melting pot – Weary Wretch

TSA and the Terrorist

7/2017

I’ll bet you probably could have guessed what the US Transportation Security Administration was intended to do without my giving you this link. (1) And if you are too lazy to read it yourself, I’ll summarize the salient points here.

Mission
Protect the nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.
Vision
Provide the most effective transportation security in the most efficient way as a high performing counter-terrorism organization.
Core Values
Integrity. Innovation. Team spirit.

But read it anyway, it is illuminating. Especially in light (no pun intended) of this report about an 82-year-old woman who got arrested in the Wichita airport for assaulting a TSA officer. (2)

All of this 120 lbs and 5’5″ of lean, mean, fighting machine with 82 years of combat experience was viewed as a threat to the transportation security of the largest superpower in the existence of the world using only her closed fist. See, watching those Bruce Lee films of the 1970s paid off (eg. Fists of Fury 2, 1976).

So, with respect to the Mission, they were able to ensure freedom of movement for the poor lady from the airport to the Sedgwick County jail. The Vision, maybe they succeeded in striking fear in the hearts of terrorists around the world since this made international media and now terrorists will think twice before coming to America. Ya think? And, the Core Values were upheld in that it did take more than one TSA officer to apprehend the 82-year-old woman.

And you wonder why I don’t like to fly.

Respectfully submitted by your grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave.

Weary.

Transportation Safety

7/2017

The April 14, 2014 issue of Time has a brief note about GM and faulty ignition switches. CEO Mary Barra stated in a Congressional hearing, “We will hold ourselves fully accountable.” This was about faulty ignition switches that “caused” 13 deaths. With a great deal of imagination, I guess I could figure a way an ignition switch could cause death, but it would take some time. No pun intended.

In 2010, GM sold (not made) 8,389,769 vehicles representing about a 12% increase from 2009. We will assume that sales continued to rise, but at a slightly more conservative rate (although there is evidence that the rate of sales increased during this time period). Progression analysis at a rate of 10% per year yields 2013 sales at 8,643,986 vehicles. Given 13 deaths out of 8,643,986 possible ignition switch failures, the rate of failure is 1.5 x 10 -6. That is 1 in 664,922 vehicles.

For those not remembering their high school algebra, that is a .0000015 % chance to have a failure of the ignition switch that would cause death. Those are pretty fine tolerances to hold anyone accountable for, in any industry. I never thought I’d be defending GM after their bailout fiasco, but daymnnn!

Sure am glad Congress is keeping a lid on transportation safety!

From your grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave.

Weary.

Russian-Ukrainian Crime

7/2017

As John Travolta’s character Vinnie Barbarino used to say in the TV sitcom Welcome Back Cotter (1975-79), “I’m so confused.”

First, there is this news story (1) about some Ukrainian-Russians that stole a bee farmer’s bee-hives.

I have to ask, were they Russian or were they Ukrainian? If you ask them, neither identifies as both. The Ukrainians say they are Ukrainians, even those that grew up under Russian rule, and that they are not Russian. The news reports daily that the Russians are invading Ukraine and trying to ethnically cleanse it. If you ask a Russian if he is anything else, well just stand back because the least you will get is a verbal lambasting and you may have to resort to physical self-defense.

And then there is the issue that Russian bashing is now the rage. Since Trump took office. Before Trump, the Russians and socialism were all the rage in liberal-think. They (liberals) have been in bed with the socialist agenda and their “Hero’s Have Always Been Russians”, so to speak, since liberalism was born. Of course, Putin has made hay with that. What I mean is that by publicly complimenting Trump, bashing Trump-haters and sending emissaries to meet with Trump, he has effectively fueled the fire for the liberals to drag Trump across the media coals whether he means what he says or not.

And thirdly, we have been told that the Russian Mafia has arrived. It must be true because there have been countless movies with Russians portrayed as the character(s) everyone loves to hate or be scared of. They are rumored to be involved in drugs, theft, human trafficking, prostitution… .

Surely, this isn’t a case of a confused Russian thug who was told to go out and get some of America’s sweet honey pot and he came home with 488 Montana bee-hives instead of 488 virgin maidens?

So, which is it? Putin or the Russian Mafia?

“Law enforcement suspects that Ukrainian-Russians are stealing bee-hives to finance organized crime rings.” (1) The beehives were reported to have been worth $170,000. We all know from books and movies that a thief can only expect to get about 30% return on stolen goods. So just how much crime does $51,000 buy in this place called the Russian-Ukraine, or is that Ukrainian-Russia? I’d estimate that profits from drugs, theft, human trafficking and prostitution in the US accounts for more than the national budget of any 2 other first world countries. And this bee-hive theft occurred in the US. Talk about setting your sights low.

Thoughts on disorganized American-Ukrainian-Russian crime from your grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/05/15/montana-beekeepers-stolen-hives-are-recovered-in-sting-operation.html

Weary

A White Elephant in the Room

7/ 2017

You can go to the site and read about carfentanil. (1) It is an elephant tranquilizer. And it’s all the rage. The link is to The Washington Post article about the stuff reaching the streets of North America.

Morphine is a very strong pain killer. Regular fentanyl is 100 times stronger than morphine. Carfentanil is 10,000 times stronger than morphine.

And now everybody knows about it (that reads The Washington Post).

Does anybody see the white elephant in the room?

Your grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave, keeping his recreational pharmacology skills honed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/12/a-new-front-in-the-opioid-war-elephant-tranquilizer/

Weary

Alien Abduction

7/2017

Angie and I went on a mission in Kansas City recently and I swear that we were abducted by aliens. No, I don’t mean I had to use my rudimentary language skills from Garden City. Let me explain.

Our 1st appointment was finished and we needed to find a fuel stop for the truck and a drink stop for ourselves, basically killing time until the second appointment. So, it being in an urban suburb of Kansas City, Kansas with a population of just under 150,000, I took off down a pleasant 4 lane boulevard called Nall Avenue. It was convenient as both our appointment locations were on this street.

Nall Avenue is no hookey, back-woods, gravel road such as what one might find all over Doniphan county. I noted that it had its own exit from the interstate as we crossed over, heading south. We passed 2 nationally famous medical centers; 3 community hospital complexes (striving to be recognized as regional medical centers); at least 6 shopping centers (very new, chic and cosmopolitan); an untold number of housing subdivisions with names like Hunter’s Glenn, Green Acres (where the grass was really brown but the houses were 5000+ sf and half a million or more), Highland Mist (No hills, bogs or peat here); a park named B’nai Judah for the little Jewish kids to romp and play on the safety of mulch-floored swings, Jungle gyms and merry-go-rounds; another park (across the street from B’nai Judah) named Lin Chi for the Chinese kids to romp and play on the safety of mulch-floored swings, Jungle gyms and merry-go-rounds; several country clubs with swimming pools and golf courses; churches; several schools… .

But what I didn’t find in the 12.3 miles was a Casey’s, Total or QT. There was no Love’s, Pilot or even a Phillips 66 C-store. No there wasn’t a Buckey’s. There were 12.3 miles of urban America without diet Coke, iced tea, bottled water, diesel or gasoline. There wasn’t even any e-15 or e-85 gasoline-ethanol blend.

I didn’t think there were 12.3 miles of urban America anywhere without a convenience store, aside from places like Texas State Highway 481 from Uvalde to Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, but those aren’t urban and don’t count.

So the only explanation I can come up with is that Aliens abducted us in a manner that we didn’t know what was happening and we traveled 12.3 miles through Alien territory instead. I mean, everybody knows Aliens don’t use diesel or gasoline in their vehicles, right?

Just another adventure from your grumpy uncle/brother Dave.

Weary