Suitcases and backpacks.

It's true. Suitcase bombs and backpacks filled with explosives.

They should be arresting everyone with suitcases and backpacks.

They probably should taser them first just to be safe.

Remember that Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed over Lockerbie Scotland was blown up by a Samsonite suitcase bomb and those subway and railyway bombings in London and Madrid used backpack bombs.

Someone should tell TSA to be on the lookout for suitcases and backpacks. That should keep them, and us, occupied.

Another thing, suitcases and backpacks are bad for business. If we just banned them, then everytime people traveled, they would have to buy new clothes, toiletries and gadgets. We would be safer and the economy would boom.

Ooops! I guess "boom" is not the right word.

It's official. Americans don't give a flying shit about their rights, they're happy being scared of everything, and they believe that if somebody is scary to them, then they should be killed. Lovely place. Welcome to the US. If you look different from the sheeple already here, you will be killed.

I am heading to Logan tomorrow, and I am thinking how I would have reacted. I guess it would depend on the totality of the circumstances. Reading the article on-line does not give you a sense of what that would be, and I think any of us who has been close to a news story knows that it is almost always reported with significant errors. If I saw what looked like a kid with an LED on the shirt I would have maybe noticed it, but then gone to Dunkin donuts without another thought.

That being said, this incident does show a total lack of common sense on the part of the student. The stereotypical no-common-sense of a brilliant, but geeky student at a renowned technical institution. She is lucky she was not hurt.

http://www.univie.ac.at/cga/art/shoe_bomb3.gif

This is a "shoe" bomb, as actually used by an actual terrorist. Real terrorists, hide their bombs. Do all the people who think Ms. Star should have been tackled/arrested/shot and/or tasered, think that we should do this to all those "suspicious" people, "stupid" enough to wear running shoes to airports? After all a running shoe actually looks like a real bomb, it does. I repeat a real bomb looks exactly like an ordinary running shoe!

Would it not be a better use of limited resources to target people who look like they are carrying a real bomb than those who are wearing something that looks nothing like a bomb?

No, actually it doesn't. No terrorist in his or her right mind would try the shoe trick. Besides the next attack will absolutely not be at airport, it will be someplace where the security is weak.

Of course the real answer to true airport security is very very simple. Impeach Bush and prosecute him for war crimes. Withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan. Work closely with your good good friends in Israel for a fair solution to the occupation of Palestinian lands. That way when the actor who plays Bin Laden says, "Hey guys, let's kill Musharef", most people will reply, "Why? What's the problem?". Good question. What is the problem America? Your policies maybe? hmmm

Get a grip----First it's navel gazing baby boomers, and now their ignorant spawn are on the loose! When are Gen X'ers going to stop blaming those who came before them and now those who are coming after, for the things that suck in their life?

You can either " Man up", grow a set of cajones and claim the life you want and need or you can choose ( as you advise) to be " very afraid ".

Hoping for the best for you and yours. gwenn

Clearly, it's not a bomb, but to the underpaid, undertrained, underbrained airport cops, they could mistake anything out of the ordinary or unfamiliar as a threat. Fortunately they didn't act with deadly force. Aside from using poor judgement, the poor young lady did nothing wrong and certainly nothing illegal that she should be prosecuted for. The only good thing to come out of this incidence is the news helps inform and educate the public about other things that could get you killed at the airport by overzelous cops. Here are some:

http://www.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/4c/1/AAAAAopl7nIAAAAAAEwRrw.png?v=1180038113000

http://home.scarlet.be/~mb069957/projects/020/kit/020_lcd8.jpg

http://uk.gizmodo.com/circuit_dress.jpg

http://flashgifts.ecvv.com/upload/imageCache/Product/C200736233726205456_Led_flashing_pin_led_flashing_pins.jpg

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cosmic-Light-With-LEDs-Embedded-in-Resin/

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/976/80067498.JPG

http://zioneocon.blogspot.com/pal%20kids%20holiday%20toy%20guns.jpg

http://zioneocon.blogspot.com/rally%20khan%20younis%20fatah.jpg

Arrogant, privileged, entitled people without the tiniest scrap of human empathy.

This was a stupid idea. And her idea of "art" is equally absurd.

What kind of person with an alleged brain, and a major techno education would think it was ok to wear that thing to an airport?

She should be locked up just for being that dumb. Stupidity is not a defense.

Yet another instance of mindless overreaction. The Boston-area police appear to be a particularly gullible bunch. And of course their reaction, when confronted with their own stupidity, is to file charges against the woman. Welcome to the New Police State, folks. Oh, and kiddies, don't wear those LED sneakers anywhere near Beantown!

People with Asperger's who have high IQs can become very egocentric and are often relentlessly hypercritical of others they perceive as having lower IQs, while accepting absolutely zero criticism of themselves and their own behavior towards others.

Known by the code name Radio-Shack, over 500 of these terrorist sympathizers locations were shut down this weekend and all employees killed or deported to off shore prisons…

More information as it becomes available...

America is now safer…Bush, Bush, Bush.

She got what she deserved. Has she spent her entire pre-college existence locked in a closet? Just because something isn't a bomb doesn't mean it won't be treated with suspicion and paranoia. I'm sure the majority of passengers who have their shampoo and nail clippers confiscated aren't going to do anything bad either. But in these times, you have to accept that when you travel or at least go to an airport, you may be inconvienced. And to go with a device that may be mistaken for a bomb is just sheer stupidity.

So you're smart enough to know that it's not a bomb. Well, you can't take it for granted that the security team has IQs that match yours and will automatically know this, too. Plus if you won't reply when you do get asked, you deserve to get punished. Why should you be above the law? Because you're a minority? Because you go to MIT? So this means you can waltz around while ordinary peons get stopped and searched? I would hope not.

It's not the same, but when I went for jury duty, they confiscated my nail clippers. Did I bitch and moan about how unfair this was as I am a non-terrorist? No. These days that's just a part of life.