. . . for those who kill their brothers-in-arms.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Staying cool . . .
. . . can save your life.
But panic can kill you.
On 16 SEP, a highway patrolman, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law were killed in a crash because the accelerator pedal on the loner toyota they were driving stuck down.
Actully, the stuck accelerator didn't kill them, the panic did.
If your accelerator pedal stuck, what would you do?
1) Jam on the brakes?
2) Turn off the ignition?
3) Put it in neutral?
If you chose 1 or 2, you're likely dead. Here's why.
1) Wrong! If you jam on the brakes, they probably won't be able to hold against the engine, and will burn out. Then, you have a stuck accelerator AND no brakes.
2) Wrong! That will kill the engine, but most cars today (in the US at least) have that theft-defeating steering wheel lock. Now, you have a stuck accelerator AND no steering.
3) Right! That may blow up the engine, but at least you're not accelerating, and you DO have brakes and steering.
The 911 call is really disturbing to me for two reasons. First, the guy in the car taking way too long to describe the situation. That's understandable because he's in dire stress. Second, the 911 operator has no sense of urgency. What bearing does "where are you?" have on the emergency? Instead of saying "Can't you turn it off?" he needed to say "PUT IT IN NEUTRAL!"
I know that's second guessing, and I wasn't there. But every driver and every 911 operator should be trained on this situation.
. . . can save your life.
But panic can kill you.
On 16 SEP, a highway patrolman, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law were killed in a crash because the accelerator pedal on the loner toyota they were driving stuck down.
Actully, the stuck accelerator didn't kill them, the panic did.
If your accelerator pedal stuck, what would you do?
1) Jam on the brakes?
2) Turn off the ignition?
3) Put it in neutral?
If you chose 1 or 2, you're likely dead. Here's why.
1) Wrong! If you jam on the brakes, they probably won't be able to hold against the engine, and will burn out. Then, you have a stuck accelerator AND no brakes.
2) Wrong! That will kill the engine, but most cars today (in the US at least) have that theft-defeating steering wheel lock. Now, you have a stuck accelerator AND no steering.
3) Right! That may blow up the engine, but at least you're not accelerating, and you DO have brakes and steering.
The 911 call is really disturbing to me for two reasons. First, the guy in the car taking way too long to describe the situation. That's understandable because he's in dire stress. Second, the 911 operator has no sense of urgency. What bearing does "where are you?" have on the emergency? Instead of saying "Can't you turn it off?" he needed to say "PUT IT IN NEUTRAL!"
I know that's second guessing, and I wasn't there. But every driver and every 911 operator should be trained on this situation.
Friday, October 30, 2009
The mouths in the bus . . .
. . . go "YAP YAP YAP"
Maybe it's because it's Friday, and everyone is happy to be off work.
Or, maybe they're just clods.
I'm sitting about three-fourths of the way to the rear of the bus. One lady sits in the seat in front of me. One lady sits a row behind me on the other side of the aisle. The guy sits in the front.
This is all nice, except they want to talk to each other for most of the ride. By talk, I mean YELL, because the bus is noisy, and they can't hear each other unless they YELL.
So, they YELL.
And LAUGH.
And YELL some more.
Which would have been fairly excusable for a pack of teenagers, except all of these people were grown adults.
Clods it is.
. . . go "YAP YAP YAP"
Maybe it's because it's Friday, and everyone is happy to be off work.
Or, maybe they're just clods.
I'm sitting about three-fourths of the way to the rear of the bus. One lady sits in the seat in front of me. One lady sits a row behind me on the other side of the aisle. The guy sits in the front.
This is all nice, except they want to talk to each other for most of the ride. By talk, I mean YELL, because the bus is noisy, and they can't hear each other unless they YELL.
So, they YELL.
And LAUGH.
And YELL some more.
Which would have been fairly excusable for a pack of teenagers, except all of these people were grown adults.
Clods it is.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Barry O . . .
. . . socialist extraordinaire
Exact quotes:
The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned.
And one of the I think the tragedies of the Civil Rights movement was because the Civil Rights movement became so court focused I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change and in some ways we still suffer from that."
If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to vest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples so that, uh, I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at a lunch counter and -- and order and as long as I could pay for it I'd be okay. But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society.
2008: I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody.
So, if you're having trouble distributing YOUR money to folks who think they need it more, Barry's your guy.
Don't yell at me. YOU elected him. I didn't.
. . . socialist extraordinaire
Exact quotes:
The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned.
And one of the I think the tragedies of the Civil Rights movement was because the Civil Rights movement became so court focused I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change and in some ways we still suffer from that."
If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to vest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples so that, uh, I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at a lunch counter and -- and order and as long as I could pay for it I'd be okay. But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society.
2008: I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody.
So, if you're having trouble distributing YOUR money to folks who think they need it more, Barry's your guy.
Don't yell at me. YOU elected him. I didn't.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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