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Airline Passenger Reports a Cookie Monster On Borad

Most ridiculous story of the 9/11 Fear Brigade yet. Read the whole thing.

My response to that passenger?

If you're that nervous about flying, why not stay home?

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    Upping the ante (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by CMike on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 05:39:51 AM EST
    The first six minutes of this thirteen minute YouTube clip answers the Laurence Olivier question, "Is it safe?"

    Well, either "Borad" is a (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by Anne on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 08:01:14 AM EST
    country I'm unfamiliar with, or you meant to type "Board."

    Either way, it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry.

    Ten years later, and I'd be willing to bet that most people are less afraid of a terrorist attack, and more concerned that their own government will listen in on their conversations, track their computer usage, detain them, arrest them, send fighter jets to accompany their flights - or some combination of all of the above - just in case what looks like the ordinary business of living might not be.

    Enough.

    The normal business of living (none / 0) (#24)
    by Romberry on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 02:45:52 PM EST
    That's where we're at. The normal business of living is now grounds for suspicion. The normal business of living is therefore suspicious. As a people, we seem easily trained.

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    Donuts would be even scarier. (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by observed on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 08:45:09 AM EST
    The pilots might even be tempted by donuts.


    This story reminds me of a remark (none / 0) (#14)
    by Peter G on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 11:27:20 AM EST
    my mother made when I was a child -- could have been the late 1950s -- that if the Russians really wanted to conquer America, they wouldn't launch a nuclear strike (I guess the wording used then was "atom bomb") but rather would arrange to distribute free samples of toothpaste or breakfast cereal, laced with whatever, to U.S. households via third class mail.  At the time, I just thought it was my mother's trait of constant and excessive worrying speaking, but now it occurs to me that it may have been a sardonic comment about fallout shelter paranoia that just went over my nine-or-ten-year-old head.

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    Unfortunately, your mother was needlessly paranoid (none / 0) (#30)
    by NYShooter on Tue Sep 13, 2011 at 12:05:41 AM EST
    Didn't she know all she had to do was "duck and cover," and she would have been safe from even an atomic bomb blast?


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    Yesterday... (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 10:41:16 AM EST
    ... anyone else get burned out on the BS in every speech yesterday.  The only thing true in any of them is the part about not forgetting.

    For anyone to claim we won't give into fear, that the terrorists will not destroy our way of life, or that we are somehow more united, is clearly mad or stupid.  This story clearly demonstrates that we have been altered and that we live in constant fear.  R's and D's have never been more partisan, our privacy is all but gone, and anyone flying knows how far our rights have deteriorated.

    Saying something doesn't make it true, yet yesterday that was clearly the theme of the day, repeat, repeat, repeat.  What is the point is saying something we all know not to be true, as if the victims are looking down and buying it ?  There is no point except it makes great speech fodder.

    They still hit me at some level, but it would be nice for one person to recongnize the reality of what 9/11 did to this country.  It made it into a paranoid society that thinks removing diapers from old people is safety and that uber-costly wars will somehow cure the world of dangerous people.

    At the rate we are going, 9/11 will have the desired effect, bringing this county to its economic knees because of the fear it created.

    the real kicker of this story, (5.00 / 2) (#28)
    by cpinva on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 03:58:37 PM EST
    is that anyone in a position of authority was actually stupid enough to take this nimrod seriously. before 9/11, this young idiot would have been not-so politely blown off. now, any twit will actually be listened to, wasting lord only knows how much time and money.

    osama won.

    Afraid (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 07:49:44 AM EST
    to not be afraid.

    There's a name for this (none / 0) (#4)
    by Edger on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 08:26:03 AM EST
    from the article:

    Gray, who recalled an experience he had in eighth grade in which several students brought brownies laced with laxatives to school for a birthday, stayed in his seat on the plane and did not speak up.

    Poopy Drawers.

    So what? (none / 0) (#6)
    by jbindc on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 08:50:52 AM EST
    This guy didn't stop the plane or inconvenience anyone.  Frankly, I think he was being a good citizen and looking out for his fellow passengers. God forbid anyone should be inconveienced.

    Liberals like to buy into the whole "It takes a village" meme because you know what?  We DO need to look out for one another.  So he was wrong on this one - so what?

    That's not the point. (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by talesoftwokitties on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 09:53:21 AM EST
    The point is: Cookies are now a source of fear.  Who wants to live in a world of fear and suspicion over every little thing?  Not me.

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    So the Plan Liberals Aren't Hip to... (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 10:08:19 AM EST
    ... is what ?  Terrorists using a 12 year old who is friends with a crew member to bring a plane down even though the pilots didn't ingest anything.

    Alrighty then... paranoia will destroya.

    Plenty of people inconvenienced, from reporters to the crew, to the pilots, to me, for wasting 10 mins reading and commenting about this idiocy.

    Totally reminded me of Harold and Kumar and the bong on an airplane.  Ultra-paranoid envisioning something that simply doesn't exist.

    So this is a liberal joke and republicans and their unending paranoia is the way we should be thinking ?  Seems like I remember a certain republican president blowing off a certain memo about Bin Laden and airplanes, yet we are the fools once again.

    It's too bad someone can't created the Paranoid Airlines, were no delusion goes unfulfilled.  Then the rest of us can go about our business and the paranoid can feel comfortable about flying right after the mandatory cavity searches and tossing all brown peoples and now apparently, the 12 year old cookie wielding terrorists.

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    Not sure how this did anything other (5.00 / 3) (#9)
    by MO Blue on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 10:14:27 AM EST
    than get the young man and his family into the papers.

    If the cookies were drugged, the plane would have been hijacked or crashed because the frightened young man did nothing during the actual flight. He did not actually look out for anyone. He just feed his fears during the flight and now he and his family can dine out on his "horrifying experience" for months to come.

    If this is being used as lesson for future events, the wrong lesson is being taught IMO. All of this could have been avoided and any potential risk eliminated if the young man had merely asked the plane personnel for an explanation. Real time inquires might not make an exciting story but it sure was the correct action to take. IMO the young man did not take the correct action.
     

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    "Looking out for one's fellow (5.00 / 2) (#12)
    by Anne on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 11:15:26 AM EST
    passengers" probably ought to include doing something during the flight, not afterwards, when it should have been obvious that sometimes a cookie is just a cookie, since no one who ate them seems to have exhibited symptoms consistent with being  poisoned or drugged.

    In fact, I can't for the life of me understand why, when the young man was offered a cookie, he didn't just say, in a friendly, conversational way, "hey, those look good - where'd they come from?" thus giving the flight attendant the opportunity to explain.  And for the worried passenger to say, "Oh, good - I have to admit I was kind of worried that maybe someone could have deliberately tampered with them, so I'm relieved - and thanks, I will take a cookie!"

    And if I were this kid's mother, I might have pointed out to my son that while it's good to be aware and observant, his fears were obviously unfounded, given that no one got sick or passed out or needed medical attention of any kind.  And I would have suggested that, if something like this happened again, he should just discreetly ask the flight attendant, who would be the person best able to address his concerns.

    But I'm sure new directives will now go out prohibiting any passenger from sharing his or her own food with any other passenger, or accepting offers of food from other passengers...


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    Don't you just want to go (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by MO Blue on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 11:30:57 AM EST
    "Duh?"

    Gray is being praised for his actions and no one, not the airline or the media, has even mentioned that his actions were not the correct actions to take in this situation.

    Parent

    His actions? He did nothing. (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by Mr Natural on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 11:57:58 AM EST
    This guy was not only a fearful ninny; he was an inanimate ninny.

    His resume is wasted anywhere but with his bottom drawer peers at Homeland Security.

    Parent

    Sure he did. (5.00 / 2) (#22)
    by MO Blue on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 12:54:33 PM EST
    His actions: He told his mother after the flight.

    Parent
    If Only the Plane Had Internet... (none / 0) (#31)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Sep 13, 2011 at 01:03:19 PM EST
    ... he could have went viral with it.

    Can we can put this clown on the no-fly list, next time he just might take action and I'd prefer he not do it on a flight I am on.

    Parent

    Oh, no... (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by huzzlewhat on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 12:20:57 PM EST
    But I'm sure new directives will now go out prohibiting any passenger from sharing his or her own food with any other passenger, or accepting offers of food from other passengers...

    Frontier had to promise not to mess with the traditional on-board chocolate chip cookies before they were allowed to acquire Midwest Airlines -- an earlier attempt by AirTran was blocked due to vocal public opposition. "Save the Cookies" signs went up around Milwaukee. It's not surprising at all that the cookie-friendly atmosphere of a Frontier flight led to this kind of sharing. And if there's any threat to the Frontier cookie-culture due to this, look out for some roused Midwestern tempers. The Madison protests will pale in comparison!  

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    That is so funy ;0) (none / 0) (#19)
    by MO Blue on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 12:22:45 PM EST
    Good neighbors in the "village" (none / 0) (#11)
    by kdog on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 11:00:49 AM EST
    don't cry wolf.

    And in my neck of the village, droppin' dimes under 99% of circumstances is strictly forbidden, period...though I realize that's a little extreme for most villagers.

    Parent

    They absolutely do (none / 0) (#25)
    by jbindc on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 02:53:34 PM EST
    If my neighbor's house is being robbed by kids who live down the street, I think I ABSOLUTELY have an obligation to call the police.  Not legally, but morally.

    YMMV.

    Parent

    And if they aren't robbers... (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by kdog on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 03:33:46 PM EST
    but houseguests, and they get tased or worse?  It's on you jb.  YMMV but I think minding your own business is an essential trait of any good neighbor.  I'd be very upset at any neighbor who brought John Law to my crib, I don't care what it is they think they saw.

    Parent
    I think (none / 0) (#13)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 11:23:54 AM EST
    the point being the ninnyism going on. We have enough of that from conservatives. Do we really need anymore?

    Parent
    Now that cabin doors are secure (none / 0) (#17)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 12:09:11 PM EST

    the TSA should dump almost all of that expensive detection stuff (that buys a lot of BMW's for lobbyists) and cut back to random screening.

    I'm with ya... (none / 0) (#20)
    by kdog on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 12:39:51 PM EST
    impenetrable cockpit doors, bomb-screen the luggage, scrap the rest...especially the foot fetish, junk grabbing and x-ray vision nonsense.

    Parent
    But then Michael Chertoff (none / 0) (#21)
    by shoephone on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 12:48:17 PM EST
    would have to get a real job. One that doesn't involve surveilling or arresting innocent American citizens.

    Parent
    I Don't Know What He is Doing, but... (none / 0) (#23)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 02:01:59 PM EST
    ... Napolitano is the one arresting lotion smugglers at the airport these days.  I suspect he is brainwashing young lads into thinking cookies are the new suicide bombs for whatever firm he is lobbying for.

    Parent
    Chertoff is raking in the dough (5.00 / 0) (#26)
    by caseyOR on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 03:05:23 PM EST
    shilling for the companies that make this airport body scanners. I would imagine he also has a nice sideline in lobbying. too.

    This whole security industry is such a massive scam, a boondoggle that is sucking tax dollars away from programs that would actually help the American people.

    Parent

    Now that cabin doors are secure? (none / 0) (#29)
    by Edger on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 07:26:19 PM EST
    OT but related - cabin doors have been secure a long time, and that made the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 77 a story in itself.

    Here's your cookie: Nov 27 2009

    (PilotsFor911Truth.org) - Newly decoded data provided by an independent researcher and computer programmer from Australia exposes alarming evidence that the reported hijacking aboard American Airlines Flight 77 was impossible to have existed. A data parameter labeled "FLT DECK DOOR", cross checks with previously decoded data obtained by Pilots For 9/11 Truth from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) through the Freedom Of Information Act.

    On the morning of September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 departed Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles at 8:20 am Eastern Time. According to reports and data, a hijacking took place between 08:50:54 and 08:54:11[1] in which the hijackers allegedly crashed the aircraft into the Pentagon at 09:37:45. Reported by CNN, according to Ted Olson, wife Barbara Olson had called him from the reported flight stating, "...all passengers and flight personnel, including the pilots, were herded to the back of the plane by armed hijackers...". However, according to Flight Data provided by the NTSB, the Flight Deck Door was never opened in flight. How were the hijackers able to gain access to the cockpit, remove the pilots, and navigate the aircraft to the Pentagon if the Flight Deck Door remained closed?

    Founded in August 2006, Pilots For 9/11 Truth is a growing organization of aviation professionals from around the globe. The organization has analyzed Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for the Pentagon Attack, the events in Shanksville, PA and the World Trade Center attack. The data does not support the government story. The NTSB/FBI refuse to comment. Pilots For 9/11 Truth do not offer theory or point blame at this point in time. However, there is a growing mountain of conflicting information and data in which government agencies and officials along with Mainstream Media refuse to acknowledge.



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