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Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

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Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#91

Post by harlanlewis »

maxerickson wrote: post #88
diminoten wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...this is absurd. It's a 96 hour ban, this has absolutely nothing to do with the travel ban.

Could you link or explain where you are getting further info? Neither Bloomberg nor this Reuters article mention the period it will be in effect. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-airlines-electronics-i...

While some initially reported it as a 96 hour ban, some of those reports have been updated to say 96 hours allowed for airline compliance. I honestly don't know which one is right.

At least we can rest assured this has been as carefully prepared, vetted, and communicated as other recent policies.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#92

Post by yongjik »

Svexark wrote: post #39

Thank you for your reasonable comment. You're going to get down voted into oblivion for it though. The right to privacy, drone strikes, budgets, Russia, etc. aren't issues until the D after someone's name turns into an R. Get with the program or lose all your internet points, man.

> The right to privacy

OK, I'll give you that.

> drone strikes

What? Republicans never had any problem with Obama's drone campaigns, and if you compile a list of Trump's policies Democrats have an issue with now, I doubt drones will be in the top #10. It would be nice if people kept talking about drone strikes and their victims, but we don't. Either under Obama or under Trump.

> Russia

You can't be seriously saying Obama had a Russian connection? Remember, "Hillary will start a war with Russia" was literally a major talking point by Trump supporters.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#93

Post by jacquesm »

wheelerwj wrote: post #63
harlanlewis wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the ban will apply to nonstop flights to the U.S. from 10 airports in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa Personal electronics are near-indispensable. By restricting their carry from Muslim countries, freedom of movement to and from those countries is significantly curtailed. This is about getting around the illegality of the Muslim ban without banning any persons or groups. This is about "cultural…

interesting theory. but is keeping you from your laptop (but still allowing a smart phone) really much of a deterrent these days? most younger people are content without a laptop, using their phones quite a bit.

It would be for me. My laptop is my access to my work and without it I'm not traveling for work and I will not let it out of my sight without buying another laptop and doing a complete re-image. No way I'd trust it after passing it off for several hours. Paranoid? Maybe.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#94

Post by charlieegan3 »

ergothus wrote: post #59
maxxxxx wrote: post #25

When I came to the US in 2000 it was a fairly optimistic and happy place. Now when I read stuff like this I always get reminded how this country went from pretty open to being scared, irrational and mean in the last 15 or so years.

My personal pet peeve is when people say things like "we live in a dangerous world now". No, we don't. At least, not more dangerous than before (which is the implication). We might be breathlessly focused on some dangers, but those dangers are LESS than before, not more. I don't want anyone to suffer, and definitely don't want anyone to die. I'm not calling for turning our backs on every idea to improve safety. Just…

I always liked to point "we live in a dangerous world now" folks here: http://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/paperdownload/manu... - in particular the graph on the third page.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#95

Post by jacquesm »

jpalomaki wrote: post #36
coldcode wrote: post #2

I have no idea what the point of this is.

These parts of the article provides plausible explanation: "Brian Jenkins, an aviation-security expert at the Rand Corp., said the nature of the security measure suggested that it was driven by intelligence of a possible attack." "The ban would begin just before Wednesday's meeting of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group in Washington. A number of top Arab officials were expected to attend the State…

What kind of attack would this policy avert?

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#96

Post by toyg »

adventured wrote: post #65
harlanlewis wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not wrong. I suppose I'd call my own statement a bit weak if this wasn't the third highly targeted policy in the past 2 months - in fact one of the few types of policies this administration has pushed all the way to action. It's possible my lens is broken, but it seems to me none of the policies considering the general populace of the middle east should be considered in isolation.

There's zero question it's intentionally narrowly targeting Islamic terrorism at best, and at worst is a staging ground for how much power of restriction they now have (or can get away with) when it comes to those sorts of things. The same way phone searches are a trial balloon that will inevitably spread to not just the general population at airports but the local / state law enforcement as well. My point is specifi…

It will make espionage much easier: checked-in laptops will be trivially stolen as part of security checks (US authorities can and will open any checked-in bag they feel like opening, and now any involved Middle-Eastern authority will also be able to do the same).

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#97

Post by brajesh »

dawnerd wrote: post #12

This is just asking for trouble... Between theft and potential battery fires, it almost feels like they want something bad to happen so they can say people coming from these countries are dangerous (using a hull fire as proof).

This is probably a "travel ban" by inconvenience, since the earlier bans were stayed in courts

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#98

Post by [deleted] »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #87
JamilD wrote: post #62

I'm convinced this ban is motivated by a protectionist desire from the US-based airlines, to dissuade business travelers from flying on Middle Eastern airlines like Emirates and Qatar, which necessarily transit through countries like the UAE. If you're someone who flies for work, there's no way you're going to take a flight where you can't use your laptop.

Are the listed airlines the only ones that have direct flights to the US?

[deleted]

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#99

Post by gibbitz »

I'm curious what threat an iPad poses that a cellphone doesn't and what a terrorist can't do with a chron job that they would otherwise do with a laptop. It's not like they use a teleporter when they check your bags. It's clear that if our regulations and bureaucrats are all we have to protect us from "evildoers" we're all doomed by their ignorance of the simplicity of working around this...

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#100

Post by ars »

maxxxxx wrote: post #25

When I came to the US in 2000 it was a fairly optimistic and happy place. Now when I read stuff like this I always get reminded how this country went from pretty open to being scared, irrational and mean in the last 15 or so years.

> When I came to the US in 2000 it was a fairly optimistic and happy place. Now....

I've been thinking about that, and trying to put my finger on when things changed, and I realized it's not the US that changed, it's the internet!

Every single complaint and little thing now has a wide wide audience. The good stuff does not however, since it's [relatively] boring.

Talk to some people 40+ and ask them when they thought things went downhill, then ask them when they started using social networks.

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