As usual, no answer to the question. Just pop psychology. Better run, dojet, Dr. Phil will be on soon.

 

He went AWOL? Please, lay off the Kool-Aid - or not. You're kind of entertaining the way you are.

 

People didn't die when we bombed Kosovo? Wow.

 

Osama bin Laden has commented directly on the US cutting and running from Somalia. Since you were deployed there, you should remember one of our nation's finest being dragged dead through the street, and the surrender that happened soon after.

A complete disgrace- and one that emboldened kook savages in that part of the world.

 

I know what understandings they have publicly said they had, and they have always claimed to be a normal married and celibate couple. So we'd only be judging them by the standards that they've publicly said they live by.

Hillary said in her book that she had NO IDEA that Bill was fooling around on her.

Given the trail of accusations and court cases that he left behind him (Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones etc), Hillary is either lieing or an idiot.

We're back to,"I smoked a joint, but I didn't inhale; I had a girlfriend but we didn't have sex; I received a draft notice but I didn't open it; it depends on what your definitions of is is."

 

Yeah, your post and the downpour that we're having tonight in SFO reminded me of a memory. A few years back, I was at the gym in the conservative California Central Valley town that my husband practiced medicine in. There was a married female trainer there who was very friendly, always striking up a conversation with me about how fit I was (that was then, it ain't so now). Anyway, she aspired to be a pillar of the community and was always inviting me to bible studies in her home. I politely declined, as I'm not the bible study sort, but thanked her for the invitation. One day, we were having a downpour, like we are now, and I made a mad dash to my car after my workout. My little key lock button thingie got all wet and wouldn't work, so I was standing there in the pouring rain, unable to get in my car for a few seconds, and noticed the tail lights lit up on the car next to me. I thought to myself, "Oh someone left their lights on" So I tried to peer through the steamed up windows to see if the door was unlocked so I could turn off their lights. It turned out that the lights were on because someone's foot was pressing on the brake lights during a moment of passion...There was "Miss Married Bible Study" and "Mr Single Young Gym Stud" going at it in the steamed up car during the downpour...I laughed and got in my car - she was a patient of my husbands. A fine Christian indeed!

 

I realize it's a long shot, but is there any chance that we could focus, at least in this thread, on the SAFE Ports Act, and the part, if any, that ALPA-PAC played in changing the language? There's lots of room in other threads (and you can even start new ones) to bash the other party or the other elected official or the other whatever.

ToiletDuck . . . good questions, but let's get back to the original post first.



We're talking about ALPA-PAC here, not ALPA. It's an important distinction, and that was overlooked in titling this thread. ALPA-PAC is NOT funded by dues, but rather by voluntary contributions aside from dues.

OK, how about that bill?

I've done a little digging, and I think this is the one:

"Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006" or the "SAFE Port Act"

There are 6 versions of this bill:

Introduced in the House, it had this language:
SAFE Port Act (Introduced in House) HR 4954 . IH
Now, that doesn't mean much unless we know what Section 70101(6) of title 46, United States Code has to say about the matter, does it?

So, we look there and find:
Title 46 US Code Section 70101(6)
Now, I'm not a lawyer or a legal expert, but I read that to mean that a "transportation security incident" is a security incident . . . emphasis on security . . . incident. How someone could construe a legal withdrawal of services to be a security incident, I don't know. But, apparently someone did, because they attempted to introduce language to make sure there was no confusion.

Mind you, this is all about ports and maritime law and ships and . . . well, I'm not sure where they made the connection to airplane pilots, either, but . . . well, anyway, I digress.

The next version of the SAFE Port Act (by the way, does this use of SAFE ring a bell to anyone else? It's not really "safe," it's just an acronym for something else, but they don't seem to mind the fact that it's at least subliminally misleading?) . . . oh, back to the subject . . . next version is the one that was reported in house:
SAFE Port Act (Reported in House) HR 4954 . RH
Now, that means, they want that definition up there to look like this:
Frankly, I think the additional language is unecessary, but, like I said -- I ain't no lawyer.

Anyway, then there's the version that passed the House:

SAFE Port Act (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed in House)HR 4954 . EH

It's got the same language as the previous version. So, it goes like that to the Senate, and they place it on the calendar:

SAFE Port Act (Placed on Calendar in Senate)HR 4954 . PCS
As you might expect, the "revised" definition of Transportation Security Incident remained intact.


Well, the Senate had their hack at it, and wouldn't you know, the definition of Transportation Security Incident was changed back to exactly the same language as the version introduced in the House, specifically, the definition already found in Title 46 Section 70101(6):
Port Security Improvement Act of 2006(Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate) HR 4954 . EAS


Done deal, right? Well, no, because now they have to come up with a way to resolve the differences between the House Version and the Senate Version... so, we get this version to send to the President:

SAFE Port Act (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate) HR 4954 . ENR

The definition of Transportation Security Incident remained the same.

(I apologize in advance if the above links do not work -- they seem to be finicky, and are perhaps time-sensitive.)


Now, I may be missing something obvious, but I'm not seeing a huge deal. Anyway, there's the mention in the original post of a change being made prior to a break. The last break on the calendar was August 7 - September 4. Without going back through e-mails I've received from ALPA, I can't recall a specific mention of this bill. That's not to say it's not there, but I also looked through the ALPA website and couldn't find a mention of it.

It would take even more hours to go back through the Congressional Record to track who introduced what Amendments, who co-sponsored them, and who voted for them, but I think I can say without hesitation that the activity was done by Congressmen, not the Administration. Perhaps the Administration had an opinion and even influence, but it wasn't the "evil President" inserting language changes to the bill.


About all I can say for certain at this point is I'm sure glad there are folks that do this stuff, because it makes a regular guy's (my head) head spin. I mean, I'm glad there are experts in this field looking out for the best interests of pilots. They keep track of what's going on in Congress, and how it affects our profession, and they speak up on our behalf. We NEED that.



So, what say you? Is it good to have a voice in Washington, D.C.?





.

 

Yes, I remember that event vividly. How does that event support the claim that Clinton lied to the American people about why were there? I served there twice, and I never felt lied to about why we were there, and what our mission was (by either President).

Are you kidding me? Clinton pulling American troops out of Somalia was the smartest thing he could have ever done. There was nothing to win in Somalia, and no way to win it. What possibly could have been accomplished by keeping American troops there? Let's see...we're in a country ravaged by civil war, ruled by a bunch of clans all fighting each other for their own little piece of the city, and we're going to introduce these folks to good old American democracy? You know what that's called? It's called flawed foreign policy. The Democrats are just as bad as the Republicans when it comes to flawed foreign policy. Answer me this: were all the American lives lost there worth what we accomplished?

Fast forward to December 2006.....what kind of government rules in Somalia today? Answer: Depends on the street you're walking. Thank God we got the hell out of that place.

 

All this can make one's head spin. Since I just got my new laptop for XMAS I think I'll start writing short stories on the side to make some extra scratch. All short stories will be under the main theme of " SHE GENTLY CARRESSED ".

It was a dark and stormy night as Air Force One sat perched on the ramp. Laura and "W" were already onboard in in the rear state room where both were getting some much needed rest after their conferance with Putin and his wife. Laura gently carressed "W"'s chest. Meanwhile the marine sentry sharply saluted former President Clinton and Hillary as they both entered the plane as invited guest. Within minutes Hillary had gently carressed Bill's **** while he laid in Air Force Ones' main office. Both presidents knew that it would only be minutes before they got together over drinks to discusse the next strategy of the war in Iraq............

Only the first draft so don't rip me for spelling. Excuse me as I have to go to the bathroom. I think I just shartted.............................

 

Why don't you let us decide who is an insult in our (military) profession. And the Air Force didn't land F101's on carriers. Never miss the opportunity to keep your mouth shut.