Scott;
You are spot on, and reading the SID, verifying modes, MCP, and altitude was not only L-UAL's way, but it is industry standard. Boeing has it in their procedures I believe, and Airbus published procedures call it a "Mini-brief".

I can't believe it went away in the first place.

The other thing I can't believe is these "safety events" haven't been disseminated to the pilot group. Have we gone backwards in aviation and safety culture and now try to hide our mistakes?

What are we becoming? Maybe we should be in the press.........