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TSA May Recommend Stowing Laptops In Cargo For US Domestic Flights (cbslocal.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the safety-first dept.

Matt.Battey writes: According to WJZ in Baltimore, the TSA may force passengers to check laptops on domestic U.S. flights. Based on the common fear, uncertainty and doubt that supports the TSA's security theater, the terror attacks in Great Britain could result in laptop bans in the U.S. TSA officer Camille Morris is quoted as saying, "A AA battery is fine. A AAA. A 9-volt battery is a huge power charge. The size of the battery that can take down a plane when attached to an explosive." Backed up by comments from Ben Yelin of the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security, his statement confirms the problem: "Airplanes have been the common threat that we've seen over the past several years." Personally, I'm just glad we have the TSA to recommend we "arrive two hours before a domestic flight, and three hours before an international trip."

7 of 456 comments (clear)

  1. Insurance by neilo_1701D · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I assume the TSA will now be assuming liability for every laptop now put into checked luggage.

    I wonder how my employment contract will now stand up, where it reads that laptops must not be checked but carried into the cabin.

    1. Re:Insurance by Calydor · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You should probably ask HR directly about that last part, linking to this article. Cover it as wanting to give them a heads up. It would be very interesting to hear what they say.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    2. Re:Insurance by bobbied · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I assume the TSA will now be assuming liability for every laptop now put into checked luggage.

      No, but the airline will, up to the limits specified in the contract.. Which amounts to barely enough to pay for the luggage required to pack the laptop in.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    3. Re: Insurance by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I saw this image online recently: https://i.redd.it/pcolaqktpx1z.jpg

      It shows in a nice, graphical format, just how many people die from various causes. Heart disease and cancer are huge circles. Terrorism is a tiny dot. Yet, politicians (and security theater agencies like the TSA) act like we should be living each moment of our lives in fear that a terrorist will kill us. If we did, then we should be paralyzed with terror over heart disease and cancer so much that we give ourselves a heart attack.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  2. What's a Laptop? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    - classic 'Laptop' only?
    - Tablet ?
    - 14" Tablet with Keyboard?
    - Surface tablet without Keyboard?
    - Bluetooth Keyboard with Smartphone?
    - Desktop Mini-Tower with Smartwatch as Display ;-) ?

  3. Re:Vague threats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    No, and not one single thing the TSA does is making us great or safe either. The TSA has caught a sum total of ZERO people intending to do harm to anyone and they will never catch someone either.

    The TSA servers no other purpose than to employee otherwise unemployable people. Meaning they have created jobs for those who couldn't get a job in most other places and have inconvenienced 100s of millions of people and have done nothing else.

  4. On the plus side... by Theaetetus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I won't have to fly anymore for business, since who's going to send employees anywhere without their laptops? Thanks, TSA, for making teleconferencing even more appealing!