G.O.P. Delegates Get List of Banned Items (no umbrellas or strollers)

[Khephra]

A warning to delegates planning to attend the Republican National Convention: No guns, knives or explosives will be allowed inside Madison Square Garden. And if you are thinking about bringing strollers, spray cans or umbrellas, think again.

Guns and knives seem an easy call, but umbrellas? Sure, they can be used to whack and poke, but in sinister hands they can also hide a syringe filled with poison, according to the cloak-and-dagger set.

"Years ago there was a Soviet spy who managed to stab someone in London with an umbrella, pull a trigger and release poison," said Paul Rees, a former member of the Royal Marines who now works as director of Centurion Risk Assessment Services, based in London.

When the Republican convention rolls into New York City at the end of this month, thousands of state, city and federal law enforcement officers will be working to guard against truck bombs and other threats. But the last line of defense will be the Secret Service agents at the metal detectors at the entrance to the arena.

more............

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/04/nyregion/04convention.html?pagewanted=all

[truthisfreedom]

1. i guess they better take away canes, crutches, and knitting needles too.

and lighters, matches, pens, pencils, belts, shoelaces... hey! i just realized! it's like being in prison! they've turned our country into a prison... who, the terrorists? nope. the goofballs in the administration.

[saigon68]

2. A thuggish and Brutish Government made up of the Powerful

Power does emanate from the Barrel of a gun

I can't believe so many here want to disarm the citizens.

[mumon]

14. Well, yeah...

but anyone who's read "Discipline and Punish," by Michel Foucault "knows the drill" by now.

The idea is to create a a "secure" area, which is watched, and in which behavior is closely monitored (by an update of the "panopticon," an all seeing central place).

Behavior within the "secure" area is closely maintained within a certain protocol, severly limiting the "inmates" behavior (no joking, no mention of the word "bomb," etc.)

One of the implications that Foucault made in studying prisons is that much of the behavior we impute to how prisoners are treated in prison extends to societal indoctrination itself, and one side effect of the war on terror is the acceleration of this trend (my extrapolatoin).

[MaineDem]

3. I'm pretty sure the same was true in Boston (nt)

[Stockholm]

4. He was Bulagarian not Russian .... n/t

[ixion]

5. life in the Age of Paranoia

Geez. Why don't they just issue contamination suits and body armor at the door?

[MichaelHarris]

6. but without

umbrellas how will they protect themselves from the falling b&%^sh^t?

[Enraged_Ape]

7. What is it with Republicans and umbrellas?

"Singin' in the rain, I'm singin' in the rain..."

[Geo55]

8. Only elite members of the Republican Guard

will be allowed to carry weapons.

[Darth_Kitten]

9. Didn't the Penguin use an umbrella for a weapon in some Batman episode?

spray some kind of chemical to knock Batman and Robin out? :shrug:

[drscm]

10. Wait! What about their 2nd amendment rights? No assault weapons? eom

eom

[northzax]

21. I know, umbrellas don't kill people

arab terrorists kill people. right Ashcroft?

[DeaconBlues]

11. To be fair

I heard that umbrellas were banned in Boston, as well.

[Drifter]

12. No Strollers ... All children left behind ...

HAAAAAA ... I kill me.

Cheers
Drifter

[Insomnicole]

13. LOL!

Killed me too. :)

[MichiganVote]

15. Can they wear shoes and if so what kind? High heeled Repub's?

[GAspnes]

16. should include cameras then

they're a great device for hidden, targeted delivery of a projectile.

[Ravy]

17. Will they require two passes if they are pregnant? (n/t)

[GoBlue]

18. Don't forget those terrorist babies too

eom

[rman]

19. what about pens, suitcases

heck, you could hide a pipebomb inside a rolled up newspaper.

once you start being all paranoia, there's no end in sight.

maybe the delegates better meet via video-conference while each at their own undisclosed secure location.

[kskiska]

20. Then there's the smoking ban.

What an unfriendly place NYC is to Repugs.