<p>
[quote]
Had they been dipped in frog poison??
[/quote]
Haha - no....well, I don't think so. I did buy them in the middle of the jungle though (close to Angel Falls).</p>
<p>Take your windbreaker on a sailing trip.</p>
<p>Use a potholder to take something hot out of the oven. </p>
<p>Don't leave your keys in the car, engine running, to run in and buy a soda.</p>
<p>And don't walk into Logan Airport --- any airport really, but double exclamation points for Logan --- wearing something that could in any way be described as a "device" attached to your clothing. (Oh, and don't argue with security personnel in an airport when they tell you to surrender whatever you've been asked to surrender.) </p>
<p>Well, duh! These are things so damn obvious it seems ludicrous to issue the warning. </p>
<p>Having read some of the posts here about her rather sheltered childhood, I'm willing to believe this was an honest naive mistake and not an attention-getting prank, so I wouldn't want to see a crippling fine or more serious consequence. But I don't think the security actions were out of line at all. Airports, train stations, bus stations, sports stadiums, anywhere large numbers of people gather ---- these are places you want the police and security to be hypervigilant. This is what happens when hypervigilant meets cluelessness. The benefit of this incident is that all the publicity may result in fewer clueless individuals walking into airports doing whatever as though they were walking around the quad on campus.</p>
<p>The police could have been thinking "whack-job" rather than terrorist, like the astronaut who attacked her romantic rival. Had I seen Star, I would have wondered if she was mentally ill, suicidal or something else based on the appearance, and I wouldn't necessarily think that a person having some sort of breakdown would be in a position to have a hidden or really sophisticated electronic device.</p>
<p>certain posters on this thread apparently have no knowledge of the trojan horse. Some posters here would be the first to open the gates. And apparently the security guards at airports should have EE degrees!</p>
<p>Well said, Jazzymom! Except that sometimes you have to state the obvious or experience the consequences. I just hope that the consequences will be appropriate in this case, maybe a misdemeanor fine and some community service. Turning someone into a criminal for the sin of cluelessness seems unnecessary and counterproductive.</p>
<p>Also, my kid prides herself on her geekiness, but I can't see her wearing her flashing "art" to the airport, not because she would be worried about looking like a terrorist, but because it would look so uncool. Maybe I'm wrong about this, after all, she didn't take her jacket... Nevertheless, she has enough emotional intelligence that she would be able to perceive that her art was creating a problem BEFORE she had guns pointed at her. However, I do know a few very bright kids who would not have that much emotional intelligence. These are kids who live inside their own heads and have difficulty "reading" other people's reactions to them. I don't say this to excuse the behavior but to try to understand it.</p>
<p>Still, nothing like experiencing consequences for learning to function in the world.</p>
<p>Well, she certainly achieved her goal of "standing out" on career day. Guess employers will now be lining up to hire her.</p>
<p>My apologies in advance to anyone who is offended, but I can't resist posting this Jim Treacher line: EVEN THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HAS A SHORT BUS.</p>
<p>I don't think that most employers will care if she's good enough. My husband is a Silicon Valley refugee, and I remember some of the people he used to work with. She'll fit right in.</p>
<p>If she needs to get security clearance, though, it could be a problem.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You can actually. You can ban baby bottles, or knitting needles from airplanes. Remember? Maybe pens or pencils too? Anything can be a weapon.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Oh, she was arrested for carrying knitting needles? I thought it was for wearing something that resembled a bomb. Perhaps it's possible to be too careful with one and not the other.</p>
<p>Or be too clever. Apparently she was asked about the device but didn't answer before all the trouble broke out. A simple explanation might have saved a lot of trouble and what had to have been a heck of a scare. </p>
<p>But the young lady doesn't appear to have much common sense, so perhaps that's expecting to much.</p>
<p>Trial run for Al-Qaeda? How do we know she wasn't paid?</p>
<p>on the news tonight the police officer talking about it frankly said, she was lucky she choose to cooperate, otherwise she'd be dead. They were not going to play. </p>
<p>This is the airport that two of the hijacked planes flew out of.....anybody who thinks they overreacted can't begin to understand how it feels to work at that airport after 9/11 knowing those planes came from here.</p>
<p>Suddenly a taser doesn't sound that bad...</p>
<p>it did not resemble a bomb for heavens sake</p>
<p>my science fair project making a radio in 5th grade looked more bomb like</p>
<p>and yes ignore all the FACTS about the other immenent dangers about flying and focus on this poor girl</p>
<p>hopefully that faulty bolt made in China and put on in some far off country by some untrained uncertifiied mechanic isn't on a plane carrying YOUR kids</p>
<p>and you would know this how? Do you know what every bomb should look like? Of course not, as clever people can design/create destructive materials that would make your pretty little head spin and you wouldn't know the difference. And keep in mind that I don't think the student charged here is guilty of anything other than a severe lack of common sense. </p>
<p>What are your qualifications for making such a quick judgment? Other than the fact that you have knowledge of the situation after the fact, of course. Keep in mind that Logan Airport was unfortunately involved in the 9/11 tragedies. And you think this is nonsense? You mock the people trying to prevent a repeat tragedy? Shame on you.</p>
<p>I'm not alarmed that security personnel reacted to her. I 'would' be alarmed if they hadn't.</p>
<p>and shame on you for not caring about who is fixing those planes, who is watching those planes in the air and who is making the parts</p>
<p>that is even more shameful as a nation we are flying into distaster</p>
<p>THEY KNEW IMMEDIATELY IT WAS NOT A THREAT AND SAID SO!!!</p>
<p>THE COPS ADMITTED THAT!!!</p>
<p>I don't mock them, they over reacted, and wasted their time when we have planes flying and crashing with faulty equipment, and they could have checked her out, saw what it was and fined her, instead we are wasting valuable resources on this fiasco</p>
<p>We have planes flying with fewer inspectors checking them out</p>
<p>We have planes flying with much fewer air traffic controllers, and those that are left are exhausted</p>
<p>That is what is scary to me</p>
<p>Somebody in an obviously (to the police) non threatening shirt getting arrested is just stupid on all accounts</p>
<p>Guess you all don't care if you are flying in unsafe airspace on planes with questionable safety but some girl with a C battery on her chest scares the beegeebees out of you</p>
<p>kind of comical actually</p>
<p>and that does not denegrate the REAL threats to our safety- bad stuff from China, cargo containers no one looks at,</p>
<p>Guess I think there are sme important safety concerns that many here ignore at their own peril</p>
<p>Hey, who wants to buy a car safety seat made in Beijing?</p>
<p>Not me</p>
<p>oy. nevermind my questions. carry on then.</p>
<p>I answered your question!!! It doesn't look like anything much and I went with what the officers on sight actually said</p>
<p>as well, you never responed to mine</p>
<p>tata</p>
<p>what we have is a government that puts on a good show for secruity- the shoes, the lotions, the rolled up magazines, the tweezers to give the appearance of doing something, while the administration does little about cargo containers, safety checks and aircraft controllers</p>
<p>lots of flash with little substance- grab a girl at the airport wearing a stupid shirt while we have controllers working 60 hour weeks trying to be sure planes don't collide</p>
<p>Head of security:"Ignor the woman with that homemade device strapped to her chest and go check the landing bolts and the qualifications of the mechanics!"</p>
<p>At the time there was only one very immenent danger and that danger had a very interesting haircut...</p>
<p>CGM, are you suggesting that the police officers who arrested the woman with the circuit board should have been inspecting aircraft for Chinese components? Or that the TSA/airport should fire all their security services and replace them with aircraft safety inspectors? I would prefer that the airline industry and the government regulators perform both services. I confess that I do not follow your last 20 or 30 posts.</p>
<p>I am sayng that we put on this big show about arresting some women with a "fake bomb" and checking shoes and tossing eyeliners, pretending we are doing an amazing job keeping our skies safe, while, behind the curtain, funds have been cut for airtraffic controllers, and we are outsourcing airplane maintenance and doing very little inspections, and not looking at all the stuff coming into the country and using faulty materials to maintain planes</p>
<p>gee, do you feel safer knowing some girl was arrested for wearing a stupid shirt while at the same time we have fewer airtraffic controllers than we have had in a long time with more planes then ever flying?</p>
<p>do you feel safer knowing my mom can't take her tweezers on the plane, while at the same time, some tech in the far east with little training, little seurity check, is fixing the plane you are flying on</p>
<p>do you feel safe having to dump your shampoo at security, while they use real knives at the airport restaurants</p>
<p>do you feel safer having some old lady with a hip replacement or whatever getting searched while a bolt made with bad steel is holding on the wheels of your plane?</p>