# The Flying Morons - another plane delayed by a fucking idiot **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 7, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219 "2016-05-07T20:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/241 "2016-05-13T22:21:25Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Hush, now. Obviously **doorhinge** is not in on it. Actually, he or she is part of it, meant to keep us on our toes. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/242 "2016-05-13T22:37:53Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > You only have to view the attacks by the wanna-be internet bullies participating in this thread to see one reason why she doesn’t come forward. Interesting to see you troll other kinds of threads, not just global warming ones. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/243 "2016-05-14T00:27:55Z")
It seems we’ve forgotten about the Berkley student kicked off the plane for speaking Arabic mentioned in the OP. I’ll admit that speaking Arabic is social taboo, especially on a plane, but certainly doesn’t need an FBI-led investigation on the student and his family. A cautious report? Maybe. But treated like a terrorist and questioned about martyrdom is what overreaction means. Compare that with a man, NOT speaking Arabic and doesn’t even look middle eastern, but he’s writing MATH. Reporting this mathematician by comparison is beyond idiotic. It appears this woman thinks anyone that’s European could be ISIS. Both actions by both the mathematician and student are things that don’t stand out as something I should report or inconvenience anyone over. And if the woman who reported seeing mathematics is being misrepresented about her actions in any way, I’m sure she would’ve called a newspaper and demanded she be interviewed. For fuck’s sake, this story is running in all the news sites in 20 countries. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/244 "2016-05-14T01:26:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > [threadshit] > > Aw shit, this whole thread is mostly barking up the wrong cesspool. > > Yeah, that female passenger, from all available evidence, is a serious moron. But we’re all way too focused on her moronness here. Okay, so she saw some higher math and had a panic attack. Okay, stupid enough. > > The _real_ monstrosity here, only sporadically commented upon in this thread, is that it took the “authorities” two hours to figure this out. That’s not what happened. Stupid lady said that she was too ill to fly and they turned around to take her off the plane. That’s what took the time, not the investigation of this guy. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/245 "2016-05-14T04:06:30Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > It seems we’ve forgotten about the Berkley student kicked off the plane for speaking Arabic mentioned in the OP. I’ll admit that speaking Arabic is social taboo, especially on a plane, but certainly doesn’t need an FBI-led investigation … Here is the thing that bothers me about that. When you look at [this thread (old man feeding hummingbird)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=749028), at least one poster though the guy was just mumbling meaningless gibberish, but someone else was able to identify it as Portuguese with a Brazilian accent. So, if a person on a plane calls home and starts speaking Slovak, will the paranoiac who hears it even know that it is not Arabic? What about Hindi, or Tagalog? If you are on a plane in the US, you goddam well better be speaking English, Spanish or some other language that we can easily tell is not a dangerous-people one. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/246 "2016-05-14T04:36:03Z")
That Berkeley student supposedly was confronted by an Arabic speaking airline employee, but they still took him off the flight. ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jake\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/247 "2016-05-14T04:56:30Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > Its a great anecdote about how badly the TSA works and how inconsistent they are, but had they not changed rules after 9/11 and another attack happened, would you have been upset at security? Lots of people are complaining about what the TSA does, not many are suggesting what they should do to protect us. > > After the shoebomber, if they never asked people to remove their shoes, and another shoebomber was successful, would you have blamed them for inaction? After 9/11, would you have blamed them if more terrorists armed with small blades that went through screening took over a plane? I’ve said I wouldn’t, because I’d rather move through security quickly. Put a lock on the cockpit doors and let the passengers fend for themselves is what I suggest. The TSA annual budget is over [7 BILLION fucking dollars](http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/presidents-2016-budget-request-transportation-security-administration/2015-02-06). And they [really suck](http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/01/politics/tsa-failed-undercover-airport-screening-tests/) at [their job](http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2015/11/04/surprise-tsa-is-still-sucking-terribly-n2075370). I’m not saying that there was no reason to change anything after 9/11 but what they’ve done is spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 billion dollars in the past decade and a half, cost businesses and individuals literally millions of man years during that time for a system that shows evidence of a **95% failure rate when tested**. The only thing that’s been done that makes any sense at all (as you mentioned) is hardening the cockpits and I don’t think the TSA picked up the tab on that, that was on the airlines. What should they be doing with 7 billion dollars a year? Almost anything else and probably a lot less of anything else. I’m not a frequent flyer. I probably average 4-5 trips per year. I hardly ever see [canine security](https://www.tsa.gov/news/passenger-screening-canine-teams-work-to-detect-explosives), which is a great way to screen passengers for explosives. How about we look to the Israelis, who employ a great deal of [human observation](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/what-israeli-airport-secu_b_4978149.html) techniques in addition to technological ones in their airport security? What about Air Marshals? The TSA will not disclose how many they employ but what do you say we double that mystery number and shit-can the screeners who spend their time picking through my dirty underwear to confiscate a one inch blade on a fucking wine key when they find it on the twelfth time through an X-Ray baggage scanner? The term “security theater” is frequently used to describe the efforts of the TSA and it is almost entirely accurate. We spend over 7 billion dollars per year and require travelers in US airports to spend hundreds of thousands of cumulative man years each calendar year for a system that shows evidence of a **95% failure rate when tested**. It’s ridiculous. Neither I nor any other normal person would be happy to see terrorist activity take down a plane or the unfortunate people in its path again, but what we’re doing as a country to prevent it is complete idiocy. I would like to see a sensible plan with enhanced security over the pre-9/11 days but nowhere near as obstructive as what we have today. If I had a legitimate choice between two airports with identical flight service in the same area and one had pre-9/11 security and the other our current system, I would choose to forego the bullshit for the very minimal increased risk that comes without the bullshit. Every single time. There are so many target-rich venues for terrorism in this country that it’s completely preposterous to continue to use so many resources in an attempt to prevent an extremely low probability event from happening again without even considering what a shitty job we’re doing in that attempt. The TSA is and always has been a fucking abomination and it needs to be obliterated and replaced with a more sensible program. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/248 "2016-05-14T06:42:59Z")
Forget it, Jake. It’s terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/249 "2016-05-14T12:16:21Z")
It’s not just the USA either. I have a friend who’s an artist. One of the things she does is ice sculptures and her tool of choice is an old broken off (half the blade remaining) straight razor. She really likes the way she can shave the ice with it for detail work. She went on a trip to France and was stopped at various airports to have her bag searched after going through the x-ray machine. Nothing was ever found. When she returned home she unpacked her carry on and, because of all the extra scrutiny she’d received, felt around under the bottom insert of her bag. Lo and behold, out comes the straight razor. She’s very glad it wasn’t found and confiscated, but it did make her roll her eyes some. She figures it slipped under the bottom months earlier after she’d used it and thrown it in her bag. So yeah, **Jake Jones** , security theatre. And I wish it would stop too. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/250 "2016-05-14T13:46:34Z")
I have come to the conclusion that the word bully has truly lost all its meaning. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/251 "2016-05-14T15:09:03Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > I have come to the conclusion that the word bully has truly lost all its meaning. > > Carry on. This is what calculated political rhetoric is doing to our language. Criticizing unwarranted fearful bigoted behavior is “bullying”. The SPLC is a “hate group”. Criticizing white racists is itself “racism”. Criticizing intolerance is itself “intolerance”. This weakens language in general, turns everything into opinion and viewpoints, and often kills political discussions by hijacking them into arguments about semantics; and I’m half convinced that these are all conscious calculated goals by at least some of those who do it. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/252 "2016-05-14T16:17:21Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Compare that with a man, NOT speaking Arabic and doesn’t even look middle eastern, but he’s writing MATH. Of course he does, there are many people in my region who look entirely like the Italian professor. Maybe not like the Saudi / gulf arab stereotype in your mind, but 100% like Mr Menzio ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/253 "2016-05-14T16:30:05Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > Of course he does, there are many people in my region who look entirely like the Italian professor. > > Maybe not like the Saudi / gulf arab stereotype in your mind, but 100% like Mr Menzio And that’s the thing. I’m Italian, and looking at his pics I’d determine he’s either Italian or Jewish, but not middle eastern. To the woman on the plane, he did look middle eastern. To each his or her own. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/254 "2016-05-14T19:01:42Z")
A Jewish friend of mine moved from NYC to a small Wisconsin town, and the teacher kept calling their daughter “Maria” (needless to say, not her name). this happened so many times that the parents brought it up. The teacher said “Oh, that was the name of the only other black-haired girl I’ve ever had in class.” (Whaaaaa? Yes, they realized at that moment that they were going to move immediately to a larger city.) Impossible to believe until you google Syttende Mai and most of the hits and [white bread images](http://smithphotography.typepad.com/.a/6a010535efc911970c013480ad9f99970c-800wi)are from Stoughton, WI. So, if Jewish = Hispanic, then Eye-talian could = Ay-rab. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/255 "2016-05-14T19:08:27Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > Of course he does, there are many people in my region who look entirely like the Italian professor. > > Maybe not like the Saudi / gulf arab stereotype in your mind, but 100% like Mr Menzio [Absolutely.](https://www.google.com/search?q=lebanese&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwit2ta2odrMAhVK9WMKHdJqA4kQ_AUICCgC&biw=1920&bih=931#tbm=isch&q=lebanese+man) ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/256 "2016-05-14T21:42:31Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > And that’s the thing. I’m Italian, and looking at his pics I’d determine he’s either Italian or Jewish, but not middle eastern. To the woman on the plane, he did look middle eastern. To each his or her own. Italian or Jewish… but not middle eastern… It could be you need to think of where the Jews come from. He looks perfectly Levantine (as the Belowjob link shows) or even like a northern Tunisian or an Algerian or a north Moroccan. It is simply that the stereotype image you have is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/257 "2016-05-14T22:42:29Z")
Yep to that. The man looks like half the guys here in Tel Aviv. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/258 "2016-05-15T00:16:51Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > Italian or Jewish… but not middle eastern… > > It could be you need to think of where the Jews come from. You mean Hoboken? From the looks of him, NYC, upper east side. 😃 He looks like half the kids I grew up with near Philly. Moroccan or Levantine?? Not to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/259 "2016-05-15T09:08:18Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > He looks like half the kids I grew up with near Philly. Ah so you are not an Italian but an american. > [@](#): > > Moroccan or Levantine?? Not to me. It is simple then, you do not know what we look like. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219/260 "2016-05-15T10:37:52Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > It is simple then, you do not know what we look like. I’m going to guess that those who inhabit the countries around the Mediterranean look, well, Mediterranean. There are also those who look the stereotypical blond, blue-eyed of the far north of Europe, those who look Ethiopian, and, of course, a number of people who could easily be mistaken for someone of almost any ethnic group on the planet. But, then, I’m not a bigot who is afraid of someone practicing their religion in public. The jerk who reported the prof obviously is such a bigot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-morons-another-plane-delayed-by-a-fucking-idiot/754219.md?page=14)