How about reading a long time, without ability to charge? Let's say a few days or a week? Buying a book on a whim, when you're somewhere abroad and there's no wireless that you can access?

I understand your use case. For me however, e-reader (also Kindle paperwhite) is a clear win on any trip that I take.
If you fly for anything longer than 4 hours apiece then any sort of tablet will be useless, since I won't be able to rely on the battery to get me through the trip. One of the reasons, ironically, will be because it will be a tablet. I will inevitably want to fire up a game a sometime and that will drain the battery.
Also, if you go on a vacation and don't want to be bothered with a need to charge it as well as being able to read on the beach, then e-reader is a clean winner again.

If I had to use it like you do, though, then tablet would be a better option for me as well.

That is not the case.

I once checked in luggage in Munich, Germany. In the (locked Samsonite) luggage I had a scuba diving flashlight. When I reached my destination, the flashlight was missing and there was a note saying that it will wait for me in Munich upon my return.

I was angry as hell at that time, since a lot of dives required use of a flashlight. But I was also angry, that this happened completely without any interaction with me. Someone could have gotten on the PA system and located me to sort this out.

And I also think that this should be possible in the US as well.
1. If the bag was checked in somewhere then it's reasonably safe at the destination airport as well.
2. If there is an issue during check-in, call me and let's solve that issue.

I do not want people to open my luggage when I'm not present. How can then the question "Did someone put something in your luggage?" be answered?

You seem to be stepping on your own argument. First you say that muslims want to kill you if you don't do what their religion believes and in the very next sentence you say that a muslim woman has no problems if people around her don't do what her religion believes. What is it then?
And just to make myself clear: your statement that muslims want to kill you if you don't support their beliefs is absolutely wrong. They will be quite happy to talk to you and debate the reasons for why their religion dictates certain things. And, if they go out of the Gulf area some of them will actually go and have a (alcoholic) drink with you. I've been with more than a single muslim who drank heavy liquor quite liberally but at the same time still held most of his or her other religious beliefs quite dear.

Ahh... Here is the catch. You're differentiating between one type of Turks and another type of Turks now? You didn't do that before, did you? The thing is, before you were wrong! Not all the Turks are the same. You're quite right that the same thing spoken by one person will ot have the same meaning as when spoken by someone else.
You know why? Because no nation, or religion or any group is ever homogeneous There are always differences. And saying that all muslims are homicidal, violent terorists is as wrong as saying that all european women sunbathe topless.

And as for muslim leaders denouncing terorist attacks: that happens pretty much every time in Europe, after some such outrage happens. Even more, there are joint events where muslim, catholic, jewish and orthodox leaders come together and decry those acts together, while at the same time urge young people of all religions ("christian" youths are also the ones who "convert" to ISIS teachings, by the way) not to fall for the propaganda that brainwashes them from ISIS.

You should really try and check a wider range of news sources. I understand that mainstream media only shows sensationalist type of news and that type is rarely positive. But the fact that you don't see it doesn't mean that it's not there.

Who is shooting at kids in US schools. Muslims?

You are very conveniently ignoring all the atrocities that any non-muslim people are doing and focusing on a group of extremists, who cover under the guise of religion.
You're pretty much describing what KKK was doing while they were (are) pretending to be Christians. No difference.

That is like saying that you know people who's religion is Christianity but they don't call themselves Christians.

Go to any market in Istanbul. You will have a chance to feel honored over and over again.

You probably haven't read the parent's account carefully. He said he had to have his carry-on BETWEEN his legs. Indicating that it was too large to fit under the seat.

We are talking about couple of different things here:

1. Assault on a subordinate from a superior within a company. An inexcusable act that got its well deserved summary in the dismissal of the guilty party.

2. End of the most entertaining car show that I have ever seen.

The two things are obviously interdependent but saying that point one was done properly doesn't mean that I cannot be sad that point two happened also. In regards to how "fake" the show was or not - who cares. We enjoy Star Wars, Star Trek and loads of other things that are not real and are out of our reach.
Here I at least got to see how pretty much any supercar, that I will never drive, behaves and looks. I also got to see loads of insane races that were all shot with spectacular camera shots and had fairly weird concept ideas. I doubt I will see anything like it again.

FIA is what you would submit to the NSA if you wanted information from them. Not the other way around.

Maybe the experience there was customized. But if you want to create your local account on Windows 8.1 you are pretty much forced to go to the selection, which you would look at if you were about to create a Microsoft account and THEN there is a way to create it locally.
Here is instruction list from MS site on how to create a local account from within the Windows itself (not easy).

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
Tap or click Accounts, and then tap or click Other accounts.
Tap or click Add an account, and then tap or click Sign in without a Microsoft account (not recommended).
Tap or click Local account.
Enter a user name for the new account.
If you want this person to sign in with a password, enter and verify the password, add a password hint, and then tap or click Next.
If your PC is on a domain, depending on the domain's security settings, you might be able to skip this step and tap or click Next, if you prefer.
Tap or click Finish.

Really? Please track this thread to its beginning and tell me where a tablet is mentioned for this particular issue?
Also, on a tablet you can get ALT+F4 with a virtual keyboard, if you would absolutely need it.
And third, there is still the bloody little X in the upper right corner if you do not like the ALT+F4 option or if you actually have to be on the tablet. And I mentioned that option, but you choose to ignore it and rather point to an issue that doesn't exist.

ALT+F4 ? And even for the Metro apps there is the well-known X in the upper-right corner.

Absolutely.

Approaches like that already exist in other areas.
For example, you generally cannot simply show up for a sex change operation. You have to go through (often) several years worth of consultations and evaluations, before you will be allowed to proceed.
Similar situation also exists for people that have "extra phantom limbs" (they feel that one of their legs doesn't belong to them and should be removed, for instance). Depending on where they are, they will also have an option to consultations, therapy and, eventually, removal of the limb. Alternative can be a person that will go and sit on the railway tracks in order to have his leg cut off by a train. I think you can imagine how well that can work out.

In my opinion you do have a right to do anything you want with your body. But in some cases (like in other areas of your life) you don't actually know what you want and may make a different choice if you are well informed and have the support of your environment that helps you research all the options that may be open to you.

I don't think that's the discussion that we're having here.

If you feel that you should take your own life, I believe that you are well within your rights to do so. The discussion here is about the people who are attempting to end their lives on a whim, for a lack of a better term. And when they do, they realize that they made a mistake.

Examples that you are giving are also, potentially, mistakes. But they are reversible or correctable. Or in some cases, just life. Suicide attempts, that result in death are not reversible or correctable.

In other words, you're saying that about a quarter of population HAS, at some point, been thinking about killing themselves?

I don't see that as a small number.