# American Airlines flight delayed by math



## nobodythank you (May 7, 2016)

Ivy League economist ethnically profiled, interrogated for doing math on American Airlines flight


I get that people are upset that they were inconvenienced and delayed, and maybe the woman who reported it might be xenophobic, but if this had been a real security concern and she said nothing, she would be a villain. Look at the neighbors in the San Bernardino shooting, they knew something was happening, but they didn't want to be labeled at racists. Since she did speak up, as is encouraged by the current "see something, say something" campaign, she is a xenophobic profiling villain. Had she thwarted an attack she would be a hero. People wonder why there is so much confusion in the decision to say something or not, well this is why.  

At what point does it become being an informed citizen, versus a nosy fucking busy body? You take a huge gamble in either direction. Obviously the context of this question is for the average Joe, I am pretty sure most of us would not have this problem due to various levels of training and experience.


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## R.Caerbannog (May 8, 2016)

ke4gde said:


> Ivy League economist ethnically profiled, interrogated for doing math on American Airlines flight
> 
> 
> I get that people are upset that they were inconvenienced and delayed, and maybe the woman who reported it might be xenophobic, but if this had been a real security concern and she said nothing, she would be a villain. Look at the neighbors in the San Bernardino shooting, they knew something was happening, but they didn't want to be labeled at racists. Since she did speak up, as is encouraged by the current "see something, say something" campaign, she is a xenophobic profiling villain. Had she thwarted an attack she would be a hero. People wonder why there is so much confusion in the decision to say something or not, well this is why.
> ...


I ain't all that smart, but when does math look like Arabic? This reads like more of a woman spurned deal to me.


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## SpitfireV (May 8, 2016)

It's hysteria born from ignorance of many things IMO. Not all of which are her fault.


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## AWP (May 8, 2016)

Meanwhile, United flights being delayed by maintenance or drunk pilots.


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## Red Flag 1 (May 8, 2016)

Freefalling said:


> Meanwhile, United flights being delayed by maintenance or drunk pilots.



Drunk pilots:wall:. Their jobs are to be pilots, not drunks.


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## macNcheese (May 8, 2016)

ke4gde said:


> Ivy League economist ethnically profiled, interrogated for doing math on American Airlines flight
> 
> 
> I get that people are upset that they were inconvenienced and delayed, and maybe the woman who reported it might be xenophobic, but if this had been a real security concern and she said nothing, she would be a villain. Look at the neighbors in the San Bernardino shooting, they knew something was happening, but they didn't want to be labeled at racists. Since she did speak up, as is encouraged by the current "see something, say something" campaign, she is a xenophobic profiling villain. Had she thwarted an attack she would be a hero. People wonder why there is so much confusion in the decision to say something or not, well this is why.
> ...



Lucky for you I'm an average joe 

This seems a little paranoid. He was just writing in a note pad and was clearly concentrating on it. I looked at the research he was working on. http://web-facstaff.sas.upenn.edu/~gmenzio/linkies/march1all.pdf
It doesn't look Arabic


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## macNcheese (May 8, 2016)

Edit- that's the wrong link. But the equations are similar.


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## Muppet (May 8, 2016)

Sitting at work when I heard about this. Part of me gets it, bigger part of me was pissed that this happened.

M.


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## Il Duce (May 8, 2016)

ke4gde said:


> At what point does it become being an informed citizen, versus a nosy fucking busy body? You take a huge gamble in either direction. Obviously the context of this question is for the average Joe, I am pretty sure most of us would not have this problem due to various levels of training and experience.



I think the missing step is confronting the person.  Of course, it's METT-TC dependent, if your concern is they're wearing a suicide vest or in addition to suspicious writing they're an open carry enthusiast bristling with visible armament - then confrontation is not the way to go.  But, if like this lady, there's just something that seems out of place why not ask the person then make your report/don't report judgment from there?  Same with San Bernadino, why not bring your neighbor a pie and then if you're still convinced they're suspicious as hell, report it.  I also take that San Bernadino stuff with a grain of salt - in hindsight everyone was suspicious.  Everyone was supposedly so suspicious of MAJ Hasan but they kept giving him decent evals and promoting him - smells like BS.

@Marauder06 was famous in Korea for confronting people taking pictures in front of military posts.  He freaked out half a dozen Korean spouses but never caught a spy - that we know of.  Joking aside, for me as one of his LTs it left a powerful impression that a real Soldier is always on the lookout and not afraid to get involved even though others don't, and some might be embarrassed.


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## Frank S. (May 8, 2016)

Seems to me hand written, scribbled, math notes could resemble Arabic script if you can't look at them directly and examine them for a minute.
Quote: "Perhaps she couldn’t differentiate between differential equations and Arabic."
How clever.

Monday night quarterbacking with a wheelbarrow full of bullshit.


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## policemedic (May 8, 2016)

Quite frankly, this is bullshit and can't be justified by anything but outright paranoia and bias.

I don't talk to people on planes either.  Because I don't like people.

I'd love to know the affiliation of the supposed agent who interviewed the professor. I wonder if it was an airline employee or a TSA idiot rather than a real LEO.


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## Frank S. (May 8, 2016)

policemedic said:


> Quite frankly, this is bullshit and can't be justified by anything but outright paranoia and bias.
> 
> I don't talk to people on planes either.  Because I don't like people.
> 
> I'd love to know the affiliation of the supposed agent who interviewed the professor. I wonder if it was an airline employee or a TSA idiot rather than a real LEO.



Do you think it's bullshit on the part of the passenger for reporting her concern, or on the part of the "agents" for the way it was handled..? Or both?


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## policemedic (May 8, 2016)

Frank S. said:


> Do you think it's bullshit on the part of the passenger for reporting her concern, or on the part of the "agents" for the way it was handled..? Or both?



Both.


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## Frank S. (May 8, 2016)

ke4gde said:


> People wonder why there is so much confusion in the decision to say something or not, well this is why.
> [...] You take a huge gamble in either direction.



The article reads more like an exercise in style than anything else. So there are gaps we'll fill with our own sets of experiences and attitudes. That said, was "the blonde woman" wrong and overreacting? It turns out she was wrong, that was seen after things were looked into.
Was she overreacting? Depends on what she saw, and what she based her perception of risk upon (movies, articles, news programs, personal experience?)

I wouldn't fault her based on what's said in this piece.


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## Il Duce (May 8, 2016)

What if she had seen someone writing in Arabic script?  I took Arabic in grad school, millions of people speak and write in Arabic, what damage could this professor have done with a handwritten note in Arabic?  What suspicion exactly was being run to ground here?


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## Gunz (May 8, 2016)




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## Frank S. (May 8, 2016)

Il Duce said:


> What if she had seen someone writing in Arabic script?  I took Arabic in grad school, millions of people speak and write in Arabic, what damage could this professor have done with a handwritten note in Arabic?  What suspicion exactly was being run to ground here?



The sky's the limit (no pun intended).
A California BSIS video which is mandatory in the security industry shows footage shot by a terrorist taping video (I believe this was in Indonesia) of a public site for a future attack, considering the inlet for water run off at the curb for charge placement.

Was the guy on the plane taking notes for a future (not necessarily impending) attack? Perhaps writing info/instructions for an acolyte on the same flight? What civilians are told regarding terrorism is that among the characteristics of terrorists, they are planners who practice reconnaissance.
Consider this from the_ civilian_ viewpoint.


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## Marauder06 (May 8, 2016)

@Marauder06 was famous in Korea for confronting people taking pictures in front of military posts.  He freaked out half a dozen Korean spouses but never caught a spy - that we know of.  Joking aside, for me as one of his LTs it left a powerful impression that a real Soldier is always on the lookout and not afraid to get involved even though others don't, and some might be embarrassed.[/QUOTE]

_*That's*_ what I was famous for.  *whew*


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## Il Duce (May 8, 2016)

Marauder06 said:


> [I][B]That's[/B][/I] what I was famous for.  *whew*  ;-)




I should edit to add 'amongst other things.'

[QUOTE="Frank S., post: 427070, member: 33"]The sky's the limit (no pun intended).
A California BSIS video which is mandatory in the security industry shows footage shot by a terrorist taping video (I believe this was in Indonesia) of a public site for a future attack, considering the inlet for water run off at the curb for charge placement.

Was the guy on the plane taking notes for a future (not necessarily impending) attack? Perhaps writing info/instructions for an acolyte on the same flight? What civilians are told regarding terrorism is that among the characteristics of terrorists, they are planners who practice reconnaissance.
Consider this from the[I] civilian[/I] viewpoint.[/QUOTE]

Holy shit, I better get on security then.  I've seen people writing things down all over the place.  Come to think of it, sometimes people are talking on their phones, taking pictures, and even looking at stuff.  Right outside there are people in my city doing exactly that.  They could be planning attacks, coordinating with other terrorists, or picking out targets.  No time to call the police - I'm running outside to start karate-chopping motherfuckers right now!


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## macNcheese (May 8, 2016)

Ocoka One said:


>


Spot on


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## Frank S. (May 8, 2016)

Il Duce said:


> Holy shit, I better get on security then.  I've seen people writing things down all over the place.  Come to think of it, sometimes people are talking on their phones, taking pictures, and even looking at stuff.  Right outside there are people in my city doing exactly that.  They could be planning attacks, coordinating with other terrorists, or picking out targets.  No time to call the police - I'm running outside to start karate-chopping motherfuckers right now!



That's the spirit!

Just get somebody to do it is all...


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## 8654Maine (May 8, 2016)

Al-Gebra:  new terrorist organization.  (shamelessly stolen from someone else).


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## SpongeBob*24 (May 8, 2016)

Cool....right or wrong, she acted on her gut...

General Aladeeen.....


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## Marauder06 (May 8, 2016)

Il Duce said:


> ...No time to call the police - I'm running outside to start karate-chopping motherfuckers right now!



You won't do it.


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## Frank S. (May 8, 2016)

Here's a hypothetical one, just for mulch and snickers, as in the "what would you do?" programs: 
you see a box near the entrance to a bank, not fully concealed, but placed waist high behind a column near the main doors. Box is made of cardboard, shoe-box size, with a fake wood appearance. You peek inside the box and you see a metal cylinder. The cylinder looks like a can of aerosol with the label scratched off. The top of the canister has a cap with wires coming out of it, plugging into a mechanical timer itself connected to two D-cell batteries for power.
There is also a smaller box, maybe made of plastic material. The whole contraption is kind of dirty, held together with black electrical tape and duct tape, looks like black dust on all the elements.

Whaddayado with it?


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## policemedic (May 8, 2016)

Frank S. said:


> Here's a hypothetical one, just for mulch and snickers, as in the "what would you do?" programs:
> you see a box near the entrance to a bank, not fully concealed, but placed waist high behind a column near the main doors. Box is made of cardboard, shoe-box size, with a fake wood appearance. You peek inside the box and you see a metal cylinder. The cylinder looks like a can of aerosol with the label scratched off. The top of the canister has a cap with wires coming out of it, plugging into a mechanical timer itself connected to two D-cell batteries for power.
> There is also a smaller box, maybe made of plastic material. The whole contraption is kind of dirty, held together with black electrical tape and duct tape, looks like black dust on all the elements.
> 
> Whaddayado with it?



Entirely different scenario than the generally nice, garrulous professor. 

That said, it would be reasonable to exercise caution in this case and deploy some assets.  And my commentary will end there.


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## Frank S. (May 8, 2016)

You suspect a trap where there is none, really... Entirely different scenario, yes. And yes it's a scenario I did run into. But again not a trap, that'd be cheapening the discussion.


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## policemedic (May 8, 2016)

Oh, the Force isn't warning me of a trap. I think you've described a situation that is worthy of concern and further investigation.  The extent of both is something we can only speak of in generalities.


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## SpitfireV (May 9, 2016)

I'd pick the box up, shake it about, maybe push any buttons that are on it.


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## policemedic (May 9, 2016)

SpitfireV said:


> I'd pick the box up, shake it about, maybe push any buttons that are on it.



Pfffft....you'd try to drink the contents.


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## SpitfireV (May 9, 2016)

And eat the dry stuff!


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## AWP (May 9, 2016)

Frank's posts are serious, Spitfire's are not...I go on vacation and this place turns to shit.


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## Frank S. (May 9, 2016)

Freefalling said:


> Frank's posts are serious, Spitfire's are not...I go on vacation and this place turns to shit.



It's like Marie Claire, with guns...



SpitfireV said:


> And eat the dry stuff!


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## Diamondback 2/2 (May 9, 2016)

The irony is that the current numerals we use are direct descendants of the Hindu-Arabic numerals.

Numbers' history

Or that Algebra is a descendant Arabic word al-jabr. Or how about the roots of ancient algebra being Babylonian historically.

Algebra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## DA SWO (May 12, 2016)

Frank S. said:


> Here's a hypothetical one, just for mulch and snickers, as in the "what would you do?" programs:
> you see a box near the entrance to a bank, not fully concealed, but placed waist high behind a column near the main doors. Box is made of cardboard, shoe-box size, with a fake wood appearance. You peek inside the box and you see a metal cylinder. The cylinder looks like a can of aerosol with the label scratched off. The top of the canister has a cap with wires coming out of it, plugging into a mechanical timer itself connected to two D-cell batteries for power.
> There is also a smaller box, maybe made of plastic material. The whole contraption is kind of dirty, held together with black electrical tape and duct tape, looks like black dust on all the elements.
> 
> *Whaddayado with it*?



Switch banks.


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