Jeezus. That is the most obvious "not bomb" I've ever seen. I'd be more worried about a cell phone or notebook computer than this item.

Yes.

I carry massage balls with me when I travel, and I mistrust the airlines enough that I always carry them on. My favorite ones are about the size of the perfectly spherical lumps of plutonium you always see in 24 and the like, and I imagine they look just the same on the x-ray. Last year, I had them with me, and the airport security guy asked me to take them out so he could look at them. I even made some comment about "I always wonder if I'll get asked about those, I suspect they look like something from 24 on the x-ray," and he looked them over, and that was the end of it.

A) This was on my RETURN flight--I'd already flown somewhere with them without question.

B) I never used the word "bomb," but that was clearly implied in my comment.

C) I have taken these on other flights since, without any questions.

-- A Blonde of Western European ancestry

"Let's not forget that Boston happens to be the only city that panicked when an artist set up flashing signs "

Well last month New Haven panicked when a local impromptu after-work bicycle race group laid out a course in the Ikea parking lot with flour. "Aggh! White powder! Anthrax!" etc. The city has kindly decided not to demand recompense for the expense of treating a bag of flour as anthrax, but the dastardly perpetrators still face federal charges.

As we saw last month, it is perfectly possible to pass through airport security and get on a plane with a marmoset under your hat. Yeah, we're totally safe now.

well, ok, but what about the breadboard pinned to your jacket?

She rode the subway to the airport wearing her blinky jacket and walked through the airport without causing a panic, and because one clerk at the info desk thinks her little decoration looks like a bomb, we all have to agree it's obviously a fake bomb and the kid should have known better? We're bordering on mass hysteria here. There was no reason for anyone to think that thing was a bomb. The mistake was the clerk's and the cops', and the student had no reason to anticipate it.

Oh, and those of you muttering about racism--check out the photos from her blog and not just the murky-colored news clip. She's clearly a white girl.

There was no reason for anyone to think that thing was a bomb.

The info counter person had reason. The blinky lights. The little batteries. The tape covering the "primary leads" (got that from 24).

I was planning on wearing a couple of cans of playdoh strapped to my head with duct tape at the airport...maybe make some wires dangling out too. Now I know to stay away from the info counter.

Score one for THE TERRORISTS.

People with fake bombs go out of thier way to make them look real and announce they are bombs. People with real bombs hide them so they can kill as many people as possible. No one wears a fake bomb that hardly looks like a bomb and says nothing about it. The reaction to Star Simpson was not cautious, it was just plain stupid.

Some of you are saying that it obviously wasn't a bomb. What does a bomb look like? Does it have a countdown display and sticks of dynamite taped together? Should they only arrest people who's bags are labeled "WARNING- EXPLOSIVE DEVICE"? For all the guards knew there were wires connecting to some explosives somewhere else on her person. Not enough to blow up the airport but enough to take out a few people. If she had been a suicide bomber a lot of these posts would be about how the police ignored a person with something suspicious on their shirt.

Hindsight seems to cause a lot of problems for people. I've read that the 9/11 hijackers did a lot things that should have led security to keep them off the planes (buy one way tickets, pay cash, check in with no luggage, etc.) I don't know how many of these are true, but had they been stopped for any of those there would have been an uproar over the violation of their rights and ethnic profiling.

I think it's better that they played it safe and arrested her.

The issue is what makes someone appear to be a greater threat than someone else. Anyone can walk into an airport carrying a bag that could have a bomb in it. They will not get so much as asked a question unless and until they get to security and try to enter the restricted areas. If they were a suicide bomber at a busy time they could easily kill scores of people. Or if they had a brain, they could skip the airport and go someplace with less security and they would not even have to blow themselves up to take out even more inncents as Timothy McVeigh did.

Is someone with a circuit board on her chest more likely a threat than someone carrying a brief case or a stuffed animal with a blinking l.e.d. decoration? The simple and logical answer to this question is no. Had the kiosk person spotted what appeared to be a concealed device, that would be different. But Star Simspon's device was in plain sight. When something is in plain sight, the proper response, if the person is not declaring it to be a bomb, is to simply ask about it and inspect it. In this case, because the device could panic the ignorant, the law enforcement personnel could have advised her to leave or wait for her boyfriend with them.

So why do a platoon of cops draw automatic weapons on Star Simpson? The reason is that security in America is about apperances not real prevention or deterrence. That is why I cannot take my saline solution and toothpaste on an airplane but a terrorist can pack his ass with enough C-4 to blow up the plane and walk on with ease. Everybody sees all the cops with their automatic weapons and is given a big hassle getting through security so that they will feel safer. It does not matter if they really are safer and the illogical security protocals when examined closely reveal this. Even Star Simpson's arrest is designed to make us feel safer by showing that they check everything out and "take no chances."