That's a honey of an explosive

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN057258620100106

'Explosive' at California airport found to be honey Tue Jan 5, 2010 9:28pm ESTRelated News'Explosive' at Calif airport found to be honey-FBI By Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Authorities shut down a California airport on Tuesday after a suspicious amber liquid in a passenger's bag tested positive for explosives -- only to ultimately determine that the substance was honey. Francisco Ramirez, a 31-year-old gardener who had been visiting family in the central California city of Bakersfield, was allowed to return home to Milwaukee. "The substances in the bottles did turn out to be honey. They tested negative for all explosives and narcotics. It is nothing but honey," FBI spokesman Steve Dupre told Reuters. The security scare came as jitters gripped the U.S. travel industry in the aftermath of an unsuccessful Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound commercial flight from Amsterdam using explosives smuggled on board. Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Los Angeles, was shut down and evacuated for hours and flights diverted after the incident, which began when Ramirez' bag set of an alarm in a luggage-screening machine. U.S. Transportation and Security administration screeners turned up five Gatorade bottles full of what they called a "suspicious-looking liquid." Swabs of the bag and bottles tested positive for the explosives TNT and TATP. When the bottles were opened, two of the screeners smelled a strong chemical odor, complained of nausea and were rushed to a local hospital, where they treated and released, Kern County Sheriff's spokesman Michael Whorf said. Kern County Sheriffs deputies, fire crews, FBI agents and members of a "joint terrorism task force" responded to the scene and spent the day questioning Ramirez before further tests showed that the liquid was honey. After the all clear was given, officials said they were trying to determine why the honey tested positive for explosives and made the screeners so ill that they would need medical attention. "There are some questions I think are going to have to be followed up on," Dupre said. He said that Ramirez was "free to go" and would likely be home in Milwaukee by Wednesday. Ramirez, who Whorf described as "very cooperative," had originally been booked on a flight from Bakersfield to Milwaukee with a connection through San Francisco. In an unrelated incident halfway across the country on Tuesday, a bomb-sniffing dog detected what was thought to be explosives in a piece of luggage at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, prompting an evacuation of a terminal and delayed flights there. No explosives were found in the bag. (Editing by Alan Elsner)

I have explosive gas today...

DrBoost wrote: I have explosive gas today...

TMI

So, does this mean you're supplying the terrorists now?

Can you say paranoid?

When the bottles were opened, two of the screeners smelled a strong chemical odor, complained of nausea and were rushed to a local hospital, where they treated and released, Kern County Sheriff's spokesman Michael Whorf said.

It is pretty bad-ass to have this guy as your spokesman though...

Salanis wrote: So, does this mean you're supplying the terrorists now?

If they are brave enough to get that close......

That was some sweet bangin'...

I have yet to harvest any er, chemicals.

Capt Slow wrote: Can you say paranoid?

When the bottles were opened, two of the screeners smelled a strong chemical odor, complained of nausea and were rushed to a local hospital, where they treated and released, Kern County Sheriff's spokesman Michael Whorf said.

no, but i can say "eight dollar an hour lackeys who wanted to ride the wave of laziness"

I am Francisco Ramirez. Professional "gardener." I carry gatorade bottles full of honey onto airplanes. Bee caus, eeen messyco, eees no probalehm.

Seriously. Jesus berkeleying christ.

AngryCorvair wrote:

Capt Slow wrote: Can you say paranoid?

When the bottles were opened, two of the screeners smelled a strong chemical odor, complained of nausea and were rushed to a local hospital, where they treated and released, Kern County Sheriff's spokesman Michael Whorf said.

no, but i can say "eight dollar an hour lackeys who wanted to ride the wave of laziness"

Being the Gov't spineless management is also possible. I have supervisors insist that workers go to the hospital all the time to cover their asses because they are afraid of making decisions on their own and stand behind the "Since 9/11 you can't be too careful argument"

Capt Slow wrote: Can you say paranoid?

When the bottles were opened, two of the screeners smelled a strong chemical odor, complained of nausea and were rushed to a local hospital, where they treated and released, Kern County Sheriff's spokesman Michael Whorf said.

Fear does amazing things to people.

Wally wrote: Being the Gov't spineless management is also possible. I have supervisors insist that workers go to the hospital all the time to cover their asses because they are afraid of making decisions on their own and stand behind the "Since 9/11 you can't be too careful argument"

thats the way it is in manufacturing. Infact if you refuse a medical exam, after getting hurt, you are terminated on the spot. It is listed in the rules of the company and is considered a "condition of employment."

I have this on my paperwork whenever I travel:

No mention of honey though....

Mfwic. said: In case of emergency, accident or injury, contact ...so & so... Security at (555) 555-5555. Traveler has been conducting official government research and development activities in support of the U.S. Army and may have traces of explosives on clothes, shoes and/or equipment. Official point of contact is ..... [Supervisor]. In the event explosives have been detected as mentioned, please contact the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Ground Security Manager and the traveler's supervisor.

At what point are people going to see through this sham, and tell the TSA to shove it up their cornhole?

ReverendDexter wrote: At what point are people going to see through this sham, and tell the TSA to shove it up their cornhole?

I'm not arguing that some TSA policies are not asinine, but liquid explosives have been a problem for a while now. Should we just ignore it since it's a sham? I'm not saying it's a huge, imminent danger, but it exists and people have proved that if we do not screen liquids, they will try to carry explosives on planes. The lady with the honey should have known better, and I put the entire fault on her shoulders. There are rules very clearly written out on signs while you wait in line to be screened. If you're too stupid to follow or read the rules, perhaps you should not be flying? She could have dropped the honey in a fedex drop box on her way out of town and saved all of us some money. It's just common sense.

I appreciate TSA's policies, I don't appreciate their personnel management or customer service skills. In Chicago there's a gaggle of five TSA women discussing what to have for dinner, the line is 1/4 mile long and ONE GUY checking IDs. The baggage X-Ray screeners are sitting on their hands waiting for someone to come through the line. Rediculous.

This isn't an isolated incident.

I hate travel.

Capt Slow wrote: Can you say paranoid?

When the bottles were opened, two of the screeners smelled a strong chemical odor, complained of nausea and were rushed to a local hospital, where they treated and released, Kern County Sheriff's spokesman Michael Whorf said.

Paaalllleeease.

I used to conduct air monitoring during asbestos abatement projects. On one project we were working in a large Southern Hell building full of female union workers. One lady complained that the asbestos made her nauseous. Another could "smell" it and another got a sore throat from it. One said it smelled like nail polish (we later found out one of the ladies had applied nail polish in the stair well because it was against the rules to be doing it in the building). These ladies were totally obvious to the fact that you cannot smell asbestos or that is will not hurt you immediately. One lady kept hearing an "alarm". We only had an alarm that told you if you lost negative pressure inside the containment. I triggered the alarm and that was not it. Later she "heard it". It was their old dot matrix printer that had been in service for years. Yea, the mind is a powerful thing!!

ReverendDexter wrote: At what point are people going to see through this sham, and tell the TSA to shove it up their cornhole?

If you tell them, I'm sure they will

ReverendDexter wrote: At what point are people going to see through this sham, and tell the TSA to shove it up their cornhole? Then smack Pico Ramirez upside his berkeleying head and say "What the berkeley were you thinking, shiny happy person? Thanks for making me wait in line for an extra hour. For future reference, trying to bring gatorade bottles full of anything but gatorade on a plane is a BAD idea, numbtard."

ReverendDexter wrote: At what point are people going to see through this sham, and tell the TSA to shove it up their cornhole?

Not until they have an option. Hard to fly (or travel across borders) without dealing with terror-scaredies of some flavor or another.

Related note: The guy who went past a checkpoint at Newark Airport could do some jail time (not that I have a problem with that) but the stupid berkeley TSA guy who abandoned his post is on "unpaid leave"(probably for a week?)

spitfirebill wrote: These ladies were totally obvious to the fact that you cannot smell asbestos

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I'd hate to see what would happen to these Bozos if confronted with the awesome variety of syrups at an average IHOP restaurant. They would likely go full toes-up coma!