Aviation Conspiracy: Congress To Vote On Airport Security This Week
Bill Mulcahy
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/newsletter135.htm
``It is no longer acceptable to allow private, profit-margin interests to
conflict with public safety needs,'' Senate Commerce Committee Chairman
Ernest Hollings, D-S.C.
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Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter
#135................................................Sept 30, 2001 Past
newsletters can be accessed at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm Affiliated with, but not a
publication of, the U.S. Citizen's Aviation Watch http://www.us-caw.org/
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Final Call For The FAA?
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As Bill Sees It: (Editorial) Terrorism Scare Hits The Airlines: After four
teams of terrorists showed how vulnerable airlines are to hijacking, the
government is finally listening to critics who have been saying for years
that the FAA has allowed the airline industry to put profits before public
safety. I'm sure it came as no surprise to anyone that reads this newsletter
that after the airlines successfully shook down the Congress for 15 billion
tax dollars they then fired even MORE of their employees! I wonder if anyone
bothered to do any research into whether the airlines were telling the truth
when they pleaded poverty. Is anyone checking in whose pocket(s) the tax
money is going? Phony New Airline Security Instead Of REAL Security: I saw
how a TV piece on how El Al does security on their airlines. El Al actually
PRESSURE TESTS packages to see if it will set off air pressure-sensitive
bombs which could go off in mail or luggage in their planes storage areas.
They also have TWO armed guards on board their planes. The new Bush security
plan does not promise even ONE armed guard on American planes and the
federal takeover of bag checking does not mean government employees will be
doing the checking at all, but only the federal government will "oversee"
the same private companies doing the checking now with underpaid workers.
Mail and other air cargo (much of it in passenger planes) apparently is
getting the same lack of inspection as in the past. Dangerous "Off-limit"
Flying Areas: I like the idea that the number of "no-fly" areas is
increasing. No longer will it only be politically connected residential
areas that will be carefully avoided, but now it will include government
buildings, stadiums. Bush's O'Hare Airport Speech: A few days after he
signed a bill giving 15 BILLION in taxpayer dollars to the airline owners
(not to the fired workers) President Bush went to O'Hare Airport to do
public relations work for the airlines! I didn't find his remarks at O'Hare
Airport that Sec. Mineta took a "United" Airlines plane and "Americans are
United," meaning that Americans and the United Airlines were one and the
same, clever or inspiring at all. Was his choosing of O'Hare Airport for his
speech, where he knows there is incredible local resistance to aviation
expansion, an effort to show his contempt for aviation expansion activists?
I hope not. If he really wants to unite Americans he should refrain from
making statements equating support for aviation with patriotism.
Lawmakers Hope To Move Next Week On Aviation Security Plan: Bush wants to
create a new agency to upgrade and oversee screening procedures. Most
Democrats and some Republicans want to go further, federalizing the whole
system and making airport screeners government employees similar to
immigration or customs agents. ``It is no longer acceptable to allow
private, profit-margin interests to conflict with public safety needs,''
said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings, D-S.C. Editor's
Note: How about voting to terminate the employment of the person who allowed
the lax security, FAA boss Jane Garvey?
FAA Whistleblower: Security Tests Rigged!!! President Bush's plan to put the
federal government in charge of airport security does not make former
Federal Aviation Administration inspector Steve Elson breathe any easier,
particularly when it comes to training and testing security checkpoint
screeners. As a former airport security inspector, Elson claims the FAA rigs
inspections so that screeners can easily pass.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=24712
U.S. Senator McConnell Blasts FAA Lax "Security" "I think the federal
government should take over the security of airports and airlines from
curbside to cockpit," he said in a tone that made bureaucratic pooh-bahs
reach for their hearts. "It would give uniformity to security, it would be
better than the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and certainly better
than the security provided by airline security." Read N.Y. Post "Final Call
For The FAA" story on it below or go to:
http://www.nypost.com/commentary/4926.htm
Canadian Prime Minister Refuses To Fly Commercial: OTTAWA -- Prime Minister
Jean Chretien won't take to the skies aboard a commercial airliner to
reassure Canadians it's safe to fly. The Prime Minister's Office said
yesterday that, for security reasons, Chretien will only fly aboard
government Challenger jets or a military airbus on long trips.
http://www.canoe.ca/LondonNews/08n2.html
Did Al Gore Sellout Airline Safety For Money: According to Bill O'Reilly on
the "O'Reilly Factor" the Democrat National Committee got 600,000 dollars
shortly after the Airline Safety and Security Commission he headed decided
not to impose stricter rules that the airlines said would "cause delays."
Illinois: One Senator Voted Against Airlines Bailout: Senator Fitzgerald was
the only senator to vote against the bill. He argued that Congress was
"panicking with the taxpayer's money" and giving the industry more than it
was actually losing. The legislation was opposed by labor groups and
Democrats who said it ignored the tens of thousands of airline and Boeing
Co. workers who have been laid off since the nation's worst experience with
terrorism. He and Senator Jon Corzine, D-N.J., also included language
requiring companies receiving loan guarantees to give the government
warrants, or options to buy, the company's common stock.
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010922/21/biz-attacks-congress-airlines
New Security At New York's Foreign-Operated Airport: Kiran Jain, Stewart
Airport's marketing manager, welcomes the plan. She said having federal
coverage may be a new concept in the United States, but probably in all of
Europe, it's very common to see men and women in fatigues carrying machine
guns and walking sniffing dogs. "I think it's about time that the feds took
over security at the airports," Jain said.
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/Stewart_security-28Sep01.htm
S.A.F.E.President Says Use Trains Instead Of Planes For Local Travel: For
decades the Eastern Board shuttle has been growing, growing; it was
"lucrative" for the airlines which did not pay for noise and air pollution
and the ensuing health costs of the millions of people around its airports.
The industry prevented a vibrant high speed rail system to develop in high
traffic corridors as has been developed in other industrialized nations.
Read Dr. Frans Verhagen's "Scuttle the Shuttle" letter below.
US pilots told they may be shot down if they into fly off-limit areas:
Pilots are being warned they could be forced to land - or even be shot
down - if they enter restricted US airspace. The Federal Aviation
Administration notice to pilots says that, as a last resort, they could be
shot down by military planes. Before the US terror attacks, pilots who flew
into off-limits areas first faced a warning from air traffic control and
would then be fined or lose their licenses.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_411183.html?menu=news.latestheadlines
Crop Dusting Flights Resumed Except Near Three Cities: Wednesday, September
26, 2001 Federal officials Tuesday lifted a general ban on crop-dusting and
aerial mosquito spraying, but kept restrictions in place near New York City,
Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Though the restrictions were lifted
Tuesday for most of the country, planes or helicopters still cannot spray
within 25 miles of New York City and Washington, D.C., and 30 miles of
Philadelphia, an FAA official said Tuesday.
Will Landing By Remote Control Fly With Pilots? Chicago - The military has
been flying planes and landing them safely by remote control for years, but
airline pilots say questions about security must be answered before that
technology is used aboard commercial jetliners to thwart hijackers the way
President Bush suggested Thursday during a speech in Chicago.
http://www.ljworld.com/section/worldnation/story/67999
Merry Christmas From Boeing - 10,000 Firings: The layoffs at Boeing's
commercial jet unit, driven by slumping sales to airlines hemorrhaging cash
following the Sept. 11 hijack attacks, would begin on Dec. 14, a Boeing
spokesman said. Chicago-based Boeing, which announced the planned lay-offs
last week, will let go another 10,000 workers by the middle of 2002, and the
final 10,000 will be laid off by the end of 2002, Boeing said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,35185,00.html
Chicago: Anti-expansion group on alert: Though recent events have put O'Hare
International Airport expansion talk on hold, the issue can resurface and
residents impacted by jet noise should be ready, foes of the plan say. Park
Ridge Mayor Ron Wietecha and Rod McCulloch, an adviser for the Suburban
O'Hare Commission, Wednesday night told about 30 Park Ridge residents they
need to continue their work volunteering in the fight against Chicago's
proposed $6 billion expansion of O'Hare.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/mchenry/chi-0109280109sep28.story?c
oll=chi%2Dnewslocalmchenry%2Dhed
Flight Attendants Want Stun Guns: As the climate in airplane cabins and
cockpits has shifted to fear in recent weeks, flight attendants are pushing
for federal permission to arm themselves with stun guns should they
encounter hijackers. http://www.newsday.com/ny-usstun28.story
Terrorists Tried To BUY A Boeing 727!!! N.Y. Post: September 26, 2001 Osama
bin Laden's henchmen tried to buy a multi-million dollar Boeing 727 six
months before they hijacked commercial planes and slammed them into the Twin
Towers and the Pentagon, The Post has learned." Someone connected to Osama
bin Laden was looking to buy a retired aircraft sometime in March," a
federal investigator close to the terrorism probe told The Post. "He was
also trying to recruit Americans to buy it for him, to act as a front.
http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/4977.htm
Northwest Airlines Refuses Severance Pay To laid-off Employees: Only days
after the airlines got their political stooges to vote to give 15 Billion
tax dollars to the airline owners the airlines continued firing their
employees. Northwest Airlines fired. Delta Air Lines announced Wednesday
that it will cut 13,000 jobs - about 15 percent of its total work force.
http://www.sunspot.net/business/bal-delta26.story?coll=bal%2Dbusiness%2Dhead
lines
http://www.sunspot.net/business/la-000076974sep26.story?coll=bal%2Dbusiness%
2Dheadlines
Maine: Commissioners Try Sugar With Night Curfew Breaking Corporate
Polluter: ROCKLAND - Knox County commissioners have sent a conciliatory
letter to MBNA head Charlie Cawley, agreeing to work with the company toward
maintaining a safer, quieter Knox County Regional Airport. Last week's
letter was in contrast to a letter the commissioners wrote weeks ago,
chastising the credit-card lender for failing to heed the county's voluntary
curfew on flights leaving or arriving at the airport in Owls Head after
10:30 p.m. and before 6 a.m.
http://www.bangornews.com/cgi-bin/article.cfm?storynumber=41942
Save Whales from Navy Sonar deployment
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/129527570?sign[partnerID]=1&sign[m
emberID]=311123812&sign[partner_userID]=311123812
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Aviation News Stories
FINAL CALL FOR THE FAA
By STEVE DUNLEAVY New York Post Columnist
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September 26, 2001 SEN. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gave a clarion call
yesterday that will make the unfriendly skies a little more united.
It's about bloody time.
"I think the federal government should take over the security of airports
and airlines from curbside to cockpit," he said in a tone that made
bureaucratic pooh-bahs reach for their hearts.
"It would give uniformity to security, it would be better than the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) and certainly better than the security
provided by airline security."
The FAA, as all of Washington knows, is a feeble club of an "old boys
network" which works hand-in-hand with an airline industry that pays its
executives millions in bonuses - and nothing to incompetent workers - but
demands federal bailouts when the going gets tough.
Let's give the airline industry its bailout - but for the last time - and
with a threat:
The next time you give your execs a bonus, the next time you farm out
security to private firms who know how to bid low but don't know their ass
from their elbow, you will be fined, or better, convicted.
I don't carry a penknife, but I can't tell you how many times I have
staggered through an airport metal detector wearing a beeper, a cell phone,
cigarettes, keys and coins.
Not a beep.
I was once asked to open my bag to reveal a hair dryer while going to cover
the Unabomber.
"What is that?" said the person. I thought she would immediately know what a
hair dryer was. I explained. She didn't understand until I demonstrated how
a hair dryer is used.
Moron.
But try going through the detectors of the Federal Courts or the Criminal
Courts in New York just thinking about metal.
Beep, beep, beep.
After Pan Am Fight 103 was blown out of the air over Lockerbie, Scotland, in
1988, it was learned that Semtex - plastic explosives - was used as the
killer.
Eight years later I found that two companies in Massachusetts built machines
that would detect Semtex, where metal detectors could not.
The FAA demanded that major European airports have this device before a
clean bill of health was given so American carriers were allowed to land.
Pretty reasonable.
Only thing was, the FAA did not demand the same for airports in the United
States.
What?
At the time, on July 18, 1996, I tried for five hours to get a response from
the FAA. Zilch. Not a whisper.
On July 25, I tried again for a comment. Again, silence.
Now, Semtex doesn't need a suicide bomber to reach 72 virgins in the
afterlife. It's lethal stuff that can do its job without a hijacker helper.
So yesterday I called the FAA and asked for Laura Brown in public affairs.
In a meeting.
But don't worry, I was told, Paul Takemoto will take care of you.
Voice mail.
But then I got to a very polite Marcia Adams, who assured she could answer
my basic questions.
"Do you have machines in the United States that can detect Semtex?" she was
asked.
"I can't answer that question. I don't know."
Does the FAA blindfold their staff and give them seeing-eye dogs?
Get rid of the bloated agency and put gunmen on the planes with low-velocity
guns and Taser guns that can bring down a bull.
I am getting angry, in case you didn't know. My father hated fascism,
communism, but, worst of all, bureaucracy-ism.
And I can't stop thinking of my mates in uniform who are dead at the World
Trade Center.
SCUTTLE THE SHUTTLE!
For decades the Eastern Board shuttle has been growing, growing; it was
"lucrative" for the airlines which did not pay for noise and air pollution
and the ensuing health costs of the millions of people around its airports.
The industry prevented a vibrant high speed rail system to develop in high
traffic corridors as has been developed in other industrialized nations.
In the post S11 reassessment of aviation, national and international
security there are many reasons for businessmen and members of Congress to
take the ACELA train, particularly for its Washington, D.C.-New York leg.
Scuttling the shuttle would drastically reduce the 1300 flights at congested
LGA and provide another reason to have minimal operations at Reagan
National. Congress has to engage in oversight of the bailout, repeal AIR 21,
and revamp the US aviation industry, based upon the principles of ecological
sustainability, equity and accountability.
Dr. Frans C. Verhagen, President,
SAFE, Inc.(Sane Aviation For Everyone), Queens County, New York
97-37 63rd Road, #15E, Rego Park, NY 11374
voice: 1+(718)275-3932; fax
Bertie the Bunyip
news:trgq9jb...@corp.supernews.com:
> ry?c oll=chi%2Dnewslocalmchenry%2Dhed
>
> Flight Attendants Want Stun Guns: As the climate in airplane cabins and
> cockpits has shifted to fear in recent weeks, flight attendants are
> pushing for federal permission to arm themselves with stun guns should
> they encounter hijackers. http://www.newsday.com/ny-usstun28.story
>
> Terrorists Tried To BUY A Boeing 727!!! N.Y. Post: September 26, 2001
> Osama bin Laden's henchmen tried to buy a multi-million dollar Boeing
> 727 six months before they hijacked commercial planes and slammed them
> into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, The Post has learned." Someone
> connected to Osama bin Laden was looking to buy a retired aircraft
> sometime in March," a federal investigator close to the terrorism probe
> told The Post. "He was also trying to recruit Americans to buy it for
> him, to act as a front. http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/4977.htm
>
>
>
> Northwest Airlines Refuses Severance Pay To laid-off Employees: Only
> days after the airlines got their political stooges to vote to give 15
> Billion tax dollars to the airline owners the airlines continued firing
> their employees. Northwest Airlines fired. Delta Air Lines announced
> Wednesday that it will cut 13,000 jobs - about 15 percent of its total
> work force.
> http://www.sunspot.net/business/bal-delta26.story?coll=bal%2Dbusiness%2D
> head lines
> http://www.sunspot.net/business/la-000076974sep26.story?coll=bal%2Dbusin
> ess% 2Dheadlines
Jesus,. your psychiatric bills alone will run into millions Billy
Bertie