One of the tinier income flows of the “security industry” amongst the billions of cash they have made from the War on Terror, is the money they get from television punditry. This is a double whammy as they get paid to stoke up the climate of fear on which they thrive.
Sky News have had two different security “experts” on in the last ten minutes, both assuring us how deadly serious last night’s incident on Emirates was, and that the police response was “Proportionate” and necessary. The Sky presenters repeated the mantra of proportionate action too.
Complete bollocks. Common sense seems to have gone out of the window completely. I don’t know exactly what Al-Qaida teach their potential bombers in the Yemen. Apparently they don’t teach them that you can’t blow up commercial explosive without a detonator, in the case of the underpants bomber. The UK authorities apparently believe they also don’t tell them not to let the flight crew know about the bomb, before the plane takes off.
According to “security expert” Chris from Bolton, the men may have been making a joke among themselves which the cabin staff overheard. Something like “Did you remember the bomb Jim?” “Don’t worry it’s in the hold”.
The authorities are very keen to introduce suspect profiling, to make sure Muslims get worked over. Here is a clue for suspect profiling: terrorists don’t tell you about the bomb in advance.
Spellcheck, Craig? Unless terrorosis is a new word. And meade.
I’ve been watching Sky too, since last night. I’m sitting here in (minor) shock. How can they possibly take themselves – and this story – so seriously?? I keep asking myself if the presenters are acting – hamming it up. But they can’t be. It’s all nutz. And it looks and sounds nutz. And if most of Britain is not laughing at this nonsense, I’ll be staggered.
Made a couple of typo corrections. Though “terrorosis” appears quite a happy accisent – a word ofr irrational fear of terrorism!
In retrospect, I thought “terrorosis” was great!
It’s been a well-publicised airline regulation for some years that any ‘joking’ about bombs or guns or similar would be taken seriously.
If you were a member of airline staff and overheard such a conversation, what would you do?
(That rule must be a real challenge to those with any form of Tourette’s.)
If I overheard the specimen conversation I have outlined, I would take no notice. My guess is that they are under instruction to act on any mention of the word bomb no matter how plainly they are joking.
Apparently Al-Qaida don’t teach their potential bombers in the Yemen not to drink either. Martin Brunt said several times last night that drink was involved.
I had no idea that airline staff sometimes have Tourette’s.
Craig,
I wonder, do you know of any instance where the “terroriss” have stated that they are attacking us because of our way of life, our “values”, or culture and democracy?
I haven’t been able to find a shred of evidence that this is the prime motivation behind “terroriss” atrocities and suicide bombers, but I may be wrong.
As far as I can see they clearly state that what motivates them is a burning desire, a form of revenge, and counterattack, for what they perceive are our attacks, bombings, occupations, and gross interference in the affairs of Muslim countries going back decades. It appears they are so much against “democracy” in itself, but radically opposed to our support for what they see as our imposition and support for corrupt, pro-western dictatorships, that crush the will of the majority of Muslims. Or am I wrong here too?
It’s just staggering that our politicians, journalists, and the ruling elite, are so hooked on “explaining” why we are at “war” on a platform of lies, distortions, and exaggerations. Reminds me of Iraq and WMDs all over again.
How do our leaders get away with, over and over again? After all we are supposed to live in democracies, with an oppostion, and a free and critcal press, dedicated to the truth; so how come this garbage about a threat to our way of life and the reasons behind it are so primative and crass propaganda?
“The authorities are very keen to introduce suspect profiling, to make sure Muslims get worked over.”
Er – which explains why in this incident armed police arrested three middle aged white men who were pissed.
But of course such acts gives the Met the opportunity to parade how seriously they take any potential threat, terrorism ‘experts’ the chance to say how great the Met is, and all parties to say how marvelous it is that anti-terrorism officers arrest white people to!
“Here is a clue for suspect profiling: terrorists don’t tell you about the bomb in advance”.
Ah, but what if the terrorists are *double bluffing*????
😎
I couldn’t find “terrorosis” in your post, so I assume you have edited it out. But actually – what a superb coinage! It would mean “neurosis about terrorism”, and would come in very useful in the present climate of self-indulgent fear.
Sky keep dragging on an old boot called Sally Lievesley, an Aussie by the sounds of it, to up the ante about the ‘authorities’ coming down hard on the likes of these passengers. They are now in custody.
Does anyone know anything about her or her employers?
We must ridicule these war mongers – that is the best way to negate their effect.
I like ‘terrorosis’ too and insist that you reinstate it at once.
I’m posting this link again in case you missed it last time.
“WASHINGTON, DC — Officials in the Obama White House are considering the possibility that the Christmas day attempt by Nigerian terrorist Umar Farouk Mutallab to blow up an airliner about to land in Detroit was deliberately and intentionally facilitated by unnamed networks inside the US intelligence community.”
http://www.veteranstoday.com/
Well done, you coined a new term!
I too vote for the re-introduction of the word “terrororis” – maybe put it in quotes and drop an explanation at the bottom. And email it to Bruce Schneier so it becomes a part of the vocabulary to great irritation of those that try to keep the fear factor up..
In 2005, Israyhelli POS, Major General Doron Almog, essapted arrest having being suspected of committing a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949, which is a criminal offence in the UK under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4237620.stm
It was astounding to me. I had never heard that a plane sitting on a runway in the UK was immune to British law. Which ass was that pulled from?
Strange how this wasn’t the case here with the Emirates plane. I’d like to know why Doron Almog wasn’t arrested.
Lesson: If you want to escape British justice(?) simply be a filthy Israyhelli.
It appears that all terrorists are equal but some are more equal than others.
Israyhelli POS’s aside, The crew did the right thing. What a stupid act of these people on the plane. Pity it affords all these numpty ‘experts’ to be wheeled out. Which reminds me, anyone spot Frank Gardner?
Hi! qJVSts
Silly conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial, other fact denial … this blog serves as continued evidence for how the British Left is now full of dolts and weirdos … no wonder the BNP and Islamic extremism are on the rise, and no wonder David Cameron will be representing the British quite soon.
Larry, if you hate it so much here why don’t you go away. You haven’t got the first idea about anything and certainly fail miserably in your simplisitic judgements about the people who do post here. It’s not the left we have to worry about, it’s the extremist nuts in the neo-con / liberal movement that have put us in this mess. The US / British political classes haven’t seen anything other than right wing lunacy since 1979.
Chris, so you’re telling me that this blog is NOT a cesspool of anti-Semitism and 911 truth nuttery?
No, Larry, he’s saying that you’re a screaming troll calling in from some black-curtained room in Utah or Texas or some other braindead corner of the Amurrican nightmare.
Oh, sorry, just kinda got a bit, um, skittish there. We’re not anti-semitic here, bub; we’re anti-stupid, and anti-weirdo-dolts like Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. Oh, and Nick Griffin and whatever other nutjobs are out there. Which you’d know if you had actually read some of the thoughtful postings made here.
Depends on your view of the world, though, whether its open and enquiring or crippled by tunnel vision.
Mike Cobley,
Once again on this blog, the presentation of a false dichotomy indicates a very simple mind.
Tell me – do you think that thermite was pre-planted in the Towers before the planes hit?
Once again on this blog, the troll finishes with a question, to keep his non-contributions going.
No Larry, its used to weld railway lines together.
This is a free site and everyone gets what he’s asking for, especially you, mein kleiner zwerg.
I join the callers for reinstatement of ‘terrorosis’, what a brilliant, but fiitng faux passe.
Now go forth and serve your Chicago university pals and their GIYUS friends.
“your Chicago university pals and their GIYUS friends”
What does that even mean?
Which Chicago university? Northwestern? Loyola?
Oddly, I’m in Chicago right now.
The comments reflect that the thread took an inevitable swerve when someone claimed that the U.S. intelligence services were behind the Nigerian bomber, and then another person had something or other to say about the “Israyhellis.”
I was responding to that swerve. However, you didn’t seem to object to that, which was my point in the first place.
Ingo,
I just found out what GIYUS is. So – you’re paranoid as to Jews. You seem German-speaking – didn’t you people have enough of anti-Jewish paranoia? Didn’t that lead to you burning Jews, which was, well, wrong?
Hi! SpIQQQuK
Larry, the point you may be missing is that most of us here just want common sense and the same set of rules to be applied to everyone. We don’t like it when a single (possibly deranged) individual fails to blow someone up, and sets off a terrorism scare – but our own nations can invade other people’s countries, kill over a million people, and get nothing but praise.
I have nothing against Jews, Arabs, Germans, Russians, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, atheists, or even military personnel as such. We’re all people, and we all have potential for good – even if many of us need to try harder.
But when I see someone behaving like a cold-blooded killer or a secret policeman out of 1984, I say so. It doesn’t make any difference if it’s a Jew, an Arab… or someone British or American. “By their fruits ye shall know them”.
By the way, I’m a lifetime conservative. And as such, I believe – along with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, among many others – that we should mind our own business and refrain from poking our nose into foreigners’ business.
“Didn’t that lead to you burning Jews, which was, well, wrong?”
Remind me now, which nation invented napalm (and has used it generously on foreign civilians for over 60 years)? Remember that little Vietnamese girl with her skin hanging off?
Was it the same nation that pioneered the use of nuclear weapons against civilians, burning hundreds of thousands of them to death?
When the Jews are persecuted and oppressed, I support the Jews. But when the Jews persecute and oppress others, I support those others. (Americans, of course, are never persecuted and oppressed – except by their own government, which they don’t seem to mind. So I rarely need to support them).
Hi! RIfaOC
How things have changed. I thought I remembered reading about it… a British Airways pilot was sacked after calling a middle-aged woman “stupid” following her claims there was a bomb on board:
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/383339/