Bonehead resentenced--5 years for pointing laser @ plane

[Teej]

Alan, you have a good point.

Things, historically, have always been like this...if not worse.

Sure, there are bad things, and, there are good things.

If you read the journals and notes etc from as far back as recorded history goes, humans have ALWAYS said that the pace of life is more hectic now a days, people have less time with their families, there's more war, famine, etc...the weather is especially unpredictable, and, the younger generation is going to hell in a hand basket.

Add in changes in what the younger generation is losing due to new technology, such as the Greeks bemoaning the use of reading, as if its written down, you don't have to KNOW it...so, reading and writing will be the ruin of humanity...

...and then books were OK, but TV was the ruination of humanity, and then the net, and so forth.

Descriptions of parents complaining that the kids noses were buried in their books/magazines during dinner, evolved to be complaining of the kids being buried in their smart phones, and so forth.

IE: Humans are just like that, etc.


Overall, life is better, not worse. Sure, some people's lives suck...and if born in the southern sudan, yeah, not as good as if born in the northern US, and so forth....but, on average, more people in trouble do get help, there is more awareness of global issues, and more of an effort to address them.

It used to be that if a tsunami wiped out an island or coastal nation, no one would know about it...now, we know its GOING to happen, let alone that it happened years ago...or that an explorer can't find them anymore, and no one knows there even WAS a tsunami, and so forth.

The news that someplace didn't suffer from an earthquake or disaster is never news...there is a tendency for the news to therefore BE mostly about bad things, or potentially important but potentially neutral things, such as elections, etc.

So, if you scan the headlines, yup, there's plane crashes and floods and earthquakes, revolutions, and other bad stuff going on.

Before there WERE "headlines", you simply were unlikely to ever KNOW about that stuff.

The vast number of STABLE governments and successful economies and resilient communities that planned for and therefore averted disasters, are not typically there to read about, and, definitely not as a headline.

So, if you don't weigh the evidence carefully, you can EASILY get the impression that things are terrible and getting worse.

---------------------


As for penalties, yeah, its that balance between deterrence and punishment just so they didn't "get away with it".

My impression, dealing with those incarcerated and who work in that industry, is that the reason most commonly given as to why they are in prison, is "I didn't think I'd get caught".

When you don't think you'll get caught, you are less worried about the penalties OF getting caught.

SOME people WILL consider this, especially when their brains have matured enough to more effectively consider the consequences of their actions. The younger the person, the less likely that is to have happened.

Some are able to do that at 16, some closer to 26....with ~ 16 as the average.

These matured versions are simply less likely to COMMIT a crime...as the victim's feelings, a sense of self, and so forth, are now part of the "decision".


So, no, I really doubt anyone was trying to make a plane crash with their laser pointer...and, I KNOW most people don't even know about HOW that could happen (It hasn't....further confusing the issue), but I do know from pilots that the glare is pretty unnerving, and, if at the wrong moment, particularly during a landing...it COULD be a problem.

If used as a missile targeting system, they are typically not in the visible spectrum....for obvious reasons.

I think its dumb people doing dumb stuff, and, should be treated proportionally.

Education for example, teachers in the classroom discussing the hazard to pilots, etc, might reduce it, but, you can't fix stupid.

 

[Benm]

There are several things at play here. First of all, we have been introducing some really dangerous technology into our everyday life that would kill someone lacking modern day common sense. I have these power ports in my home that will probably kill me when i insert a nail into both ports holding one in each hand.

These are called electrical outlets and most people on earth operate them responsibly nowadays, though if place in, say, roman times, they would be considered extremely dangerous and probably be banned.

We move around in vehicles that go 100 miles an hour every day, probably killing anyone that stands in their path - but then again we figured driving them at such speeds is best reserved for highways where people should not walk.

On the other hand we can now cure diseases that would be fatal 200 years ago with a treatment of medicine that costs $1 generic.

The net effect seems fairly obvious to me: Our life expectancy has dramatically increased over the last century or two, proving that the benefits of technology for our safety clearly outweigh the negative effects -on average-.

In a realistic comparison: Plane crashes are pretty horrible, but given the choice, would your rather fly from NY to London or take that journey on a rickety wooden sailboat?

 

[Pi R Squared]

There are several things at play here. First of all, we have been introducing some really dangerous technology into our everyday life that would kill someone lacking modern day common sense. I have these power ports in my home that will probably kill me when i insert a nail into both ports holding one in each hand.

These are called electrical outlets and most people on earth operate them responsibly nowadays, though if place in, say, roman times, they would be considered extremely dangerous and probably be banned.

We move around in vehicles that go 100 miles an hour every day, probably killing anyone that stands in their path - but then again we figured driving them at such speeds is best reserved for highways where people should not walk.

On the other hand we can now cure diseases that would be fatal 200 years ago with a treatment of medicine that costs $1 generic.

The net effect seems fairly obvious to me: Our life expectancy has dramatically increased over the last century or two, proving that the benefits of technology for our safety clearly outweigh the negative effects -on average-.

In a realistic comparison: Plane crashes are pretty horrible, but given the choice, would your rather fly from NY to London or take that journey on a rickety wooden sailboat?

I am not sure I agree with much of that. The benefits of technology for our safety outweigh the negative effects? I think there are both benefits and increasing danger at the same time. You are correct though about the introduction of dangerous technology into our everyday lives.

Right now cars are by far the single most dangerous way to travel, they also run down lots of pedestrians everyday. I hope that self driving cars will change that.

I guess in your country the government subsidizes or pays for prescription drugs because here you can't cure anything or buy any prescription for $1!!!

Life expectancy may have increased quite a bit, I don't know how much. According to the World Health Organization the average life expectancy of the global population is 71 years with a healthy life expectancy of 62 years, I am not sure I believe those numbers.

I wouldn't feel safe crossing the ocean in a small sailboat, but I think in a large ocean liner it might be safer than an airplane. I think it's unfortunate that ocean liners had to be retired because they couldn't compete with air travel. In late 1952 shortly after my brother was born, he and my mother crossed the Atlantic on this ship when it was new, they joined my father in France. The ship made its last trip in 1969, by then they couldn't compete with the airlines.

Alan

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Life expectancy may have increased quite a bit, I don't know how much. According to the World Health Organization the average life expectancy of the global population is 71 years with a healthy life expectancy of 62 years, I am not sure I believe those numbers.

Believe them.

You've fallen victim to the brainwashing of the media to believe the world is terrible, there's a bogeyman out to get you, and things are going in the crapper.

That's EXACTLY what the 24 hour new cycle shows day in and day out.

The reality of the world is quite different.

-Life expectancy has risen - One of the biggest challenges facing the modern world is an aging population, especially in developed nations.
-Relative the population as a whole, fewer people are dying from war, famine or disease.
-Despite the constant small scale conflicts, we are experiencing a remarkably peaceful stretch of history.
-More people know how to read and write then EVER before, again relative to the whole population.

There are lot's and lot's of problems in the world.... but for all that, it's a much much better world then at any point in human history :beer:

 

[Pi R Squared]

Believe them.

You've fallen victim to the brainwashing of the media to believe the world is terrible, there's a bogeyman out to get you, and things are going in the crapper.

That's EXACTLY what the 24 hour new cycle shows day in and day out.

The reality of the world is quite different.

-Life expectancy has risen - One of the biggest challenges facing the modern world is an aging population, especially in developed nations.
-Relative the population as a whole, fewer people are dying from war, famine or disease.
-Despite the constant small scale conflicts, we are experiencing a remarkably peaceful stretch of history.
-More people know how to read and write then EVER before, again relative to the whole population.

There are lot's and lot's of problems in the world.... but for all that, it's a much much better world then at any point in human history :beer:

You're right about the news, I don't even watch any U.S. news channels except to listen to talk radio, because they don't report most of the news. I watch a few minutes a day of news from each of several other countries and they show things that our media here doesn't report on much or not at all, and put it all together and it doesn't look so good.

I do have hope for the future, technology is accelerating very fast. I hope that the next generation or their children will live in a world with Star Trek level technology where everyone has what they need. They could also end up in a post war wasteland where they struggle to survive, and we all need to do more to prevent that from happening. Burying your head in the sand or looking the other way only allows things to get worse. Everyone needs to be aware of what is going on in the rest of the world before it reaches you.

Our warmongering leaders and the pretend diplomats that work for them aren't making things better. The world is sliding into a situation that could end up worse than WW1 or WW2. War is seldom the answer to a problem, war is one of the problems.

I urge everyone to pay attention to what is going on in the rest of the world before your power goes out and you can't buy food at the supermarket. Get active in politics, become an anti war activist, try to help the refugees that only want to go somewhere where they can live out there lives without being killed. Help the homeless or the hungry people in your own community, or simply spread the word about issues that are a problem that needs fixing before it's too late. If enough people try then we can fix some problems before bad things happen.

Alan

 

[vortish]

Part of the problem is the the United States legal system. We have the most complex legal system in the world. I think that the punishment should fit the crime. But the US legal system does not work that way then throw in the federal government and things get really out wack. If you down a plane with a laser and people die it would take a matter of weeks and that person would be dead with in a matter of months not years. It is cases like this that really shows the us public were the governmental priorities lay. The spend hundred of thousands of dollars prosecuting people for this crime and slap people with years in jail. It does not make any sense to me. The problem is that there is idiots all over the us and that hampers law abiding citizens like you and me. I think in order to be able to have them you have to go through a training class like guns but that really would not solve any thing people would still find ways of getting them with out the license. But banning them is stupid in my book.

 

[Benm]

Right now cars are by far the single most dangerous way to travel, they also run down lots of pedestrians everyday. I hope that self driving cars will change that.

They actually might - cars have gotten a LOT safer since they become common with safety features like seatbelts, airbags and such. Now we are getting more and more electronics that can avoid collissions under certain conditions. We had the lane-swerve alert, now cars keep in their lane by themselves and also maintain a safe distance to avoid hitting one in front of you if that driver sees and speed trap and brakes down as hard as possible.

Also, numbers seem to support this: Here in the netherlands the number of traffic fatalities has halved over the last 15 years or so, despite a growing population and increasing number of cars on the road.

Furthermore, safety is always relative. I'm not really sure what car travel should be compared to. If it is the technology it replaced (horse drawn carts?) it might actually be safer despite the speed increase: few chances of breaking down in the middle of nowhere and dying of thirst and such. If you compare it to modern day alternatives, driving a car is really safe: Walking and cycling a given distance is usually more dangerous (to you, not others). The most dangerous common method of transportation by far is, however, the motorcycle.

Something similar goes with flying versus sailing: Airplanes do crash once in a while, often killing a large number of occupants. But so do ships. Your chances of surviving a sinking ship are often better than those on a crashing airplane, though that greatly depends on where your ship sinks both for water temperature and speed rescue workers can get there.

If you do the new york to london trip you'd probably be safer on an aircraft: if your ship sinks in the middle of the atlantic there is little chance you would survive. If you are going from london to paris taking the ferry across the channel your chances would be a lot better in case of a shipwreck since rescue workers can be there very quickly.

 

[Alaskan]

I can't find this in our news yet, but my wife just told me someone in Japan was just arrested for pointing a green laser at aircraft, apparently, he had been doing so off and on over a period of years as a failed pilot.

 

[Lifetime17]

One thing remains unclear to me. How the hell did they come up with lasers bringing aircraft down? Has it ever happened that someone caused a helicopter or plane to crash with a laser pointer? I've seen videos where multiple people pointed a laser at a helicopter and nothing serious happened other than the offender getting a jail sentence or something similar.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally against pointing at aircraft, but it's just ridiculous how they go about it. They're against importing >5mW lasers because it "can bring down aircraft" yet they allow guns to be sold to pretty much everyone.

Hi,
The gun comment, no not to everyone, you have to go through a NIC's(National Instant Background check) through state police first . And you will have to get a valid Firearms ID card issued by the town you live in through the Municipal police.

Rich

 

[Pi R Squared]

I can't find this in our news yet, but my wife just told me someone in Japan was just arrested for pointing a green laser at aircraft, apparently, he had been doing so off and on over a period of years as a failed pilot.

Man in Japan arrested for allegedly shining laser ray at US chopper - The Express Tribune

Okinawa man held over laser-shining incident involving U.S. aircraft | The Japan Times

Man in Okinawa arrested for allegedly shining laser ray at US chopper

Okinawa man arrested for aiming lasers at U.S. military aircraft - Cihan World News

Okinawa man arrested for aiming lasers at U.S. military aircraft near controversial base - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Hi,
The gun comment, no not to everyone, you have to go through a NIC's(National Instant Background check) through state police first . And you will have to get a valid Firearms ID card issued by the town you live in through the Municipal police.

Rich

I have never heard of a Firearms ID card, is this just a New Jersey thing?

Alan

 

[GSS]

I have a FID card in MA its registered in the city I lived in. Its only good for someone to buy and own a rifle or shot gun and to purchase ammo. To go hunting or shooting the weapon has to be in the trunk or locked case if you have a SUV. I assume it the same thing.