Words 'suicide bomber' in journal set off scare on San Jose-bound flight

[Newsjock]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/13551154.htm

By Kimra McPherson, Elise Ackerman and Rodney Foo
Mercury News

FBI agents and San Jose police spent several hours questioning a Santa Cruz man Wednesday after a fellow passenger on a Frontier Airlines jet from Denver glimpsed ``suicide bomber'' written on the man's journal.

Convinced he wasn't part of terrorist plot, they then set him free.

``Whatever the person wrote in their journal was not against the law,'' police spokesman Enrique Garcia said.

But the writing was enough to alarm a passenger who notified a crew member on Flight 169 about 40 minutes after take-off that the man was acting bizarrely, writing in his journal and clutching his backpack.

Authorities boarded the plane and escorted the 36-year-old man off the jet after it landed safely at Mineta San Jose International Airport with 112 passengers aboard.

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[NYC Liberal]

1. Writing and holding your backpack....sure signs of a TERRA-IST!!!11

Sheesh. What's next...if you stand up during the flight you "might" be trying to take over the plane? :eyes:

[notadmblnd]

2. you know, if I was a terrorist

I think I would carry a bible around, maybe have me a little WWJD bracelet and wear a crucifix. If I were going to try to take over an airline, I'd make sure I told the attendents to have a "blessed" day and invite them to my church. I wouldn't say or write things about terrorist or suicide bombs.

That's what bothers me, it's how I know it's all fake. Because it doesn't even occur the people hired to provide security and protect the terror ridden masses that a real terrorist would have half a brain and could be creative with his cover to get on a plane. I function with half a brain and look what I came up with. I mean, I thought they didn't call them "masterminds" for nothing?

[Betsy Ross]

3. Hidden in plain sight

Like running dope in a pickup truck with an Oral Roberts University bumper sticker an hair in pink sponge rollers (HER hair not his). It only works for a short period of time.

[northzax]

4. yes, but he could also be simply crazy

and be planning on doing something just because he's deranged. (I deliberatly don't use mentally ill here because of the stigma, mentally ill doesn't lead to killing others automatically, 'deranged' implies more sociopathic behaviour to me)

[notadmblnd]

14. and crazy doesn't mean stupid

nt

[babydollhead]

15. i liked your, "half a brain" idea

I always say, "I'm just an average person."

[pitohui]

5. writing in yr journal is suspicious at airports

dunno why, but i was questioned after making notes in my journal at the airport also and a guard took my journal to read for himself what i had written

from now on, i only make notes in a laptop when at the airport, this be considered normal

writing w. pen or pencil, unless you're doing the crossword puzzle, only weirdos do that these days

that said, the guard who read my journal was pretty nice about it

i like the person upstream who just assumes that writing is "simply crazy" it prob. is but i thought it was fairly harmless myself, i thought most truly crazy people preferred the dark muttering thing

[Matariki]

6. that seems like a very serious invasion of privacy

is that even legal?

[incapsulated]

7. Does it matter? The preznit breaks the "law" all the time

For NATIONAL SECURITY REASONS.

I'm really starting to empathize with people who lived in say, the Third Reich. Because I now see how easily it can happen.

Sure, being asked to hand over what you are writing is a serious breach of privacy, the ultimate illegal search and seizure.

BUT.

Do you cause a fuss? What if you refuse and they haul your ass away for "questioning"? Even if you know you are innocent, the threat of that ordeal, which could last for hours, who knows what will come of it.... and they know YOU know this threat exists, and it is enough to make you comply. Just to get along. Just to avoid the unspoken threat.

That's how it starts. We all know how it ends, if left to follow it's natural course.

[Bravo411]

8. Excellent point !!!! n/t

[Matariki]

9. or in the case of the airport, not let you get on the plane

i realize all that. still, it makes me indignant.

i once had a canadian customs officer go page by page through a notebook in my purse. i was furious but said nothing as she read my freaking grocery lists. then she found my old model sharp wizard which looked like a miniature monolith - and she looked like a monkey trying to figure out what it was and how to open it.

[incapsulated]

10. This is why I avoid flying

Right now, I can avoid it, so it's not a big deal.

It would be if I had to, though. Because I can't completely trust myself not to lose it in these situations. I don't know if I would recognize myself if I did have that much self-control when having my rights stripped bare. I nearly lost it on the subway, once (I'm in NYC where searches like this can be sprung on you at any time on your way to work). I'm more forgiving of my fellow NY'ers though, I guess it's a hometown form of facism born out of 9/11 and isn't as infuriating to me for some reason, although I was pissed, lol.

This is how the Nazis stopped most of the threat of a real resistance, btw. They wed out what they called the "one in twenties", being the number in any given group that will rebel. Once they were taken care of, either by deliberately provoking them or finding them out by other means, things went much more smoothly.

For the present crew, it would be much easier. Just tracking down every member of a site like DU would take care of many potential rebels right there.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. I often get the feeling...

...that customs officers spend a lot of their time being very, very bored, and this is what they do for fun. Speaking of which, special thanks to the TSA for bending the handmade Christmas cards for my family on my flight back to the states this year. (I know you're just doing your job guys, but sheesh!)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. It probably went something like this:

1) Passenger or passengers see "suicide bomber" written in notebook, but probably don't take note of the context.

2) Passenger(s) tell flight attendants "this guy has stuff about suicide bombers written in his notebook."

3) Flight attendants tell captain "Some guy has a bunch of stuff about suicide bombings in his notebook."

4) Captain, being responsible, informs authorities.

5) Authorities investigate.

This sort of thing happens all the time when it comes to air travel nowadays. Anything even vaguely suspicious can be cause for investigation. Quite a bit of it is simply for show, but in the end it's the cost of air travel. And yes, it's legal.

[CJCRANE]

11. Great way to meet security guards

Even better if you'd written "I like you" in big letters plus your phone number.

:evilgrin:

[RedSock]

16. reminds me of a bill hicks routine

*********

There is a growing anti-intellectualism in this country. I was in a Waffle House - I'm not proud of that - but I was hungry... I'm all alone, eating my food, and reading a book - when this waitress comes by and says, "Whut are you readin' for?"

You know, I've never been asked that question before. God dang it, you stumped me! Not "What am I reading?". "What am I reading for?"

Well, I guess I read for a lot of reasons. One of the big ones is so I don't have to be a fucking Waffle Waitress.

Then this truck driver comes over and says, "Looks like we got us a reader."

Am I stepping out of some intellectual closet on this one or something? I'm a reader. There, I've said it... and I feel better.

*********

[Occulus]

17. Exactly so

and it's far more widespread than you might think. I've been told by lots and lots of people that "(they) hate to read."

How...... strange.

PEople expect to be spoonfed everything relevant and/or important these days, or presented the information on nonliterate cards with cutesy drawings. People who do read a lot are treated as oddities, or even with scorn. I myself have been the object of many a joke and jab because I often have a book.

Yet another sign of our nation's sharp decline.