The DC Refugee

Color me surprised. Not.

2010-04-22T15:04:00.002-04:00

The AP is reporting the new computer system required for the FAA's NexGen air traffic control system are having problems.

Two things:

1. I've yet to see an automated system perform as intended the first time out. So, this is neither a shock nor critical to its ultimate success.

2. The FAA has an abysmal track record with new computer systems for the ATC function. We haven't heard the end of this one.

DCr

Flashback!

2010-04-20T07:08:00.002-04:00

According to Steve Benen:

"...Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) announced that she will refuse to allow the Senate to even begin a debate on [...] reform. Collins met with [...] about the bill, but told reporters after the meeting that unless the bill is 'bipartisan,' she will reject an effort to begin consideration of the legislation on the Senate floor. What kind of substantive changes does Collins have in mind that would convince her to let the Senate at least start debating the bill? She hasn't said."

Haven't we seen this movie?

I guess I picked the wrong week to give up those mushrooms...

DCr

Aviation Journalism 101

2010-04-19T21:42:00.001-04:00

Comes now this piece on the Fox Business Channel's Web site, discussing the wisdom of and policy regarding carrying a large proportion of an organization's management on one flight. This is in the aftermath of the April 10 crash outside Smolensk, Russia, which killed many top leaders in the Polish government.

Conspicuously absent from the piece is any comment from the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the organization serving that industry segment.

The NBAA has many well-defined, suggested policies its member companies may adopt, one of which addresses carrying top management on a single airplane. Too bad FBC couldn't be bothered to to track down the industry experts for comment.

DCr

(cross-posted to UCAP Fodder)

Under pressure

2010-04-15T13:51:00.004-04:00

I've refrained from posting on the April 10, 2010, crash of a Tupolev Tu-154 outside Smolensk, Russia, killing all aboard including Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife mainly because I've been busy with other stuff. Some thoughts:

1. The Russian investigation is continuing. The all-important data recorders have been formally turned over to Polish authorities.

2. Early word from, apparently, the cockpit voice recorder suggests there was no pressure from the passengers to get into the destination airport.

3. Air traffic control apparently warned the flightcrew about the weather.

4. The crash occurred on the flightcrew's fourth attempt to land. The Tu-154, a Soviet version of Boeing's venerable 727, contacted trees short of the runway and broke up.

This is a classic case of "getthereitis," a situation wherein there is pressure, real or imagined, to complete the flight to the preferred destination. While no one from the back of the plane may have told the cockpit to get into Smolensk, you can bet the crew felt some pressure to do so.

The airport at Smolensk reportedly does not have a precision instrument approach (ILS). Instead, the crew was flying an unspecified non-precision procedure, probably an NDB, given the location. Non-precision approaches are reliable when properly flown, but they're not designed nor intended to enable a landing when the airport is totally obscured by weather.

Lessons? None with which the aviation industry is not already familiar:

1. Don't succumb to pressure -- real or imagined -- to do something against your best judgment while in an airplane.

2. The time-honored practice of taking a look -- attempting an approach when the reported weather is below its minimum altitude, visibility or both -- is only a good choice if/when you have the discipline to fly the procedure and then evaluate the conditions you encountered and make an intelligent decision.

3. WRT to 2., no one knows at this time -- maybe the CVR/FDR readouts will shed light -- whether the crew saw enough of the airport environment to make additional attempts.

4. My rule of thumb: Taking a look is fine, as long as an honest evaluation of the results is made. If I screwed up the first approach and know what I did wrong and am positive I can fix it on the second attempt, I'll make a second attempt. If not, I'll go somewhere else. If I screw up the second attempt, I'll go somewhere else. Never are more than two bites at the apple appropriate.

There's simply no excuse for a professional flight crew -- which we have to assume this was, since it was flying seemingly the entire top echelon of the Polish government -- to make four attempts to land at this location.

A final thought: Never place all the important people on the same airplane at the same time.

DCr

Red Bull racer down

2010-04-15T09:46:00.004-04:00

Red Bull rookie Adilson Kindlemann splashed his ride while practicing for the upcoming race in Perth, Australia. Minor injuries; the airplane's condition is unknown.

Everyone is crediting the unbelievably quick response by first responders with the favorable outcome.

According to the Red Bull Air Race Web site, Kindlemann's MXS-R contacted the water "with his wings level and tail first." Interesting...

DCr

Sarah in 2012?

2010-04-08T22:43:00.001-04:00

I don't whether to laugh or cry about the possibility.

DCr

Best. Airline. Complaint. Ever.

2010-04-08T22:10:00.002-04:00

To Sir Richard Branson.

DCr

(h/t Sully)

Grand unified theory of politics

2010-04-07T07:53:00.002-04:00

First, read this:

"...who are you better than?"

Then, read this:

Racism.

This concludes today's lesson...

DCr

"I'll hit the brakes, he'll fly right by."

2010-04-06T08:17:00.003-04:00

See, here's the problem: McCain's basic ability to understand new technological developments ended about the time he got shot down over North Vietnam (e.g., perhaps he never got a briefing on the enemy's anti-aircraft capabilities). Thus, he's missed the whole video "thing" and the fact some kinds of cameras can actually record moving pictures, along with audio. And the results can be played back repeatedly, and distributed widely.

Other than having cranked up the hackitude to 11, how else can this nonsense be explained?

Hopefully, J.D. Hayworth can put us out of our collective misery, but that would only lead to another six years of wingnut wholesomeness from Arizona.

Why this man even wants to go out in public by now is a mystery.

DCr

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch...

2010-04-01T07:51:00.005-04:00

BarbinMD links to a Matt Miller piece on how "seemingly well-adjusted Republicans have been driven insane by the passage of Obamacare." Putting aside the cognitive dissonance involving "well-adjusted Republicans," it's always interesting to see the innate bankruptcy of Rethuglican policies acknowledged in the WaPo.

Miller focuses on HCR's aftermath and how it supposedly is causing GOP introspection, disorientation and anger. Disorientation, perhaps (after all, they haven't lost a legislative battle this big in some time) as well as anger (I'd be pissed, too, if all my political beliefs were lies) but I don't see the introspection. Perhaps among some Rethuglicans, but I'd suggest those guilty of such aren't *really* in the GOP. Instead, they're most likely rightist indies who got there by refusing to embrace their inner Al Gore and still cling to the GOP's underpants gnome economic theories and policies.

Anyway, I don't for a minute think the GOP's current funk will result in anything a) long-term or, b) useful in confronting significant policy challenges. Would that they were jumping out of windows, though someone would be forced to clean up the mess.

It's always interesting when supposedly intelligent commentators lend Rethuglicans anthropomorphic qualities they simply don't possess.

DCr

Ministry of Information

2010-03-26T08:00:00.004-04:00

If you've been paying attention this week, you're probably aware many opposed to health care reform (HCR) have come a little unhinged since its passage. Multiple death threats have been reported by multiple Members of Congress, and even Bible Spice has gotten into the act, posting on her Facebook page what only can be considered a hit list.

This behavior is clearly over the top. It's also what one would expect after months of being whipped into a frenzy by Rethuglican lies disseminated by Faux News and other "news" outlets. The HCR debate and its immediate aftermath are, in my mind, the best recent examples of the extreme damage to this country being done by traditional media, which refuses to characterize a lie as a lie but insists on simply reporting what each side of a debate says, without doing even elemental reporting on whether the stated claims are true. But I digress.

This week's prize for best lead role in opportunistic drama must go to Rep. Eric Cantor (R, of course), House Minority Whip, for his self-serving press conference yesterday wherein he shouted "me too," and pointed to an incident in which the building housing his Richmond, Va., district office was hit by what police say was a stray bullet. The bullet, police believe, was randomly fired into the air and by chance struck the building's window. It had enough energy to break the glass but not penetrate the window blinds. Some attack, that. This event apparently occurred around 0100 Tuesday morning.

Cantor's a whiney little fuck, perfectly suited for a leadership role among House Rethuglicans. But his presser was designed to deflect what was a growing meme throughout the mainstream media that Democrats and Democrats alone were being targeted by the Rethuglican's extra-chromosome wing. Whether it worked or not remains to be seen -- I'm agnostic at this point.

But as an exercise in disinformation, it was a masterpiece. I can't even begin to compete with Billmon's treatment at GOS; just go read it.

How can you tell when a Rethuglican is lying? The lips are moving.

(h/t Anne Laurie)

Quick Question

2010-03-26T05:42:00.001-04:00

Where can I apply to be on a death panel?

DCr

Immigration bill

2010-03-25T08:12:00.003-04:00

So, Congress' next big legislative push apparently will be an immigration reform bill. My only real contribution to such a debate:

My family has had problems with immigrants ever since we came to this country.

DCr

A Ga. Dem with balls?

2010-03-24T21:37:00.003-04:00

Comes now Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a black Democrat running for governor this year, who has declined Gov. Sonny Perdue's request [PDF] to file a lawsuit against the new federal health insurance reform law.

It seems our Democrats is learning.

DCr

(h/t lanae)

HCR ruminations

2010-03-24T07:08:00.003-04:00

Although the Senate still must adopt the House-passed reconciliation bill to seal the deal, the President has signed health care reform into law. To suggest it was a long, hard fight would be to wildly underestimate the complications -- in language, in egos and in timing -- the Democrats in both houses of Congress overcame. It wasn't pretty, but it got done.

What is "it," exactly? What does it do, and where does it leave us? Finally, is it good, or bad?

First, the bill is H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It's accompanied by H.R.4872, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, a.k.a. the "reconciliation bill," which the Senate is considering as this is written. The health care/insurance bill is 906 pages in its final form. The reconciliation bill is 2310 pages. No, I haven't read them.

Second, let's distinguish between health "care" and health "insurance." Basically, we're talking about reforming the health insurance market/industry in the U.S. By definition, that also means improving the availability, quality and cost of health care. In my book, that's a good thing.

There are good things in the bill. According to CBS News:

The uninsured and self-employed would be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level.
Closes the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole" by 2020.
Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs.
Individuals and families who make between 100 percent - 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level and want to purchase their own health insurance on an exchange are eligible for subsidies.
Six months after enactment, insurance companies could no longer denying children coverage based on a preexisting condition.
Starting in 2014, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions.

There's bad stuff, too. For example, some of this is going to take way too fucking long. 2020? 2014? Also, there's no public option and/or no mechanism to buy into Medicare. For the un- or self-employed (I am about to become the latter...), very little will change immediately. The individual coverage mandate also is problematic, along with fines and excise taxes on so-called "Cadillac" plans.

In my case, for example, I have decent health insurance through my employer. That will end soon as I'm leaving that job. In the near-term, if I want insurance (I do...), I must purchase it on the open market and/or under COBRA. Until the exchanges are created and until the mandate kicks in, I remain at the insurance companies' mercy.

(Interesting factoid, for those who don't know and perhaps buy into Rethuglican shrieks of how Dems have manipulated the system and rammed this legislation through the process by using reconciliation. COBRA stands for "Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985." Reconciliation itself is a Congressional procedure, adopted via the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. It basically is the process by which Congress does its fine-tuning of the federal budget. It's not unlike an individual sitting down at a kitchen table to balance his/her personal budget and deciding where to cut and where to expand expenditures and income. To suggest it's some rare, unused procedure hidden in the Congressional rulebook is deceitful at best.)

There's a lot not to like in the bill(s). Mainly, though, the result is a compromise, one continuing the status quo of commercial insurance and private health care providers for the time being. It's a far cry from the ways in which most, if not all, other industrialized countries deal with these challenges.

However, it's a start. It's a start toward ending ever-escalating health insurance premiums. It's a start toward preventing corporate bureaucrats from deciding who lives and dies. It's a start toward equalizing the disparities in health care between the elites and the underprivileged. It's a beginning of the trend away from employer-provided health insurance and toward universal coverage (the status quo makes little sense).

Given the realities of our political system, the legislation is something of a miracle, actually. It's not the end of reform. It's the beginning.

DCr

Party of cruelty

2010-03-24T05:39:00.001-04:00

Heh.

DCr

(h/t BJ)

All politics is local...and personal

2010-03-22T19:39:00.001-04:00

Just a reminder.

DCr

Get off my lawn!

2010-03-22T19:26:00.003-04:00

Can you imagine if this senile old fuck was in charge?

DCr

(image from here)

Take that, Boeing

2010-03-20T07:23:00.001-04:00

At last -- some competition will be injected into the USAF tanker contract. Oh, wait...

DCr

(h/t LGM)

Beware of Romulans bearing gifts

2010-03-20T07:20:00.003-04:00

Most of this is way over my head, but it helps explain where the hell my good screwdriver is.

DCr

(h/t LGM)

Institutionalizing teh stupid

2010-03-15T06:29:00.002-04:00

The statewide Texas Board of Education last week adopted curriculum standards designed to promote what I'll call a conservative slant on history.

There's so much wrong with this, I'm not sure where to start. Some bullet points:

Since the Texas schoolbook market is so large, the state's decisions on what goes into its textbooks can affect other states; publishers may find it uneconomical to provide two versions of various books.
This isn't new. Stories like this periodically come out of Texas about this time each year.
This is yet another example of the conservative agenda at work: To dumb down the populace and eliminate any criticism of elites and their institutions.

Public school students in Texas (and perhaps other states) now will have an artificial hurdle they must clear before they can effectively compete in the marketplace of ideas.

According to 2007 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas ranked 33rd among all 50 states when examining persons 25 years old and over with a bachelor's degree or more.

May the FSM help us all.

DCr

R.I.P.

2010-03-15T06:23:00.003-04:00

Peter Graves.

I was a big fan of Mission: Impossible back in the day (less so the films). His presence and, umm, "straightness" in Airplane was one of the features helping put that film over the top. (Yes, I have the DVD. No, I won't come up with a quote or two. You're on your own.)

Thanks for the memories.

DCr

Is our Senate learning?

2010-03-12T06:58:00.004-05:00

Seems so. Excerpts from a letter Majority Leader Harry Reid sent yesterday to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:

“Many Republicans now are demanding that we simply ignore the progress we’ve made, the extensive debate and negotiations we’ve held, the amendments we’ve added (including more than 100 from Republicans) and the votes of a supermajority in favor of a bill whose contents the American people unambiguously support. We will not. We will finish the job.”

“As you know, the vast majority of bills developed through reconciliation were passed by Republican Congresses and signed into law by Republican Presidents – including President Bush’s massive, budget-busting tax breaks for multi-millionaires. Given this history, one might conclude that Republicans believe a majority vote is sufficient to increase the deficit and benefit the super-rich, but not to reduce the deficit and benefit the middle class. Alternatively, perhaps Republicans believe a majority vote is appropriate only when Republicans are in the majority. Either way, we disagree.”

“At the end of the process, the bill can pass only if it wins a democratic, up-or-down majority vote. If Republicans want to vote against a bill that reduces health care costs, fills the prescription drug ‘donut hole’ for seniors and reduces the deficit, you will have every right to do so.”

As someone pointed out, 2009's gonna be awesome!

DCr

The fierce urgency of real soon now

2010-03-10T07:39:00.004-05:00

Can't you just feel the momentum?

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is pushing back against the March 18 deadline that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs indicated was the target for a vote on health care reform.

...

Hoyer declined to give a specific deadline for when the House would take up health care, saying only that it would be "soon."

DCr

(h/t John Cole)

Competition: Good for thee, but not for me

2010-03-09T07:41:00.003-05:00

With Airbus/EADS/Northrup Grumman pulling out (at least for now), it looks like Boeing will get the long-awaited and -contested USAF tanker contract:

As a team, our serious concerns were expressed to the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force that the acquisition methodology outlined in the request for proposal (RFP) would heavily weigh the competition in favor of the smaller, less capable Boeing tanker. Northrop Grumman’s analysis of the RFP reaffirmed those concerns and prompted the decision not to bid.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

DCr

(h/t LGM)