PlaneBusiness Banter subscribers may now access this week’s issue here.

Hi guys. Look for this week’s issue of PBB to be posted later today. I’ll let you know when it is ready to go.

Sorry about that folks. Seems our server went down last night and the oh-so-vigiliant 24-7 elves at our hosting service were apparently already in bed by 9 p.m.

No worries. We’re back up this a.m and all is right with the world.

At least for now.

Today the DOT officially announced it was withdrawing its proposal to change the rules regulating foreign investment in U.S. airlines.

The Secretary of the DOT, Mary Peters, said in a statement that the Department remains “committed to an Open Skies aviation agreement with the European Union.”

Only problem, of course, is that the EU has more or less linked the passage of a new Open Skies agreement to the loosening of the foreign investment regulations in the U.S.

That’s okay. As I have written more than once this year in PBB, I was not a fan of the proposed rule change for two reasons. One, I was not sure that Congress should not be the body to authorize such a change and two, I was very skeptical of the wording of the proposed change — especially as it pertained to the issue of foreign entities and their ability to “control” certain aspects of a carrier’s marketing and other operational decisions. I felt the proposed rule was simply too vague in a number of areas, making it almost unenforceable.

Finally — there’s also the question of just why it is we need to open up airlines to “much-needed” foreign investment in the first place. It’s pretty clear there is a lot of money chasing airline deals in the U.S. right now. Maybe too much money.

However, we do need a new Open Skies policy between the EU and the U.S.

So let’s start over and do it right this time.

Here we go again.

Is it just me — or is it clear the Federal government is simply hell-bent to set up a “terror-database” network whether Congress okays it, the public wants it, or it’s even legal?

I think we all know the answer to this question.

First it was the “centralized information database” concept that former Retired Admiral John Poindexter was in charge of. You all remember that effort. It was called “Total Information Awareness.”

I would call it “Big Brother on Steroids.”

When Congress put the stop to that little intrusive project, which sought to compile databases containing everything from airline ticket sales to credit card charges to law enforcement records to banking records, then Homeland Security took the same concept and began to apply some of the same database mining components as the centerpiece of its new CAPPS II program.

When that program was shot down by Congress, the GAO, and privacy groups for security concerns and a general fear that it’s reliance on third-party data providers was inherently problematic — not to mention potentially error-prone — Homeland Security simply renamed the program “Secure Flight,” made a few minor tweaks and went about its merry way.

I’ve always liked that “warm and fuzzy” moniker of “Secure Flight.” Don”t you?

Now, thanks to a filing in the Federal Register that popped up in November, we find out that while all this was going on, the federal government has been secretly collecting information on U.S. citizens who have traveled in and out of the country — for the last four years.

Virtually every person entering and leaving the United States by air, sea or land has been scored by the Homeland Security Department’s Automated Targeting System, or ATS.

The scores are based on ATS’ analysis of their travel records and other data, including items such as where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and what kind of meal they ordered.

So how interesting is it that this has been going on the entire time the same department has been told repeatedly by Congress to clean up its act or forget it — in regard to privacy issues involved with the “Secure Flight” program?

It’s also pretty clear now that “Secure Flight” was always designed as just an add-on to this existing secret database system.

But then again, why should we be that surprised?

In an August 2004 issue of CIO magazine, Poindexter basically foretold what we now know to be the case.

“Retired Adm. John M. Poindexter still slips into the present tense when he talks about Total Information Awareness (TIA).

He does this despite the fact that he resigned from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) a year ago amid controversy, despite the fact that DARPA subsequently dissolved the Information Awareness Office (IAO) he had built, and despite the fact that DARPA ostensibly canceled TIA, the wide-ranging program to use technology for gathering intelligence to combat terrorism. Poindexter, however, still believes in TIA. In fact, he maintains that TIA hasn’t really gone away; it’s just gone undercover. ”

Great.

Oh, and yes, in case you missed it — the Department of Homeland Security says it plans to keep its ATS database of “risk assessments” on file for 40 years, sharing it with law enforcement officials, state, local, or state officials, courts, Congress, you name it.

But you? You and me? No, we are not allowed to see our terror profile.

Why?

Because, according to the Associated Press, in the Federal Register, the department exempted ATS from many provisions of the Privacy Act designed to protect people from secret, possibly inaccurate government dossiers. As a result, it said travelers cannot learn whether the system has assessed them. Nor can they see the records “for the purpose of contesting the content.”

This ATS system, which as I said, has been in existence for more than four years, is supposed to “officially” begin operations today.

Needless to say, we here at PlaneBusiness do not support our government using the travel industry as a prop to what seems to be one of the largest secret data-mining programs ever put into place by the U.S. government.

Oh, I know. There’s a LOT to talk about in the airline sector this morning. But you know how the song goes, “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to…”

Well, I don’t want to cry. My voice is shot anyway. It would be more like a croak. As for my hands? Let’s just put it this way. Ever clap so much and so hard that, hours later, your hands feel like you’ve played the piano for 20 hours and you can’t sleep they ache so much?

Yep. Sounds like yours truly was at a sporting event yesterday.

And not just any sporting event.

No, I decided on the spur of the moment that to celebrate that once a year milestone we all have to endure — I was going to go see the Saints play San Francisco in the Superdome Sunday.

David had been pestering me about what I wanted to do to celebrate the aforementioned event, and for some reason (probably a result of way too much food ingested at Thanksgiving), a dinner out did not appeal to me.

Instead I got online, managed to snare two pretty good tickets to the game from the season ticket resell service, (all the home games are sold out) and so yesterday off we went.

Little did I know it was going to be Reggie Bush’s coming out party as he scored four acrobatic touchdowns. I fully expected to hear the Trojan fight song come over the public address system after the third one.

And hey, speaking of music, Jimmy Buffett was on hand to sing the national anthem. How cool is that? As a card-carrying Parrott-head, I was psyched.

R-E-G-G-I-E. R-E-G-G-I-E. R-E-G-G-I-E.

I had forgotten how loud the Dome can be.

Silly me.

Today not only can I not talk, and my hands still hurt, but I woke up hearing that damn chant in my ears.

But that was yesterday. Next Sunday night — the shoot out in Texas stadium with Tony Romo and the Boys.

Yep, I already received three emails and one text message this morning about the game. Considering what a large PBB subscriber base we have in the DFW area, I’m sure they are not going to be the last.

Yes, well, bring on da Boys. Reggie and Deuce are going to rock the house. That is, unless Drew Brees decides to crank up the aerial attack. (But frankly we’re somewhat grounded in that department with a couple of key receivers hurt.)

But either way, Saints take the Cowboys in what is going to be one heck of a game.

Hopefully my voice will have returned by then.