Steve Jobs Tries To Sneak Shurikens On a Plane 661
An anonymous reader writes "Steve Jobs, while on a family vacation to Japan in July, picked himself up some Shuriken, otherwise known as Ninja throwing stars, as a souvenir. In his wisdom he decided to put them in his carry on luggage for the return journey. As it was a private plane he probably thought there would be no issue, but he was wrong. Even private plane passengers have to have all their baggage scanned, and the throwing stars were detected and deemed a hazard. It's alleged that Jobs argued that he could take them on the plane as no one could steal them on his private jet and use them. Security at the airport disagreed and demanded he remove the stars. Jobs, clearly angry at losing his throwing weapons, stated he would not be returning to the country." Undoubtedly this is part of the iNinja project.
Shurikens on a Plane (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Shurikens on a Plane (Score:4, Funny)
Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking shurikens on this motherfucking plane!
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Can't wait for the iPhone app based on the movie!
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and... (Score:3, Insightful)
this makes the front page why? Its common knowledge...don't bring sharp objects into airports unless you are checking the bag.
Re:and... (Score:4, Insightful)
But he is RICH! It is wrong to think that rich people should have to follow the same rules as the unwashed masses.
Re:and... (Score:5, Funny)
While they were paying attention to the throwing stars in his backpack, he stole the electronics industry of Japan and sold it to China.
the real reason they took the shurikens away (Score:3, Funny)
he was holding them wrong
Re:and... (Score:5, Insightful)
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No, there are rules about what you can do on the public highways. He's more than welcome to sleep in the back seat of his car and drinking Mad Dog 20/20 out of a brown paper sack, but if he tried that on a city bus, that's a no-no. If he tried driving while drinking said Mad Dog 20/20, then that's putting other people's lives in danger, and again, a no-no.
Re:and... (Score:5, Insightful)
No, there are rules about what you can do on the public highways.
And remind me, whose airways was Steve planning on running his private plane through?
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that's so retarded. It's called a D.U.I, as in DRIVING Under the Influence. That seriously needs to be challenged in court.
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Depends. I believe people have been arrested for being drunk in a parked car on private property.
Only if the key is in the ignition [dui.com].
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There was a case where a guy was arrested without the key being in the ignition. I think he may not have even been in the driver's seat. I'm not sure if it held up, though.
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Depends. I believe people have been arrested for being drunk in a parked car on private property.
True fact. When it happened to me it was on my ex-girlfriend's private property, in her father's car. Also I was naked and singing "my heart will go on".
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[I]f you own the plane and there are no other passengers besides yourself and immediate friends and family then you should be able to take anything you want.
Yeah, you'd think so, but there's no government in the world that would agree with you. Smuggling stuff into a country has been illegal as long as there are countries.
We could equally well argue that if it's your plane, you have a right to take those large containers of drugs home with you. Do you think that argument would be accepted by the border gu
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Re:and... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:and... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, while you're driving. That has a rational purpose: to ensure that you conduct your vehicle with reasonable respect for the safety of others. If the car is sitting in my garage, it's nobody's business whether I sit in the driver's seat to drink a beer.
If A has the right to make the rules for B, surely that right is contingent on such rules serving a rational purpose. Of course, such rules are often an injustice to others. For example, not being able to carry my pocket knife in my pocket is an injustice of a sort to me, since I'm not going to hijack the plane. However, it is rational for me to accept this rule, since I don't want planes (even ones that I'm not on) being hijacked. You could think of it this way: rule minimizes the *net* injustice to me, so it's in my interest to accept this rule.
This particular argument doesn't apply to a private jet. Does that mean that the rule is irrational? Not necessarily.
I suspect this may involve scenarios that people aren't taking into account. One such scenario might go like this. We're talking about security at the perimeter, right? So Steven Jobs points out to the security screener that this is a private plane. Why would he want to hijack it? The screener agrees and Steve takes his Ninja stars inside the security perimeter. Once there, he transfers them to a confederate who takes them aboard a commercial flight.
But wait! Steve isn't a terrorist, and he would do no such thing. But neither am I, and *I* can't bring throwing stars inside the security perimeter.
Now I should point out I have no idea whether this scenario is possible. I'm just saying that there is often more to a situation than what is "obvious".
Re:and... (Score:5, Insightful)
I can carry a gun in my private car, even onto an airport, even in Washington DC or New York City. I do not need a permit to do so. Federal law and legal precedent clearly state that you may transport a firearm from place A to place B as long as it is legal in the endpoints, and intermediate jurisdictions may not interfere as long as the firearm is secured. I can even take it INTO an airport, as long as it's unloaded and in my luggage and is declared at the counter for tagging so some TSA monkey can steal it.
When I fly my own plane, I can carry a gun, not just in my baggage, but on my hip. For private aircraft, it's the pilot-in-command that makes that decision, and has full legal authority to do so. I can also choose to allow my passengers to do the same. I can also let them have as much alcohol as I, the pilot, think is prudent (though I can't have any. I don't work for Northwest, after all...) As long as the gun stays in the airplane, no local authority can gainsay me. That's the law too. Note the difference between "private plane" and "chartered plane".
The above are US laws, applicable to US territory. Japanese laws are more restrictive. While the interior of an aircraft registered in a given country is technically the sovereign territory of that country (same laws as a ship), the fact is that local law enforcement does have considerable authority as to what happens on their airports. Not everybody is aware of this. Assuming this story is true-as-reported (and I am not assuming that, given the... bias which a lot of people have about Mr. Jobs, both against and for), it's likely that Jobs was thinking American laws apply on American planes regardless of location. That's true, but only to an extent. And there IS the possibility that the Japanese authorities overstepped their bounds. To know for sure would require a careful examination of AMerican law, international law, Japanese law, and any treaties which may be in effect. We don't have that information.
It's also worth noting that other high-profile CEOs (Larry Ellison) have run into issues with the Japanese authorities regarding export and carrying of Japanese bladed weaponry, though in Ellison's case it has to do with laws regarding antiquities. Ellison is a well-known fan of Shogunate-era arms and armor, and has a substantial collection (one of the largest). However, Japan does not allow the export of antiquities without a permit, and Ellison has run afoul of this from time to time. Japan's export laws arose in response to the very large amount of antiquities which were claimed as war prizes following World War II, and as soon as Japan regained its sovereignty it passed those laws to stem the flow of its cultural heritage out of the country. It is possible that, if the shuriken in question were old and "real" (as opposed to cheap tourist-trap knockoffs), that Jobs ran afoul of the same law. Again, we don't know. The law might not differentiate between new and antique items in that category.
Like most sensationalist stories which are relevant to nothing in particular except fueling dislike for someone famous and controversial, I'd take this one with a huge grain of salt.
Re:and... (Score:4, Insightful)
Well except that he's in japan. What you can, or cannot do on your private plane in any other country has nothing to do with what you can, or should be allowed to do in Japan. If you want to fly in japan, you follow japans rules. And really, aren't most american planes private? They're owned by either leasing companies(GE) or the airlines, they have one set of rules of what you can, or cannot do on their planes, and the government has others, and you have to follow them all.
Also, I would think if you wanted to park a plane in your yard you can probably put whatever weapons on it you want, but if you want to be allowed to take off, well then the FAA might have a few things to say about it.
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I would think if you wanted to park a plane in your yard you can probably put whatever weapons on it you want, but if you want to be allowed to take off, well then the FAA might have a few things to say about it.
Would you care to find what the FAA says about it [flightsimaviation.com] and point it out for me? Because in 19 years of flying, I've never seen the rule that prohibits me from carrying a shuriken, a knife or even a gun of some kind in my own airplane while flying. Even when flying out of public airports (which, in all honesty, is all I've ever flown out of).
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I do not, however, think Japan needed any lessons from the US on how to implement airport security measures.
There are two kinds of security: there's the theatrical version, whose only function is to encourage a feeling of safety among the population, and then there's real security, which is less concerned about appearance and more concerned about results. I don't know about Japan, but I'm sure Israel could teach us a few things.
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They do that (fingerprint & picture) because the US now harasses all foreign nationals, even from "friendly" countries.
Sucks, because japan used to have the world's best and fastest customs at Narita. Sigh.
Re:and... (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know how you're at +5 right now. Based on the /. summary it appears that this was a public airport. What's to stop him from giving the weapons to someone else who is getting on a public flight? No point in having the security check at that point.
Re:and... (Score:4, Informative)
And what's to stop him from landing his plane anywhere he wants, buying weapons, flying to a public airport and jumping out to supply everyone in the terminal with weapons? I guess they do a security check for people that get off planes?
No, of course not, because private planes don't land at the same terminals as big 747s. They land at the airport and taxi over to a smaller hanger area where you get off your plane, get in your car and drive way. No gift shop, no lines, no security besides the security gate that your car drives through.
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Re:and... (Score:5, Funny)
"Its not because he's rich, its because its his own fucking plane"
So it's because he's rich.
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Re:and... (Score:4, Informative)
If the terrorists purchased their own jets... would preventing them from bringing a shuriken on board their private jet prevent them from flying that same jet into a building?
No?
Did you actually bother to think that through at all before posting your emotional knee-jerk?
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You're the one who brought up the fallacious terrorist tangent. If terrorists buy their own private planes, telling them they can't bring a weapon on board is not going to matter a bit.
That point is, conveniently, completely orthogonal to the issue of whether someone traveling on a private plane may bring a weapon through security at a PUBLIC terminal which services private and public flights from the same common area. And lucky for us, that answer is "No, they may not."
Your response, invoking terrorism,
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Do you think private planes pull up at the same terminals 747s do?
I think you need to do some more thinking.
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Same question: do you think private planes pull up at the same terminals 747s do? Private planes go to an entirely different area with different security (just a security gate really) and everything.
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In this case, I do think there is a point to be made that we was taking them onto HIS OWN PRIVATE JET. Any set of laws that doesn't allow the OWNER of a plane to make an exception for certain types of materials when the contents are known is just stupid. What's he gonna do - hijack his own plane?
Don't know about the situation in Japan, but I know that in the US there are some smaller General Aviation airports that are large enough to handle a smaller sized business jet without this sort of hassle. I'd sa
Re:and... (Score:5, Informative)
Don't know about the situation in Japan, but I know that in the US there are some smaller General Aviation airports
And that's the problem; he was going through the security in the main public airport. There's no control preventing an item that comes through security with a passenger headed for private plane A being handed over to a passenger headed for commercial plane B. Duh.
Re:and... (Score:5, Insightful)
Which results in the bigger question of... "So what?"
So someone brings ninja stars on a 747 and goes on a bloody rampage (or...well...two, three people before everyone in the 5 rows above and behind tie him up with seat belt extenders...)
How different is this from someone taking a tie and strangling the person in front of them? Or breaking off the tray table? Or using any one of a hundred other improvised weapons?
Security theater is not security. There are more cases of passengers stopping lunatics on planes than there are of TSA stopping lunatics from getting on planes.
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One of the 9/11 flights was stopped by its passengers. The approach of hijacking a plan with iprovised weapons stopped working the same day.
By contrast the TSA has never been of any use whatsoever in its long and sad history (we had the same metal detectors before, without the pointless security lines).
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Anecdotes are not data.
Unfortunately, the TSA has impressive statistics for the number of bottles of water and shampoo, small knives, etc. that they confiscate every day.
As far as I know, 0 terrorist attacks on air planes have truly been thwarted by passenger action. The United flight that crashed in Pennsylvania can't really be counted as a success because the plane still crashed and everyone on board was killed. The success was partial because the plane was stopped from hitting its ultimate target, which
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Only because the second piece of the scheme that made 9/11 style attack pointless on 9/12 and onwards was not in place: reinforced cockpit doors.
Should the idiots with box-cutters try this again, not only would they face enraged passengers but would be doing so while not in control of the plane.
So GP is quite right, repetition of the exact 9/11 attack scheme
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No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.
~Edward Abbey
Re:and... (Score:5, Insightful)
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I had to fly through Narita once on my way to Beijing during the bird flu scare and I saw things at the airport there that I will never forget. Mainly the hordes of doctors, nurses, and security people who all boarded the plane upon landing (probably 20 people total) and put infrared cameras right in everyone's faces (like really strangely and aggressively). People who were deemed "a risk" had these funny yellow stickers attached to them by the doctors (weird!) and were herded off the plane. We were all
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but how do you check your bag for a privet jet?
Re:and... (Score:4, Informative)
IIRC, generally the same place you check-in with the airport to let them know you are there. The plane still gets assigned a "gate" even if that gate is simply a virtual tarmac parking location, so it can be sent along with a gent on a luggage trolly.
I've flown on private jets many times. Perhaps at larger airports, but when I went I was never searched, or had any of my luggage inspected. I walked up to the terminal, waved to the pilot, and walked onto the plane. If I was going on a trip longer than a few days, he would load my luggage into the plane, but didn't search it.
That's one of the perks about flying chartered I thought. I walked up, 5 minutes later I was on board and all we waited on was departure clearance.
Does this have something to do with Japan or their export restrictions?
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Hey, it's Steve Jobs and this is /.
Someone will post that bringing shurikens onto a plane is a brilliant innovation of the plane user experience, and someone else will post complaining that airport security is a walled garden.
Re:and... (Score:5, Funny)
Someone will post that bringing shurikens onto a plane is a brilliant innovation of the plane user experience, and someone else will post complaining that airport security is a walled garden.
You forgot the guy who will claim that GNU/Star is better because it is open source.
Already denied (Score:5, Informative)
“Steve did visit Japan this summer for a vacation in Kyoto, but the incidents described at the airport are pure fiction. Steve had a great time and hopes to visit Japan again soon.”
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100914/qotd-the-ninja-throwing-stars-they%E2%80%99re-for-my-friend-larry-ellison/ [allthingsd.com]
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Re:Already denied (Score:4, Funny)
Surely the Narita airport has video surveillance
I'm guessing they do...and don't call me Shirley.
(That quote is totally on topic for this thread.)
Jobs v Stallman (Score:5, Funny)
He needs the shuriken for his upcoming bout with Richard Stallman [slashdot.org], who's ninja skills are well-known.
Re:Jobs v Stallman (Score:4, Funny)
Not the first time he has be hassled by the man. (Score:2)
Meanwile, back in Redmod ... (Score:4, Funny)
Jobs, clearly angry at losing his throwing weapons, stated he would not be returning to the country.
And then he threw a Shuriken at the press, just to make the point clear . . .
Jobs with shiriken; Balmer with chairs . . . who wins . . .?
Re:Meanwile, back in Redmod ... (Score:5, Informative)
And then he threw a Shuriken at the press, just to make the point clear . . .
Jobs with shiriken; Balmer with chairs . . . who wins . . .?
We do.
In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In other news... (Score:4, Funny)
Well, They're Certainly Shiny Enough. And Edgy. (Score:4, Funny)
I'm just not sure how I feel about hipsters whipping these out on subway trains the way they do those other cool-affirming gadgets.
yup (Score:2)
This is why airport security is so abusive.
You are waiting to board, most likely have already purchased your ticket, and are in no position to resist without completely ruining your day.
It was a public airport (Score:4, Informative)
Kansai is a public airport, and the spokesman from Kansai (quoted in the article), said "The airport doesn’t have separate boarding arrangements for private- jet users", so i don't see why Jobs was surprised.
Since it's a public screening point (where presumably the private jet passengers can mix with the regular commercial passengers after screening), they have to apply the same security restrictions to all passengers. Otherwise anyone who wants to get a bomb on a public plane would just charter a private jet, go through security with his bomb, then hand it off to someone in the public terminal.
I'm sure that if he really cared about the items, he could have arranged to have them sent to his plane as checked luggage (it's not as if his private jet was going to leave without him), or he could have found someone willing to mail them to him. Heck, he could have found an apple fan-boy in line in the terminal who would have checked them and mailed them to him from the USA for the chance to shake his hand.
uhh...what? (Score:5, Informative)
I just want to clarify that this is absolutely *not* how things work in the United States.
In the US, if you're flying privately, you walk through the lobby of whatever FBO (Which is a company that provides fuel, a pilot lounge, catering, etc.) your plane is parked at, smile at the person behind the desk, get on your plane, and leave.
Jobs was right to think that he could get on the plane with his stars because, usually, he would be able to.
Re:uhh...what? (Score:5, Insightful)
Jobs was right to think that he could get on the plane with his stars because, usually, he would be able to.
Well, technically, he was *wrong* to think that, because it was incorrect.
Re:Except for one point: it wasn't the US (Score:4, Funny)
Above the Law (Score:3, Interesting)
Wired had a big write up how Steve doesn't put plates on his car and feels free to park in the Handicap spots at will at his companies. So why would this surprise anyone.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/08/the-mystery-of-steve-jobs-plateless-benz/ [wired.com]
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That's a myth. The fact is that his reality distortion field interacts with the reflective material in the license plate to make it look like it's not there. Simple mistake, really.
Re:Above the Law (Score:4, Informative)
Wired had a big write up how Steve doesn't put plates on his car and feels free to park in the Handicap spots at will at his companies. So why would this surprise anyone.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/08/the-mystery-of-steve-jobs-plateless-benz/ [wired.com]
It would surprise people because it is completely false.
Way to be Timely... (Score:3, Informative)
Prototype iPhone 5 (Score:5, Funny)
Obviously these are prototype case designs for the iPhone 5. Grip it the wrong way and you lose a finger.
Slashdot trolls itself, film at 11 (Score:5, Insightful)
The only possible reason that this particular item would have made it off the Firehose is the flame-inducing material within it. It makes me sad. While I'm no fan of Apple, per se, I feel sorry for the guy. He could have investigate the local laws and policy before challenging them, and will absolutely be returning to Japan at some point, but still this is genuinely trivial.
Maybe 'Idle' material, but 'Apple'? Trolling, plain and simple.
Security Theater (Score:5, Informative)
New from Apple inc. (Score:3, Funny)
iBitch
Also violates state laws (Score:3, Interesting)
California state law forbids manufacture, sale, possession or import of any shuiken, star, diamond, trefoil or other edged weapon used for throwing. So it's just as well it was confiscated at the airport.
But seriously, if you take something prohibited past a checkpoint, even though you will be flying on a private jet, you still could pass the contraband to a person who is flying on another aircraft. Steve forgot to pack his souvenirs and is upset they were taken away. I would prefer it if they offered a service (for a fee) that let you mail the confiscated materials to yourself. Fedex should just open up a small shipping office next to the airport security gates.
I've taken firearms on trips, it's simple, you walk up to the counter and declare that you will be traveling with a firearm. They send you off to another line, verify that it is unloaded, wrapped it up with gobs of tape and dump it with the rest of the luggage. If I can drag some guns along, I'm sure Steve can figure out how to bring some edge weapons along.
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Rifles, handguns, crossbows, folding knives (not gravity or spring loaded knives), fixed blade knives (of a certain size mounted at the belt in a sheath and visible) are allowed.
There has always been a lot of interpretation of the Second Amendment. It happens. I can't buy a machine gun, or rocket propelled grenades or nukes. Even though those are all "arms".
I don't think blowguns are allowed in CA either. but other states even allow hunting with blowguns.
Shuriken Illegal in California (Score:3, Informative)
I hope he wasn't planning to fly directly to California with them, because they are restricted here.
There are many exceptions to that rule listed in the following sections, but I'd be surprised if any of them apply in this case.
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The obvious absurdity of restricting shuriken (or any of the other weapons restricted by PC 12020, for that matter) doesn't make them any less illegal in California.
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This is offtopic, but the purpose of those kinds of thrown edged weapons is not really to kill. They are thrown to distract the target and allow the thrower a few moments to either flee from or close the gap to their target. They are intended as a very lightweight nuisance weapon. Unlikely to be lethal on their own if used as intended.
But obviously if it is pointy and metal then you can find a way to kill someone with it.
Private Aircraft Bags Are Not Scanned (Score:3, Informative)
I fly on my companies private planes all of the time, including international flights and my bags have never been scanned.
No, private plane passengers DO NOT get scanned (Score:3, Insightful)
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Private tarmac.
And there's the difference.
If you are flying out of an FBO, even at a big airport like BWI, then you get to bypass airport security. However, TFS said Jobs was flying out of the public terminal. At Kenai Municipal Airport, in Kenai, Alaska (much smaller than BWI; I've been to both airports), some of the private, chartered flights board through the same gate as the passenger flights. In that case, yes, you would pass through airport security. If you are in a small, private airplane like I was, you go
Lost in translation (Score:4, Informative)
"SPA!" means "The Onion" in Japanese.
Neuromancer (Score:3, Interesting)
So were Molly and Armitage on the plane too?
'Tries to sneak' (Score:3, Insightful)
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obs does have the right to take weapons onto his private plane.
Actually, no he doesnt. The rules extend to private planes too.
Re:Ninja throwing stars! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Actually, we never had a 9l11 in 50 years preceding it, despite the fact that it was just as easy. 9/11 was a lucky fluke, a super ambitious prank-style act of terrorism that took a lot of planning but took the top prize ever in such acts. We had no reason to expect it to happen in another 50 years, especially since it relied on surprise. I agree with this post that hightened security has not played a significant role in stopping another 9/11. Nor have any of the costly wars. But some people have to say the
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no, in the US he wouldn't go through any screening. In fact you can hire private planes and take what you want on them.
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Or maybe TSA didn't get the memo? At what point did he think bringing a pointed/sharp object on a plane was a good idea anyway?
Apparently at no point--the story is false. Please read the other comments before commenting.
I wouldn't want some un-medicated postal worker to carry them on my flight.
But it wouldn't have been your flight; it was HIS PRIVATE FLIGHT. Please also read the article before posting.
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Yes, you should refuse. If enough people refuse to fly until the rules are changed, the airlines will apply their lobbying dollars to getting it done.
And yes, the logic was deeply faulty. The purpose of the ban is to prevent the plane from being taken over by terrorists. Do you think Jobs would have gotten very far threatening the passenger (himself) with the shuriken (NOT a deadly weapon) if the pilot didn't obey him (the owner of the plane and the pilot's boss for the flight)? DUHHH.
Meanwhile, just how mu
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An adult would have realized the rules are there for public safety
Only if they are a stupid adult, one dumb enough to fall for "good security is occasionally obnoxious, therefore anything obnoxious must be good security"
Re:The problem is the airport, not the airplane (Score:4, Insightful)
No, the problem is that the story is false. Incredible how much bloviated nonsense has accumulated in this thread for something that never happened.