Sunday, October 31, 2010

On the vunerability of Air Cargo

The recent incident about bombs being aboard a UPS cargo plane has brought additional scrutiny to the problem the holes in Air Cargo which might allow a terrorist to get a bomb on a plane. Meanwhile, here in STL, they have been telling us over the boob tube that a Jewish center in Chicago was targeted and was actually sent some cartridges. Apparently they were intercepted in wither England or Dubai. While UPS was featured in the news, a Fed Ex plane was detained in Dubai as well. A couple of UPS planes were detained and searched in the US. Air Cargo has always been a big hole where terrorists can get hold of a plane. There was an incident where a guy shipped himself to DFW on Pilot Air which was a forwarder. I worked in Freight Forwarding for many years and the assumption is that any screening is done by the shipper which has to pass a security check every so often by the TSA. Essentially a forwarder picks up the freight, then transfers it to the best way to get it there at the customers request. that can either be a commercial airline, (like Southwest, American, Delta, Etc) cargo airline (like UPS, Fed Ex, Etc) or through any of a number of Ground companies.

Several years ago, an employee shipped himself in a crate to DFW using Kitty Hawk Airlines which was the major airline we used as a cargo airline. Pilot Air only became suspicious when the guy opened the crate at the destination when he arrived. One only has to remember Fed Ex 705 where a disgruntled Fed Ex Employee flying standby tried to take over his plane by executing the flight crew. (His intention was to crash the aircraft in order to collect on his life insurance so that he would be able to send his kids to college. He was slated to be fired because he had falsified some of his resume when he was hired). It was only recently that all Air Freight slated for shipment on passenger aircraft were subject to the same screening given to luggage. Being out of the industry, I am not sure how this is working out. I know that while we screened our freight well since we shipped for a lot of major companies, it would have been easy to slip something in the freight if one had been a trusted shipper previously shipping with us. I can only hope its much different now.

I worked in Air Cargo for years and while the "trusted shipper" protocol has worked, it has its vulnerabilities. Once one establishes a relationship with a forwarder, one can ship as much as they want without further scrutiny. The onus is on the forwarder to guarantee if the shipment is safe. While it is required that parcels which are on passenger aircraft be screened, the just-in-time nature of forwarding, in which freight arrives sometimes literally just before the plane takes off, allows little time for screening and inspection.

The nature of the packaging leaves little to be desired as well. I have picked up auto shipments where bolts were leaking out of a box that wasn't prepared properly by the forwarder due to a lack of time. I had to wonder if those bolts could have gotten into some vital system on the aircraft, unlikely as it was. This whole system deserves a LOT more scrutiny.

It appears now that this incident is bringing more scrutiny to a recent crash of a UPS 747 in Dubai last month. Before the crash, the pilots, who were the only causalities, reported a fire on board. This may change how the just-in-time screening process is done and may change how freight is handled. It may end up being a boon to the charter industry since many factories cannot abide delays if they can't make a flight due to increased scrutiny.

Cost is going to be the factor that drives this debate. Just to give you an idea, I was asked once to get a bid for a charter flight for a truck frame to California from Louisville to guarantee its arrival. To charter a DC-9 from our contractor that we used the most was $32,000. I had to wonder that every time we were unloading a DC-9 charter for Ford, it was costing them not only the $32,000 they were charged by the Air Charter company, but an additional cost of maybe $3000 to offload and transport the freight to the plant which was on the other side of the airport. How much this will add to the cost of doing business is what will be weighed against the threat to the public. As always with these things, it will probably take a great loss of life before the industry finally hunkers down and allows inspections.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

On the vunerability of Air Cargo

The recent incident about bombs being aboard a UPS cargo plane has brought additional scrutiny to the problem the holes in Air Cargo which might allow a terrorist to get a bomb on a plane. Meanwhile, here in STL, they have been telling us over the boob tube that a Jewish center in Chicago was targeted and was actually sent some cartridges. Apparently they were intercepted in wither England or Dubai. While UPS was featured in the news, a Fed Ex plane was detained in Dubai as well. A couple of UPS planes were detained and searched in the US. Air Cargo has always been a big hole where terrorists can get hold of a plane. There was an incident where a guy shipped himself to DFW on Pilot Air which was a forwarder. I worked in Freight Forwarding for many years and the assumption is that any screening is done by the shipper which has to pass a security check every so often by the TSA. Essentially a forwarder picks up the freight, then transfers it to the best way to get it there at the customers request. that can either be a commercial airline, (like Southwest, American, Delta, Etc) cargo airline (like UPS, Fed Ex, Etc) or through any of a number of Ground companies.

Several years ago, an employee shipped himself in a crate to DFW using Kitty Hawk Airlines which was the major airline we used as a cargo airline. Pilot Air only became suspicious when the guy opened the crate at the destination when he arrived. One only has to remember Fed Ex 705 where a disgruntled Fed Ex Employee flying standby tried to take over his plane by executing the flight crew. (His intention was to crash the aircraft in order to collect on his life insurance so that he would be able to send his kids to college. He was slated to be fired because he had falsified some of his resume when he was hired). It was only recently that all Air Freight slated for shipment on passenger aircraft were subject to the same screening given to luggage. Being out of the industry, I am not sure how this is working out. I know that while we screened our freight well since we shipped for a lot of major companies, it would have been easy to slip something in the freight if one had been a trusted shipper previously shipping with us. I can only hope its much different now.

I worked in Air Cargo for years and while the "trusted shipper" protocol has worked, it has its vulnerabilities. Once one establishes a relationship with a forwarder, one can ship as much as they want without further scrutiny. The onus is on the forwarder to guarantee if the shipment is safe. While it is required that parcels which are on passenger aircraft be screened, the just-in-time nature of forwarding, in which freight arrives sometimes literally just before the plane takes off, allows little time for screening and inspection.

The nature of the packaging leaves little to be desired as well. I have picked up auto shipments where bolts were leaking out of a box that wasn't prepared properly by the forwarder due to a lack of time. I had to wonder if those bolts could have gotten into some vital system on the aircraft, unlikely as it was. This whole system deserves a LOT more scrutiny.

It appears now that this incident is bringing more scrutiny to a recent crash of a UPS 747 in Dubai last month. Before the crash, the pilots, who were the only causalities, reported a fire on board. This may change how the just-in-time screening process is done and may change how freight is handled. It may end up being a boon to the charter industry since many factories cannot abide delays if they can't make a flight due to increased scrutiny.

Cost is going to be the factor that drives this debate. Just to give you an idea, I was asked once to get a bid for a charter flight for a truck frame to California from Louisville to guarantee its arrival. To charter a DC-9 from our contractor that we used the most was $32,000. I had to wonder that every time we were unloading a DC-9 charter for Ford, it was costing them not only the $32,000 they were charged by the Air Charter company, but an additional cost of maybe $3000 to offload and transport the freight to the plant which was on the other side of the airport. How much this will add to the cost of doing business is what will be weighed against the threat to the public. As always with these things, it will probably take a great loss of life before the industry finally hunkers down and allows inspections.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Political Ads on my page

I have noticed of late that there has been a number of ads on my Multiply page for political candidates. Among the ones who have appeared are Roy Blunt, Ed Martin, and Christine O'Donnell. I have a feeling that Google keywords these things or since I post that I am from Missouri, they key on the candidates that I am likely to be voting for in the election. Now I detest all these candidates and after having been bombarded with them on my television, I have to have them here too? This isn't right.

Most ads seem to have been sponsored by BIPAC which stands for the Business Industry Political Action Committee which promotes a so-called "prosperity agenda" according to their website. Their board of directors reads like a mid level collection of companies fro lumbering or oil. The VP for "Government Affairs" of Haliburton sits on the board. BIPAC is among the established groups that have benefited from the "Citizens United" ruling which have allowed virtually unlimited monies into the political process, with shadowy groups and individuals contributing large amounts of money to the process without any public disclosure.

Now I commented to Google asking the ad to be removed. I was given several choices so I picked the one I thought appropriate:

This ad contains pornographic, sexual or other adult content.
This ad promotes violence or advocates against an organization, person, or protected group
I don't trust the advertiser to deliver on their claims
This ad appears to violate AdWords policies in other ways

I chose the third one since I don't think any of the advertisers can deliver on any claims.

RIP Paul

Some of you may have been privy to the news concerning Paul the psychic octopus. For the uninitiated, Paul was an ordinary octopus who lived in an aquarium in Germany. He gained international fame and fortune by predicting most of the winners of the World Cup Football (Soccer to those Americans who are quite convinced that game in which a ball thrown in the air is called "football") competition this year. He was a hero of song and story.

Sadly, last night I heard that Paul had finally succumbed to the mortality that will seize us all. Paul passed away last night. Having lived a full life, Paul will best be remembered for his love of the game and his penchant for prediction by eating his dinner.

Rest in Peace, you tentacled prognosticator.


Saturday, October 23, 2010

Flash

I had to drive in DFW last week. The people there are INSANE and they mostly love BIG cars, trucks and SUV's and they think that no traffic rule applies to them. Especially those dealing with speeding, swerving in front of each other and the like. Needless to say I was glad to get back to Missery where at least I know the crazies here. Anyway, I will tell more, but I am sorry I didn't have time to tell anyone.

I drove down to Texas to pick up a cat and a couple of other things a friend of mine down there was giving me. I got a nice BIG TV set. (Its still in the back of the Blazer. I think I will wait a couple of days to clear a spot out for it). Some DVD Gifts and one cat plus his items.




Flash is a 3 year old male cat. he's 17 pounds and HUGE! Flash is named as such because if he trusts you really nice he will lay on his back and let you rub his belly. He's a sweet little guy. I had to let him out of the carrier in Muskogee because I just didn't feel right with him confined and he was getting hot. I cranked the air up to Full and he got cooled off and I was freezing. He has the benefit of a fur coat and I don't.

Flash was a freeloader at my friend Stephanie's house. He used to belong to her neighbor who when he got divorced, kicked his wife's cats out. The wife never bothered to pick the animals up and they have been out for over a year an a half. Flash is declawed, which means he couldn't defend himself. He suffered through the winter in which the DFW Metro had more snow than St. Louis. He suffered through DFW's oppressive heat. This summer was particularly awful. So, Steph talked me into having a cat. I was a little trepadatious because its a long trip after all. I didn't want to fly him because I didn't want to trust him to a plane. Its a long drive, about 12 hours. Still, I figured I could make it.

So I wend down and spent a night asleep and then got all the stuff loaded and helped Steph prepare for a garage sale so she could get rid of some stuff as well. We took some furniture to Goodwill and then I slept again for the trip back.

I left about 9:30, a little later than I wanted to, but I needed the sleep. Flash was pretty comfortable in his carrier and he spend the first third of the trip in the front seat inside the carrier. I got misdirected when I got off at the wrong exit. I turned and some of the stuff in the back tumbled over so I had to pull over and rearrange it. Flash was a little worried because he started talking. I kept telling him I wasn't gonna leave him and after rearranging and calling for directions I got myself set up on the right highway to eventually get out of town. Flash was pretty calm thanks to some tranquilizers Steph got from her vet. Steph was also kind enough to get Flash all his shots and get him chipped so if he gets lost at least someone will know where he came from.

So I start to head north on US 75 toward Muskogee, OK and eventually north on US 69 to Interstate 44 at Big Cabin, OK. From there its a straight NE shot to St. Louis. I promised Steph I would stop every 4 hours to see if he wanted to potty. About 4 and a half hours later I am in Muskogee, OK and sitting in a Walmart parking lot (yeah I know, I am so ashamed). Anyway, I went in to get me a leash to see if I could get him out of the kitty carrier and let him move about the cabin as it were. After getting back to the car I noticed he was pretty overheated in spite of being in the car for only a few minutes. I definitely will not make that same mistake again! It was pretty comfortable in the car, with the thermometer reading only 86 degrees on my weather radio I keep in the truck. However, the anxiety of the trip combined with all the new activity and no place to hide must have got him overworked in spite of the tranquilizers. I had to wonder what he would have been like without them. But I have found Flash to be a pretty laid back cat so this was him at his most anxiety prone.

I cranked up the air and tried to get him to drink some water out of a self waterer I had just bought. He didn't drink so I thought it best to get back on the road ASAP to get the journey over with so he would get less anxious. So, no potty and no water and he is wandering all over the truck. Eventually he settled down and laid down behind me on top of my took box I keep in the truck. Its a footlocker sized thing I keep safety equipment in and he was looking pretty comfortable.

I passed through Checotah, OK as many of you will remember from when I drove the Victor/Victoria down there was the place where my humble car blew a head gasket on my last trip. The Blazer was running a little warmer than I'd like, but she was holding together pretty well considering.

Next stop was Mc Alister, OK with $2.59 cent gas. I wasn't going to pass up that price as it was 10 cents a gallon cheaper than every other station I was passing by on the way. So I stopped and Flash started talking and looking around. He was a little anxious but stayed put while I got out to pay for the gas. He laid back down and went back to sleep. I have to wonder if it was the medicine or if he had traveled before.

Tank topped off and I continued down. Since Flash didn't eat, I resolved not to either since we were sharing the hardships of the trip. I had to drink though or else I would get sleepy from dehydration. So I drank some water and some green tea I had from my little porta fridge. I kept forgetting to turn the thing on after I started up after Mc Alister so my drinks became tepid. (I had to shut it down to keep the power surges from ruining it).

I stopped at Big Cabin to get the toll booth receipt and then stopped at the toll booth on 44 to pay the Oklahoma Turnpike authority their $2.00 to maintain the highway, which they do a good job at doing. After that, I enjoyed a relatively quick trip to Joplin since I can go 75 on that stretch. I had kept my rear view turned down so I could keep an eye on Flash when I turned it up I noticed a cop following me. The truck next to us was preventing him from being able to pass as I had started to pass a big rig, so I increased my speed slightly and let him pass with a wave.

The Flying J in Joplin was my next stop to top off on Gas. Flash was a little woke up and looking around, but very well behaved. I topped off and noticed a map sale. I got me a bunch of maps for 4 bucks. Never know when those things might be handy.

I resolved to press on since Flash wasn't using the facilities at all. I figured I better get going since I had to get to work that night and I wanted to be on time. I stopped in Rolla, MO to give Flash one last chance to use the box. He tried to get out and was really talkative. I know he wanted to go, but probably had an anxiety about people seeing him using the facilities. So after a few minutes of him wandering around the truck, we finally settled on him getting back to where he was and us getting back on the road.

We got to St. Louis and I got him a litter box set up and he used it first thing after I left to get him some baby proofing stuff to keep him from getting into the cabinets.

I got to work on time and all worked out. Well I got to get. More later on Flash and his acclimation to my life.

Friday, October 15, 2010

A courageous man takes a stand

I caught this on Facebook and the original video is going viral and I will link it here. I hope you can view this video. Everyone should view this video. I know this man may pay for his honesty, but his story is compelling and deserves viewing.



By the by, if anyone wants to link to this video, please link to the original on YouTube here. I am not going to say anything else except that this is a courageous man who has decided to take a stand on an important issue and he deserves our respect and support.


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

You Might be a Republican if


By Bruce Linder


You Might be a Republican If..........

1) You believe George W. Bush's redistribution of middle-class tax cuts to the top 1% of tax-payers was good for America, but Obama's plan to return it to the middle class is 'socialism.'

2) You believe stem cells are living human beings, but thousands of Iraqi children are 'expendable collateral damage.'

3) You believe tax cuts for billionaires is a great idea, yet you wonder why the economy has stalled, your job just got outsourced to India, and oil company executives receive $400,000,000.00 retirement packages.

4) You believe the surge worked because the violence in Iraq is back to 2006 levels, which is only horrible, compared to what it was in 2007; intolerable. Besides, Brit Hume said so.

5) You think trial lawyers are harmful to America, yet you support prosecuting some guy in Muncie Indiana who burned his 99� American flag that was made in China by forced child labor.

6) You're all for the 'rule of law' when it's applied to Bill Clinton for lying about his infidelity, but not for prosecuting Karl Rove and Scooter Libby for committing treason.

7) You think George W. Bush is actually a really smart guy, but his folksy manner just makes him seem dumber than he really is.

8) You believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own, and that those who are born to poverty and never have opportunities for advancement, got what they deserved.

9) You believe Ronald Reagan was a great president who had complete control of all aspects of government, but the Iran-Contra Affair was an insignificant scandal that went on without his knowledge.

10) You believe Democrats tax and spend, but George W. Bush was a fiscal conservative.

11) You believe Oliver North, who was CONVICTED of perjury, obstruction of justice, destroying evidence and accepting bribes, is a patriot. But John Kerry, who saved a man's life while under enemy fire in Vietnam is a coward.

12) You believe George W. Bush kept us safe from terror, and the failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks were Clinton's fault.

13) You actually believe Fox News is fair & balanced.

14) You still believe Saddam had truckloads of WMDs, and that he somehow managed to sneak them into Syria, right under our noses.

15) You believe Terri Schiavo was sentient all along, and Bill Frist had the ability to diagnose her condition by watching a 5 second video of her sleeping.

16) You're in favor of stronger prison sentences for drug users, yet your favorite radio personality is Rush Limbaugh.

17) You complain about having to press 1 for English, yet you hire undocumented workers to mow your lawn because they're cheaper than hiring the kid next door.

18) Homosexuality is abhorrent to you, except when a Republican senator, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and a planted White House journalist get caught having sexual affairs with gay men. Then you suddenly feel sorry for them.

19) The war in Iraq makes perfect sense to you, but any suggestion by Barack Obama that we target al Qaeda specifically is 'dangerous and reckless.'

20) You don't mind that president Bush tortured men who were never charged with a crime, yet you're horrified by the wrath of al Qaeda when they capture one of our guys.

21) You believe the 1/10 of 1% of scientists who claim global warming is a hoax, and reject the 99.9% who say it's real, because Sean Hannity and his friends in the oil industry have convinced you that science is a part of a greater liberal conspiracy.

22) You believe patriotism means you should support your government right or wrong ... unless a Democrat's in power, then it's your patriotic duty to call him a closet Muslim, challenge his birth certificate, expose his sex life and impeach him.

23) You're proud of your party's 'culture of life.' Yet you support the death penalty for minors, you believe 600,000 dead Iraqis is justified because one of them was Saddam Hussein, and you oppose confronting the genocide in Darfur because they don't have oil.

24) You support prayer in school, as long as your kids aren't subjected to Muslim prayers.

25) You think Darwin's theory of evolution is a loony fairy tale, and mankind actually began with two naked teenagers, a magic apple and a talking snake.

26) You think $35 billion spent on health care for children is a waste of taxpayer's money, but $1.7 trillion spent on a catastrophic war that has isolated us from our allies, decimated our economy and made us less safe was money well spent.

27) You believe embargoing communist Cuba is sound foreign policy, but trading with China is just good business.

28) You believe Bill Clinton was an immoral cad, but Newt Gingrich and Henry Hyde were faithful husbands (and Larry Craig just has a wide stance).

29) You fervently defend the Constitution, but when president Bush got caught monitoring 300 million phones without a warrant, politicizing our justice system, hyping evidence for going to war and pardoning a convicted perjurer who just happened to be on his staff, then it's okay, because he was 'protecting America.'

30) You were outraged when a gallon of gasoline went from $1.29 to $1.40 during the two terms of the Clinton presidency, but you didn't seem to mind when prices tripled under George W. Bush, the "oil man."

31) You were furious when Bill Clinton pardoned international commodities trader Marc Rich, who was convicted of tax evasion, but applauded when George W. Bush exonerated Scooter Libby for obstructing justice to protect Dick Cheney from a treason indictment.

32) With no evidence whatsoever, you complained of 'voter fraud,' and demanded that thousands of blacks be scrubbed from voting lists during the 2004 election in Ohio, yet when Rush Limbaugh asked his audience to illegally claim to be Democrats and vote for Hillary Clinton during the Ohio Primary in February to "stir up trouble," a FELONY, you were okay with that.

33) You believe Barack Obama should be held accountable for every sermon that Jeremiah Wright ever gave, but John McCain, who sought the endorsement of anti-Semitic, xenophobic, openly racist and homophobic pastors should be given a pass.

34) You believe Barack Obama is either a secret Muslim, was actually born in Kenya, and his parents forged a fake birth certificate when he was born - just in case he should ever run for president, or that his father's nationality disqualifies his son from being president, all because you read that on the Internet.

35) You believe the 8 consecutive years of prosperity and strong economic growth from 1993 - 2001 was due to the work of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, but today's recession is all Clinton's and Obama's fault.

36) You laugh at how much better Barack Obama speaks with a TelePrompTer than without one, yet you never mention the fact that even with a TelePrompTer, every time George Bush opened his mouth, gibberish tumbled out.

37) You still believe Barack Obama has somehow succeeded in fooling every government and independent examination with his "obviously Photoshopped" documents. Instead, you rely on Internet gossip, WorldNetDaily and Jerome Corsi as your sources for "truth."

38) Your conservative media spent more air time discussing Michelle Obama touching the queen of England's arm than on the economy, the environment, terrorism and health care combined.

39) You believe that we should get out of Afghanistan because Obama is "nation building," yet for eight straight years of Bush's bumbling incompetence there, you kept mum. Therefore, attacking Iraq makes sense, even though they never threatened us, but finishing off the job of finding Osama bin Laden; the terrorist who killed 3,000 Americans -- Bush's original task -- is a dumb idea.

40) You were furious that Barack Obama admitted in France that Americans have occasionally been "arrogant, dismissive and derisive," but you cheered them on when Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld were arrogant, dismissive and derisive.

41) You believe that Obama's $3.6 trillion budget is an outrage, but never once complained that George Bush turned Bill Clinton's $300 billion surplus into a $1.3 trillion deficit. And it never once occurred to you that Bush deliberately omitted the Iraq and Afghanistan wars from those statistics, which means Bush's TRUE deficit was $3.1 trillion.

42) You supported Gov. Sarah Palin, partly because you believed she kept a good Christian home. This, despite the fact that her seventeen year old unmarried daughter was knocked up, her son was accused of vandalizing 44 school buses (cutting the brake lines of school buses - HELLO!!?) and was given the choice of going to jail or join the military, and Palin herself was found guilty of abusing the power of her office. But Barack Obama can't possibly be a true Christian, because his father was a Muslim, and his middle name is Hussein. (Besides, he's black, and everybody knows that Jesus was a blond haired blue eyed white man.)

43) You believe the only solution to gun violence is to make sure everybody is armed to the teeth. That way, when some crazy person goes on a killing spree, right-thinking people will take out the killer, and tranquility will prevail throughout the land.

44) You believe the mainstream news anchors are crazy, biased and filled with hate, but Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity are rational, accurate and informative.

45) You defend Rush Limbaugh's right to wish for Obama to fail, and therefore, the failure of our republic, yet you call Democrats the "blame America first crowd."

46) You claim that the economic crisis is the fault of the Democrats, but never mention that it was the Reagan administration that massively deregulated the banking industry in 1982, and it was Phil Gramm - McCain's choice for economic advisor - who completed the task for his pals in the banking industry in 1999.

47) You believe the failure of the US automobile industry is primarily the fault of the unions, and not because management of the three corporations insisted on producing vehicles that nobody wanted. And you're angry with the $28.00 per hour average wage of the work force, but you believe that the multimillion dollar salaries of the men who bankrupted the industry are perfectly reasonable.

48) You believe Barack Obama is a "narcissistic megalomaniac," because you heard Glenn Beck call him that once, but Beck himself is a humble man, concerned only for your welfare (brought to you by Goldline!).

49) You believe anybody who doesn't subscribe to Orly Taitz' birther movement is a RINO, and those who do, are carrying the torch of Reaganism.

50) You think this list is mean-spirited and biased, and even though you privately acknowledge to yourself that it's all true, you believe the Democrats are just as bad. Here's a bulletin: Nobody has ever been this bad.

(51) You praise Reagan as your tax-cutting, anti-spending role model while conveniently forgetting that Reagan RAISED taxes in 1982, 1983,1984, and 1986 while spending more that all the Presidents before him COMBINED.

(52)
If you believe that "we cannot abandon Baghdad..." because its our God-given mission to "liberate Iraq", but its OK to leave the American citizens of New Orleans stranded on their rooftops, let to die in their own waste following hurricane Katrina because "there were a lot of bad people in New Orleans..."

(53)
If you claim you want smaller government with less power but support repealing the 17th Amendment which would give the government the power to hand pick Senators and take the right of we the people from voting for the candidate of our choice.

(54) You keep calling everyone who had their job outsourced by the policies of the last administration of being lazy bums who should just go get a job and stop stealing your tax dollars.

(55) You think we can pay our doctors with a chicken, that there are be-headings all over the Arizona border, Sharia Law has been put into effect anywhere within the United States borders and that scientists have transplanted human brains into mice.

I have to love it



If you aren't aware, I live in the 2nd Congressional District in Missouri. Here we have two candidates vying for the position of filling the seat in this election. The incumbent, Congressman Russ Carnahan is a nice guy and a very good fellow to know. Decent man whom I have met on a few occasions.

His competitor is a man by the name of Ed Martin. Ed's a lawyer and according to the Committee on Responsibilty and Ethics in Washington, he is one of the 12 sleaziest politicians vying for elective office in the country. Yes, that's right THE COUNTRY. Needless to say, Ed is supported by the Tea Party crowd.

However someone has a sense of humor. Some soul put a home made sign in support of Ed on Interstate 55 south of St. Louis so that all could see it from the highway. Gracing a Hill the sign read:


Now comes the humor part. Some other well meaning soul decided to alter the sign slightly:

Ahhh, the dirty politics. I can promise you I was not the soul who altered the sign. However, Given sufficient time, motivation and an indication of the location of said sign, I might be convinced to embark on such an undertaking. Someone beat me to it.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Phuket Air

In my irregular series of aviation blogs I though I might inject a little humor here. As many of you know, there is a resort city in Thailand called Phuket. Its a wonderful resort which suffered at the ravages of the 2005 Tsunami in which 230 people were killed on the island of Phuket. Anyway, in 1999 Vikrom Aisiri, a Thai multimillionaire and his wife got together to form an Airline which they named Phuket Air. They started by leasing a few 737's and I started to notice after they got a few 747's from KLM. To see the word Phuket painted in huge letters on the side of a plane was sure to bring laughter to all of use in the air Cargo business and pretty soon the work was about in our office that if we just didn't want a piece of cargo to go anywhere we could just ship it on Phuket Air, using an exaggerated American pronunciation of the phonetics of the word. OK, Just day Fuckit Air and you get the drift.

Phuket Air eventually overexpanded and with the result was banned from flights to Europe due to safety and maintenance concerns. That airline stopped flying revenue passengers in 2005 and now serves as a wet-lease company flying overflow passengers for other airlines in the region and supplying air service to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj.

Where do Right and Left merge?

Remember the old saying that two wrongs don't make a right but three do? I have heard recently that the some right wingers consider Hitler a leftist since his party was called the National SOCIALIST Workers Party. I learned in school that eventually the political systems merge in a great circle and can be expressed as such.

Once you get to a certain point, the two sides merge, rightist authoritarian, and leftest authoritarian. To argue that Hitler was a Leftist is idiotic. The Right wing in this country is using the same propagandist tactics that Hitler and Goebbels used in their rise to power and having the same coalition of business elites and conservative socialites in order to consolidate their power. The Right is characterized by authoritarian and increasingly dictatorial need to control what the citizenry does. Rights are supposedly respected up to a point where it interferes with the control of peoples lives and habits.

I had an economics professor state to me once that the only really true socialist state was Jesus Christ and his disciples. In that, I think he meant that they cared for one another in a socially beneficial way.

The idea of the conservative in small government means that we are to have limited government services provided by a for profit, private industry with the benefits going to the industry and not the people. That's the way health care in this country has worked as an example. While most "socialist" countries in Europe manage their health care systems for the benefit and use by the people, in our country, the health care system is managed for the benefit of only those that can afford it or afford the insurance premiums. The medical-insurance-pharmaceutical complex is geared to develop maximum profit without benefit to the people. While we have great advances in health care, those benefits only trickle down to a relative few who can afford expensive, experimental procedures that insurance companies refuse to cover. The insurance industry is geared to return profits at the expense of peoples lives by denying coverage when a patient causes the company to loose money.

I have had many friends who have had their coverage denied or eliminated because they cost the companies too much money. The only death panels that exist are those at the insurance companies which deny coverage for people that have become too sick to make a profit. These panels at the insurance companies kill thousands each year by denying coverage to people at worst, at best they cost the taxpayers billions by forcing people to the state rolls for health care.

If we want to talk a nanny state, then the Right in this country wants a nanny state that regulates our sexuality, our birth and death patterns, where and how we shop, and a state of regulations where business is allowed to run rampant throughout the economy doing anything to make a buck regardless of the hurt it costs the people. An example of this is the lack of financial regulation promulgated by the right wing which, after dismantling the market regulations and controls promoted by the New Deal, caused the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. We are poised now to reelect the same group back to government in this country which caused the problems we are only now recovering from and will take several years to get back to any semblance of solvency.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Stolen from Sharon - Questions and answers

1. Were You Named After Anyone? I have 4 brothers. My Mom got all our names from the Bible. I have a brother named David, Peter and Paul. My name Stephen is after the first Christian Martyr which kinda gives me a complex... ;-)

2. Do You Like Handwriting? I can't write very long. I prefer typing.

3. What Is Your Favorite Lunch Meat? Smoked Turkey and smoked ham. I loathe Baloney, but will eat it.

4. Have Kids? Who would want to bring a kid in this world? Really I don't have anyone to have kids with anyway.



5. If You Were Another Person, Would You Be Friends With You? Good Question. I can be a good friend. Someone has to interest me to be a friend and I am very fascinating.

6. Do You Use Sarcasm A Lot? Yes I love Sarcasm.



7. Do You Still Have Your Tonsils? Yes I think so. I don't remember.

8. Would You Bungee Jump? I like keeping the contents of my bladder inside thank you very much.

9. What Is Your Favorite Cereal? Rasin Bran.

10. Do You Untie Your Shoes Before You Take Them Off? No.

11. What Is Your Favorite Ice Cream? Marshmallow Swirl

12. What Is The First Thing You Notice About People? I tend to notice personality. The attitude is what people project.

13. Red or Pink? Red. are you kidding?

14. Who Do You Miss The Most? I don't know.

15.What Is The Least Favorite Thing About Yourself? I'm overweight.

16. What Color Shoes Are You Wearing? none. Socks. I am in front of the computer so I am at home.

17. What Was The Last Thing You Ate? I had a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches a couple of hours ago.

18. What Are You Listening To Right Now? ABC's Americas Funniest Home videos.

19. If You Where A Crayon, What Color Would You Be? Blue

20. Favorite Smells? Forrest tree scent or Sea breeze

21. Who Was The Last Person You Talked To On The Phone? Stephanie

22. Do You Like The Person Who Sent This To You? Of course. That's a stupid question.

23. Favorite Sports to Watch? I am really not a sports fan. I see most of them as a bunch of overpaid idiots with overinflated egos.

24. Hair Color? Brown

25. Eye Color? Brown One girlfriend said I had intense brown eyes.

26. Do You Wear Contacts? No

27. Favorite Food? Fried Chicken.

28. Scary Movies Or Happy Endings? Happy endings. I like Romantic comedies with a good dialogue and wonderful by play between the characters.

29. Last Movie You Watched? Clash of the Titans (2010)

30. What Color Shirt Are You Wearing? White

31. Summer Or Winter? I have a conflict here. I hate being too hot and being too cold. I prefer Fall and Spring.

32. Hugs Or Kisses? Hugs if they are a friend. Kisses if they are a good girl friend.

33. Favorite Dessert? Chocolate cake

34. Most Likely To Respond? Who knows who cares.

35. Least Likely To Respond? See above

36. What Book Are You Reading Now? God I have too many.

37. Where Would You Like To Go On Vacation? Cook Islands or the Kennedy Space Center.

38. Where is the most different place you ever went on vacation? Haven't really had a "Different" vacation. I went to Montana once, but ended up having to help someone move. Not a fun vacation.


39. What Is On Your Mouse Pad? No mouse pad I have a trackball mouse.

40. Favorite Sound? The ocean or a forest with birds tweeting.

41. Rolling Stones Or Beatles? Do I have to choose? I was never really a fan of either

42. What Is The Farthest You Have Been From Home? Montana

43. Do You Have A Special Talent Music? I love listening to it, but no real talent for playing it.

About Me

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I am interested in CNG vehicles because they are good for the environment and aren't powered by dead Marines. I still have a little hope for the world. Read the musings and enjoy.