scrutinizing all Arabs based on the actions of 19 men.

This is spam. I've already answered everything in here.

And it's not just 19 men. It's a group that spans continents. The ones you're talking about are dead. I'm more concerned with the ones still alive that nobody knows about, yet... so-called sleeper cells in America and Canada.

And I'll ask you again, Why is the NSA, CIA, and FBI frantically searching for and recruiting Arab speakers?

 

[Zero]

Both of you shut up.