May 13, 2025 • 21 mins
(May 13,2025)
KFI & KTLA tech reporter Rich DeMuro joins the show for ‘Tech Tuesday.’ Today, Rich talks about Apple’s new accessibility features:, Samsung’s ultra-thin phone, Ticketmaster transparency, & Google icon refresh. Airport detentions have travelers ‘freaked out.
KFI & KTLA tech reporter Rich DeMuro joins the show for ‘Tech Tuesday.’ Today, Rich talks about Apple’s new accessibility features:, Samsung’s ultra-thin phone, Ticketmaster transparency, & Google icon refresh. Airport detentions have travelers ‘freaked out.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
KFI AM six forty Bill Handle Here it is a
Taco Tuesday, May thirteenth, and every Tuesday, as always, it's
time for Rich Demurou, kfi's tech Guy, who is seen
on channel five kt LA every day Saturdays here on
KFI eleven am to two pm Instagram at Rich on
(00:29):
tech website, Rich on tech dot TV, and.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Good morning Rich.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Hey, good morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Bill.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Okay, a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Of things to talk about, and I'd love to talk
about phones for a couple of reasons. First of all,
that's a gadget that I almost understand, the rest of
them not so much.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And the ultra thin phones.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
And now we've been around where we have seen phones,
portable phones go all the way from those we're as
big as bricks with the antenna down to phones that
are so thin, so small, and now Samsung has come
up with an ultra.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Thin phone, even thinner than the phones we have now.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yes, it's quite wild. I was in New York last
week to check it out, and it's thin. It's noticeably
like you pick this thing up and you're like, wow,
this is really thin it's light, it's easy to hold.
The main drawback to this is going to be the
battery life. Well, we'll see when we test it. We
don't know that for sure, but the battery is smaller
(01:37):
than your typical phone. But here's the deal on it.
It's called the Galaxy S twenty five Edge. It's five
point eight millimeters thick, one hundred and sixty three grams.
That's the thinnest Samsung phone they've ever made. But it
still has the latest feature So it's got a great camera,
two hundred megapixel camera ultra wide, it's got the latest processor,
(01:58):
it's got a good amount of RAM and storage. Comes
in three colors, wireless charging, it's water resistant, and it
ships on May thirtieth. The price tag is eleven hundred dollars,
so it's a couple hundred dollars less than the Ultra,
which is their top of the line, but one hundred
dollars more than the Plus, which is the one that
they're sort of positioning these between. So again, one more
(02:20):
option for folks. And we do know Bill that Apple
is rumored to be coming out with their version of
a thin iPhone called the iPhone Air. That's the expected name.
We don't know if that's true or not, but that's
going to come out later this year. So look, it's
all about options for folks at this point because the
cell phone market has been a little bit stagnant.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I mean when you describe weight, for example, in grams
other than buying cocaine, who the hell knows what that is.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Exactly? Well, I know it's more cocaine.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Go ahead, Yeah, I mean, look, there's a lot of
drug dealers out there that are like, oh my gosh,
that's a good amount of wait on that phone. But
you know, to me, it's actually very I don't know
it's a gram, a lot or a little bit of
I don't have no idea. I'm not really into that stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Nor am I.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Graham's about one hundred and twenty bucks. I used to
be maybe one hundred and ten on a good day,
and it hasn't really gone up. Okay, when you talk
about phones that are that thin, my immediately what comes
to mind? Since I sit on my phone a lot
and I put it in my back pocket, don't you
have a phone that is going to bend in the
(03:31):
shape of your butt when you sit?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, and look that's going to be. The big thing
to test on this phone is the durability because of
all those reasons. So when we got the you know,
the way that these companies typically do it, they give
folks hands on so you get to see this first,
but you don't really get to review it or play
with it until maybe a week or two later. So
we don't have the phones in hand just yet for
(03:56):
long term testing, but that should come soon hopefully, and
that's when people are gonna test it. There's this guy
on YouTube, Jerry Rigg. He does, you know, all these
crazy torture tests on different phones, so of course he
will be bending the heck out of this thing to
see if it actually bends in your pocket. I hope
that it doesn't because in my you know, first hands on,
(04:20):
it did feel very strong and it is made out
of titanium. So hopefully Samsung thought about that and said, yeah,
people are gonna still put this thing in their back pocket.
We want to make it you know where it's gonna
be just fine.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
There are people better off instead of buying the new
phone every two years, because whatever program you're on, you
have the ability to upgrade and it doesn't cost you anything.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I have to do is extend the contract.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Is it a far better deal simply to buy the
phone that's two years old, because you're really not going
to get that much more benefit on a new phone.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
I mean, look, you know this is this gets synto
consumerism and you know, the latest, the greatest like phones
nowadays are you know some of the software updates on
today's phones. For Apple is anywhere from five to six years.
For Google it's seven years. So that gives you an
idea of how long you can keep your phone. Most
people are keeping them for about I think it's about
thirty nine months at this point, so you can keep
(05:20):
your phone for a very long time. You do not
need to upgrade every year, for sure, unless you unless
you're a photographer, a content a content.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Creator, or a videographer.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Right, the rest of everyone else in the world can
pretty much upgrade every three years. But you know, the
plans that people are on give me the ability to
upgrade more, and that's what the carriers want because you're
spending more money. So it's really a personal preference and
kind of where you want to sit and what plan
you're on. But you definitely don't need to and.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Rich, let's get right into a story that as a
matter of fact, we just heard about the Ticketmaster transparency.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
One of the things that I think bug most of us.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
For example, going to a hotel before here's the price,
until you walk in and there's your resort fee, even
in motels that have no pool, and then your excise
taxes and on and on, you're paying forty percent more.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Same thing with Ticketmaster.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
When you're buying a concert ticket, you're paying a hell
of a lot more than the price that is being quoted.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
That is ending and why did it take so damn long.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Well, the part that's ending is that you're finally going
to see how much you're paying upfront. You're still paying
a bunch of junkie fees that's not changing, sadly. But
Ticketmaster as of now does show you the full price
of your ticket up front. Now here's the deal. All
this stuff with the service fees and the stuff they
tack on, that's fine. Like, I get it. We've been
(06:47):
paying this stuff for a long time. It's wild, it's crazy.
We shouldn't be doing it. But it's the reality versus
the face value, right. But the thing is, it was
that surprise at the end so you find a good
pair of tickets for the game or the concert or
whatever you want to go to, and then you finally
get to the checkout and the price jumps, you know,
depending on how many tickets you're buying by you know,
(07:07):
could be one hundred dollars, two hundred dollars, three hundred,
whatever it is. And I think that surprise is what
really turned people off. So now at least you see
the full price that you're going to pay up front
before you get to that final screen. And then on
the final screen it's sort of reversed. You can now
click an arrow and get the breakdown of all the
different fees that are included in that price that you've
(07:29):
been seeing. And by the way, Ticketmaster is not the
only one we're seeing more of this transparency. Airbnb is
doing something similar. But like you said, hotels kind of
the last holdout here. Still a lot of junkie fees,
especially at check in with that resort fee.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, I don't care what they charge if you know
what you're paying. I mean, they can throw on two
hundred dollars room. If you know that it's two hundred
dollars extra room, then you choose simply to go to
someplace not as expensive where you decide you're not going
to go to that concert it is not worth that
much money.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
But you know what did it take to get there?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Was there a lobby that stopped it, because I'm sure
there's been law after law introduced to stop that for years.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, I think the most recent one was I think
it was last late last year. I think they finally
passed something that made this take effect, this junk fee law,
and so I think that these companies are finally I
think they had a deadline. I think the deadline's coming up,
but they just got ahead of it. And so that
is the main infeinus like these companies do not do
(08:36):
this out of the kindness of their heart. Like if
they had their way, what a company would do is
charge you for your ticket and then two weeks after
the show say hey, by the way, here's your fee
that we're charging you for after the show because you
enjoyed it, So here's another six dollars we just put
on your credit card. Like that's what they would do
if they were able to do that. But yes, once
you know, the government says, hey, you got to show
(08:58):
and show all in price because these junk fees are
getting The thing is, bill these companies don't want to
be regulated in a way, right, so they do this
stuff to like sort of evade some of these regulations
that they know would come down the line if they
didn't do this stuff. So but the FTC did make
a ban on junk fees that is in effect now
(09:19):
and that's really I think what made this happen.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And is that going to be across the board whenever
there are there are hidden fees airline fees, et cetera
across just everything.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Oh, I think I think airlines were I got to
look up the rule because this was a while ago,
but I think the airlines were like specifically excluded from this.
So industries covered right now are concerts, sporting events, theater performances, hotels, motels,
all that stuff, holiday inn But the I think the
airlines did sort of rally against this fee, and I
(09:54):
think they won because they don't have to do this
and airlines are like the worst. So I mean, if
you ever, if you ever do a search to like Vegas,
you can go on Spirit for like nine bucks and
then by the time you get all the taxes and
you bring your actual bag on board. You're talking like
another like eighty dollars or something insane.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So yeah, okay, all right, Rich tomorrow morning.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
We'll see you on KTLA Saturday eleven to two pm.
Here on KFI, Instagram, at rich on tech website, rich
on tech dot tv.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
You have a good one. Take care Rich YouTube Bill. Okay,
you have to say that you know you have a
good one. No, you two.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I hate that. I should just bail out. You know,
that's you know from now on cono, you know, forget
that you have a good one. Let's just say don't
let's not even say goodbye. Let's just okay, we're done.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yep. Now, I don't know if you've been to a
airport recently.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Amy just have has and I just came back and
they pretty well leave me alone.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
But then my last name is hand a little.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I'm not Abdul ben Mohammed Ahmad, which may be a
little problematic. And I'm pretty white looking and I don't
have much of a tan, so you know, I'm basically
your white American guy. Now, if you happen to not be,
(11:21):
let's say you have a airbic last name, or you
look somewhat mid Eastern you may have some real issues
going on, even if you're an American citizen, and this
is what's happening at the airport.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Maybe, And here is the issue.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
This is a story in the Atlantic about Jess Joseph,
a fifty three year old immigration attorney in Colorado. When
he flies abroad, he leaves his phone at home. He
actually carries a burner phone, and it's scrubbed of his
contact lists, scrubbed of everything he does in terms of communications.
(12:04):
Why just in case US Customs and Border Protection officers
send him to a secondary inspection and seize his electronics
when he returns home. And that is the fear. I
don't know if you've ever been to a secondary inspection.
I have coming up from Mexico Tijuana, and I was younger,
(12:28):
and I actually had long hair. I know that's hard
to believe, but actually had long hair at one time.
So I was in my twenties at the time. And
then I'm crossing the border and the border patrol says,
why don't you go over there? And then I was
subjected to a secondary inspection. Oh boy, was I subjected
(12:51):
to a secondary inspection? Because there really are no rules
they can ask you anything. They can search, they don't
need to warrant. And the problem is, and again I'm
going to tell you stat or two coming up, is
that is what's happening now, and that anxiety about fear
(13:16):
of this secondary inspection or even just being straight out
denied entry no thank you, which can happen not to
American citizens, but it's happening to American.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Citizens now very rarely.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
But there are a couple of poster child instances, and
so this isn't limited to immigration lawyers.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
There are message.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Boards out there online that are talking about vacation worries,
crowdsource advice. People are telling one another delete all social
media accounts on your devices, turn off all facial recognition features.
Pack photo copies of your personal documents such as marriage
and birth certificates, which you should do anyway. You should
(14:07):
have photos on your phone of your birth certificate, certainly
your passport, just in case your passport is lost, there's
a record of it, or let's say it's packed and
somebody or the border patrol wants to see your passport. Well,
we have to have it out anyway when you come
into the country. But this has to do with the
(14:31):
President on his first day in office, ordering border patrol
and there and other federal agencies intensify your screenings of
foreigners and immigrants. Also, remember he promised to undertake the
largest deportation program in American history, which actually hasn't happened.
(14:55):
It really, there are no mass deportations. I mean there
are deportations, but every one of them seems to be
on the news and has made a big deal out of.
For example, if there is an illegal alien who's come
across the border and he shouldn't have come across the
border and the border patrol he slipped through and he
(15:15):
committed some heinous crimes.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
There you go, that.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Becomes major news proof positive that look what's happening with
these rapists across the border, and if we had add
better border control, you never would have crossed the border. Well,
the reality is is, you know, American citizens do the
same thing.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And there's no proof that folks that are crossing the.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Border illegally are do any more crimes, commit any more murders,
and per capita American citizens that are born here. But
it adds to the story, It adds to the narrative,
and he is a well cancelation of visas for campus protesters.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
The government can do that.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
They haven't done that in the past, certainly didn't do
that under the Biden administration. And then there are all
kinds of First Amendment issues and I want to finish
it up with that. And at the end of the show,
I'm taking phone calls by the way, and I'll tell
you about that when we come back.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Amy you or just yawning? Are you that bored already?
Speaker 4 (16:19):
No, I'm still a little jet legged.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Okay, as my mother would say, you're lagging jets.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yes, all right, I know, jet I'm not bored with
what you're saying, though. That is scintillating.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Well there you are.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
Actually, can I tell you that when we were in
line in at Heathrow to come back to the US,
the guy talking to the ticket agent next to us,
they were grilling him, asking him all kinds of questions,
have you ever been a member of a terrorist organization?
And we were like, going, are you kidding me? And
they just sat there and rattled off and he's like, no, no, was.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
He as white as you are with red hair?
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Nope?
Speaker 5 (16:58):
You definitely was not a light It was not fair
skinned or fair haired. But they and they're like, have
you been to Iraq? Have you been to Iran? Have
you been to whatever the other countries were.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
That's exactly what this story is about.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
It was really interesting because I've never heard that before.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
They do that.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
As a matter of fact, if you ever go to
England and you're coming into the country, there are three lines,
one for UK citizens, EU citizens, one for foreign nurse
American citizens, and then another one at the other end
for what appears to be only Pakistanis that are coming
through now. I want to finish up going through an
(17:40):
airport and what's going on today if you happen to
be crossing the border and you are.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Not white and red haired the way Amy is.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
And as she was coming back from overseas, right next
to her was a gentleman who was not white and
was being grilled by customs and border patrol. And these
fears are real, they are now. Trump administration officials insist
that law abiding travelers have nothing to fear, and that
(18:12):
the news coverage of these incidents completely overblown and incomplete.
The searches of electronic devices haven't significantly increased. Officers do
not detain travelers randomly, and instead question or arrest people
based on quote, derogatory information that may be too sensitive
(18:36):
to disclose publicly. The reality is it's always been going on,
is going on more so now than it was before. Well,
if you look at the history of what's going on
with the Trump administration, remember the first time out, one
of the first things the President Trump did was he
(18:58):
stopped people from Muslim country from even coming in the
United States win grant visas. And of course that went
to court and that policy was in fact overridden, and
so Muslims could come back into the country. Now Here
is the problem, and that is the government has incredible
(19:21):
leeway in terms of allowing people in. There really aren't
many First Amendment rights. Even Green card holders can be
held and be tossed for almost any reason. It's the
government's determination on whether someone should or should not come in.
The only people that cannot be tossed out are American citizens.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
And even then there have been a.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Couple who were caught up as collateral damage and a
very big deal was.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Made of them. And so you go to the arrivals
hall of an international.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Airport, this is one of the few where you are
going to encounter the government.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
The US governments.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Government lines are slow, You're tired, you want to go home.
I mean, the last thing you want is to deal
with the border patrol. Customs and border patrol. Now, I've
been very lucky. I have never been held up, except
when I was in my twenties crossing from Tijuan into
the United States.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
But I had long hair and I looked like a hippie.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
I've always handed my passport to the officer and he looks,
where have you been. Did you have a good time? Yep, Well,
welcome back to America. That's usually the experience, unless you
have an Arabic name or you don't look particularly white. Yeah,
(20:52):
I believe that happens. All right, guys, we're done coming
up phone calls. I'm taking phone calls off the air
or handle on the law marginal legal advice.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
You can call right.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Now and listen to Gary and Shannon right through the
phone while you're on hold, which you won't be for long.
Eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven
seven five to zero eleven fifty Tomorrow morning wake up call.
Amy is back with Will from five to six, from
six to nine, Neil and I come aboard, and then
(21:23):
you have Cono and who make this all happen?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Did that sounds sincere? By the way, Cono sounded accurate?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Well please accurate doesn't matter, all right, I'll catch in
the morning KFI am six forty.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Catch my show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
KFI AM six forty Bill Handle Here it is a
Taco Tuesday, May thirteenth, and every Tuesday, as always, it's
time for Rich Demurou, kfi's tech Guy, who is seen
on channel five kt LA every day Saturdays here on
KFI eleven am to two pm Instagram at Rich on
(00:29):
tech website, Rich on tech dot TV, and.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Good morning Rich.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Hey, good morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Bill.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Okay, a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Of things to talk about, and I'd love to talk
about phones for a couple of reasons. First of all,
that's a gadget that I almost understand, the rest of
them not so much.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And the ultra thin phones.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
And now we've been around where we have seen phones,
portable phones go all the way from those we're as
big as bricks with the antenna down to phones that
are so thin, so small, and now Samsung has come
up with an ultra.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Thin phone, even thinner than the phones we have now.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yes, it's quite wild. I was in New York last
week to check it out, and it's thin. It's noticeably
like you pick this thing up and you're like, wow,
this is really thin it's light, it's easy to hold.
The main drawback to this is going to be the
battery life. Well, we'll see when we test it. We
don't know that for sure, but the battery is smaller
(01:37):
than your typical phone. But here's the deal on it.
It's called the Galaxy S twenty five Edge. It's five
point eight millimeters thick, one hundred and sixty three grams.
That's the thinnest Samsung phone they've ever made. But it
still has the latest feature So it's got a great camera,
two hundred megapixel camera ultra wide, it's got the latest processor,
(01:58):
it's got a good amount of RAM and storage. Comes
in three colors, wireless charging, it's water resistant, and it
ships on May thirtieth. The price tag is eleven hundred dollars,
so it's a couple hundred dollars less than the Ultra,
which is their top of the line, but one hundred
dollars more than the Plus, which is the one that
they're sort of positioning these between. So again, one more
(02:20):
option for folks. And we do know Bill that Apple
is rumored to be coming out with their version of
a thin iPhone called the iPhone Air. That's the expected name.
We don't know if that's true or not, but that's
going to come out later this year. So look, it's
all about options for folks at this point because the
cell phone market has been a little bit stagnant.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I mean when you describe weight, for example, in grams
other than buying cocaine, who the hell knows what that is.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Exactly? Well, I know it's more cocaine.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Go ahead, Yeah, I mean, look, there's a lot of
drug dealers out there that are like, oh my gosh,
that's a good amount of wait on that phone. But
you know, to me, it's actually very I don't know
it's a gram, a lot or a little bit of
I don't have no idea. I'm not really into that stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Nor am I.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Graham's about one hundred and twenty bucks. I used to
be maybe one hundred and ten on a good day,
and it hasn't really gone up. Okay, when you talk
about phones that are that thin, my immediately what comes
to mind? Since I sit on my phone a lot
and I put it in my back pocket, don't you
have a phone that is going to bend in the
(03:31):
shape of your butt when you sit?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, and look that's going to be. The big thing
to test on this phone is the durability because of
all those reasons. So when we got the you know,
the way that these companies typically do it, they give
folks hands on so you get to see this first,
but you don't really get to review it or play
with it until maybe a week or two later. So
we don't have the phones in hand just yet for
(03:56):
long term testing, but that should come soon hopefully, and
that's when people are gonna test it. There's this guy
on YouTube, Jerry Rigg. He does, you know, all these
crazy torture tests on different phones, so of course he
will be bending the heck out of this thing to
see if it actually bends in your pocket. I hope
that it doesn't because in my you know, first hands on,
(04:20):
it did feel very strong and it is made out
of titanium. So hopefully Samsung thought about that and said, yeah,
people are gonna still put this thing in their back pocket.
We want to make it you know where it's gonna
be just fine.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
There are people better off instead of buying the new
phone every two years, because whatever program you're on, you
have the ability to upgrade and it doesn't cost you anything.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I have to do is extend the contract.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Is it a far better deal simply to buy the
phone that's two years old, because you're really not going
to get that much more benefit on a new phone.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
I mean, look, you know this is this gets synto
consumerism and you know, the latest, the greatest like phones
nowadays are you know some of the software updates on
today's phones. For Apple is anywhere from five to six years.
For Google it's seven years. So that gives you an
idea of how long you can keep your phone. Most
people are keeping them for about I think it's about
thirty nine months at this point, so you can keep
(05:20):
your phone for a very long time. You do not
need to upgrade every year, for sure, unless you unless
you're a photographer, a content a content.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Creator, or a videographer.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Right, the rest of everyone else in the world can
pretty much upgrade every three years. But you know, the
plans that people are on give me the ability to
upgrade more, and that's what the carriers want because you're
spending more money. So it's really a personal preference and
kind of where you want to sit and what plan
you're on. But you definitely don't need to and.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Rich, let's get right into a story that as a
matter of fact, we just heard about the Ticketmaster transparency.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
One of the things that I think bug most of us.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
For example, going to a hotel before here's the price,
until you walk in and there's your resort fee, even
in motels that have no pool, and then your excise
taxes and on and on, you're paying forty percent more.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Same thing with Ticketmaster.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
When you're buying a concert ticket, you're paying a hell
of a lot more than the price that is being quoted.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
That is ending and why did it take so damn long.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Well, the part that's ending is that you're finally going
to see how much you're paying upfront. You're still paying
a bunch of junkie fees that's not changing, sadly. But
Ticketmaster as of now does show you the full price
of your ticket up front. Now here's the deal. All
this stuff with the service fees and the stuff they
tack on, that's fine. Like, I get it. We've been
(06:47):
paying this stuff for a long time. It's wild, it's crazy.
We shouldn't be doing it. But it's the reality versus
the face value, right. But the thing is, it was
that surprise at the end so you find a good
pair of tickets for the game or the concert or
whatever you want to go to, and then you finally
get to the checkout and the price jumps, you know,
depending on how many tickets you're buying by you know,
(07:07):
could be one hundred dollars, two hundred dollars, three hundred,
whatever it is. And I think that surprise is what
really turned people off. So now at least you see
the full price that you're going to pay up front
before you get to that final screen. And then on
the final screen it's sort of reversed. You can now
click an arrow and get the breakdown of all the
different fees that are included in that price that you've
(07:29):
been seeing. And by the way, Ticketmaster is not the
only one we're seeing more of this transparency. Airbnb is
doing something similar. But like you said, hotels kind of
the last holdout here. Still a lot of junkie fees,
especially at check in with that resort fee.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, I don't care what they charge if you know
what you're paying. I mean, they can throw on two
hundred dollars room. If you know that it's two hundred
dollars extra room, then you choose simply to go to
someplace not as expensive where you decide you're not going
to go to that concert it is not worth that
much money.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
But you know what did it take to get there?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Was there a lobby that stopped it, because I'm sure
there's been law after law introduced to stop that for years.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, I think the most recent one was I think
it was last late last year. I think they finally
passed something that made this take effect, this junk fee law,
and so I think that these companies are finally I
think they had a deadline. I think the deadline's coming up,
but they just got ahead of it. And so that
is the main infeinus like these companies do not do
(08:36):
this out of the kindness of their heart. Like if
they had their way, what a company would do is
charge you for your ticket and then two weeks after
the show say hey, by the way, here's your fee
that we're charging you for after the show because you
enjoyed it, So here's another six dollars we just put
on your credit card. Like that's what they would do
if they were able to do that. But yes, once
you know, the government says, hey, you got to show
(08:58):
and show all in price because these junk fees are
getting The thing is, bill these companies don't want to
be regulated in a way, right, so they do this
stuff to like sort of evade some of these regulations
that they know would come down the line if they
didn't do this stuff. So but the FTC did make
a ban on junk fees that is in effect now
(09:19):
and that's really I think what made this happen.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And is that going to be across the board whenever
there are there are hidden fees airline fees, et cetera
across just everything.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Oh, I think I think airlines were I got to
look up the rule because this was a while ago,
but I think the airlines were like specifically excluded from this.
So industries covered right now are concerts, sporting events, theater performances, hotels, motels,
all that stuff, holiday inn But the I think the
airlines did sort of rally against this fee, and I
(09:54):
think they won because they don't have to do this
and airlines are like the worst. So I mean, if
you ever, if you ever do a search to like Vegas,
you can go on Spirit for like nine bucks and
then by the time you get all the taxes and
you bring your actual bag on board. You're talking like
another like eighty dollars or something insane.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So yeah, okay, all right, Rich tomorrow morning.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
We'll see you on KTLA Saturday eleven to two pm.
Here on KFI, Instagram, at rich on tech website, rich
on tech dot tv.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
You have a good one. Take care Rich YouTube Bill. Okay,
you have to say that you know you have a
good one. No, you two.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I hate that. I should just bail out. You know,
that's you know from now on cono, you know, forget
that you have a good one. Let's just say don't
let's not even say goodbye. Let's just okay, we're done.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yep. Now, I don't know if you've been to a
airport recently.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Amy just have has and I just came back and
they pretty well leave me alone.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
But then my last name is hand a little.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I'm not Abdul ben Mohammed Ahmad, which may be a
little problematic. And I'm pretty white looking and I don't
have much of a tan, so you know, I'm basically
your white American guy. Now, if you happen to not be,
(11:21):
let's say you have a airbic last name, or you
look somewhat mid Eastern you may have some real issues
going on, even if you're an American citizen, and this
is what's happening at the airport.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Maybe, And here is the issue.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
This is a story in the Atlantic about Jess Joseph,
a fifty three year old immigration attorney in Colorado. When
he flies abroad, he leaves his phone at home. He
actually carries a burner phone, and it's scrubbed of his
contact lists, scrubbed of everything he does in terms of communications.
(12:04):
Why just in case US Customs and Border Protection officers
send him to a secondary inspection and seize his electronics
when he returns home. And that is the fear. I
don't know if you've ever been to a secondary inspection.
I have coming up from Mexico Tijuana, and I was younger,
(12:28):
and I actually had long hair. I know that's hard
to believe, but actually had long hair at one time.
So I was in my twenties at the time. And
then I'm crossing the border and the border patrol says,
why don't you go over there? And then I was
subjected to a secondary inspection. Oh boy, was I subjected
(12:51):
to a secondary inspection? Because there really are no rules
they can ask you anything. They can search, they don't
need to warrant. And the problem is, and again I'm
going to tell you stat or two coming up, is
that is what's happening now, and that anxiety about fear
(13:16):
of this secondary inspection or even just being straight out
denied entry no thank you, which can happen not to
American citizens, but it's happening to American.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Citizens now very rarely.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
But there are a couple of poster child instances, and
so this isn't limited to immigration lawyers.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
There are message.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Boards out there online that are talking about vacation worries,
crowdsource advice. People are telling one another delete all social
media accounts on your devices, turn off all facial recognition features.
Pack photo copies of your personal documents such as marriage
and birth certificates, which you should do anyway. You should
(14:07):
have photos on your phone of your birth certificate, certainly
your passport, just in case your passport is lost, there's
a record of it, or let's say it's packed and
somebody or the border patrol wants to see your passport. Well,
we have to have it out anyway when you come
into the country. But this has to do with the
(14:31):
President on his first day in office, ordering border patrol
and there and other federal agencies intensify your screenings of
foreigners and immigrants. Also, remember he promised to undertake the
largest deportation program in American history, which actually hasn't happened.
(14:55):
It really, there are no mass deportations. I mean there
are deportations, but every one of them seems to be
on the news and has made a big deal out of.
For example, if there is an illegal alien who's come
across the border and he shouldn't have come across the
border and the border patrol he slipped through and he
(15:15):
committed some heinous crimes.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
There you go, that.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Becomes major news proof positive that look what's happening with
these rapists across the border, and if we had add
better border control, you never would have crossed the border. Well,
the reality is is, you know, American citizens do the
same thing.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And there's no proof that folks that are crossing the.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Border illegally are do any more crimes, commit any more murders,
and per capita American citizens that are born here. But
it adds to the story, It adds to the narrative,
and he is a well cancelation of visas for campus protesters.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
The government can do that.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
They haven't done that in the past, certainly didn't do
that under the Biden administration. And then there are all
kinds of First Amendment issues and I want to finish
it up with that. And at the end of the show,
I'm taking phone calls by the way, and I'll tell
you about that when we come back.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Amy you or just yawning? Are you that bored already?
Speaker 4 (16:19):
No, I'm still a little jet legged.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Okay, as my mother would say, you're lagging jets.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yes, all right, I know, jet I'm not bored with
what you're saying, though. That is scintillating.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Well there you are.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
Actually, can I tell you that when we were in
line in at Heathrow to come back to the US,
the guy talking to the ticket agent next to us,
they were grilling him, asking him all kinds of questions,
have you ever been a member of a terrorist organization?
And we were like, going, are you kidding me? And
they just sat there and rattled off and he's like, no, no, was.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
He as white as you are with red hair?
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Nope?
Speaker 5 (16:58):
You definitely was not a light It was not fair
skinned or fair haired. But they and they're like, have
you been to Iraq? Have you been to Iran? Have
you been to whatever the other countries were.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
That's exactly what this story is about.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
It was really interesting because I've never heard that before.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
They do that.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
As a matter of fact, if you ever go to
England and you're coming into the country, there are three lines,
one for UK citizens, EU citizens, one for foreign nurse
American citizens, and then another one at the other end
for what appears to be only Pakistanis that are coming
through now. I want to finish up going through an
(17:40):
airport and what's going on today if you happen to
be crossing the border and you are.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Not white and red haired the way Amy is.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
And as she was coming back from overseas, right next
to her was a gentleman who was not white and
was being grilled by customs and border patrol. And these
fears are real, they are now. Trump administration officials insist
that law abiding travelers have nothing to fear, and that
(18:12):
the news coverage of these incidents completely overblown and incomplete.
The searches of electronic devices haven't significantly increased. Officers do
not detain travelers randomly, and instead question or arrest people
based on quote, derogatory information that may be too sensitive
(18:36):
to disclose publicly. The reality is it's always been going on,
is going on more so now than it was before. Well,
if you look at the history of what's going on
with the Trump administration, remember the first time out, one
of the first things the President Trump did was he
(18:58):
stopped people from Muslim country from even coming in the
United States win grant visas. And of course that went
to court and that policy was in fact overridden, and
so Muslims could come back into the country. Now Here
is the problem, and that is the government has incredible
(19:21):
leeway in terms of allowing people in. There really aren't
many First Amendment rights. Even Green card holders can be
held and be tossed for almost any reason. It's the
government's determination on whether someone should or should not come in.
The only people that cannot be tossed out are American citizens.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
And even then there have been a.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Couple who were caught up as collateral damage and a
very big deal was.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Made of them. And so you go to the arrivals
hall of an international.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Airport, this is one of the few where you are
going to encounter the government.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
The US governments.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Government lines are slow, You're tired, you want to go home.
I mean, the last thing you want is to deal
with the border patrol. Customs and border patrol. Now, I've
been very lucky. I have never been held up, except
when I was in my twenties crossing from Tijuan into
the United States.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
But I had long hair and I looked like a hippie.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
I've always handed my passport to the officer and he looks,
where have you been. Did you have a good time? Yep, Well,
welcome back to America. That's usually the experience, unless you
have an Arabic name or you don't look particularly white. Yeah,
(20:52):
I believe that happens. All right, guys, we're done coming
up phone calls. I'm taking phone calls off the air
or handle on the law marginal legal advice.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
You can call right.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Now and listen to Gary and Shannon right through the
phone while you're on hold, which you won't be for long.
Eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven
seven five to zero eleven fifty Tomorrow morning wake up call.
Amy is back with Will from five to six, from
six to nine, Neil and I come aboard, and then
(21:23):
you have Cono and who make this all happen?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Did that sounds sincere? By the way, Cono sounded accurate?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Well please accurate doesn't matter, all right, I'll catch in
the morning KFI am six forty.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Catch my show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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