Liberty and America
I am beginning to seriously think about leaving the country.
Why? Following the first Boston bomb scare (where police mistook a sign with blinking LED lights to be a bomb, caused a citywide panic and managed to blame the advertisers for their mistaken perception) there comes the news of of the arrest and arraignment of computer science student Star Simpson.
She dared to wear a hoodie with attached blinking lights at an airport. Now, I know, everybody knows that's just crazy and there is no right to wear whatever clothes you like in the constitution. But bear with me for a moment.
Granted, she was also holding a bit of playdough in her hand - a practice for some reason (obsession with hands?) among engineers - a whole lot of folks I know have a bit of silly putty on their desks and absentmindedly play with it every 10 minutes or so.
There's a number of disturbing aspects to this.
Number One is FEAR. People with bad judgement will be driven to stupid actions by fear, and if recent events are any indication, the command chain in Boston is full of people with really bad judgement and a whole lot of fear. This time they didn't shoot that girl; there is a serious risk that they'll kill someone in the future though. That in turn makes me fear for my life - I am so not taking any flights through Boston anytime soon.
Number Two is the MINDSET. I came to America because I perceived it to be a place of civil liberties. This is obviously no longer true. Threatening lethal force as a response to an unusual piece of clothing should get anyone involved in the decision making process fired and charged. Not so anymore. I've seen what life in police states is like and I have no wish to live and work in one myself.
Number Three is the REACTION. Take a look at this article on ABCNews. There is no mention of how unreasonable the response was, instead you find quotes like Star Simpson is known for her "free-spirited personality" - "she shaved her head" and "walks around without her shoes on". Unbelievably, the university police failed to incarcerate her for that.
The article quotes as State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport as follows: Simpson was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used," Pare said. "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."
Without commenting on the statement.
Here we have a girl wearing slightly unusual clothes (believe me, I've seen weirder things) and the press tacitly agrees that she had it coming and is lucky to be alive?!
Where are the public outcry, the heavy handed civil lawsuit and where are the firings over this incident?
Newsflash - there's business suits made out of plastic explosive. If you wanted to wreak havoc at an airport, that'd be the tool of choice. What's next? Install machine gun turrets at the gates and mow everyone down who is wearing shirt and tie?!
Instead, she is charged with 'wearing a hoax device' (which is a term I'd like to see defined in a legal fashion - it appears to mean 'if I am stupid enough to mistake something completely innocent for a bomb, it's really your fault'?)
Oh, and the Fourth one is UNWILLINGNESS TO LEARN. If anything, the takeaway from the first scare should have been internal seminars on incident response. Clearly, nobody thought of that.
All I am left with is that the security forces here have gone stark raving mad and that the populace plain doesn't care and that not even the press dares to stand up and display some good judgment publicly.
Which has one result for me: I am afraid. I am very afraid.
Why? Following the first Boston bomb scare (where police mistook a sign with blinking LED lights to be a bomb, caused a citywide panic and managed to blame the advertisers for their mistaken perception) there comes the news of of the arrest and arraignment of computer science student Star Simpson.
She dared to wear a hoodie with attached blinking lights at an airport. Now, I know, everybody knows that's just crazy and there is no right to wear whatever clothes you like in the constitution. But bear with me for a moment.
Granted, she was also holding a bit of playdough in her hand - a practice for some reason (obsession with hands?) among engineers - a whole lot of folks I know have a bit of silly putty on their desks and absentmindedly play with it every 10 minutes or so.
There's a number of disturbing aspects to this.
Number One is FEAR. People with bad judgement will be driven to stupid actions by fear, and if recent events are any indication, the command chain in Boston is full of people with really bad judgement and a whole lot of fear. This time they didn't shoot that girl; there is a serious risk that they'll kill someone in the future though. That in turn makes me fear for my life - I am so not taking any flights through Boston anytime soon.
Number Two is the MINDSET. I came to America because I perceived it to be a place of civil liberties. This is obviously no longer true. Threatening lethal force as a response to an unusual piece of clothing should get anyone involved in the decision making process fired and charged. Not so anymore. I've seen what life in police states is like and I have no wish to live and work in one myself.
Number Three is the REACTION. Take a look at this article on ABCNews. There is no mention of how unreasonable the response was, instead you find quotes like Star Simpson is known for her "free-spirited personality" - "she shaved her head" and "walks around without her shoes on". Unbelievably, the university police failed to incarcerate her for that.
The article quotes as State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport as follows: Simpson was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used," Pare said. "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."
Without commenting on the statement.
Here we have a girl wearing slightly unusual clothes (believe me, I've seen weirder things) and the press tacitly agrees that she had it coming and is lucky to be alive?!
Where are the public outcry, the heavy handed civil lawsuit and where are the firings over this incident?
Newsflash - there's business suits made out of plastic explosive. If you wanted to wreak havoc at an airport, that'd be the tool of choice. What's next? Install machine gun turrets at the gates and mow everyone down who is wearing shirt and tie?!
Instead, she is charged with 'wearing a hoax device' (which is a term I'd like to see defined in a legal fashion - it appears to mean 'if I am stupid enough to mistake something completely innocent for a bomb, it's really your fault'?)
Oh, and the Fourth one is UNWILLINGNESS TO LEARN. If anything, the takeaway from the first scare should have been internal seminars on incident response. Clearly, nobody thought of that.
All I am left with is that the security forces here have gone stark raving mad and that the populace plain doesn't care and that not even the press dares to stand up and display some good judgment publicly.
Which has one result for me: I am afraid. I am very afraid.
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