[luvtolean]

Nothing about what is going on right now is cheap. Those guys standing in those pics holding sub-guns make a hell of a lot more than the TSA people.

Bake asked if I thought there was an answer with the immediate threat and I maintain there is.

Besides, anyone who has gone through a TSA checkpoint knows if they were worried about personnel costs, many things would be different, but like all things government, there's no profitability to be had in the business no matter how well it's run anyway...

[SomeStrangeGuy]

Originally Posted by luvtolean

A bottle of unknown fluid scares me much more than the thought of even a big knife.

... What did Miggs say to you? Miggs in the next cell. He hissed at you. ...

[phobiaphobe]

Originally Posted by luvtolean

Nothing about what is going on right now is cheap. Those guys standing in those pics holding sub-guns make a hell of a lot more than the TSA people.

Bake asked if I thought there was an answer with the immediate threat and I maintain there is.

Besides, anyone who has gone through a TSA checkpoint knows if they were worried about personnel costs, many things would be different, but like all things government, there's no profitability to be had in the business no matter how well it's run anyway...

I was being facetious.

[Baketech]

As opposed to "fascist"....apparently it's all Bush's fault now...

US Muslims bristle at Bush term "Islamic fascists" - Yahoo! News

[phobiaphobe]

Terminology shouldn't make a difference, he's just an infidel.

At least I wasn't being "fecesious"

[luvtolean]

Originally Posted by Baketech

As opposed to "fascist"....apparently it's all Bush's fault now...

US Muslims bristle at Bush term "Islamic fascists" - Yahoo! News

Nice.

I actually logged into Yahoo so I could rate that one a solid 1 star.

[sheepofblue]

"
"war with Islamic fascists," saying the term could inflame anti-Muslim tensions.
"

Not to mention what they fellow worshippers blowing things up could do to relations.

[QuikMike]

Originally Posted by sheepofblue

"
"war with Islamic fascists," saying the term could inflame anti-Muslim tensions.
"

Not to mention what they fellow worshippers blowing things up could do to relations.

I was thinking the exact same thing.....

[Baketech]

I think his comment was spot-on. One of the first steps in solving a problem is correctly defining it...

[BladeRider93955]

Originally Posted by phobiaphobe

No HBO huh?

HBO: Ali G

Booyakasha! Who Is Ali G?

Highly recommended.

Aside:

'As you seen the one where he talk to the copper about drugs??? I have never laughed so hard.
Are there any other names for weed that parents should be aware of aside from: the budha, the bomb, the maui waui, ganga, mary jane, .......

[phobiaphobe]

Originally Posted by BladeRider93955

Aside:

'As you seen the one where he talk to the copper about drugs??? I have never laughed so hard.
Are there any other names for weed that parents should be aware of aside from: the budha, the bomb, the maui waui, ganga, mary jane, .......

I have all the DVDs.

[BladeRider]

I flew home earlier today, LAX-DEN. No problem at all, only thing different is I checked my bag for the first time in years, I didn't want to throw out my liquids.
Took all of 5 mins to check in (but the economy line looked really really long ). About 10 minutes through the security checkpoint which was surprising at LAX. I even went to the airport early just in case I had issues and ended up grabbing an earlier flight.

[oldfogey]

Originally Posted by luvtolean

In the US, they're "tougher" because it's the only country I've been to that will consistently do things like quiz you on what countries you've been to. What you do for a living, specifics about what you did...(they used to be more inquisitive when I went through, a 25YO in jeans a skater shirt and vans apparently didn't fit their profile of engineer ) Different officers were pretty consistent in this regard, but one might smile and the other might scowl while doing it.

You should try going in or out of Israel, now they are tough! Saudi can also be, though they're much more variable depending on level of security.

The London airport bottleneck seems to be working its way through now, flights cancelled but better managed, long queues but people patient now they know why (which they didn't yesterday for a few hours).They dug all the back-room people out from the airport and airlines yesterday to face up to the customers and provide some information and guidance.

There's still very little information yet, but UK-based muslims with Pakistani connections around the London area are the focus.

Re BDA's comments about freedom and security, there's some comments on Samizdata.net about the Labour government's version of the balance from a libertarian point of view if anyone wants to see a British point of view. Wolf! Wolf! | Samizdata.net

[phobiaphobe]

Originally Posted by oldfogey

You should try going in or out of Israel, now they are tough! Saudi can also be, though they're much more variable depending on level of security.

The London airport bottleneck seems to be working its way through now, flights cancelled but better managed, long queues but people patient now they know why (which they didn't yesterday for a few hours).They dug all the back-room people out from the airport and airlines yesterday to face up to the customers and provide some information and guidance.

There's still very little information yet, but UK-based muslims with Pakistani connections around the London area are the focus.

Re BDA's comments about freedom and security, there's some comments on Samizdata.net about the Labour government's version of the balance from a libertarian point of view if anyone wants to see a British point of view. Wolf! Wolf! | Samizdata.net

Wow, some real Mad (tinfoil) Hatters in the responses. Yes the attacks were foiled with perfect timing as a political play for Blair to build support for Iraq and Lebanon.

How soon these assholes forget the subway bombings.

This is funny though:

That's Asian as ethnic descriptor, Chris, not geographical. I'm sure the implication is they are Muslims from Pakistani families. Tibetan Buddhists are not in the frame, I'm fairly sure.

And I do agree with the author on the absurdity of the "Fear-O-Meter" threat-level warning "system".

[jaim]

Hey, saw a couple references to me in this thread. Are you missing me that much? There really haven't been any meaty political discussions here in a while. This whole thwarted terrorist stuff is rather mundane.

I have been checking out various sites around the net and it seems a lot of folks just don't believe there really was a threat and this was all just some sort of diversion or ploy to fear monger and get ratings up for the republicans who are coming up for election. Which brings up an interesting question. When will the general public just stop believing what the government is telling them? Sure there are skeptics out there and always have been. At what point will the government cry wolf one too many times such that people will just stop listening?

[seamus]

Originally Posted by BDA116

I bet the police killed those innocent peace lovers' kittens as well.

Nope. That was me.

My bad.

[sheepofblue]

Originally Posted by jaim

Hey, saw a couple references to me in this thread. Are you missing me that much? There really haven't been any meaty political discussions here in a while. This whole thwarted terrorist stuff is rather mundane.

I have been checking out various sites around the net and it seems a lot of folks just don't believe there really was a threat and this was all just some sort of diversion or ploy to fear monger and get ratings up for the republicans who are coming up for election. Which brings up an interesting question. When will the general public just stop believing what the government is telling them? Sure there are skeptics out there and always have been. At what point will the government cry wolf one too many times such that people will just stop listening?

Thank you for reminding me to vote

[RAH-VFR]

Originally Posted by jaim

Which brings up an interesting question. When will the general public just stop believing what the government is telling them? Sure there are skeptics out there and always have been. At what point will the government cry wolf one too many times such that people will just stop listening?

Better yet, who is the general public. Are they represented by the news media? The news media hates bush. Is the general public the Christian Right, tne Jews, the Black community, the H/D clones?

The reason is lots of people in the general public are very happy theat these guys were arrested and no planes crashed, maybe a passenger or two.

The most public cohesive voice is the news media which has its hourly news spot on radio and TV. Mostly written by AP. And what ever the government does its wrong. Becuse to them it's Bush is wrong.


Groucho Marx sag a song in one of his movies where in it he was running for elected office. When ask what was his platform he sang about his oppents and the chours was "whatever it is, I'm against it!"

If the G stops a plot, sorry no plot just a bunch of guys talking. If the g lets it happen it's all there fault.

[Proto]

What I find depressing from the news over here, isthe lack of acceptance from the Muslim community in Britain that their own people could be doing anything wrong. "The police have made a mistake. It's a conspiracy. Islam stands for peace. Our people are innocent." type of thing. Over and over again.

Any move against Islamic people is causing friction , driving the wedge deeper between the Muslim immigrants and British society. The Islamic community leaders have an opportunity to do something about it, but sadly seem to be taking their people in the opposite direction. Big trouble ahead for all.

Something interesting on the wireless just now - a discussion on the extremists and how they are not really Muslims at all, but a cult which borrows Islamic idealogy for its own needs. Plenty of religious cults out there but this one is dedicated to violence. Until the Muslim community at large is prepared to expose and disown these people then we will forever be at risk. As I mentioned above, the community leaders in the UK show no suggestion that they will do so. In fact quite the opposite.

By the way of the 19 arrested, one is a nice middle class white boy. Another is a child of immigrants from the West Indies. Somehow sucked into the world of radical Islam. Brainwashed into the cult - Scientology, Children of God, Davidians of Waco, Texas, etc etc

[RAH-VFR]

"a discussion on the extremists and how they are not really Muslims at all,"

That's like the mafia, in court under oath, saying that there is no such thing as a mafia.

To Islam you're either a follower or an infidel.

[BladeRider93955]

Originally Posted by RAH-VFR

"a discussion on the extremists and how they are not really Muslims at all,"

That's like the mafia, in court under oath, saying that there is no such thing as a mafia.

To Islam you're either a follower or an infidel.

That's a harsh statement. I agree that most terrorists are followers of the Islam faith but there are lots of Islam groups in areas all around the world (Palestine for one) where people have altered the interpretation of the Koran and live very peacefully alongside people of different faiths.
A better way to look at extremists is a "small" group of people that are fanatic about their cause. Much like the KKK, Nazi, and Hezbollah. Sadly these groups often misrepresent the interestests of the societies they stem from.
my