It’s puckish timing that, immediately upon the news of a British Airways computer programmer’s arrest on charges that he’d planned to use cabin crew strikes to facilitate bombing an aircraft in flight, we receive news that BA cabin crew have voted to strike, starting 20March—a week hence.
The British style of labor actions appears to be short spurts of high-volume strikes interspersed with intervals of rather sullen showing up for work & going through the motions. (Kind of like auto-erotic strangulation which I see on many episodes of Law & Order: SVU. Tighten the noose, loosen it; repeat. The trick is to release before the participant actually dies.)
This latest follows that pattern: on strike for three days starting 20 March; four days from 27 March; no strike over Easter (because that would really piss off the leisure traveling public whose wrath would be directed at labor, not management); but possible further action after 14 April if BA haven’t caved by then.
There’s the usual pompous posturing on both sides; basically a whizzing contest between BA & Unite management. You hear the same in any dispute involving Unite; their leadership have a single script & they emote the hell out of it. PM Gordon Brown has stepped in to wring his hands & tsk-tsk the two parties, but no indication that anyone wants to actually make progress.
The union’s timing is definitely well-chosen: announcement that they’re screwing up flight schedules so soon that people won’t have much of a chance of rescheduling on airlines that aren’t constantly mired in revolving labor disputes. Plus a lot of money will be lost on cancellation penalties. This is what the Unite union had planned for December until British courts tossed out their strike vote because they were calling in ballots from Chicago graveyards.
I’m certainly no fan of Willie Walsh & the management of BA; they’re right up there with United & Continental as 20th Century businesses that haven’t sussed out this whole 21st Century model. (They remind me of generals in the First World War who just didn't get the impact of entrenched machine guns & heavy artillery on frontal assaults.)
But the union is even further into cloud-cuckoo land. They don’t seem to realize that this economy isn’t the one of 50 years ago, when labor could posture & threaten & walk away with huge gains. & they don’t seem to notice that other unions, like the UAW, have agreed to cutbacks of all sorts in order to keep their employers viable &, you know, employing them.
There’s one more worry for the flying public: if you happen to get on a BA flight that hasn’t been cancelled, how will you know that your substitute cabin crew isn’t an Al Qaeda cell?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
In case you thought it was safe to fly...
More hair-raising news about airborne bomb plots: reports out of the UK about a BA computer programmer being charged on several counts of fundraising for terror groups & planning suicide bombings (presumably on BA flights).
Rajib Karim allegedly shared information about his work with “the world’s favourite airline”, including security measures, & offered to exploit BA’s neverending labor problems by volunteering to substitute for striking cabin crewmembers & then detonate some sort of explosive device.
Really, I don’t know which prospect is scarier: having a terrorist as a flight attendant, or having a programmer.
(Note to BA: you might want to run a security check on all your networks & computer systems, since the criminal charges span a time period from 2006 to now. I’m just sayin’…)
Rajib Karim allegedly shared information about his work with “the world’s favourite airline”, including security measures, & offered to exploit BA’s neverending labor problems by volunteering to substitute for striking cabin crewmembers & then detonate some sort of explosive device.
Really, I don’t know which prospect is scarier: having a terrorist as a flight attendant, or having a programmer.
(Note to BA: you might want to run a security check on all your networks & computer systems, since the criminal charges span a time period from 2006 to now. I’m just sayin’…)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Criminal news
Update to the story last December about thieves taking the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign over the entrance to Auschwitz. A former neo-Nazi Swede, arrested last month, has been declared extraditable to Poland by a Swedish court.
Anders Hogstrom claims to have left his Nazi-loving ways behind long ago, although he doesn’t seem to be as clear about the conflicting stories he’s told authorities about his involvement in the Auschwitz crime.
There’s a certain sameness about criminals, from crackhead purse snatchers to Radovan Karadzic—not me, man. All this hot merchandise/these rotting corpses? I had nothing to do with it.
Anders Hogstrom claims to have left his Nazi-loving ways behind long ago, although he doesn’t seem to be as clear about the conflicting stories he’s told authorities about his involvement in the Auschwitz crime.
There’s a certain sameness about criminals, from crackhead purse snatchers to Radovan Karadzic—not me, man. All this hot merchandise/these rotting corpses? I had nothing to do with it.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Mean streets for the barefoot
I love a good crime story, & this one out of Korea is just exactly what you need if you’re getting sick of winter weather & want something to stimulate your brain:
Seoul has been suffering from a crime wave of stolen shoes. They’re disappearing from everyplace from restaurants to funeral homes. Well, from in front of these establishments—it’s the custom in much of Asia to leave your shoes by the entry when you go indoors. Perfect setup for someone looking for a free pair of Farragamos or Charles Jourdans.
All props to the enterprising Mr. Park who’s accumulated 1700 pairs of shoes, presumably for resale on the street.
Big buzz killer, though, for the patrons coming out from a nice meal & maybe a few glasses of soju, & discovering their kicks are missing. It’s been a while since I lived in Seoul, but I have to say that I wouldn’t want to touch either streets or sidewalks unshod. My mother wouldn’t even let us walk barefoot on city sidewalks in Pasadena because “people spit on them”.
South Korea’s quite the entrepreneurial hotbed: it’s interesting that people are taking advantage of the footwear felons by inflating the manufacturer & cost of the missing shoes when demanding compensation.
God bless technology: restaurateurs are installing CCTV to bring the hopefuls back to, erm, earth.
Seoul has been suffering from a crime wave of stolen shoes. They’re disappearing from everyplace from restaurants to funeral homes. Well, from in front of these establishments—it’s the custom in much of Asia to leave your shoes by the entry when you go indoors. Perfect setup for someone looking for a free pair of Farragamos or Charles Jourdans.
All props to the enterprising Mr. Park who’s accumulated 1700 pairs of shoes, presumably for resale on the street.
Big buzz killer, though, for the patrons coming out from a nice meal & maybe a few glasses of soju, & discovering their kicks are missing. It’s been a while since I lived in Seoul, but I have to say that I wouldn’t want to touch either streets or sidewalks unshod. My mother wouldn’t even let us walk barefoot on city sidewalks in Pasadena because “people spit on them”.
South Korea’s quite the entrepreneurial hotbed: it’s interesting that people are taking advantage of the footwear felons by inflating the manufacturer & cost of the missing shoes when demanding compensation.
God bless technology: restaurateurs are installing CCTV to bring the hopefuls back to, erm, earth.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Healthcare redux
Breaking news regarding this whole ’Pub “healthcare-reform-is-the-Antichrist” thing:
Sarah Palin winks that it’s “ironic” that she “used to hustle over the border for healthcare we received in Canada”. This in an appearance before an audience in Calgary at the weekend.
(I'm wondering if Palin confused Canada with Russia, which apparently is close enough to Alaska to run over to borrow a cup of supper.)
Canadian press coverage of the event just gives me too much ammunition for ridicule. I mean, La Palin all on her own is a joke, albeit a very dangerous one. Witness the quote from Stephanie Hansen, 18; she loves Palin despite not knowing bupkes about her politics.
See—that’s the Republican platform right there.
Sarah Palin winks that it’s “ironic” that she “used to hustle over the border for healthcare we received in Canada”. This in an appearance before an audience in Calgary at the weekend.
(I'm wondering if Palin confused Canada with Russia, which apparently is close enough to Alaska to run over to borrow a cup of supper.)
Canadian press coverage of the event just gives me too much ammunition for ridicule. I mean, La Palin all on her own is a joke, albeit a very dangerous one. Witness the quote from Stephanie Hansen, 18; she loves Palin despite not knowing bupkes about her politics.
See—that’s the Republican platform right there.
Monday, March 8, 2010
A politician is an arse...
My loyal readers are probably wondering why I’ve had no pithy commentary on the most recent spate of politicians brought down (or as near as makes no difference) by scandals revolving around their personal lives.
Well, it turns out I don’t have to come up with one because Christopher Buckley has already done so.
I’ve asked his question before when John Edwards stepped into it so deeply he’ll never scrape off the filth. But there never is an answer, is there?
The other question, of course, is: why do we keep electing people with the scruples of Fagin & delusions of stud-dom?
Well, it turns out I don’t have to come up with one because Christopher Buckley has already done so.
I’ve asked his question before when John Edwards stepped into it so deeply he’ll never scrape off the filth. But there never is an answer, is there?
The other question, of course, is: why do we keep electing people with the scruples of Fagin & delusions of stud-dom?
Friday, March 5, 2010
We choked
Well, just when I thought there was hope of taking the actual, you know, moral high ground, the Obama administration and Congress display every indication of having a spinectomy.
We are not, after all, going to call a spade a spade—or genocide, genocide—when the shovelers are an alleged ally.
It really doesn’t matter what the political jellyfish do or don’t have the cojones to admit: the founders of the so-called Turkish republic used the slaughter of 1.5 million unarmed Armenian subjects of the old Ottoman Empire to build the “modern” state that we know and have no reason to trust today.
They were murderous criminals then and have—like the Nazis—repeatedly denied ever since that they did anything wrong.
It’s certainly proved to be a successful strategy, as long as those who purport to be upholders of democracy and the rule of law are willing to wink and sign another aid treaty.
As one of my all-time favorite poets said so accurately:
“a politician is an arse upon
which everyone has sat except a man”
e.e. cummings called a spade a spade.
We are not, after all, going to call a spade a spade—or genocide, genocide—when the shovelers are an alleged ally.
It really doesn’t matter what the political jellyfish do or don’t have the cojones to admit: the founders of the so-called Turkish republic used the slaughter of 1.5 million unarmed Armenian subjects of the old Ottoman Empire to build the “modern” state that we know and have no reason to trust today.
They were murderous criminals then and have—like the Nazis—repeatedly denied ever since that they did anything wrong.
It’s certainly proved to be a successful strategy, as long as those who purport to be upholders of democracy and the rule of law are willing to wink and sign another aid treaty.
As one of my all-time favorite poets said so accurately:
“a politician is an arse upon
which everyone has sat except a man”
e.e. cummings called a spade a spade.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Death and...
I've been lying low lately, all on account of taxes. I swore this year I'd get the materials to my accountant in a timely manner, setting 28 February as my deadline.
Technically I achieved that goal; I did have the blanks filled in on the paper Sunday. However, this being a 2.0 universe, I found I hadn't got access to the portal to upload all the figures.
Got the access yesterday & have everything there. Still don't know what to do with all the stuff involving the sale & purchase of real estate; really this alone is an argument for property being theft.
But I'll have it off my back in a couple of days.
One big cross-off from The List.
Technically I achieved that goal; I did have the blanks filled in on the paper Sunday. However, this being a 2.0 universe, I found I hadn't got access to the portal to upload all the figures.
Got the access yesterday & have everything there. Still don't know what to do with all the stuff involving the sale & purchase of real estate; really this alone is an argument for property being theft.
But I'll have it off my back in a couple of days.
One big cross-off from The List.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Distracted driving
Something going on in Dorset, UK, that I’d love to see throughout the US: cops are empowered to slap £60 ($90) fines on drivers who think phoning, texting, eating, putting on makeup, faxing & other activities are not incompatible with safe driving.
Here’s the sweet part: no excuses accepted.
Drivers trying out the vehicular version of “the dog ate my homework” to weasel out of the fine get no points for creativity. But they will get points on their driving license if they choose not to take a driver safety course in addition to paying their 60 quid.
Not that they don’t try. I can’t tell whether I’d give the whopper award to the woman who claimed she’d left her smart phone at home (unaccountably found on the passenger seat with her Facebook page open) or the one who seemed to think she was exempt from having kids secured by seat belts because “they’re not my children.”
I understand that Dorset is a small area to patrol & that US police forces are faced with balancing massive workloads with decreasing resources. But I really think instituting similar programs would be nothing but beneficial: new revenue streams, lower numbers of accidents due to basic driver idiocy & vastly improved morale amongst the cops.
After all, being able to bust morons without taking seriously their lame-ass excuses has to be a boost.
Although I suppose that pesky Constitution would constrain implementation, it apparently being enshrined there that Congress shall make no law restricting Americans’ right to behave like a bonehead & wriggle out of it by lying like a rug.
Here’s the sweet part: no excuses accepted.
Drivers trying out the vehicular version of “the dog ate my homework” to weasel out of the fine get no points for creativity. But they will get points on their driving license if they choose not to take a driver safety course in addition to paying their 60 quid.
Not that they don’t try. I can’t tell whether I’d give the whopper award to the woman who claimed she’d left her smart phone at home (unaccountably found on the passenger seat with her Facebook page open) or the one who seemed to think she was exempt from having kids secured by seat belts because “they’re not my children.”
I understand that Dorset is a small area to patrol & that US police forces are faced with balancing massive workloads with decreasing resources. But I really think instituting similar programs would be nothing but beneficial: new revenue streams, lower numbers of accidents due to basic driver idiocy & vastly improved morale amongst the cops.
After all, being able to bust morons without taking seriously their lame-ass excuses has to be a boost.
Although I suppose that pesky Constitution would constrain implementation, it apparently being enshrined there that Congress shall make no law restricting Americans’ right to behave like a bonehead & wriggle out of it by lying like a rug.
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