Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 56

Thread: New Article about ORD Airport Watch

  1. #16
    Senior Member moose135's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Long Island, NY
    Posts
    8,067
    Quote Originally Posted by RWB View Post
    I'd like to ask a ORD watch member, which is more of a potential threat to the airport?
    A. Father and son watching planes
    B. A vehicle driving by the terminal with Islamic writing on it
    The correct answer is 'B'
    I'm not an ORD watch member, but I don't see where either one is more of a threat than the other.

  2. #17
    Administrator Landing Lights's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Wappingers Falls, New York, United States
    Posts
    515
    Quote Originally Posted by moose135 View Post
    I'm not an ORD watch member, but I don't see where either one is more of a threat than the other.
    I couldn't agree more. Arabic writing does not necessarily mean that somebody is Muslim (or a threat), and for that matter, being a Muslim doesn't mean that somebody is a terrorist.
    Ben Granucci, Wappingers Falls, NY
    NYCAviation Senior Editor & Director
    On Twitter @blgranucci
    More photos on Flickr
    [email protected]

  3. #18
    Senior Member RWB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
    Posts
    225
    Quote Originally Posted by mldoc View Post
    I couldn't agree more. Arabic writing does not necessarily mean that somebody is Muslim (or a threat), and for that matter, being a Muslim doesn't mean that somebody is a terrorist.
    I based my threat assessment on a recent event here last August http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...rt-3754694.php
    Emergency personnel mobilized swiftly after the 2:19 p.m. phone call to the airport in which a man “who had an accent” said he left luggage at the airport and that “the airport was going to blow up,” officials said.

    The threat contained specific information about explosives in three cars in the lower level of the short-term parking garage, McManus said bomb-sniffing dogs indicated the vehicles might contain explosives, but that nothing could be confirmed until the bomb squad checked the vehicles.
    When you see something you're supposed to say something, right? Or only if politically correct?

    Still haven't caught the person/s responsible.
    PANTS UP, DON'T LOOT!

  4. #19
    Program Coordinator
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Washington
    Posts
    2,077
    If you don't belong to this and you try to spot there they come along and just shut you down? That's crazy. I don't know what's worse, no program @ JFK or mandatory membership in ORD's program. I'm sure you folks have been very helpful with the crime supression aspect of this, it's just that...I do the same thing without a vest.
    Bingo. THough I also agree the program certainly has merit, this is precisely the problem with the program, and precisely why the article used the term para-police. And precisely why I don't approve of it overall. Spotting should not be an extension of the police. It should not only be acceptable if it's a counter-terrorism activity.

  5. #20
    Senior Member Cary's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    NJ
    Posts
    1,985
    Quote Originally Posted by RWB View Post
    I based my threat assessment on a recent event here last August http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...rt-3754694.php

    When you see something you're supposed to say something, right? Or only if politically correct?

    Still haven't caught the person/s responsible.
    I'm not seeing anything in that article that ties Arabic writing on the back of a car to the bomb hoax event. And "had an accent" doesn't necessarily mean "Middle Eastern accent", and even if it was, some white guy could've faked a Middle Eastern accent for all we know.
    General Photography - Website | Instagram
    PlaneCaptures - Website | Instagram

  6. #21
    Administrator Landing Lights's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Wappingers Falls, New York, United States
    Posts
    515
    Quote Originally Posted by RWB View Post
    I based my threat assessment on a recent event here last August http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...rt-3754694.php

    When you see something you're supposed to say something, right? Or only if politically correct?

    Still haven't caught the person/s responsible.
    Since when did having an accent become a crime in this country? We are a nation built of and by immigrants and as a nation we often forget that fact. Moreover, how easy is it to fake an accent? If you're calling in a hoax, wouldn't you want to speak with an accent to both disguise your voice and make it seem more believable? Also, nowhere does that article mention anything about Arabic writing. You might as well have based your bogus "threat assessment" on any of the countless threats or acts of terrorism that have taken place.
    Ben Granucci, Wappingers Falls, NY
    NYCAviation Senior Editor & Director
    On Twitter @blgranucci
    More photos on Flickr
    [email protected]

  7. #22
    Senior Member lijk604's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    4 air miles SE of ISP.
    Posts
    4,143
    Quote Originally Posted by deltaA330 View Post
    Ya unfortunately its join or dont spot. Before this program, ORD was a notoriously hard airport to spot. At least there is an option now. Ironically, one of the things we are supposed to report are non-watch members spotting. So just join- its 20 bucks for the background check and then you can spot all you want.
    So if I wanted to come out for a day or a weekend to spot, I could not just hook up with one of you guys for "escorted" access...to a pubic area?
    I mean seriously? I am going to get on a plane to fly to your city, to do something that is perfectly legal, and I need to have a background check and pay $20 just to do something I can do for free anywhere else? Please clarify!

  8. #23
    Senior Member RWB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
    Posts
    225
    We are a nation built of and by immigrants and as a nation we often forget that fact.
    Thanks for the refresher class in American history 101. Last time I checked we are still up to our necks in a War on Terror, or as some like to call it, a 'Overseas Contingency Operation'. The whole damn reason there's even a watch program to begin with!! And like Cary said "some white guy", color ain't got nothing to do with it! Those Tsarnev brothers were whiter than my azz, and the guys that chopped up that British soldier, dark as night. It's all about a mind set, worldwide domination, and it's not going to stop. What if any of you were in downtown NYC by the Ground Zero/9-11 Memorial and see a vehicle cruising around with blacked out windows and 'that' writing on it? Wouldn't raise an eyebrow or turn some heads?
    PANTS UP, DON'T LOOT!

  9. #24
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Grand Rapids, MI
    Posts
    268
    Quote Originally Posted by lijk604 View Post
    So if I wanted to come out for a day or a weekend to spot, I could not just hook up with one of you guys for "escorted" access...to a pubic area?
    I mean seriously? I am going to get on a plane to fly to your city, to do something that is perfectly legal, and I need to have a background check and pay $20 just to do something I can do for free anywhere else? Please clarify!
    Essentially yes. You can only be escorted by a member if you are under the age of 18. If you choose not to join, your only hope to spot is at USG, where you are able to view 28R arrivals and 14L departures. All other spots are strictly off limits to non-watch members.

  10. #25
    Senior Member moose135's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Long Island, NY
    Posts
    8,067
    Quote Originally Posted by RWB View Post
    What if any of you were in downtown NYC by the Ground Zero/9-11 Memorial and see a vehicle cruising around with blacked out windows and 'that' writing on it? Wouldn't raise an eyebrow or turn some heads?
    Or it could be someone commemorating one of the several dozen innocent Muslims killed on September 11.

    Twenty years ago, a white man, born in the United States and a veteran of the US Military, driving a rental truck, blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City. Based on your criteria, I guess you would have reported it if you had seen me moving last summer...

  11. #26
    Administrator PhilDernerJr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Queens, NY
    Posts
    12,470
    Quote Originally Posted by RWB View Post
    I'd like to ask a ORD watch member, which is more of a potential threat to the airport?

    B. A vehicle driving by the terminal with Islamic writing on it


    The correct answer is 'B'
    Quote Originally Posted by megatop412 View Post
    Especially when above the Arabic writing "B-52" is written
    You're both wrong. My Arabic isn't amazing but I'm pretty sure that says "Don't Tread On Me" in Arabic (which I have on a t-shirt that I wear). And if I am wrong, looking at the TX plate, it being a pick-up truck, and the B-52 mention, I'm sure it is a taunt toward terrorists.

    also keep in mind that merely being Muslim or speaking Arabic does not actually make you a threat. It takes a little bit more than a language or race to create suspicion.
    Email me anytime at [email protected].

  12. #27
    Administrator PhilDernerJr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Queens, NY
    Posts
    12,470
    Quote Originally Posted by RWB View Post
    ... with blacked out windows and 'that' writing on it? Wouldn't raise an eyebrow or turn some heads?
    I think it's referencing to it as "that" writing that people are questioning. What exactly is wrong with Arabic writing?
    Email me anytime at [email protected].

  13. #28
    Senior Member RWB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
    Posts
    225
    I guess I'm guilty of profiling, I won't say anymore of my political/personal views.

    Phil, thanks for the translation, I'll sleep better knowing the pick-up truck was just a good ol' boy.
    PANTS UP, DON'T LOOT!

  14. #29
    Senior Member NIKV69's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    IFP, ISP, JFK, IGM, SAN, VCV, LGA, LAX, SEE, LAS
    Posts
    4,258
    Quote Originally Posted by deltaA330 View Post
    Essentially yes. You can only be escorted by a member if you are under the age of 18. If you choose not to join, your only hope to spot is at USG, where you are able to view 28R arrivals and 14L departures. All other spots are strictly off limits to non-watch members.
    SMH.
    'My idea of a good picture is one that's in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous.' Andy Warhol

  15. #30
    Senior Member lijk604's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    4 air miles SE of ISP.
    Posts
    4,143
    This is where the ORD Watch group, should talk in their meetings, and offer to be "spotting escorts" for out of towners.
    They take the responsibility for what they signed up for. If they are true spotters, they will know a true spotter from a "bad guy"

    Knowing these facts now, I think this is a horrible program, and feel it was started so that the "Locals" have the spotting areas to themselves.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •