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Letters
Thursday, August 17, 2006 12:00 AM

Is airport security futile?

First it was tweezers, now mascara. Every penny spent confiscating makeup is a penny that could go toward law enforcement -- where it really matters.

The letters thread is now closed.

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Saturday, August 19, 2006 08:29 AM

You're all a bunch of fools

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.

Monday, August 21, 2006 05:23 PM

breath of fresh air

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

Thursday, August 24, 2006 02:45 PM

Planenarrives to take KARL away from Austin.

"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

Thursday, August 31, 2006 07:55 AM

The sheeple speak!

"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!

Friday, December 29, 2006 05:17 AM

Since we are revisiting this story at year's end, I wonder ...

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.

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