I’d fail that Turing test.
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What’s the, howdoyoucallit… World Series?
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My brain just sparked…
Seeing as I have a high school diploma and a technical school AAS, and I can speak piglatin, I’m insanely overqualified to get a job as a TSA agent.
I could get hired on as an agent, and spend all my time provoking other TSA agents into being more paranoid and encourage them to do outrageously stupid things all the time, then step in to be the interviewee when these dumbasses get the airport on the news for the asshattery. Perhaps we could even get the upper management to retrain all the agents to treat people like human fucking beings.
Talk about being a mole.
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You may be able to kickstarter this. Open a school for future TSA moles. And the project could have a very large molehill in its logo, because TSA is known for making mountains out of those.
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The Molehill: Moleing and Trolling for Justice
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What was the agent’s name?
What was the agent’s name?
What was the agent’s name?
Seriously. If these individuals are drilled out of society for their abhorrent decision making abilities, like that lady who put that poor cat in the garbage can, we can all live in a much nicer place.
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The police do not charge anyone with anything, they just muddle along and write things down. Prosecutors charge, and it doesn’t have any force of law until there’s an arraignment.
So, detained = arrested.
Hmm, I’d take a guess at Germany?
Wait. What year is this?
Hey, my math flash cards are numbered I, II, III, … MCM, you insensitive clod!
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The most useful piece fof tech that might have come out of the Airport Safety Measures after 9/11 could have been a stress monitor, so we know when TSA agents have a bodily fear reaction (and are likely making bad decisions as a result) or just need a 5 minute break.
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He spoke Harvardish, so where’s the problem?
While I agree that the agents over-reacted, and the student was wrongfully treated, this article does not include the fact that the flashcards in his pocket included the words “bomb” and “to kill.” Having taught in a foreign languages department at the college level, I would not anticipate “bomb” to appear in a beginner’s vocabulary list. Still not warrant for arrest, but it does indicate why a TSA agent might show some concern. But again, I agree that this reaction was way over the top.
Yeah, after all, he might have been on his way to a terrorist job interview!
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For Arabic? I might. It might be a little unusual for a beginner, but considering the reasons so many beginners learn Arabic in the first place, it’s not uncommon for them to seek to learn particular words and phrases. I can tell you for certain that topics in intermediate Arabic include reading and understanding Arabic journalism, which has a high-context idiosyncratic vocabulary.
I find more interesting the TSA theory that apparently the word “bomb” on a piece of paper constitutes a security threat.
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Maybe somebody heard that the pen is mightier than the sword?
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After looking at the book and flashcards, the supervisor asked me: “Do you know who did 9/11?” Taken totally aback, I answered: “Osama Bin Laden.” Then she asked me if I knew what language Osama Bin Laden spoke. “Arabic,” I replied. “So do you see why these cards are suspicious?” she finished.
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A good tactics for such leading questions is answering something else than what is expected (even if it may be wrong), and play dumb or confused.
In my experience, playing dumb with authorities with preconceived notions mostly just makes them hit you,or otherwise violate your rights.
These people were going to detain him no matter what he said because they are too stupid and afraid to have any business wielding authority in the first place.
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