April 15, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
April 15 is … Rubber Eraser Day
Arnold made the movie, didn’t he?
Abraham Lincoln died on this date in 1865 at about 7:22 a. m. at the age of 56. He had been shot in the head the evening of April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth while he watched the play, “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC. Lincoln was shot just after 10:15 p. m. as he watched the actor Harry Hawk play the lead role of ‘the cousin’ named Asa Trenchard.
The name of Asa is uncommon but it was used in The Andy Griffith Show during the 1960s as the name of the bank guard, Asa Breeney, played by Charles Thompson.
I wonder how long this air traffic controllers sleeping on the job thing has been going on. The government just caught the fifth controller this year sleeping on the job. If they have caught five there is probably five hundred they did not catch. Five is also all they are reporting. I bet a rule or guideline exits that prevents the disclosure of most disciplinary action against government employees. It used to be and I doubt it is much different today, if you got a job with the federal government, you had to kill the President’s dog to get fired.
We are hearing about the budget woes from Washington DC and state capitols. Many people talk about letting go of government employees. That is a common politician’s ploy; threaten to fire police and teachers and take away government benefits. It never happens to any significant extent. Some people lose their jobs but they are usually people ready to retire. Retirements reduce the number of government employees, temporarily; politicians brag about their success and when it is no longer front page, above the fold news, these jobs are refilled, quietly.
I understand that if it is you losing the job, the per centage of impact on you and your family is 100% but in a democracy, which is what we used to have, few suffer for the many. Majority rules, remember?
This air traffic controller situation is unique. We have not had a significant commercial air plane crash resulting in death in years. I do not remember one blamed on air traffic controller error. Perhaps we do not need these air traffic controllers. The pilots do not want to die. They will look out for their own safety.
Of the five cases reported concerning sleeping air traffic controllers, nothing happened. The system worked even without the air traffic controllers. That ought to teach us something. I have read and heard Ray LaHood, the Peoria, IL former Congressman who is now the Transportation Secretary say: "This is absolutely unacceptable," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "The American public trusts us to run a safe system. Safety is our No. 1 priority and I am committed to working 24/7 until these problems are corrected."
If safety is the number 1 priority, why is it we never review a situation until a catastrophe happens. What expertise does Ray LaHood have for this job. He was given a plum political job by a President from the same State. They are of different persuasions but every President puts a person from the other party into a position of importance that has little power and news coverage. What is the number that turned the situation into the number 1 priority? It was not the first episode or the second episode or the third episode or the fourth episode. Five must be the number. After five episodes, it moves up the list, overtaking the pat downs or do you say feel ups of six year olds getting on planes. If the air traffic controllers are important and they are sleeping, what is the difference if a six year old, bomb toting passenger gets on the plane. It is going to crash anyway.
The head of the air traffic controllers organizations quit on Thursday. He was never caught sleeping but we have to hang someone out to dry and it will not be LaHood.
The most recent case out of Reno, Nevada was the second case this week of a controller being suspended for sleeping on the job. A controller at Boeing Field-King County International in Seattle fell asleep during his morning shift on Monday and was suspended, FAA said. He was already facing disciplinary action for sleeping on two separate occasions during an early evening shift in January, the agency said. That means he is accused of sleeping three separate occasions while on the job. The first two sleeping episodes involving this employee are not included in the five cases the government acknowledges. That increases the number of cases to seven already.
ABC has announced it is cancelling two long running daytime soap operas. All My Children and One Life To Live have been axed from the upcoming schedule. AMC will leave the air in September of this year, 20111 and OLTL will leave the air in January of 2012. The shows will be replaced by talk, gabfest type shows similar to The View.
Susan Lucci has been with AMC since it debuted in 1970. It has been on the air ever since, for 41 years. I bet the person who made the decision to cancel the shows is not 41 years old. This is another brazen example of screw the consumer. The decisions as to which shows the networks put on the air is determined by the dollars involved. With talk shows, you do not need writers, rehearsals, stage settings, prop people or talent. You just need a bare stage and two or more people willing to make a fool of themselves after they read People magazine, a computer geek and a sound person. We sure don’t want to challenge the audience to have a memory or brain.
The replacement shows are called The Chew and The Revolution. I hope a lot of effort was not put into the naming process. Some day we will get back to originality.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011
VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.
Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.
http://www.ebookmall.com/ (Do search by my name or book Title)
www.barnesandnoble.com (do a quick search, Title, my name)
www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.
Book Titles:
Holmes the Ripper
A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction
"In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker." - Plutarch
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