"Homeland Security" in Iowa

In article , StellaStar
wrote:

Partial quote: "Prohibited items are weapons, explosives, incendiaries, and
include items that are seemingly harmless but may be used as weapons - the
so-called "dual use" items. You may not bring these items to security
checkpoints without authorization....

Interesting...
There was a television spy-type program on two or three years ago.
The one line that I will always remember the main character say is,
"Everything is a weapon, you just have to know how to use it."

(StellaStar) wrote:

Ever hear the saying "ignorance of the law is no excuse"?

http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=177

Partial quote: "Prohibited items are weapons, explosives, incendiaries, and
include items that are seemingly harmless but may be used as weapons - the
so-called "dual use" items. You may not bring these items to security
checkpoints without authorization....

If you bring a prohibited item to the checkpoint you may be criminally and/or
civilly prosecuted or at the least asked to rid yourself of the item. A
screener and/or Law Enforcement Officer will make this determination depending
on what the item is and the circumstances. This is because bringing a
prohibited item to a security checkpoint - even accidentally - is illegal.

While a Leatherman may be pretty obvious, some things seem pretty
arbitrary. At work we are required to use security cables for our
laptops. We have been warned to pack them in checked luggage as a
number of people have had them confiscated from carry on. Apparently
the justification was that they could be used to strangle someone. For
some reason power cables, and indeed shoelaces and belts are OK though
:-)

So, he is now on a permanent list of "potential terrorist threats", is
being
threatened with a $50.00 fine, was put through an awful situation over
which
he had no control or knowledge, and my sister feels thoroughly awful. He
barely made his flight, and (of course) his Dad didn't receive his Xmas
present, since the TSA confiscated it.



He did have control. He was given something from someone and didn't know
what it was. I think that is one of the things usually asked at check in.

Loy had them drop that question not long after he took over, along with "Did
you pack your own bags?" and "Have your bags been in your control the whole
time?".

Dave Reinhart


Richard Hertz wrote:



He did have control. He was given something from someone and didn't know
what it was. I think that is one of the things usually asked at check in.

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003, Jay Honeck wrote:

and theft of a $50 letherman.

I'm not sure about that. Perhaps they will mail it to him?

I'll have to ask my nephew.

It'll turn up on EBay in a lot of 50, or get recycled as scrap metal.

Or it'll go home in a Dept. of Fatherland Insecurity's jacket pocket.

Take your pick!

Brian.

In article , Martin Hotze wrote:
yeah .. be sure that you don't have an almanac with you ... does the FAR/AIM
also count?

I got one hell of a grilling for carrying my Dave Clarks with me. The
screener recognised them as aviation headsets, and started demanding
airport ID. She begrudgingly let me go when I explained that Houston
Gulf was a GA airport with no ID requirement.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

In article , Dennis O'Connor wrote:
One reality is that in the hands of someone young, strong, and willing to
die, a Leatherman tool is a weapon when he is the only one so armed in an
enclosed cabin...

It's so arbitrary though. Given the element of surprise, I'm sure my
leather belt could be used as a deadly weapon, especially as the belt
buckle is metal. Since it doesn't set off metal detectors, someone could
sharpen their belt buckle and make it into a rather nasty weapon when
swung on 40 inches or so of leather.

The point is that the terrorists are winning.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

In article , Rosspilot wrote:
We are terrorizing ourselves . . . check out Fox News--they have "Terror
Alert--HIGH" permanently on the lower left corner of the screen.

Sensationalist news 'sources' like Faux News are part of the problem.
Fox News is probably one of the worst I've seen.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

In article , Dylan Smith
wrote:

It's so arbitrary though. Given the element of surprise, I'm sure my
leather belt could be used as a deadly weapon, especially as the belt
buckle is metal. Since it doesn't set off metal detectors, someone could
sharpen their belt buckle and make it into a rather nasty weapon when
swung on 40 inches or so of leather.

Weapons you can legally carry onto any airline flight:

- belts... (as mentioned above) can be used as garrots; with a
sufficiently heavy buckle may be used as a mace-like; the buckle may be
used as a puncture weapon; the belt itself may be wrapped around the
fingers to protect them when punching; may be used for binding

- shoelaces... may be used as a garrot, to trip and for binding

- heavy boots... can be worn on the hands and used like boxing gloves

- pens/pencils... can be used to inflict puncture wounds in the head,
neck, torso and extremities

- jacket/coat/shirt... can be used as garrots and to bind; can be use
as shield when wrapped around the hand and forearm

- elastic from bras and underwear... may be used as slingshot to propel
objects

Weapons found on the aircraft provided by the aircarrier:

- seat belts... can be removed with two fingers and used in a mace-like
manner

- serving pitchers... effective for clubbing

- soft drink cans (full)... projectiles

These are just a few of the items that come to mind. They are both
offensive and defensive. As a passenger, you have the right to defend
yourself by any means necessary.

"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...
In article , Dennis O'Connor wrote:
One reality is that in the hands of someone young, strong, and willing
to
die, a Leatherman tool is a weapon when he is the only one so armed in
an
enclosed cabin...

It's so arbitrary though. Given the element of surprise, I'm sure my
leather belt could be used as a deadly weapon, especially as the belt
buckle is metal. Since it doesn't set off metal detectors, someone could
sharpen their belt buckle and make it into a rather nasty weapon when
swung on 40 inches or so of leather.

The point is that the terrorists are winning.

The terrorists have won. They need do nothing more than send emails and make
telephone calls to feed the security services and let them cause chaos,
wastage of money and resources.

Politicians love terrorists. Bush and his cronies along with the governments
elsewhere in the world need terrorists to justify increasing their power and
taking steps which we would not accept otherwise.

Eg Imprisonment of people without evidence or trial. The rationalisation of
suspicion as evidence. Going to war.
There are so many contradictions in applying the policy.
If a flight poses such a risk than an armed guard is required then it should
either have the passengers assessed as being at risk taken off or be
cancelled. Cannot do that as big business (the airlines ) would lose money.
It would be almost better to cancel the flights and give the Security costs
money to the airlines.
There seems to be a contrick going on with the debate on sky marshals.

If I was a terrorist on a plane my weapon of choice would be a perfume spray
filled with an appropriate toxic substance. You could secretly disable a
couple of people to flush out any security measures and get on with your
task.

Governments have to be seen to be justifying their grab on power. Do they
think we are too stupid to realise this?

On the whole if you listen to the average talk radio show then the answer
must be yes. After all we voted them into office. Notice that there is
never a "non of these" on the ballot paper.

Yep, the terrorists have won. Its not about body count its about the change
in quality of life.

Dave