An "alert" on Friday, another one today, both on Northwest Airlines, both from Amsterdam to Detroit.... Enough to put all governments hysterical (or supposedly). But this time, surprise... surprise... you will not know the security restrictions before arriving to your airport. Good luck to all of you who are "abroad" hoping to come back with a lot of Santa Claus gifts....
Flights into and out of Cancun yesterday were delayed by hours due to a combination of weather (snow in the US) and increased security. My daughter flew yesterday and said that they used hand-held scanners on every single passenger who got on her flight. And they searched every single carry-on bag. A friend says we should all just fly naked. He's right, it is coming to that.
This will probably just make a sure thing of the x.ray machines that some airports already have...in spite of complaints that it is an invasion of personal privacy. I can't imagine how much it will cost to have enough of them in all of the airports for everyone to go through. I am sure we will be in store for a lot of hand-held scanning for a while. Tis article says the cost of a machine is about 80,000 GBP http://www.thetravelmagazine.net/i-3671--x-ray-scanner-to-replace-body-search-at-airports.html
"U.S. Had Information Before Christmas of a Terror Plot Two officials said the United States government had intelligence from Yemen before Christmas that leaders of a branch of Al Qaeda there were talking about "a Nigerian" being prepared for a terrorist attack." NYTimes. What game are they playing? The father had also alerted the US that his son was dangerous, they did nothing about his visa and flight, and no WHAT??? Circus!!! . Nobody seems to care?
I'm sure that all of the companies and their (bought and paid for) congressional supporters will try get get as much money thrown in their direction as possible. I read today that several African countries say they have terrorists planning attacks on the US from their soil, but without "support" (ie: $$$) to fight them, they cant do anything about it. :icon_rolleyes: The news todays said that the "explosive" was sewn into this guy's pants, which may or may not have been noticeable with the new xray device, depending how it was done and what sort it was. Even if it is something that can be seen, the person who spends all day looking at naked people has to be alert enough to catch it. The device that probably would have had a better chance of stopping him, would have been the machine that "smells" passengers for explosive residues (assuming it wasn't hermetically sealed somehow to prevent detection). As with all things, if someone really is hell bent on it, they will find a way past all of the technology and (human) security. If we really want to be crazy about it we can just design planes where everyone and their luggage has there own little bomb proof capsules during the flight so if they blow up nobody will care. :wink3: (just be sure to use the restroom before takeoff)
Yeah, Life, you are right :aktion025:. it seemed to be kind of knife..., and he had a separate serynge with another product to be mixed. So he went through with both... in... hmmm...view My friend, who is much wiser than I (too naive) asked me if I am just discovering the world :icon_rolleyes:... To get us naked is not enough, you know it....:banghead:
I dont want to put anyone off their next meal, but here's a picture of the bombers underwear after it had been cut off him. No way you can detect that with any kind of visual scan, it's probably no different than a small sanitary towel. And I dont think an 'underwear sniffing machine' would go down too well with most people
As you can plainly see, this was obviously a very unsophisticated "bomb" that he was attempting to use. Just imagine what someone with a a few resources could put together. I'd imagine its pretty easy to stuff a laptop/ipod/younameit with explosives, and if done right, wouldn't be detectable to anything short of a bomb dog checking it out, if even that. Said item placed against the bulkhead, and thats all she wrote. I really think that this guy was just a random wacko.. I mean trying to ignite your underwear right in your seat with the person next to you looking on... he could have at least gone to the bathroom to do it. Not to say that wackos are not dangerous, but to associate him with some bigger organized conspiracy seems like fodder for those who want the US to become a total police state. (and/or profit from it) I think that most of us realize that all of the security is just a placebo to keep us flying. Not to suggest that we shouldn't try, but I think less BS, would be better for everyone. I'm not going to take down the plane with my fingernail clippers and zippo! All you need is a bunch of bomb dogs/machines that everyone goes thru and some security screeners who have a little common sense. PS: and to the FBI/CIA agent who will undoubtedly read this over since I'm sure I've triggered a few "keyword" alarms. Please do not smash my laptop next time I fly.. I'm just using it as an example.
Call me cynical, but after just reading that the shares for the makers of these airport security machines went up for the 3rd straight day, it occurs to me, if I were in the business of providing those machines, it would be one hell of a money maker to recruit a slightly unstable person and get them to fly with a "bomb" (that I provided and know wont work) and then watch the orders for my products come in.... :icon_cool:
