Keith Olbermann (Countdown, MSNBC)always points out the timing of these ‘terra alerts’ and while the timing of the announcement seems suspicious (from the Bush admin viewpoint, highly convenient) I think it is a genuine plot foiled. The MSM is just making hay while the sun shines, since ‘terra’ makes for great ratings, gives them something else to focus on other than (1) War in Iraq/body bags and coffins (2) War in Lebanon/body bags and coffins (3) Lamont’s win over Lieberman. Fits in sooo perfectly with the admin’s aims!
Disaffected young Asian-Brits, or for that matter, newly-minted true-Brit converts to Islam who turn terrorist ( prime example, Richard Reid a.k.a. the Shoe Bomber) are not new, they’ve been around UK for some time now. For the conspiracy theory minded out there, all the 19 named characters whose assets have been frozen by the Bank of England could very well have been picked from the unemployed list and promised a nice sum for acting the roles of plotters. Will they have a public trial of all these suspects, or will they be whisked out of sight? We’ll just have to wait and see if they disappear down the memory hole.
Ooops…I’m not so sure if the plot was genuine now. See how the mind behaves like a monkey, jumping from this branch to another and another! I just have to suggest a conspiracy theory option to start wondering over something I just believed was genuine in the earlier paragraph.
I wonder why the authorities have to make airtravelers’ lives miserable the way they’re doing. Hopefully, the security agencies will find a way to check all carry-on fluids/gels without inconveniencing the travelers and this rule goes away. Or perhaps the airtravelers will have to speak with their pocketbooks. Or the ‘terrists’ will find a way to create havoc from a combination of bodily fluids and innocuous permitted items, so the authorities will simply insist on travelers flying in the nude after sterilizing and pasteurizing the body to prevent biological agents.
There are already oodles of bad jokes out there regarding what would be the next thing to ban on the flights."Ladies, hand over your lipsticks and moisturizers, and no one will be hurt!"
A few links for your edification:
Bush administration tried to quietly divert money from bomb detection schemes
Earlier strange incident regarding American Airlines 109 forced back to Heathrow on Aug 6
Even stranger report regarding real(?) reason for above incident
Bojinka- was this the playbook that the ‘plotters’ were trying to follow?
(Update: Added link to transcript of Countdown. Thanks for the link, Ruchira!)
Accidental Blogger 
6 responses to “Terra, terra, terra! (Sujatha)”
Yeah, the bodily fluid thing will be next. I read another bad joke somewhere. With everything being confiscated at the gate, the terrorists might decide to fill up on ample amounts of spicy chilli before boarding a plane. When the plane is filled with sufficient quantities of methane gas, just lighting a match in that confined atmosphere might have the desired explosive result!
But on a more real but equally ridiculous footing is what I read yesterday. It appears that a knowledge of obscure languages (as determined by the average airline employee in the west) might also make one a terrorism suspect. I often take my unread Bengali periodicals to read on long plane flights. I guess I have to stop.
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I wondered about how long before they simply tell you to show up naked with your ID around your neck (you will still need ID). What I really wonder is how long before the sheep stop saying, “oh, as long as we are safe, I don’t mind. After all, if you are innocent, what you got to hide” lines. How long before the sheeple finally say, “enough of this shit,” and really do speak with their checkbooks? While I am all for security as much as the next person, the way they are making people miserable now is just plain silly and overreactionary. I would love to see a couple of airlines literally go out of business. Between their already bad service, which seems to be getting worse, and the ridiculous “security” measures that really don’t make you safe, it has to be a matter of time. Then again, as long as people are willing to be sheep. What was that line Ben Franklin said? Those that give up freedom for security deserve neither.
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Ruchira,
Bad jokes aside, it’s amazing how many flyers have fallen into lockstep with the loss of rights. Dances with Books, your mention of the quote often attributed to Franklin (erroneously, according to wikipedia) “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”, is quite apt for this state of affairs.
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And now, this report on the availability of liquid explosive detectors. They’ve been using them at the White House. Why not at the airports?
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Since the above link requires logging in, here’s a few relevant paragraphs from the article on http://www.boston.com:
Since the early 1990s, AS&E has made SmartCheck, a $50,000 low-intensity X-ray scanner that can spot a bottle of organic compounds in a passenger’s pocket.
But is the liquid an explosive, or a batch of baby formula? Ahura says its $30,000 handheld laser scanner, the First Defender, can answer the question. The device can “see” through glass or plastic bottles and identify any of 2,500 different chemical compounds in about 15 seconds. The FBI and New York City police already use the Ahura system, which went on sale about a year ago.
Clint Seward of General Dielectric said the company developed a system called the BCT 2000 — which stands for bottle contents detector — that can determine if a liquid is primarily water-based — as most household items are — or whether it consists of other substances that might warrant further inspection. The detector is about the size of a laptop computer and costs just under $20,000. It uses very low-power microwaves to probe the liquid. The unit is ready to deploy, Seward said.
The TSA has not outfitted airports with the devices, in part, because officials have to prioritize where they spend limited dollars, according to Frank Cilluffo, former special assistant to President Bush for homeland security and now director of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute.
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