FAA revises FAR Part 91

The FAA has recently made major changes to the Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91. Here’s the story.

Things just got a little more complicated for those carriers operating under FAR Part 91. Previously those operating under Part 91 could breeze by with little or no contact with the Federal Aviation Administration. This has since changed. Previously Part 91 stated any commercial carrier transporting persons less that 25 miles from their departure location and returning to the location they departed from could operate under Part 91. Part 91 of course required the aircraft to have a valid 100-hour / annual inspection and an appropriately certified pilot. Anyone operating under Part 91 need not have any special permission from the FAA. Pretty simple. Not anymore. The FAA has revised Part 91 adding a lot of red tape. Part 91 now requires any carrier operating under Part 91 to receive a Letter of Authorization from the nearest FAA Flight Standards District Office. To obtain this Letter of Approval a carrier must submit proof of 100-hour / annual inspection, personal information and license numbers for any mechanics working on the aircraft, personal information and license numbers for any pilots of the aircraft, and a clean drug screen for all pilots. Now these requirements were already present in Part 135 but this is a big change for the little guys operating under Part 91. The Federal Aviation Regulations apply to all aircraft, fixed wing and rotor.

Kind of interesting that the FAA is cracking down on the little guys. It makes me wonder what happened to trigger such a revision. I can’t say as I necessarily disagree with any of the requirements. I have thought a drug screen should have been required since the inception of Part 91. This should make us feel better when flying on our little sight seeing tours when you can’t help but wonder how well the aircraft has been maintained. Now the FAA will be monitoring it. More than anything this will just be more of a hassle. It took the owner / operator in the article three months to receive his Letter of Approval.

Overall I think this is a good change and will increase safety among the aviation industry.

War on terror still not getting the support it requires

The request for troops sent by General McChrystal to President Obama over a month ago still has not been answered. Here’s the story.

General McChrystal, the top U.S. officer in Kabul, made an official request for additional troops over a month ago now. General McChrystal gave multiple options. One of those requests called for 60,000 additional troops and a more popular request called for approximately 40,000 more troops to be sent oversees to assist in the war against terror. I have no details on the third scenario. The story reads that these requests are finally being deliberated on today. This is reportedly the fifth meeting of the war council. There is reportedly unease about such a significant escalation. General McChrystal has reported that the U.S. faces possible “mission failure” in Afghanistan unless the U.S. quickly sends large numbers of forces there. The Obama administration has yet to take any action.

Now I know it has been over a month since this request was sent, I’m thinking in the neighborhood of five to six weeks. The last number I saw said that over 50 soldiers have been killed since the request was sent. How many more soldiers will die while the powers that be sit on their hands and talk about it. A week is bad enough but over a month now. And why have we not gotten around to making a decision yet? Well we have been busy with stuff like running off to Denmark to lose the Olympics to Rio. What is more important to you? Soldier’s lives or the Olympics in the President’s home town? The behavior and lack of responsibility shown by the administration in this decision is completely unacceptable. The fact that they have had five meetings and still haven’t made a decision proves that apparently they didn’t have any idea what was going on in Afghanistan. I don’t feel someone who was properly informed and up to speed would be so surprised by a request for additional troops or take five meetings to catch up on what was going on. Make a decision. Support the war against terror or pull out. Do not leave our soldiers unequipped to do the job putting their lives in danger. If you want to pull out then do it. I do not agree but that is an entirely different story about how the world super power is giving up and will become a nice spineless target for everyone with a grudge.

Its already been too long and more than 50 soldiers have died that possibly wouldn’t have died with appropriate resources. Whatever the decision, a decision needs to be made.

Yet another stimulus package is in the works

It looks like we’re going to be giving away more money. Here’s the full story.

FoxNews is reporting that the federal government is preparing a new stimulus package, though they are not calling it a stimulus package. Democrats have a long list of relief efforts they will be attempting to enact. Democrats are leaving how to pay for these relief efforts until later if even at all. The proposed assistance includes extending and expanding the first time home buyers tax credit. The credit would now extend into next year and encompass more that just first time home purchases. Another option is to create a tax credit for companies that add jobs. The proposal would allow a $4,000.00 tax credit for every job added by a company. This proposal was also mentioned when the first stimulus bill was planned in February however it was abandoned due to not being detailed. This has the makings of another economic stimulus package however democrats are not calling it that due to the negative results of the first stimulus package. The house has already voted to extend unemployment benefits for 13 additional weeks in the 27 states where the unemployment rate is in excess of 8.5%. Democrats later revised this to include all states and would extend benefits for 14 weeks. Another proposal would extend the benefits to workers who have been laid-off to help those individuals keep their health insurance. Several proposals have included an additional payment to over 50 million social security recipients to compensate for the lack of a cost of living increase this year. These payments would cost approximately $14 billiion and would be paid for by applying the social security payroll tax to income beyond the first $106,800.00 of a workers income. Social security payroll tax would now be withheld on incomes between $250,000.00 up to $359,000.00.

Have we not seen already that printing money to hand to people and multiplying the national debt is not fixing the problem. People are not spending money. They are afraid to and I can’t say as I expect them. I have just a little faith in our economy and our leaders as the next guy. And do I really want everyone going out and buying new homes in these economic times. Isn’t the irresponsible lending of money most of what got us into this mess to begin with? I don’t want people doing anything to decrease their financial security at present. I would not have a problem with a tax credit for companies that add jobs though I think it would be hard to manage. There would have to be verbiage as to if this was only to new jobs or any job that was previously vacant and refilled such as positions that had been laid-off. I would also want to see stipulations that companies would have to maintain these added positions for so many years so they just don’t terminate the position after they get their tax credit for it. I can’t say as I’m in favor of extending the unemployment benefits. I personally know multiple business owners that have positions open and receive multiple calls inquiring about jobs each week. The kicker is that the people calling hang up when they learn that they have jobs open. These people are just looking for employers that are not hiring to sign off on their unemployment paperwork so they can continue to live off my tax dollars. Now I am certain that not everyone that is unemployed is a mooch and some are probably truly looking for employment. We had too many people living off the system before this depression and now it is even worse. Oh! I said depression. Yes, we are in a depression. And no, there is no big recovery. The government would call this a “jobless recovery”. I’ve never heard something so stupid. Jobless recovery is an oxymoron. When the economy recovers there will be need for jobs. Its that simple.

I could continue to rant from atop my soap box but I don’t think it would do any good presently. This article does have more information if you would like to read it. It includes an interview with Nancy Pelosi. I didn’t comment on that because it would have all been negative as I can’t stand her. The very type of irresponsible spending that the government is displaying is what got us into this mess to begin with. And instead of training the population to be more frugal we are enacting tax cuts to get people to spend money that they don’t have.

AT&T attacks google for having a good idea

Being the nerd I am I keep an eye on the tech news and this one caught my eye. Not specifically about technology only so I hope it won't bore you too much. Here is the story.

AT&T is going after Google for their Google Voice service claiming that it violates Federal Communications Commission Rules and Regulations. The reason for this being that Google Voice does not allow calls to certain regions or numbers with high access or connection fees. AT&T says that under federal telecommunications laws other carriers do not have that option and are required to give access to all numbers. And now to the meet at potatos of AT&T's complaint: "By blocking these calls, Google is able to reduce its access expenses," AT&T said in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission. This isn't the first effort AT&T has taken to block Google. The Google Voice application was blocked by the Apple iStore due to this service competing with the sole carrier of the iPhone, AT&T.

I think this is another example of someone coming up with a good idea and the company that is getting hurt because they didn't think of it is going to cry about it. Is there something wrong with capitalism all of the sudden? I personally feel that Google Voice is not subject to the standing Federal Communications Commission Rules and Regulations. Google Voice is an application that can be downloaded voluntarily and Google Voice is a free service. If you call AT&T you are charged dearly for it. They are making money to compensate for the high access fees to certain numbers. Google had a good idea and they should benefit from it - though they really aren't because they are not making money from it. If AT&T doesn't like it they should work and create a better product rather than making these borderline accusations trying to get the smart guy in trouble.

I will be curious to see how the FCC responds. With the favoritism of a socialist economy I won't be surprised at either decision.