FUCK DA KEVIN WALSH FUCK DA KEVIN WALSH

As far as the racial profiling thing.... East Africans are being blamed for this 2nd set of bombings. There has aslo been talk about countries in West Africa harboring or aiding al qaida operatives, referring to the region as the "next Afghanistan." So are all people of color in this country now to be seen as potential terrorists?

Also;

If someone is carrying around, let's say... a couple of portable Hard Drives (something I do regularly) or a laptop, or anything that could contain an explosive device within it; inside of their bag, do the cops crack these things open?? And if not, then what's the point?

You could put enough C4 and a trigger to kill people into your pants pocket.

And hey.... Remember anthrax?

Can somebody please tell me why someone with a bomb in their bag would walk up, and consent to have their bag searched rather than turn around and take it somewhere else???

Worse yet: According to the British police, He had nothing to do with the Bombings.

Mind you, after 1 successful bombing, followed by another attempted bombing, the Single Police officer who apparently shot him while he was tackled was obviously NOT taking any chances.

Hey, Greg, you were so happy that the London police shot a suspect five times at point blank range and said that it proved the police were very effective. What do you have to say now that it's been reported that no weapons, no explosives and no contraband was found on the man they ventilated so well?

You know, I once gave the same diatribe about the government getting too powerful and how many rights were being taken away and how totalitarian the US government was becoming...

...and then my friend from Iran verbally bitch-slapped me and made me realize how fucking self-righteous and whiny I was being. The US isn't a police state. Taking one instance of power going too far (ie, subway bag searches that will no doubt be found unconstitutional in due time) and using it to justify comparing the US government with the Nazis is just as much of a pathetic scare tactic as the ones used by the idiots who drafted and pushed through the Patriot Act. No matter how morally superior to them you might feel, you're using the same justifications.

It is hardly "offensive" to invoke the term "police state" if it is believed that we are heading, ever so slowly, in that direction and it is wished to call attention to this. I don't believe anyone said we are alrady there. random searches are a police state tactic.

Okay, there are certainly some IV Amendment implications here (though it's not an open-and-shut case - these aren't discretionary searches, allegedly). That said, most New Yorkers wouldn't know a "police state" if it came up and searched their bag. It's offensive to invoke what is a *reality* for many world citizens to make your point.

A police state is indeed where we are headed. As technology improves and alienation grows, the vast potential for nihilist destruction will only increase, necessitating ever more intrusive security measures. this is not about islam, it is about angry people bent on destruction and glory and having the means to acheive it.

there's not much we can do about it except to make the searches more comprehensive and invisible, so at least you don't feel like you're being singled out. The current nypd policy is largely a feel-good effort, very low-tech and ineffective but is a symbol of where we are undoubtedly headed. Perhaps someday cities will be wrapped in a web of invisible bomb-detection rays.

NYPD is an idiot who is really only good at sticking broomsticks up black people's asses

wow. ny'ers and particularly gothamist readers are idiots.

i think bush had the cia bomb the tube so he could take away more of our civil liberties in the US. it's so like germany in the 30's, you're right "welcome"

yah if not for the aclu we'd all have free health care fuck the aclu.

When the 4th Amendment was ratified, people were not blowing themselves up on trains and subways. It is exactly these civil liberatarians that's prevented us from having national ID or central healthcare system. Other countries have successfully implemented it without their citizens complaining about "invasion of privacy."

Those of you who think this is outrageous, what are you going to do about it? Janine says she'll walk or take a cab. I live in Brooklyn and work in the Bronx. Walking, taking a cab, or grabbing the bus aren't options for me. I don't like having to open my bag to the cops, but I'll do it anyway because...what choice do I have? If you're opposed to this, your best hope is that civil-liberties groups will convince a judge to stop it.

It is a good point that only having checkpoints at busy stations seems a little silly. Would-be terrorists could just get on at a smaller station and take it where they want to go. Once you're in, you're in.

So I agree that this plan - whether or not you agree with it in terms of civil liberties - is completely useless unless you have random checks at every single station - which seems impossible to me.

Wasn't this how Russia lost the cold war? We bled them to death financially. What is the cost of all these security "upgrades". What percentage of the GDP are we spending on these security efforts...

the london bombers were i think what they call "asian" in the u.k. -- what we call south-asian, indian subcontinent types -- not "middle eastern". makes taking a cab seem risky. ride bikes for homeland security, energy independence. but then what if they bomb critical mass?

Why, WES, that sounds like a good argument for racial profiling, too.

An 8:30AM F train, no cops, no bag check. Just having police at busy stations is ridiculous when someone could just get on another stop. It's like the old joke about the guy looking around on the floor of his kitchen. His wife asks him what he's doing?

"I lost my cuff-links in the living room?"

"Then why are you looking for them in the kitchen?"

"The light is better here."