I wonder whether any or all of the folks locked up as part of the london liquid bomb squad are still locked up, charged with crimes, charged with terrorist crimes, etc. After all the hub-bub it would be nice if journalists went back and revisited the original story to see if there was any real terrorist threat.

"Having just travelled an international leg (US to Europe) right after the London scare, I find the security measures as prudent and reasonable with only minor inconvenience. "

Preventing the reading of books? No newspapers? Is that PRUDENT?

"Your "where will it all end" squealing amounts to a kind of reverse scare mongering."

Does it? Are newspapers a legitimate security issue? Please let me know how they endanger airline safety!

"CUT and RUN" Karl left Austin when CODE PINK, CAMP CASEY III, American Veterans of the Iraq War, Gold Star Families and other TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOTS ventured to the Renaissance Hotel in PROTEST of the REPUBLICAN One-thousand a Plate Dinner for the killing of both the Innocent and the Guilty or whoever happens along or is "by the roadside".

"WE THE PEOPLE" PROTEST THIS BUSH SHIT!

jp irving msha

Left the Peace House in Crawford at 10 AM

to Austin, Texas and

The Driskell Hotel at 3:15 PM

where having been given a (political)Flip/Flop

when they let him IN before they POLICED him OUT.

SUB SOLE SUB UMBRA VIRENS

Ah, a breath of fresh air. Thank you for some rational discussion of the matter, Patrick.

Wow. It is unbelievable how much of a lack there is in critical thinking. Let's see, regarding the so called "bomb" plot...

1.) Most of the so called "terrorists" didn't have a passport. So how do you board a plane, let alone pick up a ticket without a passport? Given Britains long wait for a passport, this should have ticked off the bullshit meter right away.

2.) Speaking of plane tickets, none of the so called "terrorists" had plane tickets. Which of course, you need a passport to pickup at the check in center.

3.) The so called "liquid bomb", known as TATP bombs, or short for triacetone triperoxide, requires the following.

"According to the official government story, TATP (triacetone triperoxide) was the explosive these conspirators were planning to manufacture aboard the airliners.

"This story is not plausible for a number of reasons, but let's take a quick look at just enough of the science so as not to provide anybody with a guide to making an actual bomb: TATP is made from hydrogen peroxide solution, acetone and sulfuric acid. The reaction can be carried out with just about any concentration, but is best done with concentrated solutions of both peroxide and acetone.

"The peroxide and acetone can be pre-mixed, but the acid must be added, a drop at a time, to the solution, all the while continuously stirring it and keeping it continuously chilled. This step of the process will take several hours, during which the fumes given off will be substantial and quite overpowering, thus a lab-quality air evacuation system is required. (ES: right here, the whole idea of a TATP bomb becomes ludicrous. Difficult in a lab, but impossible in an airplane due to the environment - the toilet - and the time requirement.)

"One then must let the resulting solution stand for an extended period at temperatures above the freezing point, but definitely below 10 Celsius (50 Fahrenheit). Above 10 Celsius, the TATP does not form; instead, diperoxide forms, which is so unstable it cannot be worked with. The time required for the reaction to go to completion is at least 24 hours and often several days.

"Once the TATP forms, it crystallizes as snowflakes from the solution and must be harvested by filtration and the liquid discarded. The TATP then is dried and carefully stored until needed. It must be stored below 10 Celsius or it converts spontaneously to the unstable diperoxide.

"There is neither the time, the workspace nor the other materials required to make TATP on an airliner. The time required, the temperatures required, the workspace required and the need to dry the chemical prior to use preclude this story being reasonable. This chemical process is much more sensitive than making, for example, nitroglycerin."

They were going to do this on a moving airplane?!!!

Either the so called terrorists are REALLY STUPID, or the government hacks who set this up are REALLY STUPID, but mostly the fools who believe the so called liquid bomb plot? THEY'RE REALLY STUPID.

I can't wait for midterm elections to see what more idiocy the government hacks are going to come up with. And to see the public swallow it, hook, line, and sinker.

I am SO glad somebody finally said this in an article. I've been saying it since last week, and when I say it I always get this look that says, "weak, terror-loving liberal." Human beings are incredibly innovative when it comes to thinking up ways to kill other human beings--there's no way we can predict every single deadly weapon that terrorists can improvise. NO serious threats have been caught by security screeners. They've all been caught by good investigation and police work--thank goodness.

Its just like snakes on the plane another hollywood fantasy

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/

Terrorism breeds fear. Fear, on some level, is irrational. And you can't react calmly and with purpose when you're scared. Here in New York, the city just released tapes of over a thousand 911 calls made on Sept. 11. Hearing the victims' panicked calls brought back waves of feelings again --fear, fear, fear. It doesn't help that the public just doesn't have much faith in those who are making the rules (airlines, TSA, law enforcment). There are rational voices out there. It's clear in lots of these letters. Let's not let fear overwhelm us.

The US department of defense's own definition of terrorism is: The calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear.

I think its working. Terrorists or would-be terrorists have succeeded in making americans afraid of them, each other, and practically everyone else; to the point that they will willingly give up food for their babies over several hours even though doing so has absolutly no rational basis. Now terrorists don't even need to act to terrorize. Just by imagining an act, planning and discussing it, then leaking it (even if it wasn't feasible) they can paralyze hundreds of flights, cost airlines millions of dollars, and render millions of travellers miserable and afraid.... all without actually DOING anything! Amazing. If the point was to use the "threat of violence to inculcate fear" they are succeeding wildly... but why are we helping them to do it? And who is it really, who wants us all to be afraid all the time?

Thank you Patrick Smith