Beware: small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, with leather straps dyed black on one side

The byproduct of terrorism is fear. It is very rare that it does not become planted after a terrorist attack. In its early form it is usually called “over reaction,” but if caught in time it will disinegrate into simple fear….providing that “fear” could ever bge considered “simple.”

The latest event: A 17-year-old passenger inadvertently caused a scare aboard a US Airways flight from New York to Louisville on Thursday morning. The young flyer, an Orthodox Jew, was wearing an article of clothing that some on the plane feared might be an explosive device. In reality, it was a simple religious item called phylacteries. According to Reuters, another passenger mistook the phylacteries, also called a tefillin in Hebrew, for a bomb. Phylacteries consist of a “small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, with leather straps dyed black on one side.” “Observant
Jewish men are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm each weekday morning.”

When the alarmed passenger saw the phylacteries, he alerted the crew, and the plane was immediately diverted to Philadelphia. Once on the ground, authorities questioned the boy, and quickly determined the incident had been a false alarm. No arrests were made. Well, the “small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, with leather straps dyed black on one side” made it past airport security checkpoints. Was no from the checkpoint communicating the fact that the “small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, with leather straps dyed black on one side” was OK? Was it necessary to have to divert the plane to another city for them to seee if the “small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, with leather straps dyed black on one side” was a weapon or not? What, pray tell, is the added cost of changing a planes direction and landing it in order to check out the “small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, with leather straps dyed black on one side”?? And then have to add more fuel, and relax then tense customers who might be fearing that the “small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, with leather straps dyed black on one side” might have been an actual bomb?

This most recent scare clearly highlights the need for more cultural understanding. However, it isn’t the first time an innocent gesture has sent flyers into a full-blown alert. Following the Christmas Day scare in which a passenger tried to detonate a bomb on a flight, there have been several false alarms.

A few weeks ago, a man snuck into a secure area to give his special lady a goodbye kiss, causing the entire Newark airport to temporarily shut down. Several days prior to that, an ill passenger who had locked himself in an airplane restroom for over an hour caused no small amount of alarm. Fortunately, he posed absolutely no threat.

Joan Rivers: Terrorist?

If you fly, you run the risk of being treated as a common criminal, especially if you do not have all of your “t”s crossed properly on your passport. Everything down to your underwear is now suspect.

Joan Rivers has been known to tell a crude joke now and then, but hardly a terrorist. Rivers, 76, was deemed a danger to national security and booted from a Newark-bound flight in Costa Rica on Sunday by a jittery Continental Airlines gate agent who found the two names on her passport fishy. Her passport reads: Joan Rosenberg AKA Joan Rivers. Rosenberg was her late husband’s last name. The “nasty and cruel” Continental gate agent bumped Rivers from the last flight out Sunday and the comedian found herself alone (her daughter, Melissa, flew out to Los Angeles earlier in the day) and with no ATM card and just $100 cash, she said.

Rivers’ tale of woe put a famous face on travel’s new reality – one that leaves many feeling like common criminals. But, of course, the sharp witted Rivers is always able to snap back: “If I were going to make up an alias, I wouldn’t pick Rosenberg. I’d pick Jolie or Pitt,” said Rivers. “Do terrorists wear Manolo Blahniks? I can tell you Donna Karan does not make anything that hides a bomb,” she said. “I tried the tears; they didn’t work. I tried reasoning. I couldn’t bribe because I didn’t have any money,” she said. “I said ‘I’m going to have a heart attack over this,’ so the woman called the paramedics.” She said a porter, Eldon Ramos, took pity and found a friend to drive her 6-1/2 hours to the main airport in Costa Rica’s capital of San Jose for a flight leaving Monday morning.

New York-area travelers were also reporting their own horror stories. “It was just one security checkpoint after the other,” said Carmella Rodriguez, 65, of Brooklyn, after barely making it through customs at Newark with her nephew after arriving from Panama. “I told my nephew I felt like I was a delinquent person.”

Flying? Prepare to be guilty until proven innocent.

Fruit of the Boom

The Obamanista regime may have to think of some real air safety plans if they cannot somehow tie the Detroit bomber to Bush. CIA is looking for a Fruit of the Loom connection with Al Qeada and Midland, Texas……If that does not work he might give terrorists some empty planes to blow up to help their self-esteem…..

Oh Brother Jihadi, Where Art Thou?

Message to Terrorists: No Snowglobes of Mass Destruction Allowed!

Snowglobe: Weapon of Mass Destruction

The airport terminal sign reads: Please be advised Snow Globes are not allowed through the security checkpoint

So when snowglobes become a weapon that has to be banned, does that not mean the terrorists of the world have won in some respects even in just placing such thoughts or fears into someone mind? I am not sugesting an answer (yet) just bringing up the question.

Some people say that most of the ‘rules’ that are put in place are just to annoy and/or put the fear into people so they believe that behind every tree is a terrorist with a ton of C4 strapped to their chest creeping up on them.

Just for clarification, the reason you can’t bring anything with clear liquids (a snow globe, perhaps) on a plane is because when you mix Acetone (nail polish remover) and Hydrogen Peroxide (used for cleaning cuts) in a bottle, you get a clear liquid that also double as a powerful explosive.