New National Security Distraction: Arabic Language Students
Yesterday, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of Nick George, a Pomona College student who was detained and aggressively interrogated by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) authorities, by the FBI and by Pennsylvania police when he tried to board a plane carrying Arabic language flash cards.
You heard right: Not liquids, not matches, not a bomb. Flash cards.
George, a physics major who's studying Arabic, was pulled aside for secondary screening at the Philadelphia International Airport as he tried to go through security. When he emptied his pockets, the inspector saw his flash cards and he was arrested, handcuffed, locked in a cell for hours and aggressively questioned. Because of some flash cards.
The following exchange took place between George and a TSA supervisor who questioned him:
TSA Supervisor: You know who did 9/11?
George: Osama bin Laden.
TSA Supervisor: Do you know what language he spoke?
George: Arabic.
At that point, the TSA supervisor held up George’s flash cards—which had words such as "to smile" and "funny" and on them—and said: "Do you see why these cards are suspicious?"
Ah, the smoking gun.
Here's the problem: During George's ordeal, no fewer than seven law enforcement officers took part in detaining and questioning him. The unnecessary arrest, detention and questioning of someone who, like George, poses no threat to flight safety, makes everyone less safe by diverting resources away from real threats.
George said yesterday, “As someone who travels by plane, I want TSA agents to do their job to keep flights safe. But I don’t understand how locking me up and harassing me just because I was carrying the flash cards made anybody safer. No one should be treated like a criminal for simply learning one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world.”
One of the FBI agents who questioned him put it best, we think. At the end of his ordeal, he said to George: “The police call us to evaluate whether there is a real threat. You are not a real threat.”
Anyone who wants to learn a foreign language is a suspect as far as I'm concerned. Speak American or get your sphincter inspected, damn it!
Beware of anyone promising a future full of yesterdays.
You no longer have to LOOK Arabic.
You no longer have to SPEAK Arabic.
You just have to be LEARNING Arabic.
Evidently, he was going to pull out his flash cards and yell "Nobody move!" in bad phonetic Arabic. Which makes him a terraist, whereas saying it in English wouldn't.
... terrorists yelling 'Qaapla!'* instead of 'Allahu Akbar!'
* "Success!" in Klingonese, for you non-geeks out there.
I don't know who you are. But I've been on the phone quoting you for the last 10 minutes. Too funny (you are twisted) ... I fell off my chair in fits. thank you.
Well the pockets are close to the underwear and the underwear can have explosives, soooo....
It's all so clear to me now.
"Someday somebody related to some of these sufferers, these victims, these collaterally damaged souls, may try to kill you. And I have to tell you, I think you’ll have it coming." - Christopher Cooper
Why is he not at Guantanamo being waterboarded?
... the terrorists will have won.
But, seriously, nobody wants to be the person who let any questionable person take down a plane, no matter how stupid it will look in hindsight. The terrorists HAVE won, because we're operating under an extremely sensitive "better sasfe than sorry" point of view.
The issue is that these Christianic terrorists were operating with a mindset of Christanic hate and bigotry, they were not even trying to "keep America safe," they were trying -- successfully -- to commit Christanic terrorism.
They all thought they were going to get promotions stoping the "Islamic terrorist," all thought that their Jesus god would mount them in the ass and pat them with a "good boy."
This is Christian terrorism. Period.
the "Intelligencia". This has been going on through budget cuts but this instance is a clear example of how we have subsumed our values and embraced authoritarianism.
Truly frightening.
Instead of just trying to intimidate Arabic-looking people, now authoritiies are trying intimidate people trying to bridge the yawning gap between American and Arabic cultures. I guess one officer could have questioned the guy and let him go, but SEVEN?! And the FBI?! Thank goodness the FBI agent had some sense. This is overkill bred by the Faux News fear-mongering talking heads. Nice job, Faux! You have proven that Osama bin Laden has succeeded! "They hate us for our freedom" -- except the freedom to study Arabic, travel unimpeded, etc.
Eight years ago, when I was in grad school studying, among other things, Farsi and later Urdu, I got pulled for special screening all the time. It began a few months after 9/11, and was annoying enough that I decided within about a year that domestic air travel was just too much a pain in the ass. If a trip doesn't require crossing an ocean, I drive, no matter how long it takes. It was really fun when I went off to Europe and to India for several months of research and had all sorts of language study materials in my luggage.
Heathrow was actually the worst for the eyeballing. Of course, the most obnoxious occasion happened during winter. It was early February and it was cold as hell in the terminal, raining outside, and I was shivering despite wearing my heavy long wool coat. I also had both a knit cap and a big scarf wrapped around my head and neck. As an asthmatic, I am really careful about keeping warm in cold, damp weather. The Farsi grammar and postcolonial history critiques just upped the ante for the screeners, so I got a very thorough going-over.
Land of the FEE, and the home of the CRAVEN. Sickening.
because he answered the "Who did 9/11" question correctly. ("Osama bin Laden")
Had he said, "I'm not sure who "did" it", he would have been secretly renditioned to some black CIA site, perhaps in Uzbekistan, where they might have boiled him alive.
Everybody take notice of this one, eh?
Question the "official" narrative on 9/11 and.....
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
I'll have to keep the approved answer in mind for the next time the Gestapo detains me.
Farsi in college. Does that mean I'm an Iranian terrorist now? Oh for the love of Allah, I don't need this in my life right now.
an arabic guy once....and we did yell "oh, Allah" a lot.
Shit. Those terrorists got to you too?
The terrorists have won. They have the full cooperation of the right wing. There is more and more power given to the ruling elite and the Supreme Court has allowed them to make sure there is no decent. This website promotes Imprimis magazine and Meg Whitmann for Governor of California. Everyone is doing their part to mainline the extreme right wing.
... world-destroying terrorists with destructo-Islam beams that shoot out of their arses have a tendency to light their underpants on fire ...
... they now use CUE CARDS.
The TSA Agent who detained the young man should be subject to review/testing for competency. While we need security personnel to have the independence to flag items they consider suspicious, if they are horribly, stupidly wrong, they need to be subject to retraining/competency evaluation, disciplinary proceedings, and/or dismissal.
What's to review? Just fire the idiot. Today.
... is because a hard-line policy of dismissal encourages rigidity of thought (i.e., I won't say anything because I could get fired) as opposed to being able to flag suspicious items/persons/actions.
However, when your intuition/guess/expert opinion is wrong, then you either need further education, evaluation, or reassignment/dismissal.
All of David Ray Griffin's books on 9/11 and to watch "Loose Change: Final Cut".
Heh!!!!
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Zeitgeist, read Crossing the Rubicon....
This is a training issue. It does no good to simply fire the person. There needs to be a review of the procedures used by TSA. Perhaps if TSA had a director, this agency would be a little more under control.
for false arrest?
George was also apparently reading a book critical of American foreign policy.
I read all sorts of critical postcolonial history, studied Farsi and Urdu, and got the hairy eyeball in airports all the time when I was in grad school. Oh, I also had a housemate who had friends in the Palestinian territories and Gaza. The kicker? The housemate was a wine-drinking, pate fois gras snacking Socialist atheist Russian Israeli. Hee-hee!!!
God forbid that anyone in this country should ever question anything. And what I read is no-one else's business, not even my librarian's. Hell, even my elderly father-in-law has a book that mocks Dick Cheney. If he wants to take it on a plane with him, that shouldn't be cause for harassment.
going to have him on and accuse him of being a traitor for not wanting to be arrested and detained by the TSA who just trying to protect him and then cut his mike.
Good thing he wasnt also gay, we'd have to kick him out of the country entirely....
Just the army for now.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
My gaydar went off big time. Plus he's a hottie.
So far the TSA has saved us all from nailclippers, Bic lighters, and anything grandma was trying to sneak in her bra.
Flashcards are the logical extension.
We obviously need to expand the TSA's budget and authority. (NOT)
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
Unfortunately it consisted of uniformed ignorance.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
A few weeks ago we dropped our daughter off at Lindbergh Field in San Diego. I noticed two unattended suitcases sitting by themselves in the middle of the terminal. I noticed two TSA guys shooting the shit so I brought this to their attention. They glanced at them and went back to their important conversation. Years ago I was at Heathrow. I asked the person in line behind me, who I knew, to watch my bag while I went to the men's room. I took two steps and a big old cop clapped me on the shoulder and asked me if that was my bag. I said that yes, it was and he said pick it up. I did. He told me that unattended bags ended up in a big steel and concrete bin out back. Apparently TSA is a little more lax. Unless, of course you have flash cards. I heard some eighty year old lady got her knitting gear taken away. TSA was afraid that she was going to knit an Afghan.
Gotta watch out for that radical jihadi blanket, don't ya know!
the lack of Arabic translators is hurting the US.
I think they should also start arresting the French people because they speak French.
No other reason.
Even worse they make their children speak French!
The people who pulled this kid off the plane must be related to the bottom-feeding, mouth-breathing geniuses from the FBI who back in 2005 and 2006 came up with the idea of checking grocery store consumer data in San Francisco for people who were buying Middle Eastern foods such as pita bread and hummus...
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
Nearly all authorities in the USA and most other English speaking countries are totally out of control. They are rude, obnoxious, pompous and foul and they definitely arn't setting any examples for future generations. Take Judge Judy. This "lady" tells people to shut up, sit down, calls them liars and thieves and rolls her ugly eyeballs at them. I can't stand this bitch.
Europeans and South Americans in the Latin speaking countries still have a modicum of decency and respect for humanity when interacting with their fellow citizens. And this includes the manner in which they handle travelers at their airports. TSA could learn a few things from their Latin counterparts because the USA is becoming the most undignified country in the world. Very sad.
They wouldn't let me on the plane becuase I had Led Zepplin's "Kashmir" on my iPod.
Everyone knows terrorists can't use iTunes!
What IS the right answer when asked, "Who did 911", especially if you don't believe Osama Bin Laden even exists?
... wherein they'd catch the Nazi spy by asking who won the World Series.
THIS is what our tax dollars are paying for?
can't answer that. Only the official version is allowed to be openly discussed on C&L.
"Until we have a full, independent investigation done by physicists, engineers, experienced pilots and respected academia who have no connections to any intelligence agencies/any government agencies and who have full subpoena power in full public view with all current public evidence being included in the investigation...., no one can be certain of the answer to that question."
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
I pity the person that has the balls to say Mossad did it.
you only have to prove yourself smarter than Sarah the Palm Reader.
Q: "You know who bombed the Federal Building in Oklahoma?"
TSA: "Tim McVeigh."
Q: "You know what language he spoke?"
TSA: "Not Arabic?"
Correct answer: "Redneck".
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
by all means ass rape the entire TSA for acting like terrorists!
He should have just written the lessons on the palm of his hand.
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
When I hear of Americans learning a second language I applaude them loudly. Nothing will help a person to go further in life than to understand and speak other languages ... at the same time it makes you more broad minded about other people and their cultures.
If ever there was a dire need and vacuum in America towards one culture and language it is Arabic and Islam. America needs more Arabic students - it is the only way to understand, win and conquer your enemies. ie: For the last 10 years the Chinese number one requirement in school is the English language and the results of this has been mind-bogling. (In America the number one requirement in school is Football, Girls and Frat Parties and the best result of this is: PRESIDENT George W. Bush)
I have lived close to 20 years abroad and I am always amazed that when I am in America one only needs to speak "one" language. The basic requirement for attaining a job here is a fluentcy in at least 3 languages. No bragging - it's just simply a matter of survival.
America is trying to live in a time-warp when it believes that the whole world speaks English - It doesn't. It's horrible Nick what happened to you but stick in there ... we need more students like you. Sadly, in America - the land of one language and one culture - when it comes to further yourself you will always be surounded by simple stupidity and ignorance.
Have strength and courage Nick to go on and look past this horrible incident from the small-minded - America needs you (they just don't know it yet).
... we wait too long to teach children a second language. By high school, we've lost the edge on our ability to discern the subtleties of sound from different languages.
Considering where I live (Texas) I wish I had learned Spanish. I know a little, mostly from working in Spanish TV, but in HS I took French, and in college Russian. I didn't retain any of it really. US children should get a healthy dose of Spanish, and depending where they live, Chinese, French, even Arabic. But at least know 2 languages and be exposed to their cultures. Too late for me though, for various reasons.
Stop that now. You can do it and it's never too late. What is stopping you? So maybe you won't be in downtown La Paz tomorrow talking like a native but you will have a huge advantage over yesterday. In language - any amount of knowledge IS an advantage - and if you can take night-classes you will find a lot of new people just like yourself and it really is fun.
Most of all, you have no idea what awaits you if you do not try and/or what doors will be opened to you. Never stop learning. "Doors of opportunity must be built and only education can do that." (I live by this motto.)
Please I encourage you - I didn't speak English until I went to school and now I speak 4 languages (5 if you count English). I didn't learn my first European language until my early 30's and next month I begin Italian. Without trying to sound like a "cheerleader" here - I encourage everyone to at least try to learn one other language.
... because my parents didn't teach me Chinese (Cantonese), and I also took speech lessons to get rid of my accent.
Now, of course, what little Cantonese I *do* speak, I speak with an American accent (much to my mother's amusement), and, as someone who wants to do voice acting, I am having to re-learn the accent I lost as a child.
(There is, of course, a significant difference between emulating the accent of a Chinese/ESL speaker and knowing the language.)
I took French in high school, German in my 30's, Farsi and Urdu in my 40's. It's not easy, but it can be done, and you can become functional in the language. Besides, this is the sort of mental challenge that's good for the middle-aged and elderly brain. I have Tamil language materials on hand for my summer project. I may never really use it, but it will be fun trying to figure it out.
But in America, the reality is that we can get in the car and drive for a few hours and not end up in a different country. Of course, what Europe considers "countries" Americans often consider "counties." Learning Dutch or Basque or Hungarian is great in and of itself, but it's not very useful here.
Now Spanish (with some Portugese cross-over), on the other hand, gives access to pretty much the entire hemisphere. Croatian or Romanian - not so much.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Many of the current Arabic speakers are gay and have been kicked out of the military. I suppose that's reason enough to go after this guy and others. We wouldn't want gay people to fly on planes with children, right?
The police in America have the worst training in the world. Then add in the 911 fear factor with republican cowardice and you have the perfect storm of ignorance and fear.
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness!
TSA SUPERVISOR!?!?!?!...
the ignorance of these fools is staggering.
Did the TSA screener know Arabic? Doesn't that make her just as suspicious?
Could you tell Arabic script from Hebrew script without previously knowing which was which?
Considering how unbelievably, wantonly ignorant many Americans have proven themselves to be...it wouldn't have surprised me to find out that someone had mistaken Devanagiri script (written Hindi) for Arabic, especially if the person carrying items written in that language had darker skin and looked as if they might be Middle Eastern.
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
As shown in "Team America", speaking arab isn't that difficult. Just repeat in any order "Durka", "Mohamed", "Jihad", "Sherpa"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdKEIogubt4&fe...
TSA; Who did 9/11?
A; Saddam Hussein
man leaves security and gets on plane.
Sorry, this was meant as a reply to Eurorant, who nailed it.
Flash cards??!! Oh yeah, I can see how they might be used to bring down an airplane. This kid could have run up and down the aisle of the plane, disabling the flight attendants with vicious paper cuts to the neck. Then, having gotten past the flight attendants, used those same flash cards to slip the lock on the cabin door, thereby being able to disable the pilot and flight crew, gouging out their eyes with the edges of the flash cards and thus, bring down the entire airplane. Forget Sully Sullenberger! This TSA agent is a true hero, single-handedly foiling another dastardly terrist plot!
If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders.
George Carlin
"Cards as Weapons" by Ricky Jay.
has ever been about making flying safer. I think that it's about government using the most readily available means of intimidating the greatest possible number of citizens that it can. They are working the slow conversion of American citizens into Amerikan subjects. And they give the job to underachievers with no prospects for meaningful employment, because they always make for reliable thugs in uniform.
If it comes down to a choice between liberties and security, I take the liberties and take my chances with the terrorists.
I think the late, great, George Carlin said it best when talking about airline security: (I'm paraphrasing here)"It's the government's way of letting you know they can fuck with you anytime they want to"
If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders.
George Carlin
always saw things for what they were.
I have no per se objection to airport security, which I believe is necessary to the protection of myself and others. I submit to it as cooperatively as I can.
What disturbs me about this (excellently reported, by the way) story is not that it shows oppression, but rather that it shows all-thumbs stupidity on the part of at least some of those entrusted with our protection.
Who is the Director (Administrator? -whatever) of the TSA?
Bet you don't know....
NOBODY IS.
The reason...JIM DEMINT..Republiclown of SC....SINCE 2009 "Senator" Demint has held up the nomination of ANYONE HE DOESN'T LIKE...
The "official excuse"???
He's afraid of people in the TSA
FORMING A UNION.
Sure he is....
Here's what that punk had to say about Obama nominee
Erroll Southers:
"Americans deserve a leader at TSA with integrity and with an unwavering commitment to putting security ahead of politics..."
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/...
As long as they can keep you AFRAID, THEY OWN YOU.
their power to intimidate is don't fly commercial. since the government only answers to the corporations, when the airlines start losing significant revenues, they'll order the government to back off. since this has never been about public safety anyways, they'll back-off with a quickness, finding some other way to put the jackboot on the neck of the public.
In conversing about this with someone who was learning Arabic, I joked that we should all buy Arabic-English flashcards. She said, "don't get any from the person that drew that graphic though. the word for 'cat' there is really the verb 'to cut'"
Just thought you'd want to know....
Thanks hiredpen. We'll fix that!
So how is it that you have come to know this?
Never-mind that ..... Where do you live?
...really; when you put morons in charge of something, you should expect the results to be moronic.
This IS the United States, right? While I know it would never get past the current SCOTUS, I would be seriously looking into filing a lawsuit on TSA.
This post is part holy shit! and part self-defense training.
The TSAs, the Air Marshals, the pilots, etc. don't seem to notice that every single passenger has access to a weapon on every flight - magazines.
When used correctly, a tightly rolled magazine can kill. It can also inflict painful injury when used for defense.
Right now, there are millions of these weapons in the airspace over America.
And most are in English.
.
Don't tell them about shoelaces.
Or the serrated edge on the back of a perfectly normal web belt buckle.
Or long scarves.
Our security is predicated on Jack Bauer/James Bond movie plots, not actual risks.
Magazines are okay because the military uses them in hazing.
You know that controversy over reading the X-Mas bomber his Miranda rights? See, this is what they are aiming at. They want to extend it to US citizens. They will use terrorism as an excuse to deny US citizens our Constitutional rights. Anyone can be a terror suspect.
Folks, these people hate the Constitution and this country. They want a country that is controlled by the military and corporations.
I played a Farfisa organ in a band in college. That kind of sounds like Farsi.
Someone mentioned knitting needles. For a couple of years after 9/11, you couldn't take them on a plane. Now you can. While my wife isn't a security threat, and I'm very pleased she can knit on flights, how are knitting needles not a potential weapon? She even uses the circular ones, which would make a dandy garrote.
With this disclosure, the US govt will be checking knitting classes for the uptick in swarthy men signing up, and yarn shops for suspicious purchases
me-oww!
We're wasting money on this bullshit. Osama has won. We're doing exactly what he wants us to do: burn money.
WTF kind of 'quiz' is that? The TSA is worthless money wasting bullshit.
me-oww!
These Republinazi piles of Christofascist shits handed our rights, freedoms, and liberties over to their Islamic colleagues without a fight. Everything that Osama and his fellow Islamic cohorts could have prayed at Allah for, the Bush Republinazis have handed over without a wimper.
The terrorists have won.
.
This undeniably provides additional evidence that the fascist State is our worse enemy. TSA is a Christanic terrorist cult that commits treason against America and massive rights crimes against citizens.
This isn't a case of "dumbth," as it's called, this is a case of Christianic terrorism against American citizens.
should get a set of Arabic flashcards before flying.
They didn't water-board him, did they? No harm done.
/snark off
Only when the last tree has died
and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught
will we realize we cannot eat money.
You start giving authority to poorly trained and lowly paid staff and then get surprised that an incident like this happens. Anyway, everyone knows the TSA are there to scare you. You feel threatened and then grateful for 'protection'.
Watch 'The Power of Nightmares' BBC at its best.
"Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" Act has become the antithesis of patriotism.
.....a 70 year old grandmother, was asked by security personnel in Rome what she was carrying in her suitcase. She replied, "three little pigs and please be quiet because they are sleeping".
Maybe we should all just start making them look stupid.
All I can say, reading Mr. George's complaint, is WOW!
Correction of this nonsense is very much needed. I hope the courts and a jury agree.
This makes me nervous. Son is in his second year of Arabic at Earlham College and loves it. Plans on studying in Jordan for a semester next year. With the fear in this country, I'll probably have to look for him in a secret prison in Whathefuckistan.
Is this still America? I know, stupid question...Of course, it's not.
NOBODY 2012
Written in stone. Poor to the army. Unlucky to the priesthood and stupid to the police. Get these fools back where they belong-issuing speeding tickets or clubbing granny when she protests.
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