Remember those naughty nasty big ole commercial airplanes? You know, like the ones that were flown into the World Trade Center? As distinctly different from the little tiny General Aviation aircraft that can't carry enough to be a real danger, but Congress is more afraid of than the actual things used as weapons? Yeah, those. Well, take heart. You'll be able to pee before landing and after take off again.

30-Minute Airport Rule to Be Lifted: "U.S. authorities will suspend a rule that has kept airline passengers in their seats for 30 minutes while approaching or taking off from Reagan National Airport, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced yesterday as he unveiled a broad reorganization of his fledgling department.
"

(Via Washington Post: Intelligence.)

Posted by mikki at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These people CAN'T be a flaming stupid as they seem, can they? Well, after all, they ARE Congress. Go figure. People who know NOTHING about General Aviation, who have already allowed the Shrub Administration to pretty much destroy all aviation related business within 30 miles of DC, are now going to help drive out the few pilots left who actually have the nerve to fly anywhere near DC in order to get anywhere ELSE in the country.

As if threatening us with being shot down and killed is not enough, now let's hit them in their wallets. Or, maybe shoot them down THEN make their families pay the 100K out of their estates. Yeah, that'll REALLY make people in the DC area feel safer.

Whatever happened to our constitutional "right to travel?" Didn't we used to have one? Don't all of these stupid ass restrictions have to at least pass some semblance of a test to prove that they would actually help fight "terrorism" before wasting taxpayers time and money while our clowns in office make asses out of themselves yet again? Oh well, guess not.

Guess those few Americans (yeah, like citizens...those who are the ones who the whack jobs in government are supposed to be protecting) who are still making a living in the general aviation sector better just pack it in and go work for one of those Dell customer service lines. Ooops, but that would mean a move to India.

Bill Targets Errant Pilots: "Pilots who violate restricted airspace over Washington would be liable for civil fines of up to $100,000 under legislation that is to be introduced today by Republican and Democratic House leaders. Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said he and Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) want to toughen penalties for pilots who breach a 16-mile 'no-fly zone' around the capital. Their bill would also fine pilots as much as $5,000 if they ignore flight rules in a wider Air Defense Identification Zone that extends up to 50 miles from the capital."

(Via .)

Posted by mikki at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is so terribly sad. I got to meet "Scotty" in Boston at a Star Trek Convention (yes, the Psycho Sensei actually attended Star Trek Conventions) in the early 80s and got to speak to him. By coincidence, I was just asking my husband whether Jimmy Doohan had passed yet, when we saw him in the really awful movie "Trekkies." He had mentioned then that he received a suicide letter from a fan, and he had told her that he was going to be at a convention near her home, and therefore, she was required to attend, that he wanted to see her. He then told her she had to see him at the next convention two weeks later in another town. This went on for a few more conventions, and her depression eventually lifted, and he received a letter from her later, thanking him for saving her life. An interesting man, even when he wasn't ranting about Bill Shatner's ego :-)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died early Wednesday. He was 85.

Doohan died at 5:30 a.m. (1330 GMT) at his Redmond, Washington, home with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side, Los Angeles agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens said. The cause of death was pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease, he said.

The Canadian-born Doohan fought in World War II and was wounded during the D-Day invasion, according to the StarTrek.com Web site. He was enjoying a busy career as a character actor when he auditioned for a role as an engineer in a new space adventure on NBC in 1966. A master of dialects from his early years in radio, he tried seven different accents.

Posted by mikki at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a surprise, eh? Well, this one is utterly dangerous in that it would rewrite history. The "Wayback" service, which makes available websites and information that WAS PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE on the web. Certain groups who wish information could be controlled by them in order to more easily sell their products and services, wish to change history, thus limiting our access to information.

Many intellectual property advocates forget the fact that all of intellectual property law is carved out of and should be subordinate TO individual rights as enumerated in the Constitution. Intellectual property laws were created for the benefit of consumers not for the benefit of creators or sellers of products or services. Limiting access to information, especially historical information, cannot possibly benefit consumers.

Wayback in Trouble? (Tom Mighell): "

I'm a bit behind in discussing this (and Copyfight has already mentioned the issue here and here), but it appears the Internet Archive has been sued for making archived web site pages available after the plaintiff had attempted to block them from being displayed.

I'm no copyright lawyer, and there's a terrific discussion of the legal issues at the Patry Copyright Blog, but this whole thing seems pretty flimsy to me. Any thoughts from the more IP-enlightened here?

(Via Between Lawyers.)

Posted by mikki at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is amazing that the City of London, at 12 noon their time, came to a complete halt and stood as one, in silence, in tribute to the 50+ people who were killed. Many in Europe stood with them. Thousands stand in line to sign the book of condolences. In 25 countries, citizens stood in defiance to terrorism. The resolve is close to universal.

So what went wrong? One of the bombers was married with a child, and worked as a teacher's aide in elementary school. All were British. Why? To me it just goes to show that religious extremism in ANY form is dangerous. It has been used to induce suicides, murders, rapes, assaults, and more. It is frightening to watch those who are obviously under the influence of extremists. They act and speak as one, with no individuality, no independent thought, and are willing to lay down their lives at a moment's notice. This phenomenon is not limited to Islamic extremists, either. We've seen it in extremists of all flavors

And why the difference in reactions? In London, the emphasis was on defiance, and getting back to normal life as soon as possible. In New York, it was how we could "get them back" and a scramble for immediate draconian legislation that would curtail our freedoms.

Although I am certain that Parliament will likely be plagued with those who will try to limit British civil liberties in a failed attempt to exchange freedom for security (which gives you neither, of course), I have a feeling that the Brits will be a bit smarter than we were about this. Perhaps it is because of their history with IRA terrorism, or perhaps it is because their politicians are not as concerned with control as ours are. For whatever reason, it will be something to watch.

Posted by mikki at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is just something totally perverse about this....

ABC 7 News - Eating Disorder Expert Collapses at Market: "WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - An expert in eating disorders collapsed in a supermarket after inhaling propellant from whipped cream cans, according to police. Lisa G. Berzins, a prominent psychologist who has been on national television and radio shows and in newspaper articles, was arrested on a warrant Friday charging her in the May 29 incident, The Hartford Courant reported.

Berzins, 49, has a practice in West Hartford. She has written and lectured on eating disorders, female development, sex roles and self-esteem, according a speaker's biography from the American Psychological Association."

(Via WJLA.)

Posted by mikki at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Puppies, puppies everywhere. What do you do? They're so cute, and they're getting bigger and bigger, and BIGGER and BIGGER and eating and eating and driving poor mommy insane.

They are doing so well they're keeping us awake at night. Nobody's eyes are open yet. Looks like we have four puffs and 1 hairless. Strange ratio, but what can you do?

They all seem very healthy and very happy. As long as mommy is in the box with them. Once mommy leaves, the fun is over, however, and we have a lot of yelping and whining.

Woof Woof

Posted by mikki at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is it just me, or does anyone else find this encroachment problematic? The Bush Administration is constantly blurring the lines between areas that the Founders deemed inviolate, yet there is very little complaint coming from anywhere audible. All these lovely little power plays, and nary a peep from the populace.

Military Expands Homeland Efforts: "A new Pentagon strategy for securing the U.S. homeland calls for expanded U.S. military activity not only in the air and sea -- where the armed forces have historically guarded approaches to the country -- but also on the ground and in other less traditional, potentially more problematic areas such as intelligence sharing with civilian law enforcement.
"

(Via Washington Post: Intelligence.)

Posted by mikki at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

German plane lands on speeding Porsche - Reuters

Wed Jul 6, 7:51 AM ET

A German pilot and driver escaped unhurt when a one-seater plane landed on top of a speeding car at a little-used airport, police in the western town of Bitburg said on Wednesday.

"It was a miracle that no one was hurt. There was considerable damage done to the plane and the car," said Klaus Schnarrbach, spokesman for the Bitburg police.

The driver was racing at 160 kph (100 mph) with 11 other members of a local Porsche club at the airport, a former U.S. air base, when the single-engine plane accidentally landed on his roof. The shocked driver slammed on the brakes, sending the plane crashing to the ground.

"The airplane managed to stay steady on the roof at first," said Schnarrbach, adding the pilot faced possible charges of negligence. "They probably couldn't have done it that well if they had tried," he said.

Posted by mikki at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There was a groundswell of requests for doggie pictures, bigger, bolder and everything else, so there is a small Psycho Sensei website up with all the boooteful puppies. It is right here.

Thusfar we may only have one hairless. If that is the case, we are going to keep him. But they tell us we can't really be sure for awhile. Time will tell.

Posted by mikki at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After a slight scare, five puppies came into the world late last night and early this morning. The festivities started at 10:00 when Talia started acting really strangely, running in circles, whining, etc. She refused to use the whelping box until it was put on the bed. Somehow, I knew that she would wind up having the pups in our bed :-). First baby was out at about 10:30. Second at 11:33. Then Morgan arrived to help with the rest. Morgan was very helpful, and she really wanted me to say that. Third at 2:52. The length of time was worrying, so I woke up the poor breeder friend who got us our cresteds to ask whether it was ok, he said sure, and he was right. Fourth puppy at 3:55, and 5th followed right after at 4:13 am.

Yep, we thought there were 6. Apparently, reading X rays is not an exact science. So when 8 am rolled around, with no puppy, I called the breeder again and he said this was a big problem, so I should take her in. Off to the clinic we went, Talia and puppies in hand, as it were. Morgan did a wonderful job keeping Talia calm on the way to the vet. The amazing animal birthing expert doctor took a x ray which showed nada was left inside. So they did the normal post birth maintenance stuff, and home we went where we all took a nice long nap.

We're not sure how many of the kids are hairless and which have hair. Three boys, two girls, one definite hairless boy (a baby Calvin). And all should be well :-).

Posted by mikki at 07:37 PM | Permalink