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Let’s admit a basic fact here: If you’re a passenger carrying a printer ink or toner cartridge on a plane, you’re probably a terrorist. It’s such a weird thing to be carrying on a plane in the first place that we can feel safe in saying this. This will inconvenience nobody except printer and printer ink manufacturers. Even so, when the TSA bans this device, it’s going to be a huge waste of time, because now that al-Qaeda knows that the TSA knows about it, they’ll never use it again. This, friends, is called security theater and won’t actually keep anyone safe. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Aug 2010 23:27

I don’t think he’s going to be in trouble very long. I think he just had a very small meltdown, and I think he deserves to be able to have that meltdown if you saw the egg on his head where he got smacked.
Diane Slater • Discussing her son’s memorable meltdown. Flight attendant Steven Slater’s quitting – getting into a fight with a passenger, grabbing a couple of beers, and escaping through the plane’s inflatable chute – was perhaps the most bizarrely random thing to ever happen on an airplane, ever. It’s good to know that his mom has his back on this, but she may understand it better than most – she’s a retired flight attendant. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

Simple: Some of the countries being targeted complained. After December’s near-miss terror incident involving the underwear bomber, the U.S. put people fourteen nations on a heightened security checklist. Some of the countries, including Nigeria (where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came from) complained about the treatment because they were allies of the U.S. So the U.S. decided to switch to more general terrorist profiling techniques. Good idea, or too soft on terror? We’ll find out. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

Because consumers can’t be trusted to make up for failings caused by a security check that wasn’t done on a multi-part flight from Nigeria, people flying to the U.S. from another country will be subject to rules forcing them to new standards. To call these rules over-the-top is to point out that they’re punishing the wrong people for something one guy did. Here’s a quick overview of the rules, according to Air Canada:

one Multiple searches, both at the airport screening point and the aircraft boarding area.
two One carry-on item per person, which means you’re stuck paying fees to check your stuff.
three During the last hour of flight, you must remain seated with no access to carry-on items.
four If you see your own shadow on a flight, be scared of it. (We made that one up, guys.) source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink