US may add airports to electronics ban

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

The US may expand the number of airports affected by a ban on large electronics in carry-on luggage, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Wednesday, based on a "real" threat.

Kelly told a Senate committee that the move by his agency to ban large devices like laptops in carry-on luggage from 10 airports in eight countries is based on a specific concern.

"It's real. I think it's getting realer, so to speak," Kelly said. "We may take measures in the not-too-distant future to expand the number of airports."

Kelly insisted the measures taken to date, which affect flights from predominantly Muslim countries, were not taken "because of the Muslim religion" or any other prejudicial reasons, but rather because of specific concerns.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/05/politics/airport-electronics-ban-kelly/

[EarthFirst]

1. Kiss my ass...

The noose is tightening, folks.

[Coventina]

2. "I think it's getting realer"

Even a 5th grader knows that's horrible grammar!!

[rpannier]

12. Wayne Gretzky on Stephen Harper

He is the awesomest prime minister ever

[DK504]

3. Fuck these guys.

They want us to pack $800 laptops in our luggage so it can be stolen? Will they reimburse all the stolen electronics? Like business travelers are going to allow this shit to happen. Nor can they look into their electronics without a warrant.

Now this is what fascism looks like.

[Blues Heron]

4. Cameras too

Yeah put your $1500 camera setup on your checked bag! LOL We had luggage wheels stolen on one trip. All valuables go in carry-on or we don't go. Period.

[mnhtnbb]

6. There are going to be a lot more people not going--including me.

We leave Monday for a trip to France. It's going to be my last overseas trip.
We fly up to New York in May for our youngest son's graduation in Connecticut for his master's degree.
That's it. I'm done.

What I just discovered today, though, that is very disturbing, is that Trump's budget is slashing funding for Amtrak. There are about 220
cities that would no longer have any train service. Long distance routes would not receive upgrades.

We have tickets to take the train from NC to Charleston, SC in June. Charleston is one of the cities that would no longer have any train
service under Trump's budget.

[csziggy]

15. The Amtrak cuts suck - maybe Congress won't go along?

My husband and I took our first train trip last November - from Lakeland, Florida, to Arlington, Virginia, and back. I enjoyed it, my husband not so much. On the way up we had a "roomette" which did not have enough leg room for my tall husband.

On the way back I had up graded to an accessible room which was more comfortable for him but the engine broke down and our 20 hour trip turn into a 29 hour ordeal as the slower replacement engine and train were sent off route to try repairs and then to be replaced. It really messed up our return leg since we'd planned on having lunch with my Mom and sister before heading home. Instead we got home a day late and much tireder than we had planned.

I'd travel by train again and have always wanted to take a trip across the Northern Plains from Chicago to Seattle. Plus, Amtrak has been exploring re-instating the eastern leg of the Sunset Limited between Jacksonville, Forida, and New Orleans. That would mean a cross country trip to Los Angeles would be possible again - and the train station here in Tallahassee would open up again so train travel from here would be more practical. Getting my husband to go along might be a battle, though.

[mnhtnbb]

19. The long distance regional trains are what are cut from Trump's budget.

I grew up in the late 50's and early 60's riding the 20th Century Limited and the Super Chief across the country
because my dad hated flying and both sets of grandparents lived in California while we lived in NJ.

I love the trains in Europe. On our trip in France we will take fast trains from Paris to Strasbourg to Lyon to Bordeaux and
back to Paris.

A couple of years ago we made the Canadian rail trip from Toronto to Vancouver in the fall. It was spectacular.
Last August--after a family wedding in Southern California--we rode the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to
Seattle. Another nice trip--gorgeous scenery--although the food wasn't as good as the food on the Canadian train.

Yes, the roomettes are tight. We had a one bedroom for the L.A. to Seattle trip and it was still tight when the berths were
made up for sleeping. But we did have more leg room during the day.

[csziggy]

20. I hope the trains aren't hurt too bad - I don't want to go to Canada or Europe just to ride one!

I grew up with stories about traveling on the train. My great great grandfather was a station agent in Escanaba, Michigan. Before their house was built the family lived in an apartment above the railroad station. Even after my great grandfather married he lived with his parents there and my grandmother was born in railroad station.

Much later her husband worked for Swift & Company in Central Florida. Once a year he had to report back to headquarters in Chicago. The family would take the train up, then my grandmother and her two sons would travel on to Escanaba to spend the summers with her family.

Dad talked about watching his father shave with a straigth razor on the train. It impressed him when he was a child and still astounds me today!

[forgotmylogin]

8. Stolen or banged around

by that gorilla...

Plus how unproductive would long flights be? 45 must be looking to introduce a line of wooden slider puzzles in the airport.

"Assemble Ivanka and MAGA!"

[dembotoz]

18. united breaks guitars oldie but goodie

[SansACause]

5. Homeland Security Advisory System set to orange

Welcome back, old friend!

[Oneironaut]

17. That was the most useless system ever.

I could see Trump bringing back the "look out for terrorists!!1!" hysteria of the Bush years.

[KittyWampus]

7. Half assed solution- ship your stuff ahead, packaged well and fully insured.

Not a great solution for anyone wanting to do work while en route.

[mainer]

9. If terrorists are using laptops as bombs, what difference if they're checked baggage or carry-on?

They'll blow up regardless.

[mr_lebowski]

10. C'mon. U know it's just red-meat for Teh Knuckle-Dragging Murkin' Trumpkin dunce brigade ...

Couldn't get his ban through the courts, so now it's this instead. Hassle them enough, maybe it'll make 'em decide to not come. Of course, all this stupid policy is just going to piss off the wealthier Muslims that maybe would've come here to work or vacation, spent their money here ... the actual t*rra-ists will just find another way.

This rank partisanship and incompetence of this f***ing EVIL CLOWN SHOW of a so-called 'administration' just becomes more glaring day by day.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. The claim I saw on TV: Checked baggage goes through ...

... bigger and better xray/sniffing equipment than carry-on.

Plus, the device would require a more sophisticated trigger than "press any key".

I don't know if that's true, or if these specific airports have such screening machinery.

[oberliner]

11. They should be banned on all flights in the US

We are actually being proactive instead of reactive for once.

[Baconator]

22. Not sure if serious...

[oberliner]

23. If there are undetectable bombs that could be hidden in laptops

Then we should ban laptops until we have equipment that is able to detect those bombs.

I wouldn't want to wait for one to go off on a plane before action is taken that could prevent such a tragedy from occurring.

[Baconator]

24. Holy crap...

Serious indeed...

[oberliner]

25. What would be the argument against doing so?

Seems like a no-brainer.

[Baconator]

28. That's the kind of thinking that leads to full body cavity searches...

... Just in case the evil terrorists have surgically implanted a bomb in their torso.

Also, no food or water... Could be poison...

You ever seen someone lose an eye to a common house key? Better check those too...

Also, no one with a chemistry background. Who knows what they could whip up with what's in the galley

And karate Champs, and veterans etc.. Etc...

How about individual blast proof containers for each passenger? A stewardess will let you out on arrival.

At a certain point, which we've long gone past by the way, this is ridiculous and exactly what they want.

Fuck them and fuck that.

You want 100% safety? Then stay home in a panic room.

[tblue37]

30. Not 100% safety--a New York billionaire died in his panic room in 1999 when

his male nurse set a small fire that got out of control:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-149929/Ten-years-firebug-killed-billionaire.html

[Baconator]

33. Absolutely..

I knew it was wrong when I typed it.

100% safety doesn't exist.

[oberliner]

31. US intel indicates that terrorists are actively trying to hide a bomb in a laptop

It appears that such a bomb would be undetectable by the screening that is currently in place.

Seems like the thing to do would be to improve the technology so that the screening would be able to detect such a bomb.

Until those improvements are made, it makes sense to restrict laptops from being taken on board as carry-ons.

Seems like a pretty minor inconvenience/first world problem to make such an accommodation.

If someone did get a bomb hidden in a laptop through security and blew it up on board, killing people, we would certainly see such restrictions put in place in our airports in the aftermath.

Why not be proactive, rather than reactive if intel indicates this is a specific and credible threat?

Presumably, it would just be temporary while improvements to screening are being made.

[Baconator]

34. It's not minor...

It costs billions to the government and to the individual...

Millions of hours of lost productivity...

Theft, loss, damage of the computers and the data on them...

Retraining and implementation for yet another piece of kabuki theater costs all of as well.

All because someone somewhere stuffed some C4 in a battery.

A downed plane would be nice but what they really enjoy is making us dance like idiots and blowing all of our money.

Also, I can't believe you think the change would be temporary. How long have you been taking off your shoes?

Stop playing their game...

Edit : Just remember that you aren't safe now either. Look up the success rates when the TSA is tested. Want to blow up a plane? Have a group of 2 or 3 in different cities and odds are you'll get most through.

Group of 10? Even more so...

You aren't safe now and you won't be if my laptop is in the cargo hold either.

[oberliner]

35. Of course there is no way to make things completely safe...

...but there are reasonable steps that can be taken to address specific, credible threats such as this one.

Restrict laptops in carry-ons for now in airports that do not have the proper screening technology. Upgrade said technology. Then allow laptops in carry-ons again.

It seems like folks could figure out an innovative solution to address the inconvenience of not being able to carry on laptops.

Assuming we impose no such restrictions, if there is an attack using a laptop bomb, in the aftermath, folks would say that we were foolish for ignoring a clear indication that something like that not only could happen but was actively being pursued.

[Baconator]

36. It isn't reasonable...

The world needs to keep spinning and people have stuff to do and I don't let a one in a billion chance of an asshole stop me from living my life.

The cost outweighs the benefit from a financial, social and ethical perspective.

[oberliner]

45. Fair enough

Happy to agree to disagree on this. I appreciate the discussion.

[WoonTars]

37. My reaction too...

Holy crap...from the same people that won't let you carry more than 3 oz of fluid on a plane...

[GoneOffShore]

29. One would hope that you are being sarcastic.

Because otherwise, that is one of the worst ideas I've seen lately.

[oberliner]

32. Seems reasonable to me

If US intel indicate that folks are actively planning to bring down a plane by hiding a bomb in a laptop, and that such a bomb is currently not detectable by airport screening, then it makes sense to restrict laptops from being taken as carry-ons on planes until the screening technology is improved and such bombs could be detected.

Those restrictions would certainly be put in place in the aftermath of such a bombing, if one did occur, why not be proactive and take the necessary measures to prevent such a thing from happening in the first place, if possible.

[WoonTars]

38. Because they won't explode in the cargo hold?

Faulty logic.

[Baconator]

39. Everyone travels naked with no luggage and a full cavity check...

All enforced by the TSA... The Cleveland Browns of security...

That's where this kind of mindset gets us.

It's ridiculous...

[WoonTars]

40. Yes it is...

....but it won't stop until the airlines feel the pinch...

[oberliner]

44. Not sure about that

The story I saw seemed to indicate that the person would need to have access to the laptop itself during the flight to detonate the bomb, but maybe I misunderstood.

[GoneOffShore]

42. With that mindset, nothing that anyone can say will dissuade the TSA from cavity searches.

But I guess, anything for safety, right?

Anything for security.

And the terrorists win on yet another front.

[oberliner]

43. Cavity searches are not akin to restricting certain items from carry ons

I don't think that comparison is fair.

[GoneOffShore]

47. It's a slippery slope.

You may not think that the comparison is fair, and that's your prerogative.

But security agencies are like the camel in the sandstorm - "Just my nose. ........ Just my eyes........ Just my head....... Just my front legs....."

And I think, given the record of the TSA, CBP, etc, etc, they will push for more and more invasive searches.

All in the name of 'keeping you safe', but more in the vein of being able to look at every bit of our lives.

It's bullshit.

[oberliner]

48. Understood

Last edited Fri Apr 7, 2017, 05:51 PM - Edit history (1)

But clearly, we do accept the notion of going through some kind of screening before boarding a plane and those haven't led to body cavity searches, so the slope does not necessarily need to be that slippery.

I just think that if there is specific intel suggesting that people are able to put bombs in laptops that are undetectable by current screening technology that it isn't too unreasonable to put in a restriction on carrying them on until the technology can be improved.

[hunter]

14. Are they scared of bombs disguised as laptop batteries?

Because anyone can stick a micro SD card up their ass.

[oberliner]

27. Terrorists may have developed bombs disguised as laptops, officials fear

US intelligence and law enforcement agencies believe that ISIS and other terrorist organizations have developed innovative ways to plant explosives in electronic devices that FBI testing shows can evade some commonly used airport security screening methods, CNN has learned.

Heightening the concern is US intelligence suggesting that terrorists have obtained sophisticated airport security equipment to test how to effectively conceal explosives in laptops and other electronic devices.

http://www.nbc26.com/news/national/terrorists-may-have-developed-bombs-disguised-as-laptops-officials-fear

[Hekate]

16. Hell's bells. Well, back to packing half a dozen paperbacks.

Aside from that, anything I have to say is unprintable.

[snooper2]

21. This won't happen- Nobody, NOBODY in business that carries their laptop for travel would check it

No way in hell I would ever put my work laptop with decades of data in a checked bag to be lost.

SCREW THAT LOL

[oberliner]

26. Maybe use cloud storage for your data?

Or a flash drive?

[WoonTars]

41. United has switched a large number of their internal US flights to wifi enabled inflight...

...entertainment. which will be absolutely useless if you can't use your personal "large " electronic equipment...

[alarimer]

46. Gee, what a windfall for sticky-fingered TSA agents/baggage handlers.

I'm sure as shit not checking my expensive camera or Ipad. Just so I know soon, so I can cancel my summer travel.

FUCK THE TSA! Stupid fucking bullshit.