Ruth Dudley Edwards

jimi_t

Fairly rare that I'd read the Indo (or its inbreed cousin the Sindo) but this article caught my eye and I'm shocked how this objectionable old bint hasn't been the focus of an AH toasting yet

http://www.ruthdudleyedwards.co.uk/journalism10/IrInd10_02.html

Abi

.

Political correctness impairs airport security

We have to ignore all the hand-wringing liberals and political interference, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards

I bought an ulu in Alaska a couple of years ago. It's a sharp pocket knife with which Sarah Palin could efficiently skin a caribou or a terrorist cut the throat of a recalcitrant air steward. On return from a recent trip to Dublin, I found it nestling forgotten at the bottom of my handbag, having been undetected by both Heathrow or Dublin X-ray machines.

The people who watch the screens have a boring, repetitive job, and even if potentially dangerous items show up, they often get through. Security in airports is a con. Except in Israel, of which more later.

In the past 18 months or so I've been on 70 or more planes and been checked by security in around a dozen airports in Europe and the US. Mostly, what goes on is a complete waste of time. The explosive powder concealed in the underpants of the Nigerian wannabe bomber was undetectable by X-ray, as would have been the syringe with the nasty liquid. (No one has ever spotted the adrenaline syringe I carry to ward off anaphylactic shock from wasp-stings.)

The body-scanners that are now about to be brought in at enormous expense will be useless against the latest cutting-edge Islamist initiative -- what Americans are delicately calling the butt-bomb. It's a winner, this. While there's the disadvantage that if you trigger it in situ, your body will take the main force of the blast, all you have to do is pop into the loo, extract the PTN (Pentaerythritol tetranitrate) from your rectum and set it off when you get back to your seat more efficiently than did young Mr Abdulmutallab. Then, hey presto, plenty of dead people will be raining down on the city of your choice.

We have to get real. And that means for a start accepting dogs, profiling, behavioural identification and -- crucially -- operational independence.

As the Slovakian security people have demonstrated dramatically, dogs are as good at sniffing out plastic explosives as they are at spotting drugs. The unfortunate Stefan Gonda, arrested by gardai for unwittingly carrying the RDX (Research Department Explosives -- as used successfully in August 2004 by two female Chechens on two Russian aircraft) planted on several passengers by Slovak police testing out their sniffer dogs, did not actually surmount the canine barrier. The dogs had 100 per cent success, but the handler who had put two samples of an explosive into Gonda's bag forgot to take out the second when the dog found the first. So let's have the dogs checking people and baggage as they arrive at the airport so no-one can saunter into security with his knapsack, blow up hundreds of queueing passengers and wreck the airport.

Now, profiling. The civil liberties people scream about the wickedness of paying special attention to particular ethnic, religious or age groups. Rubbish. These days, apart from the odd Tamil Tiger, suicide bombers are Muslim, the vast majority are of Asian background, almost all are under 30 and most are still male. Keep security minimal for the rest of us and focus on the core group. Women won't put too much strain on the system: so far, their bombers wear enveloping Islamic dress.

Knife crime is going down in London because police have finally decided to ignore hand-wringing liberals and search black kids, who are the main perpetrators and victims. Very few parents complain: they don't want their kids to murder or die. Similarly, it was only the malcontents and republican activists who whinged when, during the heyday of the Provos, the Irish were singled out for security checks.

I'm not suggesting that everyone within the core group should be subjected to specially intimate security checks. This is where behavioural identification comes in. The Israelis, who need and have the best security system in the world, are adept at interpreting body language: suicide bombers are mostly tyros and their nervousness shows. If the sweaty ones have to be strip-searched or go home -- tough.

Above all, while airport police should be subject to the law, they should be free of political interference. Politically correct politicians from the UK to Canada have caved in to pressure from Muslims and agreed that the devout should not have an unclean animal near their sacred person. They have rejected profiling as racist and discriminatory and therefore have subjected us all to hours of pointless misery. (I've had the experience in America of being taken out of a queue boarding the aircraft to be re-searched so as to be a middle-aged, white, female counterpoint to the searching of a dodgy-looking young man in full Islamic gear.) Behavioural identification techniques will be swamped if its practitioners are expected to view every passenger as an equal threat.

Lay off, politicians. Stop wasting our money and let the cops do their job.

AnonoBoy

She's anti-Bertie and anti-Blasphemy law. She might fit right in in AH.

imme

are you surprised at Edwards, it's the usual right-right stuff that goes down well with a lot on Boards:D.
She is forever singing the praises of convicted felon Conrad Black, or Baron Black of Crossharbour.
Another odious individual.:cool:

Morlar

jimi_t wrote: »

Fairly rare that I'd read the Indo (or its inbreed cousin the Sindo) but this article caught my eye and I'm shocked how this objectionable old bint hasn't been the focus of an AH toasting yet

http://www.ruthdudleyedwards.co.uk/journalism10/IrInd10_02.html

I agree she is an objectionable bint but probably not for the same reasons you think she is. I don't have an issue with that article, it basically says airport security should focus on the most likely terrorists. The issue I have with her is her constant stream of articles published in Ireland about her buddy the convicted in new york fraudster Conrad Black. She is trying to rehabilitate Conrad Black through the use of her Irish Daily newspaper column constantly publishing propaganda articles trying to put the little scumbag in a positive light - that is the aspect of her columns that I find the most objectionable.

ballsymchugh

(I've had the experience in America of being taken out of a queue boarding the aircraft to be re-searched so as to be a middle-aged, white, female counterpoint to the searching of a dodgy-looking young man in full Islamic gear.)


if that's her in the photo, she's well beyond middle aged. bint.

Dudess

Bullsh1t exhibit A:

Similarly, it was only the malcontents and republican activists who whinged when, during the heyday of the Provos, the Irish were singled out for security checks.

With a statement like that, she's obviously trying to rile, so it's best to ignore - don't feed the troll if you will...

OutlawPete

Hope some security from the airport read that and recognize her the next time she's flying off to Aspen.

I hope it's a time when she has forgotten her fancy pocket knife and so they have to slip on some latex gloves and make damn sure she is not in possession of it.

Dyr

Remember when that IRA tout was tied up, beaten up and robbed by some lads from a gay bar he was drinking that he invited back for a few after hours (he's not gay of course though). He was staying in a place dudley dedwords had leant him. They're all a nice happy west brit club working for their shady masters

r3nu4l

jimi_t wrote: »

Fairly rare that I'd read the Indo (or its inbreed cousin the Sindo) but this article caught my eye and I'm shocked how this objectionable old bint hasn't been the focus of an AH toasting yet

http://www.ruthdudleyedwards.co.uk/journalism10/IrInd10_02.html

I would,...n't

stovelid

jimi_t wrote: »

and I'm shocked how this objectionable old bint hasn't been the focus of an AH toasting yet

For a minute, I thought you were advocating that we roast her.

Please don't do that when I'm eating my lunch.

Captain_Generic

I like how they seem to think that facing all these security checks anyone wouldn't be nervous, i get a bit freaked out when airport security stare at me even when i know i'm not doing anything wrong

ballsymchugh

stovelid wrote: »

For a minute, I thought you were advocating that we roast her.

Please don't do that when I'm eating my lunch.

i think that's the post of the day. mainly cos you're having lunch this feckin early!

biko

Knife crime is going down in London because police have finally decided to ignore hand-wringing liberals and search black kids, who are the main perpetrators and victims.

Afaik this is true. In US the most common cause of death for black teenagers are getting killed by other black youth. Could be the same in UK.
Some interesting stuff here http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/murder.html

imme

Magnus wrote: »

Afaik this is true. In US the most common cause of death for black teenagers are getting killed by other black youth. Could be the same in UK.
Some interesting stuff here http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/murder.html

Edwards is saying black kids weren't searched before because of hand-wringing liberals, I believe black kids were searched before.

orourkeda

OutlawPete wrote: »

Hope some security from the airport read that and recognize her the next time she's flying off to Aspen.

I hope it's a time when she has forgotten her fancy pocket knife and so they have to slip on some latex gloves and make damn sure she is not in possession of it.

and then shove the stingy wasp syringe yoke in her box

Borneo Fnctn

She's the moron who gave this little gem of a review to the Wind That Shakes The Barley.

Loach's political viewpoint "requires the portrayal of the British as sadists and the Irish as romantic, idealistic resistance fighters who take to violence only because there is no other self-respecting course,"

And then she admits a while after that she had never seen the film and she had no intention of ever seeing it.

hooradiation

......hand-wringing liberals......

Oh look, she's a moron.

rule of thumb: If you're using liberal (or indeed conservative) as a pejorative, you're not worth listening to.

markesmith

Makes you wonder what right-thinking individual would read the Indo or the Sindo. They seem to go in for employing self-hating Irish and patronising British people descended from the landed gentry.

That article is pretty odious, but not at all surprising for that particular newspaper.

orourkeda

markesmith wrote: »

Makes you wonder what right-thinking individual would read the Indo or the Sindo. They seem to go in for employing self-hating Irish and patronising British people descended from the landed gentry.

That article is pretty odious, but not at all surprising for that particular newspaper.

It's a rag. Plain and simple. In fact there's very little in the way of decent Journalism in Ireland.

jimi_t

orourkeda wrote: »

It's a rag. Plain and simple. In fact there's no decent Journalism in Ireland.

FYP.

I haven't read anything bar the Tribune or Observer in a long while. Bring back the Slate or Mongrel.

mathie

Dudley wrote:

As the Slovakian security people have demonstrated dramatically...

'security people'?
Oh right she's using technical terms.

enniscorthy

This old hag is infact what you may term as a bullshit journalist / revisionist historian who has taken an objectional look and a pessimistic view towards all things Irish, Catholic or can you imagine both (!!!) throughout all her years of senseless mindless pontificating.

Her crazy utterings and revisionist ideas are unbelievably given time on the airwaves and in the press. She described the Irish Famine in terms like it wasn’t that bad, or just that’s the way things were back then. She is embarrassed by England’s turbulent role in Ireland’s affairs and tries to demean Irish National Heroes such as Padraic Pearse. She recently proposed that Ireland should join the British Commonwealth and called people who disagreed with her a lunatic fringe.

She is of the opinion that us terrible Irish deserve everything we got throughout the years of England's historical interference in Ireland. She is a London apologist who has been disowned, debunked and disregarded by all but the middle to upper class politically correct athiest west Brit anglophile white people who read rags such as the West British Independent.
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enniscorthy

enniscorthy wrote: »

This old hag is infact what you may term as a bullshit journalist / revisionist historian who has taken an objectional look and a pessimistic view towards all things Irish, Catholic or can you imagine both (!!!) throughout all her years of senseless mindless pontificating.

Her crazy utterings and revisionist ideas are unbelievably given time on the airwaves and in the press. She described the Irish Famine in terms like it wasn’t that bad, or just that’s the way things were back then. She is embarrassed by England’s turbulent role in Ireland’s affairs and tries to demean Irish National Heroes such as Padraic Pearse. She recently proposed that Ireland should join the British Commonwealth and called people who disagreed with her a lunatic fringe.

She is of the opinion that us terrible Irish deserve everything we got throughout the years of England's historical interference in Ireland. She is a London apologist who has been disowned, debunked and disregarded by all but the middle to upper class politically correct athiest west Brit anglophile white people who read rags such as the West British Independent.

oh did i say all that hehehehehehehahahaha what i actually meant was :

hahahahah ruth dudley edwards good 1 hehehehehe she wouldnt get a job writing for the BEANO

hehehehahahahahaahhahehehehhahahahahahohohohohoho

Borneo Fnctn

enniscorthy wrote: »

oh did i say all that hehehehehehehahahaha what i actually meant was :

hahahahah ruth dudley edwards good 1 hehehehehe she wouldnt get a job writing for the BEANO

hehehehahahahahaahhahehehehhahahahahahohohohohoho

I thought you had a serious head injury for a moment!

Gingy

Bambi wrote: »

Remember when that IRA tout was tied up, beaten up and robbed by some lads from a gay bar he was drinking that he invited back for a few after hours (he's not gay of course though). He was staying in a place dudley dedwords had leant him. They're all a nice happy west brit club working for their shady masters

Yer man was Sean O'Callaghan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_O%27Callaghan

As for Edwards, I don't know how she's still banging about, she just seems to like stirring up controversy (even more than most journalists). Her brother and father were respected history professors and this seems to give her the right to be recognised a reputable historian. I remember she was the main critic of The Wind that Shakes the Barley when it came out saying that it was pro-IRA and then she admitted she never even saw the film!

Lux23

The emotional part of me really objects to profiling and I do feel that is very wrong to treat a group of people like they are all potential criminals or terroists. But the logical part of me sees that there is a need for some sort of profiling. For example, if you have a young muslim man with a one way ticket and with no luggage then some sort of alarm should go off so authorities have enough time to question him.

brianthebard

enniscorthy wrote: »

This old hag is infact what you may term as a bullshit journalist / revisionist historian who has taken an objectional look and a pessimistic view towards all things Irish, Catholic or can you imagine both (!!!) throughout all her years of senseless mindless pontificating.

Her crazy utterings and revisionist ideas are unbelievably given time on the airwaves and in the press.

She's not a revisionist, she's just an idiot. There's a difference.

Nodin

enniscorthy wrote: »

...... athiest west Brit anglophile white people who read rags such as the West British Independent.

Actually shes turned holy joe in her later years.

FlutterinBantam

brianthebard wrote: »

She's not a revisionist, she's just an idiot. There's a difference.

Nodin wrote: »

Actually shes turned holy joe in her later years.

heh heheh:D:D She sees through the red leftwing propagandists who ,whilst availing of our tax Euros with no compunction, feel it's their mission in life to diss the hard working taxpayer to support their scatterbrained theories whilst the rest of us actually work and produce things.

;)

Might fool some ,lads, but ya don't fool me.;)

meditraitor

I read the article but by the time I got trough all the replies Ive forgotten what she was saying, so Ive no opinion except that from the replies I guess she is a BINT

monkeypants

Ah, she's one of the journos that I don't even bother reading anymore. As soon as I see her name or picture, I just turn the page. I already know that I won't agree, so why spend the time reading the column. Eilis O'Hanlon is another one that I can't stand. Brendan O'Connor gets a read because he sometimes makes me chuckle, but he's a man in desperate need of a slap.

NothingMan

I never thought i'd need a dictionary reading posts in AH. This thread has annoyed me, now I know that all the AH posters aren't just the Beavis & Butthead types I had profiled you all as. (I hope my profiling isn't offending anyone)



hahaha "bint".

Mike 1972

Now, profiling. The civil liberties people scream about the wickedness of paying special attention to particular ethnic, religious or age groups. Rubbish. These days, apart from the odd Tamil Tiger, suicide bombers are Muslim, the vast majority are of Asian background, almost all are under 30 and most are still male. Keep security minimal for the rest of us and focus on the core group.

Thought the Tamil tigers had more or less gone out of business but I digress. Quite a lot of "mosts" in the statement above. You can be damn sure that in the event of the polices she advocates being adopted Al Quieda will within about half an hour be using recruits which dont fit into whatever stereotypes they use. They might even have them dressed up as nuns.

..Politically correct .....

When one sees phrases like this its usually a good indication that what one is reading doesnt merit serious consideration. But on the other hand.......

AnonoBoy wrote: »

She's anti-Bertie and anti-Blasphemy law. She might fit right in in AH.

Noone can be wrong about everything

irish_bob

i agree completley with this excellent article , its ludicrious to devote the same level of time to checking white european origin elderly women as it is to young middle eastern men when it comes to airline security

ballsymchugh

irish_bob wrote: »

i agree completley with this excellent article , its ludicrious to devote the same level of time to checking white european origin elderly women as it is to young middle eastern men when it comes to airline security

in the US they check passengers who buy tickets a day or 2 before travelling too. on the boarding card there's an SSSS in one corner, that gives you the privilege of a separate screening and having your bags searched. not every bomber has to look like a young middle eastern man. she probably just bought her ticket a few days before travelling. maybe the dept of homeland security should asked her for advice when they were drawing up their regulations.

Nodin

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

heh heheh:D:D She sees through the red leftwing propagandists who ,whilst availing of our tax Euros with no compunction, feel it's their mission in life to diss the hard working taxpayer to support their scatterbrained theories whilst the rest of us actually work and produce things.

;)

Might fool some ,lads, but ya don't fool me.;)

I'd stick to your 'toilet' threads, were I you.

monkeypants

Mike 1972 wrote: »

You can be damn sure that in the event of the polices she advocates being adopted Al Quieda will within about half an hour be using recruits which dont fit into whatever stereotypes they use. They might even have them dressed up as nuns.

Indeed. In these circumstances, patterns are bad.

FlutterinBantam

Nodin wrote: »

I'd stick to your 'toilet' threads, were I you.

heh heh

A random swing aaand a hit!!!

Glad you recognised yourself

Nodin

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

heh heh

A random swing aaand a hit!!!

Glad you recognised yourself

Hmmmmm......Was that recognition or psychic powers that made me to think that post was aimed at me...or the fact that you quoted me in it......

geeky

Ruth Dudley Edwards is a hack who gets work because she spouts stuff that serves the interests/prejudices/obsessions of newspaper editors, proprietors and moneyed people in general.

She's not the worst example of this, but she ain't far off.

Herb Powell

so wait.
She's saying that people who "look like terrorists" should go through full security checks, so that she "a white, middle-aged woman" (obviously superior:rolleyes:) doesn't have to wait 5 mins doing the same?
Ah God............................
where do these idiots keep coming from???????????????

The funny thing is she looks like a leftist, pot smoking, fat, lesbian hippie! I think she should be randomly searched for possesion of drugs as she fits the stereotype.

enniscorthy

Deleted User wrote: »

The funny thing is she looks like a leftist, pot smoking, fat, lesbian hippie! I think she should be randomly searched for possesion of drugs as she fits the stereotype.

defo mate you said it

irish_bob

Herb Powell wrote: »

so wait.
She's saying that people who "look like terrorists" should go through full security checks, so that she "a white, middle-aged woman" (obviously superior:rolleyes:) doesn't have to wait 5 mins doing the same?
Ah God............................
where do these idiots keep coming from???????????????

you dont think its reasonable and logical that middle eastern looking men with arabic names are given higher priority when it comes to security checks over middle aged white women from ireland

Nodin

irish_bob wrote: »

you dont think its reasonable and logical that middle eastern looking men with arabic names are given higher priority when it comes to security checks over middle aged white women from ireland

Well, it is Dudley Edwards we're talking about. Maybe they want to know if the thing about the stick is true......

kowloon

Would profiling not encourage the use of bombers who don't fit, say white middle aged women. Once the focus is placed on certain groups, those who seem to be most harmless would benefit from reduced security.

Brussels Sprout

This thread just jumped out at me because this woman has been irritating me with her opinions for a long time now. My parents have been getting the Sunday Independent for as long as I remember and I always end up flicking through it just to torture myself. The whole paper is a rag. They put a small circuit of talentless Dublin socialites up on a pedestal and trumpet them as 'the beautiful' this and 'the talented' that. For example, despite already having 2 separate supplements for this fluff they still managed to put a story about Glenda Gilson being dumped on page 3 of the main news section of the paper this weekend.

Then there is the blatant right wing agenda that has been running through it for years. Back in 2002 almost all of the editorial staff (including Brendan O' Connor) were in favour of the US invading Iraq. Ex Sinn Fein party member Eoin Harris can't get through a column without moaning about his old party and simpering about Bertie who rewarded him with a seat in the Senate. And now all through this current economic climate they have been light on attacking the banks/property developers and instead heaping scorn on the Public Service. (the one exception to all of this is Gene Kerrigan, who's continuing involvement in the paper is a constant source of bafflement to me).

Ruth Dudley Edwards though is particularly odious. She's like a little Fox News right here in Ireland bending and twisting the news to fit her views. This weeks article was just one in a long line. Everytime I see her picture I can't help but think of the fictional character Dolores Umbridge. They'd have a lot in common actually. The only thing I can say in her defence though is at least she's being honest about her views. There are many more that share her beliefs in private which I presume is the reason why the paper is so damn popular.

monkeypants

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

Gene Kerrigan

Only reason to even cast eyes in the direction of that paper. His column on the back page is always worth reading.

Mike 1972

irish_bob wrote: »

you dont think its reasonable and logical that middle eastern looking men with arabic names are given higher priority when it comes to security checks over middle aged white women from ireland

No

kpbdublin

Ruth Dudley Edwards wrote a fine biography of Padraig Pearse.