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Comment by pyre | Hacker News Reader

He didn't mutter the words though. They just happened to be on flash cards. Should I be detained just because authorities find the word 'bomb' or 'terrorism' on an object in my possession? I guess I can't take a newspaper through screening then, huh? Do you really think that he would have been detained if the words 'bomb' and 'terrorism' had been in French-English flashcards? One would hope that they would apply these things equally, but I have my doubts.

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obviously the guy had his rights violated, but your ridiculous comparisons aren't helping anything.

If those words were just 2 out of a million, like if he had a dictionary or newspaper etc, why is the article even mentioning it? The special mention of those words in the article makes it look like he was muttering them or trying to memorize those words in particular etc

Where does the article make the suggestion that he was muttering the words 'bomb' and/or 'terrorism?' Even then, why would someone be walking through an airport saying "bomb" or "terrorism" disjoint from any sort of context? (And how does that necessarily make them any more or less dangerous than anyone else? When was the last time that an actual terrorist was caught because they said, "bomb," and someone tackled them?)

As to trying to memorize the words, yes that is the point of Arabic-English flashcards, but how does one become dangerous (or a terrorist) because they are trying to memorize the words "bomb" or "terrorist?" Am I now dangerous because I've just admitting to knowing both of those words (by virtue of using them in this comment)?

"Am I now dangerous because I've just admitting to knowing both of those words (by virtue of using them in this comment)?"

In the current political climate: Yes.

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