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On Internet Radio at 5pm PT

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:04:00 +0000

I've been asked to be a guest on Silvio Canto's BlogTalkRadio show at 5pm PT this afternoon. If you'd like to listen in, or call in to the show, you can find it here.

Richard M. Nixon Library

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:57:00 +0000

There are two presidential libraries in the greater Los Angeles area. In 2005 we drove up to Simi Valley and visited the Ronald Reagan Library, and today we headed up to Yorba Linda to visit the Richard M. Nixon Library. Even though it's barely a 30 minute drive away I've never been there and since they were having a model train display I figured it was a good time to visit.

Here are some photos from the trip:

They had two large display rooms with model railroad stuff. I won't bore you with lots of pictures, but this will give you an idea of the things they had running.

The had quite a bit of campaign memorabilia from Nixon's various campaigns. These buttons were from the 1960 presidential race.

These are from the 1968 presidential race. They also had displays from his House, Senate and Governor's races.

This room was kind of interesting. They have life-sized models of various world leaders who interacted with Nixon in his roles as Vice President and President. Included were Mao Tse Tung and Chou en-Lai of China, Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev of The Soviet Union, Golda Meir of Israel, Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Winston Churchill of Great Britain, Charles De Gaulle of France, Konrad Adenauer of Germany, and a Japanese Prime Minister whose name escapes me right now.

I decided to have my picture taken with the Russkies. That's Meir and Sadat in the background.

In the adjoining room are two more sculptures of Nixon greeting Chou en-Lai in China. My wife pointed to the sculpture and said "Nixon's not bowing". Good observation.

There are various gifts to the Nixons that are on display, including the original manuscript of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America".

I'm a sucker for presidential vehicles, and one of the limousines used by LBJ, Nixon, Ford and Carter is on display. I took photos of several more presidential limos during my summer visit to the Ford Museum in Michigan.

Nixon and his wife Pat are buried on the Museum grounds. In order to get around regulations concerning where legal burials can take place a small plot of land was deeded to the local Friends Church which in turn designated it as a graveyard, thus making it legal for the Nixons to be buried on the property.

Nixon's childhood home is located on the grounds. It's a very small house, built by his father, where Nixon was born in 1913.

One of the former Marine One presidential helicopters is located on the property. For some odd reason they won't let you photograph the interior, but they do let you walk through. I'm not sure if this is the exact same chopper as shown in the famous photo below of Nixon the day he resigned from the presidency in 1974.

It's an interesting place to visit, but certainly not something that's going to take more than a couple of hours to see. The Reagan Library was more interesting to me (for one thing they have Air Force One on display up there), but for someone my age who remembers the Nixon years there's a lot of memorable stuff to see.

I realized as we were wrapping up the visit that if you're under 40 years of age you probably have no personal recollection of the Nixon presidency. That's making me feel pretty old.

House Dems Caving on Public Option

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:27:00 +0000

I was pretty sure this was gonna happen:

Two House Democrats who favor a government insurance plan, a central element of health care legislation passed in their chamber, acknowledged Sunday it might have to be sacrificed as negotiators work out a final agreement with the Senate.

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and one who had appealed to President Barack Obama not to yield on the public plan, set out conditions for yielding himself.

Asked during rounds on the Sunday news shows whether he could vote for a final bill that does not embrace a public plan, Clyburn said: "Yes, sir, I can."

Clyburn added: "We want a public option to do basically three things: Create more choice for insurers, create more competition for insurance companies, and to contain costs. So if we can come up with a process by which these three things can be done, then I'm all for it. Whether or not we label it a public option or not is of no consequence."

While insisting "it's not dead," Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said he recognizes realities in the Senate, where Democrats had to scrape up every vote from their side even to pass a bill without a government plan to compete in the private insurance marketplace.

"Before the House was to give up the public option, we would want to be persuaded that there are other mechanisms in whatever bill comes out that will keep down premiums," said Van Hollen, appearing to sketch out a bottom line without a government plan necessarily included. "We've got to make sure that the final product is affordable."

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., underscored the divisions Democrats will need to bridge when negotiators from the House and Senate meet next month to reconcile the two bills. He said there will need to be more give on the House side than the Senate, which took weeks to find the 60 votes needed for passage.

"If we are going to have a final law, it will look a lot more like the Senate version than the House version," Menendez asserted.

At this point passing SOMETHING called health care reform is more important than what's in the actual bill. The bill can be, and is, a disaster, but as long as the Dems can claim a victory in getting a bill passed, that's all they think will count for 2010.

Of course, the only thing the voters will see in 2010 is higher taxes. None of the so-called benefits will appear for several years. This will backfire on the Dems big time.

A Cynic Wrapped in a Hypocrite Inside a Bully

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:43:00 +0000

Ed Lasky at American Thinker has some thoughts on Obama's first year:

Almost a year has passed since January 20, 2009 -- when the waters of the ocean no longer rose and America began to heal from the depredations of Republicans. Barack Obama has been our president for that long, and the people have started to wise up.

The light that shines on Barack Obama as president has reflected back an image that bears very little similarity to the iconic visage that floated above us all in 2008. Why has Barack Obama betrayed so many allies, broken so many promises, thrown so many pledges and people under the bus?

One simple aphorism (paraphrasing Winston Churchill) can explain it all. Barack Obama is no longer a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Much about his past remains murky, but faced with the need to govern, he has given the American people plenty of evidence of his nature...if only they will look.

Obama is a cynic wrapped in a hypocrite inside a bully.

This comes as a shock to many, who are dismayed to find that he is "just a politician," as Reverend Wright, Jr. (who knows him so well) called him back in 2008. But Wright was being all too kind and generous to his future former parishioner (Wright followed a long and ever-growing line of people trampled by Barack Obama's rise.)

But Barack Obama is far more than just a politician. We all swallow a lot from politicians; we know that many pander and narrowcast, changing their message to suit their audience. But Obama expressly campaigned as a man who would not do this. He was the candidate of hope and change -- he would bring a big broom to sweep clean the Augean Stables known as Washington, D.C. He called forth the better angels of our nature (hat tip: Honest Abe Lincoln, one of the truly honest politicians from Illinois) and tapped into a deep yearning for the rarest of the real things: an honest leader.

Read the whole thing. He pretty well has him nailed.

I Guess the System Didn't Work After All

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:33:00 +0000

It took 24 hours for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to figure out what everybody else knew on Christmas Day - the system didn't work well at all:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded Monday that airline security failed in allowing a Nigerian on a terror watch list and allegedly armed with explosives onto a Detroit-bound flight, a turnaround from her declaration a day day earlier that "the system worked."

The secretary's comment Sunday was widely criticized, given that suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was foiled because his explosive mixture did not properly detonate and he was stopped in his tracks by vigilant passengers.

The suspect, who carried the explosive in his underwear, passed through security at two airports -- in Nigeria and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Plus he was not on any "no-fly" list, even though he was on a massive federal database of people with suspected ties to terrorists and his father apparently had warned U.S. embassy officials in Nigeria about his son.

"Here, clearly, something went awry. We want to fix that problem," Napolitano told Fox News on Monday.

She said officials are doing a complete review to determine what needs to change to prevent such a passenger from clearing security in the future.

"No secretary of homeland security would sit here and say that a system worked prior to this incident which allowed this individual to get on this plane," Napolitano said.

Her comments marked a change in tone from the day before, when she lauded security officials' handling of the affair.

"I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have," she said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "We trained for this. We planned for this."

On CNN's "State of the Union," she said: "One thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked."

Napolitano is fighting for her job right now. A number of high level people in Congress have called not only for an investigation but for her resignation for being so dense as to try and defend the indefensible.

I doubt she'll be tossed, but she clearly isn't suited for the job.

If the "System Worked", Why All the New Security Hassles?

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:26:00 +0000

Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary, assured the nation on the Sunday shows yesterday that "the system worked like clockwork", right after a Nigerian on the no-fly list boarded a U.S. bound flight with explosives taped to his leg. Some system.

Now, the system is working to ensure that flying becomes an even bigger hassle:

Beleaguered US air passengers faced a slew of new travel woes Sunday, as ramped up airport security following a thwarted Christmas Day terror attack compounded delays from back-to-back record-setting snowstorms.

Air travelers were told Sunday to check in four hours ahead of their scheduled departure times, while bomb-sniffing dogs were visible at airports across the country, US media reported, after a Nigerian man with possible ties to radical Islam was charged with attempting to blow up an airliner on final approach to Detroit Friday.

Once on board their flights, many passengers were told they would be unable to hold coats or blankets in their laps and would not be allowed to enter aircraft restrooms for the last hour of their flights, reports said.

Passengers also reportedly are being told to expect additional airport pat-downs and gate security checks.

The new measures follow the botched Christmas Day attack by terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of trying to bring down a Northwest Airlines flight with 290 people on board by detonating explosive material sewn into his underwear.

The upgraded airport security measures coincides with the annual year-end holiday travel season that got underway the weekend before Christmas and lasts about two weeks, through the New Year holiday.

US Department of Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano said the additional screening measures covered all US airports and all domestic and international flights "to ensure the continued safety of the traveling public."

It won't be the threat of terror attacks that will kill the airline industry, it will be the federal government treating every passenger like a terrorist.

Bacchus or Baucus?

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Bacchus was the Roman god of wine, Baucus is the Senator from Montana, but both seem to have something in common:

A speech by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on health care has been generating buzz on the Internet, as the Drudge Report and others are suggesting that Baucus was slurring his speech and possibly "intoxicated" during his remarks.

"DRUNK WITH POWER? TOP DEM SLURS ON SENATE FLOOR..." reads the Drudge Report headline.

Newsbusters.org writes: "How can one explain this incredibly bizarre performance by Max Baucus on the Senate floor? Was Baucus so intoxicated by the sound of his own voice that he went off the deep end? Or perhaps he was so drunk with power over shaping the Senate health care bill that it explains his strange rant."

On his Facebook page, former congressman Mark Foley commented on the video: "This is the senator that hired his staffer and then took her on trips...and divorced his wife....and they had me run out of town."

You can watch the video at the Drudge link and judge for yourself.

Bush Blamed for Panty Bomber

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:32:00 +0000

I guess this response from White House spokeshole Robert Gibbs is predictable:

Robert Gibbs and Secretary Napolitano made clear that we are pressing ahead with securing our nation against threats and our aggressive posture in the war with al Qaeda. We are winding down a war in Iraq that took our eye off of the terrorists that attacked us, and have dramatically increased our resources in Afghanistan and Pakistan where those terrorists are. We are putting the pressure on al Qaeda worldwide with all elements of American power, and key al Qaeda leaders have been taken out in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Gibbs also made clear the President refuses to play politics with these issues. As he said in West Point, we must put aside petty politics and recapture the unity that we had after 9/11.

How long can they keep playing this "blame Bush" card and expect to get away with it? That act went stale long ago. They've been in charge for nearly a year now, and they can't expect the public to buy the old "blame Bush" line any longer.

Janet Napolitano totally beclowned herself when she stated "the system worked" because a passenger stopped the bad guy with the bum detonator. You may not have realized that as an airline passenger you are now part of the "system".

If that's the case, why not let us carry our guns aboard. I could do a lot better job of protecting the plane if I was armed.

Obama Wants Senate Bill That Funds Abortion

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:02:00 +0000

Of course he does - that's what he's wanted all along:

President Barack Obama promised Americans in a speech to Congress that his version of a government-run health care bill would not contain abortion funding. Now his top spokesman confirms that Obama favors the Senate bill that funds abortions over the House bill that bans abortion funding.

In a September nationally-televised speech to Congress, Obama sought to clear up projections from pro-life advocates that his health care plan would fund abortions.

“One more misunderstanding I want to clear up — under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions,” Obama claimed.

Since his speech, the House has approved a health care bill that contains the Stupak amendment making it so taxpayer funding of abortions is prohibited in virtually all cases. On the other hand, the Senate bill contains the Reid-Nelson language that opens the door to forcing taxpayers to fund abortions and allowing the Obama administration to force insurance companies to cover them with taxpayers’ premiums.

This could create some problems for Nancy Pelosi. It's not certain that she could get a bill through the House that contained any sort of abortion funding.

"Noise", or Information That Disproves the Theory?

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:52:00 +0000

The global warming crowd is having a hard time explaining this very cold winter and the record snowfalls that have shown up already this winter. They like to refer to these items as "noise" in the system. Innocent Bystanders has some thoughts on that:

Of course, the AGW alarmists dismiss such observations as “noise” in the data which does not challenge the “settled” science of catastrophic warming caused by CO2.

Noise. It’s a term which conjures up static on the radio, mere “interference” with the broadcast that must be tolerated. “Noise” matters not, you must simply ignore it to hear the program. Watch for that term “noise.” It’s a favorite of Al Gore, for example.

I’ll tell you what it means. It means “pixie dust.” It means “I can’t explain what is happening.”

Most importantly, it really means “my CO2-based AGW hypothesis has been falsified” and they don’t want to admit it because there is so much money, power and corruption involved.

There's more at the link. The global warming crowd loves to tell us that global warming can also cause record cold weather, so that way any situation proves their theory. They also love to dismiss "weather" as unrelated to "climate". We'll let those thoughts keep them warm as they shovel the feet of snow that fell in much of the country his week.

Even the Left is Running Out of Patience

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:15:00 +0000

This from OpEd News:

Hey did you hear about the iconic African-American guy who plays golf, and whose relationship with the public is in a free-fall lately?

No, as a matter of fact I'm not talking about Tiger Woods.

You know, I've really been trying not to write an article every other week about all the things I don't like about Barack Obama.

But the little prick is making it very hard.

Like any good progressive, I've gone from admiration to hope to disappointment to anger when it comes to this president. Now I'm fast getting to rage.

How much rage? I find myself thinking that the thing I want most from the 2010 elections is for his party to get absolutely clobbered, even if that means a repeat of 1994. And that what I most want from 2012 is for him to be utterly humiliated, even if that means President Palin at the helm. That much rage.

The rant goes on here.

Frankly, this sounds a lot like those Republicans who said in 2008 "I hope the Dems win big to teach the GOP a lesson". How'd that work out?

Still, I'm not the least bit upset to hear that progressives (i.e. liberals) are upset with The One - upset enough to prefer a GOP congress and President Palin to what they have now.

Dems to White House: Don't Do Cap-and-Tax!

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:51:00 +0000

Good advice:

Bruised by the health care debate and worried about what 2010 will bring, moderate Senate Democrats are urging the White House to give up now on any effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill next year.

“I am communicating that in every way I know how,” says Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of at least half a dozen Democrats who've told the White House or their own leaders that it's time to jettison the centerpiece of their party's plan to curb global warming.

The creation of an economy-wide market for greenhouse gas emissions is as the heart of the climate bill that cleared the House earlier this year. But with the health care fight still raging and the economy still hurting, moderate Democrats have little appetite for another sweeping initiative — especially another one likely to pass with little or no Republican support.

“We need to deal with the phenomena of global warming, but I think it’s very difficult in the kind of economic circumstances we have right now,” said Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, who called passage of any economy-wide cap and trade “unlikely.”

At a meeting about health care last month, moderates pushed to table climate legislation in favor of a jobs bill that would be an easier sell during the 2010 elections, according to Senate Democratic aides.

“I’d just as soon see that set aside until we work through the economy,” said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). ?“What we don’t want to do is have anything get in the way of working to resolve the problems with the economy.”

“Climate change in an election year has very poor prospects,” added Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). “I’ve told that to the leadership.”

I don't think either house of Congress, and especially the Senate, have the heart for another unpopular knock down/drag out fight over a contentious economic issue. Not in an election year.

Another Flight, Another Mad Nigerian

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:55:00 +0000

This is starting to become an epidemic:

Police have arrested a Nigerian man who reportedly became verbally disruptive and barricaded himself in the bathroom of a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight on Sunday.

Several police vehicles and a police command unit have surrounded a plane at Detroit's Metro Airport, after the pilot of a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight requested emergency help.

Two sources tell Fox News that the suspect boarded a plan in Lagos with no baggage, and said the FBI has already sent an email alert to other federal agencies notifying them of the incident.

The source said the man taken into custody at the Detroit airport was a Nigerian man in his 30s. Federal officials know who the suspect is, but won't provide any more details. He allegedly barricaded himself in the plane's bathroom for an hour.

Detroit's Metro Airport spokesman John Witner said there was a report of suspicious activity on the Delta/Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam Sunday. That is the same flight number as the flight that Nigerian man Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was suspected of attempting to blow up over Detroit on Christmas Day.

Feds are trying to determine whether there is any connection with Abdulmutallab, who was arrested on Christmas.

All 257 passengers and 12 crew have deplaned safely, said Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott. The flight landed safely in Detroit at 12:34 p.m. Sunday.

The flight crew requested that law enforcement meet the aircraft after a passenger on the plane became verbally disruptive, said Elliott.

Maybe they just really hate Detroit. Can't really blame them for that.

UPDATE: Officials say the guy had stomach problems that prevented him from opening the door when asked. We'll see.

Homeland Security Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:39:00 +0000

From Dan Riehl:

Maybe they should let passengers start screening flights and vote on who is going along??

I like that idea. I guarantee you that no matter how politically incorrect it may be to "profile" people, that's what airline passengers do every day and they'd probably be more attuned to who should or shouldn't be on the plane than most of the airport rent-a-cops.

Rather than searching old ladies in wheelchairs let's start going after the people that fit the terrorist profile.

How'd This Guy Get on the Plane?

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:22:00 +0000

The London Daily Telegraph asks some tough questions about the Detroit panty-bomber:

Tough questions need to be asked of not just the US security agencies – such as the CIA and the FBI – but also of Britain's MI6, MI5 and the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorist unit.

How can a Muslim student, whose name appears on a US law enforcement database, be granted a visa to travel to America, allegedly acquire an explosive device from Yemen, a country awash with al-Qaeda terrorists, and avoid detection from the world's most sophisticated spy agencies?

Every intelligence agency across the world is fully aware that the targets of choice for al-Qaeda and its numerous affiliates and sympathisers are airliners – preferably those flying to the US. Yet Abdulmutallab seems to have avoided detection in both Nigeria and Holland when he passed through the various security checks at Lagos and Schiphol airports respectively.

Embarrassingly for the Washington, Lagos airport had recently been given the "all clear" by the US's Transportation Security Administration, an agency established in the wake of the 9/11 attacks which was supposed to improve the security on American airliners.

Attacking airlines is not exactly new territory for al-Qaeda. After 9/11, Richard Reid, a British Muslim convert, tried to blow up a transatlantic airliner by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes. More recently, Britain was the base for the so-called liquid bomb plot when a group of British Islamists plotted to destroy up to 10 US bound airliners in a series of attacks designed to kill thousands.

As 9/11 showed, for a relatively cheap outlay- the cost of the operation was estimated at round £300,000 – the impact of an airline attack can be global: the desired conclusion for every al-Qaeda mission.

Yet Abdulmutallab, a 23-year Nigerian, who US officials said studied mechanical engineering at University College in London, came frighteningly close to committing a terrorist atrocity undetected.

And haven't we been told all these years that the reason these people turn to terrorism is because of poverty, and yet this guy lived in a $4 million dollar London apartment and came from a very wealthy family...not unlike Osama bin Laden.

I have my doubts that there will be another successful airline attack, mainly because passengers today won't put up with it, but if our intelligence "experts" can't keep a guy like this off an airplane, even the most proactive passengers may have a tough time stopping such an attack.

UPDATE: Amazingly, Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security Secretary, stated today that "the system worked".

Really? Since when are 23-year old Dutch film producers part of the "system"? That's what stopped this attack, not anything the "system" did.

Hey Harry, Where's Nevada's Gift From Obamacare?

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:20:00 +0000

My favorite newspaper publisher from the Las Vegas Review-Journal takes his home state Senator to task for failing to "bring home the bacon":

I'm very disappointed.

It's Christmas morning and I can't find one single gift to Nevada from Sen. Harry Reid under the health-care "reform" tree.

Louisiana got a nice package. Florida and Connecticut, too. And Nebraska scored a really big present.

Just three days ago Uncle Harry said that if a senator didn't get his state "something" in the health-care "reform" package, then that senator wasn't doing his or her job.

And yesterday Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., upped the ante. He said that every state did "get something" in the measure.

OK. I'm excited. What's Nevada's gift? Uncle Harry, as everyone knows, is the Big Kahuna of the Senate. He "brings home the bacon," his TV commercials claim. So if Nebraska got dispensation from Medicaid increases forever, one can only imagine the magnitude of Nevada's present.

Flat screen TVs for every man, woman and child? No, no -- that's way too small.

A new military base ... for every county?

A lump of coal and a power plant to fire it?

Maybe double our water allotment from the Colorado River?

Oh, I know: Lifetime exemptions for Nevada residents and all of their descendents from federal income tax? That would be nice.

Whatever it is, I can't wait for the UPS truck tomorrow. The suspense is unbearable.

Sounds to me like Nevada needs a new Senator, and my guess is that by the end of 2010 they'll have one.

Scientist: Angels Can't Fly

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Another great moment in science:

A leading biologist has compared the physiology of flighted species with the representations of spiritual and mythical creatures in art – and found the angels and fairies that sit atop of Christmas trees did not get there under their own steam.

Prof Roger Wotton, from University College London, found that flight would be impossible for angels portrayed with arms and bird-like feathered wings.

“Even a cursory examination of the evidence in representational arts shows that angels and cherubs cannot take off and cannot use powered flight,” said Prof Wotton. “And even if they used gliding flight, they would need to be exposed to very high wind velocities at take off - such high winds that they would be blown away and have no need for wings.

Well, if they can't fly they sure as heck can run fast. And in some pretty rough conditions too.

Freedom Takes Another Hit on U.S. Airlines

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Congratulations - we're all terrorists now:

Travelers were urged to arrive early to LAX Sunday as new security measures took effect in the wake of the attempted bombing of an airliner over Detroit.

The warning comes when many holiday travelers are still expected to pack local airports for trips home.

New measures that include more scrutiny at screenings and "layers" of tightened security that passengers don't always see -- more bomb-sniffing dogs, for example -- will mean a longer check-in process for fliers at LAX, officials said.

Additionally, air travelers in the United States will have to remain seated for the last hour of a flight, and fight entertainment systems will be turned off, according to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

Using laptops during that last hour of flight will also be verboten. The restrictions could be little if any passenger movement during shorter flights.

There will be stricter limits on carry-on items, too.

I wouldn't care that much about all this except I have flights scheduled on Jan. 8 & 11 and it's hard enough leaving out of LAX early in the morning without having a bunch of new, silly requirements. Add in the restrictions on the last hour of flight and instead of flying being a fun adventure it's going to be like a trip on a prison bus.

UPDATE: Another restriction:

While over U.S. airspace, flight crews may not make any announcements to passengers concerning the flight path or the airplane's position over cities or landmarks.

In 1999 I made a trip to Texas and carried a hand-held GPS unit with me that I used on the plane. I liked being able to look out the window and identify where we were via the GPS.

A year later I made the same trip and started to use the GPS again and got slapped down by the flight attendant. The airline rules had changed (and this was before 9/11).

Now it appears that during the last hour of the flight, and during all of any short flights, we'll all have to sit with our faces forward and hands in our laps...just like we did in kindergarten.

Learning As He Goes

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:29:00 +0000

You'd hope that someone who'd been in a job for nearly a year would be able to learn a few things along the way. Obama seems to be learning that his responses to terror attacks have been inconsistent to say the least, and the least he should do is appear to be more engaged. Byron York has more:

The Obama White House has been aggressive in its press outreach regarding the Northwest Airlines terrorist incident. Some of the earliest stories on accused terrorist Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab's attempt to set off an explosive device on board Northwest Flight 253 were sourced to the White House, and White House officials were quick to label the incident an "attempted act of terrorism." The White House wants the public to know that President Obama, on vacation at a luxurious oceanfront home in Hawaii, has received conference call updates and is keeping close tabs on the situation.

"President Barack Obama's Christmas Day began with a briefing about a botched attack on an airliner in Detroit," began an Associated Press account published Christmas evening. "Obama's military aide told the president about an incident aboard a plane as it was landing in Detroit just after 9 a.m. here [in Hawaii]. The president phoned his homeland security adviser and the chief of staff to the National Security Council for a briefing…'We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,' one White House official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation."

Those details didn't come from nowhere. "Within a few hours of the Delta/Northwest Airlines flight touching down in Detroit, a senior administration official telephoned and e-mailed members of the White House press pool," writes the Atlantic's and CBS's Marc Ambinder, a reliable source of the White House perspective. The administration message: We're on the case. "The apparatus of government is in high gear now," Ambinder reported.

The White House messaging on the Flight 253 affair stands in stark contrast to its handling of the massacre at Ft. Hood, Texas in which Obama, on the day after the killings, cautioned the public against "jumping to conclusions" about the murders of 13 people, and then, a day later, declared that "we cannot fully know" accused killer Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's motives. Now, the administration is openly using the T-word.

But it appears the White House's press outreach has been more extensive than its outreach to actual officials in the government. "They're keeping information very tight, in terms of not giving it to Congress," says Republican Rep. Peter King, who has been on television frequently in the hours since the incident. "There are not too many details coming out."

Read the rest at the link. Jim Geraghty correctly points out that although the White House is issuing various releases to show how their on the ball, the guy who's on every TV channel every day for a year has said nothing.

Obama was quick to criticize the Cambridge Police for arresting his buddy, but slow to react to the Fort Hood shootings. Frankly, I don't think it's due to a lack of P.R. skills, but a basic moral compass that doesn't point to true north.

Hot Pants

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:24:00 +0000

Or, as Don Surber calls them, Fruit of the Boom (h/t Hot Air):

The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect’s underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News.

Investigators say the suspect had more than 80 grams of PETN, a compound related to nitro-glycerin used by the military. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, had only about 50 grams kin his failed attempt in 2001 to blow up a U.S.-bound jet. Yesterday’s bomb failed because the detonator may have been too small or was not in “proper contact” with the explosive material, investigators told ABC News.

Investigators say the suspect, Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian student whose birthday was last Tuesday, has provided detailed information about his recruitment and training for what was supposed to be a Christmas Day suicide attack.

Thankfully the bombmaker was apparently incompetent, and a passenger jumped into the fray and stopped the guy from proceeding with his attack.

Still, a little too close for comfort. And I hear that bomb-laden underwear really rides up on you.

In addition to the new restrictions on leaving your seat during the last hour of the flight, or not being able to get your carry-on until the plane's at the gate, you will also not be allowed to play with your Official Mr. Wizard Chemistry Set while the airplane is on final approach.

Confused Catholics

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Sometimes it's hard to tell what these people really believe:

In an apparent split with Roman Catholic bishops over the abortion-financing provisions of the proposed health care overhaul, the nation’s Catholic hospitals have signaled that they back the Senate’s compromise on the issue, raising hopes of breaking an impasse in Congress and stirring controversy within the church.

The Senate bill, approved Thursday morning, allows any state to bar the use of federal subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortion and requires insurers in other states to divide subsidy money into separate accounts so that only dollars from private premiums would be used to pay for abortions.

Just days before the bill passed, the Catholic Health Association, which represents hundreds of Catholic hospitals across the country, said in a statement that it was “encouraged” and “increasingly confident” that such a compromise “can achieve the objective of no federal funding for abortion.” An umbrella group for nuns followed its lead.

The same day, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called the proposed compromise “morally unacceptable.”

You either believe abortion should have federal funding or you don't. If you don't, how can you possibly approve of any bill that does?

This is a confused church.

The Hero of Flight 253

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:41:00 +0000

Thanks to this guy (and an incompetent bombmaker) a lot of people got home on Christmas night that might otherwise have ended up in a smoking pile outside of Detroit:

The passenger who tackled a suspected terrorist on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 said Saturday that he's "happy" to be alive.

Jasper Schuringa, a video director and producer from Amsterdam, told CNN how he helped the cabin crew to subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old who reportedly ignited a small explosive device on board the plane Friday as it prepared to land in Detroit.

Schuringa said he heard a sound that reminded him of a firecracker and someone yelling, "Fire! Fire!"

But he was only certain something was wrong when he saw smoke. He saw Abdulmutallab's pants open and he was holding a burning object between his legs.

"I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," Schuringa said.

He said he then screamed for water and pulled Abdulmutallab out of his seat and dragged him to the front of the plane.

Schuringa told CNN that Abdulmutallab seemed out of it and "was staring into nothing."

To ensure the suspect did not have other explosives on his body, Schuringa stripped off Abdulmutallab's clothes. He then handcuffed the alleged attacker with the help of a crew member.

Schuringa said the other passengers applauded as he returned to his seat and that he sustained minor injuries during the take down.

"My hands are pretty burned. I am fine," he said. "I am shaken up. I am happy to be here."

The finest security measures (we're told) in the world didn't keep a guy on the no-fly list from getting on that plane and threatening nearly 300 lives - not to mention those on the ground who might have been killed by a falling aircraft. Unfortunately, the predictable reaction will be a clamp down on everybody, making flying an even less desirable mode of travel than it is now.

I'm already hearing that on international flights coming in to Canada or the U.S. all passengers are restricted to their seats for the last hour of flight and cannot have anything in their laps or on their tray tables. How long until that rule spreads to all flights?

Traveling by air will begin to look like a trip on the Sheriff's bus to the county jail.

To Santa Paula...and Beyond!

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:06:00 +0000

Well, actually, to Santa Paula and back. That's where I've been all day celebrating Christmas with my wife's brother and cousin. We had to eat early since her cousin is a conductor on the Fillmore and Western Railroad's Polar Express Christmas Train and he had to get back for two final trips this evening. Santa had to be taken back to the North Pole...twice. He had just finished doing 42 trips to the North Pole to pick up Santa.

He's getting a little tired of it. After 20 or 30 trips the magic of the North Pole sort of goes away.

Airline Passengers Just Aren't Going to Put Up With That Crap Anymore

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:17:00 +0000

If wannabe terrorists think going after airliners is a winning plan, it's time to disabuse them of that idea. Based on yesterday's incident in Detroit, airline passengers aren't in the mood to allow themselves to be endangered by the world's idiots:

An attempted terrorist attack on a Christmas Day flight began with a pop and a puff of smoke - sending passengers scrambling to subdue a Nigerian man who claimed to be acting on orders from al-Qaida to blow up the airliner, officials and travelers said.

The commotion began as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members from Amsterdam, prepared to land in Detroit just before noon Friday. Travelers said they smelled smoke, saw a glow, and heard what sounded like firecrackers. At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device.

"It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase," said Peter Smith, a passenger from the Netherlands. "First there was a pop, and then (there) was smoke."

Smith said one passenger, sitting opposite the man, climbed over passengers, went across the aisle and tried to restrain the man. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.

Afterward, the suspect was taken to a front-row seat with his pants cut off and his legs burned. Multiple law enforcement officials also said the man appeared badly burned on his legs, indicating the explosive was strapped there. The components were apparently mixed in-flight and included a powdery substance, multiple law enforcement and counterterrorism officials said.

My question is if this guy was mixing his explosives in-flight, what was the guy sitting next to him doing while that was going on? Granted, he probably wouldn't have known they were explosives, but still if someone was playing Mr. Chemistry Set next to me on a flight I'm going to take note of that and mention it to the next flight attendant walking by.

We're lucky that the last couple of attempts on airliners have been carried out by amateurs, but we may not always be that lucky. We're also lucky that airline passengers learned something important on 9/11 - even before the events of that day were done - and are not going to go down without a fight.

Political Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:24:00 +0000

From Sen. Harry Reid and from a citizen addressing Sen. Chris Dodd, courtesy of Don Surber:

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said the public would cheer Democrats when they got home, so beloved is Obamacare. When Democrats go home, Reid said, “Yes, we’ll hear an earful, but it will be an earful of wonderment and happiness.”
Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd arrived in Connecticut, and got this “earful of wonderment and happiness”:
A man cried out, “You’re not gonna get re-elected.”
Is it just me, or does “an earful of wonderment and happiness” sound like part of a saying of Chairman Mao?

Bring on the wonderment and happiness.