www.ditl.org

Alex Salmond banned from flight after booking ticket as Star Trek captain

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/a ... ZylZjtbXPg

SNP MP Alex Salmond was barred from a British Airways flight after booking the ticket under the alias James T Kirk - the name of the starship Enterprise captain in Star Trek.

The former Scottish first minister was stopped from boarding at Heathrow because the name on his ticket didn't match that on his passport.

He has apparently been using the alias for years for security reasons and because he counts himself as a keen "Trekkie" but admits that he may have to change it now that his cover has been blown.

Apparently the staff at London City Airport and Gatwick know that he uses the name and regularly let him through but those at Heathrow were far stricter with the rules when he tried to head back up to Scotland after a week at the Commons earlier this summer.

Salmond told the Mail on Sunday that he was eventually allowed to board after making a series of "frantic phone calls".

It was all sorted out. I just wanted BA to 'Beam me up, Scotty'.

Alex Salmond

I'm somehow disappointed to discover that he's a Trek fan.

I'm somehow disappointed (though not surprised) to see that a sitting politician can't figure out that his passport needs to match his ticket.

Apparently it doesn't, in Glasgow. But they still don't have electricity or running water in Glasgow, so...

Graham Kennedy wrote:Apparently it doesn't, in Glasgow. But they still don't have electricity or running water in Glasgow, so...

I'm guessing that you lot joke about Glasgow (or Scotland in general) the way Americans from the Northeast do about the South?

Yep.

Mikey wrote:

Graham Kennedy wrote:Apparently it doesn't, in Glasgow. But they still don't have electricity or running water in Glasgow, so...

I'm guessing that you lot joke about Glasgow (or Scotland in general) the way Americans from the Northeast do about the South?

I used to live in the South. They're not jokes.

Graham Kennedy wrote:Yep.

I thought it was the Welsh you made fun off for being backwards? I've seen Rob Brydon, a Welshman, make a joke explaining Skype to the Welsh as a phone for TVs, and Lee Mack, a Northerner, mimicking the Welsh accent by making grunting noises.

Yes, we do, also. ... and the Irish, especially the Irish.

Yes, we make fun of the Scots and the Welsh and the Irish. And the French. And Americans. And Australians. And Germans.

...now that I think about it, we're actually kinda racist.

Graham Kennedy wrote:Yes, we make fun of the Scots and the Welsh and the Irish. And the French. And Americans. And Australians. And Germans.

...now that I think about it, we're actually kinda racist.

It's OK, because here's the kicker - most Americans wouldn't even conceive of a difference between a Welshman, an Irishman, a Scot, or an Englishman. The Aussies are just your goofy little cousins, BTW, in the perception of the rest of the world.

I wouldn't say that in Australia if I were you.

It's one of the interesting phenomena of our time that thanks to American cultural dominance, the rest of the world knows far more about America than Americans know about them. Like most Brist, I see US TV shows and movies on a regular basis, your cerrent events are reported on our news shows, there are large numbers of Americans online - half my friends are American. Whilst I'm sure I would find plenty to surprise me if I spent a year or two in the US, I'd probably also feel like I kind of know the place somewhat.

Hell, I even know more about America than some Americans. I was chatting to an American about the difference in attitudes to guns here and there once, and I said if it were me, I'd probably abolish the 2nd Amendment. She made the statement "you probably don't realise this, but our Consitution is one of the most perfect documents every written. It's SO perfect that it's never been changed even once since it was written. I don't think we should start now."

I had to gently point out to her that the US Constitution has been amended 27 times, the last being in 1992. She had absolutely no idea that there were amendments about slavery, alcohol prohibition, term limits, voting for women... and I haven't actually studied the Constitution or anything, I just picked that up from documentaries and random mentions of the Constitution in movies and stuff.

It's funny how history turns like that. Two hundred years ago it would have been the other way around. A hundred years from now we'll probably all know a whole lot about China.

Graham Kennedy wrote:I wouldn't say that in Australia if I were you.

Or Scotland, Ireland or Wales for that matter. I certainly can't imagine anyone going into a pub on the Falls Road, saying there's no difference between the locals and the English, and it ending well.

I had to gently point out to her that the US Constitution has been amended 27 times, the last being in 1992. She had absolutely no idea that there were amendments about slavery, alcohol prohibition, term limits, voting for women... and I haven't actually studied the Constitution or anything, I just picked that up from documentaries and random mentions of the Constitution in movies and stuff.

Technically, I suppose it's only been changed 17 times, given that the first ten were added just after they'd finished writing it and decided they'd forgotten a few things.

"Oh damn, I knew I meant to put that in... well I'm not rewriting it now, just stick it on the end..."

Captain Seafort wrote:

Graham Kennedy wrote:I wouldn't say that in Australia if I were you.

Or Scotland, Ireland or Wales for that matter. I certainly can't imagine anyone going into a pub on the Falls Road, saying there's no difference between the locals and the English, and it ending well.

I wouldn't say it anywhere - I said that there are plenty of Americans who don't recognize the difference, not that I don't. Be that as it may, there is a uniquely American resistance to globalism in some quarters. I don't get it so much locally, probably based in large part on my proximity to a cosmopolitan center like NYC, but there are demographics which show 'Murican pride by refusing to learn about cultures outside of America (or even outside their own subcultures.)