[for I-P] TSA has started issuing "Learner's Permits" and demanding that people who wish to learn get a Learner's Permit from TSA. Every innocent student is to be forced to be "assessed" for their "threat potential". This violates the fundamental right of freedom of inquiry, which is guaranteed to all persons in the United States, whether they are citizens or not. For the moment, these permits are only required if you want to learn about flying, but I predict that they will soon be required for other areas of forbidden knowledge. Unless the education community and the citizenry reject the whole concept that the government can tell them who is permitted to study and what subjects they are permitted to learn. Don't worry though -- today it only applies at a few schools, and only to non-US citizens. It only delays the student by four to six weeks, and only requires them to provide their full name, passport and visa, current photograph, specifics about their course of study, and $130. Approval is, of course, not guaranteed. It doesn't threaten *you* -- probably. By the time they come for your school and your students and your subject, nobody will remember who Rev. Martin Niemoller was. John Gilmore October 22, 2004 Media Contact: TSA Public Affairs 571-227-2829 TSA Takes Over Security Threat Assessments on Non-U.S. Citizens Seeking Flight School Training Agency also expands program scope to include non-commercial pilot candidates LONG BEACH, CALIF. -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today announced it is now requiring security threat assessments for non-U.S. citizens seeking training at U.S. flight schools, regardless of the type and size of the aircraft. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act mandated the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct threat assessments for non-U.S. citizens who sought training on aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more including commercial aircraft. Vision 100 -- Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act transferred this responsibility from Justice to TSA as of October 5, 2004. "September 11th taught us that terrorists exploited the use of U.S flight schools," said Rear Adm. David M. Stone, USN (Ret.), Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for TSA. "Fortifying security by knowing who trains at these schools is an integral part of our mission to secure the homeland." The program is designed to prevent terrorists from receiving pilot training from flight schools. As a prerequisite to flight training, non-U.S. citizens must provide to TSA fingerprints, biographical information, including full name, passport and visa information, and training specifics such as the type of aircraft the candidate seeks instruction to operate. In addition to security assessments, TSAs new initiative will: * Streamline the threat assessment process from 45 to 30 days for most applicants, and 5 days for some * Require flight schools to submit a students photograph to TSA to ensure the student reporting for flight training is the same individual who successfully completed a security threat assessment * Implement an application fee of $130 for the security threat assessment * Require flight schools to provide security awareness training for appropriate staff on an annual basis. To help fulfill this requirement, TSA plans to offer an on-line course on the agencys Web site within a few weeks. Beginning this week, TSA will accept applications for non-U.S. citizens seeking flight training in aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or less who do not currently hold a FAA or foreign pilots certificate. Starting on December 19, 2004, TSA will accept applications for all non-U.S. citizens who seek training in aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or less, including those who already have an airmans certificate and seeking additional training for a new certificate and/or rating. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.tsa.gov and click on "Industry Partners" and find "Flight Training for non-U.S. Citizens." # # # ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as eugen@leitl.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07078, 11.61144 http://www.leitl.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE http://moleculardevices.org http://nanomachines.net [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type application/pgp-signature]