Who is the Terrorist? (The horror that air travel in the U.S. is becoming)

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ^ | July 1, 2003 | Mike Masterson

[MineralMan]

"So far your advice is don't pack anyting of value, keep your mouth shut, change your style of dress, accept having yourself and your family being pawed at airports by low level goverment workers, your belongings being rifled through etc. etc.

Screw that. I won't set foot near an airport or an airplane until this madness stops. Americans have never hijacked a plane, this is as stupid and illogical as the people who defend it."

Your choice. But, my friend, Americans _have_ hijacked planes. In fact the las US hijacking prior to 9/11, in 1987, was done by an American. You'll find the story just a few messages above this message.

I don't really care whether you fly or not. I do fly, and I do what I need to do to ensure my flight will be trouble free. What you do is your business.

[TexasRepublic]

Post #36 said everything I was going to say.

[Travis McGee]

So you approve of the TSA person who stole Mr. Masterson's private property to "teach him a lesson" and set him up for more abusive searching???

(Some folks just love to polish leather jackboots with their tongues.)

[Sloth]

If I'm not mistaken, all the 9/11 hijackers were dressed in western clothing and looked pretty normal.

James Woods disagrees.

[hollywood]

I've heard of cruisewear before. Now, it sounds like you've invented flywear.

[spald]

from the link:"A USAir employee who was recently fired, forged his way into a Pacific Southwest Airline BAE 146 near San Luis Obispo, California. He killed his former manager and both the pilots. A total of 5 crew members and 37 passengers were killed in this incident."

I'm not convinced this is a hijacking. Sounds more like worker rage to me. Look at the descriptions of each event listed on the link. All instances contain the classifying word "hijacking" except this one, which is not described as a hijacking.

You are right, hijackings are rare. And even more rare still when Americans are involved.

[1Old Pro]

1) Who's fault is it that this guy "long ago forgot" about his lighter? I suppose he'd also want our sympathy if he "forgot" that his hand-gun was in his bag.

2) Who's fault is it that he left his bag unattended. Anyone who has ever stepped foot on an airplane knows that the first question asked is "Have you left your bag out of your sight and/or unattended"?

3) Let me also add that it's not the brightest thing in the world to verbally confront, abuse, or make statements that are not likely to ingratiate people in authority. It's generally best not to question police or screeners by asking a question that can be translated into this statement: "How many guys that look like me have [fill in blank] you stupid ars"?

4) If this guy didn't make MULTIPLE mistakes he would have gone thru screening in practically seconds.....which doesn't seem overly bothersome to me.

Sorry, I have no sympathy for this guy, based on his own story. He's a crybaby media type who thinks that he's soooo important that anywone who doesn't give him Red carpet treatment will get written up in his column. I'm unimpressed.

[1Old Pro]

Reply #9 is the first to hit the nail on the head. My initial thoughts and reply mirror your thoughts exactly.

[quidnunc]

Travis McGee wrote: So you approve of the TSA person who stole Mr. Masterson's private property to "teach him a lesson" and set him up for more abusive searching???

Personally I don't mind if they look at my stuff, but don't steal it or break it.

Additionally I don't mind if they single me out for extra attention as long as they have a logical, reasonable and articulable basis for doing so — which does not include randomness or the desire to avoid criticism by logical suspects.

[spald]

Thank you buccaneer81.

[MineralMan]

"2) Who's fault is it that he left his bag unattended. Anyone who has ever stepped foot on an airplane knows that the first question asked is "Have you left your bag out of your sight and/or unattended"?"

Bingo! This guy lost me when he left his bag and went for coffee. Sheesh, you haven't been able to do that for years now. There are signs all over the airport and frequent announcements about leaving bags unattended.

He's lucky he got his bag back at all.

[MineralMan]

"I'm not convinced this is a hijacking. Sounds more like worker rage to me. Look at the descriptions of each event listed on the link. All instances contain the classifying word "hijacking" except this one, which is not described as a hijacking."

Let's see. A guy gets on the plane, shoots someone, then breaks into the cockpit and causes the plane to crash. Not a hijacking? Then the 9/11 things weren't hijackings either. I don't follow your reasoning.

[Labyrinthos]

So you approve of the TSA person who stole Mr. Masterson's private property to "teach him a lesson" and set him up for more abusive searching???

Nope, but I also don't approve of idiots like Mr. Masterson leaving their bags unattended for even a few minutes in an airport given the obvious concerns over terrorism. Even my pre-teen children have more common sense. If Mr. Masterson is going to pout and act like a child then he desrves to be treated like a child and that's what the TSA guy did. And BTW, I have traveled through FLL at least a half dozen times since the TSA took control of airport security without experiencing or even observing anyone else experience the problems for which Mr. Masterson complains.

[cardinal4]

I am a redheaded, middle-aged Orthodox Jew.

I have come to the conclusion that looks mean nothing to the TSA. My kids; Two boys with light brown hair, aged 4 and 2, and my daughter, who is 8 and blonde, have run the gamut, while their mother and I stood watching. Im an airline employee and I get the "treatment" about 70% of the time.

[Labyrinthos]

Well, last February I was traveling to New York. I am a redheaded, middle-aged Orthodox Jew. I got pulled out of line for the random "special treatment."

Richard Reid has reddish Brown hair, and about a week ago, one of the homocide bombers in Israel was dressed in traditional Hassidic garb. If the TSA only picked on Arab looking men between the ages of 15 and 35, then you can bet that the bad guys would recruit middle aged, Europeon looking men or women or even small children to do the dirty work. Random searches in my view are a much more effective deterent. And BTW, although I have personally seen the TSA search people who don't fit the profile, I have rarely seen Arab looking men between the ages of 15 and 35 walk through airport security without the TSA giving them a really close look.

[spald]

Well if you really want to get technical, hijacking refers to stealing property (esp liquor) by force.

My point is that hijacking is today thought to be a political action of terror. This American hijacking differs from the 9/11 acts because at the core of the hijacking is a worker who went postal rather than a group trying to make a political statement. You can see the difference?

[spald]

I keep getting dinged by the Security Team of Deutsche Telekom AG, Germany on port 21 according to ZoneAlarm. I think I'll reboot and reestablish connection.

[MineralMan]

"I keep getting dinged by the Security Team of Deutsche Telekom AG, Germany on port 21 according to ZoneAlarm. I think I'll reboot and reestablish connection."

Interesting. I'm gonna have to get that ZoneAlarm thingie. I wonder who's watching all this Free Republic activity. I assume the FBI's on it all the time. But Deutsche Telekom? Bizarre.

[HardStarboard]

This guy flunked 21st Century Travel 101.

[SGCOS]

You should've seen how po'd the screeners were when I tried to go through security with my full 2-gallon gas can.

Those guys can't take a joke for $hit!