The terror threat to the UK has been downgraded from critical to severe.

The Home Office said the decision had been made because an attack was "highly likely" but no longer "imminent".

The change in the threat level means the ban on taking hand luggage on to flights from the UK has been lifted, although some restrictions remain.

The terror threat to the UK has been downgraded from critical to severe.

The Home Office said the decision had been made because an attack was "highly likely" but no longer "imminent".

The change in the threat level means the ban on taking hand luggage on to flights from the UK has been lifted, although some restrictions remain.



I saw on the news this am that the new hand luggage allowance will only be a small rucksack 14"x 8"  oh well better than a clear plastic bag then  ;D

I have a great idea:

Let's just roll back all security measures to what they were like in 1971.

And if you are wondering, 1971 is when the "D.B' Cooper" hijacking was.  It was only after that incident that metal detectors became mandatory at all airports.

Let's just get rid of all metal detectors, and all bomb detectors.  Checking your luggage is obviously an invasion of your personal rights and freedoms, so let's stop that too.  Stop all background checks of employees at airports.  No more compiling lists of people you are suspected of being terrorists, and checking to see if the person in line behind you is on that list.

Now tell me, how safe do you feel flying?

I have a great idea:

Let's just roll back all security measures to what they were like in 1971.

And if you are wondering, 1971 is when the "D.B' Cooper" hijacking was.  It was only after that incident that metal detectors became mandatory at all airports.

Let's just get rid of all metal detectors, and all bomb detectors.  Checking your luggage is obviously an invasion of your personal rights and freedoms, so let's stop that too.  Stop all background checks of employees at airports.  No more compiling lists of people you are suspected of being terrorists, and checking to see if the person in line behind you is on that list.

Now tell me, how safe do you feel flying?



That is just ridiculous-just like the so-call safety proceedures of the TSA.  Yes, metal detectors should be at airports, luggage/carry-ons should be screened. BUT, we have to take off our shoes because ONE person tried to put a bomb in his. Now we can't bring even bottled water on flights because ONE group tried to use liquid explosives.

Do I feel safe flying because of these procausion? Hell no! Because they are still not screening cargo. I saw something on the news not too long ago that cargo waiting to go on flights that wasn't secure and anyone could put whatever in it.

And that so-called "no fly" list is basically racial profiling. I have heard many stories about people being placed on that list only because they have an Islamic name.

What will happen if someone decides to put a bomb in their underwear? Will that mean that no one can wear underwear after that? Like that political cartoon I posted on that other thread, at the rate the TSA is going, no one will be able to wear or bring ANYTHING on planes.



Cat

Three years ago when I flew for the first time, I would've agreed with the ridiculousness of all this. I was searched because I wore a hat with my last name on it (Perez). How do I know this? They gave me a stupid reason for searching me in the first place (your camera set off the sensors, ma'am). But I digress...

To some people, this is stupid, it's inconvenient, blah blah blah. But to someone like me, with a CHILD to think of, I applaud their decision. I would much rather have to take my shoes off and be screened than have something godawful happen, with the exception of an old fashioned, spiral down to your death plane crash. I'm already scared to fly, so what happened in Britain doesn't make it any better. But I do have to fly in December, and I'm seriously glad that they are taking more precautions, especially because children will be on board, not just my son. So if I have to forego bringing juice and water on the plane for him, so be it. I'll buy it from the crew.

No doubt I'll get ridiculed for being a fascist or something stupid, but oh well. I'm not compromising mine or the spawn's safety while flying.

I get body searched and shoe searched and luggage searched every time I fly.  Nothing new to me.

Just wait until you have to drop your trousers before you can get on a plane.

And if you think I am kidding, it happened to me and about 300 others several years ago.  We all had to drop trau before we were allowed to get on a 747.

Just wait until you have to drop your trousers before you can get on a plane.

And if you think I am kidding, it happened to me and about 300 others several years ago.  We all had to drop trau before we were allowed to get on a 747.


What was up with that?

Just wait until you have to drop your trousers before you can get on a plane.

And if you think I am kidding, it happened to me and about 300 others several years ago.  We all had to drop trau before we were allowed to get on a 747.


now that's crazy :o

Years from now, they will probably make strip searches mandatory before getting on an airplane  ::)

Well, I guess you never can be too careful...people might try to smuggle weapons and toxins in their colons or something :P :o

And that so-called "no fly" list is basically racial profiling. I have heard many stories about people being placed on that list only because they have an Islamic name.

Cat


it's not racism. were at war with these people. we need to be careful around them. were treating them a heck of alot better than we treated the japanese americans in wwII

it's not racism. were at war with these people. we need to be careful around them. were treating them a heck of alot better than we treated the japanese americans in wwII



We are? 

yes. we stuck all the japs in camps where they could be monitered and kept away from us.

it's not racism. were at war with these people. we need to be careful around them. were treating them a heck of alot better than we treated the japanese americans in wwII



So because we are treated them better than the Japanese-Americans makes it right? And we are NOT at war with Muslims. I'm really not too sure who we are at war with. It is supposed to be Al Quada and the Taliban. Just because someone is Islamic doesn't mean that they are part of Al Quada.



Cat

yes. we stuck all the japs in camps where they could be monitered and kept away from us.



What do you think Guantanamo is?  Do you really think the Muslims in this country now have it better than the Japanese-Americans 60 years ago did?

"A vote for a Democrat is a vote for Al Qaida."
--VP Dick Cheney.

I cannot take this administration seriously anymore.  Not at all.  I do take seriously the imminent fascist state they are imposing.  I have never, never, felt a more profound sense of doom in my entire life about anything than I feel about our federal government since the non-election of Bush in 2000, and the 9/11 massacres!
Hillary Clinton is a war-mongering Republicrat, but even she said she cannot any longer take seriously anything Dick Cheney says.  Why stop with Cheney?  I apply it to the entire administration.  Here risible is the antonym of serious.  Everything involving this administration is about usurping political power for an elite corps of billionaires.  The fascist takeovers of Germany, Italy, Spain, and other countries do not look like the fascist takeover in America.  They have one thing in common.  They seemed farcical to sensible citizens, but reasonable people were outnumbered by the howling nationalist rubes who ushered in the fascists.  We look back at the Hitler's cabinet and wonder how a country could have let such a bunch of maniacs take charge of a nation.  If we are in any shape to do so in 20 years, we will wonder the same thing about the Bush Administration.

We cannot see what is going on in the shadows.  I see no reason to believe the official story on the latest thwarted air terrorism plot.  I do not know the real story, but the official one is propaganda.

The new airplane security laws are only ridiculous because everything that led up to their implementation is ridiculous.  

Just because someone is Islamic doesn't mean that they are part of Al Quada.



Cat

ofcourse not. but were at war with people in their country. how are we to know that their not part of Al Quada? do you honestly believe that an old lady would hijack a plane? ofcourse not. and yet they're having their luggage taken away. muslims that come to our country need to understand that were at war and need to take extra precautions with them.
 

What do you think Guantanamo is? 


no idea. please explain.

ofcourse not. but were at war with people in their country. how are we to know that their not part of Al Quada? do you honestly believe that an old lady would hijack a plane? ofcourse not. and yet they're having their luggage taken away. muslims that come to our country need to understand that were at war and need to take extra precautions with them.
 


What about Muslims who are LEGAL citizens of this country being profiled? How does that fit into your explanation?

muslims that come to our country need to understand that were at war and need to take extra precautions with them.
 




So Muslims should just accept the way they're being treated because we're at war with other Muslims?  Great logic.

no idea. please explain.



You don't know what Guantanamo Bay is?

You don't know what Guantanamo Bay is?


that's right

no idea. please explain.


Guantanamo Bay is a US military base in Cuba where dozens of Muslim terror suspects are being held for questioning.  Whether they are held legally or not is another matter, but there ya go.

Methinks you may need to do more research before posting again, as it would appear that you have no idea what you are talking about.

As for profiling...does it suck?  Yes.  Is it justified?  I don't know.  Does it make us necessarily safer?  Again, I don't know.  But given the lack of telepathy and clairvoyance in our arsenal, what do you propose we do as an alternative?  In the absence of an alternative, profiling, though despicable, seems the only way sometimes...  :-\\  It doesn't help those being profiled that the bulk of terror suspects are of their ethnicity.  I think if the terrorists had been Chinese and I were the one being profiled, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.  The few rotten apples ruin it for the rest of us.

that's right



Wow.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detainment_camp

Guantanamo Bay is a US military base in Cuba where dozens of Muslim terror suspects are being held for questioning.  Whether they are held legally or not is another matter, but there ya go.




thank you. and by taking extra precaution, i'm not talking about stuffing them in camps. i'm talking about airplane security.

What do you think Guantanamo is?  Do you really think the Muslims in this country now have it better than the Japanese-Americans 60 years ago did?


If you're insinuating that Gitmo is the modern-day equivalent to the camps we used against Japanese-Americans in WW2, you're off by several million square feet of prisoner capacity. 

Even with the $385M contract for camp construction for "future programs" as per a January 2006 Halliburton press release, prisoner capacity is going to be inadquate by at least two orders of magnitude.  (And no, I don't think we're going to cross the line from Auschwitz - which at least started out having sufficient prisoner accomodations as would be required by any proper concentration camp, to Treblinka and Dachau, which featured no housing for prisoners, for the designers knew there was no need to house prisoners.  How far we go past the "moderate" slave camps of Auschwitz during the early phases of the war, towards the "extreme" extermination camps of the later war, remains to be seen.  If you're gonna die in a concentration camp, it's better to die by falling off the guard tower while drunk, than the other way :)

If you're insinuating that Gitmo is the modern-day equivalent to the camps we used against Japanese-Americans in WW2, you're off by several million square feet of prisoner capacity. 

Even with the $385M contract for camp construction for "future programs" as per a January 2006 Halliburton press release, prisoner capacity is going to be inadquate by at least two orders of magnitude.  (And no, I don't think we're going to cross the line from Auschwitz - which at least started out having sufficient prisoner accomodations as would be required by any proper concentration camp, to Treblinka and Dachau, which featured no housing for prisoners, for the designers knew there was no need to house prisoners.  How far we go past the "moderate" slave camps of Auschwitz during the early phases of the war, towards the "extreme" extermination camps of the later war, remains to be seen.  If you're gonna die in a concentration camp, it's better to die by falling off the guard tower while drunk, than the other way :)


woot woot! applause to you!

If you're insinuating that Gitmo is the modern-day equivalent to the camps we used against Japanese-Americans in WW2, you're off by several million square feet of prisoner capacity.


Actually, I wasn't saying it was the same.  I was saying "similar in thought".

Actually, I wasn't saying it was the same.  I was saying "similar in thought".


just as you have done to me, i'm accusing you of backpeddling. (the grammer nazi's gonna get me for that one)

just as you have done to me, i'm accusing you of backpeddling. (the grammer nazi's gonna get me for that one)



How so?  I never said that Gitmo was exactly like the internment camps that the government placed Japanese-Americans in during WWII.  I was using Gitmo as an illustration of a similar practice; sending people to a camp simply because we are at war with their people.  That's exactly what Gitmo is.  How many of those Muslim prisoners do you think have ties to Al-Qaeda or other known terror groups?  BTW, you didn't even know what the hell Gitmo was.

Nowhere did I claim they were exactly the same.



And you spelled "grammar" wrong.  :P

How so?  I never said that Gitmo was exactly like the internment camps that the government placed Japanese-Americans in during WWII.  I was using Gitmo as an illustration of a similar practice; sending people to a camp simply because we are at war with their people.  That's exactly what Gitmo is.  How many of those Muslim prisoners do you think have ties to Al-Qaeda or other known terror groups?  BTW, you didn't even know what the hell Gitmo was.

Nowhere did I claim they were exactly the same.



And you spelled "grammar" wrong.   :P


and nowhere have i claimed that any girl deserve to be rapped. and yet you never let up.

yes. we stuck all the japs in camps where they could be monitered and kept away from us.


  Japanese, This Kid, J-a-p-a-n-e-s-e...

  If you wish to be taken seriously, knock-off the ethnic slurs...

 

and nowhere have i claimed that any girl deserve to be rapped. and yet you never let up.



Yes, that is what you said.  Would you like me to find that thread and post the comments you made that allude to that statement?  Furthermore, I wasn't the only one offended by your comments.

Yes, that is what you said.  Would you like me to find that thread and post the comments you made that allude to that statement?  Furthermore, I wasn't the only one offended by your comments.


i never said they deserved it. i said they were at fault. these young girls know better than to meet someone they've met online. don't you agree?

i never said they deserved it. i said they were at fault. these young girls know better than to meet someone they've met online. don't you agree?



Yes, and I said that in that thread at the time.  She should not have agreed to meet the guy, but she shouldn't have had to suffer the indignity of being raped. 


Furthermore, how is saying they were at fault any different than saying they deserved it?  If you put your hand on a hot iron and burn yourself, and I tell you it's your fault for not listening when you were told it was hot......isn't that the same as saying you deserved to get burnt because you didn't listen? 

how about this? a kid works on a school project for weeks and forgets to bring it in on the due date and gets an F. is it his fault that he got an F? yes, he should've remembered the due date. did he deserve an F on a project he's been working on for weeks? no.

how about this? a kid works on a school project for weeks and forgets to bring it in on the due date and gets an F. is it his fault that he got an F? yes, he should've remembered the due date. did he deserve an F on a project he's been working on for weeks? no.



You didn't answer my question.

yes it is their fault. they know better than to meet up with someone they met on the internet. however they did not deserve to suffer such a traumatizing event as rape. nor am i saying that the criminal doesn't deserve to be put behind bars.

yes it is their fault. they know better than to meet up with someone they met on the internet. however they did not deserve to suffer such a traumatizing event as rape. nor am i saying that the criminal doesn't deserve to be put behind bars.



You didn't answer my question.  I gave you a scenario and asked you if saying it was your fault you got burnt for not listening was the same as saying you deserved to get burnt for not listening.  So is it in fact the same thing? 

You didn't answer my question.  I gave you a scenario and asked you if saying it was your fault you got burnt for not listening was the same as saying you deserved to get burnt for not listening.  So is it in fact the same thing? 


in your scenario? yes

in your scenario? yes



Good.  That is what you were saying.  That if it's someone's fault action X occurred, then they deserved for action X to occur. 

Good.  That is what you were saying.  That if it's someone's fault action X occurred, then they deserved for action X to occur. 

You're relentless.  can't we just be friends? ;D

When they clear some of them A-rabs out of Gitmo, I'm gonna buy a condo down there myself.  That place sounds sa-weet!
;D

yes. we stuck all the japs in camps where they could be monitered and kept away from us.
you mean like this?

http://bbsnews.net/bbsn_photos/topics/US_Iraq_War/iraq_abu_ghraib_rnv.jpg

anyone who supports this war is a real hero. it's gonna take us years to fix the damage it's done to america.

When they clear some of them A-rabs out of Gitmo, I'm gonna buy a condo down there myself.  That place sounds sa-weet!
;D


http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1193336/Chicken_whack.gif...

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1193336/Chicken_whack.gif...


i don't see you getting on to him for calling them A-rabs.

i don't see you getting on to him for calling them A-rabs.



That's because Max wasn't being serious.  You on the other hand, were.

That is just ridiculous-just like the so-call safety proceedures of the TSA.  Yes, metal detectors should be at airports, luggage/carry-ons should be screened. BUT, we have to take off our shoes because ONE person tried to put a bomb in his. Now we can't bring even bottled water on flights because ONE group tried to use liquid explosives.

Do I feel safe flying because of these procausion? Hell no! Because they are still not screening cargo. I saw something on the news not too long ago that cargo waiting to go on flights that wasn't secure and anyone could put whatever in it.

And that so-called "no fly" list is basically racial profiling. I have heard many stories about people being placed on that list only because they have an Islamic name.

What will happen if someone decides to put a bomb in their underwear? Will that mean that no one can wear underwear after that? Like that political cartoon I posted on that other thread, at the rate the TSA is going, no one will be able to wear or bring ANYTHING on planes.



CatIf people can taste their water in front of security personnel,there oesn't seem to be any reason they can't bring it.I mean babies aren't the only ones who need to drink.Maybe the airlines can buy the drinks from the airport vendors and put them on the plane breforehand,and give them away to passengers,so vendors don't lose money nad passengers don't have to bring them.

you mean like this?

http://bbsnews.net/bbsn_photos/topics/US_Iraq_War/iraq_abu_ghraib_rnv.jpg

anyone who supports this war is a real hero. it's gonna take us years to fix the damage it's done to america.

That's lovely, dearie.

If people can taste their water in front of security personnel,there oesn't seem to be any reason they can't bring it.I mean babies aren't the only ones who need to drink.Maybe the airlines can buy the drinks from the airport vendors and put them on the plane breforehand,and give them away to passengers,so vendors don't lose money nad passengers don't have to bring them.



They are not being allowed to taste their water-they are being forced to throw them away. It is just totally bogus if you ask me.




Cat

they already sell drinks on airplanes

That's lovely, dearie.
my bee, i was feeling uppity.

c'mon, everybody's already seen that, right? we're all paying for torture, we might as well have a peek at the snapshots.

my bee, i was feeling uppity.

c'mon, everybody's already seen that, right? we're all paying for torture, we might as well have a peek at the snapshots.

Just ask Lynndie England, bet you'd do the same if you wuz she!

I'm not planning to fly in the near future, but at this point I'd rather take a Greyhound bus!  I'd rather hitch a ride!  They make you take your shoes off, and then they x-ray your private parts.  This is lunacy.  They pay all these guys to give you the latex glove treatment...
BUT THEY DON'T SCREEN EVEN 10% OF THE CARGO!!!!

"This isn't the state of California, it's a state of insanity."
--General Joseph W. Stilwell

i don't see you getting on to him for calling them A-rabs.


   What Sister Morphine said...

   Oh and Max, consider yourself gotten onto...go ;) ...

Just ask Lynndie England, bet you'd do the same if you wuz she!

I'm not planning to fly in the near future, but at this point I'd rather take a Greyhound bus!  I'd rather hitch a ride!  They make you take your shoes off, and then they x-ray your private parts.  This is lunacy.  They pay all these guys to give you the latex glove treatment...
BUT THEY DON'T SCREEN EVEN 10% OF THE CARGO!!!!

"This isn't the state of California, it's a state of insanity."
--General Joseph W. Stilwell



I wish we could say the same thing. But when Carlos' dad & sister live in Puerto Rico, the only way to get there is to fly. Last year, I looked into taking a boat (just to avoid getting on a plane again) but no avail. The only way to take a boat is to take a cruise-and you have buy two tickets-there is no such thing as 1-way tickets on curise ships- and at $2,000-$3,000 a pop (that would be about would be about $8,000-$12,000 for both of us.  :o :o ).  I really wish that there was a shuttle boat from the mainland to the island-but they stopped doing that a LONG time ago.  :\'(  To bad we couldn't drive there.  ;D




Cat

they already sell drinks on airplanes
yes,but the airport vendors have a harder time selling their drinks.and no one wants to buy overpriced stuff on a plane.

They are not being allowed to taste their water-they are being forced to throw them away. It is just totally bogus if you ask me.




Cat
I do think it's overreaching.I don't think they should practice age-discrimination by allowing baby formula but no other liquid,since water is much harder to adulterate.

I wish we could say the same thing. But when Carlos' dad & sister live in Puerto Rico, the only way to get there is to fly. Last year, I looked into taking a boat (just to avoid getting on a plane again) but no avail. The only way to take a boat is to take a cruise-and you have buy two tickets-there is no such thing as 1-way tickets on curise ships- and at $2,000-$3,000 a pop (that would be about would be about $8,000-$12,000 for both of us.  :o :o ).  I really wish that there was a shuttle boat from the mainland to the island-but they stopped doing that a LONG time ago.  :\'(  To bad we couldn't drive there.  ;D




Cat

Yeah, there's the whole "going overseas" thing, much harder if you don't want to fly!
I guess I don't mind the latex glove treatment.  I gotta bend over to untie my shoes anyway.  I wonder if they could train the airline security guys how to do prostate exams? I'd fly a lot easier knowing there's no signs of impending blockage!
:P