"news" ... in quotes
<< Jul 25, 2007 @ 08:32 >>
The headline story on CNN.com right now is this:
The advisory details four incidents from the past 11 months in which screeners found unusual objects with items that could mimic bomb components in passengers' checked or carry-on bags.
In one case last September, a couple in Baltimore, Maryland, checked a plastic bag with a block of processed cheese taped to another plastic bag containing a cell phone charger. Earlier this month in San Diego, California, a passenger checked a bag containing two ice packs covered in duct tape. The ice packs had clay in them instead of the normal blue gel.
Terrorists could be testing the system, or could be conducting repeated operations to desensitize security officials, the bulletin says.
"The unusual nature and increase in number of these improvised items raise concern, and TSA personnel should continue vigilance for groupings of ordinary items that look like IED (Improvised Explosive Device) components," the bulletin says.
At least three of the four incidents involved U.S. citizens, the advisory says. While "initial investigations do not link them with criminal or terrorist organizations," the bulletin adds that "most passengers' explanations for carrying the suspicious items were questionable, and some investigations are still ongoing."
The bulletin also details a case from June in which a passenger in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had a carry-on bag with items resembling IED components, such as a wire coil wrapped around a possible initiator, an electrical switch, batteries, three tubes and two blocks of cheese.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/24/tsa.incidents/index.html
So I see only two possibilities here:
1. These people are terrorists doing dry runs, in which case the authorities OBVIOUSLY KNOW who these people are now considering they saw suspicious items IN THESE PEOPLES' BAGS. So the bad guys have been caught. They know we're on to them. Problem solved.
2. These people are not terrorists at all, and this report does nothing but scare Americans.
Seriously, there's no fucking number three here. In order to be reporting that they found these items at the airport in checked or carry-on bags, this means BY DEFINITION that the have the name of the passenger, or that the passenger is standing right there with the TSA agent. If you think they are a terrorist doing a dry run, then FUCKING ARREST THEM.
Or maybe, if it is just some stupid coincidence, and you think it is safe enough to let these people go, then THIS NEWS STORY IS TOTAL FUCKING BULLSHIT.
Reader Comments...
July 25, 2007 @ 08:37:35
xopl (#001)
It is critical that I point out this news story's source is CNN... not AP.
July 25, 2007 @ 09:33:15
paularms (#1017)
But dude, what's more important is that Lindsey Lohan got another DUI.
July 25, 2007 @ 09:33:42
xopl (#001)
No shit... why isn't THAT the top story.
July 25, 2007 @ 09:34:35
jmullan (#1015)
Cheese is murder.
July 25, 2007 @ 13:29:05
whitewaffle (#1050)
Milwaukee represent. Of course we'd have two blocks of cheese in our carry-on.
Oh, and four incidents in eleven months? I hardly think that that constitutes "conducting repeated operations to desensitize security officials."
July 26, 2007 @ 10:51:41
74 (#074)
The 4/11 months is unpossible. People that work at my company get heckled all the time. We fly with tools and electronics all the time for work, some of which don't really look so innocent.
July 26, 2007 @ 10:56:51
xopl (#001)
I'd love to see the TSA ban cheese like they banned water... don't piss off dairy farmers, man.
July 28, 2007 @ 12:02:32
xopl (#001)
Well well well... CNN is reporting that the TSA announcement was bogus. Yes, that's right.
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/TSA_dry_run_terror_alerts_bogus_0727.html
Only, they are reporting it at 6:30 am in the fucking morning on a Saturday and didn't post anything about this on their website.
Manipulate Americans with fear, and then to cover your ass, issue a correction... only do it at a time and in such a way that most average Americans only hear the fear story not the correction.
Added bonus: see the little old white lady "terrorist" interviewed about the experience.
July 28, 2007 @ 13:27:40
whitewaffle (#1050)
Ageism, Zach. Just because she's old doesn't mean she couldn't be a terrorist!
July 28, 2007 @ 13:42:46
xopl (#001)
high-larious!
August 13, 2007 @ 14:28:14
pamelaNeko (#1001)
ppl keep telling me i'm an idiot for traveling w/ pot brownies. But I never get stopped.
August 13, 2007 @ 15:19:28
xopl (#001)
Well, they don't trip the metal detector, the xray machine, or the bomb chemical tests... but just one dog sniff, one unlucky day, and you'll wish you listened to your friends.
August 14, 2007 @ 11:10:55
pamelaNeko (#1001)
Those dogs aren't trained to sniff out drugs for personal use. They're trained to sniff out drug traffickers. I've only ever seen dogs in customs, coming back from Mexico. And they didn't detect my dime bag, or my contraband limes.
You're right of course. BUT it's a lot safer / better odds than trying to buy a bag at my vaca-destination. It only took one time to figure that out.
August 14, 2007 @ 11:41:48
xopl (#001)
you bought from an undercover?
or you bought ditch weed from a hobo?