Blizza Blizza

This is absolutely despicable. Colgan Air, a regional airline that operates primarily in the northeast US for US Airways and United, is threatening to fire one of their pilots because the government has placed him on one of the many terrorist watch lists.

Er, didn’t he go through the same background checks as everyone else Colgan (and other airlines) hired? Is Colgan admitting to themselves — and the public — that governmental background checks are inadequate? If so, I think they have a lot more people they need to fire.

I just posted about a similar situation two days ago, the main differences being the airline involved and the relative seniority of the pilot. Robinson, the mainline captain who also happens to be an FFDO, is not facing any action on the part of his airline because his airline has enough common sense to know that the TSA and FBI can’t maintain a proper watch list to save their lives.

Colgan, on the other hand, is behaving pretty fucking shamefully here. It’s not Erich Scherfen’s fault the FBI thinks a decorated 13-year military veteran might be a terror suspect. Heck, if the FBI doesn’t think a five-year-old named James Robinson should be allowed to fly simply because he’s named James Robinson, I don’t think the FBI’s opinion on these matters is valid in the first place.

Unfortunately, Colgan pilots are non-union (they rejected a vote to certify ALPA last fall, IIRC), and this is going to bite Scherfen right in the ass if his lawyers can’t get the government to remove him from the list. Airlines will find any excuse to fire pilots, believe me. And I’ll just go on the record now and say that I will never have anything to do with Colgan Air as long as I live unless they immediately back down from this ridiculous position.

Google this, you bastards.

Alan Shore, in the Boston Legal episode “Nuts” (transcript, in PDF format):

I suppose you’re right. One has to wonder how many Denny Cranes are out there, being denied the right to fly, who can’t afford an attorney.

[He turns to the gallery.]

Do we have any with us today? If so, please stand.

[Nearly the whole room rises.]

Old people, children, even a few women. Everyone here is named Denny Crane. These are just the ones within driving distance, of course, since airplane travel was not an option.

Sadly, life imitates art yet again.

When I was a new hire at my current airline job, one of my fellow classmates in ground school was also on one of the various no-fly lists used by the TSA. I’d hazard a guess that as many as one percent of cockpit crew members at US airlines might be in the same situation, all because our government is too stupid to use a little common sense.

I’m just wondering…will glue-on Brembos help slow my car down after I use all those “Type R” stickers to make it go faster? Gotta have balance, you know.

Spam is getting less and less comprehensible by the day:

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What’s the point of spam that isn’t selling something? Is this supposed to be some kind of modern performance art?

I’ve written a small test app for examining NSEvent modifier flags, called Event Tester (34K ZIP file). I’ve been meaning to get this done ever since March 2006, when a subtle bug in Kensington’s MouseWorks software bit me in the rear while working on a Camino bug. I reported it to Kensington at the time along with an explanation of what I suspected was happening, but never heard anything back from them. They’ve since released version 3.0 of their MouseWorks software, and it still has the same bug. Now that I have a test app, maybe they’ll listen.

The general public probably won’t find it useful, but anyone writing drivers for multi-button mice probably will.

UPDATE: After pulling several teeth, I have official word from Kensington that the MouseWorks software has been end-of-lifed and will no longer be updated. I’m going to try to convince them to open-source it, or at least give me the source code, but I have to wonder what this means for future Mac products from the company. It can’t be good news.

Ticks on a Plane:

A United spokeswoman says between one and three ticks were discovered.

So does that mean two ticks were discovered; or that they found three things that might have been ticks, but they’re not entirely sure; or something else entirely? Inquiring minds (and editors everywhere) want to know.

Pretty much everyone covering the NHL for any media outlet appears genuinely shocked that Marian Hossa, the star forward acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins from the Atlanta Thrashers at last year’s trade deadline to fuel the Penguins’ Stanley Cup playoff run, has signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Red Wings. These pundits are in nearly universal agreement that Hossa is giving up “a lifetime of security” for a chance to win the Cup.

Two points:

First, isn’t every hockey player’s dream to win the Stanley Cup? You don’t hear Nick Lidstrom saying, “Oh, yeah, ever since I was a boy, I always wanted to win six Norris Trophies”, and you don’t hear Henrik Zetterberg saying, “I’ve always dreamed of winning the Conn Smythe Trophy”. Almost to a man, the Wings said winning the Cup was their dream. Why should Hossa be any different? And what do you have left to prove in the league after winning a Cup? How many more you can win? The Stanley Cup is, and always has been, the reason for playing NHL hockey, and the bottom line is this: Marian Hossa doesn’t have his name on the Cup, and he wants it there. A one-year deal with the Wings is the best chance he has to achieve that.

Second, since when is $7 million not enough money for a “lifetime of security”? I’m certain beyond all doubt that, if you gave me $7 million next year, minus taxes, that I would be more than comfortable for the rest of my life, as would my parents, any future family, and most of my extended family. What happened to our society that we don’t think top professional athletes can possibly get by on less than $8-10 million per year, and need to have at least 5-10 years at that pay level to be “secure”? No, a million dollars isn’t what it used to be, but it’ll still buy you a nice house anywhere in the United States and leave more change than most people make in salary in a year. Anything more than that is just icing on the cake.

From page 91 of the business section of the local phone book (larger image):

Watch out for idiot bus drivers on Hollywood Boulevard.

The bus driver backs up, turns the bus into the boulevard and comes back at the cyclist who is now standing behind his bike. She comes a bit faster and pushes the bus against the cyclist until the bike is now wedged under the right front bumper of the bus.

Yeah, seriously. The bus driver first honked at the cyclist, then told him he had no right to the road, then ran over his bike. Twice.

And the LAPD, in their infinite wisdom, have said the cyclist may be the one to receive a ticket and have taken no action whatsoever against the bus driver, who obviously doesn’t have any business with a driver’s license as she doesn’t understand the rules of the road.

I need a gutted 747 and a couple acres of land to put it on. Best. House. EVAR.

I’d make the maid dress in a flight attendant uniform from the 1950s, too.