Funny t shirts, bearing images of guns or bombs are now deemed to be so dangerous to the safety of airlines, that passengers are forced to strip before boarding their flight.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7431640.stm
And this story appears on the same day it was announced that service levels at Heathrow Airport are “a national embarrassment”…hmmm, I wonder why? Will someone please wake me up and tell me that this paranoia over security is only a dream.
It was probably some old guy that saw it and everyone just agreed with the first guy so they wouldn’t make a scene. I personally find transformers to be offensive so I think they did the right thing. Now if he had an actual gun i’m okay with that but to let an image even depicting a transformer its just not something people want to see.
Okay…
Reading things like this, I’m tempted to say that this ‘paranoia’ is, indeed, ludicrous. But at the same time there’s definitely something happening with us as a global society to provoke these reactions.
I live in Chicago. More people get killed from violence here than in some “war zones” around the world. Just a couple of weekends ago, 30 people got shot during a period of 4 days. 30 people! Police made their usual statement that “this is just a deviation from normal statistics, violence levels hasn’t gone up the last decade”.
But really, are you ****ting me? Even a blind bat in Ohio can spot the trouble on this horizon. Right? It’s not JUST the US either (although, safe to say, this country is going downhill pretty fast). Violence is increasing in a majority of countries around the world (while some, interestingly enough, are growing less violent) and the sheer brutality of every day life is skyrocketing.
I’m not just taking doom death and decay here, but just the way we treat our fellow men. It’s all going the wrong way. Not to open another can of worms either but being able to buy assault rifles legally isn’t exactly helping the cause. You know that ancient slogan “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. I can’t for my life comprehend that people buy this. Guns serve one purpose alone and it is to take lives. The secondary purposes they may fill (fear, control, protection) are still derived from the fact that these are things that take lives.
I don’t agree that you should get thrown off a plane because you have a t-shirt that says “bomb”, but I can honestly say that I have a certain bit of understanding for people that do.
Sorry… got a bit long…
<3 Chicago, hate autbots… I bet a decepticon is behind this…
The world is really going insane. A t-shirt with a cartoon character holding a gun is a reason to deny a person boarding an airplane??? Has it really come to this? If we are in a “War on Terrorism” then I’d say we’ve pretty much lost. Is there no one rational left in charge anywhere?
Picture of gun != gun. Guns may only have the purpose of killing things but a picture of a gun doesn’t really work the same way. I guess it’s conceivable that he could have killed somebody with that T-shirt (strangulation?) Or that somebody may be so offended by transformers that it would be a serious inconvenience for them during the flight (Templarian?). But I seriously cannot believe that this would ever even be considered.
I don’t believe that this world is really that much more violent than it used to be. It’s just now there is instant world-wide coverage of violence 24 hours a day. After seeing that so often how could anybody not think that the whole world is going in the toilet?
Thought police anybody? PICTURES CAN’T KILL PEOPLE.
Gundark, although I agree with your post to 98% I would have to say it’s pretty naive to not comprehend that we are affected by the sheer amount of violence around us (tv, movies, music, games, images) etc etc.
It’s pretty easy to argue that a picture is just a picture but maybe we should also consider the impact all this exposure of it will result in … long term wise.
My wife grew up in Malaysia where everything is censored to the brim. She can barely watch the movies that come out nowadays without flinching everytime someone gets shot.
Kids that grew up with this stuff are so used to it, they don’t raise an eyebrow.
Good or bad?
I’m gonna say bad.
I would argue that we are indeed affected by the violence that we see all around us, everyday. But I would say that it is desensitizing us to violence rather than making us more violent. I have no problem imagining that playing violent video games or watching violent movies makes seeing violence seem like not such a big deal. But there is a big difference between seeing violence and perpetrating violence. I have never seen any evidence of a correlation between the two.
There are other (economic/social) reasons or factors that could explain any increase in violence in kids or young adults, but that discussion is probably a bit heavy for this forum.
First it was shoes…now t shirts. Before long, we’ll all be flying naked once someone finds out that underpants are a deadly weapon.*
What is truly ridiculous is the arbitrary way in which these security standards are applied. On a recent flight to the US, I had to surrender all kinds of liquid containers - a security guard was probably concerned that I might eviscerate the pilot with a tube of Signal toothpaste, or that I’d plunge my roll-on deodorant into the heart of the nearest cabin attendant as soon as the seatbelt sign was extinguished. A zippo I’d bought as a gift was also confiscated because it would’ve been possible to start a fire in the cabin…and yet a book of matches were okay!
On the same trip, I took an internal US flight with a small airline. Four guys in bright orange hunting gear were on my flight and, along with copious boxes of moose and elk innards, they were permitted to carry handguns and rifles on board so long as, and I quote the words of the security official, “the cartridges are stored securely in a different pocket to the weapon.”
Sometimes…all you can do is laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Ah yes… Here in the US all liquids over a certain size are considered potentially explosive. Including that apple juice you just bought from the vending machine at the airport.
I seriously hope no would be terrorist ever tries to blow up an airplane with explosive underpants. That would make attempting to board a flight rather embarrassing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m just playing the devils advocate. The reason I’m bringing up this argument is that people of “our” generation (and I placed that in quotes since there are more then one generation in this thread alone xD) tend to shrug off any claims that violence around us affect us. Popularly with claims like “I’m not gonna become a killer just because I watch a violent movie!!”
Whereas I don’t think anyone will, I think it’s interesting how the exposure DOES affect us. Not so much as individuals, but as a society.
But yeah, you’re right. Too heavy for Kirupa.com
That’s an old chestnut. There’s not a single film, game, video, musical score, or tv show that would drive me to violence. Nor would it cause anyone else to be violent unless they were already inherently violent.
Anyhow, on my next flight, I’m wearing these:
But that’s arguing that people are born violent.
I don’t buy that for a second. I don’t buy violence is passed on via our genes. It is a result of a plethora of factors, and some of them are undoubtedly society, upbringing and influences.
To argue that violent behavior is completely separated from violent influences is a whole new can of worms. Safe to say, I think its bullcrap.
The human race is a naturally violent species. So, in that sense, we’re all born violent to one degree or another. You carry it in your genes whether you deny it or not.
Tell me something…what video game did Cain watch before he slew Abel? Which band was Genghis Khan playing on his iPod when he was laying waste to the Khwarezmid Empire? What TV program caused the Kaiser to declare war in 1914?
^^^ :lol: I liked the ACDC ones better though…
There’s been violence between people for as long as there’ve been people. If it is only violent influences that cause people to kill other people then were did all these influences come from? What are all these movies/songs/violent media based on?
Everyone in the world has violent feelings towards other people. Whether it’s that guy who cut you off on the way to work in the morning, or whoever drank the last of the coffee without refilling the pot, or an unnamed corporation that produces terrible software which makes your job more difficult. That’s the nature of a human.
I haven’t really claimed that TV or music is solely responsible for human violence in any of my posts.
I can see that you’re not really interesting in this discussion either, otherwise you wouldn’t have written that part, so let’s just leave it.
Man, that’s ridiculous. This type of “security” only serves to quell the idiots, it doesn’t really protect anybody.
@Sekasi
This really is probably getting too heavy for kirupa.com, but I totally disagree about the right to buy certain types of guns. Banning something has never once successfully gotten rid of it (prohibition, for instance). If one person wants to harm another, they’re not going to say “All I have is this ■■■■ hunting rifle, not an AK-47… oh well, I guess I’ll just be peaceful”. I am an advocate of gun control - each weapon should be registered and kept track of, so that the owner is completely responsible for anything the gun is used for. But I’m also an advocate of gun rights - nobody has the right to take away my means of protection. To me, saying that “guns are only meant to kill, so why do you need one?” is the same as saying “If you have nothing to hide, then why do you have a problem with us spying on you?”. I never ever want to shoot anybody. Hell, I won’t even go gopher hunting because I feel bad… But it’s just a question of basic rights.
Shane, I really WOULD like to discuss this with you, since I find the topic fascinating. But maybe this isn’t the place for it ; )
Another world another forum. Have a good evenin
I agree… It’s just something I’m kinda passionate about, so I couldn’t help it 
Shoot me a PM if you really do want to discuss it more.
Correct - I see little merit in a lengthy philosophical discourse on the causes of violence in our society, or the implementation of policies and solutions to reducing that level of violence.
Particularly when the link at the start of this thread illustrates the nadir to which those policies and solutions have plummeted.
To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what you’re arguing for, or even where you’re going with it.
Are you saying that censorship is acceptable because that’s what happens in Malaysia so it must be okay? If so, then we can all look forward to pages being torn out of books and those films deemed unsuitable by the authorities (viz. those that don’t want the population at large to know the truth) being banned.
Should art be outlawed if it depicts scenes of violence? If so, then almost every old master can be cast onto the pyre, seeing as how a majority of art depicts scenes of violent crucifixion.
Are you saying that the world really is more violent? I guess you’ve not considered that violent acts are simply being reported more frequently because a) the world is more media-savvy and b) bad news sells newspapers still rings true.
Should guns be outlawed? If so, I’m not convinced the world will be a happier place when people are hacking chunks out of each other with swords.
Maybe we should ban Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture because it both glorifies violence and it features sixteen cannon shots in the score? If so, the New England Patriots had better find another tune for when they get a touchdown.
Do we remove every crime thriller from TV? If so, why stop there? Remove all news bulletins too. And WWF. Gladiators. Most televised contact sports would be doomed as well. As for westerns, it’s bye bye to Bonanza. TV programs will start at 9am and transmission will end at 9.30am, once Flower Arranging for Beginners has finished.
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