[Flipside]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16810312

Two British holidays makers turned back because they said they were going to 'destroy' America (basically referring to their partying for the entire holiday) on a Twitter post.

Whilst I 'kind of' understand a level of concern over the wording used, it seems there is very little effort made by the US to deal with the language differences that exist between the two countries, and I certainly don't think Fundamentalist terrorists would twitter their intention to the open internet before they do it.

Edit: Spelling correction

[The E]

Jesus, America must be reeeeaaally fragile these days, if it can be destroyed by tweets. Or really paranoid, if it can be threatened by them.

[Nuke]

im just glad to know our tax money is being well spent. that we can keep agents on monitoring tweets enough to catch tourists while attempting to have a good time on vacation. ironically in alaska the words "tourist" and "terrorist" are somewhat synonymous.

[headdie]

I am torn here between the protecting innocents bandwagon and the OMG this is a total overreaction bandwagon as i think both parties have a valid say in this.
 
I know that security needs to be maintained but why are alerts going out about travellers before a basic checks have been completed, I mean they had a week to do it in and i would assume there would be enough time to see if any other of his online activity contained danger words/phrases.

[Mikes]

Wasn't there that professor that showed that the tiny amount of flight passengers that will statistically inevitably contract cancer as a result of passing through a backscatter scanner at an airport was somewhat higher than the tiny amount of the total American population that died from terrorist attacks. (Granted, the radiation dosage from a transatlantic flight is also similar or even higher than from a backscatter scanner (afaik)...   but it adds up.)

For that matter... deaths caused by DUI each year are much higher than deaths caused by terrorists...  yet there is no war on alcoholics.


I'd say perspective has long been lost.

[Dragon]

While I agree that this is somewhat paranoid, I can see the reasoning behind the decision. Considering the recent events, I think this was somewhat justified.
It also shows that terrorists reached their goal. This level of security checks might be what will finish off the USA, reducing their tourism and alienating it from other nations.
EDIT: It also seem that they were warned about saying anything like that. Let's just say that terrorism simply isn't a joking matter, especially in the current situation.

[LordMelvin]

For that matter... deaths caused by DUI each year are much higher than deaths caused by terrorists...  yet there is no war on alcoholics.

I'd say perspective has long been lost.

If you declare war on alcoholics, we'll fight back, and we'll fight back hard. *hic* Jush as shooon as I fhinish m'nex drink.

[castor]

Why weren't they jailed? Turning them back means they didn't take it seriously in the first place, but wanted to teach some manners (which should be a job for ur mom, not for the "Department for Homeland Security").

[redsniper]

Well of course we're not letting Britons in! You guys are our oldest enemy. We aren't going to just let you waltz in here and wreck the place!

[Aardwolf]

While I agree that this is somewhat paranoid, I can see the reasoning behind the decision. Considering the recent events, I think this was somewhat justified.
It also shows that terrorists reached their goal. This level of security checks might be what will finish off the USA, reducing their tourism and alienating it from other nations.
EDIT: It also seem that they were warned about saying anything like that. Let's just say that terrorism simply isn't a joking matter, especially in the current situation.

I can see the reasoning too! It's just bad reasoning, and a horrible case of hindsight bias.

[deathfun]

Hey guys, I'm going to go destroy American titty bars, who's with me?
*Waits for knock on door*

[stinkyFeet]

Omg, lots of people have starting tweeting their intention to destroy america since this happened!

The british are coming! The british are coming!

[NGTM-1R]

Weirdly enough, jihadists actually are well-know for tweeting their intentions. There have been ongoing twitter wars for both Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Nemesis6]

I remember a bit of news where the American military was considering equipping their soldiers with smartphones. Hilarity would no doubt ensue.

GIJoe Joe Smith
Fastmovers came in, #blueonblue. #manydead, lol.
2 hours ago

Oh here it is: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-07-12/tech/army.smartphones_1_iphone-and-android-smartphones-windows-phone?_s=PM:TECH

As far as this damaging America's reputation, it really is a drop in the bucket.

[Grizzly]

The Army group initially had some trouble testing the iPhone in the desert grounds, due to a problem many longtime owners of the popular Apple device know all too well. "AT&T didn't provide service there," McCarthy said.

I smiled.

[Mikes]

I remember a bit of news where the American military was considering equipping their soldiers with smartphones. Hilarity would no doubt ensue.

GIJoe Joe Smith
Fastmovers came in, #blueonblue. #manydead, lol.
2 hours ago

Oh here it is: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-07-12/tech/army.smartphones_1_iphone-and-android-smartphones-windows-phone?_s=PM:TECH

As far as this damaging America's reputation, it really is a drop in the bucket.

Great so the wrong app/malware could reveal your whole armies location to the enemy? LOL.

i.e.: App makers could send GPS information to the web and sell it to the highest bidder...   i.e. what is already happening anyways, except then it could screw up military ops lol.

[Dragon]

For that matter... deaths caused by DUI each year are much higher than deaths caused by terrorists...  yet there is no war on alcoholics.

I'd say perspective has long been lost.

If you declare war on alcoholics, we'll fight back, and we'll fight back hard. *hic* Jush as shooon as I fhinish m'nex drink.

Actually, America once declared a war on alcoholism. It was called The Prohibition. Let's say it didn't end well, resulting in a huge increase in crime and allowing gangsters to amass huge fortunes.
Pretty much the only good thing it gave us was material for stories about gangsters.

[NGTM-1R]

It actually did some good in forcing law enforcement to modernize and coordinate. But other than that it's pretty much a black hole.