Who cares if they advocate the destruction of the US government? We have right wingers who want to do the same thing. If they get on the plane and don't have the means to harm anyone it makes no difference what they think or thier opinions are.

Besides from what I have seen, it appears that crack head celebrities and drunk congressmen are the only ones who try to carry loaded firearms on board and that they "forgot" they had them in the bag. It least they get the publicity.

For the explosives-challenged among us, ... is that ? A pipe bomb ?

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Troester described the device as a carbon-dioxide cartridge with a black-powder detonator.

I assume it is an IRD-Improvised Rocket Device. I used to make them as a kid with an empty CO2 cartridge, stuffed with match heads or homemade gunpowder (those old chemistry kits were great!). You place it in a pipe, light and run. If it goes off, it shoots out with a nice smoke trail a hundred or so yards. If not, it goes boom.

Now I buy my rockets.

OK, the next time you are in a line anywhere, see if you can point out the "foreign male Muslims" that you perceive to be such a threat to you. Remember, you can only pick out foreign born Male Muslims. Whats that? They all look the same to you? Oh alright then, just pick out all Male Muslims. What was that? How do you know if all the brown peole you just picked out are Muslim? Well, it doesn't matter. They are not white and thirty years ago you wouldn't be seen dead in the same room as them anyway, so send them all to be screened. OK? Good. What now? Oh, what if these evil brown people find other wasy to blow stuff up? Hmm, hadn't thought of that. No, sorry, I dont have any gas chambers.

Profiling as you have described it does not appear to be particulary useful or indeed engender any loyalty from those being profiled. Perhaps if people suggested that you and your children should be singled out for extra attention everywhere you go based solely on your ethnicity, you might not agree with profiling either.

[self-edited to confirm with topic]

Wow. And they did it without the shoe carnival! ^

At least we finally got SOMETHING for the billions we've spent.

I'll be curious to see if it actually is an IED.

Apparently this is a college student and the courts don't seem to consider him a serious threat -- he was released on a $10,000 bail.

But Dreyling's landlord, former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys, said he had created a "glorified firecracker" and forgot it was in his luggage.

"I know Charlie Dreyling quite well," Humphreys said. "I appreciate what the authorities are doing making our airlines safe. I have every confidence that they'll find out Charlie Dreyling is a fine young man and no terrorist."

http://www.reflector.com/news/conten...rt_Arrest.html

First off, I always thought most of you would react like this if the TSA ever found an IED. That's the number one reason I don't post here. Some of you hate the TSA so much, your'e blind.

Secondly, if this is a "Glorified Firecracker" it's probably technically considered a bomb. Isn't it a federal offense to be in possession of or to create a bomb? Not to mention trying to take it onto an airplane....

Morons are always carrying things on planes they shouldn't be transporting. Like guns, machetes and bombs.
The question here, IMO, is whether or not this kid was a garden-variety moron or actually a terrorist with evil intentions.
I suppose the answer will be forthcoming soon.

It appears as though you post here.

TSAJohn, I, for one, don't hate the TSA. I do, however, disagree with many of its procedures.

I am one of those who feel that good security comes from looking for terrorists, not for weapons. Of course, this requires a very long training procedure that the TSA does not offer its screeners as well as profiling, which would upset American sensibilities no end.

(And, no, profiling does not translate into "just look for the guy with the brown skin or Arab name". If it did, it could be taught in a ten minute session.)

As for what makes a firecracker into a bomb, I have no idea. I presume that there is some law which delinates the explosive capability of an item before it can be considered a bomb.

If this item was truly a danger to aviation (unlike Bic lighters or tiny penknives) it should not have been allowed onto the plane. At the same time, if it appears to be a silly mistake by a college kid who had no bad intentions, the issue should be forgotten about.

I have seen very little on this item in the mainstream media. I was also disappointed that there was nothing at work on it during briefing. With that in mind I offer the following:
An IED means that it was IMPROVISED. It is made from common things that are cobbled together to make it one unit. IF he did use a CO2 cartridge, we are left to wonder how big it was. There are different sizes and types. IF he stuffed it with a gun type powder, it will burn and therefore produce some type of reaction. If the hole in the container where the fuse is placed is small, there may be an explosion instead of a propulsion. If there is any type of plea arrangement it will come in the form of getting on the plane with a homemade firework and not a bomb. However that is secondary to the fact that he did it and may only result in minor mitigation as will the relative facts about how much damage something like that could cause. The experts will weigh in on this as will the attorneys.

I dislike the TSA for the dog-and-pony show that it puts on -- the smiling faces with sewn-on badges telling the little old ladies that they need to be felt up, the stupid and arbitrary list of prohibited items, lack of cargo screening. Those are some of the things I think the TSA has got cranial rectosis over.

The basic security issues that the TSA executes (simple x-raying and having people walk through the magnetometer) I'm all for. Not to belittle the catching of such IED, but isn't this the most basic of items to have been caught? You guys are trained to catch these things, right? Again, not belittling the people, but this seems to be akin to congratulating someone for breathing.

Again, I'm glad the TSAer caught the IED -- good job. But to give him/her employee of the month or extra credit for doing his/her job would solidify what some people say here that some people in the TSA are just waiting for "the big catch."

I mean, for the TSA's job and the job of the folks pre-9/11, this is what they're there for. I'm all for the attentiveness to detail, but the inane and arbitrary policies is what we all ***** about here. I'm sure the folks who manned the checkpoints prior to the TSA caught items before as well (after all, they used the same equipment the TSA is using now, right?). The difference is the heightened awareness of security right now.

I'm not surprised it's not in the mainstream media. If secrecy were an Olympic event, the TSA would win the gold, silver AND bronze medals. When you do things like prohibit newsies from taking a picture of a plastic tub of confiscated knives, things like that don't give the most favorable impression of a company, agency or a person.

The reason things like arrests of your bretheren are noted in the media is because there are usually witnesses to the actual arrest and/or the fact that such arrests are on the public record. It's after the booking that everything gets put under SSI (now back to the 'secrecy' image your agency has).

Sort of harkening back to my previous post, why the 'disappointment' over not hearing about it in the briefing? I applaud the TSA brass for not making this such a big issue. Again, doing so would make it seem like y'all are out there for "the big catch."

It was a device that should of, and was, caught (again good for the screener who caught it). You make it seem like it's a special event.

But it IS special. TSA is desperate for anything positive. As long as they're linked to the airlines' SSS stupidity system, they WILL be desperate. There are over 100 SSI reasons the airlines can punish you with SSS, according to a screener I heard from, and she only knows 5 or 6, and cannot even mention THOSE. Did you get that? One HUNDRED ways to coerce you, and you'll never face your accuser or be given due process. One hundred laws to hide bhind. Since you cannot know them, may I suggest reasons #, oh, say 71-93 might start out with one reading: "Tends to look like a Methodist," and ending with "Lifted left eyebrow when given a legal command to bend over..."

Thank God they kept me off the retirement vacation plane long enough for my wanded bare feet to explode in the other corridor...

All seriousness aside, go to TSA website and look up "Positive Things People are Saying" link, if they've allowed this embarrassingly empty forum to survive.

As my former boss used to say when employees were fishing for compliments, "Thanks for doing your job."