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TOURISTS AVOIDING U.S.
HOTEL INTERACTIVE - America's declining image is driving away tourists,
according to the Discover America Partnership, an organization sponsored
by the tourism industry. "We have lost nearly 60 million international
travelers since 9/11 and the problem is only getting worse," said DAP
Executive Director Geoff Freeman. "As travel around the world
skyrockets, the U.S. is mired in a slump." Government figures show that
overseas travel to the U.S. remains below pre-9/11 levels in six of the
top eight overseas markets [primarily Europe - TPR] and fell further in
2006 in five out of the top eight overseas markets.
A 2006 survey conducted by DAP found that many visitors are offended by
the U.S. entry process, which subjects foreign visitors to
fingerprinting, iris scans and other procedures that many find
intrusive.
http://www.prwatch.org/spin
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OTHER NEWS
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WHY THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO BAN CELL PHONES ON PLANES
COMPUTER WORLD - The risk posed by cell phones to airplane equipment is
unknown, and will remain unknown for as long as possible. Phones are
banned for two official reasons:
1. Cell phones "might" interfere with the aviation electronics of some
airplanes.
2. Cell phones aloft "might" cause problems with cell tower systems on
the ground.
Both of these risks are easily tested, yet somehow neither the Federal
Aviation Administration nor the Federal Communications Commission has
been able to get a definitive answer in the past 20 years as to whether
phone calls in flight cause these suspected problems. . .
The government's dirty little secret is that it cultivates uncertainty
about the effects of phones in airplanes as a way to maintain the
existing ban without having to confront the expense and inconvenience to
airlines and wireless carriers of allowing them.
The airlines fear "crowd control" problems if cell phones are allowed in
flights. They believe cell phone calls might promote rude behavior and
conflict between passengers, which flight attendants would have to deal
with. The airlines also benefit in general from passengers remaining
ignorant about what's happening on the ground during flights, including
personal problems, terrorist attacks, plane crashes and other
information that might upset passengers. . .
Cell phone and tower designs are based on the assumption that at any
given time, only a few cell towers will be close to any specific phone.
So any given tower will use different channels than those used by other
towers closest to it, but will use the same channels as towers farther
away. However, when a phone is used in an airplane, it might have
roughly equal access to two or more towers that use the same channels,
which confuses the carriers' computer systems. This situation might
result in interrupted calls, reduced system capacity and other problems.
Of course, this could be fixed in any number of ways, including an
overhaul of the software used to manage calls between towers, but the
fix would cost money. The ban is cheaper. . .
Also: No FCC or FAA chairman wants to sign off a change in the rules
because if a cell phone does cause either an airplane crash or a cell
tower computer system crash, they don't want to be blamed. Keeping the
ban is the safe decision for the politically ambitious. The ban is
easier.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=
viewArticleBasic&articleId=9015839&pageNumber=2
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TOURISTS AVOIDING U.S.
HOTEL INTERACTIVE - America's declining image is driving away tourists,
according to the Discover America Partnership, an organization sponsored
by the tourism industry. "We have lost nearly 60 million international
travelers since 9/11 and the problem is only getting worse," said DAP
Executive Director Geoff Freeman. "As travel around the world
skyrockets, the U.S. is mired in a slump." Government figures show that
overseas travel to the U.S. remains below pre-9/11 levels in six of the
top eight overseas markets [primarily Europe - TPR] and fell further in
2006 in five out of the top eight overseas markets.
A 2006 survey conducted by DAP found that many visitors are offended by
the U.S. entry process, which subjects foreign visitors to
fingerprinting, iris scans and other procedures that many find
intrusive.
http://www.prwatch.org/spin
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OTHER NEWS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WHY THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO BAN CELL PHONES ON PLANES
COMPUTER WORLD - The risk posed by cell phones to airplane equipment is
unknown, and will remain unknown for as long as possible. Phones are
banned for two official reasons:
1. Cell phones "might" interfere with the aviation electronics of some
airplanes.
2. Cell phones aloft "might" cause problems with cell tower systems on
the ground.
Both of these risks are easily tested, yet somehow neither the Federal
Aviation Administration nor the Federal Communications Commission has
been able to get a definitive answer in the past 20 years as to whether
phone calls in flight cause these suspected problems. . .
The government's dirty little secret is that it cultivates uncertainty
about the effects of phones in airplanes as a way to maintain the
existing ban without having to confront the expense and inconvenience to
airlines and wireless carriers of allowing them.
The airlines fear "crowd control" problems if cell phones are allowed in
flights. They believe cell phone calls might promote rude behavior and
conflict between passengers, which flight attendants would have to deal
with. The airlines also benefit in general from passengers remaining
ignorant about what's happening on the ground during flights, including
personal problems, terrorist attacks, plane crashes and other
information that might upset passengers. . .
Cell phone and tower designs are based on the assumption that at any
given time, only a few cell towers will be close to any specific phone.
So any given tower will use different channels than those used by other
towers closest to it, but will use the same channels as towers farther
away. However, when a phone is used in an airplane, it might have
roughly equal access to two or more towers that use the same channels,
which confuses the carriers' computer systems. This situation might
result in interrupted calls, reduced system capacity and other problems.
Of course, this could be fixed in any number of ways, including an
overhaul of the software used to manage calls between towers, but the
fix would cost money. The ban is cheaper. . .
Also: No FCC or FAA chairman wants to sign off a change in the rules
because if a cell phone does cause either an airplane crash or a cell
tower computer system crash, they don't want to be blamed. Keeping the
ban is the safe decision for the politically ambitious. The ban is
easier.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=
viewArticleBasic&articleId=9015839&pageNumber=2
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