What "leather jackets and thick jumpers"?

[matgb]

Those "terrorists" thrown off the plane? They looked suspicious because they were wearing heavy clothes and sweaters? Bullshit.

The friends deny claims they were wearing heavy leather jackets which aroused suspicion. They insist they merely had on light windcheaters, T-shirts and jeans.

(via)

One of the racist gits tries to defend the hysteria:

But lecturer Jo Schofield - travelling with husband Heath and daughter Isabel, 12 - tried to explain why panic gripped the 150 passengers on the flight.

She said: "Everyone agreed the men looked dodgy. Some passengers were very panicky and in tears. There was a lot of talking about terrorists."

Lecturer. She's a lecturer. Would you want her teaching you or your kids? The men looked "dodgy". Why, because they're brown and spoke Urdu?

They're confiscating books they don't like the look off, and removing people from planes because they're brown, even if they're a fully qualified airline pilot on a staff ticket. Let's here it for sane and rational shall we?

Comments

[matgb]

I'm remaining of the opinion that it's not a conscious plan on the part of the leaders, I think it's inadvertant stupidity, which in many ways is worse.

I've got a tinfoil helmet check y'see, and I have to make sure I'm not going all loony. Regularly. Whenever I think about this sort of thing for too long.

Yes, people are now associating because of all the media coverage, but I don't think that was the intentional effect. It may be I'm wrong.

[tiredstars.livejournal.com]

Power of Nightmares anyone?
It's hard to imagine that some of the people in charge don't recognise the way they can use fear to manipulate people. The only question is who's doing it, how much and with how much precision.
Also, I think even for those who are not consciously manipulating it, or if you don't believe there is a conscious manipulation, I'd argue that it is a necessary but contingent part of the political system that has developed. In that something needed to replace the general dissolution of positive political ideology and fear fulfills that role. Those involved at least implicitly recognise its utility and are unwilling to challenge its primacy.

Incidentally, on the 'heavy clothing while it's really warm' charge, uh yeah... well Schiphol's about a hundred square miles of air conditioning, and planes aren't exactly kept at the outside temperature...