Fearful people blame the girl for "being stupid." They say we all should know not to cross any line that might make other fearful people over-react.

The not-fearful people are angry at the over-reacting, fearful cops, and at the cop's defensive pride that makes admitting error impossible.

I don't want to live in a nation of defensive cowards, I want a nation that's free and brave.

Free and brave people don't freak out like this.

the poor student like most of us, doesnt seem to understand what kind of country we are now living in. the police have gone completely insane. Easily scared, significantly dumbed down, more armed to the teeth than ever, they are being formed, supported and backed by the likes of protofascist neocon elites using the constitution as toliet paper. Give them the slightest excuse, and they WILL set your behind on fire. its springtime for the facist. the innocent suffer greatly in times like this.

OK. they finally figured out it wasn't a bomb but insist on charging her with possessing a "hoax device". if that is a "hoax device" which possession indicates criminality and charging, is there a penalty for possessing "hoax device"-making materials? Somebody better notify Radio Shack quickly.

Everybody who disagrees me here is arrogant and lacks empathy.

Plus, you're all mentally ill.

Now that's a stellar, well-reasoned argument.

Congratulations.

You've got me there.

But you should probably just let Anonymous Fascist be. You're gonna give youself an ulcer. Those who are eager to lock up/taser/shoot eccentrics who make them feel uncomfortable aren't worth the time.

It's easy to pick on the police, who's job it is to protect the public. Maybe their use of force was overzealous, but let's look at the logic of it all. There are just SOME things you don't do. Wearing something that could be looked at as a dangerous weapon is just that. Don't do it. In the words of Jim Croce, "You don't tug at Superman's Cape, you don't spit into the wind....". It's probably a good idea to NOT put yourself in a no-win situation. This was one of them.

>I'm still confused that this was her career day outfit. I guess she would stand out - in my day you got dressed up for such things.<

MIT Career Day is a way-different head than your standard college "dress up in suit" CD. You get jobs by demonstrating your electronic/computing/whatever skills to recruiters. And the latter know that they ain't exactly visting the Harvard Business School when they come in the first place...:)

As a RISD grad, I think I understand. When discussing projects and possibilities we would dismiss an idea because of time or monetary constraints but never, ever, in four years did I ever hear someone ask, "could we get in trouble for doing this?"

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.

It would have been one thing if they had just confiscated it, but they didn't. They're threatening her with prison and telling her she's lucky to be alive over something that should have been simply confiscated.

The stupid part is that their actions were counter-intuitive. Why would anyone wear a bomb on the outside of their jacket? Everything was in plain view. She asked about an incoming flight, not an outgoing one. She made no attempt to go anywhere she shouldn't have gone. She cooperated with the authorities.

What the heck kind of terrorist straps the bomb to the outside of their clothing, and then walks up to the curb person to ask about an inbound flight? All they had to do was have security ask her to take the jacket off so they could have a look at it.

She was picking up her boyfriend at the airport and probably wanted to show off her new creation. Given that she wasn't thinking about bombs when she made it, she probably didn't expect that anyone else would think of bombs when they saw it. She wasn't going to go through security, so she probably saw no reason to worry about what she had with her. Sure, you think about this stuff when you're boarding the plane, but I've never taken the Swiss army knife off my keychain or the sunscreen out of my purse when I'm picking someone up, especially at the curb.

I really hope they lose this one, hard, because I'm sick to death of the non-stop paranoia. This country foiled hundreds, probably thousands, of terrorist plots without all of this Homeland Security before Bush came into office. Now we're all being held hostage to his willful incompetence?

This has got to stop.

Now, did you exactly tell me what was in that catapult?

Mentos? Okay, no terroristic threat unless they are designed to drop into a bottle of Diet Shasta upon impact.

A catcher's mitt? Not a problem.

Still, I think that you might not want to have tickets to the opera if you point your homemade catapult in the direction of Terrorist International Airport.

Professor (The Professor): (Hey! I've been a professor for twenty years myself. Pretty rare and wonderful, huh?) Do you find kitchengirl's xenophobia acceptable? Is her Saul Steinberg-esque view of America (substitute the Charles for the Hudson) a suitable corrective to "fascism"?

What the heck kind of terrorist straps the bomb to the outside of their clothing, and then walks up to the curb person to ask about an inbound flight?

A mentally ill terrorist? An idiot? Oh, wait...an MIT student.

I see a story that makes me think "these must be some of the least intelligent mofo's alive" and then it gets surpassed the next day. Every single day.

God help her if she'd been carrying an Etch A Sketch.

Goodness sakes. She is being crucified for a simple mistake. I am certain that her intent was entirely misconstrued by paranoid security officials. What she wore was a typical sign of creative thinking in an academic environment; her mistake was merely in forgetting how different the airport environment now is.

I'm really bright, but I made a similar mistake. My good fortune was that it happened in 1981. I had been making homemade Christmas cards and had borrowed from work a heavier-duty pair of scissors than I had at home. I went to the airport to pick up a friend, never thinking about the scissors still in my purse, ready to be returned to work. Back in those days, we were allowed to wait at the gate after going through the security checkpoint. My scissors were found in the xray scan, and I had to leave them with the security guard. I asked if I could pick them back up after meeting my friend and was told no. I was 27 at the time, and couldn't see what the fuss was; I remember being indignant that the airport people were keeping scissors that didn't belong to me, in effect making me a petty office supply thief.

I don't understand why people are pointing to the Play-Doh as a clinching argument. An inventor would probably be modeling ideas all the time. Are we all supposed to be savvy now on what materials homemade bombs could be made from, so that we don't inadvertently include them in our carry-ons? I thought just about anything can be used to make a bomb--does that mean I bring nothing to the airport?

I'm just glad my kids are now past the stage of playing with modeling clay, or with Night-Bright lights. Between their toys being suspect, and the possibility of their saying, "Bye-bye plane," they, too, could be subject to "deadly force." Heaven help us.

I also have to ask--had she been a blonde of western European ancestry, would she have been given more of an opportunity to explain herself?

The U.S. I remember and love seems a distant dream.