Part of the recent budget deal, that funded the Federal government until September, was to stiff arm the Dept of Homeland Security, over Obama's legalizing 4 million illegal immigrants by executive order. Homeland Security needs to get more funding authorized by the end of February (this month) or shut down. The idea was to defund Obama's massive amnesty program. Obama went along with this, and signed the budget deal, probably figuring that Homeland Security would eventually get it's funding, after some political posturing in Congress.
Some parts of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard being the shining example, deserve funding 'cause they do a lot of good. Other parts like the Secret Service need heavy duty reform. Yet other parts, like the Science and Technology Directorate, we could probably do without. And the Transportation Security Agency ought to be disbanded. We don't need federally funded goons groping women as they board airliners.
And, Homeland Security does the federal flood insurance program, a terrible money sink, that pays off landowners who build on flood plains. They get flooded on a regular basis, paid off, they rebuild on the same site, get flooded again, get paid off again. No commercial insurance companies will touch flood insurance because of the massive and predictable losses. The government picked it up because of the wailing and crying from the real estate community, realtors, builders, and banks.
Hopefully, Congress will fund the needed parts of Homeland Security and give the unneeded parts a severe haircut.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
$250 million for Commuter Rail to Manchester
They are still talking about this down in Concord. As late as the 1960's there was rail service to Manchester and Concord. It was abandoned in the '60s 'cause nobody was riding the train. Manchester is only about 25 miles from Nashua, so they are talking about $10 million a mile to fix up the abandoned right of ways. That's pricey. And that is just to get the track into useable shape. Actually operating the trains is more money.
The NHPR piece mentioned an estimate of 600,000 riders. Which sounds like a lot, but one person riding the train to work daily for a week counts as 10 rides, five inbound in the morning, and five more outbound in the evening. There are about 200 working days in a year, so divide that 600,000 tickets sold by 400 and and you get about 1500 actual people who use the train every day. That ain't many people to justify spending $250 million on trackwork.
No mention of schedules, how fast the train would go. There is fairly decent bus service to Manchester and Concord right now. No mention of what the fares might be, or if the train trip would be faster than the bus.
No mention of the fact that most of the commuters down I93 to MA are working out on 128, where the train doesn't go. You need your car to get to the company parking lots off 128. Not that many people have jobs in downtown Boston.
The NHPR piece mentioned an estimate of 600,000 riders. Which sounds like a lot, but one person riding the train to work daily for a week counts as 10 rides, five inbound in the morning, and five more outbound in the evening. There are about 200 working days in a year, so divide that 600,000 tickets sold by 400 and and you get about 1500 actual people who use the train every day. That ain't many people to justify spending $250 million on trackwork.
No mention of schedules, how fast the train would go. There is fairly decent bus service to Manchester and Concord right now. No mention of what the fares might be, or if the train trip would be faster than the bus.
No mention of the fact that most of the commuters down I93 to MA are working out on 128, where the train doesn't go. You need your car to get to the company parking lots off 128. Not that many people have jobs in downtown Boston.
All the news that fits, we print
Good old unbiased NHPR this morning. Reporting on a strike by United Steel Workers against some Louisiana oil refineries. They did give a union spokesman air time. They did not give the issues of the strike, as in how big a raise is the union asking for and how much do its members make right now. Probably they are making pretty good money now, and are asking for a lot more, but revealing that might weaken the union's position with the public. There was a mention of safety issues, by which they might mean overtime, but again NHPR didn't give any numbers. Probably because their staff can't count beyond ten with out taking off their shoes.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
How to stop a Blitzkrieg
That's a chapter title in Paul Kennedy's WWII book "Engineers of Victory". The German Army was all conquering at the beginning of WWII. They smashed the Poles, the Norwegians, the Belgians, the French, the British and the Russians, bang, bang, bang. The Germans were unstoppable, they beat all comers, hands down.
Clearly, one of the things the Allied had to do to win WWII was beat the German Army. Kennedy goes on to some not very satisfactory explanations as to how the Allies finally managed to pull off victories at Stalingrad and El Alamein.
Looking at the problem with modern eyes, we would say that the answer to beating the Germans was to use combined arms. Infantry with tank support, and artillery support and air support. Not pushing a lone infantry or lone tank unit into action unsupported.
Rick Atkinson in his "Army at Dawn" gives examples. He is telling the story of the US Army in North Africa. The Americans had recognized the effectiveness of the German Panzer divisions and had organized their own army into well balanced divisions combining infantry, armor, and artillery under a single commander.
But in the early days of operations in North Africa, Atkinson tells of repeated disasters after a higher command (corps command usually) would order lone infantry regiments or tank regiments into action, unsupported by division, bypassing the division commanders. Only later, after about a year's bad experiences like Kasserine pass, would US divisions be ordered into action as intact formations. And the combined arms divisional operations were much more effective, i.e. they pushed the Germans back, rather than just getting shot up.
Clearly, one of the things the Allied had to do to win WWII was beat the German Army. Kennedy goes on to some not very satisfactory explanations as to how the Allies finally managed to pull off victories at Stalingrad and El Alamein.
Looking at the problem with modern eyes, we would say that the answer to beating the Germans was to use combined arms. Infantry with tank support, and artillery support and air support. Not pushing a lone infantry or lone tank unit into action unsupported.
Rick Atkinson in his "Army at Dawn" gives examples. He is telling the story of the US Army in North Africa. The Americans had recognized the effectiveness of the German Panzer divisions and had organized their own army into well balanced divisions combining infantry, armor, and artillery under a single commander.
But in the early days of operations in North Africa, Atkinson tells of repeated disasters after a higher command (corps command usually) would order lone infantry regiments or tank regiments into action, unsupported by division, bypassing the division commanders. Only later, after about a year's bad experiences like Kasserine pass, would US divisions be ordered into action as intact formations. And the combined arms divisional operations were much more effective, i.e. they pushed the Germans back, rather than just getting shot up.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Measles, vaccination against
Lot of talk about a tiny measles epidemic starting at Disney land. Lot of alarmist talk, including from Obama. Lots of TV newsies talking about it.
They didn't have those vaccines when I was a kid. All kids had a case of measles about the time they started public school. We all survived it, along with chickenpox, mumps and whooping cough. Part of growing up.
If the vaccine is as good as they say it is, then if your kid is vaccinated, he/she won't catch measles from the few kids who are not vaccinated. Does not increase the risk to anyone except those grownups, who aren't vaccinated and who didn't catch the disease as a child. In an adult, those childhood diseases are a lot more serious, in some cases fatal.
Far as I can see, those parents who don't vaccinate their kids only put their kids at risk. And it ain't much of a risk. Used to be, we all ran the same risk, and we all survived. I don't see how it affects or harms the general population. So if people want to do stupid things that don't harm others, let 'em. That's what a free country is all about.
They didn't have those vaccines when I was a kid. All kids had a case of measles about the time they started public school. We all survived it, along with chickenpox, mumps and whooping cough. Part of growing up.
If the vaccine is as good as they say it is, then if your kid is vaccinated, he/she won't catch measles from the few kids who are not vaccinated. Does not increase the risk to anyone except those grownups, who aren't vaccinated and who didn't catch the disease as a child. In an adult, those childhood diseases are a lot more serious, in some cases fatal.
Far as I can see, those parents who don't vaccinate their kids only put their kids at risk. And it ain't much of a risk. Used to be, we all ran the same risk, and we all survived. I don't see how it affects or harms the general population. So if people want to do stupid things that don't harm others, let 'em. That's what a free country is all about.
Superbowl XLIX
I'm a marginal fan of professional sports, but when I have the Patriots playing in the Superbowl, I gotta watch, 'cause everyone else does. This game has grown over the years into a national spectacle. Someone sang "America the Beautiful" and someone else sang the "Star Spangled Banner". The camera traced over the faces of the players, who all had suitably reverent expressions. They did a flyover by the Thunderbirds. The game got under way. Tom Brady was amazing. Pass after pass, completed. They were mostly short, enough for a first down, but it seemed like he never missed. Everytime the Pats got the ball, Brady would march them down the field, like clockwork, until they scored a touchdown. He played the whole game, didn't get injured, although he looked a bit tired by the end. There were some fantastic plays. Some of the players sported weird hairdos, with shaggy hair sticking out a foot from under their helmets. The defense on both sides was amazing. Every pass receiver was covered, all the time. If the receiver caught the ball, he was tackled immediately and smashed into the turf. The game was in doubt right down to the last couple of minutes. No memorable commercials this year.
All in all, a good show.
All in all, a good show.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Grexit
Jargon for Greek Exit from the Euro. The Economist is highly concerned. The new left wing Syriza government of Greece is making silly noises. Economist has a good cartoon, showing the new Greek government barreling along a one lane mountain road in a steamroller, bearing a sign reading "Irresistible Force". Coming the other way is a big 18 wheeler, filling the road from side to side, with Angela Merkel at the wheel. Bearing a sign reading "Immovable Object".
What will happen? No one knows.
What ought to happen, is the EU tells the Greeks to keep sucking it up, or do without. There is a multi billion Euro chunk of bailout money still due the Greeks. The EU could, if it has the stones, with hold it if they don't like what the Greeks are doing.
The EU may not have the stones. There are plenty of lefties all over Europe who dislike "austerity" (a balanced national budget). The think if the Greeks drop austerity, it will be a signal to their own governments to crank up the welfare spending.
The other issue for Greeks is leaving the Euro. This would enable them to print all the drachmas they need to pay for all the welfare they want. At the stroke of a keyboard, all the Euro deposits in Greek banks would become drachma deposits. And everyone expects the newly declared drachma to drop 50% or more against the Euro. So every Greek with money, in the bank (maybe half of them?) is against Grexit. Will their interests be strong enough to overcome the desire of the welfare staters to print all the money they want?
What will happen? No one knows.
What ought to happen, is the EU tells the Greeks to keep sucking it up, or do without. There is a multi billion Euro chunk of bailout money still due the Greeks. The EU could, if it has the stones, with hold it if they don't like what the Greeks are doing.
The EU may not have the stones. There are plenty of lefties all over Europe who dislike "austerity" (a balanced national budget). The think if the Greeks drop austerity, it will be a signal to their own governments to crank up the welfare spending.
The other issue for Greeks is leaving the Euro. This would enable them to print all the drachmas they need to pay for all the welfare they want. At the stroke of a keyboard, all the Euro deposits in Greek banks would become drachma deposits. And everyone expects the newly declared drachma to drop 50% or more against the Euro. So every Greek with money, in the bank (maybe half of them?) is against Grexit. Will their interests be strong enough to overcome the desire of the welfare staters to print all the money they want?
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