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The Best Tea Partier
Corporate Money Could BuyPam Martens on the rise of the Tea Party’s Rand Paul. What was wrong with Prop 19? Fred Gardner on California’s failed bid to legalize pot. John Sugg on the rise and fall of Steve Emerson, “terror expert.” Daniel Wolff on the framing of Ernest Withers” – was he an FBI informant? Subscribe now! If you find our site useful please: Click here to make a donation. CounterPunch books and t-shirts make great presents. Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year!
Today's Stories November 29, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts November 26 - 28, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler Ramzy Baroud Harry Browne Bill Quigley / Saul Landau Brian Cloughley Fidel Castro Francis Shor Steve Heilig Terrence Paupp Brenda Norrell Missy Beattie Linh Dinh Christopher Brauchli Eric Walberg Ellen Taylor Ron Jacobs Bill Manson Harvey Wasserman Walter Brasch Michael Dickinson Ingmar Lee Gwyneth Leech David Ker Thomson Charles R. Larson Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend November 25, 2010 Michael Hudson Mike Whitney Gareth Porter Sarah Anderson Karl Grossman David Ker Thomson Rajesh Makwana / Adam Parsons Charles R. Larson Website of the Day
November 24, 2010 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts James Ridgeway Invasion of the Body Scanners: Is TSA Spreading Cancer? Michael Scott Nick Dearden Russell Mokhiber Daniel Moss Farzana Versey Yasin Gaber Dan Beaton Website of the Day November 23, 2010 Pam Martens Patrick Cockburn Ben Rosenfeld / Franklin C. Spinney Dean Baker Ralph Nader Ray McGovern George Wuerthner Don Monkerud Clare Bayard Website of the Day
November 22, 2010 Michael Hudson James Abourezk Paul Craig Roberts Sasan Fayazmanesh Richard Forno Gary Leupp Martha Rosenberg Lawrence Davidson Patrick Bond Michael Dickinson Website of the Day November 19 - 21, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Mike Whitney Joanne Mariner Gareth Porter Karen Greenberg Thomas Christie, Pierre Sprey, Franklin Spinney et al. Rannie Amiri Dr. Jim Morgan Haiti's New Normal: Dispatch from Cite Soleil Lawrence Swaim Ramzy Baroud Ron Jacobs Robert Alvarez Russell Mokhiber P. Sainath David Macaray Carl Finamore Brian Tierney Franklin Lamb Gerald E. Scorse Joshua Brollier Missy Beattie Stewart J. Lawrence Brenda Norrell Christopher Brauchli Carol Polsgrove David Ker Thomson Dave Lindorff Jeff Deasy Bill Manson Clifton Ross Charles R. Larson Twain: the Last Word, One Hundred Years Later Richard Estes David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend November 18, 2010 Diana Johnstone Mike Whitney Behzad Yaghmaian Kenneth E. Hartman Norman Solomon Michael Winship Patrick Bond Joel S. Hirschhorn Website of the Day November 17, 2010 Vicente Navarro James Bovard Jonathan Cook Dean Baker Ralph Nader Nick Turse Sherry Wolf Alienation 101: the Online Learning Rip Off Judith Scherr Peter Certo Website of the Day
November 16, 2010 Pam Martens Richard Forno Gareth Porter Harry Browne Peter Lee Alan Farago Franklin Lamb Frank Green Sheldon Richman Thomas H. Naylor Website of the Day November 15, 2010 Michael Hudson Steve Hendricks Paul Craig Roberts Harvey Wasserman Lawrence Davidson Clancy Sigal David Macaray Tom Engelhardt Steven Fake Website of the Day November 12 - 14, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Dean Baker Gareth Porter William E. Alberts Bill Hatch Jonathan Cook Patrick Madden Mystifying the Crisis: Deadlock at the G20 Ramzy Baroud Rannie Amiri James Zogby Ron Jacobs Mark Weisbrot Tanya Golash-Boza Paul Wright Steve Early Martha Rosenberg Celia McAteer Larry Portis Michael Winship Brian McKenna Gerald E. Scorse Christopher Brauchli Roberto Rodriguez Dr. Susan Block J. T. Cassidy Linh Dinh Farzana Versey David Ker Thomson Phil Rockstroh Charles R. Larson David Swanson Saul Landau Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Day
November 11, 2010 Peter Linebaugh Paul Craig Roberts Licensed to Kill Bill Quigley David Macaray Dissing the Boss: the NLRB Files a Landmark Complaint on Free Expression in the Workplace Liaquat Ali Khan / Jasmine Abou-Kassem Dedrick Muhammad Robert Bryce Alan Farago Website of the Day November 10, 2010 Allan Nairn Dean Baker Nicola Nasser Missy Beattie Sergio Ferrari Patrick Cockburn Dave Lindorff Mumia: New Lawyer, New Round Sherwood Ross Joshua Frank Website of the Day November 9, 2010 Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Jordan Flaherty Afshin Rattansi Annie Gell Dean Baker Dave Lindorff Stewart J. Lawrence Walter Brasch Website of the Day November 8, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts Thomas Healy David Swanson David Smith-Ferri Ralph Nader Ray McGovern Torture Sans Regrets: Bush's Confessions John Feffer Christopher Ketcham Website of the Day November 5 - 7, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Vijay Prashad Patrick Cockburn Darwin Bond-Graham
Mike Whitney Linn Washington, Jr. Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud Larry Portis Gary Leupp William Loren Katz Brian Cloughley Mark Weisbrot Rubén M. Lo Vuolo, Daniel Raventós / Pablo Yanes Joseph Nevins Neve Gordon Alan Farago Stewart J. Lawrence James R. King Ron Jacobs Franklin Lamb James McEnteer Richard Phelps Saul Landau David Ker Thomson The Long Argument Evelyn Pringle Joseph G. Ramsey Until Pigs Fly: the Morning After With Michael Moore Stanley Heller Missy Beattie Harvey Wasserman Billy Wharton Shamus Cooke Linh Dinh Windy Cooler Charles R. Larson Phyllis Pollack David Yearsley Website of the Weekend November 4, 2010 Doug Peacock Andrew Cockburn Iain Boal Paul Craig Roberts Chase Madar Dave Lindorff Russell Mokhiber Laura Flanders Website of the Day November 3, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Franklin C. Spinney Chris Floyd Dissatisfied Mind: Flickers of Hope in a Deadly Political Cycle William Blum Sheldon Richman Stephen Soldz Mark Weisbrot Stewart J. Lawrence Manuel Garcia, Jr. Election Night in Oakland Norman Solomon Website of the Day November 2, 2010 Vincent Navarro Ishmael Reed Uri Avnery Mark Driscoll Mike Whitney Linh Dinh David Macaray Randall Amster Wikilessons: War is a Joke, But It Isn't Funny Betsy Ross Yves Engler Website of the Day
November 1, 2010 Ted Honderich Steven Higgs John Ross Dean Baker Ralph Nader Justin E. H. Smith Marjorie Cohn Scott Boehm Brian Tierney Trish Kahle Martha Rosenberg Bathrobe Erectus: Feting Hugh Hefner Website of the Day
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November 29, 2010 Undertrained, Underpaid, UndersleptPilot Protests Underscore Passenger SafetyBy CARL FINAMORE The union also scheduled a picket for December 1 at the Chicago O’Hare hub of the world’s largest airline combine, newly-merged United Airlines (UAL) and Continental Airlines (CA). Pilots strongly object to both airlines expanding their fleet of smaller aircraft, commonly referred as regional jets. These jets are generally flown by lower-paid and less-experienced pilots. For example, regional captains generally earn less than a third of their counterparts working on major carriers while it is not uncommon for regional airline co-pilots to earn as little as $25,000 a year or less. But, while there is an obvious financial incentive for major airlines expanding use of regional aircraft, it would be a big mistake to mischaracterize and minimize pilot concerns as being only about money. Passengers have a real stake in understanding an underlying fundamental issue in the dispute which is concerns the fact that regional airlines have a far worse safety record when compared with the larger airlines which contract them. Since 2003, six of nine fatal crashes on U.S. passenger airlines occurred on these smaller carriers, resulting in 154 people killed compared to three deaths on major airlines in the same period. And, in four of these six regional jet accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that pilot error was the cause. In recognition of this abysmal record, NTSB recommendations for airlines in 2010 included, for the first time in their history, a new category to "Improve Oversight of Pilot Proficiency." The most notable recent incident involving pilot error was Colgan Air flight 3407, a regional code-share marketed with Continental colors that left Newark Liberty airport in February 2009. Its engines stalled just short of its Buffalo destination, killing all aboard and two on the ground. A total of 50 perished. "It could have been prevented," lamented U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. NTSB investigators who probed the crash cited pilot fatigue, ineptitude and inexperience as the cause. The tragic circumstances of Flight 3407 focused much-needed national attention on the disturbing safety record of the smaller aircraft and as a result of the ensuing public outrage, Congress passed long-overdue requirements raising the minimum flight experience for newly-hired regional airline pilots to1,500 hours from the previous incredibly low threshold of 250 hours flying time. But other serious safety considerations remain. On September 10, the Washington Post noted that “this is not the first time safety concerns have been raised about the profusion of regional aircraft. Their pilots often hopscotch from a major hub airport to several "spoke" airports, sometimes making for longer and more fatiguing days. They don't always have the luxury of van service to a hotel or make enough money to pay for a shared crash pad.” The Colgan co-pilot killed in the accident, for example, made less than $16,000 the year before the fatal crash and "neither [pilot] had slept in a bed the night before," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), whose Senate subcommittee on aviation held a hearing on the Colgan crash. Dorgan continued to say that “half of the flights in America now are commuter flights and they often end up somewhere late at night after many, many stops. In almost every crash we've looked into, fatigue and lack of rest have been a factor.” Does Cutting Costs Cut into Safety? Despite this very disturbing record, credible experts continue to testify that, statistically speaking, flying remains by far the safest mode of transportation. Aeronautical engineering continues to make magnificent progress and in recent years has particularly improved designs of the smaller aircraft in question. Accidents, therefore, are still few and far between with fatalities, thankfully, so few that it is difficult for experts to even establish clear patterns. Nonetheless, it would be foolish to ignore certain indicators. A few decades ago, airlines came up with the term “commuters” to describe these smaller aircraft. As the name would indicate, most routes were limited to local destinations within a 250-mile radius of big urban areas. Now, these small jets fly much longer and farther, up to around 650 miles from major metropolitan centers. Their current commonly-used generic name, regional jets, reflects their new expanded role. But, as we have seen, the new name has not eliminated the old problem of a less than stellar safety record. This has not, however, slowed down the major carriers. UAL has already laid off 1400 mainline pilots of its larger, most reliable jets in the last year even now as it prepares to further expand use of regional jets staffed with less-experienced flight crews, the subject of the recent pilot protests. Mary Shiavo, former Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT) under the Clinton administration, veteran critic of both the carriers and the FAA and someone who also has experience as a pilot, recently said in an interview that “when the FAA was paying attention… there were a few years when the regional safety record beat the majors. But that's gone. And now the last five years were pretty abysmal….The pilots [of the regionals]….have worse pay scales. They have worse rest periods. They have by far, less training.” Who do you trust? Earlier this year, 19 months after the Colgan fatalities, the FAA proposed strict new regulations addressing factors contributing to several of the regional accidents. “There's a lot to like in the FAA's proposed pilot fatigue regulations, namely an extension of pilot rest time….” writes travel reporter Carl Unger. However, the airline industry trade group, the Air Transport Association (ATA), opposes the new rules. In a statement, ATA President James C. May said, "We are very concerned that significant aspects of the proposed rule are not science-based." This is the same group that consistently derides criticism of major airlines cutting back on their more experienced airline crews and dismisses objections to reducing their more reliable fleet of larger aircraft. As reporter Unger describes it, “while the ATA says it is concerned about the effectiveness of the proposed rules, ultimately, it's about money.” So, how can the average person sort all this out when looking at the complexity and seriousness of the issues? I would suggest it probably is best to value more the views of flight crews who share a common investment and interest in safety with passengers, their flying companions at 35,000 ft., than industry titans sitting comfortably in plush offices who only share a common investment and interest in the bottom line. Carl Finamore is former President (ret), Air Transport Employees, Local Lodge 1781, IAMAW and is currently is a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO. He can be reached at local1781@yahoo.com and his writings viewed on Facebook.
CounterPunch Print Edition Exclusive! The Best Tea Partier Corporate Money Could Buy Pam Martens on the rise of the Tea Party’s Rand Paul. What was wrong with Prop 19? Fred Gardner on California’s failed bid to legalize pot. John Sugg on the rise and fall of Steve Emerson, “terror expert.” Daniel Wolff on the framing of Ernest Withers” – was he an FBI informant? Subscribe now! If you find our site useful please: Click here to make a donation. CounterPunch books and t-shirts make great presents. Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year!
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