tugger From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 3556 posts, RR: 4 Posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 9555 times:
Gotta commend them for being on top of things and preventing the destruction of America:
Quote: Leigh Van Bryan, a 26-year-old bar manager from Coventry, told The Sun that he and friend Emily Bunting were stopped by border guards when they arrived at Los Angeles International Airport and were questioned for five hours about messages Van Bryan had tweeted saying he planned to “destroy America.” After the questioning, during which Homeland Security agents threatened the two, said Van Bryan, they were put into a van and taken—along with a few illegal immigrants—to a holding cell and held overnight. The next morning, they said, Van Bryan and Bunting were forced to take a plane back to England.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the officers gave Van Bryan a document that detailed why he was refused admission into the U.S. The document reads like a bad joke itself, saying:
“He had posted on his Tweeter [sic] website account that he was coming to the United States to dig up the grave of Marilyn Monroe. … Also on his tweeter [sic] account Mr. Bryan posted that he was coming to destroy America.”
Van Bryan told the newspaper he tried to explain to Homeland Security officials that the term “destroy” was British slang referring to a party and that his comments about “digging up Marilyn Monroe” were an attempt at humor, but the officers didn’t listen. The authorities even searched the two tourists’ luggage for shovels and other tools, he said.
This is part of Homeland Security and other authorities (FBI etc.) monitoring social media like Twitter and Facebook
That various USA agencies are monitoring social networks and a list of blogs and other sources (including WikiLeaks) for information about potential security hazards is understandable. However the ability of some agencies to actually interpret and use the information obtained appears to be in question
I personally think the intelligence business should be left to those that actually have intelligence.....
Tugg
[Edited 2012-01-30 16:27:05]
everything I have learned I have learned by mistake
CASINTEREST From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 2308 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 9515 times:
Quoting tugger (Thread starter): Gotta commend them for being on top of things and prevent the destruction of America:
Gotta wonder how much usefull information they are going to recover from Twitter and Facebook. More than likely it is all going to just turn into a PR nightmare for Homeland Security and a bunch of CMA employees at TSA.
DTWLAX From United States of America, joined Aug 2009, 549 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 9126 times:
The title is misleading.
It is the Homeland Security that handled the situation. The TSA is not involved in this in anyway.
We all know how and what TSA does!!
777fan From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 2343 posts, RR: 3 Reply 3, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 9064 times:
Quoting DTWLAX (Reply 2): It is the Homeland Security that handled the situation
Actually, it was the Customs and Border Protection component of Homeland Security that interdicted the couple. Understand that regardless of the outcome, this is a no-win situation for the government. Had they actually done something so simple as jaywalked, there'd probably have been hell to pay for the Feds, assuming of course the media were to dig deep and reveal that the couple joked about doing 'xyz' while in the States.
einsteinboricua From Puerto Rico, joined Apr 2010, 1639 posts, RR: 1 Reply 5, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 8860 times:
I seriously don't understand people in this country. So this turned out to be a fluke. What if it had been true? Then we would be seeing comments about how DHS is not doing its job, etc. etc.
These people should know better than to post stuff that might be misinterpreted. It's like back here. During Christmas, we sing a song called "Bomba" where we have to sing a little verse (or else we don't know the "Bomba". Try yelling "Bomba" at a busy airport (like JFK or MIA). Odds are that you'll be taken in for questioning even though your intentions are just signing that song.
DHS is just responding to what they think might be a credible threat. If anything, they should charge these people for causing DHS to go after them in the first place.
"You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky."
LOWS From Austria, joined Oct 2011, 618 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 8648 times:
Quoting einsteinboricua (Reply 5): DHS is just responding to what they think might be a credible threat. If anything, they should charge these people for causing DHS to go after them in the first place.
Flaps From United States of America, joined Feb 2000, 1020 posts, RR: 4 Reply 8, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 8549 times:
Im actually far more concerned about the depths of government spying and the ramifications to our rapidly dwindling freedom and privacy than I am about any terrorist threat.
BD338 From United States of America, joined Jul 2010, 448 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 8484 times:
Quoting sccutler (Reply 7): The inmates are running the asylum.
Sad to say they have been in charge for a very long time. TSA in particular is a total joke, slap a uniform on a bunch of jobsworths applying no commonsense to any situation because they have a rule that cannot be interpreted any other way than theirs. Have a wallet half an inch thick...it MUST go through x-ray, wearing ultra thin flip flops...xray please, what do you mean you have a 3.5oz tub of yogurt in your backpack...verbotten!! Are you a young lady wearing stretch pants and a sheer silk top with not a belt buckle, watch or jewellery in sight, setting off the metal detector?? Can't possibly be our detector having a fault, step through three times and then come over here for a pat down...I was particularly amused by the test in SLC (maybe others) where they asked your name so they could check against the ticket and ID.....must have scared those terrorists witless knowing they had to remember a name. Even the TSA gave up on that one after a while. Spend a fortune on body scanner machines, then realize you can't afford the staff to operate them? let's close a few lanes and increase the wait time at security (SLC TSA, you know who you are)
Flaps From United States of America, joined Feb 2000, 1020 posts, RR: 4 Reply 10, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 8409 times:
Quoting BD338 (Reply 9): .I was particularly amused by the test in SLC (maybe others) where they asked your name so they could check against the ticket and ID.....must have scared those terrorists witless knowing they had to remember a name. Even the TSA gave up on that one after a while.
They haven't given it up completely. I still see that one from time to time.
Maverick623 From United States of America, joined Nov 2006, 3807 posts, RR: 4 Reply 11, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 8263 times:
Quoting einsteinboricua (Reply 5): So this turned out to be a fluke. What if it had been true?
Frankly, if DHS/CBP can't distinguish between a joke and a threat, they have no business being in business.
Quoting einsteinboricua (Reply 5):
These people should know better than to post stuff that might be misinterpreted.
Quoting einsteinboricua (Reply 5): If anything, they should charge these people for causing DHS to go after them in the first place.
And the Jews should have known better than to be Jews, so Hitler and company were right all along by persecuting them for not knowing better than to be Jews.
Feel free to replace "Jew" with "disabled", "homosexual", or any other group of people.
Disgusting.
Quoting Flaps (Reply 8): Im actually far more concerned about the depths of government spying and the ramifications to our rapidly dwindling freedom and privacy than I am about any terrorist threat.
As am I, however, not specifically in this case. Twitter is quite obviously public access. It's no different than shouting it on a street corner. In fact, I'm glad that they're at least paying attention, if making a mockery of the whole "intelligence" thing.
Skydrol From Canada, joined Oct 2003, 798 posts, RR: 12 Reply 12, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 7891 times:
Quoting tugger (Thread starter): The authorities even searched the two tourists’ luggage for shovels and other tools, he said.
Is this for real? Do they actually think someone would pack a shovel in their suitcase and bring it all the way from the UK? Hardware stores, even Walmart and Lowe's sell all kinds... this has to be one of the most ludicrous things I have read in a long time!
Quoting tugger (Thread starter): Mr. Bryan posted that he was coming to destroy America.”
America need not fear Mr. Bryan. America is rapidly destroying itself quite well with inane policies.
skipness1E From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2007, 1389 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 6975 times:
The procedures are in place for good reason, the missing component is the exercise of good judgement. There is no credible belief that they had come to dig up the corpse of Marilyn Monroe and destroy America. Being locked up and deported is a horrible ordeal, one I would not see as being pertinent or proportional to the alleged offense.
United_fan From United States of America, joined Nov 2000, 6804 posts, RR: 10 Reply 14, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 6676 times:
Quoting tugger (Thread starter): and that his comments about “digging up Marilyn Monroe” were an attempt at humor, but the officers didn’t listen.
That,and Marilyn is in an above-ground masoleum.
'Empathy was yesterday...Today, you're wasting my Mother-F'ing time' - Heat.
gweilo88 From Hong Kong, joined May 2009, 19 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 6599 times:
Dealing with this security nonsense and going through the US visa process is why my family and friends changed our vacationing to other places like Australia instead of America. We know more and more people making this kind of decision.
One day maybe someone will count how much American businesses are losing to other countries because it just isn't worth the extra hassles and then something will change. Or probably not.
bristolflyer From United Kingdom, joined May 2004, 1998 posts, RR: 1 Reply 16, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 6328 times:
Seems to me that pretty much every response has so far been ragging on the authorities. Imagine if those people had come in to the US and done damage. Homeland Security would be sued left, right and center if they had been seen to ignore the blatantly obvious comments on Twitter.
'You mean you saw comments on the world's largest messaging service that they were coming to destroy America and you didn't do anything about it?'. Doesn't look good, does it?
People too quickly forget about the horrors of terrorism. Homeland Security are blamed of things go wrong then blamed if they're too invasive.
9MMPQ From Netherlands, joined Nov 2011, 124 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 6008 times:
I was expecting this one to show up here sooner or later. It's a sad state of affairs. I can't help myself asking whether the people protecting my security ( be they with Homeland Security or TSA ) would actually be up to the task if sh*t really did hit the fan. More often then not i'd have to say '' I'd rather depend on myself ''
Quoting Skydrol (Reply 12): Hardware stores, even Walmart and Lowe's sell all kinds...
Are you providing alternative ideas to people who have announced their intentions to dig up Marilyn Monroe ?
cmhsrq From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 955 posts, RR: 5 Reply 19, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 5967 times:
Quoting bristolflyer (Reply 16): Seems to me that pretty much every response has so far been ragging on the authorities. Imagine if those people had come in to the US and done damage. Homeland Security would be sued left, right and center if they had been seen to ignore the blatantly obvious comments on Twitter.
'You mean you saw comments on the world's largest messaging service that they were coming to destroy America and you didn't do anything about it?'. Doesn't look good, does it?
People too quickly forget about the horrors of terrorism. Homeland Security are blamed of things go wrong then blamed if they're too invasive.
I'm sure real terrorists would tweet that they are coming to the USA to destroy. For some reason people think terrorists are stupid. That has been proven wrong hasn't it?
Personally, I'm willing to give up security and live with the 1 and a trillion chance that a terrorist will strike the US then have the government and DHS grow bigger and bigger and more and more invasive. The loss of personal freedoms is a much bigger concern. For some reason people have an irrational fear of terrorists on airplanes. Yet the daily murders, rape, muggings, fires, car crashes, etc that are broadcast on the local news every evening are non events.
I guess it's ok for Americans to kill Americans, but if a foreigner kills one, then it's terrorism.
slz396 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 20, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 5936 times:
Quoting bristolflyer (Reply 16): Seems to me that pretty much every response has so far been ragging on the authorities. Imagine if those people had come in to the US and done damage. Homeland Security would be sued left, right and center if they had been seen to ignore the blatantly obvious comments on Twitter.
That they pick up the comments and single out the passenger upon arrival for a quick look, I can only applaud.
That they subsequently fail to distinghuish between a real threat and some form of figurative speech after more than 5 hours of questioning (!), I can not.
Quoting Maverick623 (Reply 11): if DHS/CBP can't distinguish between a joke and a threat, they have no business being in business
Indeed: what a joke!.
I wonder how many far better prepared criminals managed to slip by unquestioned all while CBP were sorting out this alleged 'terror treat'?
ehh, Yes, there are compact shovels that fold up and are smaller in size than my laptop when folded up. I have also seen a woman in Frankfurt being asked by customs as to why the hell she would bring 12 lbs of gold in her carry on from Nigeria. Then after she responded, Customs came back and said "you simply do not put 12 lbs of gold in your carry on and think it is ok not to declare it."
Don't get me wrong, the TSA has its major hiccups. 85 percent of the time I go through the nudie screeners, it shows that I have something in my crotch. I mean I already have a love gun there but that is another story. How we trust a machine that has such a high false positive rate is beyond me.
Now this guy said he was going to "Destroy America". I am quite glad he was pulled aside and questioned upon arrival. That being said, if he explained to me that he meant "getting shit faced and raging all night while in the States", I would have totally understood the simple misunderstanding and informed him that he used a poor sequence of words in his tweet. Twitter is public, that picture of me on facebook sleeping in a closet in my college days with a beer can as a hat, that is public. This guy meant 0 harm, tweeted a tweet that was flagged and hopefully will be let back to the USA in the future.
Long story short, things get lost in translation, hopefully when Terrorist tweets I am going to destroy america his tweet gets flagged and his bags and bombs get confiscated.
enilria From Canada, joined Feb 2008, 5243 posts, RR: 12 Reply 22, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 5697 times:
Quoting tugger (Thread starter): This is part of Homeland Security and other authorities (FBI etc.) monitoring social media like Twitter and Facebook
That various USA agencies are monitoring social networks and a list of blogs and other sources (including WikiLeaks) for information about potential security hazards is understandable. However the ability of some agencies to actually interpret and use the information obtained appears to be in question
I'm sure Marilyn Monroe's bones feel safe.
I was just waiting to find out this was an American citizen refused re-entry into his own country. Regardless, moronic...
Quoting United_fan (Reply 14): That,and Marilyn is in an above-ground masoleum.
They will need the Mission Impossible team for that.
BTW, finally I've learned what something means...
EFFECT; DHS: "We have heard chatter that has caused us to tighten security for all flights to/from the UK for the following 3 weeks due to a threat against women in Las Vegas".
CAUSE; Facebook post by DorchstrHotEE298: "OMG, I'm go--nuh tear up Las Vegas, b|tche$ !!!"
Daysleeper From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2009, 692 posts, RR: 2 Reply 23, posted (3 months 3 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 5670 times:
Am I alone in thinking that no self-respecting terrorist is going to tweet what their plans are before they have carried them out?
I’m also curious as to what they thought the threat would be from digging up Marilyn Monroe. I understand that our American cousins are perhaps still a little pissed off that we stole and then subsequently lost the bones of Thomas Paine, but that was a different time - We have a far more advanced indexing system now
On a more serious note – US Border control is getting to a point where I will no longer travel to the US for leisure. What really bugs me with it are the inconstancy’s from one airport to another. Ranging from the staff at BOS being polite, helpful, and even joking with me and a friend, to JFK where they are often arrogant, rude and perhaps even threatening.
25 airproxx: No you're not! I thought the same reading this thread. Terrorism is based precisely on a no-tech policy. Every little piece of information about any
26 abba: Scares the living daylight out of me that I must take into account how people in uniforms might misinterpret what I write to my friends on Face book
27 PanHAM: funny comparison. Anyone can legally bring in as much gold as possible , she or he just have to declare it and pay VAT on the amount. Not declaring i
28 GSPSPOT: Hate to bring this into an aviation discussion, but electing Ron Paul in the fall will go a long way toward fixing this type of inept bureaucracy...
29 Acheron: Terrorists and would-be criminals won't be tweeting their intentions right before taking a flight to the US. Some people seem to think that though, f
30 Flaps: What really bugs me with it are the inconstancy’s from one airport to another. Ranging from the staff at BOS being polite, helpful, and even joking
31 brilondon: I don't think that homeland security can be sued as it is just doing its "job". I don't like the prospect of Ron Paul even living long enough to fulf
32 PanHAM: Being rude is the way New Yerkers are polite. Sometimes customs asks German travellers "do you have any wurst" and the beagle is already heading towa
33 treebeard787: I agree 110%! He is the only candidate that is working for the people and for the freedom of this country.
34 treebeard787: I am not happy with the government being able to read what ever I do or invade my privacy all in the name of "Security" I certainly don't feel safer k
35 pumaknight: Security is a necssary requirement of the modern world, but to think that this visible security at airports is anything other than a marketing exercis
36 Kaiarahi: And posting them on a public forum - watch out next time you go through screening!
37 turjo101: If someone announces, that they're going "destroy America", then they are not gonna get that job done in just a pair of two. I am appalled that the i
38 blueflyer: That they were able to go from Twitter posts to specific individuals flying to the US is pretty good, in my opinion. Terrorists and criminals (in gene
39 Maverick623: I wouldn't even go that far after uncovering the misunderstanding: "Enjoy your stay". Maybe a "Just make sure you don't ACTUALLY destroy anything, th
40 geezer: I really hope you don't hold your breath until Ron Paul wins the nomination to run for potus, much less gets elected; you're going to become very "re
41 StarAC17: She probably has a piercing is somewhere not going to want to be seen in a public area The two should have been questioned and let go with a stern wa
42 Charles79: This has to be a joke, has to be. Otherwise it really disturbs me that the authorities have acquired so much power in such a short period of time with
43 LAXintl: Guys, remember that entry to any nation is a privilege - not a right. Countries can deny entry to anyone on a host of reasons. The US previously has d
44 geezer: ( I couldn't agree more about little J.B. being a "noise terrorist" ! ( LMAO ! ) Actually, past events have proven that what you are saying here is a
45 B747-4U3: Stern warning? For what exactly? They said something which was so obviously a joke, and used slang (which was clearly misinterpreted by the DHS). Thi
46 LAXintl: They can say anything they wish - however they by the same light live by the consequences. With every action there is reaction, so harmless banter or
47 DeltaMD90: I agree. But this case is so obviously not harmful I would have hoped common sense would have came into play. It didn't.
48 Chimborazo: Over here we've just had four idiots admit their guilt in a potential plot to blow up various places including the London stock exchange. Intelligence
49 StarAC17: I'll give you that J.N. isn't necessarily that smart, I think she still thinks the 9/11 hijackers entered the US from Canada. I don't know I would ha
50 OA260: Sadly he is The bit about digging up the grave is a bit sick and I can understand people taking exception to that . The bit about ''destroy'' is a co
51 B747-4U3: The question is was the reaction right? That was never in doubt. That attitude is fine, but the key question is where will it stop? I'm all for monit
52 StarAC17: I doubt that these two people (the poster and his friend) will ever get into the US again and probably not be allowed to overfly US airspace in the f
53 Maverick623: I call baloney on that. Remember, just a few weeks after the Tube bombings, when armed police chased down a completely innocent man, and shot him poi
54 lewis: The only joke in this guy's tweet was digging up Monroe's grave. The term "destroy" as it has been mentioned has nothing to do with destroying someth
55 DeltaMD90: I do agree, America has been largely shielded from terrorism and we'd react differently. But I don't think you can compare 9/11 to the IRA bombs or e
56 Chimborazo: We've been putting up with the IRA (and their mostly American backers) for years without becoming entirely paranoid like the US is. Reacting in that
57 Maverick623: Maybe you forgot the first time Al-Qaeda tried to bring down the Towers? Maybe you forget that Mexican, Colombian, and Nicaraguan cartels have been t
58 lewis: Happy that I gave you a good laugh. They do exist, the general population just doesn't buy it that easily. I said, kept their cool a bit better. Of co
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