Shutting down the armed forces for attitude adjustment

 That's what Lloyd Austin, Biden's new secretary of defense, said he would do.  He called it a "stand down" during which time commanders would discuss "extremism" with the troops.  Who knows what "extremism" means.  Could mean membership in the KKK or it could mean just voting for Trump. No mention of what would be done about troops deemed extremist.  

Back when I was on active duty, during the Viet Nam war, we all understood that we were in the service to defend the country and follow lawful orders from the commander in chief.  In the Air Force most of us were volunteers.  We all understood that we were not supposed to get into politics, other than voting.  I hope the same attitude prevails today.  

This shutdown indicates the secretary Austin has his doubts about the loyalty of the troops.  He is a long service Army general, he ought to have a better feel for what is going on that I do.  At least I hope so. 

Lessons from the 737-MAX crashes.

 

Aviation Week has a long (4 page) piece about lessons learned from the Boeing 737-MAX crashes and subsequent grounding. I was expecting to read of some clear general principles that everyone (Boeing and the world wide aviation safety organizations) accepted and would follow in the future.  Dream on. They listed some petty quibbles.  They said company tech reps should have less input on regulators deliberations.  Europe and Canada and pilots unions were OK with 737-Max aircrew shutting down the stick shaker by pulling a circuit breaker.  Brazil and FAA didn’t say anything on this issue.   It was pointed out that pilot training was aimed at experienced US pilots.  They said they would aim it more toward in experienced third world pilots.  FAA made some changes in the way they do paperwork and the way they organize technical expert committees. 

   All in all, an underwhelming list of achievements. 

SB 61 Right to Work, Passed Committee today

 We ought to pass right to work.  Companies won't invest in states that lack a right to work law.  New Hampshire needs more investment, creating factories, warehouses, distribution centers, call centers, just about everything, for the jobs they create.  If we go right to work, we will be the ONLY right to work state for about 500 miles in every direction.  That will attract some investment, there has gotta be a lot of companies needing new facilities in the northeast.

I know that right to work is hard on unions.  But only 7% of the New Hampshire labor force is union, and half of that is public employee unions.  The other 93% of the non union workers would benefit from more company investment.  I think the greater good for the greater number ought to prevail. 

Last time right to work came up, it passed both the house and the senate, but Governor Flynch vetoed it.  We didn't quite have the two thirds majorities required to override the veto.  Too bad.  Lets hope it fairs better this time.  I know Governor Sununu will sign it. 

Cancelling Abraham Lincoln

San Francisco school board voted to rename a bunch of schools to remove the names of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and more.  Abraham Lincoln??  The man who signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves.  And followed up by winning the Civil War to make the Emancipation Proclamation stick?  George Washington who beat the Redcoats in the Revolutionary War, chaired the Constitutional Convention, and served as our first president.  Without Washington we would still be a bunch of British colonies.  Jefferson, the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, " all men are created equal".  They want to cancel all these heroes of American history??  What kind of education do these crazies offer to the children of San Francisco??

Ten worst Crime Neighborhoods in US

 Seven of them are in Los Angeles and San Francisco. So much for California.  Two are in Kansas City and one in Portland Oregon.  From Forbes Magazine.

Undercounting NewYork Covid 19 deaths???

 The TV is carrying the story today.  I wonder just what they are talking about.  Surly they could not conceal the fact of a death occurring.  I mean you have a body to bury or otherwise dispose of, you need a death certificate.  I cannot imagine concealing the occurrence of the deaths.  So are we talking about deaths from Corona virus being recorded as from other causes?   More easily done, as most of the deaths were of elderly people who suffer from a number of problems as well as from Corona virus.  In a case like this, where there are a lot of things present, what to blame the death upon is up the the judgement of the doctor.  The odd part about the situation is doctors have been widely accused of attributing every death to Corona virus.  Apparently hospitals get more reimbursement for Corona virus cases than other things and place great pressure upon the doctors to call all the questionable cases to be corona virus cases.  

   The TV is not talking about that angle.  

  Later TV input, About 8000 New Yorkers died in nursing homes from Corona virus.  Another 4000 came down with Corona virus and were transferred to hospitals and then they died.  Those 4000 deaths were not counted against nursing homes. 

The Rise of Skywalker: Star Wars Episode 9 2019

 I  got to watch this, on a Netflix disc, the other day.  We have from the old days, Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa, looking kinda over the hill, especially since she died before filming started and her presence is from film shot on the last Star Wars movie.  Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Daisy Ridley as Rey, Darth Vader Jr, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, R2D2, C3PIO, and a bunch of new faces that didn’t make much of an impression on me.  It’s long,  better than two hours.  Not much of a plot.  Lots of light saber duels, star ship shoot outs, crashes and smashes.  Darth Vader Jr has some kind of teleportation link with Rey, and keeps popping up, no matter where Rey is, and doing a light saber duel with her. 

   Rey’s outfit, white, is cute.  But the arrangement of a gauzy skirt, split in the front, and clam digger shorts could be improved. Either cut her shorts shorter and make the skirt more opaque, or cut the clam diggers as long slacks going down to the ankle. And skip the gauzy skirt.  

Overall:  meh.