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 the ultimate example. It’s 99% noise, 1% content. Wikipedia has managed to sidestep these landmines. It’s not perfect, but it does represent the largest and most up-to-date encyclopedia on the planet. For a free, user-operated web site to be that useful is quite an achievement. Alas, the grubby Mr. Smiths in Washington are spoiling the party. Surprise,...
Read MoreWho’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 set a process in motion that seems to have no end — even almost eight years later — and thus far has resulted in the destruction of over one million (yes, one million) irreplaceable historic aircraft instruments and related parts, only a tiny fraction of which had any radium. It has also...
Read MoreRandy “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 Phantom. The photo was signed, “America’s first ace in Vietnam – Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham”. The photo wasn’t a surprise. Montgomery Field is in his district, after all. But the image of Cunningham smiling from the front seat of that Phantom was quite a contrast from the sniffling, self-admitted felon who’s on his way to jail for accepting millions of dollars in bribes. Very sad. ...
Read MoreWashington 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 to be repeated in other Class B airspace around the country. AOPA is encouraging pilots to comment on the proposal. As of right now, there have been more than 9,000 comments registered, and I couldn’t find a single one in support of the ADIZ. Indeed, I’ve never seen more than a couple hundred comments on any aviation docket. Even so, with 650,000 airmen certificate...
Read MoreFuel for the Fire
Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one that sees the “big picture” the way I do. Recently, a fellow pilot in Arizona took the time to write about the escalating fuel prices and what this rise in energy costs is doing to the economy Groceries are already going up in price here, it’s in small increments but if you think back to last year it’s clear many items are up 30% or more. Ron, this fuel cost is going to change our country completely. I go through about 20 gallons of gas a week in my car. Not long ago that cost about $25, now it’s $60. Multiply that by 52 weeks a year and it’s now costing roughly $2000 more a year for one car. That’s about what my C310 insurance costs.My 100LL cost has doubled in the last 2...
Read MoreCan America Compete?
The July 25th edition of Fortune magazine features a pretty good analysis of the emerging challenges America faces from the likes of India and China. And, frankly, from our own affluence. The article is particularly noteworthy because globalization is making it harder to seperate the wheat from the chaff when attempting to define causes and solutions. It’s not an “us vs. them” situation anymore. Not that it ever was. But American companies now assemble American-designed products using parts manufactured offshore. Or vice versa. A foreign company will assemble their products here in the United States using parts that were manufactured by American. The Honda Accord is a good example. Is it a foreign product, or a domestic one? And while...
Read MoreBeans on Toast
They say that those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. All I could think of when listening to the news this morning was that whoever’s behind this has quite obviously never cracked open a textbook. Think about it. The IRA had no success in forcing England’s hand even after two solid decades of this sort of thing. Hitler took over the whole of Europe and most of north Africa, yet the British went about their business, stepping around the rubble of London to do their daily shopping between bombing raids by the Luftwaffe. It’s the ‘stiff upper lip’, and the English have it in spades. It’s one of the most admirable qualities, and one I wish we had more of here in America. Lesley’s mother grew up in...
Read MoreGoodbye TSA!
Break out the champaign. It’s party time! The Transportation Security Administration, once the flagship agency in the nation’s $20 billion effort to protect air travelers, is now slated for dismantling. Boy, I didn’t see this one coming. Hopefully, the reports of the TSA’s demise will not prove premature. I’d always assumed that once a government agency was given that much power, any attempt to curtail it would only land you in an administrative gulag that’d make Siberia look like a cakewalk. My first encounter with the TSA occurred at John Wayne Airport in 2002. I was singled out for “additional screening” because I was dressed nicely. At least, that was the official answer. I asked the screener why all the...
Read MoreStingy?
Few things make me truly angry, but this one comes close. In the wake of the rising death toll from the Asian tsunami (currently 60,000 80,000 dead and still counting), United Nations emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland has implied that the United States is cheap because our initial federal aid package is only $35 million. With all due respect to the United Nations — and I’m not sure much respect is warranted at this point — that is pure bullshit. And it’s made so much worse by Mr. Egeland’s own employment history. He was the head of the Norwegian Red Cross, and therefore must know that his implications are false because the Red Cross gets most of it’s contributions from individuals. I hardly know where to start in...
Read MoreA Refresher
For the past week, I’ve been having an interesting discussion over at Damn Foreigner on the subject of military recruitment. Manish wrote an article suggesting that since there are so many supporters of the war, it shouldn’t be hard to find new recruits for the Army unless those who support it aren’t willing to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. His analysis seemed a bit oversimplistic and I said as much in reply to his post. It’s turned into a relatively long — but civil — comment thread. At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a place or person with whom to discuss opposing political viewpoints in an intelligent yet respectful manner. This is especially true on...
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