Scott Chisholm Lamont, RN.

Listed on:

Search 4 RSS

Yeah, I'm a Technorati member

Weblog Directory Directory of blogs from all around the world.

)O( Green Man

Please, PLEASE, tell me this isn't going to happen.

I awoke to this headline:

Airlines could allow chatter - FCC reconsidering ban on in-flight calls, starting to ask travelers what they think.

What a terrible idea. Having been trapped on many airplanes under trying circumstances, I cringe at the thought of adding a batch of people yammering away on their cell phones to the mix.

My favourite quote from the article:

Charles Fleischer of Corte Madera was also leery of allowing cell phones at 37,000 feet.

''I do not believe that there is any requirement for passengers to use cell phones on airlines unless there is an emergency like 9/11,'' he observed.

"I can see having high-speed Internet connections, so passengers can continue to work through e-mail. This would not require voice traffic. There is enough noise on planes now. Cell phones on planes would make me strive harder not to fly.''

Like, the voice of reason! What are the chances it will be heard by the powers that be? No, don't e-mail me an answer to that, I am trying to avoid depression these days.

This is not to say that I haven't used my cell phone while flying (true confession here, FCC drones, come spank me if you feel so inclined) - but it was in an air ambulance, where I was attending a patient, and we had lost radio contact with the hospital and needed an alternate means of communication right then. Also, we've always flown with our text pagers on, without evidence of interference with the avionics. But that's totally subjective, not to mention anecdotal.

Now, on a completely different topic, I haven't had time to post about an email I got regarding the heinous Texas law that just passed their House, but let me start off with saying that it involves a clip in which Jon Stewart absolutely decimates CNN (again) for their shoddy coverage. I'm away at the SWEFA Beltaine celebration in NM this w/e, so I will try to post about it on Sunday when I get back.