If you’re a New Yorker you know the familiar automated message, “If you see something, say something!”. On May 1st Duane Jackson became the poster child of that saying!

Thank goodness for Mr. Jackson being aware of his surroundings; he was able to alert NYPD and a potential tragic situation was avoided. It was a reminder of the times we live in; terrorism is alive and real on U.S. soil! Although it is unsettling that someone would attempt to blow up a car bomb in the middle of Times Square we can at least appreciate that we (ordinary citizens) are actually being mindful of our surroundings.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Federal Government is still dropping the ball when it comes to identifying possible terrorist and keeping air travel safe. After the Christmas Day Bomber President Obama promised that the failures that allowed the Christmas Day Bomber onto the flight to Detroit would be resolved. It looks like we still have more holes when it comes to Aviation Security; the Times Square Bomber Faisal Shahzad was actually able to purchase a ticket to Dubai!

Faisal’s name was placed on the “No Fly List” around 12pm Monday afternoon; how is it that approximately 6 hours later he was able to board a flight to Dubai without anyone from the Airline or TSA stopping him???? According to authorities there was a 2 hour delay in Faisal name actually being added to the list, which gave Faisal time to purchase the ticket without raising any suspicion. Then the next failure occurred as once Faisal checked-in he should have been stopped as his name was on the “No Fly List” at this point. So what happened?

Well, Emirates failed to check the latest version of the no fly list which then allowed Faisal to board the flight. Luckily for everyone involved someone at Emirates finally checked the latest version of the list and recognized Faisal name; that is when they called the plane back to the gate and Faisal was finally arrested. Now to be fair Faisal name would more than likely been spotted as a passenger while the flight was heading to Dubai where they would have probably apprehended when he landed (at least we hope so). This is still not acceptable as TSA and Airlines have to do a better job in protecting us!

I know the President can only do but so much, but at the end the day the buck stops with Obama! How many more times can we get lucky in these situations? Sooner or later these bungling terrorist are going to get it right! Hopefully Pres Obama or someone in his administration is chewing someone out as a result of these mistakes!

As always….
If there is something to be said, “Its On Broadway” to step up and say it!!!