Free Republic

Asheville, North Carolina-AP -- Airport police in North Carolina have arrested a juvenile on felony charges -- after the boy checked a suitcase allegedly containing chemicals that could be used to make a bomb. Officials say baggage inspectors at Asheville Regional Airport discovered the chemicals, an instruction manual on bomb-making and information about bombs from the Internet in the suitcase. Airport police say authorities removed the boy from his flight Sunday, then arrested him on charges of possessing components of mass destruction. An F-B-I agent says the boy may face additional federal charges. Authorities won't release the boy's name because...

For a variety of obvious reasons, the federal government today is cracking down on aviation security nationwide. Whether or not the attempt will succeed is anyone's guess. I speak from experience. A few months back, I successfully bid on an E-Bay item, advertised as a CD-ROM B-737 ground-school course. I was sure that Boeing had made such a CD-ROM, but there was no particular indication that such an object would contain sensitive or even proprietary information. The ad described the manual as "siimilar to that used by major airlines." So I made the purchase and, in good time, the instructional...