U.S. military officials announced that on Sunday, one U.S. soldier was killed and four were wounded when their patrol was attacked near Samarra; gunmen near the western entrance of Baghdad shot down an American AH-64 Apache helicopter, killing its two crewmen and three U.S. Marines were killed in fighting in western Iraq.

For those of you into the M733 look, G&P has released a front end set.  WGC is selling it for $92.  Although it's pictured with the hand guards, flash hider and front sight I don't think it comes with them.  The ad states "one piece outer barrel and gas tube".

I don't know how many of you are familiar with this group.  I've been subscribing to it for a couple years now.  For those of you who are unaware, airline pilots use to be allowed to carry weapons in the cockpit until congress passed a law some years back prohibiting it.  If they had still been allowed to be armed those hijacked airliners from 9/11 most likely would not have been successfully hijacked and thousands of lives could have been saved.

Please read on:

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Action Alert!  April 6, 2004

 

S. 2268 in the U.S. Senate and companion bill HR. 4126 in the House of Representatives, the Cockpit Security Technical Corrections and Improvements Act of 2004, is pending to fix the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program (FFDO) and train America’s airline pilots to defend their passengers against terrorism, in a fast, efficient, standardized manner.  

 

The TSA has used the discretion Congress gave it in the current law to deliberately sabotage the present FFDO program, disqualifying former police officers, federal agents and military pilots from participating, and operating only a single small training facility.

 

Ten of thousands of pilots have changed their minds about volunteering since TSA unilaterally added its own onerous requirements to Congress’ law.  Thus, almost three years after 9/11, only 300 pilots in our country are armed on any given day to protect against terrorism on the 35,000 daily flights.  

 

Complete information is available at www.secure-skies.org.

 

Get Energized!  This will be a difficult fight, requiring maximum, sustained effort, but we WILL win it – and the reward will be never having to live another 9/11 again, and restoring integrity to airline travel!  Please do ALL of the following, and do it now:

 

***Please voice your strong support for this legislation and forward this Action Alert on to every email address you have!***

 

 

Contact your Senators by fax, email AND phone, to ask them to support S. 2268, and your representatives to support H.R. 4126, the Cockpit Security Technical Corrections and Improvement Act.
 

If the bill’s cosponsors, Senator Bunning (R-KY), Senator Boxer (D-CA), Senator Burns (R-MT) or Congressman Wilson (D-SC) are your state or district representatives, thank them profusely for their strong stand against terrorism.  If they are not your reps, you may FAX or EMAIL, but DO NOT CALL THEM BY PHONE.  We don’t want 40,000 members to tie up their phone lines and upset them!
 

Contact your local media to ask them to cover this issue.  Maintain a consummate professional demeanor during all media contacts.  Refer media to www.secure-skies.org, and remember – everything is on the record!
 

Post a copy of the bill’s highlights, attached, (or, see “Highlights ~â€￾ at http://www.secure-skies.org/Techical.asp) on your online airline message boards and in your crew lounges and workplaces, and wherever your coworkers will see them on the line!  Post this Action Alert and carry copies with you, too!
 

DO NOT contact any Congress that does not directly represent you in your state or district, except to thank the bill’s cosponsors by email or fax.  For example, Congressman Mica’s support is important to the passage of this bill (he’s Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee); however, flooding Congressman Mica with thousands of phone calls, letters and faxes from outside his district would be the surest way to make him resistant to our cause.  We will rely on Congressman Mica’s constituents to contact him.
 

 

Talking Points:

 

ü       S.2268/HR.4126 enforces the original intent of the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act of 2003 and standardizes armed pilot procedures according to accepted law enforcement practices.  It will dramatically improve airline security, while placing no additional burden on airline passengers, and saving hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary expenses.

 

ü       Tens of thousands of pilots currently refuse to volunteer to fly armed due to non-standard rules TSA added to the law, such as onerous and redundant psychological and background screening, locked box firearms carry, poor credentials, high disqualification rates and one remote training facility.  TSA has disqualified hundreds of pilots, former federal agents, police officers and “nuclear-clearedâ€￾ military pilots, among them.

 

ü       Two years after the attacks, in an environment where security is routinely breached, only the smallest fraction of our flights is protected.  At any single moment, there are about 5000 flights in the air.  Only 75 statistically have an armed pilot aboard.

 

ü       When the original law was passed, Congress deliberately removed a restriction that would have armed only 2% of our pilots; yet fewer than 2% have been armed by TSA.

 

ü       The debate about arming pilots is over.  A law passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress now mandates it.  TSA is ignoring the law and the will of the United States Congress!  This legislation requires TSA to act.  

 

ü       Your reelection depends on your support for this bill.  I will not vote for any representative that fails to support S.2268/HR4126.

 

 

Congress has indicated it prefers faxes, then phone calls and emails for contact.  Sending US mail results in long delays to inspect the mail for possible contaminants.  Of course, a personal visit is the very best way to contact your representatives!

 

q     Do not hesitate to contact Congress because you are not able to fax, however.  

q     Do not hesitate to contact Congress multiple times in multiple forms.  You are free to make multiple phone calls on this issue.  Make one contact a day, or one a week!  

q     Relate a different talking point with each phone call!

 

Contact Congress today here or through http://www.secure-skies.org/.

 

 

APSA Needs Your Help!
 

Working with Congress to write and introduce our legislation was incredibly expensive (attorneys, planning meetings, legal research, media coverage, public relations, etc.).  The fight to get it passed will be even more so!  

 

APSA exists at the pleasure of its 40,000 members!   If you want an FFDO program that works; if you want to protect the airline industry; if you want to be part of the solution, instead of letting TSA make you part of the problem; and, if you want to restore integrity to our industry and to your profession; we need your help in contacting your representatives, and we need your help financially.   Join the APSA Captain’s Club - fly a Silent Wings Tribute Flight - provide us the resources we need to carry on the fight for you and your families!  We’ve built the FFDO program, made it law, gotten cargo pilots in – we’ll win this battle too!



 

 

SPECIAL NOTE FOR CONGRESSMAN MICA’S CONSTITUENTS
 

If you reside in Congressman Mica’s Florida district (Daytona, St. Augustine, DeLand, FL areas), we are counting on you!  We have asked members outside his district not to flood his office.  You, as a constituent, however, may contact him at any time, using any method above.  Please contact Congressman Mica and ask him to support this bill.  

 

Point out that solving problems with the TSA “administrativelyâ€￾ did not work when the first arming pilots law was passed – it took legislation forcing them to develop an FFDO program;

 

it did not work to get cargo pilots back into the program, it took legislation passed last December;

 

and it has not worked in almost a year that the FFDO program has been in place to get the roadblocks down.  Quite the contrary, TSA threatened FFDO’s with even talking to Congress about the problems with the program.

 

Tell Congressman Mica it will take legislation once more – this legislation - to solve the problems and make our skies safer.

 

 

 

SPECIAL NOTE FOR ALPA MEMBERS
 

The Air Line Pilots Association is not actively supporting this bill at the present time.  ALPA says,  â€œallowing untested, unscreened, untrained pilots to carry firearms violates responsible security practices.â€￾

 

However, as ALPA knows, this bill does none of the above.  TCA 2004 provides exactly what ALPA advocates in its poster, “Qualified to Fly - Qualified to Defend.â€￾ It allows highly-trained, highly-screened professional pilots to volunteer to see if they can pass federal law enforcement training.  Period.  And, if TSA doesn’t offer them training, it allows them to obtain professional, TSA-approved training themselves, to protect our skies.

 

If you are an ALPA member, we are counting on you!  Spread the word and tell your leadership to start trusting its members, and restore integrity to the profession and the dignity of the image of the airline pilot, by supporting pilots being part of the solution.  Tell them to get out in front and strongly support this legislation!  

 

 

Contact:

 

David Mackett

President, Airline Pilots Security Alliance

https://www.secure-skies.org/apsamembershipupdate.asp
 
(for pilot, non pilot, non FFDO pilot or FFDO Volunteer)
 
Be sure to UN-Check the box at the bottom of the page after you login.
 
If you have no password use "temp" as a temporary password in conjunction
with your personal email address to get to your information. If you are
still having problems, use uppercase when inserting your email address into
the login field.  If you do not know your password and have tried the above email chris
@ secure-skies.org.       Thank you.
***********************************************************************

I came across this page and after reading it I'm seriously considering not using them anymore.

http://paypalsucks.com/

So what does everybody think about this topic?  Putting your personal religous differences aside, do gays have a constitutional right to same sex marriage?  Does seperation of church and state come into play?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/11/gay.m ... index.html

These are pretty instense Helo crashes.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~jbovenzi/ima ... BOAT_1.WMV


http://www.public.asu.edu/~jbovenzi/ima ... LICOPT.ASF

>There are 3 messages in this issue.
>
>Topics in this digest:
>
>       1. Dynamite letter from Walter Kolbe, brother of Traitor Congressman
>            From: Kathy McKee <protectaz@yahoo.com>
>       2. Organization
>            From: Kathy McKee <protectaz@yahoo.com>
>       3. Mr. Shadegg's donation request
>            From: Kathy McKee <wowariz@yahoo.com>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>_
>________________________________________________________________________
>
>Message: 1
>    Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 14:00:49 -0800 (PST)
>    From: Kathy McKee <protectaz@yahoo.com>
>Subject: Dynamite letter from Walter Kolbe, brother of Traitor
>Congressman
>
>
>This letter is to the Editor of the Sierra Vista Herald. A link to this
>letter can be found at
>  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1074787/posts
>
>
>Walter Kolbe is the brother of Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe
>
>To the editor:
>
>A couple of weeks ago our representative came to town. The sad thing
>was,
>he was not our congressman. Tom Tancredo, from Colorado and not from
>Arizona, said the things the large majority of Arizonans, and quite
>possibly the whole country, had been hoping to hear from their congressman.
>Regrettably, Jim Kolbe is a congressman and not a representative. The
>difference being a representative represents the wishes of a majority of
>his constituents, while a congressman represents himself.
>
>We have the specter of the president of Mexico to tell us we need to
>accept
>the citizens of his country and give them jobs, medical care, schools,
>Social Security and services and legality, even though these people have
>broken our laws in getting into our country. I respectfully suggest to the
>president of Mexico that he go home and attack the corruption, graft, and
>greed that permeate the bureaucracy of Mexico and have made it virtually a
>two-class country. It is a sick government and a sick nation that has its
>second largest source of income as the earnings of labor from outside its
>boundaries.
>
>And then we are treated to our own president, apparently called in by
>Kolbe, (U.S. Rep. Jeff) Flake and (U.S. Sen. John) McCain to bolster their
>flawed
>immigration policy and tell the citizens of Arizona that they know what is
>best for them. It is a disgraceful policy that would honor lawbreakers with
>amnesty and social services paid for on the backs of honest wage earners
>and those immigrants who struggled so hard to get here legally.
>
>I have heard Kolbe say repeatedly that something has to be done, and
>you naysayers have not come up with a solution. Mr. Kolbe’s
>subcommittee, which he chairs, disburses billions upon billions of our
>tax dollars to virtually every corner of the globe. We can land a
>mechanical toy on Mars and spend untold billions to put a human up
>there. But no one in this administration can develop a strategy for
>stopping illegal immigrants from pouring filth on
>our land, destroying our property, threatening our security and putting a
>monstrous financial burden on our citizenry for social services, health
>care
>and law enforcement. Methinks something stinks in Washington.
>
>But, since they can’t, I will give them a solution:
>
>1. Close the border. No program – “guest worker� or otherwise –
>will work
>until that is accomplished. Despite what they think, there is no incentive
>to stop illegal entry without it. And don’t give me that tired old “it
>can’t
>be done.� Those who believe that are either blind to the facts or plain
>stupid.
>
>2. Deport those here illegally as they are caught. This does not mean
>we have a nationwide sweep and truckloads of deportees at one time, but
>do it in a serious methodical way as they are caught.
>
>3. Enforce the laws already on the books that fine those employers who
>are ignoring the law and hiring these illegal aliens. These congressmen
>and administration people say it is not fair to put the burden of law
>enforcement on employers. Huh? Picking up the phone, calling the INS
>and asking them to come check some people with suspicious documents is
>“law enforcement?� We are expected to call the police if we see a
>crime being committed but not to report someone taking a job illegally.
>How hypocritical can you get?
>
>4. Make welfare programs subject to recipients taking jobs “no
>Americans will take.� If illegal workers, who are afraid to raise the
>slightest protest against lousy working conditions and pay, are
>eliminated, employers will have to better conditions and raise wages to
>at least a subsistence level. Cost us more in goods and services? Yes,
>but only a fraction of what medical care, social services, and law
>enforcement for illegal aliens are costing now.
>
>5. When all this is accomplished, then – maybe – we can have an
>honest discussion about a “guest worker� program.
>
>In the meantime, perhaps some of our congressmen, senators, and
>administration officials should retire, or be retired and allow a
>representative to replace them.
>
>Walter R. Kolbe
>Hereford
>
>
>
>
>The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do
>nothing.
>
>Kathy McKee
>
>
>
>[This message contained attachments]
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>_
>________________________________________________________________________
>
>Message: 2
>    Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 15:03:13 -0800 (PST)
>    From: Kathy McKee <protectaz@yahoo.com>
>Subject: Organization
>
>To our entire PAN organization:
>
>First, I want to sincerely thank all of you for what you do, and I do
>appreciate the time, effort, and dedication you each have.  I understand
>how often everyday 'life' events get in the way of our good intentions, and
>you have heard my frustration that all doesn't go as smoothly as we would
>want it to.
>
>Part of the problem I have, that really impacts my ability to do the
>job I
>need to do, is that our organization is not being worked like a REAL
>organization.  We ARE a REAL organization, and we need to start acting that
>way.  Yes, it is far more interesting to spend our time agonizing about how
>awful it is to be victims of illegal aliens, political politicos, the
>media, etc., ad nauseum, BUT NOTHING WILL CHANGE IF WE DON'T GET ON THE
>BALL AND PROTECT OURSELVES.  I am asking each person in this good
>organization of ours to report to the person 'above' you --in most cases a
>City or County Chair.  That person will do the same, and I will wind up
>receiving questions and reports from just 25-30 people instead of hundreds.
>  If you find a bottleneck going through channels, obviously I need to be
>contacted.
>
>As it is now, too many of you report to me directly--both in Emails and
>phone calls, and I am overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.  There is no
>possible way for us to work efficiently with that kind of communication.  
>Simply said, I am unable to take in the information in a timely basis and
>pass it back to the people who can do something positive about that
>information.
>
>Starting today, please report information and ask questions to YOUR
>local
>city or county chairperson, and I sincerely believe we will all find our
>e-mail traffic more meaningful and less overwhelming for all of us.  Thank
>you all!
>
>Kathy
>
>
>
>
>The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do
>nothing.
>
>Kathy McKee
>
>
>
>[This message contained attachments]
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>_
>________________________________________________________________________
>
>Message: 3
>    Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 08:55:04 -0800 (PST)
>    From: Kathy McKee <wowariz@yahoo.com>
>Subject: Mr. Shadegg's donation request
>
>Since most of us are still in pain from learning the reality that John
>Shadegg is as much of a traitor as George Bush, while continuing to insult
>our intelligence with the facade that he is still tough on illegal
>immigration and cares what his constituents think, look below at how one of
>our clever Republican devotees responded.  (This is a good time for
>everyone to call the White House, Jon Kyl, and their Congressman again.  We
>don't want to let them think they've really "waited us out," do we?)
>_______________________________
>
>Since I've donated to Shadegg in the past, he sent me a donation
>request,
>along with a 93rd Birthday Greeting to Ronald Reagan, with blanks where I
>could check how much I would donate and whether I would circulate a
>Petition for the American Dream (whatever the @#$%^&* that is)!
>
>I was proud of myself for putting on my good manners and replying to
>Shadegg as follows:
>
>Congressman John Shadegg (Friends of John Shadegg)
>P.O. Box 45444
>Phoenix, AZ 85064-9843
>
>Dear Congressman,
>
>I've received your donation request and form recognizing President
>Reagan's
>birthday, but I must decline this year.
>
>I stopped donating to the Republican party; only to candidates who
>believe
>as I do. I've supported you in the past.
>
>But this year, I'll be sending all my donations to PAN, Protect Arizona
>Now. Citizens can no longer wait for our leaders who won't take the
>initiative; we must do it ourselves.
>
>In the same manner, circulating a petition or donating to the American
>Dream#12539;seems ostrich-like, putting one's head in the sand. When
>nothing is done to stop the swarms of illegal alien invaders into Arizona,
>circulating petitions to promote the American Dream is loony. Every illegal
>who enters, getting free medical care, welfare and food stamps, and
>preferential treatment chips away that American Dream. What
>petition#12539;do you have to address that problem?
>
>Our military are dispatched to secure borders of other nations, yet
>Congress refuses to militarize our border with Mexico. Numbers USA shows
>that you haven't supported militarizing the border.
>
>The petition I carry this year is the PAN petition, yet the Arizona
>Congressional delegation all opposes our cause. Since AZ congressmebers
>won't support us, the opposite applies.
>
>Thanks for thinking of me, Congressman; I#30693; still one of your
>friends.
>But this year, my time and money will go where it is most urgently needed
>to PAN. I hope you'll see how important it is and join us.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>Kathy McKee

OK guys, here's a brain teaser for you.  You all know R. Lee Ermey, the rough tough Drill Instructor from "Full Metal Jacket".  How many films can you name that he was in?  Don't cheat now, use your memory and think hard.  This includes small cameo bits and not just starring roles.

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