More Insane, Pointless Regulations from the TSA

On Christmas Day, a failed terrorist attack aboard an international flight from Amsterdam to Detroit saw a man sew explosives into his underwear. The passengers of the plane subverted the attack, but on the heels of the failed attack, our ever-vigilant government has released even more restrictions during travel that are sure to thwart any plot that a terrorist might concoct. *cough SIKE! cough*

From AppleInsider:

According to a report in the New York Times, international travelers bound for the United States are now being told "they could not leave their seats for the last hour of a flight, during which time they also could not use a pillow or blanket, or have anything on their laps," including a laptop.

All international flights are now being required to enforce new rules during the final hour of the flight which includes: insisting that all passengers remain in their seats and prohibiting passengers from accessing any carry-on baggage or from having any blankets, pillows or other personal belongings on their lap during the final hour of the flight.

But even more genius is this:

Additionally, airlines' international flights are now required to "disable aircraft-integrated passenger communications systems and services (phone, internet access services, live television programming, global positioning systems) prior to boarding and during all phases of flight."

The directive also insists that, while over U.S. airspace, "flight crew may not make any announcement to passengers concerning flight path or position over cities or landmarks."

The directive does nothing to prevent potential terrorist passengers from looking out the window to observe their location, and does not address the possibility that rogue passengers could obtain their own accurate position using a GPS device (such as a smartphone) that they brought onto the plane themselves.

Gone are days of "and if you look out the left side of the plane, you'll see the Grand Canyon."

They stopped just short of requiring everyone to take off their underwear. But I bet Richard Branson is working on it.