A Connecticut man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of being a member of a terrorist organisation. The high-school teacher was found to be in possession of a ruler, protractor and compass. Police said that they believed that he is a member of the Al Gebra movement that claims to have weapons of math destruction.

Cute.

I wonder if we'll still think of that as funny 10 years from now, though.

It's already a major deal to be caught with a (drawing) compass on an aircraft or inside an air terminal.

Cheers(?)

There should be a law against jokes that bad

that was so horrible it was awesome

Yet I still find it amazing that when Ive travelled with KLM, gone through all that security, and BS about killing people with compasses, the first class passengers still get metal knives and forks.
What, terrorists dont travel first class ?

And don't forget about that ever so handy instant weapon the glass wine bottle

I was given a plastic knife on my last trip in First Class. But all three cabins were using metal forks, so go figure. Here in Canada, the plan is to drop the silly metal cutlery knife rule -- the fork is way more dangerous.

Cheers

The plastic forks on United flights are sharper than any metal forks I've ever seen.

Plus, you could probably break them and make 'em real pointy.

Anyway, El Al - who traditionally were one of the most likely airlines to have hijack attempts - have no such nonsense about metal cutlery. They just have heavily armoured doors, psychopathic guards and a disregard for collateral damage in the event of a hijack attempt.

Useful pointers, I think.

I don't see why the terrorists don't just surgically insert spring-loaded titanium alloy rods in their knuckles a la wolverine. or is that already banned by the FAA?

EDIT: edited to add a question mark as opposed to three consecutive dots. I thought this would make my fragmented sentence a little more grammatically correct. Plus, I felt the question mark was more appropiate and conveyed my feelings much more accurately.

Or perhaps the martyrs could amputate one or more hands and replace them with razor sharp metal hooks. It would not be very politically correct to deny a handicapped person service, especially if they are a minority.

On a previous flight, I ended up sitting (in business class) next to a federal marshall who transports criminals. Their modus operandi is that the prisoner has hands and feet chained together such that they're not moving very fast. The officer who escorts the prisoner is armed. Any gun on the plane, in any capacity, is a potential terrorist weapon.

Likewise, a power cord from your laptop can also be conveniently turned into a garrot. It's not exactly a force multiplier like a knife or a gun, but it's something.

A broken wine bottle, with all those handy glass shards, makes for a fine weapon. The unbroken bottle, by itself, makes for a handy bludgeon. I'm sure plenty of other suitable blunt weapons would sail nicely through security (e.g., a camera monopod becomes a handy quarterstaff in a jiffy). And, of course, somebody trained in the martial arts can do all kinds of damage.

Personally, I'm wondering if I can go out and get myself a new toe-nail clipper with an attached nail file. I had to break off my nail file folowing Sept. 11, and I wouldn't mind having one back again.

I have not yet walked on a plane without a "weapon" of some sort, if only to get some smug self-satisfaction from knowing they can't stop me. Last summer (the week before the 9/11 anniversary), I carried a small knife in my pocket through security, while wearing a shirt that said "Bomber" in big letters. Same on the return flight. But I felt safe, because the parking attendants were taking a cursory 2 second peek in everyone's trunk!

*sigh* Tape one of these or these in the small of your back, and who's gonna know without doing a full search?

Yet I still find it amazing that when Ive travelled with KLM, gone through all that security, and BS about killing people with compasses, the first class passengers still get metal knives and forks.
What, terrorists dont travel first class ?

They do, but have you ever tried to actually cut something (e.g. steak) with airline cuttlery?

Are you suggesting that the steak they serve on airplane's isn't tender?

Australian airport authorities have just admitted that the scanning equipment we have could not detect the blades that were used in the 11 sept hijacking. There have been a spate of air 'incidents' here too.
One guy was even surprised when he was detained for jokingly mentioning that he had a bomb in his hand luggage. Another (slightly mentally ill) man attacked a steward on the way to the cockpit.