proving what to whom ? that people respond to press stories ? placed by whoever puts them there for whatever reason ? ... yes case proven.

For pity's sake!

A UPS Jumbo just crashed after taking off from a ME location.

Is nobody, even on here, putting two and two together?

hey Barbie ..
 

go read the thread... read the news, look at the precursors for this event .. security industry threatened ? security suddenly needed in additional role... to save us all from what the media is reporting, and therefore fact.

And my cheapo phone will as well, and amazingly enough it will do it without a SIM in it.

If the stories in the media are to be believed, it was an electronic device attached to a SIM, so I'm not believing for one minute that it would be used as a timer, there are far easier ways to make a timer.

Suspect parcel for Italy PM catches fire at airport

Suspect parcel for Italy PM catches fire at airport - Yahoo! News

Hi,

Methink Santa is early with gifts this year :)
Commercial pressure :confused:

hetfield, jcjeant,
Doesn't really sound related, or copycat....
Not in the least because the letter bombs as such obviously were functional....
Maybe just having been pre-empted by AQ ruined their scheme.

CJ

Hetfeld, you have hit on something. It must be far more simple to create a fire than detonate a high explosive with accuracy.

So why stick a very dodgy device onboard a cargo aircraft with an incredibly sensitive detonator when incendiary devices will cause as much havoc, can be externally controlled with no outside intervention, and are easier to make.

France's Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux says that one of the two parcel bombs intercepted last week after being sent from Yemen was defused 17 minutes before it was due to go off.

Mr Hortefeux was speaking to France-2 television but did not reveal his source for the information.

The two bombs were sent via air freight to the US but intercepted in Dubai and the UK and defused.

Investigators have focused on a Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot

BBC News - Yemen parcel bomb 'was 17 minutes from exploding'

Yep, these explosives experts who say a phone wouldn't be used as a timer might want to backpedal and revise their stories. Plus, as we know from the movies, the bomb always has a big display with a countdown timer, right?;)

Still, the possibility of using a phone inflight to remotely activate a bomb is being reconsidered:

Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi - tech - 02 November 2010 - New Scientist

As the story points out, getting the phone to ring for a call or text is enough for the bad guys to start a detonation.

Paper Tiger offers this piece :
You assert, then, there are NO local terrorists in the U.S. ?
Have you ever heard of U.S. Army Major Nidal Hassan ??

Also, don't worry yourself about badguys obtaining the latest, or even outdated MANPADS and sighting in on arrival/departure corridors at any random busy airport. They wouldn't even need any loaded toners aboard target aircraft.

UPS/Pilots Sign Agreements on Safety and Security
 

UPS/Pilots Sign Agreements on Safety and Security -- LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

UPS/Pilots Sign Agreements on Safety and Security


LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Parcel Service and the Independent Pilots Association, the collective bargaining unit for its 2,800 pilots, today signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes joint UPS/IPA Safety and Security Task Forces. Both will be made up of six members, three named by each party.
"This agreement reaffirms our common objective of efficiently and effectively operating the UPS airline with safety and security as our twin priorities and guiding principles. We appreciate the company efforts in reaching this agreement," said IPA President Captain Robert Thrush.
The Safety Task Force will address the following issues: Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS); full face oxygen masks; comprehensive fire mitigation and suppression systems; checklists procedures for smoke and fire; and the carriage of lithium batteries and other fire/smoke hazards.
"UPS and IPA acknowledge that the air cargo/express package industry faces unique threats in the era of global terrorism. We also recognize the key role our pilots can play in the mitigation and management of these threats both from the flight deck and by working together to improve cargo security and screening," said Captain Thrush.
The Security Task Force will address the following issues: communication and coordination within/between UPS, affected crewmembers, and the IPA; air cargo security procedures; threat procedures; improved access to security directives; perimeter security; and background checks for those who have access to UPS aircraft.
SOURCE Independent Pilots Association
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More details emerge from the alleged perps in an online religious magazine called 'Inspire' (motto on the cover: "...And Inspire The Believers"):

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/wo.../21parcel.html

I'm confused?

Leverage for what, cheaper mobile phones and toner cartridges? Cheaper airfreight?

This all sounds like BS to me.

Leverage
 

The leverage they speak of is the fact that they can spend a tiny amount of money on a tactic that makes us spend millions chasing our tails. The point now seems to be not killing infidels, but making infidels look silly while they waste money on pointless "preventive measures".

This I think is what Osama bin Laden referred to when he explained, not long after the 9-11 event, how Al Qaeda had exceeded beyond expectations with their attack.

That point has been lost on Government officials in the US since, I think, around 9-12-01. :p

The only upside I have seen to all of this is that the U.S. Coast Guard moved out from under D.o.T. and ended up with an improved funding stream to perform their mission ... which had been sadly underfunded for ages. Sadly, this meant creating DHS, which is a core wrong response to what happened on 9-11.

Oh well, what can one expect from a government? Self licking ice cream cones, mostly.

When can I go back to being able to clip my nails whilst airborne? The belt that I wear around my waist is a far deadlier weapon, in my hands, than nail clippers.