Woman arrested for flying while Arab

[MacLeod]

A Terrorist doesn't need to do anything in order to win look at the word itself terror-ist. As soon as you give into that terror/fear of somethings going to happen the terrorist has won.

That isn't to say things like security shouldn't be tightened, but it's finding the balance between protecting people and infringing on their rights. Which it appears occured in this situtation. Laws which are created as a reaction to an event can sometimes be bad laws because of the public reaction to said event the Government is fearful of looking weak and things it needs to be seen to be do something. So at times they can rush legislation through without taking time to pause and consider what would be appropriate legislation.

So someone gets up/goes to the toilet a lot, lets see why that could happen

1.>Nervous flyer
2.>Has something like the flu
3.>Is worried about getting Deep vein thrombosis so wants to stretch their legs

 

[Pingfah]

I'm not trying to throw the gun at anyone. I just firmly believe that in this day and age of terrorism, that caution, whether or not it is excessive in the long run or not, is well worth the inconvenience. Frisk away TSA, I'd rather land safely and deal with being checked out, than be blown to bits with my 'pride' intact.

Do you think if you keep ignoring the point enough times, it will magically change and make what you are saying relevant to the discussion somehow?

Amazing how the people least likely to be affected are often the quickest to throw everyone else's rights under the bus. Oh wait, no it isn't.

 

[cultcross]

I'm not trying to throw the gun at anyone. I just firmly believe that in this day and age of terrorism, that caution, whether or not it is excessive in the long run or not, is well worth the inconvenience. Frisk away TSA, I'd rather land safely and deal with being checked out, than be blown to bits with my 'pride' intact.

'Inconvenience'??? It's a tad more than inconvenient to be arrested for nothing, thrown in a prison cell, not given proper toilet facilities, interrogated and strip searched. This woman was not merely singled out for a pat-down because of her race (bad enough, but there is an amoral statistical argument to be made I suppose). If that had been the case we probably wouldn't have heard about it, because it happens daily. That is an inconvenience, an embarrassment. The word you're looking for is 'violating', I think.

You continue to act as though people are objecting merely to her being detained, rather than the absurd manner in which it was carried out.

A 'straw man', in other words.

 

[MacLeod]

]

I'm not trying to throw the gun at anyone. I just firmly believe that in this day and age of terrorism, that caution, whether or not it is excessive in the long run or not, is well worth the inconvenience. Frisk away TSA, I'd rather land safely and deal with being checked out, than be blown to bits with my 'pride' intact.

I don't think there is an "in this day and Age of terrorism" terrorism has been going on for centuries.

 

[DimesDan]

]

I'm not trying to throw the gun at anyone. I just firmly believe that in this day and age of terrorism, that caution, whether or not it is excessive in the long run or not, is well worth the inconvenience. Frisk away TSA, I'd rather land safely and deal with being checked out, than be blown to bits with my 'pride' intact.

I don't think there is an "in this day and Age of terrorism" terrorism has been going on for centuries.

Indeed, I tend to laugh when ever someone comes out with a phrase like that, or when waiting for the train hearing, "in these times of heightened security" makes me roll my eyes and chuckle.

There was a time in England that if you went to London you could actually be around when an IRA bomb went off, or better yet, Tel Aviv or Paris have been targets for prolonged bombing campaigns over the last 40 or so years so to say "in this day and Age of terrorism" is just silly nonsense.

Oh and I hope these people get some kind of compensation for this and those acting on this tip off's heads roll!

 

[Pingfah]

There was a time in England that if you went to London you could actually be around when an IRA bomb went off, or better yet, Tel Aviv or Paris have been targets for prolonged bombing campaigns over the last 40 or so years so to say "in this day and Age of terrorism" is just silly nonsense.

Yeah, I walked right past a real IRA carbomb at Birmingham New Street once, literally within 5 feet of it. By the time I got home the news was breaking that a bomb had attempted to detonate, it was just minutes after I passed it.

Luckily only the detonator went off, the bomb failed.

 

[MacLeod]

And of course Eta was active in Spain until recently.

 

[MANT!]

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin...

And right he was...

 

[Alidar Jarok]

and will lose both

To finish the quote

ETA: Nevermind. Apparently, the ending is apocryphal, but I'm sure there's a reason it's stuck.

 

[Trekker4747]

Frisk away, sure.

Haul someone off in handcuffs in front of a plane-load of people, detain them, strip search them, treat them as they're not an American, and then when you find out your wrong just give them two rough pats on the shoulder and a "Sorry, kid" all because someone saw that person sitting next to people who happened to go to the bathroom a couple of times while being not-white?

No.

I don't really understand why being an American makes that much
difference. If I, an Australian, was visiting America as a tourist and I was hauled off in handcuffs, detained, strip search etc just because someone thought I looked suspicious would it be more acceptable because I am not an American citizen?

Any government that does this to its own people is going to be even worse to foreign people. This wouldn't be acceptable to do to anyone (American or not) on such flimsy information; but that it does it to its own citizenry is appalling.

 

[cultcross]

Frisk away, sure.

Haul someone off in handcuffs in front of a plane-load of people, detain them, strip search them, treat them as they're not an American, and then when you find out your wrong just give them two rough pats on the shoulder and a "Sorry, kid" all because someone saw that person sitting next to people who happened to go to the bathroom a couple of times while being not-white?

No.

I don't really understand why being an American makes that much
difference. If I, an Australian, was visiting America as a tourist and I was hauled off in handcuffs, detained, strip search etc just because someone thought I looked suspicious would it be more acceptable because I am not an American citizen?

It wouldn't be any more acceptable, but as others have said, a government's first duty is to its people. That it is willing to do this to them does not bode well for those who aren't its people.

eta: note to self, read the rest of the thread. There's now an echo in here.

 

[1001001]

I'm not trying to throw the gun at anyone. I just firmly believe that in this day and age of terrorism, that caution, whether or not it is excessive in the long run or not, is well worth the inconvenience. Frisk away TSA, I'd rather land safely and deal with being checked out, than be blown to bits with my 'pride' intact.

As has been said, if "frisking" was the issue, you may have a point. But it isn't. Not even close.

Anyway, I was really responding to your "Pinko" comment. Pretty lame....

 

[MacLeod]

I'm not trying to throw the gun at anyone. I just firmly believe that in this day and age of terrorism, that caution, whether or not it is excessive in the long run or not, is well worth the inconvenience. Frisk away TSA, I'd rather land safely and deal with being checked out, than be blown to bits with my 'pride' intact.

So how would you feel if what happened to this passangers happened to you or a family member?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

He's already ducked that question.

 

[MacLeod]

^Which in itself answers the question.

 

[spooky spice]

Come to think I remember the time when if any Irish person went to the UK, when you came home you'd a separate departure lounge to sit in. I noticed that we'd to sit in a different place to the other passengers but didn't pay any attention to it.

As I recall it was a nice little departure lounge with a coffee bar and proper comfy seats, so it's not like they were rounding up them bloody Irish and treating us like cattle. No one got frisked or anything, but I'm pretty sure there were cameras watching us.

 

[Lord Garth]

I hope that on the 20th anniversarry, 9/11/01 will be looked back on as a tragic event in the historical vein, instead of the "recent" vein which gives the TSA the excuse they need to act like this.

I'd actually hope the TSA is abolished completely by then, or at least significantly modified. Get it through your heads TSA: Extremsists are called extremists because they're in the extreme, they don't represent everyone in a belief or group.

For the first five years after 9/11, I was hesistent to mention my ethnicity to anyone I met. I'm half-white, half-Persian, and could pass for Mediterranian, so that's what I let people think. I'm also atheist, not Muslim, but I bet I'd never be able to convince the TSA of that because they don't want to be convinced.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Wouldn't most Persians be considered to be white?

 

[JarodRussell]

Don't worry. There's probably going to be a much bigger terrorist attack in the next decade that 9/11 will only end up as a footnote somewhere.

Did the media care for the 10th anniversay of the Oklahoma bombing in 2005 as much?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Wouldn't most Persians be considered to be white?

One of my coworkers is Persian and he's kind of tan.