

TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05 - all
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyingwithfish/2010/11/05/tsa-intends-to-ban-printer-cartridges-next-week/

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ryanwaggoner
If one was a clever terrorist, you might eventually come to the conclusion
that you could do more economic and psychological harm by examining the things
people want and need to be able to fly with and then running terror plots that
use those items. Things like shoes, underwear, liquids, and electronics come
to mind.

But of course, we'd never be so stupid as to play into the terrorists hands
this way. I'm sure they don't laugh at us running around like idiots throwing
away toiletries, getting strip-searched, and shuffling through security
barefoot while someone ogles our naked bodies in another room. We sure showed
_them_!

~~~
tome
_I'm sure they don't laugh at us running around like idiots throwing away
toiletries, getting strip-searched, and shuffling through security barefoot
while someone ogles our naked bodies in another room._

I don't entirely understand the individual psychology behind terrorism, but
I'm absolutely certain that it isn't so they can laugh at us when we're in the
security queue.

~~~
ErrantX
You've missed his point slightly. It is not that they are _literally_
laughing..

But the point was - terrorists aim to provoke fear and discord; blowing up a
passenger aircraft is pretty terrifying, but causing anger, fear frustration
and discord on an international scale can be just as good. And all they have
to do is get a bomb (even a useless, utterly ineffective one) onto a plane
every few months.

Bureaucracy does the rest :)

~~~
rdtsc
In some places an evil bureaucracy won't be above using its intelligence
services for a couple of "false flag" ops. They'll have them plant a bomb or
two every 5-6 months. You know, just so to keep a healthy dose of fear running
through everyone's veins.

~~~
DuncanIdaho
These terrorist are trying since forever to destroy the Democracy! And our
brave officers are holding them back proudly.

We have located their base of operations and its Eastasia.

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bl4k
I was impressed by the concealment method used in the bomb, since the
explosive has a similar consistancy to ink/toner - but this is just
ridiculous.

Responding to each terrorist threat, post-threat, by banning any method they
used in their attack is a bad way to secure the western world.

The terrorists will just adapt and find other methods, as they have proven
time and time again. In the interim, millions of travelers take their shoes
off at airports, can no longer carry liquids on planes and have perfumes and
aftershaves confiscated.

With all the different ways our lives have been adjusted because of each
attack attempt I have to ask myself if we are not letting them win.

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splat
This is emphasized in the article, but it bears repeating:

"Organized terrorists are long term planners and they do not play the same
cards more than once."

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jonknee
This could have been an article in The Onion. If we keep up this strategy, it
will be impossible to travel with anything.

~~~
Qz
I can see it now:

TSA To Ban Airplanes Next Week : SD OMG-WTF-BBQ

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petrilli
I believe a summary is best stated as "See, we're doing something!" Doing
something, and doing the right thing, are very different things, but one is
simple, and the other requires thought and risk management.

You can imagine which is rewarded and which is punished. Not just by
politicians and bureaucrats, but by the public as well. The general public is
also responsible for this absurdity by not being willing to accept some risk
as being unavoidable.

~~~
anon_for_this_1
You just described the reason my father-in-law (and now I) believe that the
best outcome is no movement. Thus we both vote (in the US) to try and create a
stalemate in house vs Senate - both parties are so screwed up they damage
everything they touch.

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ajju
Next up suitcases, clothes and hair. Forcibly shaven-bald travelers trudging
naked through security carrying their belongings in see through polythene bags
will be a common sight.

Invest in barbershop stocks.

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awt
The airline situation seems more and more analogous to the email spam problem.
Right now the government is still in the blacklist phase. Hopefully soon
they'll come up with something more like a bayesean approach -- training
people to recognize terrorists and bombs on a case by case basis instead of
blocking broad categories.

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AngryParsley
_...however prohibiting printer cartridges poses a few challenges … mainly
that generally printer cartridges do not have their ink or toner volume
readily listed on the cartridge its self._

Not a problem. I'm sure people can buy/make stickers that say "15 ounces" and
stick them on the cartridges.

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rwmj
If it makes printer cartridge vendors display the tiny quantity of ink / toner
that you're buying for $100, then maybe not such a bad thing after all ...

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dododo
why are they overfitting the data?

wouldn't it be better to have expected volumes and masses for various items,
and where items defer from these expectations, they get inspected fully?

many customs sheets include a declaration of the package contents.

~~~
cosmicray
Volume isn't really the issue, but mass might be. In the case of the toner
cartridge (which appears to have been a sub-assembly of an actual printer) a
truly devious individual might have removed the correct amount of toner, and
then offset it with an equal amount of explosive material. The mass doesn't
change (mostly due to the fact that the toner cartridge had excess space in it
to begin with).

What does change is the chemical signature of the contents. That would require
inspection of each item as it is presented for shipment. Hence the problem.

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iwr
I for one am waiting for the breast implant bomber.

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lani
was it scott adams who said this last time - "we're one more step closer to
flying nude"

