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See the original image at news.bbc.co.uk —

Gun T-shirt 'was a security risk'

news.bbc.co.uk — A man wearing a T-shirt depicting a cartoon character holding a gun was stopped from boarding a flight by the security at Heathrow's Terminal 5.

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  • samoan27, on 06/02/2008, -6/+870Transformers: more than meets the eye, Al Quaida in Disguise.
    • oatmeals, on 06/03/2008, -21/+5Winner.
      • MickJT, on 06/03/2008, -22/+5If he spelt al-Qaeda properly
        • chillypacman, on 06/03/2008, -4/+27if he spelled spelled properly
        • Garlik, on 06/03/2008, -4/+13If he had put "spelled" in quotation marks.
        • Jellyhead365, on 06/03/2008, -4/+4What's wrong with 'spelt'? It's acceptable in the UK; must be different in the US?
        • poleag, on 06/03/2008, -2/+91. spelt is a correct spelling
          2. there is no such thing as "spelling" a word created in a foreign alphabet wrong. it's called "transliteration." it's the reason why the name Muhammad is spelled 100 different ways..
        • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -1/+5If it put the lotion on its skin
        • userperson, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Yeah some people should really check their speling, it's just sad.
        • Garlik, on 06/03/2008, -3/+1"Yeah some people should really check their speling"
          Thanks for the suggestion
        • MonexFRAUD, on 09/16/2008, -0/+0LOL! You guys are hilarious! It's like a chain gang of ball-busting!
          --------------------------------------------------
          http://www.monexfraud.com
    • Goblin, on 06/03/2008, -0/+70He should have pointed out that freedom is the right of all sentient beings.
      • jerrasis, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2wow....

        You win for best Digg comment I've ever read.
    • jebus123, on 06/03/2008, -0/+35They probably let him keep the shirt in his carry on bag where he can take it out during the flight and easily take over the plane with it. Security theater!!
    • wphj, on 06/03/2008, -3/+54People give America a lot of crap about a lot of things, but it seems to me, from Digg stories at least, that the UK has its fair share of "nanny state" privacy invasion issues.
      • EvilGunOwner, on 06/03/2008, -2/+5Understatement of the year. The UK is the future of the USA (or NAU) if we don't do something soon.
        • Hefelumpman, on 06/03/2008, -4/+4Awesome!
          Free healthcare! A stronger economy! Strict gun-control! Lower crime rates!
          A respectful police force that doesn't taze everyone in sight!
        • humperdeath, on 06/03/2008, -4/+2Rephrase:
          A GAY police force that doesn't taze everyone in sight!
        • volonix, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2No, our police force is not without it's problems.

          While it's stupid to generalize everyone in a HUGE organisation like the police (you're doing it, dont) some counties have notoriously racist police officers, and the police in general here are just like everywhere else, they can be wankers, and wankers with power is bad.
      • mrbeagle, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2Airstrip One
    • AzeemAhmed, on 06/03/2008, -12/+1hahaah a friend of mine has the exact same shirt
    • muzy, on 06/03/2008, -2/+14Yes, The UK has treated dark skin people like this since 9/11.....................especially the ones looking for positions in any company to work.

      If they find your name of a foreign background, they drag your application at the end of the list. I work in an agency and this is whats happening.
      • RealHyperX, on 06/03/2008, -9/+1The guy needs to lose weight.
      • textrant, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3The UK has not treated people with dark skin like this since 9/11. Why have some people developed a victim complex why the UK has not changed the way it treats people with 'dark skin' since 9/11. Admittedly, get on the tube with 'dark skin' and a large bag and you get funny looks, but people are two scared of the PC police, and to get branded a racist, here in the UK to actually cause a fuss.
        He probably just got pulled because the guy who works there is a retard, and so is his supervisor. I know because my dad works airport security in the UK and his supervisor stopped someone once for carrying a mirror that was 'too big'.
      • Hefelumpman, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2What agency do you work for? BNP Recruitment?
        In London, at least, in my experience, there's been no such trend.
        Admittedly, in the days after the July 7th bombings, if you were dark skinned with a rucksack on the tube, you'd get looks of suspicion, but that's a reasonable reaction. I had similar reactions to other people - London's been the target of bomb attack for decades and everyone is fairly vigilant.
      • Schrodinger2, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1In the US if you could prove that the company would get sued its balls off and whistleblower laws would protect you from getting fired. In fact it'd be in your best interest to get fired at that point thanks to the huge settlement you'd win.
    • DigitusAnonymus, on 06/03/2008, -2/+0Alright! Now we know dudes. Take your female friend or girlfriend buy her a transformer T-shirt and BAM!! BOOBIES FOR ALL TO SEE!! Thanks for submitting this hdar3415.
    • rustyrobot, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1". . . then the man boarded the plane to find that the in-flight movie was Transformers"
    • TSSaloic, on 06/07/2008, -0/+1OMG Michel Bay is a terrorist! *Sarcasm and shock*
  • The_Wallbanger, on 06/02/2008, -8/+441That sucks. I'm going to assume that the darker skin and foreign sounding surname didn't help much either.
    • fabthegerm, on 06/03/2008, -9/+2it's not directly related to this topic, but still worth a look:
      http://digg.com/politics/FT_com_In_depth_US_to_imp ...
    • redeye69, on 06/03/2008, -0/+8Nor the fact that he looks like Private Pyle.
    • craighoxton, on 06/03/2008, -1/+31They were more afraid of the brown skin than the grey t-shirt
      • DiveRSQ, on 06/03/2008, -8/+1Your right we should start targeting the little old ladies and small children.

        Ya know what if a certain group of people do a certain thing more often then the rest of the people then yes they should be looked at more. If white males in their 30's were more likely to bomb an airline then anyone else I would be happy to be checked.

        However getting crazy over a t-shirt is a bit much but this dude looks crazy. :-)
    • Mattrofl, on 06/03/2008, -4/+5or that we're just racist
      • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Just a little bit. Who doesn't like Pollok jokes?
        /Oh, the things you learn from Ave.Q
    • Lucas123, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3The article quotes Jayakody saying, "I was just looking for someone with a bit of common sense". This guy obviously doesn't deal with airport security much. The last time I travelled, they confiscated my underarm deoderant because it was a clear gel. When I asked the guy "why only clear gels", he said because it could be a form of explosive. Now I served in the military for 8 years, and blew up a lot of things using C4 and PETN, or detonation cord -- neither of which is clear, but off-white. I'd say most underarm deoderants are offwhite and not clear, so the FAA's policy is crap. Common sense doesn't really play a role in airport security.
      • KGtheway2B, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1I'm just glad the guy didn't make a big fuss about it. I hate all those dicks that huff and puff and make a big scene. Just change your shirt, then you can point and laugh later.
      • winampman2, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1The point is to make the average person feel like the government is doing something to protect them, when in reality there isn't much they can do to stop someone that really wants to hurt people.
    • heeheeshabutie, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1oh so sad, but oh so true.
    • dfecticon, on 06/04/2008, -0/+0Found out having a beard strangely has an advantage at Heathrow, they pull you past the whole queue, put you in front of a huge machine that probably destroys your ability to father children (maybe not so much an advantage) and you're out before everyone else. I recommend a beard for all frequent travellers!
  • retr0grade, on 06/02/2008, -28/+360OMFG this is the goat-sucking pinnacle of idiocy. Bumping guys off flights because of their t-shirts, while none of the container ships entering US ports are checked at all. Security theater.
    • masterm1nd, on 06/03/2008, -6/+15None? No.
      • MacEnvy, on 06/03/2008, -2/+9Almost none. For all practical purposes none. Only 2% of the 6 million cargo ships that dock in US ports annually are subject to inspection. That's so inadequate as to be laughable, and I contend that it's equal to "none' in practical use.

        They play Russian Roulette with our port security. But they only check 2/100 barrels before firing.
      • TechCF, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1And I think the average in some other countries is one of 10 000 containers.

        Why isn't any cars checked on ferries? Only some of the large trailers are xrayed, but I could easily drive a truck with a caravan full of explosives onto the ferry. Never seen those x-rayed.

        My guess is ferries or trade harbors will be the next large target. There are practically no security on these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Color_Fantasy kind of ships now.
    • DuffyDirect, on 06/03/2008, -14/+1OMFG!!!!!!!1111oneoneoneone
    • LastVisibleDog, on 06/03/2008, -9/+53This happen in the old country - England - not the US. You hate-America-firsters need to expand your script
      • Myonosken, on 06/03/2008, -2/+4In all fairness, hate-america-first is common everywhere outside of the US, especially Europe, but the only ones who ever do this stupid ***** (almost every time a BBC story is submitted) of not realising its elsewhere in the world are normally the American hate-america-firsters.
        • LastVisibleDog, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4Life is too short for hate....
        • familynight, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2i really like how you preface you're entirely unverifiable statement with "in all fairness" as if you're not talking out of your ass. i'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you're european or live in europe.
    • bcrockett, on 06/03/2008, -2/+29You, and the other comments like you, are the reason I rarely listen to political a rant on Digg. If you don't know where Heathrow is...stay in school, kid.
    • goat2, on 06/03/2008, -2/+3im gonna be needing more pinnacles of idiocy here in about an hour please.
    • NoDitchDigging, on 06/03/2008, -2/+17Dugg for "goat-sucking pinnacle of idiocy". LOL
    • InetRoadkill, on 06/03/2008, -1/+4Good thing he wasn't carrying a sippy cup.
    • superkiwi, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3Of course container ships entering ports aren't checked. The 3G iphones are in there and Steve Jobs would go nuts if anyone opened his stuff.
    • nominalgeek, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4One, while what you said might be true. This a BBC story about a British Airport...
    • wrillo, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1They never claimed it was a security threat. They wouldn't let you get on the plane if you had a big penis on your shirt either. Does that make big penii a security threat?
      • kristoaster, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1No, but that's offensive. No one is going to be offended by a cartoon gun.
        • textrant, on 06/03/2008, -2/+0I found the transformers film offensive. Offensive to how awesome Transformers was.
        • kristoaster, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Surely those on the left lean more towards anti-censorship and won't be offended by images but by the firearms themselves? Which this clearly isn't.
    • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5I fail to see what this article has to do with El Chupacabra.
    • fajitamelt, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1I'm guessing you were on vacation on 9/11.
    • icemanex, on 06/04/2008, -0/+0Someone needs to find the security officer and tie him to a chair, then tape record someone shouting "ITS A ***** T-SHIRT YOU MORON", leave it on a table next to him and put it on repeat for a few hours
  • RuffRidr, on 06/02/2008, -83/+15Liberal policy run amok.
    • boobsbr, on 06/03/2008, -0/+15what?
    • chillypacman, on 06/03/2008, -11/+7Only a ron paul supporter would be retarded enough to say something like that.

      'gee wizz the neo-conservatives are actually liberals ruining conservatism and must be stopped'.
    • wufoo, on 06/03/2008, -1/+20Describe to me how that is a liberal policy in any way?
    • AngryFox, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5The fact that this happened, and RuffRidr's comment, are both so unbelievably shocking in their stupidity that I am without speech. Speechless. A Transformer t-shirt?? Speechless.
    • Jareth86, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4Liberal policy has nothing to do with it; Both liberals and conservatives think this ***** is stupid. The problem comes from a third party, that knows no political alliance: IDIOTS.
      • nicksauce, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2In my experience, IDIOTS tend to ally with the GOP.
  • rpi22, on 06/02/2008, -19/+179Duh, don't you understand that the TSA operates on "cartoon physics" ... all you gotta do is draw a picture in thin air and it instantly turns into a real, tangible object!
    • Hangly, on 06/03/2008, -1/+10That explains the 9/11 commission report.
    • Enfenestrate, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5Why bother with security at all then? Any planes that blow up will be back to 100% in the next scene anyway.
    • S4MF1SHER, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1I believe it's called Hammerspace

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerspace
    • dpantages, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3I bet they buy the metal detectors at the ACME store
    • desertDenizen, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Ah yes, the infamous B-17 episode of Amazing Stories, directed by Spielberg himself. I believe they landed at a British airfield, so hey, they have proof.
  • Tangaroa, on 06/03/2008, -2/+68This is even dumber than:
    http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/29/canadian-airp ...
    http://www.citypaper.net/articles/101801/news.godf ...
    • jaxcs, on 06/03/2008, -0/+9I read the stories on both links. Horrified by both. I used to carry a little 2 inch swiss army knife that I used to open envelopes and occasionally the plastic ties around boxes, I don't any longer because it was causing me too much grief. This knife, which I was afraid to use to slice fruit because of the thinness of the blade was constantly scrutinized by security. But, at least they could technically claim it was a knife. I can't justify scrutiny over necklaces, book covers or T shirts.
      • chanop, on 06/03/2008, -0/+11I was charged for weapons possesion for having one of those leathermen plyer, swiss army knife type deals a few years ago. Luckily the prosecutor/judge had common sense and dropped the charges when they saw the case
    • simg, on 06/03/2008, -10/+2am i the only one who is glad they're erring on the side of paranoia?

      put yourself in the shoes of the people who's job it is to protect the lives of thousands of people every day. would you take the slightest chance, however small, that someone might put a those passengers in danger and you would both be held accountable and have those lives on your conscience?

      more to the point, the guards themselves will probably have rules & guidelines to follow, rather than being able to use their own judgement.

      the moral of this story is don't take anything near an airport that looks like a gun or explosive or suggests that you have any interest in guns or explosives. don't give the security guards any reason *whatsoever* to feel threatened by you

      let the digging down commence :)
      • Goblin, on 06/03/2008, -0/+21There's erring on the side of paranoia and refusing to allow someone on a plane because their t-shirt has a PICTURE of a TOY holding a TOY GUN on it. That isn't paranoia, it's retarded.
        • simg, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1my comment was more specifically related to the woman with the gun pendant and the guy who was reading a book about a terrorist with a picture of explosives on the front cover.

          yes, it's pretty retarded that they got treated like this, and it's unfair, and it's a violation of their civil liberties. however, it's not hard to see why it happened and then avoid similar problems yourself.
      • dragon76, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5There have been multiple studies that after 9/11 we are actually LESS safe than before. Who knows why, hysteria, looking for everything BUT the obvious but TSA screeners let something like 80% of objects through that they should have stopped when tested by an independent agency whose job it is to rate TSA efectiveness. In St. Louis, MO a HOMELESS man wandered out onto the tarmac and GOT ON A PLANE! How the ***** does a guy get into the airport, past all that security and onto a plane?
      • TitansJing, on 06/03/2008, -1/+0I'm more concerned that these people are getting paid to waste everyones time. they are paid to do a job and this is as wasteful as cigarette breaks. might as well just pay em to stand around and do nothing because that's what they are doing + harassing customers. just wasteful to everyone.
        • MacEnvy, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Dugg down. Don't ***** with my cigarette breaks.
      • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1No! I don't enjoy fascism. I don't enjoy being treated like a potential mass murder for any length of time.
        "the moral of this story is don't take anything near an airport that looks like a gun or explosive or suggests that you have any interest in guns or explosives. don't give the security guards any reason *whatsoever* to feel threatened by you" So, Mr. Jayakody should have changed the color of his skin if he wanted to wear a t-shirt featuring a cartoon character? "If a T-shirt had a rude word or a bomb on it, for example, a passenger may be asked to remove it" Lesson learned: NEVER travel thru Boston in a Aqua Teen Hunger Force shirt.
    • dragon76, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3Black Dockers with tennis shoes and a t-shirt for a defunct newspaper. I mean, he should be stopped just on principle of his wardrobe alone.
    • blagoaw, on 06/03/2008, -2/+2The citypaper article is from October, 2001. At that time, I think it's fairly safe to say that some of the airport employees would be suffering from some lingering psychosis after the shock of the 9/11 (I know I sort of was - I couldn't help it).. and compounding that, it's more understandable that they would err far on the side of caution, since that is a decision that would have been popular with other passengers at the time.

      The gun charm story is pretty silly. I could see that it's a little inappropriate to wear it on a plane, but they could have just asked her to keep it in her pocket or purse if that were the case. I can't see how they could feel justified in confiscating it.
    • kslat3r, on 06/03/2008, -2/+2the second link in particular shows the retarded and generally discriminatory attitude of American border patrol.. use some common sense!
    • dlite922, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Send an email to united at united@ual.com telling them they've got morons for security officers.

      If you want to send an anonymous email, let me know i'll show you.

  • SeaweedWater, on 06/03/2008, -4/+456Heathrow is run by Decepticons?
    • active1x0, on 06/03/2008, -3/+11Dugg for actually reading the article instead of assuming this was a TSA thing.
    • toolbox, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4Not even the article, the description.
      • Cenobite, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1You'd need to read the article to make the Transformers connection, though.
        • trevorh, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Or look at the shirt in the thumbnail associated with the article.
        • Cenobite, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1If you have super-zoom vision, sure :)
    • UDub9, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1They've taken over Terminal 5.
    • Matri, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker are nearby, I just know it!
  • digg88michael, on 06/03/2008, -27/+5It that happened to me, I would probably go "Are you for cereal?"
    • solidus636, on 06/03/2008, -2/+4That was a weak joke.
    • Dotcommer, on 06/03/2008, -2/+3If that had happened to me, I would of immediately started screaming and yelling at the top of my voice, trying to get as much attention to this ***** stupid ass stunt as I could before I would be taken down by security. I would constantly yell out my rights, and constantly urge anyone watching my rant to get out their cameras, cellphones and camcorders and record what they were seeing and post it on youtube or any number of other video hosting sites, to get word out about this *****, and to raise awareness of false security and the loss of common sense in our security.
      • jamesdew, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2see if I was faced with a situation like this I would want to do something similar to what you just said. But I would also be thinking "I really do need to get on that flight though". That is something security have over your head that encourages complicance

        I had a yoghurt taken off me that had 100g written on it. It came with some biscuit and crap and it was no-where near 100ml of liquid. The security woman insisted that because it said 100 on it I couldn't have it. I started to explain that grams and ml are two totally different units and preventing me from having my yogurt on the basis of it having the number 100 written on it was stupid but then I thought, hey it's just a yoghurt and my girlfriend will be rather pissed at me if I miss my flight over this.
    • glinsvad, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3...what about the piece in my pants?
  • spyd3rweb, on 06/03/2008, -3/+126The T-shirt could transform into a gun, you never know.
    • ahmedb07, on 06/03/2008, -1/+4what they meant to say was "Black man wearing gun t-shirt is a security risk"
      • Myonosken, on 06/03/2008, -2/+1Not really. British airport security aren't normally racist to black people. There exists some for middle-eastern people, but black racism has kind of dissapated since the macpherson report.

        In America its discrimination based on race, but over here its more about class (ie, chavs).
    • davidkeithjones, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3We all know how many people die as a result of stylish tees.
    • ADIDAS247, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Who is he, Jason Bourne?
  • etsboy1, on 06/03/2008, -3/+21This is crazy! It just shows not the efforts as to which airport security are going to but how paranoid they are becoming!
    • drunkinbda, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3sadly i dont think its so much being paranoid about stuff like the shirt themselves. Just paranoid of legal actions if something was to happen.

      As the old example goes... there arent "coffee is hot" warning on cups because the producers are paranoid someone will get hurt... they are paranoid of gettin sued.
  • lemur, on 06/03/2008, -3/+149This is just ridiculous... I mean, even if it actually were real, an Autobot would never harm innocent passengers! It would be like this really fantastic security boost. I'm surprised security isn't handing these t-shirts out to ALL the passengers.
    • Monkeydew06, on 06/03/2008, -0/+17Unfortunately we can't depend on the airport security to know the difference between Autobots and Decepticons... We must educate them to better society.
    • BCRazgriz, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Thank you, you made my day.
  • APOI, on 06/03/2008, -11/+108I had a similar experience boarding a flight to NY wearing a gun belt buckle. They pulled me out of the line, had me take off my belt and then the genius TSA officer holds it up and asks me with an accusatory tone, "what's this?". It's a belt buckle. "You can't wear this on my plane!" But it's obviously not real. "I don't care, you're going to have to put it in your suitcase or leave it here". So I had to put it in my suit case, lest I try and hijack the plane with a belt buckle shaped like a gun. "Don't bring this on the plane again", he warned me as I headed down the ramp to the plane. Idiots.
    • SeaweedWater, on 06/03/2008, -0/+19He showed you.
    • gracias, on 06/03/2008, -3/+101Who wears a gun belt buckle anywhere?
      • rex84, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1APOI

      • tehgoatman, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2as weird as this is.. my roommate tried bringing a gun belt buckle back from germany to the states and they wouldnt let him keep it
      • APOI, on 06/03/2008, -1/+0I collect guns and belt buckles. Which is it you have an issue with?
    • pinguwin, on 06/03/2008, -1/+44when bureacrats start using terms like "my plane", it's time to start worrying. No wait, that was a silly statement, it was time to worry years ago with these folks.
      • chanop, on 06/03/2008, -0/+32You can't say that on MY digg
      • suth, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Just like all the security guards saying MY property.
    • Dafon, on 06/03/2008, -0/+8He must have seen From Dusk Till Dawn.
    • chillypacman, on 06/03/2008, -1/+11I'd have said something like 'it's not your ***** plane'

      and justafter complying and hopping on the plane I'd yell out 'it was a destraction, fool'.

      The airplane would probably end up being held down for three hours ovre abelt buckle and an offhanded statement.
      • outlaw686, on 06/03/2008, -1/+7yea and after being held off in a holding cell for three hours, having you corn hole inspected by some guy name Tyrone and being interviewed by the FBI. Ten hours later your free and you miss your flight you paid for.
  • znicket, on 06/03/2008, -1/+221Small people with small minds in a position of small power. It's always a bad combination.
    • Peko, on 06/03/2008, -1/+9Small people with small minds as the head of state. It's always a bad combination.

      FTFY.
    • phibit, on 06/03/2008, -2/+8How do you know how tall this guy was?
  • blackmesa, on 06/03/2008, -3/+36Something needs to be done about this. It's absurd. They'll just keep taking and taking until someone finally stops them. How far are we letting this go?? Why can't we stop this absurd security theatre?
    • textrant, on 06/03/2008, -4/+0Because people will get on planes, with Knives concealed on themselves, and hijack them???
      • Nollykin, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2There really aren't many cases of aeroplane heists. Much less than that of crashes, at least.
      • blackmesa, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Yes and stopping people with "guns" on their t-shirts will fight terrorism. You're an idiot.
  • WatchDragon, on 06/03/2008, -3/+64They fail to mention while they were worried about this T-Shirt, Yosemite Sam, Lara Croft and Rambo all snuck onto the plane.
    • bluntphallus, on 06/03/2008, -0/+20Good. Terrorists can't hijack ***** with Rambo on the case.
      • DalamarArgent, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6Are you ***** me, last thing I want to be is a red shirt around Rambo.
    • Deval, on 06/03/2008, -5/+2Remind me to pack away my Halo 3 tshirt before flying. I wonder if I would get stopped since it shows Master Chief holding an assault rifle.
    • nxtitle, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0But what about the snakes?
    • Nollykin, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1REQUESTING RULE 34 DIGGCHAN
  • S1ngular1ty1, on 06/03/2008, -1/+52What is this world coming to? We are all turning into pansies.
  • borez, on 06/03/2008, -1/+180This is bollocks. I fly a lot and quite frankly I'm sick of getting ***** from sercurity at Heathrow, from having to dump all my toiletries because they weren't in a clear plastic bag, to losing countless maglights coz they don't like the look of them ( FTR I need them for my job and they cost a packet to replace ) to having my laptop confiscated ( I later got it back ) because I had a copy of the film Wargames on the hard drive ( Wargames for ***** sake?? ) .

    Theses people need to get off their frigging high horses and realise that an airplane is just a bus with bloody wings.
    • Rijnzael, on 06/03/2008, -0/+68Don't say that! The sooner they realize the similarity between buses and aircraft, the sooner we'll have the same rent-a-cops at bus stations!
    • chedabob, on 06/03/2008, -1/+27What's the deal with copy of Wargames?
      • borez, on 06/03/2008, -0/+27Just revisiting my childhood
      • chedabob, on 06/03/2008, -0/+9I meant like, why did they throw a wobbler over Wargames?
        • borez, on 06/03/2008, -0/+31Because of the alias file on the desktop called WarG ( if I remember rightly ) and the fact it wouldn't open for them ( some broken alias crap ) , basically they had no idea what the ***** they were doing.

          FTR: It's even worse for my mate Andy who looks Muslim and carries around a guitar pedal board for gigs, he gets marched off on a regular basis.
        • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5I can ALMOST understand how a guitar pedal borad would look like a series of detonation switches. If I were carrying one, I wouldn't have a problem with being asked about it or a look over to verify that it is innocuous, but not a "I'm don't know what it is, looks scary, owner MUST be a hijacker" mentality. I also fail to see how a picture of a gun, a sealed 20oz bottle of Coke, or a pair of nail trimmers are contraband. Instead of hiring security that one knows how to look at items and assume EVERYONE is a potential hijacker, lets get some people professionally trained to identify actions (real profiling, not the racial type). It'd take less 'profilers' to result in more REAL hijackings thwarted than the self-aggrandizing rent-a-cops we have now. Also, without the heavy-handed borderline fascist atmosphere, ticket sales would improve.
        • borez, on 06/03/2008, -0/+7At coyote1284: The crazy thing is you can go straight to duty free after security and buy a full 2l bottle of spirits, which when smashed, would make one hell of a weapon.
      • Ishiguro, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3I always take my flashlights onto planes. they have never even looked at it. I'd be pissed if they wanted to take it. It costs $65
      • DesertTripper, on 06/03/2008, -1/+23They are afraid that somebody might watch WarGames on the plane and thereby learn to use a doctor's dictation recorder to record the keypresses of the access to the cockpit, then reprogram the plane's computer to play a game of Global Thermonuclear War, although it would rather just play a nice game of chess. (or Flight Simulator X, for that matter!)

        CPE 1704 TKS for the win!
    • user24, on 06/03/2008, -9/+1maglites? get yourself an E01 - £7.50 delivered, much better quality, battery life etc:
      https://www.fenix-store.com/index.php?cPath=22_69_ ...
    • Peko, on 06/03/2008, -0/+14How about a nice game of chess?
      • borez, on 06/03/2008, -0/+8Later, let's pay global thermonuclear war
    • intekra, on 06/03/2008, -0/+18Wait... WHAT?! They search your hard drive before you go through security? That is just ridiculous.
      • borez, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Rarely, but they will sometimes ask you to start up your computer and take a look at the desktop.
      • xkorbin, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Mac OSX with Camouflage.
    • SqlByte, on 06/03/2008, -0/+9Uhm.. so they are checking your files on your laptop HD if i understood correctly ? Is this a standard procedure or what ?
      And no, i am not trying to be sarcastic.
      • borez, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3It is nowadays, if they suspect you of something they can do whatever they want. Good read on the subject, but I don't agree with his encrypting your laptop coz it'll cause you more trouble than it's worth.

        http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0805.html#3

        • had3l, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Good advice, just delete (Really delete, don't just press del and think that's enough) ANYTHING that might be even remotely incriminating (Like if you have Limewire installed.) Just send whatever you really need to an online HD. (Although they can look at that too under the Patriot Act if they really want, just don't give them a reason to want to look.)
        • jm9206755, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1I keep a separate data partition which I unmount and remove from my mtab before traveling. That way if I turn it on it functions perfectly fine and they can't even see that there is additional data on the drive.
    • BIGJOE1975, on 06/03/2008, -2/+3If you fly so much, then why don't you make your life easier by putting your toiletries in a clear plastic bag and putting your maglites in checked luggage? Since you know Security is a pain in the ass, why don't you use some common sense to minimize the hassle?

      The laptop confiscation IS crap, though.
      • TheRealDeuce, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6Some of us don't check our luggage, because that's also a hassle.
      • borez, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Fine if you HAVE checked luggage, I don't personally check anything, it tends to go walkies now and again and a rucksack as hand luggage does the job for me.

        The laptop thing happened, nuff said.
    • msissio, on 06/03/2008, -1/+5Dugg for use of the word "bollocks".
    • fudged71, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2Ironic, because Wargames is about being fooled about a security threat
  • DigitalJ3di, on 06/03/2008, -1/+64I wonder if I had a tattoo of a gun, they would tell me to cover it?
    • newms32, on 06/03/2008, -2/+17We'll have to leave this important question to the philosophical greats.
    • Hangly, on 06/03/2008, -0/+47No, they'll just take you outside and shoot you.
    • michael1406, on 06/03/2008, -0/+49Take it off or you aren't getting on the plane.
    • Rotzooi, on 06/03/2008, -0/+16Dutch singer Herman Brood had (he's dead now) a tattoo of a plane crash on his upper arm. His theory was that the chances of someone with such a tattoo on their arm would have a much smaller chance of finding themselves in a real-life plane crash.

      He was regularly forced to cover his arm up.
      • Frostek, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5...and yet he died after commiting suicide - by jumping from a roof. Looks like he couldn't get away from a death caused by falling. Strange.
      • stilesja, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2Hate to hear he's dead, but *please* tell me he died in a plane crash!
    • drastik21, on 06/03/2008, -0/+17They'll just hand you a cheese grater.
    • ccelo, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1they would tatoo an eagle over it
  • steveoco, on 06/03/2008, -1/+49I can think of about 4 shirts in my drawers which could get the same stupid response. I am sure at least one in ten teenagers have a shirt which could do the same... the terrorists have won for sure.
    • KingGorilla, on 06/03/2008, -5/+2I'm pretty sure 9 out of ten little boys would have a similar shirt as well
      • sovietninja, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4Why don't you take a seat over there?
      • tyywebb, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1When I was a kid I had a t-shirt with Samus on it (that I ordered from Nintendo Power). I wonder if I was 11 today would they say anything?
    • bobartig, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4Srsly? Optimus Prime? I mean, its a giant robot gun, ffs.

      I have a T-Shirt for Criterion Studio's "Black", which I got while working at EA. The front has a big line drawing of some sort of assault rifle, and the back says "Black /r All Guns Blazing" with some bullet hole graphics. It has a pretty violent connotation, but at the end of the day, its a frikkin t-shirt, and can't actually shoot anyone.
  • AndrewDB, on 06/03/2008, -4/+104FTA: "If a T-shirt had a rude word or a bomb on it, for example, a passenger may be asked to remove it," he said.

    Excuse me? I understand the rude word one, but you can't say for example wear a TShirt with a Babomb (from Mario), to use an extreme example.. on it?

    Are we /really/ getting that pathetic, and paranoid?..

    Give me a break.
    • KingGorilla, on 06/03/2008, -1/+52I think the correct term is bob-omb
      • AndrewDB, on 06/03/2008, -0/+12I looked around for the proper spelling when I posted that, but nothing came up..

        Thanks for correcting me. :]
      • ZiggyPlayedG, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6Welcome to Digg.
      • tyywebb, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Lolz, I remember that from the Super Mario Bros. 2 instructions!
    • saqer, on 06/03/2008, -21/+1excuse me, but you don't represent everybody
    • pinguwin, on 06/03/2008, -1/+19actually I don't understand the "rude" word part. Security is for security and not for social affairs and making people feel good about having their children not be offended. If your shirt says, 'Blow up the *$(U&$#*'ing plane", I can understand them having you change your shirt but not for the obscenity part. "*^$^$ rap music" is not a problem. The airlines might have something to say about the rap music shirt but security shouldn't give a (*&$(*&$% fat rat's ass.
    • pavanb500, on 06/03/2008, -0/+39As long as you don't do it in Boston....home of the HOLY ***** IT'S A LIGHT UP CARTOON DUDE scare
    • Monkeydew06, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6I have a Bob-omb shirt... I need to test this... immediately.
      • thisguy457, on 06/03/2008, -0/+12Dude, you're joking right? I would not mess with the TSA, they have unlimited power at airports. Completely unlimited and utterly unchecked power. Logic and common sense mean nothing. I do my best to do every thing they say without question, for instance:

        "Take off your pants"
        "Yes, right away"
        "Do 50 jumping jacks"
        "No problem"
        "Take off your shoes"
        "Done and done"
        "Kick that old lady in the face"
        "Knocked her flat, sir"
        "Give me your laptop"
        "Here you go, there's the 'on' button"

        These people are unchecked law enforcement standing high atop the Patriot Act, they can chuck you in jail for any reason at any time. I wouldn't mess around. Always kick the old lady when you're told. If not, at the very least, you're missing your flight.
        • Merendino, on 06/03/2008, -0/+7dugg up for "Knocked her flat, sir"
        • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -2/+1"Always kick the old lady when you're told. If not, at the very least, you're missing your flight."
          And delaying the rest of us, *****.
    • rrasco, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb. You gonna arrest me? Bomb bomb bomb bomb! During the war I was a BOMBadier!
  • leubstop, on 06/03/2008, -2/+245i bet they were stunned as to why the metal detectors didnt identify the threat
    • RadiatedAnt, on 06/03/2008, -1/+7Seriously if someone wanted to bring a weapon onboard you know they make things out of ceramic and plastic nowadays. from guns all the way to knives. TSA is useless
      • alpha19, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1Read the article. Wasn't about the TSA. FAIL
    • yayster, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Ever read Snowcrash? It had a character with glass knives.
  • kirado4, on 06/03/2008, -1/+37so to prevent people from being offensive.. they act it the most offensive manner possible?
  • JohnFromChicago, on 06/03/2008, -1/+22The stupidity of those in authority never ceases to amaze me. Aren't you glad American authorities aren't this devoid of common sense? Wait .. don't answer that.
  • Sillywombat, on 06/03/2008, -26/+17I expected this kind of ***** in America, but not the UK.
    • 9bpm9, on 06/03/2008, -9/+31The same country that doesn't allow people to say Scientology and cult in the same sentence? I can expect it.
      • Flunk, on 06/03/2008, -4/+7Where did you get that from?
      • Goblin, on 06/03/2008, -1/+8All the charges were quickly dropped in that one incident.
    • MooNinja, on 06/03/2008, -0/+14The country that bred America ? Honestly, UK, and America aren't as radically different as some would like to think.
    • AbsurdParadox, on 06/03/2008, -0/+14What?! The UK is the one with millions of surveillance cameras... seems to me the UK is further along than the US in this whole dystopian thing. Just barely, atleast.
      • textrant, on 06/03/2008, -4/+0In the UK we should not be afraid of the CCTV cameras everywhere. The British government can't even complete the simplest of IT projects, let alone create a system to track people using CCTV. The problem is that we insist on using British companies for all IT systems, to keep the money in our economy. Those companies however have no experience with large IT projects and either fail miserably or bring them years late and massively over budjet. It has taken us 10 years and over £10 billion ($20 billion, which is a lot for a small nation like the UK) to just computerise medical records.
        If the UK where further along in the dystopian 'thing' we would have a larger percentage of our population in prisons (~0.15% at the moment) and would allow thiings like warrant-less wiretaps and torture. Sound like any countries out there?
  • Taktic, on 06/03/2008, -2/+23There. The world went officially nuts.

    Paranoid lunatics. Man I'd throw a helluva fit.
  • saqer, on 06/03/2008, -23/+3of course it's a flight risk you *****, he's not flying alone...he's with 10's of others many of whom could potentially be flying scared or even worse, paranoid
    • luchid, on 06/03/2008, -1/+21Scared of a drawing of a robot with an imaginary gun? Really? It's people like you who keep allowing ***** like this to happen. You should be taken out and shot for the greater good.
    • Monkeydew06, on 06/03/2008, -1/+19I guarantee you a majority of people seeing this shirt would think...
      - Hey, Transformers! Cool!
      - Hey, Transformers! I hate the Transformers...
      - Hey, Transformers! I wanna watch Tranformers!
      - What the ***** is that? A bird of some sort?
      - I LOVE ROBOTS!
      - What a retarded shirt!
      - That shirt is awesome!
      - I'm hungry
      - Michael Bay ruined the transformers
      - Michael Bay revitalized the tranformers
      - Why wasen't Bubblebee a Bug in the Transformers?

      the list goes on and on...
      • textrant, on 06/03/2008, -2/+1The majority thinking
        - Michael Bay ruined the transformers
        And
        - I had no f##king idea what went on at the end of that film. There was metal hitting each other, thats all I could tell.
        • Monkeydew06, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1While I don't agree that Michael Bay ruined the Transformers, I do agree with you about the detail of the robots being overberring. Even on HD or Bluray DVD you can't tell what the hell Frenzy is doing 90% of the time.
    • mangosinslo, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3Just how stupid are ya?
  • mykinco, on 06/03/2008, -21/+7Ah just as I always suspected, the English are ***** retarted.
    • Taktic, on 06/03/2008, -3/+13I hope you're not American :D
    • dazparkour, on 06/03/2008, -2/+6I was in the process of digging you down, then I remembered that I'm not allowed to unless I stop being Scottish.

      Taktic - ouch.
      • mykinco, on 06/03/2008, -6/+4I actually don't consider Scotts English since you kicked their asses out of your country, tips a pint of Guinness at ya!
        • dazparkour, on 06/03/2008, -1/+5That is just it - we are not English. We are a whole other country, to the north.

          Guinness? Are you Irish, confusing me with the Irish... or just like Guinness.

          I'm the last one. :)
        • mykinco, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Just like Guinness
      • Taktic, on 06/03/2008, -1/+0That made no sense to me whatsoever :D

        Daz ouch? :D
    • Annix, on 06/03/2008, -0/+7Is it just me that gets a strange mix of annoyance and amusement at the retarded spelling 'retarted' that seems to be floating around the net these days? Part of me wishes that it was actually done for ironic effect, but I really don't think it is...
      • mykinco, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Ah I stand corrected, I guess the English aren't the only ones retarded, lol. Although it is our, notice I don't say my, American government that has, mostly, made the world retarded. I didn't vote for the bastard don't blame me. However it is just a freakin shirt
      • jamdogg, on 06/03/2008, -0/+7Get a Brian, Moran.
        • mykinco, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6Moran (Irish: Ó Móráin) is a modern Irish surname and derived from member ship of a medieval dynastic sept. The name means a descendent of Mórán, translated as Great One. Morans were a respected sept of the Uí Fiachrach dynasty in the western counties of Mayo and Sligo. In Ireland, where the name descended from the Gaelic, it is generally pronounced (phonetically) "more-in", an anglicized approximate of the Irish pronunciation. Elsewhere, pronunciation follows the French surname, Mo rant, anglicized to (phonetically) "more-anne". Brian as in Brian Griffin, unfortunatly I can't have dogs where I live.
        • Monkeydew06, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2< /awesome>
    • soupr, on 06/03/2008, -2/+5C'mon.. 99.99% of us English people would this is totally retarded.
    • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Nice reversal.
  • scabbers, on 06/03/2008, -5/+76They shot a Brazilian electrician in the head for looking a bit foreign.
    • chillypacman, on 06/03/2008, -0/+17Five times.
    • textrant, on 06/03/2008, -1/+0I tried to think of something beginning with "To be fair to the London Met Police..." just to provoke a reaction. But the best i could come up with was "...It wasn't the London Met Police"
  • pintomp3, on 06/03/2008, -3/+61that is some t-shirt. keeps him from boarding and from getting laid.
    • Zephik, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2I wouldn't want to get laid by a chick who DIDN'T like that t-shirt.

      ...but I would like to board my flight. Missing your flight because of some retarded security check ***** sucks, especially when its by some person who has decided to replace common sense with text book accuracy. ...although that sort of proves that they didn't have any common sense to begin with.
  • Welsh001, on 06/03/2008, -1/+19I got held up at Heathrow when I was a kid, my little sister put her toy powerdrill in my bag when I wasnt looking and when it went through the xray machine it did actually look like a gun. This was before bombs on planes was the in thing. If it happened to me now I would be severely sore from probes.
  • Hangly, on 06/03/2008, -3/+20Oh for ***** sake!
  • Hangly, on 06/03/2008, -12/+29TSA has a pool going to see how ridiculous they can make the rules before people flip out.
    • stevene, on 06/03/2008, -3/+6Buried for not reading the article. This has nothing to do with the TSA, as it took place at Heathrow T5...
      • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2Who cares which country's security it was, TSA is still more fascist than people give George Bush credit for. TSA would take a page from Heathrow security any day. Suppose someone used a device that looked like a Nintendo DS to hijack a plane out of Heathrow, destination non-withstanding, you better believe TSA would ban all personal electronic devices in a heatbeat.
    • textrant, on 06/03/2008, -2/+0Read the article before commenting...dick.
  • tama00, on 06/03/2008, -1/+11Well there goes my last hopes of humanity.
  • mr5150, on 06/03/2008, -2/+20As long as we have ***** morons ruling our countries humanity is ***** and will forever be treated as criminals and undesirables based on looks alone. Western democracy means making criminals out of everyone who isn't an elite.
  • Serial0Hacker, on 06/03/2008, -5/+1He should warp an AK in it.
  • aiten, on 06/03/2008, -15/+7Haha - that's my friend's husband! Crazy. I wouldn't let him on a plane anyway :P
  • TetchyTony, on 06/03/2008, -22/+0High time airlines discriminated against bad taste - and that IS bad taste for other worried fliers. Or, just imagine the cabin is somehow full of smoke, and the SWAT man is looking down his sights, and sees a gun. Worthy of a Darwin award!
  • DirtyRoboto, on 06/03/2008, -1/+13Lucky it wasn't a GUNdam Tee or they would have nailed him for the word "GUN" for explicit textual intimidation of his fellow UK drones.

    If you are that scared of flying that a fellow passengers tee makes you shake in your wellintons then ***** walk!
    • mimigins, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3That's what I thought when I first saw the picture, hehe.
  • locodude, on 06/03/2008, -1/+12I think stupid ***** morons working in airport security are a security risk. The decisionmakers here need to be fired, preferably by a firing squad.
    This is by far the stupidest thing I've heard this year.
  • Thorazine, on 06/03/2008, -1/+11Obviously these are low wage "Einsteins". Every airport seems to have a vast store of them these days.
    Sadly, many of them are in management positions.
  • moontime, on 06/03/2008, -1/+10This is absolutely ridiculous.
  • Zippo, on 06/03/2008, -11/+189............................................________........................
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    • outsid3rNo17, on 06/03/2008, -1/+4Why did you get it so big?
      • paulvq, on 06/03/2008, -1/+32That's what she said.
      • thesonofdarwin, on 06/03/2008, -2/+11It's not big enough for the particular situation.

        @paulvq - That's also what she said.
    • firebirdx01, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3why does it have 6 fingers?
    • ryan83189, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Is that man holding a gun? Gun?! Terrorist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • Zephik, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1
  • username484767, on 06/03/2008, -20/+1LOOOOOOOOOOOOL
  • NecroDigg, on 06/03/2008, -21/+0THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAA
  • Renster84, on 06/03/2008, -24/+0pics or it didnt happen
  • sfacets, on 06/03/2008, -13/+5Why are there so many idiots in the world? And why are some of them on Digg?
  • palehorse864, on 06/03/2008, -5/+22I don't know how you diggers can not take this seriously. That t-shirt could have gone off!
  • BaudiIROCZ, on 06/03/2008, -2/+19He obviously isn't aware of all the cartoon robots that have come to life in the past couple years.
  • crackberri, on 06/03/2008, -10/+0What an Idiot.
  • jeremyduffy, on 06/03/2008, -14/+5Note that the reason he was told to change was because it might be offensive, not because they were afraid of the shirt. Also note that it doesn't' make it any smarter and we won't stop endlessly mocking them for it. Resume justified ranting:
    • jebus123, on 06/03/2008, -1/+13Being a Decepticon, Autobots deeply offend me. I think it was a good call.
    • coyote1284, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3There's obvious "I'm intending to offend" kinda *****, like expletives, racial slurs, and hurtful comments. Then there's this, which if you are offended by it you are a pansy or looking to be offended. Seriously, if you are offended by a ***** cartoon robot holding a gun, how do you go about daily life without constant panic attacks. If you are that easily offended, seek professional help, you have some deep seated issues.
      /Issues? You got volumes, maybe even anthologies!
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