Category: Politics

The Cheap Seats

Immigration Reform

Damn Foreigner is back, and it’s good to see him among the living (posting?). His most recent entry was on a topic that is near and dear to his heart: immigration.  He’s a smart guy and makes some salient points. However, I was left wondering what solution he might offer to fix this thorny problem.  Should we allow anyone into the U.S. without any regard… Read more →

Eight is Enough?

Last Friday, former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison for what has been described as the worst case of corruption in the history of Congress. I had a theatre professor in college who once said that when you make a choice on stage, don’t be timid — commit to it.  His parlance was, “sin boldly”.  That’s what I thought… Read more →

A Different Perspective on Iraq

Iraq is now creeping away from murderous authoritarianism to face the more normal messes of a creaky Third World nation: corruption, poverty, health problems, miserable public services. And that is vastly preferable to what came before.  American Enterprise editor-in-chief Karl Zinsmeister just got back from Iraq, and he looks at the war’s progress from short and long-term historical perspectives. His… Read more →

Boys Will Be Boys

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia written and maintained by the millions of people who use it.  Anyone can edit Wikipedia, and its contents are free and open. Open communities of this type have a sordid history on the internet.  Without rigorous moderation, these things devolve into a repositories for conspiracy theorists, morons, flame wars, and really twisted stuff like spam.  Usenet is… Read more →

Who’s the Terrorist Now?

The latest AVweb contains a very disturbing article which, while aviation-related, has implications reaching far beyond our quirky corner of the world.  Indeed, this thing comprises a serious erosion of basic constitutional rights that should concern every American whether they fly or not. …the California Department of Health Services, Radiologic Health Branch, came to the warehouse expressing concern about radium-dial instruments on the premises. This… Read more →

Randy “Duke” Cunningham

I flew into Montgomery Field in San Diego yesterday with a student pilot who’s preparing for his checkride. We shutdown the SR22 and decided to debrief the flight over lunch at Casa Machado. On our way out, I was perusing the wall-to-wall photos in the lobby and noticed a black and white picture of two guys sitting in an F-4… Read more →

Washington ADIZ Proposal

If you’re an aviator, aviation enthusiast, or are connected in any way with the aerospace community, then this should be of interest to you. The Federal government is proposing a permanent ban on general aviation flying in the Washington, D.C. area. The crippling Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) would cover approximately 3,000 square miles and set a precedent almost sure… Read more →

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