Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Can you Hear me now? Good.
Spare Parts and Leftover Screws
I have spent the last several months browsing the banter and reading the essays that have been posted via the keyboard. It has been quite enjoyable and refreshing. I remained largely quiet, keeping my thoughts and opinions to myself. However, a sponge can only soak up so much without a means of release. An undisturbed wet sponge is nothing more than a square chunk of mold. It is time to escape from the dank corner and stretch my brain for some active thought.
The process of publishing blogs is an entirely new experience. It is a process and a challenge that I welcome and I am excited about the opportunities it will provide. I don't pretend to have incredible insight into the meaning of life (although the word on the street is that it is 47) or even an interesting life. I realize that writing will never be a breadwinning skill, and that my attempts to wield the pen have the same results of a drunken monk using chopsticks to eat his soup. That is why I am studying to be a bus driver. However I hope this page will provide a perspective that can be beneficial to someone, at least occasionally.
Please feel free to respond to my page with thoughts, comments, derisions, and suggestions. I am encouraging you to respond to what you see here. Any suggestions about format, etc. is also appreciated. Let me know that you are out there. Thanks for stopping by and I’ll do my best to make it worthwhile to come back.
Spare Parts and Leftover Screws
I have spent the last several months browsing the banter and reading the essays that have been posted via the keyboard. It has been quite enjoyable and refreshing. I remained largely quiet, keeping my thoughts and opinions to myself. However, a sponge can only soak up so much without a means of release. An undisturbed wet sponge is nothing more than a square chunk of mold. It is time to escape from the dank corner and stretch my brain for some active thought.
The process of publishing blogs is an entirely new experience. It is a process and a challenge that I welcome and I am excited about the opportunities it will provide. I don't pretend to have incredible insight into the meaning of life (although the word on the street is that it is 47) or even an interesting life. I realize that writing will never be a breadwinning skill, and that my attempts to wield the pen have the same results of a drunken monk using chopsticks to eat his soup. That is why I am studying to be a bus driver. However I hope this page will provide a perspective that can be beneficial to someone, at least occasionally.
Please feel free to respond to my page with thoughts, comments, derisions, and suggestions. I am encouraging you to respond to what you see here. Any suggestions about format, etc. is also appreciated. Let me know that you are out there. Thanks for stopping by and I’ll do my best to make it worthwhile to come back.
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Snowballs Replace Bullets as Snow Hits Holy Land
Spare Parts and Leftover Screws
Ripped from the News...
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Witness to centuries of bloodshed, the ancient walls of Jerusalem's Old City saw only white Tuesday as Palestinians and Israelis traded snowballs instead of stones and bullets.
The exchange -- between Palestinian youths and Israeli passersby at the ancient Dung Gate -- came in celebration of a rare heavy snowstorm that brought much of the Holy Land to a standstill, offering a respite from 29 months of fighting.
"This sort of thing gives everyone perspective. It makes people focus on what they have in common rather than politics," veteran Israeli meteorologist Danny Roup told Reuters.
Across the West Bank, the strongest cold front in a least a decade brought snow as deep as 12 inches, almost unimaginable in a region better known for balmy winters.
In Israel, snow blocked palm-lined highways and only a few vehicles dared to venture out as the Mediterranean country's tiny fleet of snowplows went to work.
Most of neighboring Lebanon and Syria were also snowbound, with the main Beirut-to-Damascus road blocked and dozens of mountain villages isolated.
In West Bank cities that have been largely reoccupied by Israeli forces, the winter whiteness masked the scars of almost daily Israeli-Palestinian clashes.
Palestinian youths who on other days might play deadly games of cat-and-mouse by throwing stones at Israeli patrols or putting up nationalist posters made do with tamer pastimes.
Snowmen went up in Ramallah''s main square, indistinguishable from those made by Israeli children only a few miles away.
In Bethlehem, the town revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus, snow dusted church steeples and mosque spires.
"People are out and about. There is a sense of relaxation and joy that comes with snow -- children and even young men throwing snowballs at one another," said Sami Awad, a Christian activist who promotes nonviolent resistance to occupation.
Spare Parts and Leftover Screws
Ripped from the News...
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Witness to centuries of bloodshed, the ancient walls of Jerusalem's Old City saw only white Tuesday as Palestinians and Israelis traded snowballs instead of stones and bullets.
The exchange -- between Palestinian youths and Israeli passersby at the ancient Dung Gate -- came in celebration of a rare heavy snowstorm that brought much of the Holy Land to a standstill, offering a respite from 29 months of fighting.
"This sort of thing gives everyone perspective. It makes people focus on what they have in common rather than politics," veteran Israeli meteorologist Danny Roup told Reuters.
Across the West Bank, the strongest cold front in a least a decade brought snow as deep as 12 inches, almost unimaginable in a region better known for balmy winters.
In Israel, snow blocked palm-lined highways and only a few vehicles dared to venture out as the Mediterranean country's tiny fleet of snowplows went to work.
Most of neighboring Lebanon and Syria were also snowbound, with the main Beirut-to-Damascus road blocked and dozens of mountain villages isolated.
In West Bank cities that have been largely reoccupied by Israeli forces, the winter whiteness masked the scars of almost daily Israeli-Palestinian clashes.
Palestinian youths who on other days might play deadly games of cat-and-mouse by throwing stones at Israeli patrols or putting up nationalist posters made do with tamer pastimes.
Snowmen went up in Ramallah''s main square, indistinguishable from those made by Israeli children only a few miles away.
In Bethlehem, the town revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus, snow dusted church steeples and mosque spires.
"People are out and about. There is a sense of relaxation and joy that comes with snow -- children and even young men throwing snowballs at one another," said Sami Awad, a Christian activist who promotes nonviolent resistance to occupation.
Thursday, February 20, 2003
A Uninvited Twist of Homeland Security Part II
Rants and Delusions
Ripped from the News...
The Transportation Security Administration has suspended the airman certificates of two Saudi Arabian Airlines pilots and restored the flying privileges of two others. The Saudi Press Agency said airline lawyers are appealing the suspensions of Moen Hassan Zarie and Tarek Hassan Jifry under the recently announced rule that allows the TSA to order the FAA to suspend airman certificates if it believes those holding them pose a security threat. The airline was apparently able to convince TSA authorities that Nabil Mohammed Adawi and Khaled Fahd Al-Olayan were not security risks, and their certificates were returned Jan. 22, the Arab News reported last Saturday. Zarie and Jifry continue their battle. The still-suspended pilots appealed to the NTSB's chief administrative judge but, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal, he rejected the appeals because of the way the act creating the TSA is written. The judge said the 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act compelled him to assume that the TSA is correct in considering the two pilots security risks. The pilots are taking their case to another NTSB judge but he apparently said there can't be a hearing until the TSA makes public its now-classified evidence against them. That same act allows the TSA to keep the evidence secret for security reasons. We wouldn't even know this much about the case if the pilots hadn't taken their case to the NTSB, which still conducts its proceedings in public.
Rants and Delusions
Ripped from the News...
The Transportation Security Administration has suspended the airman certificates of two Saudi Arabian Airlines pilots and restored the flying privileges of two others. The Saudi Press Agency said airline lawyers are appealing the suspensions of Moen Hassan Zarie and Tarek Hassan Jifry under the recently announced rule that allows the TSA to order the FAA to suspend airman certificates if it believes those holding them pose a security threat. The airline was apparently able to convince TSA authorities that Nabil Mohammed Adawi and Khaled Fahd Al-Olayan were not security risks, and their certificates were returned Jan. 22, the Arab News reported last Saturday. Zarie and Jifry continue their battle. The still-suspended pilots appealed to the NTSB's chief administrative judge but, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal, he rejected the appeals because of the way the act creating the TSA is written. The judge said the 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act compelled him to assume that the TSA is correct in considering the two pilots security risks. The pilots are taking their case to another NTSB judge but he apparently said there can't be a hearing until the TSA makes public its now-classified evidence against them. That same act allows the TSA to keep the evidence secret for security reasons. We wouldn't even know this much about the case if the pilots hadn't taken their case to the NTSB, which still conducts its proceedings in public.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
A Post to Valentines Day
Rants and Delusions
Women have been compared to a lot of things. I heard it said that they are the Devil, Satan's gift to men, etc. Someone once attempted to convince me that there is nothing that you need in a woman that you cannot find in a dog. I never quite figured that out, but he was pretty sure of it.
I would like to add another comparison at the risk of sounding like just another crazy guy who has nothing better to do than complain on Valentines Day. I would dare to venture that of all the comparisons that are out there, there is none more truthful, more painfully accurate, than the similarities between a woman and an airplane.
1. They are both incredibly expensive. Looking back over the years, either directly or indirectly, I have spent more money on women than I paid for my current car. With the amount of money I have spent flying airplanes I could buy a nice car. Perhaps a Corvette, with enough money left over to buy a Mustang on the side.
2. They both take an incredible amount of maintenance. Airplanes by nature are a high maintenance item. They are required to undergo routine periodic inspections, maintenance, and repairs. Women...also high maintenance by nature.
3. Both airplanes and women can be difficult to handle. Airplanes can be unpredictable. You can be flying around in smooth air when all of a sudden, there is a big of clear air turbulence that nearly throws you from your seat on the way to an unusual attitude that, if not corrected, will send you screaming toward the ground. Women are just as unpredictable. They can come out of nowhere and send you reeling wondering if you are ever going to recover. Airplanes, especially tailwheel aircraft, can be very touchy, especially on simple matters such as taxiing. Women can be just as sensitive over crazy little things.
4. There is always a bit of a mystery as to how they really work. Airplanes produce lift by using a combination of Bernoulli's principle and Newton's 3rd law of Thermodynamics. However, these theories do not completely explain all the effects of lift and drag, etc. There is always some uncertainty as to how a airplane will perform until it is actually flown. Nobody has figured out women. There is no theory on earth that explains how they operate.
5. There are both beautiful airplanes and airplanes that make you wonder what the designer had to drink while at the drawing board. Women...
6. They both make watching a sunset an unforgettable experience. There is nothing like watching the sun slip under the horizen from a solitary perch on the top of the world. Except perhaps, watching it with an woman by your side.
7. Life would not be the same without them. It would be much simpler, less stressful, less painful... Less exciting, less fulfilling, and a whole lot less to talk about.
Rants and Delusions
Women have been compared to a lot of things. I heard it said that they are the Devil, Satan's gift to men, etc. Someone once attempted to convince me that there is nothing that you need in a woman that you cannot find in a dog. I never quite figured that out, but he was pretty sure of it.
I would like to add another comparison at the risk of sounding like just another crazy guy who has nothing better to do than complain on Valentines Day. I would dare to venture that of all the comparisons that are out there, there is none more truthful, more painfully accurate, than the similarities between a woman and an airplane.
1. They are both incredibly expensive. Looking back over the years, either directly or indirectly, I have spent more money on women than I paid for my current car. With the amount of money I have spent flying airplanes I could buy a nice car. Perhaps a Corvette, with enough money left over to buy a Mustang on the side.
2. They both take an incredible amount of maintenance. Airplanes by nature are a high maintenance item. They are required to undergo routine periodic inspections, maintenance, and repairs. Women...also high maintenance by nature.
3. Both airplanes and women can be difficult to handle. Airplanes can be unpredictable. You can be flying around in smooth air when all of a sudden, there is a big of clear air turbulence that nearly throws you from your seat on the way to an unusual attitude that, if not corrected, will send you screaming toward the ground. Women are just as unpredictable. They can come out of nowhere and send you reeling wondering if you are ever going to recover. Airplanes, especially tailwheel aircraft, can be very touchy, especially on simple matters such as taxiing. Women can be just as sensitive over crazy little things.
4. There is always a bit of a mystery as to how they really work. Airplanes produce lift by using a combination of Bernoulli's principle and Newton's 3rd law of Thermodynamics. However, these theories do not completely explain all the effects of lift and drag, etc. There is always some uncertainty as to how a airplane will perform until it is actually flown. Nobody has figured out women. There is no theory on earth that explains how they operate.
5. There are both beautiful airplanes and airplanes that make you wonder what the designer had to drink while at the drawing board. Women...
6. They both make watching a sunset an unforgettable experience. There is nothing like watching the sun slip under the horizen from a solitary perch on the top of the world. Except perhaps, watching it with an woman by your side.
7. Life would not be the same without them. It would be much simpler, less stressful, less painful... Less exciting, less fulfilling, and a whole lot less to talk about.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Staring at the Screen
Rants and Delusions
Right now I am spending my time with one eye one the sky and the other on my computer, praying that the clouds don’t drop 300 more feet. If they stay where they are I have something to do today.
I haven’t been this bored in a long time. I thought I would enjoy this semester. It should be nice to have free time to do what I want, when I want, and for as long as I want to. I conceived plans to read new books, think new thoughts, study new interests, and ENJOY life. I wanted to spend more time with friends, be more active in church, and generally be more productive to society.
Instead, I am stuck in a rut, a rut with a big rain puddle laying on the bottom. I’ve done a bit of everything I wanted, but not to the extent I had dreamed. School has become an afterthought. Classes threw nothing at me to make life interesting. It doesn’t help that I am only taking 16 credits. That is certainly not enough to fill a day. Work is a nonevent. I spend my time pulling inspection panels off, only to put them back on the next day. If only I could hurry up and get my certification. (That is an entirely different story - How Jon Got Screwed) I have read a couple of good books. That has really been the only bright spot of the semester. I read some Orwell, some Dante, and just finished one on Thoreau. Some were interesting; One made me think.
I need a challenge. Right now I am coasting through life with nothing to grab my attention and motivate me. This has been on of the hardest semesters to get going.
(Nuts…Received phone call informing me that I lost my plane…All dressed up and nowhere to go.)
Rants and Delusions
Right now I am spending my time with one eye one the sky and the other on my computer, praying that the clouds don’t drop 300 more feet. If they stay where they are I have something to do today.
I haven’t been this bored in a long time. I thought I would enjoy this semester. It should be nice to have free time to do what I want, when I want, and for as long as I want to. I conceived plans to read new books, think new thoughts, study new interests, and ENJOY life. I wanted to spend more time with friends, be more active in church, and generally be more productive to society.
Instead, I am stuck in a rut, a rut with a big rain puddle laying on the bottom. I’ve done a bit of everything I wanted, but not to the extent I had dreamed. School has become an afterthought. Classes threw nothing at me to make life interesting. It doesn’t help that I am only taking 16 credits. That is certainly not enough to fill a day. Work is a nonevent. I spend my time pulling inspection panels off, only to put them back on the next day. If only I could hurry up and get my certification. (That is an entirely different story - How Jon Got Screwed) I have read a couple of good books. That has really been the only bright spot of the semester. I read some Orwell, some Dante, and just finished one on Thoreau. Some were interesting; One made me think.
I need a challenge. Right now I am coasting through life with nothing to grab my attention and motivate me. This has been on of the hardest semesters to get going.
(Nuts…Received phone call informing me that I lost my plane…All dressed up and nowhere to go.)
Saturday, February 08, 2003
An Uninvited Twist of Homeland Security
Rant and Delusions
Amidst the cries for tighter security and a call for greater vigilance in the war on terror, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the newly minted Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have written some legislation that flies in the face of American Democracy and the right to due process. The results of such legislation on the aviation industry is pretty dramatic and the ramifications of the repeal of the rights to human liberty could be tragic for the rest of the country as well. I invite you to read this and think about what this could mean to you.
This is the latest brilliant scheme by the TSA (Transportation Security Administration). It basically entails the right for the TSA, through the FAA, to revoke any pilots license who is suspected of terrorism or otherwise poses a threat to national security. Furthermore, no information regarding the suspected cause of the threat has to be divulged to the pilot. THERE IS NO TRIAL. The only appeal can be back to the TSA itself. In addition the rule was put into place without the normal due process of a public hearing and time of comment. (According to 14 CFR 11 regarding Notices of Proposed Rule Making) As of right now, the legislation is in place and enforceable, and they are only now getting to the process of public forum. It has resulted in action against 11 pilots. I am not sure how many others have been accused as well.
All in all this is an case of conviction without trial, representation, or even proof of guilt. There is no one who will be able to monitor the TSA. There is no telling who will be considered a security threat or what constitutes a violation of homeland security. For example, if the TSA goes so far as to revoke licenses for stumbling into a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction [zone] such as over stadiums or the Crawford Ranch) then about 10 pilots a weekend will lose there license. Right now the penalty is an automatic suspension of the license after the first offense. If these are pilots who owe their livelihood to this certification, then there career is over with no chance whatsoever of recovery. So far all of the cases of such blunders were simply navigational mistakes that caused no threat to the security of the nation.
The ruling is an outrageous knee jerk reaction to an uninformed outcry from the public over safety issues they know very little about. It will do little to solve the actual problem of homeland security, but the consequences of the legislation is very real and very devastating.
Rant and Delusions
Amidst the cries for tighter security and a call for greater vigilance in the war on terror, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the newly minted Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have written some legislation that flies in the face of American Democracy and the right to due process. The results of such legislation on the aviation industry is pretty dramatic and the ramifications of the repeal of the rights to human liberty could be tragic for the rest of the country as well. I invite you to read this and think about what this could mean to you.
This is the latest brilliant scheme by the TSA (Transportation Security Administration). It basically entails the right for the TSA, through the FAA, to revoke any pilots license who is suspected of terrorism or otherwise poses a threat to national security. Furthermore, no information regarding the suspected cause of the threat has to be divulged to the pilot. THERE IS NO TRIAL. The only appeal can be back to the TSA itself. In addition the rule was put into place without the normal due process of a public hearing and time of comment. (According to 14 CFR 11 regarding Notices of Proposed Rule Making) As of right now, the legislation is in place and enforceable, and they are only now getting to the process of public forum. It has resulted in action against 11 pilots. I am not sure how many others have been accused as well.
All in all this is an case of conviction without trial, representation, or even proof of guilt. There is no one who will be able to monitor the TSA. There is no telling who will be considered a security threat or what constitutes a violation of homeland security. For example, if the TSA goes so far as to revoke licenses for stumbling into a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction [zone] such as over stadiums or the Crawford Ranch) then about 10 pilots a weekend will lose there license. Right now the penalty is an automatic suspension of the license after the first offense. If these are pilots who owe their livelihood to this certification, then there career is over with no chance whatsoever of recovery. So far all of the cases of such blunders were simply navigational mistakes that caused no threat to the security of the nation.
The ruling is an outrageous knee jerk reaction to an uninformed outcry from the public over safety issues they know very little about. It will do little to solve the actual problem of homeland security, but the consequences of the legislation is very real and very devastating.
Monday, February 03, 2003
The Casual Cynic
The Columbia Tragedy, and the explosion that preceded it.
Columbia. Columbia. Columbia. Columbia...Has the entire bandwidth of the nation been taken over by the Columbia. I am forced to retreat into my cave to avoid the sensationalism the Hype-Doctors have spun on this story. But only to avoid the secondary tragedy that always follows. The tragedy caused by callously commercializing the event in order to maintain ratings. We listen to ourselves talk about circumstances we have no understanding of, project our theories on events we have no knowlege of, and look painfully foolish in the process. A terrorist attack? GOOD GRIEF. Do you have a brain? Conducting natinonal interviews with family members even while pieces of debris were still falling on overhead? How tasteless can you get? Posting pieces of that debris on e-bay? You deserve to be shot.
It shocked me to hear the news. It stunned me to see the footage. It flashed back memories of a six year old boy glued to the television watching the Challenger explode over and over again while trying to comprehend, as only a kindergartener can, the importance of the image being shown. The tragedy made an impact then on a kid dreaming big dreams of science and exploration, and the fresh one makes an impact today on a bigger kid still dreaming big. It is staggering to see the power of the technology we have, and how terrible the consequences of the inevitable inability to contain its power.
Please don't create another tragedy. Don't let the significance of what happened become a casualty of the war of sensationalism. Don’t use the situation to get a leg up on proving who has the loudest mouth, the most eloquent way to sell a story, the most convincing “I told you so.” And please, please, please, don’t write a song about it.
The Columbia Tragedy, and the explosion that preceded it.
Columbia. Columbia. Columbia. Columbia...Has the entire bandwidth of the nation been taken over by the Columbia. I am forced to retreat into my cave to avoid the sensationalism the Hype-Doctors have spun on this story. But only to avoid the secondary tragedy that always follows. The tragedy caused by callously commercializing the event in order to maintain ratings. We listen to ourselves talk about circumstances we have no understanding of, project our theories on events we have no knowlege of, and look painfully foolish in the process. A terrorist attack? GOOD GRIEF. Do you have a brain? Conducting natinonal interviews with family members even while pieces of debris were still falling on overhead? How tasteless can you get? Posting pieces of that debris on e-bay? You deserve to be shot.
It shocked me to hear the news. It stunned me to see the footage. It flashed back memories of a six year old boy glued to the television watching the Challenger explode over and over again while trying to comprehend, as only a kindergartener can, the importance of the image being shown. The tragedy made an impact then on a kid dreaming big dreams of science and exploration, and the fresh one makes an impact today on a bigger kid still dreaming big. It is staggering to see the power of the technology we have, and how terrible the consequences of the inevitable inability to contain its power.
Please don't create another tragedy. Don't let the significance of what happened become a casualty of the war of sensationalism. Don’t use the situation to get a leg up on proving who has the loudest mouth, the most eloquent way to sell a story, the most convincing “I told you so.” And please, please, please, don’t write a song about it.
Forces of Habit
Rants and Delusions
I am a creature of habit. I spend massive amounts of time and effort developing these habits until they become instinctive thought patterns. In the world of aviation this is a positive thing. Critical situations require instantaneous action that can only come as a result of automatic response. Methodical action and an affinity toward the routine forced its way into my life. Why is it that, within a city infrastructure with so many ways to get from point A to point B, one street becomes the sacred route? No one way is necessarily more suited than the other, only more natural.
How far does this obsession with familiarity dig its claws? How deeply rooted are my attachments to tradition. Am I capable of an original thought, a unique opinion, or am I forced to assimilate the actions of those around me, engraining them as my own. When does habit become detrimental? When is repetition merely a monotonous hum-drum lifestyle. Even “thinking outside the box,” and “bucking the system,” can become merely a reactive process that is done because one is a “free-thinker.” Is not automatic opposition the same as instant acceptance? Hum...
More to come…promise.
Rants and Delusions
I am a creature of habit. I spend massive amounts of time and effort developing these habits until they become instinctive thought patterns. In the world of aviation this is a positive thing. Critical situations require instantaneous action that can only come as a result of automatic response. Methodical action and an affinity toward the routine forced its way into my life. Why is it that, within a city infrastructure with so many ways to get from point A to point B, one street becomes the sacred route? No one way is necessarily more suited than the other, only more natural.
How far does this obsession with familiarity dig its claws? How deeply rooted are my attachments to tradition. Am I capable of an original thought, a unique opinion, or am I forced to assimilate the actions of those around me, engraining them as my own. When does habit become detrimental? When is repetition merely a monotonous hum-drum lifestyle. Even “thinking outside the box,” and “bucking the system,” can become merely a reactive process that is done because one is a “free-thinker.” Is not automatic opposition the same as instant acceptance? Hum...
More to come…promise.
Saturday, February 01, 2003
This is my first post. I am diving into the world of the blogger in an attempt to stimulate the mind and balance the effect of being blasted by five years of Aerounautical Science. My hope is that there will be a slight shift in perspective on my posts as a result of the advantage I have of being able to delve into the world of essays and written thought as a matter of diversion rather than normal fare. Perhaps more than anything, this is meant to be a release of all that is forced to remain secondary to structured ritual and pre-organized thought. There is no such thing as an orginal thought in the world of flying airplanes. This is an endeavor to to discover if I can still produce an origional thought or I have already been reduced to a life of regurgitation of endless facts, checklists, and meaningless rules and regulations.