Free Republic

In 1805, a calamitous fire destroyed the young city of Detroit, giving rise to the city’s motto, “Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus” — “We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes.” Today Detroit struggles to recover from a different kind of disaster: Bankruptcy. Detroit's modern downfall came not from natural events, but from adopting financially ruinous policies, continual mismanagement, and failing to change course, even in the presence of clear signals foretelling a future fiscal collapse. But one way to move Detroit forward during and after bankruptcy is by unloading municipal assets, especially the assets that have been...

CLEVELAND, Ohio – United Airlines confirmed Saturday that departures from Cleveland will be cut by about 60 percent due to unprofitable operations in the city. Northeast Ohio Media Group spoke with several travelers to get their feelings on what the cutbacks will mean. Here’s what they had to say: Omar Garcia of Cleveland uses United to fly to Puerto Rico. It’s what he’s flown since he came to America five years ago from Bayamon, Puerto Rico. It’s the same airline his mother, brothers, sisters and their families used to move to America. He was at the airport Saturday to pick...

WASHINGTON — Egyptian members of the Muslim Brotherhood dodged extra security screening at JFK Airport under VIP treatment provided by the State Department, internal government documents reveal. The special treatment, known as “port courtesy,” was extended during March and April 2012, according to documents compiled by the department and turned over to the Investigative Project on Terrorism as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

Federal officials are investigating why a Southwest Airlines flight that was supposed to land at Branson Airport in southwest Missouri instead landed at another airport about 7 miles away that only had about half as much runway. Southwest Airlines Flight 4013, carrying 124 passengers and five crew members, was scheduled to go from Chicago's Midway International Airport to Branson Airport, airline spokesman Brad Hawkins said Sunday in a statement. But the Boeing 737-700 landed at Taney County Airport, which also is known as M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport.

"...scheduled to fly to Dallas with a stop in Branson, Missouri (BKG) but instead, the aircraft touched down at Taney County Airport (PLK), 8.6 miles away from its intermediate stop"

Will TSA agents be replaced by machines? One of the main reasons that Americans hate to fly is the Transporation Security Administration (TSA). Not only is it annoying to have to strip down at security checkpoints, submit to the occasional patdown and stand in long lines to verify our identities, but the entire system is inefficient. So what happens if we take humans off of those jobs and use machines instead? Several European airports are looking to answer that question by installing eye and face scanners, along with fingerprint readers, at security checkpoints. Many airports’ immigration checks have used these...

There’s an outrageous story out of Seattle (my home base) that shows the way that good intentions can occasionally produce disgusting results. Because of the prevailing climate of political correctness, a decent guy and honorable clergyman looks like a horse’s rear end and has provoked appropriate indignation from millions of people. According to misleading news stories featured prominently in newspapers and on TV (including KING 5 TV News): “All 15 Christmas trees inside the main terminal at Sea Tac Airport (Seattle-Tacoma International) have been removed in response to a complaint by a rabbi. A rabbi wanted to install an eight-foot...

Weary travelers at San Francisco International Airport can now while away time at the terminal by cavorting with black Labs, Saint Bernards, terriers and other specially trained therapy dogs. The dogs, introduced by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in early December, are meant to cheer the homesick, the aggravated, the fuming and the just plain bored. Accompanied by their owners, the pups trot through the airport wearing vests reading "Pet Me" in hopes of meeting new friends and experiencing many fascinating new smells. SFO is not the first airport to let the dogs in. Airports in...

US authorities today announced the arrest of Terry Lee Loewen, 58, of Wichita, Kan. Loewen had attempted to detonate a car bomb at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, authorities said. He was arrested at approximately 5:40 am today. Loewen "was arrested as part of an FBI undercover investigation, and the device used by the defendant was, in fact, inert and at no time posed a danger to the public," a Department of Justice press release stated. According to the DOJ, Loewen was arrested "without incident" after "he attempted to enter the airport tarmac and deliver a vehicle loaded with what he believed...

A 58-year-old airport worker was charged Friday with allegedly planning a suicide bombing at a passenger terminal at the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport in Kansas. The suspect, Terry Lee Loewen, an avionics technician who lives in Wichita, was arrested earlier in the day as he attempted to use his security pass to drive a vehicle that he thought contained explosives onto the tarmac at the airport, law enforcement officials said at a news conference in Wichita. In fact, the car contained only dummy explosives. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Loewen spent months developing a plan to drive a carload of explosives...

Federal officials say they've arrested a Kansas man who allegedly wanted to set off a suicide bomb at the Wichita airport. Officials were to announce details of the case at a news conference at 2 p.m. ET in Wichita. In advance of the news conference, an official familiar with the case told NBC News that the suspect was "an older white man," who became radicalized after reading extremist Islamic material on the web.

Terry L. Loewen was identified as the suspect who allegedly wanted to set off a bomb at the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport in Kansas.

It wasn’t an alligator-print bag that appeared at a baggage claim at O’Hare International Airport, it was an actual alligator. A new kind of visitor caused a stir Friday after the Department of Aviation said a small alligator was discovered at Baggage Claim 3 in O’Hare Airport Friday morning. Officials said the alligator was spotted by maintenance workers underneath an escalator at Baggage Claim 3.

At link per FR

http://twitchy.com/2013/11/01/report-shooting-at-lax/

Of course the Christian didn't insult Islam, Muslim co-workers lied. But even is she had, so what? When is the civilized world going to stop treating every Muslim like a mental patient and stop rewarding the bullying, harassment and sharia demands? "Heathrow Employee Sacked over Alleged Insult to Islam" CBN, October 31, 2013 LONDON -- Nohad Halawi learned that in today's Britain, you'd better not be perceived as having insulted Islam at work because it could ruin your life. Halawi worked the cosmetics counter in the duty free zone inside London's Heathrow Airport for 13 years. She was by all...

Antony Piazza is stopped at Pierre Trudeau Airport during security screening early Sunday morning. Piazza was stopped at Pierre Trudeau Airport during security screening early Sunday morning when bomb components -- but no actual explosives -- were found in his carry-on luggage, and his duplex in the Montreal suburb of La Salle was searched, according to media reports from Montreal. Antony Piazza, who changed his name from Houshang Nazemi in 1986, ... A native of Tehran, Iran, Piazza moved to Canada in 1979. In 1985, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking, according to CBC News...

Police have arrested a second airport employee for an alleged role in setting off ice bombs at the Los Angeles International Airport. Los Angele police say 41-year-old Miguel Angel Iniguez of Inglewood was arrested Friday while working at the airport. Iniguez was a supervisor for Servisair and responsible for 28-year-old Dicarlo Bennett who was arrested Tuesday night. …

A federal air marshal was arrested on Thursday for using his cell phone to take photos up women’s skirts. Adam Bartsch, a 28-year-old air marshal, was allegedly on duty during the boarding of a Southwest Airlines flight at Nashville International Airport when a witness spotted him taking photos up women’s skirts. Bartsch was arrested, and according to a police report had taken 10 to 12 photos. He told authorities he had done it before.

Travelers who attempt to make a joke about strict security procedures at airports have been warned they face arrest. A loudspeaker announcement made by the Transport Security Administration warns the public: 'Any inappropriate remarks or jokes concerning security may result in your arrest.' Concerned passenger Matt Miller recorded the loudspeaker message while passing through George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.