Phew! Knives, Razor Blades, and Ice Picks To Finally be Allowed On Planes Again!

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I was getting tired of leaving my ice pick at home when I traveled by plane, but thank God our federal government is finally going to abolish this horrendous restriction on my freedoms. When you terrorize my right to carry razors, knives, and ice picks...only terrorists will have razors, knives and ice picks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/16/AR2005081601467.html

 

[tommy]

Who cares about ice picks.

When are they going to obolish the law where i earn money and they feel that it belongs to them.

[shmokes]

When you quit using public services.

[Crazy Cooter]

I saw that too.  How stupid.  Let's open the same door that got us in trouble before...

[paigeoliver]

They COULD just attack the "problem" at its source and simply throuroughly search everyone of Arab descent.

Or, they could stop making a big deal about it, since plane hijacking and sabotage are pretty much the smallest problem this country has.

[danny_galaga]

When you quit using public services.

 

[danny_galaga]

They COULD just attack the "problem" at its source and simply throuroughly search everyone of Arab descent.

Or, they could stop making a big deal about it, since plane hijacking and sabotage are pretty much the smallest problem this country has.

Phew! lucky timothy mcveigh didnt fly a PLANE into that fbi building or you'd have to search everyone of caucasian descent (caint trust them there white folk. everyone knows they are ALL up to no good)

[Dartful Dodger]

If someone tried to high jack a plane with a box cutter today, that person would be jumped by everyone on that plane. That was proven the minute the people in the last plane heard about what happened to the first three and then attempted to take back the plane. Those restrictions were useless before they were created.

I'll start worrying about it when people start to forget and reverse their attitude about life threatening situations.

[paigeoliver]

They COULD just attack the "problem" at its source and simply throuroughly search everyone of Arab descent.

Or, they could stop making a big deal about it, since plane hijacking and sabotage are pretty much the smallest problem this country has.

Phew! lucky timothy mcveigh didnt fly a PLANE into that fbi building or you'd have to search everyone of caucasian descent (caint trust them there white folk. everyone knows they are ALL up to no good)

While I AGREE that us white folk are up to no good, it would be useless to profile based on a majority race. But really, when 100 percent of the airline related terrorists are part of a tiny 1 percent minority then it is QUITE easy to concentrate on them.

Really, I don't understand why it is OK for traffic police to profile based on age (in hopes of finding drugs), but the transport guys can't profile based on race? Rediculous, it makes things safer for everyone, including those of middle eastern descent.

And believe me, the police profile based on age. I have been pulled over TWICE age 22-28 (once for failure to signal the right turn out of my works parking lot, and once for speeding 8 over and that was at the bottom of a steep hill, did not get a ticket for that one).

Age 16-21 I was pulled over roughly 50 times, and had to endure many vehicle searches. I (as a rule) am a rather slow driver, so I still only got one speeding ticket at that time, and I actually wasn't speeding at the time (I know this for a FACT because I spotted the way ahead of me when I stopped at a stop sign, I was absolutely CERTAIN to be going under the limit when I passed the officer). Yet I got a ticket for 11 over the limit, as did two other guys going to the same party as me (also got tickets for 11 over), there was also a really cute girl at the party who ALSO got pulled over by the same officer, and got a warning for 11 OVER.

[Avery]

I saw that too.

[Avery]

They COULD just attack the "problem" at its source and simply throuroughly search everyone of Arab descent.

Don't take my word for this:
(from http://www.schneier.com/blog/)

Despite what many people think, terrorism is not confined to young Arab males. Shoe-bomber Richard Reid was British. Germaine Lindsay, one of the 7/7 London bombers, was Afro-Caribbean. Here are some more examples:

In 1986, a 32-year-old Irish woman, pregnant at the time, was about to board an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv when El Al security agents discovered an explosive device hidden in the false bottom of her bag. The woman

[Stingray]

And of coures we can't forget Timmy McVeigh - who was already mentioned in this thread. White guy and it happened right here in Oklahoma where (up until the second the bomb exploded) everyone in the world would have bet the farm that it would never happen.

While I agree that the passengers would pulverize anyone trying to hijack a plane with a box knife, why allow that to happen anyway. You can count on at least one or two people getting killed before the would-be hijacker. There's no reason for anyone to be allowed on a plane with a knife of any kind. That's just stupid.

-S

[fredster]

The article didn't really specify what the "eased" restrictions were.  I didn't see "ice pick" in there at all.

Swiss army knive maybe.

They are taking a lot of things, but those box cutters were pretty effective.  I guess they seem to think that it's ok to kill everybody OUTSIDE the cabin, but not the pilots.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I didn't see "ice pick" in there at all.

First sentence,

"The nation's largest flight attendants union yesterday questioned a federal government proposal to end the ban on knives, ice picks and razor blades on board commercial airplanes."



mrC

[Ed_McCarron]

If someone tried to high jack a plane with a box cutter today, that person would be jumped by everyone on that plane. That was proven the minute the people in the last plane heard about what happened to the first three and then attempted to take back the plane. Those restrictions were useless before they were created.

I'll start worrying about it when people start to forget and reverse their attitude about life threatening situations.

Just make at least one door on the plane that can open at altitude and leave justice up to the passengers.

Well, and the poor guy that whoever they throw out of the plane lands on.  His involvement may be a less of a choice, tho.

[ChadTower]

When you quit using public services.

Well, we should definitely reduce his taxes, because clearly he didn't use the educational services.

[fredster]

Oh yeah, I guess it does.  I was looking for more in the text. My bad.

I was kinda looking for "why" they want to do that.

[ChadTower]

If you are going to try to hijack a plane now you better have a chain saw, a machine gun or a flame thrower.

[Avery]

On a scale of 1 to bad I'd say a slit throat is bad....

Still, the object of the game is not to stop the odd murder - it's to stop mass murder via flying a plane into a busy office building, crowded stadium, whatever.  Alccording to The Children's Golden Book of Improvised Weapons my drivers liscense, which I ABSOLUTLY MUST HAVE to board a plane, is almost as effective a weapon as a box cutter.

Either way, I think it'd be wise to see the official list before freaking out.  Right now they're protecting us from Terrorists armed with tweezers.

[ChadTower]

Last time I checked, a well trained man can kill a person quickly with his bare hands.  When will hands be banned?

[Avery]

These well trained, uh, men? have almost killed me with their endless wailing:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/08/15/no.fly.babies.ap/index.html

[ultramagnus]

inteed, well trained people can kill somone with a bare hand

seriously, last i heard since 9/11 most planes have been fitted with bullet proof cockpits, what use a razor blade going to be to crash a plane then?

[danny_galaga]

If someone tried to high jack a plane with a box cutter today, that person would be jumped by everyone on that plane. That was proven the minute the people in the last plane heard about what happened to the first three and then attempted to take back the plane. Those restrictions were useless before they were created.

I'll start worrying about it when people start to forget and reverse their attitude about life threatening situations.

here we go again. yes, everyone would jump the hijackers NOW, but you cant seriously believe that the  plane headed for DC wasnt SHOT down? theres nothing wrong with that, so why deny it? the US government has said it will shoot down any further hijacked planes that threaten people on the ground. it would be a tough call but no one would blame them for doing it...

[Crazy Cooter]

inteed, well trained people can kill somone with a bare hand

seriously, last i heard since 9/11 most planes have been fitted with bullet proof cockpits, what use a razor blade going to be to crash a plane then?

Having dated flight attendants both before and after 9/11, it doesn't matter.  As soon as the plane is in the air and they unbuckle... the door to the pilots cabin is OPEN.  The way it was explained to me is that the flight attendants "get bored" unless they can talk to the pilots.  So bulletproof or not, it doesn't matter when the door isn't used.

[ChadTower]

here we go again. yes, everyone would jump the hijackers NOW, but you cant seriously believe that the  plane headed for DC wasnt SHOT down? theres nothing wrong with that, so why deny it? the US government has said it will shoot down any further hijacked planes that threaten people on the ground. it would be a tough call but no one would blame them for doing it...

Erm, because fighter jets are loud enough that you can hear them miles away, and there is no way it could have been done without witnesses.  No witnesses, thus it did not happen.

[tommy]

When will hands be banned?

Try taking them off your monkey and go out the house.

[danny_galaga]

They COULD just attack the "problem" at its source and simply throuroughly search everyone of Arab descent.

Or, they could stop making a big deal about it, since plane hijacking and sabotage are pretty much the smallest problem this country has.

Phew! lucky timothy mcveigh didnt fly a PLANE into that fbi building or you'd have to search everyone of caucasian descent (caint trust them there white folk. everyone knows they are ALL up to no good)

While I AGREE that us white folk are up to no good, it would be useless to profile based on a majority race. But really, when 100 percent of the airline related terrorists are part of a tiny 1 percent minority then it is QUITE easy to concentrate on them.

so? is it so hard to understand that in order to combat something like terrorism, you need to make people happier? (im not talking apeasement) ive seen quite a lot of US experts on the tv (the ones that should know, CIA, FBI etc) saying that peoples perceptions are hopelessly misinformed. they tell us (and their government who strangely dont listen) that many terrorists are actually well balanced. It's trite (and dangerous) to just write them off as crazy. Very angry, yes. They come from all walks of life. Most are Secular, not Sectarian. Most terrorists are NOT Theodore Kasinski (what colour was HE again?) there is no clue about what they are up to until they do it. the difference between a terrorist and you and i is that they believe so strongly in their cause they will die for it.
  A bit like Kamikazi pilots in WWII, they have taken that extra step of instead saying 'war is hell, i MAY die for my cause' and instead saying ' war is hell, i WILL die for my cause'. famously when GERMAN pilots were asked to do the same thing near the end of the war, most of them flew to somewhere safe and surendered. Different culture, different result. Neither were unbalanced, just a different perception of the world. So many people say they believe in heaven (the 3 pillars especially- christian, jew and moslim) , i cant understand why there arent more actions like that. after all, wouldnt you want to be both a hero AND go to heaven?
 what is their cause? in most cases its a perception that their homeland is being invaded and they have suffered a loss of rights in their own home. examples include the IRA in Ireland (not arabic), the Jews in Palestine 1948 (not arabic, but ironically the jews invented suicide bombers as we know it today to drive out the palestinians. dont know why they complain about the same thing happening today), the Tamil Tigers (not arabic) the chechnyans in Russia (not arabic) and the Maoist rebels in Nepal (not arabic).
  the way a lot of people react reminds me of rich people in south africa. instead of trying to understand the problem (which is a big imbalance of social equality) they barracade themselves in their houses. they choose to live in alcatraz and count their money instead of trying to improve the social system. im not siding on race in this example since the government is majority black now.
 there are many, many muslims who are not arabic. indonesia has about 600 million of them (the largest islamic country in the world) for example. what use is racial profiling? we would get a false sense of security, piss off law abiding arabic people, shoot brazilians and then cant you guess what would happen? there will be caucasians recruited to carry out the bombings. Picking the easy thing to do is not necessarily the right thing to do. can you not think any further than you imply?

[Crazy Cooter]

... we would get a false sense of security...

That's the US homeland policy right there.  Making people *think* they're safe.  Meanwhile... Osama is still cruising around and:
"...some Pentagon officials now acknowledge that the two-and-a-half-year insurgent war has turned Iraq into a terrorist training camp.

U.S. intelligence indicates Islamic militants from several African nations

[jbox]

so? is it so hard to understand that in order to combat something like terrorism, you need to make people happier?

Hippy. Don't you know that the only way to make the world a better place is to cut *all* aid to ungrateful foreigners and cut all those unemployment benefits so that they have to switch off the playstation, put down the joint and go get a real job?

What are you going to come up with next, that the big nations should stop selling advanced weaponary to totalitarian governments or military insurgents? Or that 200km cruise missles *aren't* vitally important to stopping the inflow of them 'illegal' refugees suckng up all our tax dollars?