TSA - another indignity for permanent residents

I've lived in this country for many years, paid my taxes, been a
schoolteacher and a Scout leader, and now this:
http://dms.dot.gov/search/searchResu...hTy pe=docket.
The restrictions recently placed on 12500 training is being extended to all
aircraft. TSA claims that Congress mandated it, and maybe we were all asleep
when that happened. The rule is already in effect; the documentation and
security training requirements kick in Oct 20.

Faced with the requirement to send the TSA all the identifying information,
finding someone to fingerprint me and figuring out how to get the prints
filed, and paying $130 for the privilege - well, I wonder if the Commercial
certificate is worth it. I did also have vague ideas of becoming an elderly
instructor; forget that.

Now, I know that sounds like special pleading, and Big Brother already has
my fingerprints in my Resident Alien file so no big deal, and $130 is less
than an hour of training, but right now it's looking like the final straw.
And it's bull**** on the face of it. Residents have already undergone deep
security investigations. If everyone reacts like me, the result will be
less-well-trained pilots mixing it up with the rest of you in the sky. Is
the BFR considered training under the rule (part 61 calls it instruction)?
If so, the clock is ticking in any case. One justification in the rule says
that the 9/11 terrorists learned to fly small planes, but there's no logic
provided to support restrictions on existing certified pilots who want more
advanced ratings.

I mailed AOPA, I'll add these comments to the docket. I called my FBO, and
the chief instructor said "oh, nice of them to inform the schools" and said
she would start rattling cages.

-- David Brooks