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Math on an Airplane = terrorist

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Sweet Lou 4 2, May 7, 2016.

  1. Sweet Lou 4 2

    Sweet Lou 4 2 Contributing Member
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    Yes - because you know math looks Arabic and that's very suspicious.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/05/07/professors-airplane-math-leads-flight-delay/84084914/


    An Ivy League professor said his flight was delayed because a fellow passenger thought the math equations he was writing might be a sign he was a terrorist.

    American Airlines confirms that the woman expressed suspicions about University of Pennsylvania economics professor Guido Menzio. She said she was too ill to take the Air Wisconsin-operated flight.

    Menzio said he was flying from Philadelphia to Syracuse on Thursday night and was solving a differential equation related to a speech he was set to give at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada. He said the woman sitting next to him passed a note to a flight attendant and the plane headed back to the gate. Menzio, who is Italian and has curly, dark hair, said the pilot then asked for a word and he was questioned by an official.

    "I thought they were trying to get clues about her illness," he told The Associated Press in an email. "Instead, they tell me that the woman was concerned that I was a terrorist because I was writing strange things on a pad of paper."

    Menzio said he explained what he had been doing and the flight took off soon afterward. He was treated respectfully throughout, he added. But, he said, he was concerned about a delay that a brief conversation or an Internet search could have resolved.

    "Not seeking additional information after reports of 'suspicious activity' ... is going to create a lot of problems, especially as xenophobic attitudes may be emerging," he said.

    American spokesman Casey Norton said the Air Wisconsin crew followed protocol to take care of an ill passenger and then to investigate her allegations. Norton wouldn't specify the details of the allegations, but said officials determined them to be non-credible. The woman was rebooked on a later flight.
     
  2. Cohete Rojo

    Cohete Rojo Contributing Member

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    This confirms all my stereotypes.
     
  3. RocketsLegend

    RocketsLegend Member

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    Couldn't you post this in that other thread about the guy getting kicked off for talking about martyrdom on the plane?
     
  4. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"

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    No, math is scary and deserves its own fear-filled thread.
     
    1 person likes this.
  5. Exiled

    Exiled Member

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    The allegation has some merits
     
  6. nickb492

    nickb492 Contributing Member

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    To be fair, some Math equations to simpletons looks not just like terrorist writing (whatever that is) but more importantly witchcraft. Ill be damned if we have a Warlock Terrorist Eye-tailian take over a plane. I'm proud of the woman. As a simpleton myself with a wife getting her masters in Math, makes me feel good seeing another one of my ilk confused and scared of what looks like the devil's work.
     
  7. Sweet Lou 4 2

    Sweet Lou 4 2 Contributing Member
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    That's brilliant! Math is the new martyrdom.
     
  8. Jontro

    Jontro Member

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    One time a good friend of mine was telling me about his math thesis over lunch after a class. I called the campus police, he was arrested, and we are no longer friends. Glad to know now that I had made the correct decision.
     
  9. LosPollosHermanos

    LosPollosHermanos Houston only fan
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    Your (lack) of common sense is amazing.
     
  10. Exiled

    Exiled Member

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    you are a true American hero, i would love to see you honored during this coming half time break of the final game7 between Rockets and Clevland
     
  11. TheRealist137

    TheRealist137 Member

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    Trump is going to build a around those terrorist breeding grounds also known as university math departments. It's gonna be huge!
     
  12. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    Arabic numerals are the language of the terrorists.
     
  13. Sweet Lou 4 2

    Sweet Lou 4 2 Contributing Member
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    We must defeat Al-Gebra wherever we can find it. 5th graders rejoice!
     
  14. REEKO_HTOWN

    REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

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    They wouldn't have been able to figure out jet fuel melts steel beams without it!
     
  15. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"

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    [​IMG]

    Get these mother-****ing equations of this mother-****ing plane.
     
  16. RedRedemption

    RedRedemption Contributing Member

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    Jontro vs myself. Fap off.
    Great family fun half time entertainment.
     
  17. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    Exactly. I wish people could be more serious about this threat. Just like how innocuous Arabic sayings like 'God willing' are sometimes used by terrorists who are about to blow up a plane, math is also sometimes used by terrorist masterminds who are drawing up plans for the same goal. Better safe than sorry, amirite?

    Honestly, I wonder what it's like for the panicked and deeply mistaken would-be informant when they are going to bed at night after they've falsely accused someone, or when they read about themselves (though not named!) in the papers the next day. Do they feel bad about the trouble they've caused people, or do they justify it to themselves and say, "Well I couldn't have known. You can see from my point of view how he could have been a terrorist. Better safe than sorry, amirite?"
     
  18. AroundTheWorld

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    Probably your best post on this BBS. From which comment section did you steal it?

    Edit:

    Wyatt Early · California State University, Sacramento
    Well, you never know when a member of al-Gebra might be up to something.

    May 7, 2016 11:26pm

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...rist-flight-delay_us_572e41e6e4b016f3789617f7
     
  19. Sweet Lou 4 2

    Sweet Lou 4 2 Contributing Member
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    ???? I found the article on USA Today. I bet I'm not the only one who came up with that obvious pun. Your attempt to attack me once again falls as a pathetic trolling attempt.

    But hey psycho-troll, are you going to post my place of work again on here?
     
  20. AroundTheWorld

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    Seems to be changing quite a bit ;).
     

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