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[1969912 0]

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By joke you mean test/distraction/psychological mindgame?

Just that it was a "bomb" that couldn't do any real physical damage, i.e. destruction. As far as "test/distraction/psychological mindgame" is concerned, yes it did that.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[quade 4]

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Yeah, that "bomb" was a joke. Might have broken a few windows at best. Of course, the underwear bomb was a joke as well.

Bombs on airplanes though are different. It doesn't take a very large bomb at inside a pressured cabin to take down an airplane. It does, however, have to actually go off rather than fizzle. The "underwear" bomber incident was actually very lucky on our part.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[quade 4]

Bomb plot suspect arrested trying to catch flight to Dubai
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/04/new.york.car.bomb/index.html?hpt=T1

Ok, this guy is an idiot. Really? He thought he'd hop a flight out of JFK? REALLY?

And wait . . . it gets better! According to one account he actually got past security and was removed from an aircraft he had already boarded? WTF?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[jgoose71 0]

They don't recruit these guys on there bomb making ability. They recruit them on there ability to gain access to the target and willingness to sacrifice them selves for Allah.

A good example would be the kid they strapped a body bomb to in Afghanistan and told him to "walk up to U.S. troops and push this button and flowers will come out." Good thing the kid didn't fall for it. The kid wasn't a bomber, but being a kid they knew he could walk up to U.S. troops and want to do something nice in hopes of getting goodies. Access and Willingness. Not a bomber.

This guy was already in the U.S. and was willing to Jihad for them. But not a bomber. Someone had to show him how to put this thing together. The plans were probably proven and sound, but the guy didn't have the know how to properly set the thing up.

The bomb maker in most of these cases fancies him self "to important" to put himself out there. He must stay free to help someone construct another device.

If you ask any one of these guys they will tell you that we have to be lucky every time and they only have to be lucky once. This is try number 2 in a short time right here on American soil. How long until try number three?

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

[justinb138 0]

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And wait . . . it gets better! According to one account he actually got past security and was removed from an aircraft he had already boarded? WTF?

TSA at it's finest.

[riddler 0]

How close it was! Here's audio from ATC, ordering the plane on the runway to turn around:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGKP_mnOONI&feature=player_embedded

The street vendor that called the cops was a hero, IMO. The cops that responded to a potential bomb threat, also heroes. The bomb disposal people that knowingly approached a car bomb, heroes. Not one of those people knew that it was, for sure, a bomb, or that it would probably have not detonated.

The feds that tracked the guy down did their job, and so did ATC and the pilots that turned around. Good work all around.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[billvon 2,792]

>TSA at it's finest.

TSA has their share of fuckups, but in their defense their job at airports is to keep people with weapons or explosives from getting on airplanes - not to track down and apprehend suspected criminals.

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>TSA at it's finest.
TSA has their share of fuckups, but in their defense their job at airports is to keep people with weapons or explosives from getting on airplanes - not to track down and apprehend suspected criminals.

Uh . . . watch list? Documents check?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[billvon 2,792]

>Uh . . . watch list? Documents check?

Was he on the watch list at that point?

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>Uh . . . watch list? Documents check?

Was he on the watch list at that point?

I would certainly hope so! The FBI knew who they were looking for and certainly would have passed that information along. (One hopes.)

I'm talking about the guy from last night (and so was justinb138 to whom you responded). THAT was a TSA fuck up when they let him board the plane (according to one report.)

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[BillyVance 34]

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The street vendor that called the cops was a hero, IMO. The cops that responded to a potential bomb threat, also heroes. The bomb disposal people that knowingly approached a car bomb, heroes. Not one of those people knew that it was, for sure, a bomb, or that it would probably have not detonated.

The feds that tracked the guy down did their job, and so did ATC and the pilots that turned around. Good work all around.

Good work to all who tracked this guy down. However, there may be a little difference in how this attempted bombing is being portrayed.

Officially, they are saying that it was thwarted, or prevented from detonating by authorities who were alerted. It all appears to have been a failed bombing because the perp didn't assemble it right or use the right materials and set-up.

That said, he was still able to drive the loaded vehicle right into one of the world's busiest intersections, and that alone is scary. The next guy to try it may well succeed.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[PhreeZone 15]

Word now is he bought the ticket on he way to JFK and it is not an integrated process in terms of buying a ticket and t he security check. It seems that once the ticket is purchased then the names get transferred over to the security screening and they process them to see if there are any issues. It was this delay in the ticket being sold and the name going through the queue that allowed him to enter JFK and to get on the airplane.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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Word now is he bought the ticket on he way to JFK and it is not an integrated process in terms of buying a ticket and t he security check. It seems that once the ticket is purchased then the names get transferred over to the security screening and they process them to see if there are any issues. It was this delay in the ticket being sold and the name going through the queue that allowed him to enter JFK and to get on the airplane.

Kinda seems silly that stuff like that can still slip through.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[shropshire 0]

Hero just must be one of THE most over used words these days.

Everyone did their Job and did it well - Congrats

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[kallend 1,882]

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7125982.ece

Amazing that they could actually get useful information so quickly and they haven't even tortured the suspect!

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[shropshire 0]

Must have been an inside job then [/sarcasm - just in case some Right Winger reads this and jerks his knee]

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Bolas 5]

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www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7125982.ece

Amazing that they could actually get useful information so quickly and they haven't even tortured the suspect!

Hopefully they at least violated their Miranda...

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.