Letters to the Editor
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How about hiring some MIT electrical engineering grads?
At the instant I saw the "bomb" I knew it wasn't one. A battery, a circuit board, some LED's and battery. Give me a break. I want to see the certification curriculum for the TSA. If these guys think that is bomb beyond the very first inspection, they are simply idiots. I can understand them reacting and pulling the weapons, but after 60 seconds they should have apologized. But of course, they would never do that. It is much safer to just book her. The irony here is that this young woman could easily design a bomb that none of TSA guys would find in 1 out of 1000 inspections. If this story tells us anything about the TSA's competence it says we are wasting a lot time and money.
I was thinking this same thing today. If they really are so concerned about explosive devices, why don't they hire someone who actually knows something about explosives, wiring, and electrical engineering? Can it possibly be that there is nobody staffed at Logan who could have been brought over quickly to determine what was on her jacket?
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re How about hiring some MIT electrical engineering grads?
Hopefully not Star Simpson...that thing looks like it was built by a 12 year old. But I guess she hasn't graduated yet.
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Bad art is not a crime!
Hopefully not Star Simpson...that thing looks like it was built by a 12 year old. But I guess she hasn't graduated yet.
Well, yeah. With everyone (including me) talking about art and genius and all that, its kind of worth noting that her "art" was pretty juvenile and if I was a recruiter coming to career day I'd probably pass on that and go for the dude with the disco ball on his bike.
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Hiding in plain sight
What does a bomb look like?
A sneaker, and a checked suitcase. The former is what Richard Reid had in his possession, the latter is what took down Pan Am 103. How many people carrying suitcases are being charged with possession of a "hoax device"?
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Again?! Didn't they feel stupid enough the last time?
If you ask me, Boston authorities look pretty dumb. I mean, come ON. A battery and lights equal a bomb? Don't these people (who are supposedly trained to recognize an actual threat) realize this girl didn't have anything different that what's in their own cell phone, walkie-talkie, flashlight and any number of other normal devices? Why are people crazed about a circuit board? everything has a stupid circuit board in it! I'm ashamed for these people. I also feel much less confident that they would be able to recognize and protect me from real danger.
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re: playdough
A friend in the military says to pass on that playdough looks nothing like explosives. Explosives are a distinct color and much firmer in texture than dough. A knowledgeable person couldn't make this mistake.
I, not being a knowledgeable person, wouldn't have known the difference. But shouldn't airport security be trained to know what a bomb looks like? How are they supposed to protect the airport from real bombs without knowing?
#1 scariest quote of the day (I'm sorry, I forget who said this, and I'm quoting from memory): "When I was on jury duty they confiscated my nail clippers, but I didn't make a fuss, that's just the way things are now and you have to accept it."
Really? Why, exactly, do we have to accept that things are pointless and insane? Because confiscating nail clippers from people on jury duty is pointless and insane. Americans used to mock East Germans and Chinese and Soviet Russians for living with governments that were pointless and insane, and being so used to it that they didn't question the state of things. We used to make fun of their ridiculous suspiciousness at customs, their paranoia about photography, and many other things which are now taken for granted as part of the new status quo in the United States. Anyone else remember that? We used to pride ourselves on being citizens of a country where people were expected to use their brains, not just go where they were herded.
Anyone out there remember that we're supposed to have brains?
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Take it easy on the real cops
Who were probably just responding to a call from TSA telling them there was a person with a bomb at the airport. From what's happened in my area it seems like it's against the law for anyone with actual law enforcement training of any sort to provide security at an international airport. The Broward County Sherrif's Office tried to do it at Ft Lauderdale - Hollywood International in 2001 and the President himself told them to beat feet.
So the sherrif simply stopped every car before it got to the airport, I guess assuming it might take the new guys some time to get up to speed on combatting terrorism after investing so much of their lives in making Whoppers and washing cars. BSO stopped one very nice little rich girl and asked the standard "is there anything in your car that we should know about?", to which she replied "Yeah, there's a bomb in my trunk." And do you know they had the audacity to throw this sweet, innocent, spoiled, obnoxious bitch's ass in jail and then present her with a bill for the complete and total disassembly of a Mustang convertible?
2 sides to every story, but TSA really is usually on the wrong one.
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Not smart
I am supposed to believe your defense? That she rolled out of bed in a sweatshirt that she frequently wore as pictured? The wires are held on by scotch tape for crying out loud. That wouldn't hold up for days at a time and it won't hold up in court. I'm all for freedom of expression, but this is clearly an attention getting stunt, and it worked. You expect me to beleive that a sophomore at MIT has never heard of plastik and wasn't attempting to appear to wear a fake bomb by holding playdough and wearing a curcuit board AT THE SAME TIME? IN AN AIRPORT? When everyone knows that you can't even bring bottled water on a plane because it might be some other clear liquid that could be mixed into a bomb... for someone of her experiance, this should have been a commonsence no no. Word to the wise, if you are bored in an airport, bring an etch a sketch, read a good book, bring a drawing pad, soduko for pity sake, but leave the playdough and circuitboard playsets at home.