This reminds me of George Gobel’s classic story about his WWII service.
Not so many Japanese Zeros, though…
(underline added)
“If You See Something, Say Something™” (It’s trademarked so it must be important 
)
*It takes a community to protect a community. Informed, alert communities play a critical role in keeping our nation safe.
Reporting Suspicious Activity
To report suspicious activity, contact your local law enforcement agency. Describe specifically what you observed, including:
Who or what you saw;
When you saw it;
Where it occurred; and
Why it’s suspicious.
If there is an emergency, call 9–1–1.*
It’s our choice. You can chose to say something or you can chose to ignore something. Or you can chose to ridicule someone for saying something. Maybe THAT will prevent them from saying something the next time they observe behavior they might consider to be suspicious behavior.
I have no idea how you came to the conclusion that Trump should be blamed for the policy of Obama’s Department of Homeland Security?
I get what you’re saying. We don’t want to discourage people from reporting truly suspicious activity. The problem is when people become paranoid and cause planes to be diverted and innocents to be interrogated for activities that aren’t even remotely suspicious. Even if we ignore the civil rights issues, repeated false alarms do not strengthen security and may even weaken it.
And I completely get what mhendo was talking about when he mentioned Trump. I don’t think he’s blaming Trump for DHS policy. He’s blaming Trump, with his repeated demonization of Muslims, for the behavior of the woman who was suspicious due to strange writing, facial hair, and olive skin. Because, let’s be honest here, it was likely the man’s appearance that set her off as much or more than his writing.
I took that class in college. It is very dry.
Shhh. It thinks it is.
Oh, man. I remember when all those guys were alive. Bob Hope, Dean Martin . . .
I must be starting to look old. For my last security check, they handed me a card that let me keep my shoes on.
I choose to ridicule. If ridicule stops some mouth-breather from reporting the simple fact of speaking Arabic or doing math as a terrorist threat, then i’m completely fine with that.
For the most part, the policies themselves aren’t too much of a problem. The problem is that there are too many mouth-breathing morons who can’t distinguish between actual threats and non-threats. And that applies both to the general public, and to some of the idiots in the DHS and the TSA. It’s the same mentality that forced a woman to drink her own breast milk from a bottle some years back, just to prove that it wasn’t a dangerous product. If this sort of thing remains a problem under Obama, i hold him to blame just as much as i held Bush to blame during the previous administration.
My comment about Trump was not blaming him for the incident; it was more a general observation about the unfortunate decline in rational thought and logical behavior in modern America, of which this incident and the Trump campaign are depressing examples. I was not even making the connection to Trump’s anti-Islam rhetoric, but now that davidm has raised the issue, i do think it fits quite nicely. This incident, and the one regarding the Arabic speaker last month, are the natural outcome of the sort of paranoia that Trump promotes.
So this geometry Prof was on a plane, and the gut next to him saw him with some compasses and dividers, and he freaked out. So they questioned the Prof and decided that he was part of a mysterious AL-Ge_Bra movement, and arrested him for carrying Weapons of Math Instruction. Oh yeah!
Yeah. I had to take it over in summer school, was second in the class, and I STILL got a B. `:mad:
And have to share the Nobel?
Lonesome George vs Hope and Dino and their writers. Seems like an even match.
That’s just fantastic, perfect timing and delivery. I’ve never even heard of George Gobel before.
I once read that durring WWII, composer Ralph Vaughn Williams was walking the street somewhere in England scribbling music and was stopped by a defense officer because it looked suspicious.
The war on intellegence go back a ways.
Another young whippersnapper heard from. Are those your footprints all over my lawn?
It’s been my experience that many people who fly are paranoid. The engines may quit, the wings may fall off, the flight may be bumpy, there might be a mid-air collision, they may have to sit next to some chatty, drunken, obnoxious asshole who likes to loudly express their superiority over the alledged mouth-breathers who were allowed to share THEIR airplane.
I’ve seen non-drinkers pound down several stiff drinks just to work up the courage to get on a plane, let alone leave the ground in one. I know two frequent fliers who resort to trips to a hypnotist in order to forget why they hate to fly. Non-talkers become non-stop talkers due to their adrenaline rush. Personally, I think flying is fun. I bring a paperback, settle into the seat, take off my shoes, and wait for the inevitable safe landing. It doesn’t matter how fast I flap my arms, I’m not going to be able to keep that airplane in the air. Fatalism?
Meanwhile, back at the plane - a woman passenger grew suspicious of Menzio. Menzio claims it was because he was doing math. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe she also noticed several other actions, or statements, by Menzio that made her nervous? Maybe Menzio forgot to mention any other suspious behavior he had been asked to explain? Maybe Menzio referred to her as a mouth-breather? I wonder what exactly the nervous passenger wrote on the note she passed to the crew member? Did the nervous passenger’s fear of flying and Menzio’s ridicule of her discomfort induce her to notify the aircrew of her suspicion that Menzio could be a dangerous person?
If people wish to undermine the policies of the NSA, that’s their choice.
As an aside, I’ve noted that many people like to mention Trump’s name as often as possible. Doesn’t seem to matter what the original subject was, or if Trump was even involved. I suppose Trump welcomes the free advertisement.
Trump didn’t invent the radical, fanatical, Muslim terrorist. The radical, fanatical, Muslims did that a very long time ago. Trump didn’t invent NSA or airline policy, either. But these are desperate times for the Democrat collective and they gotta do what they can to help Hillary. When they’re not screwing Bernie over, that is.
Yes, the woman is blameless. Menzio must have done something we haven’t hear about.:rolleyes:
The one time I had to report suspicious activity. I was at the airport and here is a suitcase in the middle of the food court with no one around. I flag a TSA agent
<SC>There is a suitcase right here. No one is near it so I’m reporting it like the PA says to since it seems abandoned.
<TSA>Did you walk around to find out who it belongs to?
<SC>:smack:
You think his job description includes investigative work? 
You should have told him that you saw it solving differential equations.
Ever hear of the airline passenger who cried wolf? She undermined the NSA more by making a big stink about something obviously not a danger, looked like an idiot, and thus might possibly discourage someone who does see something legitimately suspicious from speaking up. Even if it was Arabic, and not math, not everything written in Arabic is a terrorist plot.
As for Trump, he is the person who wants to ban all Muslims from entering the country because they can’t be trusted. If you buy into that, anyone who looks or acts Muslim anywhere can’t be trusted. I don’t know if this idiot was naturally paranoid or if she had help from the Donald, but you can hardly hold him blameless for the increase in paranoia.
There was one suspicious thing Menzio did. He was so involved with his work he didn’t make small talk with her.
Undermining stupid-ass policies that are at best inconsistently applied and only caught 4% of weapons during a test? I’ll volunteer for that.