[Infowarrior] - Fear of the unfamiliar, again.

[Richard Forno]

Part of me faults the passengers for doing this in the "New Normal" (idiotic as that concept of a "New Normal" is) but the bigger part of me is this representing another case of Americans fearing that which is new or unfamiliar to them.  --- rick



Pilots lock down cockpit over praying passengers_ 
http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/article_7a9460e1-bc6d-5c72-9de9-f02e3f44c2c1.html

Pilots on an Alaska Airlines flight locked down the cockpit and alerted  
authorities after three passengers conducted an elaborate orthodox Jewish 
prayer  ritual during their Los Angeles-bound flight. 

Airline spokeswoman Bobbie Egan says the crew of Flight 241 from Mexico 
City  became alarmed Sunday after the men began the ritual, which involves 
tying  leather straps and small wooden boxes to the body. 

FBI and customs agents, along with police and fire crews, met the plane at  
the gate at Los Angeles International Airport. 

Airport police say two or three men were escorted off the plane, questioned 
by the FBI, and released. No arrests were made.

_Copyright 2011 The Associated  Press._