TreeA10

At AA, one of our pilots wrote an app/program called LiteSabre. Based on what preferences you select, the app constantly pings the AA computer to improve your schedule through trades or trip pick-ups. The program also pulls information about flight delays, gates, etc. As a dude sitting reserve, I don't have much use for it for the guys that use it, love it and says it is worth the $20(?) per month cost.

My wife has occasionally asked me if I still had a job when I have an extended duration of nobody calling. Almost makes me feel unwanted....almost.

Actually, I think everyone after me will win. I've been at AA since 99. Went through the faux bankruptcy in 2003, retirement age change to 65 in 2009, and the "real" bankruptcy in 2011. So there was a decade+ of pay reduction/stagnation and very little seniority improvement. There are guys/girls now with only a couple years in the airline business making the same that I hit only 3-4 years ago. The retirement rate at all airlines is going to create a lot of turnover meaning rapid seniority advancement. No guarantees it will be an awesome career but I think the chances are good.

$18k-ish gross maybe flying twice a month sitting wide body reserve.

Google TSA missed weapons. It won't improve your opinion of TSA. My favorite are the stories of people that traveled with a weapon, realized it after the trip, and then notified, through an attorney, Congress or TSA of the TSA buffoonery. TSA is kabuki theater.

Fights on, fights on.

When bananas are outlawed, only outlaws will have bananas.

I can't check out a book at the library without an ID but progressives think verifiable ID for voting is too much of a burden. Are we denying somebody's right to read?

No one of consequence is actually controlling the borders. And these people of " No consequence", assuming senators, governors, and mayors are inconsequential, are saying we should do away with the federal agency that exercises what little control over the border we actually enforce. Which leads us back to open borders without actually having to say they want open borders. 'Abolish ICE' goes mainstream as Gillibrand, de Blasio back calls Alex Pappas3 hours ago New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio are joining the calls to gut the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. (AP) The idea was once relegated to the far-left. But the liberal push to abolish the federal agency that enforces federal immigration laws is going mainstream in the Democratic Party, with New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Mayor Bill de Blasio adding their support to the cause in the last 24 hours. "I believe that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has become a deportation force … and that's why I believe you should get rid of it, start over, reimagine it and build something that actually works," Gillibrand said in a CNN interview Thursday night. “We should abolish ICE,” de Blasio said Friday morning on WNYC radio. Gillibrand's endorsement is notable as she's the first sitting senator to back the 'abolish ICE' push -- and is considered a potential 2020 presidential contender. They join numerous other Democratic candidates, House members, liberal commentators and writers who have fought back against the Trump administration's immigration policies by calling to gut ICE -- which identifies, arrests and deports illegal immigrants inside the United States. Left-wing Democrats push to abolish ICE Democratic lawmakers and candidates are increasingly seeking the elimination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Here's a look at some of the most prominent figures looking to dissolve the agency. The growing influence behind the push was underscored earlier this week with liberal primary challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's shocking victory over Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., a member of party leadership. Ocasio-Cortez emphasized her support for abolishing ICE during the campaign, and even protested outside an ICE center in Texas. DEMS DEMAND ELIMINATION OF ICE AMID IMMIGRATION FUROR “Its extra-judicial nature is baked into the structure of the agency and that is why they are able to get away with black sites at our border, with the separation of children,” the Democrat said in an interview this week. The focus on ICE comes in the wake of the controversy over the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which called for all illegal border crossers to be prosecuted. This in turn led to the separation of families due to longstanding detention rules, until President Trump signed an executive order last week ordering families be detained together. With that controversy in the headlines, the abolition of ICE -- which has long been the purview of far-left sections of the Democratic Party base advocating for open borders and no deportations -- has moved from being a slogan on protest placards to an idea being mulled by rumored 2020 hopefuls. "Every country needs reasonable law enforcement on their borders. ICE is not reasonable law enforcement. ICE is broken, it’s divisive and it should be abolished," de Blasio tweeted Friday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also has come under heavy pressure from the left to call for the elimination of ICE, particularly amid a far-left challenge from actress and activist Cynthia Nixon -- who called it a terrorist organization. And Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who has been floated as a 2020 Democratic contender, said that the U.S. should consider “starting from scratch” for ICE -- though stopped short of calling to abolish it. In Oregon, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who voted against the agency’s creation in 2002, doubled down on his opposition in a recent Medium post in which he called for it to be shut down. “We should abolish ICE and start over, focusing on our priorities to protect our families and our borders in a humane and thoughtful fashion,” he said. In January, the idea was endorsed by Brian Fallon, a former top aide to 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and Eric Holder, President Barack Obama’s attorney general. “ICE operates as an unaccountable deportation force,” Fallon tweeted. “Dems running in 2020 should campaign on ending the agency in its current form.” The idea isn’t limited to deep-blue Democratic enclaves. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., announced Monday that he will introduce a bill to abolish the agency, set up during President George W. Bush’s administration in the wake of 9/11. “I’m introducing legislation that would abolish ICE and crack down on the agency’s blanket directive to target and round up individuals and families,” Pocan said in a statement. “The heartless actions of this abused agency do not represent the values of our nation and the U.S. must develop a more humane immigration system, one that treats every person with dignity and respect.” The shift to the left on immigration has some Republicans and conservatives delighted, thinking that it may move Democrats into unelectable territory. "Based on the last week, Democrats apparently want to campaign on open borders, mass migration, & abolishing ICE," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on Twitter. "Give them points for honesty. Let's vote." Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report. Alex Pappas is a politics reporter at FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlexPappas.

How many disenfranchised, oppressed, or impoverished people are there on the planet? 1 billion? 2 billion? How many do we take in? 50? 1 million? 100 Million? All of them? I'm just looking for a starting point in the debate. We need immigrants but not controlling who and how many will not benefit anyone in the long run. Regarding pies, the American taxpayer is currently paying $113 Billion a year to make pies for those that show up to the party without a pie.

They might pay $9 Billion but what do they cost in local, state, and federal dollars? https://www.fairus.org/sites/default/files/2017-08/USCostStudy_2010.pdf Answer: A hell of a whole lot more at $113 Billion.

Two different items. The first is a link for how BMI is an inaccurate scale. The other follows the PT Barnum saying "There is a sucker born every minute." https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/body-mass-index-miscalculations Performance Artist Separates Money From Dupes With $38 Bottles of Miracle 'Hot Dog Water' Tom McKayYesterday 10:10pm Photo: AP Here’s something to give even Goop’s “bio-frequency healing” stickers a run for the money of various rubes: A Canadian man successfully sold slickly marketed bottles of water with hot dogs in them as a miraculous cure-all for whatever ails customers at exorbitant prices. Per Yahoo News and Insider, at Vancouver’s Car-Free Day festival earlier this month, attendees happily bought $38 bottles of unfiltered Hot Dog Water marketed with bullshit claims it could “help restore the body’s homeostasis after a electrolyte imbalance” as well as help users “lose weight—increase brain function—look younger—increase vitality.” “Self-styled Hot Dog Water CEO Douglas Bevans,” who is actually a tour operator and artist, told Global News that the obviously falsified claims were part of an intentional, good-natured awareness-raising stunt and “really sort of a commentary on product marketing, and especially sort of health-quackery product marketing.” Labels on the bottles segued from a rambling anecdote about the water’s supposed origin in a 50,000-year-old, lava rock-filtered spring to fine print reading “Hot Dog Water in its absurdity hopes to encourage critical thinking related to product marketing and the significant role it can play in our purchasing choices.” But some people that failed to catch on to the joke soon found themselves walking away with a bottle of meat-infused H2O and a lot less cash on hand. Per Insider, it seems like Bevans’ snake oil salesman impression was spot on: It worked, too. Bevans told Global News that he spent around $1,200 on the stunt before counting $500 in grants, but that sales were strong: “They’ve been drinking it for hours. We have gone through about 60 litres of real hot dog water.” According to the Times Colonist, he also offered other hot dog-infused products like lip balm that attracted a similar customer interest: “I think we all feel particularly vulnerable in this era of pseudo-scientific health claims and the targeted marketing of social media,” Bevans told Ad Age via Twitter. “The message is the next time you have the urge to buy the latest quantum toilet paper or Gwyneth’s magical health stickers, take a moment to reflect and ask yourself, is this Hot Dog Water?” In any case, the only things that seem to stand between Hot Dog Water and potentially limitless profit are ethics, venture capital, and maybe also waterborne pathogens. Those are solvable obstacles, though, as proven by the continued success of the rich idiots responsible for “raw water.” [Insider/Global News/Times-Colonist]

Thanks for taking the bullet.

Was that Freudian or intentional? (The character from the Sopranos was named Pu$$y and was shot.)

I was in Incheon over the weekend and doing the walk around before flying home to DFW. Some Korean ground guy comes up, bows, and salutes. I reflexively returned it, he smiled and walked away. Should I have been rude and ignored him?

This story might be more appropriate in the Gun Thread since it deals with concealed carry possibilities but I'll put it here. https://thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/anika-witt-sentenced-902843 thesmokinggun.com Woman Gets Two Years For Gun In Body Cavity 2-3 minutes DOCUMENT: Crime Defendant's "projected discharge date" is listed as September 2019 JUNE 14--A woman who had a loaded handgun hidden in her vagina at the time of her arrest last year has been sentenced to two years in state prison on weapons and heroin possession charges, Illinois court records show. Anika Witt, 27, was sentenced last month after pleading guilty to a pair of felony charges as part of a plea agreement that required her to testify against a codefendant. Jailed since her arrest last September, Witt faced a maximum of ten years on the gun charge and 15 years for narcotics possession. While sentenced to two years in state prison, Witt has been credited for the eight months she spent in the McLean County lockup. Witt and a male acquaintance were busted following a traffic stop on Interstate 55 just north of Bloomington. A search of the duo’s car turned up heroin and Ecstasy, cops reported. Witt’s .380 caliber Kimber handgun was not discovered by investigators until she was subjected to a strip search while being booked into the county jail. A female corrections officer recovered the loaded weapon from Witt’s vagina. The gun had a bullet in the chamber and its magazine was fully loaded, police say. The gun seized from Witt is seen in the above police evidence photo. Witt, pictured below, was transferred late last month from the McLean County jail to the Logan Correctional Center, a state prison housing more than 1800 female inmates. Illinois Department of Corrections records list Witt’s “projected discharge date” as September 7, 2019.

Lack of admin skills combined with limited time and fuel.... yeah, that'll work.

The problem with programs or policies enacted via a pen or a phone can be undone just as easily with a pen and a phone. Drastic indeed.

Going down the same road as Pawnman, could it be that a majority of the public realizes that a minority of the population is shouldering the burden of military service and would like to acknowledge that service and sacrifice through whatever means they can? WW2 involved almost everyone, few were sheltered from it, so it was shared sacrifice with everyone in the same boat. Now, not so much.

Okay, who's trying to catch E.T.? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5776081/Leaked-Pentagon-report-reveals-startling-new-details-supersonic-Tic-Tac-UFO.html

"You are here to learn to kill people and break their stuff! You will become experts in the application of precision high explosives that can obliterate a 4 story building and its occupants! But, if that's too scary or too hard and sends you running to your safe space, pet this puppy.". Yep, we are hosed. Westies... Stupid but cute. We've got one.

Since I live in the boonies, I have a wireless internet provider. I just changed providers and the dude is checking the router in my "I love me" study. He looks at the aircraft prints, plagues, etc. and asks if I had been in the military. When I answered yes, he says he is taking 50% off the $100 install fee. Should i have said "No thanks."?

The medal plate free registration only applies to one vehicle. I've got 2 cars with medal plates. When I found out that I would no longer have to park in the hail storm bullseye DFW employee parking lot, ride the employee bus, and endure the pain in the ass 20 minute ride to or from the terminal squashed in a mass of humans with questionable hygiene habits during our tremendously enjoyable summer heat waves and I could utilize covered parking at the terminal for free, HELL YES I got a medal plate.

It's hard not to form opinions regarding behavior. What is a rational person to think when classified information is found on a home brew server and nothing comes of it? Was that server subpoenaed and searched by the FBI? No. Did the FBI conduct a dawn no-knock raid of the home to search for documents/computers/etc. that contained classified information? No. Did legal advisors, also under investigation, to the person who concocted the home brew server have their home(s) raided and searched? No. Those persons were also given legal immunity. Did the FBI record any interviews with the people connected with the improper handling of classified information? No. Again, the legal counsel that was under investigation that was given legal immunity also served as legal counsel to another person under investigation. Were any indictments brought about after requested phones and computers were destroyed by those that were under investigation? No. Lastly, does the legal statute governing the prosecution for improper handling of classified information contain the word "intent" anywhere within it? No. A common thread through this process and the lack of prosecutorial interest happens to be a couple of names who happen to be investigators with the power to drive the scope and direction of the investigation. I'm sure that it's just coincidence. If you have any doubt of this, I would suggest you duplicate the home brew server in your house and store some classified information on it. Tip off the FBI and let us know how that works out.

Widebody flying depends on Short Call vs Long Call. As I've successfully clawed my way to a relatively more junior position, despite wanting and bidding Short Call, I've been stuck with Long Call for the last two months. I did 3 trips in January and I've done 2 so far this month. Compare and contrast that with Short Call where I might fly once per month. My personal "they don't need me so my phone didn't ring" best was 95 days last year and 105 the year before. I was wondering if I could find the airport again.