CNN will just not let this die

"OtisWinslow" wrote in message

These are tests of aiming devices for shoulder fired missles.

At least someone's got a sense of humour about this. (I assume...)

le moo


"Sam O'Nella" wrote in message
...
Did we not learn our lesson from Tylenol?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/11/las....ap/index.html

If there's a laser related aircraft incident, I hold the news
broadcasters at least partially responsible.

No humor intended. I think some of these people doing this could
indeed be testing their ability to track aircraft with them. I'm sure
there's
some copy cats .. but the whole thing makes me a little uneasy.


"Happy Dog" wrote in message
...
"OtisWinslow" wrote in message

These are tests of aiming devices for shoulder fired missles.

At least someone's got a sense of humour about this. (I assume...)

le moo

"Sam O'Nella" wrote in message ...
Did we not learn our lesson from Tylenol?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/11/las....ap/index.html

If there's a laser related aircraft incident, I hold the news broadcasters at least partially responsible.



The story is not from CNN, it is from AP (Associated Press)

"Otis Winslow" wrote in message
...
No humor intended. I think some of these people doing this could
indeed be testing their ability to track aircraft with them. I'm sure
there's
some copy cats .. but the whole thing makes me a little uneasy.

Nope. Think about it. How does the sighting device know the relative
velocity of the target? Shooting a missile at a target a mile away is
nothing like shooting a rifle at a target a couple hundred metres away.
Factor in a potential relative lateral velocity of zero to over a hundred
m/s and there's no way. I'm not a weapons expert by any means. But I
really doubt that shoulder type rocket launchers would use this type of
sighting. (Unless, like guided bombs, the missile could follow the beam.)
IIRC, SAM missiles, including portable ones, are heat-seeking. Relax.

moo

I would agree that it is the duty of the press to report what is
happening in the world around us - and it would be just great
if they could be objective in all cases. But as we all know, they
all too often sensationalize occurrences for their own benefit.
I believe that this does tend to produce copycat crimes. Should
we blame the press for pushing these unstable folks over the
edge? Probably not. But I do believe that many would never have
gotten the idea but for the excesses of journalism. As an example
I would suggest the rash of airline hijackings that occurred back
in the '60s.

David Johnson

wrote in message
ups.com...
[...] But as we all know, they
all too often sensationalize occurrences for their own benefit.

All too often? I'd say they do it pretty much every time.

I believe that this does tend to produce copycat crimes.

Why would it? How does sensationalizing a crime encourage more copycat
crimes than simply reporting it?

On 12 Jan 2005 22:18:35 -0800, wrote in
. com::

Should we blame the press for pushing these unstable folks over the
edge?

It would appear that the press may not be required to do any pushing:


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...aircraft_x.htm
Posted 1/11/2005 8:21 PM Updated 1/12/2005 2:29 PM

More reports of lasers being shot into airplane cockpits
WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said
Wednesday there have been 400 reports of lasers being beamed at
airplanes since 1990 and the Federal Aviation Administration will now
require pilots to immediately report such incidents to air traffic
controllers, who will be required to notify law enforcement officials.

The lasers can temporarily blind pilots. A cluster of incidents
received wide attention between Christmas and New Year's Day.
Authorities believe copycats who have heard news reports about the
lasers apparently have been involved in some of the more recent
incidents.

Mineta said in a news conference at the FAA's aeronautical research
center in Oklahoma City that 31 of these incidents have been reported
since Dec. 31, including one Tuesday night in Phoenix, Ariz. Nobody
was arrested in that incident, which involved a Southwest flight. The
new reporting requirements take effect Jan. 19.

....

The FBI and Homeland Security Department sent a memo to law
enforcement agencies in November saying they had evidence terrorists
have explored using lasers as weapons.

An FAA report released in June found that even the lowest-intensity
lasers temporarily impaired the vision of most of 34 pilots who were
studied in a flight simulator.

"Larry Dighera" wrote
It would appear that the press may not be required to do any pushing:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...aircraft_x.htm
Posted 1/11/2005 8:21 PM Updated 1/12/2005 2:29 PM

More reports of lasers being shot into airplane cockpits
WASHINGTON (AP) - Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said
Wednesday there have been 400 reports of lasers being beamed at
airplanes since 1990 and the Federal Aviation Administration will now
require pilots to immediately report such incidents to air traffic
controllers, who will be required to notify law enforcement officials.

Hello? This includes many, many, incidents around Las Vegas. At one time,
there were dozens of high power lasers sweeping the skys. It happend when
relatively cheap and very high powered Nd YAG Lasers became available. It
was a complete zoo and really was a nuisance.

The current stuff is bull****. Pilots can be idiots like anyone else. The
colour of a DPSS (or most any visible) laser is utterly unmistakable. It
looks *weird*. And, throw in a bit of paranoia and you have people seeing
them in their soup. I now feel comfortable blaming every imperfect night
landing on them. The drag is that I now will have to call the police, CSIS,
CIA, DHS, FBI, Army, Navy and NASA every time I'm unhappy with a touchdown.
Idiots.

The lasers can temporarily blind pilots.

Not the 5 mw hand held ones at a range of miles. Idiots.

moo

"Sam O'Nella" wrote in message
...
Did we not learn our lesson from Tylenol?


I'd say the idiots that keep tuning in to Oprah, Dateline NBC, 20/20, and
all the other similar shows are more responsible than the idiots that feed
the crowds what the crowds demand.

If people could live with the possibility that they might not be the very
first person on the planet to find out what Michael Jackson or Scott
Peterson did today there would be much less of this media induced hysteria
possible.

Turn off the damn TV. When was the last time you saw something important on
TV news. I mean something where your life would have been materially
different had you not seen it. Spend the time you would have spent on TV
reading good web sites.

--

Scott

Liberals love America like OJ loved Nicole. - Ann Coulter

"tscottme" wrote in message
...

Turn off the damn TV. When was the last time you saw something important
on
TV news. I mean something where your life would have been materially
different had you not seen it.

You nailed it. Turn off the TV. It's not so much the media's fault, it's the
people who would pay attention to it. I'm not trying to say that news isn't
important, but it's not like you just *have* to know what is going on in
every corner of the world at every moment. In fact, doing so can damage the
psyche. That's because most of the world news is bad news. For most stories
to make the world news circuit, they have *got* to be bad. Watch enough of
it and pretty soon you get the feeling that the whole world is going to
hades on a handtruck.

You know, the world is like a soap opera. Nothing changes that much in two
weeks.

-Trent
PP-ASEL