Naps



Ray LaHood



Our government is obviously not humanist in its attitude toward its own employees. The recent flap over the sleeping flight controllers illustrates the reactive and unscientific nature of the U.S. government. The Secretary of Transportation, a notably rare Republican in Obama's administration, loudly proclaimed that no flight controllers would be paid for naps under his watch. Well, Secretary LaHood seems to be napping on the job himself.

In 2000, NASA did research for the FAA on the effectiveness of planned nap breaks for pilots to diminish the hazards of flight fatigue. The extensive and doubtless expensive study basically said, "Yup, if they nap, they are safer pilots on long flights where there are two pilots in the cockpit." So, what did our unscientific government do? It continued to ban any sleeping in cockpits despite the scientific findings. Pilots, in their wisdom, have planned naps anyway apparently with the probable effect that flying at night is safer for it. And, if the flight controllers were allowed proper staffing, they could be doing the same.

So, Secretary LaHood, like a mad Queen of Hearts, is shouting "Off with their heads!" to assuage uninformed public outrage. Scapegoating rather public education and practical remedy,  based in available, paid-for science. This is very medieval and symptomatic of a government ruled more by public "faith" than public education. It is also an illustration to secularists how far we have to go to get a government based in scientific rationality.