How 'bout dem terrorists?

Darth_Jonas

Darth_Jonas

Future Emperor
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Nov 16, 2005
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right behind you
I find the thwarted terrorist attack disturbing, but I find some of the reactions even more so. CNN had a pic up earlier of two state troopers patrolling the Chicago airport carrying full-auto weapons. That disturbed me. I'm sure our military, police, and intelligence agencies have prevented hundreds of terrorist attacks and major catastrophes. But when the media blasts it all over the place and makes it even more sensational than it was (although this one can be excluded from that list), I see people who are normally logical make very illogical decisions. Now they recommend arriving 2 hours early for a flight? More security measures? I udnerstand the measures our own government takes to protect us (after all, that's part of their job), but the rest of the country (let's include our America Jr. friends in Canada as they are affected too) always acts stupid.

What do you think about the terrorist plot and the reactions to it?
 
I think..................*disregards very disturbing thought in head*.......Anyhoo, i say we have it settled in a no-holds-barred, over the top Royal Rumble with all the political leaders....but outside would be man-eating aligators...........Well, maybe that wouldn't work, but you have to admit that it would be interesting
 
yup that would be interesting. If that were the case, we should vote in Mick Foley for president!

Asylum, you know what disturbed me most? I envisioned one of the troopers as Tripp. Tripp with an automatic rifle [shudders]. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
 
Well, the two hours for flight thing pretty much is so they can search you and your baggage thoroughly. But this would've been a huge deal if it didn't get ended.
 
Y'know, it's kinda funny, but before 9/11, I used to go to the airport 2-3 hours early anyway just so I wouldn't feel rushed during the whole boarding process. Also, this gave me a chance to grab a beer and get deep into a book before even getting on.

I guess what's mostly disturbing about this possible attack was the attempted use of compound explosive materials in separated, inert liquid form. As it is, it's difficult to spot the possible smuggling of explosives. I'm sure the thinking here is to overreact rather than be caught with our pants down like 5 years ago.

Still, Darth, you're right about the level of illogical behavior regarding our Homeland Security. My friend forwarded me a story about the town of Germantown, TN receiving a $200,000 armored personnel carrier from Homeland Security funds. Germantown boasts a population around 40,000.

What's scary is how politicians and business interests of various sorts continue to use the very real threat of terrorist attacks as PR manipulation and cash grabs.
 
Yeah, I remember that when I was little, I ended up going to the airport a solid 2 hours early, just in case we got into an accident, then the car broke down, then one of us got hit by a meteor, then all sorts of other various catastrophes happened. None of which actually did, but JUST IN CASE!!!!!
 
I don't think I've ever been less than two hours early for a flight. It's just common sense. Nowadays, I go three hours prior.

What pisses me off is not the increased security at the checkpoints. They can examine my stuff and my shoes and my ears and up my nose all they want. It's the fact that I can't take a bloody bottle of water on a flight anymore! This means one of two things: airlines will start selling extra bevs inflight, or they'll start giving out bottled water (which is a colossal waste of cash in the first place). Either way, I have to shell out, whether at point, for the individual bevs, or at the ticket counter, when the airlines raise the prices of fare because of the free bloody water!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!
 
Maybe it's because I've never flown from a Canadian location to a Canadian location (all my flights have been Canada to US, US to Canada, or Canada to International), but I've always been told to show up 2 - 3 hours before the flight anyways, but I think that's because of not only security but customs as well, and depending on the time of day, this has been quite reasonable.
 
This most recent terror attack has me a little worried, since my friend is over in London now. I'm sure she's fine and going to be all right, but it's not gonna be a fun ride home for her, that's for sure.

I'm just glad they stopped whatever was happening :)
 
I'll show up early for a flight too, but now, I'm going to end up getting there 3-4 hours early and my typical flight lasts an hour. It's almost the same amount of time for me to drive the 400 miles to get home. The other problem will be the idiot flyers. Smart flyers are like my dad. He has dark hair and a mustache and in the summer gets a dark tan from working outside. He can look either hispanic or arabic. He knows he'll be searched, so he wears shoes that are easy to slip off, no metal at all, t-shirt, and shorts. They will invariably search him and he will come out in less than a minute. The idiots keep metal in every pocket, wear 15 layers of clothes and jewelry, lace up boots, and hold up the line for 20 minutes.
 
But they're free to wear what they want, they're Americans!

Isn't it funny that we fight these wars to defend freedom, when all the while we let our governments remove our freedoms, bit by bit, to protect us from tyranny. It's paradoxical.
 
Actually 4 of my university friends had flights out yesterday / today from LONDON. Gatwick airport so not the one where things are crazy.

The cover of the Toronto Sun showed a police office in gear with a big gun standing outside Pearson Internationalt. That's messed up.
 
good points, guys. The freedom to wear what you want is fine, but if you know a search is going to happen and you MUST take off metal, shoes, etc. then don't wear it and back up the line. And the carry-ons can be ridiculous as well. A friend of mine went on a cruise where they made you pass your carry-on through a little gate that was the size limit of items. If it didn't fit, it went into the hold and you got to carry your stuff on in a clear plastic Carnival bag.

Maybe a better answer would be to do like little airports do. You take the bags to the plane yourself, they load it, when the plane lands, they unload and hand it to you. Then you can take it to your next flight if needed. No lost luggage. No need for most carry-ons.

The commercial rip-off of drinks is a joke. The companies and airlines involved will get us to believe that the extra security measures not only work, but are absolutely necessary or else we'll suffer another terrorist attack. They will spend boat-loads of cash to implement these things and charge us out the butt. Then wonder why no one wants to buy a $500 ticket.

Solution: Two simple upgrades to planes. First, put in a separate door for the cockpit to where there IS no door to the cabin. You want to blow up a plane? Fine, that's all you'll blow up. Might as well do a bus, cause you ain't taking over. Second, make the seats similar to a ride at a theme park. You get locked into your seat and a flight attendant has to let you out. I guess they could still kill a neighbor. This would be extremely uncomfortable for long flights, so maybe another way to keep people in their seats (except for bathroom breaks)?
 
Another question:

Had the planes made it into US or Canadian airspace and we knew they were planning on another WTC type attack, would you want the planes shot down?
 
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