Category Archives: Romney

More unintended consequences

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In the aftermath of 9-11 and the aircraft hijackings, the FAA issues some directives concerning aircraft structure and modifications to make similar hijackings more difficult. One of these changes was strengthening the cockpit door. Before 9-11, the door, if it existed, was of light aluminum. It was for crew privacy more than anything else. Afterwards the door was strengthened to prevent someone from simply kicking it open.

I had a thought about that door at the time. What would happen if it got stuck? Well, that’s now happened.

Delta: Pilot Locked Out Of Cockpit In Flight From MN To Las Vegas

January 29, 2015 4:37 PM

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Delta Air Lines flight traveling from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Las Vegas has landed safely at its destination after the pilot was unable to reenter the cockpit, according to the airline.

According to a statement from Delta, prior to the plane’s final approach the captain was not able to enter the flight deck due to a door jam. The First Officer, or co-pilot, was able to then take control and land the aircraft safely without incident.

“A commercial aircraft can be landed with one pilot at the control and Delta pilots are fully trained to do so if the situation were to occur,” Delta said.

The door will be evaluated by Delta maintenance technicians.

Frankly, I’m surprised something like this hasn’t happened before. It may have on a non-passenger or cargo flight where it would have received much less notice. The problem with strengthening the door, making it more rigid, is that airplanes aren’t rigid. They flex.

On the tarmac, the wings and fuselage droop. The wings droop more with filled with fuel. In flight, the wings rise. If you look out the window in flight you can actually see the wings curve upward. The aircraft body, in flight and on the ground flexes in numerous ways.

When a plane is in flight, fuel is burned, air density changes with altitude and weather. The forces and stress on the aircraft changes and the aircraft flexes. People moving around inside changes the weight and balance of the aircraft. Sometimes cargo shifts slightly. All these changes could cause the new, stronger, cockpit door to get pinched in it’s frame. If the pilot has to visit the head (the restroom for you non-military folks), a sudden change of those stresses and forces could cause the cockpit door to bind behind the pilot…locking the pilot out and locking the copilot in.

The copilot is often as fully experienced as the pilot, only lacking flight hours and time in service to be bumped to pilot. In this circumstance, pity the poor copilot. The pilot is locked out, he’s locked in, and both have been swilling coffee for hours!

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Breaking news! Mitt Romney won’t run for Prez in 2016. Whoop! I also heard all his moneymen slithered off to back Jeb Bush. Other close advisors say Romney will support some new, unannounced candidate. Hope it’s not another RINO like Lindsay Grahamnesty.

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Ref yesterday’s post about the FCC. The FCC issued new regulations concerning internet speed. It actually does nothing except when it comes to reports concerning the number of people with access to “high-speed broadband internet.” When the facts don’t support the FCC’s agenda, change the labels to change the numbers to support the agenda!

FCC raises threshold for high-speed internet as service providers cry foul

New benchmark means 55 million Americans currently lack broadband access after chairman derides internet companies’ advertisement claims

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday changed the definition of broadband to increase the threshold speed – a move that has already angered cable companies.

In a 3-2 vote, the commission approved a measure that increases the minimum standard for broadband speed, giving the agency more power to force internet service providers to improve their service.

The definition of broadband is set to be raised from 4 megabits per second (Mbps) to 25Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps to 3Mbps for uploads.

With that speed as the benchmark, significantly fewer Americans have access to high-speed broadband. Under the previous definition, 19 million Americans were without access; the new definition means that 55 million Americans – 17% of the population – now do not have access to high-speed broadband, according to the FCC’s 2015 Broadband Progress Report, which is in the final editing process but was cited at the hearing.

Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC is responsible for ensuring that broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion”.

The FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler, had repeatedly expressed support for the proposal ahead of the vote. In his remarks at the vote meeting, he was critical of telecommunications companies including Verizon, Comcast and AT&T. He said these companies’ statements to the commission differ wildly from what they tell consumers – part of his testimony included an incredulous reading of advertisements promoting the company’s seemingly fast broadband speeds.

“Our challenge is not to hide behind self-serving lobbying statements, but to recognize reality,” said Wheeler. “And our challenge is to help make that reality available to all.”

The cable industry’s largest lobby group, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), said in a statement that changing the definition is an attempt by the FCC to expand its ability to regulate industry:

“While cable network internet speeds already meet and exceed the FCC’s new broadband description, we are troubled that the Commission majority has arbitrarily chosen a definition of broadband in its Section 706 report that ignores how millions of consumers currently access the Internet. Instead of an accurate assessment of America’s broadband marketplace and the needs and uses of consumers, the FCC action is industrial policy that is not faithful to Congress’s direction in Section 706 to assess the market, but a clear effort to justify and expand the bounds of the FCC’s own authority.”

US broadband speeds clock in as the 25th fastest in the world, according to analyst Ookla’s Net Index. Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan top the list. Countries including Finland, France and the Netherlands boast of higher speeds than the US.

In reality, this change affects those broadband providers that use DSL technology instead of the faster cable based methods used by Comcast, Time-Warner, and others. Telecommunication carriers like AT&T use DSL taking advantage of their embedded facilities, often 2-wire telephone cables to individual homes. The internet speed of DSL is less the further the home is from the carrier’s local central office or remote signal amplifiers.

If you read the comments by FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn who voted for the change, you’ll understand this is nothing more than political maneuvering to acquire more federal power over providers.

“What is crystal clear to me is that the broadband speeds of yesterday are woefully inadequate today and beyond,” said Clyburn. — The UK Guardian.

FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, who opposed the change said this:

O’Rielly said he supports expanding broadband access but that the report relies on “intentionally flawed analysis”. He said that increasing the definition does not resolve broadband access because it does not include a plan to promote deployment in the areas lacking it.

“Selecting an artificially high standard and applying it in a way that is impossible to meet in order to reach all Americans certainly in the near term makes a mockery of a process that was supposed to provide an honest assessment of broadband deployment in the United States.” — The UK Guardian.

This is, in part, reminiscent of the Broadband fiasco here in Cass County—a federal solution is search of an issue. Millions wasted nation-wide on an agenda what couldn’t be supported by fact. There are methods to acquire broadband internet access where cable and DSL does not exist. Yes, it may be more expensive but it exists. The fallacy of government is to use taxpayer money to subsidize those few users.

Every day another federal agency sticks its foot into the political arena supporting some liberal agenda. And every day, I make another federal agency that has proved its worthlessness. The FCC is near the top of my list.

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Repeating Losing Tactics

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The RNC is meeting this week supposedly to address issues for the upcoming mid-term elections. Instead, they are talking about changes for the 2016 presidential election. Their idea? Move the party’s convention date forward, from September to June. Mitt just didn’t have enough time before the November election.

Once again, the ‘Pub establishment refuses to really examine the 2012 presidential loss. Romney didn’t lose because he didn’t have enough campaign time. He lost because he was a weak candidate, another wishy-washy ‘moderate’ with no real conservative roots. Romney and the ‘Pub establishment alienated the GOP core voters who, instead of following the party in lockstep, stayed home rather than vote for a candidate with no discernible values, platform nor agenda.

RNC LOOKS READY TO ROLL THE DICE ON 2016 PRIMARY PLAN

The Republican National Committee, meeting in Washington this week, is talking a lot about beefing up its ground game for midterm elections. What’s really driving the discussion among committee members, though, are proposed changes to the party’s presidential nominating process. Casting an eye back to the grueling primary process of 2012, committee member seem inclined to shorten the nomination process for 2016 – with a nominee and running mate emerging from a convention in June rather than September. Getting Republicans to coalesce around a frontrunner sooner would have likely helped 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, but the strategy holds its risks for the next cycle.
 
Advantage – Cutting down the calendar and the number of debates means less infighting and enables a nominee to preserve resources for a general-election fight. If the nomination has been locked up as early as March, that’s much more time for Republicans to turn their fire to the Democratic frontrunner.
 
Disadvantage – That’s a long time for a GOP nominee (and running mate) to sit on the shelf to be scrutinized by the press and Democrats. The status quo puts the ticket out on the trail for a six-week mad dash to Election Day. This would mean three months of microscope gazing. And while the goal is to make it harder for flash-in-the-pan candidates since a shorter process means a greater need for big money and national organization at the outset of the primary race, a rapid-fire primary could also work to the advantage of a surge candidate. Romney was able to weather multiple surges from the likes of Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich. A well-timed burst in a quick process might have made either of them the GOP nominee last time. — FOXNewsletter, January 23, 2014.

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Matt Bevin, who is running against RINO Mitch McConnell in Kentucky’s primary for the US Senate, picked up another endorsement this week. Freedom Works announced yesterday they will be supporting Bevin against McConnell.

FreedomWorks backs McConnell challenger in Kentucky

Tea party group to spend heavily against GOP leader

By Kellan Howell, The Washington Times, Wednesday, January 22, 2014

U.S. Senate candidate Matt Bevin speaks at a meet and greet, Tuesday Jan. 14, 2014 in Henderson, Ky. The Louisville businessman is running against Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky's GOP primary next May. (AP Photo/The Gleaner, Mike Lawrence)

U.S. Senate candidate Matt Bevin speaks at a meet and greet, Tuesday Jan. 14, 2014 in Henderson, Ky. The Louisville businessman is running against Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky’s GOP primary next May.

Conservative superPac FreedomWorks has endorsed the primary challenger to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the upcoming Republican primary in Kentucky.

The Louisville Courtier Journal reported that tea party group would spend as much as $500,000 helping businessman and political newcomer Matt Bevin against Mr. McConnell in the Republican primary in May.

FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe told the newspaper that the group will help organize grassroots opposition to Mr. McConnell, who Mr. Kibbe said has been in Washington for too long.

“For far too long Mitch McConnell has sat on the sidelines of pivotal fights, helping the Democrats pass unprecedented surveillance powers, the TARP/Wall Street bailout, numerous tax hikes and debt-ceiling increases, and Medicare Part D. Most recently, he orchestrated the McConnell-Reid sellout bargain to increase the debt limit and fully fund a broken health care law, getting a $1.2 billion “special project kickback” in the process,” Mr. Kibbe said. 

He added, “Kentucky deserves better, and looking at the dropping poll numbers for McConnell, there’s no reason to settle.”

In response, the McConnell campaign said FreedomWorks has lost its way.

“FreedomWorks was a constructive partner in the conservative movement and had been supportive of Senator McConnell’s efforts to stop Obamacare and protect the First Amendment when many organizations were afraid to speak out, but internal problems unfortunately have changed their focus from conservative reform to conservative cannibalism in order to pay the bills,” McConnell spokeswoman Allison Moore said in a statement.

Freedom works has changed to “conservative cannibalism in order to pay the bills,” according to McConnell’s campaign. They must be scared and that couldn’t happen to be better RINO. McConnell must go!

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Remember the electric car fad? Yeah, the one that was supposed to cure all the ills of the internal combustion engine. ‘Course the proponents forgot all about that one important detail…generating electrical power, to recharge those electric cars, burns coal. Now there’s another issue that has appeared. Another scarce resource has arisen—charging stations!

Charge rage’: Too many electric cars, not enough workplace chargers

By Dana Hull, dhull@mercurynews.com

Eager to reduce energy use, German software company SAP installed 16 electric vehicle charging ports in 2010 at its Palo Alto campus for the handful of employees who owned electric vehicles.

Just three years later, SAP faces a problem that is increasingly common at Silicon Valley companies — far more electric cars than chargers. Sixty-one of the roughly 1,800 employees on the campus now drive a plug-in vehicle, overwhelming the 16 available chargers. And as demand for chargers exceeds supply, a host of thorny etiquette issues have arisen, along with some rare but notorious incidents of “charge rage.”

“In the beginning, all of our EV drivers knew each other, we had enough infrastructure, and everyone was happy. That didn’t last for long,” said Peter Graf, SAP’s chief sustainability officer and the driver of a Nissan Leaf. “Cars are getting unplugged while they are actively charging, and that’s a problem. Employees are calling and messaging each other, saying, ‘I see you’re fully charged, can you please move your car?'”

SAP is now drafting charging guidelines for its EV-driving employees.

You can read the entire report here. Another ‘unintended consequence’ of the greenies.

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In closing today, I’ll label this report as another entry in the Dinosaur Media Deathwatch—CNN lays off 40 ‘journalists.’

CNN lays off more than 40 journalists

By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles

CNN has laid off more than 40 senior journalists in its newsgathering operation – including a pregnant producer who was two weeks away from giving birth to twins – as part of a reorganisation of the business under Jeff Zucker.

The cutting of production and editorial staff at the Time Warner-owned group comes as Mr Zucker tries to re-establish CNN as the dominant force in 24 hour cable news, a crown it lost several years ago to Fox News Channel.

The lay-offs at CNN and HLN, its sister network, were concentrated in Washington, Atlanta and Los Angeles at the end of 2013. CNN declined to comment on the laying off the pregnant news producer, who worked for the company for more than a decade, saying it could not comment on individual employees.

The lay-offs at CNN and HLN, its sister network, were concentrated in Washington, Atlanta and Los Angeles at the end of 2013. CNN declined to comment on the laying off the pregnant news producer, who worked for the company for more than a decade, saying it could not comment on individual employees.

The lay-offs coincide with changes to the network’s programming. Mr Zucker has hired new presenters and diversified CNN’s output, adding documentary and reality series to its traditional live news coverage.

Zucker thought adding documentaries and reality shows would boost CNN’s ratings against FOX. Evidently, the thought of reporting unbiased news never occurred to him.

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Friday Follies for Friday, May 27, 2011

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My Tahoe is back in my garage.

Sigh…
I feel like Linus when his blanket is returned to him.

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The political sphere is all agasp!  Palin is on the road again in her Red-White-Blue tour bus.  What does it mean!?!?

She’s not saying at the moment.  The tour will start with the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally. From there it will travel the east coast visiting historical sites—and meeting folks all along the way.

Regardless of the sentiments of the MSM and the ‘Pub establishment, Palin is a money raiser and vote getter.  When word began to be leaking that Palin was running for Prez, her poll ratings jumped.  Dramatically.  Earlier polls placed Palin well down in the pack of potential ‘Pub candidates.  Now, when it appears that she is really going to run, she bounces to within two points of Romney, the current leader.

Despite all the dissin’ she gets from the establishment of both parties, no one can deny that her name has drawing power.

She has my vote.  I’d have preferred she ran for Prez the last time instead of that worthless RINO from Arizona.

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Speaking of Romney…

He has a 20-ton Albatross hanging around his neck called Romney care.  Yes, he has a business background. Yes, he did well running the Salt Lake City Olympics.  But when it came to governing Massachusetts, he revealed his RINO core—then denied it.

Let me count the ways.  From the Washington Examiner.

The Massachusetts plan was a free market approach, but ObamaCare is a government takeover:
In December 2009, when the so-called “public option” went down in flames in the U.S. Senate, so too did Romney’s ability to distinguish the structure of his plan from President Obama’s in any meaningful way.
Both plans force individuals to purchase insurance under the threat of a penalty, expand Medicaid, and provide subsidies for individuals to purchase government-designed insurance policies on a government run exchange.
One of the main architects of the Massachusetts plan, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, went on to be a paid consultant for Obama and a booster of his health care plan. He recently told the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin that Romney’s plan “gave birth” to ObamaCare.
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It’s the Democrats fault:

The attempt to shift blame to Massachusetts Democrats normally has several iterations. One argument is that Romney used his line-item veto to remove many of the mandates and other objectionable items from the bill, but was overruled by the Democratic legislature. Another is that it fell on Democrats to implement the plan because he left office before the law went into effect, and they messed it up. Neither of these arguments stands up to much scrutiny.

While Romney may have used his line-item veto to reject certain provisions of the law, this was purely symbolic because he knew he was dealing with an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature that would override him. Whatever his frustrations were with the final bill, it didn’t stop Romney from holding a high-profile signing ceremony with Sen. Ted Kennedy at his side five years ago today, or from boasting of his accomplishment in the WSJ op-ed quoted above, entitled, “Health Care For Everyone? We found a way.” (Emphasis mine. – Crucis)

Trying to deflect criticism by pointing to flawed implementation is an even weaker argument. To start, the version of the health care law that he signed had the key features that have drawn the most criticism. Beyond that, Romney announced he wouldn’t seek reelection in December 2005 – months before he signed the health care law. Thus, he signed it knowing full well that he wouldn’t be there to implement it, and that it would almost definitely fall on a Democratic successor. If it was so important to him that the health care law be implemented properly, he should have sought reelection.

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It’s the best he could have done in Massachusetts:
This argument, a close relative of the blaming Democrats defense, suggests that given the overwhelmingly liberal legislature, he got as good a deal as could be hoped for. This is a bizarre argument for Romney defenders to advance for several reasons.
To start with, it’s not as if, sometime in the spring of 2006, the Democratic legislature plopped down a health care plan in front of him and Romney had the option of either signing it, or getting what he could in exchange for his support. By Romney’s own account in the WSJ op-ed, he decided to take on health care after the CEO of Staples urged him to do so weeks after he was elected in November 2002, and soon he “assembled a team from business, academia and government.” In other words, this was to be his main legislative ambition in office, something that he spent years developing. Once it was obvious that the end result would be a liberal, government-dominated plan, he could have decided that it was no longer worth doing. But he ploughed ahead anyway.
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He didn’t raise taxes to pay for it:
Depending on whether or not you consider the penalty for non-compliance with the mandate a tax, Romney could argue that technically, his health care plan didn’t raise taxes. However, what it did do was lead to massive cost overruns that ended up triggering future tax increases.  As the New York Times reported in 2008, “The legislature and (Gov. Deval) Patrick filled a health care spending gap that approached $200 million for this fiscal year by increasing the tobacco tax by $1 a pack, levying one-time assessments on insurers and hospitals, and raising more money from businesses that do not contribute to their employees’ insurance.”
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RomneyCare was right for Massachusetts, but ObamaCare is a one-size fits all Washington solution:
This is the argument that we’re likely to hear the most. Romney himself has come out and said that he wouldn’t use the Massachusetts plan as a national model for reform and that he would sign a repeal of ObamaCare if elected. Although, it must be said, this wasn’t always so clear. In a February 2007 speech, Romney said, “If Massachusetts succeeds in implementing it, then that will be a model for the nation.” And here was the exchange he had with Charlie Gibson in the ABC debate also cited above:

GIBSON: But Government Romney’s system has mandates in Massachusetts, although you backed away from mandates on a national basis.

ROMNEY: No, no, I like mandates. The mandates work.

The bottom line: Political analysts keep saying that Romney will have to find a way to address the health care issue. But the reality is, he has no coherent defense to offer and it’s too late to disavow the law. As I’ve written before, Romney’s only hope is to simply survive the issue by attrition, hoping that the primary electorate’s attention is diverted elsewhere and that no viable alternative candidate emerges.

Needless to say, Mitt Romney can’t be trusted.  When examining candidates like Romney, we must realize that what is said, counts little compared to what has been done.