Child Abuse ???

The prosecution in the Trayvon Martin trial is beginning to doubt that they can make second degree murder stick.  So they are adding some lesser charges that the jury might find easier to convict upon.  The prosecutors are now charging Zimmerman with child abuse, 'cause Martin was under 18.
  Child Abuse?  Shoot a stranger dead out of doors and it's child abuse?  Is this sort of crime that the good legislators of Florida had in mind when they passed the state child abuse law?  
Ham sandwich nation. 

Bye-bye manufacturing jobs.

Sturm Ruger, a noted old line American firearms maker,  announced that they will open a new factory in North Carolina, rather than expand their existing plant in New Hampshire.  The company cited the lack of a right to work law in NH as one strong reason for building else where.
   Damn.  We nearly had right to work up here.  It passed the house and senate only to be vetoed by former governor Lynch.  We had enough votes to override Lynch's veto in the senate, and were only a dozen votes short in the house.  Every union in New Hampshire, and a whole bunch for out of state, opposed right to work with every breath in their bodies.  It would have passed without  that die hard opposition.
  Thanks, unions, for sending all those good manufacturing jobs off to North Carolina.

Must be 'cause of Global Warming

We now have alligators in New Hampshire.   A three footer was captured yesterday in the Lamprey River near Portsmouth NH.  A town police officer, assisted by a state fish and game warden captured the reptile alive.  And a good thing for the alligator, summer may be nourishing up here, but I don't believe alligators can take it when the river freezes over in winter.  Global warming hasn't gone that far, yet.  This story made the front page of the Manchester Union Leader. 
   Up here we aren't that used to alligators yet.  A three footer took two men to deal with it, and caused a front page story.  Down in real alligator country, Florida, a nine foot gator showed up at an elementary school.  The school resource officer, a strapping young blonde woman,  all by her self, got a rope around its neck, flipped it upside down, and duct taped its jaws shut.  We need some practice before we get that good at dealing with gators.

A Mailing from Annie Kuster

Annie is my democratic US rep.  She did a constituent mailing, a duo-fold color post card.  Had artwork showing Main St Littleton (my home town, close enough) the State house, the Ammonusuc River, the covered bridge up by the Flume. 
Open it up and Annie promises to go to bat with federal agencies for you, expedite your grant requests, obtain service academy appointments for your children,  obtain a greeting card from Obama, expedite your passport applications, offer internships in her office[s], issue official attaboys, and get high school students into the Artistic Discovery Contest.   Lots of nice giveaways to voters.
   Not a word about taxes, Obamacare, IRS, Benghazi, jobs, war on coal, cutting off subsidies to the Egyptian army, Keystone XL, sequester, Northern Pass, or any other reason to vote for her.
On the back page it says "This mailing was prepared, published, and mailed at taxpayer expense."
Way to go Annie.   

Lifeline

The Daily Mail reports on a new blood test that will indicate how long you have to live.  Robert A. Heinlein wrote a short story about this very idea, way back in 1939.   In the story a fictional Dr. Hugo Pinero invented the technique.  The story opens with Dr. Pinero invited to a scientific convention and getting trashed by disbelieving scientists.  Pinero's invention plays hob with the life insurance business, who hire hitmen to do away with him and make the world safe for life insurance salesmen.
   Science fiction comes to life, again. 
  

Trayvon Martin/George Zimmermann trial

The TV newsies are giving it wall to wall coverage, they put up a breaking news alert everytime the trial breaks for lunch.  Then we have to suffer thru hours of opining about who is ahead, Florida law, judges instructions to the jury and other legal gobble-de-gook.
  In actual fact, it's purely up to the jury.  If they think Zimmermann was in fear of his life then it's self defense.  If they think Zimmermann was stalking Martin, then it's murder.  It's all about what you think.  So we won't know until the case goes to the jury. 

So did they set the parking brake?

Just north of here, the Canadians suffered a dreadful train wreck.  Tank cars loaded with crude oil derailed in the center of town and burst into flames.  Five are known dead, 40 are missing, and it's a good bet the missing are actually dead, but the fire was so fierce nobody got close enough to check.  Center of town is burned out.
   The railroad (Canadian National? Canadian Pacific? the TV didn't bother to say) says that the train was parked, the crew was catching up on sleep in a motel.  It was claimed that "all safety devices were set". But somehow the train got loose and rolled into town.
There are a few questions unanswered.  Unasked by clueful newsies. 
Were the train brakes set, or just the engine brakes?  Every car in a train has air brakes as well as a separate set of brakes on the engine.  For ordinary operations (flat terrain, expected station stop) it's customary to use just the engine brakes.  Train brakes are reserved for tougher situations like decending mountain grades.  If the brakes on every car were set to park the train it is hard to understand how it could run away. If just the engine brakes were set, a run away is more likely.
   Brakes are fail safe.  Air pressure holds the brakes off.  Should the train line leak, or worse, separate, the air runs out and the brakes go on.  
   Were the diesel engines left running?  It's standard practice around here to leave them running, especially in winter, 'cause they might not start when cold.  A runaway is more likely if the diesels are running, with nobody on board.
   Oher interesting bit.  The train was loaded with North Dakota crude headed for an Irving refinery in New Brunswick.  Accident would not have happened if that North Dakota crude had been headed for a US gulf refinery thru the Keystone XL pipeline.