ATLANTA – Kwame James waited nearly 10 years to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen, a long time compared with the time he spent helping subdue would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid on a trans-Atlantic flight.
James, now 32, wore a gray pinstriped suit and blue tie this week during the ceremony, which ended years of immigration limbo that began after he helped thwart the terror attack aboard a Paris-to-Miami flight in December 2001.
The 6-foot-8 basketball player was napping when a flight attendant roused him. Ten rows back, Reid was scuffling with passengers and the crew after he tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes. James helped tie up Reid with belts and headset wires, and took turns holding Reid by his ponytail with another passenger until the plane could land in Boston.
Nearly 10 years later, James would rather talk about how happy he is to be a new citizen and his passion for music.
"I became a citizen of one of the best countries in the world and I am very happy," he said Friday, a day after he was sworn in as a citizen in Atlanta. "All the things that people come here for, that's what I'm here for, the opportunity. You can come from nothing and become something here, just through hard work."
James, who was born in Canada and raised in Trinidad, played professional basketball in France. He had been traveling to the U.S. to meet his then-girlfriend and take her to his family's home in Trinidad for the holidays. He returned to France after the trip but asked his basketball coach for some time off when the reality of the flight's close call set in.
"I didn't understand the magnitude of what happened at first," he said.
He entered the U.S. as a tourist but later realized he couldn't overstay his visa if he wanted to become a citizen later. He agreed to testify against Reid, but the government seemed to turn its back on him after Reid pleaded guilty before trial in October 2002, said his immigration lawyer, Michael Wildes.
Wildes was shocked that someone who had acted heroically might lose permission to stay in the U.S., and he volunteered during a nationally televised news show to take the case for free.
Wildes brought James' case to the attention of then-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Joe Crowley. He also helped James apply for a visa that allowed him to play basketball.
Meet the Northwest flight 253 hero (hat tip Rick)
His name is Jasper Schuringa:
The passenger who tackled a suspected terrorist on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 said Saturday that he’s “happy” to be alive.
Jasper Schuringa, a video director and producer from Amsterdam, told CNN how he helped the cabin crew to subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old who reportedly ignited a small explosive device on board the plane Friday as it prepared to land in Detroit.
Schuringa said he heard a sound that reminded him of a firecracker and someone yelling, “Fire! Fire!”
But he was only certain something was wrong when he saw smoke. He saw Abdulmutallab's pants open and he was holding a burning object between his legs.
"I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," Schuringa said.
He said he then screamed for water and pulled Abdulmutallab out of his seat and dragged him to the front of the plane.
Schuringa told CNN that Abdulmutallab seemed out of it and "was staring into nothing."
To ensure the suspect did not have other explosives on his body, Schuringa stripped off Abdulmutallab's clothes. He then handcuffed the alleged attacker with the help of a crew member.
Schuringa said the other passengers applauded as he returned to his seat and that he sustained minor injuries during the take down.
"My hands are pretty burned. I am fine," he said. "I am shaken up. I am happy to be here."
And your fellow travelers are happy you were there as well Mr. Schuringa.
His Facebook page is here... I suspect he'll get a ton of friend requests.
Was Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III's safe landing of US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River an exceptional accomplishment, even a miracle, as many believe, or, as a correspondent has put it, the outcome that would be expected of a typical, experienced airline pilot? To answer the question, we need to strip the situation down to its essentials, leaving only the water landing itself. That is, we need to eliminate the initial shock experienced by the flight crew when the flock of Canadian geese collided with the plane and destroyed the engines; eliminate the uncertainty about whether to turn back to La Guardia; eliminate the pilot's sighting of Teterboro airport in New Jersey and the discussion about whether to try to land there; eliminate the plane's curve from a northern to an eastern to a southerly course to head down the Hudson; and eliminate the challenge of keeping the engineless plane aloft long enough to maneuver it over the Hudson.Auster regards
Once we've gotten rid of all those factors, we're left with this "pure" scenario: An airliner has just taken off and climbed to 3,000 feet and both its engines go out. It has several miles of a mile-wide, relatively calm river in front of it. Under those circumstances, what kind of landing would be expected? Would the smooth landing that Capt. Sullenberger achieved, with the plane left floating intact on the water, be the expected norm, or would it be very unusual?
...the talk about "heroism" in this and so many other cases as the hysteria of the dopey and lazy press.Although there is a lot of merit in this opinion, I think it is just one angle from which one can see the remarkable event on the Hudson.
Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina founded the bipartisan Anti-Terrorism Caucus. "Members of Congress and the American public must know the threats we face from radical jihadist terrorists," she says. "The Anti-Terrorism Caucus will give Congress the tools and resources it needs to communicate those threats to the public, as well as help them make more informed decisions when it comes to terrorist issues."
1. Will call for a government investigation of all US military chaplains who were approved by Abdurahman Alamoudi (in the picture here with Gore and Clinton).
And this was probably my favorite: Rep. Sue Myrick called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to revoke former President Jimmy Carter’s passport. This is in response to the former President traveling to Syria to meet with Hamas, an organization officially designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.John Smeaton, Glasgow terror hero
Daily Telegraph - 6 hours ago
John Smeaton, the ordinary hero of the Glasgow Airport terror attack now being hailed around the world.
The 31-year-old British Airport Authority worker helped to wrestle a terror suspect to the ground.
His defiant, spontaneous act - and his vow that should terrorists come to Glasgow again “we’ll set about ya” - has captured the imagination of millions across the globe.
The show of support - and, more particularly, its humourous tone - suggest that many people around the world are simply laughing in the face of terror.
More here.
