Sen.Blutarsky

Dude! Where do ya think I got the quote I posted? So then why did she say that she needed to make something up to tell them, as reported in the article? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Another article cited in this thread quoted the young woman as having said, "Mostly, I was worried because I had missed my flight, and now I had to make up an excuse to tell my parents." Why did she need to “make up an excuse to tell” her parents if she knew that she had done nothing wrong? An intelligent person could have adquately explained to his/her parents the nature of the stress relief devices without going into possibly embarassing specifics re the condoms. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

I see said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw. No one should hold his/her breath expecting perfection from me here. Then again, let those among you without sin cast the first stone. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

I agree with what you posted. I disagree with the position apparently taken by some posters that the TSA response to suspected illegal drugs should be along the lines of "hey, man, that's not my problem." Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Last time I checked illegal drugs were prohibited items for purposes of commercial air travel. It’s shocking that somebody could actually argue TSA personnel who reasonably believe a pax is carrying illegal drugs on board a commercial flight should simply turn a blind eye. I could agree that TSA probably should alert DEA or another specialized federal agency equipped to process suspected drugs contraband instead of handling such incidents directly. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Thanks for clearing that up for me rehmwa. I would have to agree that people typically don't look resemble flour or illicit contraband. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

And why is it that you think they EXPECTED drugs? Could it be that white powder isn't ordinarily transported through airline security in condoms? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Define your “they” and I’ll respond accordingly. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Fine. So in my haste I chose an implausible example. That doesn't diminish the fact that other dangerous compounds resemble flour and might reasonably arouse the suspicions of airport security personnel, who may lawfully test them for contraband. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

No worries, I don’t typically serve my guests food made from flour that was stored in a latex condom and groped during finals week. I’d imagine this would leave the flour looking and tasting less than pristine. See photo below for another example of fine mesh aluminum powder that could easily be processed to look like flour Source1: http://www.unitednuclear.com/chem.htm Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

You’re right, I goofed by showing the oxide product. So here’s an example of powdered aluminum that looks like flour: http://www.espimetals.com/images/aluminumpowder-325.JPG Same result obtains. Burning the elephant pattern tie you snatched from the leader of your college republicans? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Sure it can, have a look for yourself. Source1 [Aluminum Oxide]: http://www.informulation.on.ca/A55770/cts.nsf/0/E07B8983DB20DAFE86256F170060AC5C?OpenDocument Source2 [Powdered Zirconia]: http://www.oes-dent.com/oesvita/image/13/z13-2.jpg Source2 [Powdered Zirconia]: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.oes-dent.com/oesvita/image/13/z13-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.oes-dent.com/oesvita/zirconia(sayoung).htm&h=187&w=236&sz=69&tbnid=11QKeQNXYsIJ:&tbnh=82&tbnw=104&hl=en&start=24&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dzirconia%2Bpowder%26start%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN Source3 [Powdered Zirconia]: http://www.made-in-china.com/showimages/113/152382/0/Zirconia_Powder.gif Please furnish a source evidencing that ALL Aluminum/Zirconia compounds are necessarily classified as being “thermites” if you’re going to continue with this claim. Ferrous oxide is utilized in nearly all “thermites” but of course my example did not refer to thermite, you were the one who brought thermite into the discussion. And I hardly favor authoritarianism unless I am king. Flour cannot be used to burn a hole through an airliner’s skin to rapidly depressurize a plane or melt through a cockpit security door. Incendiary compounds can be used by terrorists to do these things and can be packed into condoms and luggage. I’ll take your suggestion to ban bread products from public transportation under advisement. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Ah yes if only the TSA possessed the ability to immediately discern spurious positive tests from actual positives we wouldn’t be having this discussion, well perhaps Kallend would, because the incident never would have happened. That’s become evident, your choice. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

I never mentioned thermite because it isn’t processed for concealment of its properties since the end user couldn’t care less about that aspect of the mixture. Whereas one can imagine a terrorist organization combining milled aluminum and zirconium into a powder with other compounds in a final form which could resemble flour or another common product and ignite explosively. However because this mixture could resemble illegal drugs the TSA would be compelled to ignore it according to your line of thinking and I’m not willing to follow you there. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Of course! That's where you should expect to find white powder in airline bags. Not many people other than drug mules carry white powder in condoms, however. See above (for brevity's sake). You are entitled to express your opinion, unlike in 1931. This attempted comparison itself is therefore absurd. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

If you claim these things are suspicious in view of their commonplace nature, especially in comparison with powder-filled condoms, then either your sense of humor is on display as I suspect or we disagree at a fundamental level on common sense. You’ll note upon re-reading my post that the choice of words was “wired vest” as in the innocuous frosh dorm example I gave which screened positive for explosives initially and not an “explosive vest” as you have stated. A mixture of powdered zirconium and aluminum might appear as a white powder. Paired with an embedded timed or radio-controlled detonator a bag containing white powder of this type does not present “zero threat” as it can kill and burn many innocent bystanders and security personnel should it go off. Arguably anthrax and other “white powder” toxins such as ricin could pose similar dangers. You can certainly tell for preliminary screening purposes whether a powder in a condom tests positive for cocaine, heroin or some other known types of contraband. In the event of a positive test and retest you submit the powder to your expert for, hopefully, definitive analysis. Even with “expert” analysis you probably cannot tell what sort of code is on a CD if a skilled person encodes the material. And as you state it is indeed possible to preliminarily screen an explosive vest from a down vest just as it’s possible to preliminarily screen a cocaine-filled condom from one filled with flour. So, again, why did you feel that your CD example was better? Sometimes mules are duped into carrying contraband in easily detected form as a tactic to distract law enforcement personnel from another mule. Nervous people get stupid sometimes, it’s not inconceivable that a nervous mule might pack contraband in an obvious place. Okay. We disagree, see above. Moreover not all contraband is an immediate security threat to a screener or passengers, although ultimately illicit drugs may kill these people if they are addicts which is one reason we have drugs laws. Probably not but possibly so. A down vest is not an imminent threat however, and non-invasive preliminary screening tests are readily available to differentiate as between the two types. I disagree in respect of the former, see above, possibly agree in respect of the latter. I’d bet that Al Queda is able to engineer a CD which conceals a blade or other weapon that could in trained hands be useful for hijacking a plane. Only if it’s allowed on the airplane. Not if it’s screened out as in the case with illegal drugs and other contraband. 99.9% of down vests never contain restricted/illegal/banned material, however, or so I hear. Actually I’ve shown quite clearly, with some assistance from you here, that a wired vest which initially registers positive for explosive residue is more likely to contain contraband than was your intial proffered example of 99.9% CDs not containing illegal material. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

How is it better? An intangible item such as a computer program wouldn’t ordinarily present itself in a validly suspicious configuration unlike with the tangible white powder-filled condom and wired vest examples. The heightened security scrutiny that would be required to parse out illegal contraband from amongst innumerable legitimate items could not be narrowly tailored to address a legitimate government law enforcement concern in respect of computer software absent the presence of other compelling factors whereas obviously an acceptable discrimination _can_ be accomplished with white powder-filled condoms and wired vests given the availability of minimally invasive COTS tests and dogs. Care to elaborate why you believe your example of an intangible computer program is somehow more analogous to tangible cocaine stored in condoms, apparent or actual, than my example of an explosive vest with wires protruding out of it, apparent or actual? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

By your reasoning I suppose DEA should automatically release any engineering student who was detected transporting a dummy explosive vest with wires protruding out of it through a US border crossing where the initial screening indicated that traces of explosive residue were on the vest because security isn’t DEA’s raison d etre. Some of us would prefer to have the authorities check her out even if this meant lawfully detaining her for a reasonable period of time pending investigation and ultimately the vest had been constructed as a frosh engineering dorm joke in self-parody fashion. Not true in at least one person's case. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

The young woman had been carrying three flour-filled condoms. If these devices were truly intended for stress relief, and assuming the woman only has two hands, then what do you suppose she did with the third “reliever”? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

What can I say, some of my constituents feel that building a PleasureDome on the Hill will eventually lead to reductions in federal spending growth and nuclear disarmament. My esteemed colleague, Ted Kennedy, is with us on this one. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Relevant in theory but not in application according to what I’ve read about the case. Nope, I certainly wasn’t thinking that at all. What legal foundation did you have for believing that I might think that? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

A right to a “speedy trial” was never at issue in this case. Irrelevant. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Not so fast. Chemical engineers retained by the cocaine barons have successfully transformed cocaine per se into seemingly benign alkaloid compounds which aren’t readily detectable as a drug but can be chemically reprocessed into saleable coke post screening. Ascertaining the true nature of these compounds when they are mixed with other substances like common baking ingredients may very well occupy a reasonable interval of several weeks time given the busy schedules of the drugs labs. I would argue that the college darling in this case wasn’t uniquely entitled to fast, friendly service given her responses to the field agents’ questioning and the other facts apparent in this case. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Thank you for the epiphany. Now I hold convincing justification for why top 1%-ers keep driving tax schemes which enable us to avoid paying in. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

I disagree. The facts indicate that she deliberately presented airport security personnel with a false security concern. Her actions resulted in a reasonably anticipated expenditure of scarce resources to disprove probable contraband. She deserves to be punished and if I was her parent I would throw her ass out onto the street. WTF has common sense disappeared to these days? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!