Couldn’t think of much more to say…

saTHERSday nite!

My mind runs wild. We now have to fly encased in hermitically sealed packages?

Or as someone said earlier: Flyer, flyer, pants on fire.

it really did say it all dood — loved the some sad little geek couldn’t make his fucking underpants explode properly line

Hi Suz. How was your Christmas? How is weather by you?

Pissing ucky 38 degree rain by me. But I’ve got a fire burning so no problems.

Well greater wingnuttia is certainly giving an unexpected stimulus to underpants makers. Funny how they keep getting all excited about all these absolutely hapless and clueless terrorist wannabes, who have not managed to actually do anything at all. This guy is actually pretty sophisticated compared to all the other much heralded thwarted terrorist plots over the past several years. He actually managed to set himself on fire.

christmas was quiet (a good thing). tis 35 and falling — chance of freezing rain tonight and in the morning. good thing i don’t get up until after the crack of noon.

Pretty much says it all though. On the up side the wingnuts are providing a “stimulus package” for garment makers today.

Thers!

That’s all it is… I love the stuff about how this was designed by Al Qaeda’s Top Bombmaker.

Uh, right.

So adult diapers soaked in imflammatants will no longer be allowed on airplanes? How’re they gonna test for that?

heard tonight on my local news that they think he used a condom

Heh. Crack of noon. If it’s still freezing rain, sun is over the yardarm, so liquor is quicker.

Depends….

Safe bombing? No offspring.

A-yup.

Depends on your meaning of Depends.

Yeah, also the non-redundancy thing. Spencer reminded me this morning that Al-Q doesn’t do things in onesies. But, wow — King & Hoekstra sure can do some bedwetting on command once the cameras start rolling, can’t they?

Why uptight religious idiots get in trouble — next time they’ll try to make him firuge out how to unhook a bra & similarly fail…

makes ya wonder if he took a magazine into the lavatory (in there for 20 minutes per witnesses on the news) and then came back to his seat and covered his lap with a blanket to hide his *ahem* activities.

then smoke billowed out from under the blankie….

That wuz me. :-)

Yep.

I also luuuuurv TSA’s response to this passenger-thwarted attack: all passengers must remain seated with nothing in their laps the last hour of flight. Thus ensuring that actions like yesterday’s passenger-thwarting are unpossible.

Duh.

I just hope there was enough of an explosion that he blew his nuts off.

Sounds like King & Hoekstra need Depends.

Spencer reminded me this morning that Al-Q doesn’t do things in onesies

Unlike, say, the PowerTools guys.

Sorry, it just seemed like a loaded comment….

Let’s not talk about time spent in aircraft bathrooms and what occurring therein. Not talkin’.

What? Why?

I have never found Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda wannabees more hilarious…

Kewl. Thanks for ackowledging credit for my failing brain. A good one.

Ya he didn’t want to catch aids ya know….

Sure was funny how the only person on the planet who really knew what happened 5 minutes after the news broke was King.

He’s pretty plugged in, man.

Talk.

I think the reality is that Al Qaeda proper really does not exist outside of Pakistan anymore and is a mere shadow of its former self. Instead you now have dozens of independent groups all claiming to be “Al Qaeda” for the PR boost it gives them. Some of their members may have had some connections to the original organization, but that network is largely broken.

to hide the chemicals he used was what i heard…instead of a plastic water bottle or shampoo bottle

Threat level: Strawberry, ribbed.

Oh, clever, I guess. YOUCH!

Leavin’ it to your imagination.

ya just cant make this shit up…mebbe,next time it will be in his ears,and his head will explode

Member of the mile high club are we?

Time to build an airwall around the U.S. of A. That will surely save us from one death, or less than one.

No, that is the wingnuts’ trick.

or at least 3rd degree burns………..g

owww sweet meats..
.
.
.
.
.

nice..

Not talkin’. But it’s not a particularly exclusive club.

btw thers, great song choice. i had never heard it before — thank you

birds of a feather………..nutjobs

To be honest, most of these guys in recent years are more a danger to themselves than anyone else.

flyinsux already…glad Sarah goes corporate………g

Dya think? Sitting next to someone who’s trying to light his pants on fire? Get real. Hardly a terrorist threat.

The whole ‘terrorism’ thing has worked perfectly on the wingnuts — they’re terrified.

Here’s the dark secret nobody talks about: Deep down, they actually kind of enjoy it. The adrenaline, the heightened state of awareness, the paranoia and an excuse to let their xenophobic bigotry right out like a rabid dog leaping from an unlocked cage.

Plus it puts us all one giant step closer toward the total authoritarian society they secretly have patent-leather boot dreams about — although more fools they, they presume they won’t be among the oppressed. They’ll just be a little further down the list, after all the ‘subversive’ neighbors they rat on.

Most wingnut stuff is about how we should more closely scrutinize the infidels so as to exclude the ones with inflammable skivvies.

They believe they are Hard Headed Realists, you know.

i prefer trains……just sayin..g

My fave carol.

NYC local news had a clip of a female passenger who thought that any search needed to prevent such a “terriss” attack was warranted. Talk about biased news media.

Taking trains much more often now. But am a lot older. Enough said.

Maybe she’s just in the mood for a cavity check.

The wingnuts always find something to be terrified about. They are basically chicken shits.

It was bound to fail, airlines banned smoking 20 years ago.

Oy. Hadn’t thought about it in those terms. She looked like she had better alternatives, but who am I to judge?

Those were the daze.

I can’t believe you could hold explosives enough to blow up a jetliner inside a condom for 18 hours. Maybe it was an al Queda super clever system of condoms!

Inflammable MEANS flammable?

What a country…

i have taken timothylearys advice,cept for the acid…tuned in,and dropped out…i cant listen to any of it anymore,my sanity is incumbent on this choice

Different checks for different chicks.

rock and roll ……..hay hay

Yep, I’ve noticed this, too. Can’t have due process or rule of law. Have to bomb the shit out of thousands just to get a handful of bad guys. Can’t have proper trials, because somebody might be found innocent. Have to torture, which is clearly against the laws of all decent civilization and every worthwhile religion.

They really are utter craven cowards — and worse, they demand we all be that way, too.

Dayam…! I’m miffed… 63 comments into a Thers post and I now find out about…! I’m writing my congresscritter…! ;-)

Craven cowards R us. What a f’ng shame. Used to think we were smart.

One of the first eyewitness interviews I watched was with a woman who said, “I seen the ambalance guys bring ‘im out on the, uh, bed.”

Made me proud to be a ‘merican.

phosphorescent balls…………..hey great biz opportunity for the lurid

If airlines ban trans-fats, we’re dooooooomed.

You think airports are bad, I get cavity checks when I go to the dentist.

Then he inspects my teeth.

A Thers thread! Where!

nope its about the $$$$$$$$$$$4
military industrial congressional media complex….oy

I’ve heard they make them buy two tickets.

Har de har. I figured someone would bring up dentistry.

calling ENRY IGGINS

LOL

Thers,
Nice to see ya back dude.

goodness gracious great balls on fire

Soon everyone will have to strip to get on a plane. What will the Bishops say?

bonfire on the vanity?

tee hee

Nice summation. That’s it in a (wing)nutshell.

Good to be back

you were missed ya big lug

hahahaha!

Depends on whether the passenger is male and under the age of 12.

Aloha and Hauoli Makahiki Hou, dood…! 8-P

You are on a ROLL. Keep it goin’.

southernfried chitlins?

“Come sit by me, little boy”

Right, and then the Bishops would take part-time jobs in airport security.

Passing yer drink down the bar….

heh.

blowout/ blowback

If I have nightmares about priests and little boys joining That Club, I know who to blame. *g*

I think that might require full time supervision on their part.

char-coaled nutz

Some music for the new security guards.

Shouldn’t it be ‘eyewitless report’ for that one?

okay well is running dry…still hungry for raisin toast with butter and cin/sugar

distressed nuts roasting on an open fire?

The obedience/restriction industrial complex cannot do anything but grow to infinity, even as its stunning inefficacy is repeatedly revealed.

Nothing stopped this latest caper but some passengers of normal observational capacity who acted rationally on what they saw. Gosh, what a concept.

Too bad in tomorrow’s scenario they’ll be tased for not staying seated with their hands in their laps.

707!

Gawd I love this place…!

hey nate loong time no see

That’s the TSA’s job, y’know. To insure that Americans remain terrified and helpless.

The one thing that has truly prevented a repeat of 9/11 is the terrorist knowledge that any attempt to take over a plane will result in the passengers killing the terrorists even if the passengers die in the attempt.

From the point of view of the actual powers that be that willingness to die is not a good thing for average citizens to have.

lol! I’d have accepted “stretcher” or “gurney” but “uh, bed” doesn’t quite pass the test.

Closest thing I’ve got is an oatmail cookie with raisens. Will that do?
I’ve had the flu all day and I think I need my beauty sleep.
Thanks for the Saturday night fun, all.

come on baby light my chestnutz

Once upon a time in America, to be called ‘elite’ was to be considered the best, the brightest, and the most capable.

Now it is used as an epithet. To be educated or intellectual is derided as somehow less authentic, less American… many go that extra step and accuse smart people of being outright traitors simply because they use their brains and not their adrenaline glands and gonads for every critical decision. Hell, the previous President got a substantial number of votes by claiming to be ruled by his ‘gut’ rather than his brain.

It’s like John Barleycorn’s more literal interpretation: Those who dare to rise above the others, who strive to be better, get lopped off. Actually, anti-intellectual fanaticism is another of the hallmarks of the authoritarian society.

Sleep good and get well soon, dear.

wunnerful….take good care sweets

:D

But I’ve always been here. Perhaps there have been a few instances where more than a two-three days went by where I didn’t stop in for my daily doses but I’m always there. Reading away and absorbing as much as the ram in my head can handle.

Lately though I’ve been an addict. Eagerly awaiting the next data load for another journey of links to more input.

Innnnnput!

come on baby light my flyer

THE flu? Hope you’re better soon, demi.

Me too! Just. Great. Folks.
zzzzzzzzzzzz

So that’s why Bush had so many followers. They felt comfortable with a presnit as stupid as they were.

your the Coliseum

Screw that. The dude across from me tries to set himself on fire or trigger something, I’m jumping the S.O.B. And so will everyone else on the plane with half a brain and a will to live.

Maybe getting tased for that would prove a point.

To your point.

i would poor my martini in his lap fer sure

I believe you’re correct on that point, Margot.

It’s dismaying to realize a great many people don’t want a national leader who is actually smarter, better educated, and healthier mentally than themselves. Hell, I want a PhD-wielding genius President.

My daughter and I were figuratively strip-searched getting out of the Bozeman Airport recently — and had to de-shoe and de-jacket little twin 16 month olds while their mama got extra screening because she was bringing their bottles along for the ride. Can’t we get some Israeli screeners to teach folks to look for the bad guys and leave the grandmas alone?! We Americans seem to be naifs. Or just stupid.

Personally, I am maintaining solidarity with my Islamofascist brethern and listening to a bit of Ali Farka Toure, Boubacar Traore, Rokia Traore, Toumani Diabate, Habib Koite, Yousour N’Dour, and Baaba Maal.

Nighters.

Wow, it’s amazing how many trolls have crawled outta the woodwork…! Not this thread, per se, but, wowser… the waters here have certainly been muddied of late…! 8-(

nite all…merry,merry

Not much more needs to be said, I suppose. The latest from the Dept. Of Homeland (In)Security is that passengers will now have to remain in their seats for the last hour of the flight. They also won’t be able to have anything in their laps (including books, I wonder?)

In any event, things this stupid don’t need commentary, although they somehow demand it anyway. We are really that far into the Twilight Zone.

*waving g’nite to the leaving sleepyheads*

Well, sometimes you lose words and go with whatever shows up first that’s sorta almost right.

Night.

Thanks, DD! A wealth of newness and beauty.

yeah, and some of them haven’t figured out yet that this isn’t someplace where stupid gets you lots of friends.

About five years ago my roly-poly 50-something sister was detained for hours at the Oklahoma City airport because she’d apparently walked across a lawn that had been fertilized recently which was enough to set off the automated bomb detection equipment.

Thanks, DHS for protecting travelers from my sister.

g’nite sadly

A threat of explosion kept in a shoe, all shoes are screened, a threat of a gatorade device, no more liquids, a lap device being exploded on the last leg of a trip, nothing in laps during the last leg of a trip.

Two year olds could make these rules.

It is the music of the Mande tradition of West Africa, mostly from Mali and Senegal in this case. It is also the source of our own jazz, blues, and ultimately rock and roll.

Wha…? I thought ignorance was bliss…? ;-)

I’ve read the reports. The ‘nothing in lap’ provision covers EVERYTHING. Books, magazines, iPod, Kindle/Nook reader, even the in-flight catalog and magazine.

Only those well-versed in za-zen sitting will be content with staring for over an hour at the back of the seat in front of them, with absolutely nothing to do.

Can’t wait to see how the kids’ll react — no snacks, no toys, no picture books, nada.

They’re some sort of Energizer Bunny/cockroach hybrid. You can stomp them but they keep going and going and going…

Quit insulting two year olds.

Passengers in their seats for the last 1/2 hour has been the rule flying into DC for years.You’re seeing a natural expansion outward. Ripple effect is hitting mainstream. Or Main Street.

It’s insanity …. governmental insanity. I was ‘short’ with a worker at Bozeman years ago because she was chit-chatting with friends while some of us feared we’d miss our flight…..she got even by stamping some code on my ticket that has left me vulnerable to ‘virtual strip search’ every time I go through that airport….I guess she won.
It’s insane. And I think we are powerless. Fuck ‘em.

You may have stumbled onto the “lowest common denominator” factor that goes into these crazy and effectless restrictions. Put enough moderately dumb people into a room and what comes out could indeed be outwitted by a clever two year old.

A threat of explosion kept in a shoe, all shoes are screened, a threat of a gatorade device, no more liquids, a lap device being exploded on the last leg of a trip, nothing in laps during the last leg of a trip.

Incendiary condom… “I’m sorry sir, you’ll have to check your penis prior to boarding.”

as mauimom (iirc) said on an earlier thread… its always MEN who do this kinda stuff… no more men on planes

Nice, you criticized a $9 an hour airport employee and now you’re on a watch list. I suppose the fringe benefits are compensation for the crappy pay.

Won’t affect the wingnuts, as they all checked theirs years ago.

I think two-year-olds are.

Uh-huh. That is why Hamas and others ar recruiting female suicide bombers now. Women already have enough problems, don’t add this to the list.

You think they’d taze me if I announced to all the passengers,

“Hey, It’s Limerick Time!
There once was a fellow McSweeny…”

I remember coming through Frankfurt in 2004 and having to take shoes off…..and seeing the sign that said, in effect, “You can thank the Americans for this stupidity.”— or, well, you know, words to that effect. I was soooo embarrassed and kinda pulled up my Danish heritage to get me through. You gotta laugh.

Men! Like the old saying goes, “You can’t live with ‘em and you can’t live without ‘em.“

whoops retracting.. forgot about that…

*i’ll be over there sitting in the corner*

Just wait until someone tries to do something mid-flight. Then you can forget about going to the bathroom at all.

Fall asleep in the seat. Or something similar.

Might explain their predisposition to overcompensate.

hahaha!

The TSA is the most do-nothing agency ever created. It was born of fear and without fear it could not continue to exist.

These new regulations (one carry-on, no stuff in your lap, no getting up the last hour of a flight) are going to cost the airlines huge dollars as people stop traveling by air.

There goes my job flying airplanes ever again… I’m going to be on permanent furlough… Thanks Preznit Obama for buying into the fear factor of the incompetent idiots at DHS and TSA. Well done.

The airlines are probably thrilled with this rule. Not.

Really beautiful.

Ain’t it the truth! If I’d just STFU and missed my flight it might be easier for me now. Well, gotta go sharpen my pitchfork. I want to be ready when Norske calls us to rise up.

THERS… If you’re still around, thanks for so succinctly illustrating exactly what I’ve been feeling myself and trying to express to those close to me. Especially when I see them starting to nervously clutch their pearls and utter stupid word combination such as “airplane-muslo-terrists” or “jihadi-islamo-unibomber-cleric” or such nonsense. It is amazing how people have been psychologically conditioned to absolutely lose their shit at the very notion of someone doing some bad stuff on board an airplane. Especially when it’s someone with a beard and a difficult to pronounce name.

Find the holes that allowed it to happen, globally and locally. Fix em’ smartly and keep a sharp eye towards the next whack job that’s trying to heap more misery on our already miserable holiday travel agendas.

Next.

Tell Norske “Hi.”

Gonna clean my kitchen and then crawl off to bed. Splendid evening to all.

what are the powers that be do when they fuck up the airline industry? fly private of course

are there any non airline jobs dood?

A couple more like that and people will learn to do without airlines.

In my twisted reasoning, it’s not insanity. It’s Psyche-Ops on a national level. Playing individual against individual to create an underlying chaos and angst. But, I tend to go dark.
Why are we stripping American citizens of their civil liberties, exactly?
Oh, yeah, bin Laden. Fear is the reason for the season. Also.

g’nite rat

You and ratfood are thinking alike! We need more women pilots.

Nite Rat

Loo Hoo, if you liked the other artists, you might also like Oumou Sangare, who is also an ardent feminist. This is reflected in her music, though you have to speak Mande to know it.

Another group I like are Tinariwen, who are Tuaregs (the native inhabitants of the interior of the Sahara) from Mali. I show this video in my classes a lot and it blows their little minds away.

The powers that be don’t have to deal with the stupid rules they come up with. Hence the existence of these rules.

Fall asleep in the seat. Or something similar.

Big pharma wins again!

Scary thought. And, though, what would they do if enough of us just got up in the last hour, kept on reading our books…….or peed & puked in the aisles? Civil disobedience comes in all styles :)~

Hiya Suze… not many. The airlines won’t get the generous bailouts that the auto industry or the banks got. We get to suck on the remains of whatever is left and hope we survive the cannibalism and infighting that goes on.

The suckers that see ads for $39 coast-to-coast tickets are going to be surprised when they show up at the airport and it takes them 12 hours to clear security, they can’t read a book or listen to their iPods for the last hour of the flight… the industry is on a down hill slide with this, in fact it could be the last nail in the coffin.

Maybe my airline should have declared itself a bank. We’d be sitting fat right now.

i totally forgot about the rules only apply to the little people. *headed back to the corner*

Unfortunately, the industry has accepted all this without much of a struggle. When some airline CEO stands up and says “You’ve got to be kidding – you fools are killing us”, then we’ll know the rich are feeling it. As long as they can get by with laying off more workers, it won’t matter to them, I’m afraid.

Some kids’ll fall asleep. The bored, fidgety ones who’ve already slept themselves out will go berserk. An hour in four-year-old time is roughly equal to forever minus a smidge.

*sigh* totally bites dood

that curtain separating first class from the rest of the folks won’t keep out the crying of a tired bored kid (or two or three) who has to sit and do nothing for an hour.

Love Ravi Shankar’s daughter too.

DARE!

Hmmm….just a thought…..kind of a ‘follow the money’ kind of thought…..but, how is our corrupt govt. benefitted by the collapse of the airline industry, or how is our corrupt govt. benefitted by the public’s refusal to fly under the conditions being implemented by the TSA?

*heh* There’s still MAC…! Ass-backwards in a cargo hold…! The ‘only way to fly’…! ;-)

There’s bound to be some interesting ‘incidents’ to come in the near future, when those with prostate or bladder control problems, or who ate the Mystery Burrito and forgot to ask for no ice in the Coke, or are kids with the usual bladder the size of a walnut, or who simply overindulged on the in-flight diuretics (alcohol, caffeine) now no longer have to control their bodies for a mere 20 minutes + taxi to gate + deplane, but now have to sit still for at least an hour (+ taxi + deplane).

Yeah, this is gonna work out just wonderfully.

Gotcher Dave Barry 2009 Wrapup right here.

hey egregious — you dug outta the snowstorm yet?

…or shut out the pained shrieks of the infants who can’t be given a bottle to help relieve the inner ear pressure during descent.

ouch…. but when ya need ta..

Jo, the airlines won’t go under. People need/want to get around. It’s just that if people don’t want to be treated like terrorists, they’ll find other ways within the US. If we want to go to anywhere else, we’ll still fly.

See if you can get international flights. Or fly Mexicana out of Tijuana. (As an aside, I’ve never been more pleased with an airline than I am with Mexicana.) Planes are clean, staff is professional yet casual and welcoming, and pilots are the best. I’ve never had a landing that wasn’t slick as could be. Far and away superior to any Continental or AA flight.

Time for me to toddle off. Take care all and a Kickin’ Kwanzaa to everyone.

Night DD. Thanks for the great tunes!

It’s down to 8″ which for a girl who lived in Boston for a long time hardly qualifies as snow. Most important, the roads are finally plowed. DC seems surprised every year by snow, as if it’s something new and strange.

You may have a compelling idea there, for those within range of the Mexican or Canadian border to drive across to the nearest big-ish city and fly internationally from there. Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Quebec, Tijuana…

You misunderstand, I think.

The benefits to the powers that be lie in the passengers, and therefore the public, being conditioned into accepting the increasingly nonsensical restrictions without rebelling.

What would today’s young progressive do if a guy across the asile lit up some strange powder in his lap? Would he go back to reading his book or would he be scared sh%tless?

Funny how you left out the choice about sounding the alarm and attempting to stop the ignition. One has to wonder as to why you would leave that out… since it’s currently both the most likely action in real life and the most logical action to take.

Apparently they have a copycat nut, channel 4 in Detroit announced they have another disgruntled passenger on a Nwa flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, same flight number,no mention of what the problem was/is. Just another opportunity to scare the shit out of the masses.