Are ya nervous yet?

[HeroHog]

Are ya nervous yet?

Fox News host Tucker Carlson reacts to leaders not worrying about the recently downed foreign objects or the water supply on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'

https://youtu.be/kLspeIuVo0A

?

[MechAg94]

A bit yeah.  More about the train derailment and the fall out from that.  I gotta wonder if this was some sort of terrorist incident and they want to keep that fact under wraps.  In addition, I gotta wonder if the emergency response was incompetent and failed to contain the spill.  We all know Butejudge(sp) is incompetent.  I had no idea there had been that many train derailments. 

The only part about the balloons that bothers me is wondering if the military was letting a bunch of them through until someone was able to see a bigger one.  My impression is that part is the distraction from just how bad this train derailment and chemical spill in Ohio really is.


One thing about this whole thing:  We have a very complex and interconnected set of distribution systems in this country.  It only stays running because a bunch of people do their jobs and keep it running.  It seems to me that part of the infrastructure is getting worse.  Trying to do the jobs with fewer people and the leadership is worse and worse.  It won't fall apart tomorrow, but I figure it will get worse before it gets better.  We don't have the govt leadership to fix any of it.

Thanks for posting that.

[WLJ]

  We all know Butejudge(sp) is incompetent. 

Buttgieg has far more important things on his plate

    Buttigieg made no mention of the Ohio train derailment while speaking at a conference this morning but did find the time to say that there are too many white people who work construction. pic.twitter.com/q4WNcq10h9

    — Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 13, 2023

https://twitchy.com/artistangie-313138/2023/02/13/twitter-hammers-buttigieg-as-he-tries-pushing-diversity-into-construction-work/

[zahc]

Pete B. is the best transportation secretary we've had in a long time. The problem like all good public servants is they can't move the ship.

Also the railroads are 1000% corrupt slime that aren't even regulated by the DOT. They have special railroad administration department, which is 100% captured and exists to rubberstamp the railroads' most sociopathic plans to milk the countries' rail resources dry at the expense of the American public to line their own pockets. And if The Most Pro Labor president's recent actions are any indication, they still own as many shares of our government as ever.

[HankB]

. . . Trying to do the jobs with fewer people and the leadership is worse and worse.  It won't fall apart tomorrow, but I figure it will get worse before it gets better.  We don't have the govt leadership to fix any of it . . .

This is very true. I've had issues with trying to get things done with various government bureaucracies, and have had struggles - not because people have been malicious or adversarial towards me, but because an appreciable percentage simply seem to have NO interest in doing their damn jobs. I try to be patient - I'm NOT one of those overly entitled people who expects others to snap to immediately when I make a request - but sometimes my patience is sorely tried.

I've seen the same things happen in the corporate world as well - and not just at my old employer. One of my health care providers has medical staff - doctors, nurses, NPs and PAs - that are excellent. But after dealing with them for years, I have to say that many of the people in their billing & insurance departments (the health care provider is big enough to have their own department for this) are lazy nincompoops. And that includes the department's leadership.

Pete B. is the best transportation secretary we've had in a long time . . .

Good one. If I were still drinking my morning coffee it would be all over my monitor and keyboard. 

[MechAg94]

Pete B. is the best transportation secretary we've had in a long time. The problem like all good public servants is they can't move the ship.

Also the railroads are 1000% corrupt slime that aren't even regulated by the DOT. They have special railroad administration department, which is 100% captured and exists to rubberstamp the railroads' most sociopathic plans to milk the countries' rail resources dry at the expense of the American public to line their own pockets. And if The Most Pro Labor president's recent actions are any indication, they still own as many shares of our government as ever.

On that last, I have heard a little of that.  A former coworker used to work for the railroad down here.  He said the union and railroad company would collude to screw over workers by denying expenses and shutting down complaints.  He ended up quitting and working in the chemical plants. 

Seems odd because we (chemical industry) can't do anything without environmental and safety agencies crawling up our butt. 

[RoadKingLarry]

Who is John Galt?

[HeroHog]

By themselves, they aren't something to get in a lather over. TOGETHER they are a huge cause for concern. Our food supply chain + water supplies + railway systems (freight) + electric grid + someone probing our boarders by lighter than air + open Southern boarder + the drugs and bad actors they bring = major concern! Add a spineless and mindless "president" and our country is a joke on the world stage.

[MechAg94]

This is very true. I've had issues with trying to get things done with various government bureaucracies, and have had struggles - not because people have been malicious or adversarial towards me, but because an appreciable percentage simply seem to have NO interest in doing their damn jobs. I try to be patient - I'm NOT one of those overly entitled people who expects others to snap to immediately when I make a request - but sometimes my patience is sorely tried.

I've seen the same things happen in the corporate world as well - and not just at my old employer. One of my health care providers has medical staff - doctors, nurses, NPs and PAs - that are excellent. But after dealing with them for years, I have to say that many of the people in their billing & insurance departments (the health care provider is big enough to have their own department for this) are lazy nincompoops. And that includes the department's leadership.

I wonder if some of that is partly due to companies getting rid of pensions and perhaps managers getting such a big percentage of their pay off bonuses.  Few people have any incentive to make long term decisions.  It is all about what makes our bottom line today or this year because that middle manager is going to quit and move to a higher position somewhere else and only needs his decisions to be good for a couple years. 

Of course, that doesn't have any bearing on the govt positions.  That is just decades of incompetent leaders getting elected and appointing incompetent leadership of oversight agencies (and those are the good politicians).  The rot isn't just in D.C.  It is top to bottom.  I guess that is why people are saying to worry less about Federal and State and just focus on getting better people elected locally.

[WLJ]

He finally noticed there was a serious train derailment

    I continue to be concerned about the impacts of the Feb 3 train derailment near East Palestine, OH, and the effects on families in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own. It’s important that families have access to useful & accurate information:

    — Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) February 14, 2023

https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2023/02/14/pete-buttigieg-finally-responds-to-palestine-oh-train-derailment-and-hoo-boy-it-does-not-go-well/

Okay. back to the war on racist highways

[zahc]

There are over 1500 trail derailments in the US every year. The problem with this one is that it's getting media coverage, and that's bad for the railroads and the government rot that covers for them. I'm sure the extended silence was spent figuring out how to spin it and ensure the status quo will be protected afterwards.

[zahc]

By themselves, they aren't something to get in a lather over. TOGETHER they are a huge cause for concern. Our food supply chain + water supplies + railway systems (freight) + electric grid + someone probing our boarders by lighter than air + open Southern boarder + the drugs and bad actors they bring = major concern! Add a spineless and mindless "president" and our country is a joke on the world stage.

Whenever people criticize an area where the US comes up short, they always say "compared to other developed nations". But at some point you have to stop doing that and admit the US isn't a developed nation.

A more productive metric is whether things are improving or degrading. Unfortunately in key areas the US is going the wrong way and becoming less developed. There is no threshold of civilization that you cross and "make it" and become too big to fail. Civilization is more like a tall building that has to be maintained in perpetuity or it eventually just collapses. Have a look at the bones of America, and it doesn't look good.

[Nick1911]

There are over 1500 trail derailments in the US every year. The problem with this one is that it's getting media coverage, and that's bad for the railroads and the government rot that covers for them. I'm sure the extended silence was spent figuring out how to spin it and ensure the status quo will be protected afterwards.

I would not have guessed that.  The federal railroad administration stats are enlightening.

 

[WLJ]

The media isn't helping by drumming this up to be the apocalypse.
Actually had a YT video pop up in my feed comparing this to Chernobyl. I didn't click on it.

[Tuco]

Who is John Galt?

Pretty cool guy. Eh builds trains and doesn't afraid of anything

[MechAg94]

I would not have guessed that.  The federal railroad administration stats are enlightening.

 

There may be details I don't know, but that appears to be a poor safety record.  My employer had zero recordable accidents last year.  There were some first aide incidents and contractor incidents, but not that many.  I am curious what their OSHA accident rate is compared to other industries.  Maybe later.

[Perd Hapley]

Pretty cool guy. Eh builds trains and doesn't afraid of anything

Not exactly. Eh used to design motors for automobiles, but switched to building hidden mountain villages.

[Tuco]

Not exactly. Eh used to design motors for automobiles, but switched to building hidden mountain villages.

You're right. I had John Galt confused for Henry Galt teh pretty cool guy hwo builds trains and doesn't afraid of anything

[WLJ]

Babylon Bee but quite believable with this admin

Officials Remind Residents Of East Palestine To Protect Themselves By Getting Their COVID Booster
https://babylonbee.com/news/officials-remind-residents-of-east-palestine-to-protect-themselves-by-getting-their-covid-booster

[WLJ]

More BB

Ilhan Omar Withdraws Support For East Palestine After Learning It’s In America
https://babylonbee.com/news/ilhan-omar-withdraws-support-for-east-palestine-after-learning-its-in-america

[WLJ]

Trump!

We're constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe,' Buttigieg wrote on Twitter.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg now blames TRUMP administration for hampering rail safety as Republicans criticize his lack of response to catastrophic Ohio train derailment
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11754479/Transportation-Secretary-Pete-Buttigieg-blames-TRUMP-administration-hampering-rail-safety.html

[MillCreek]

I see that for the past several years, it is dangerous to trespass on the railroads.  Interesting fatality rate.

[Tuco]

I see that for the past several years, it is dangerous to trespass on the railroads.  Interesting fatality rate.

Its a common and surefire way to put an end to one's human suffering - by transferring it to the engineer and railway cleanup crews.

[AZRedhawk44]

I see that for the past several years, it is dangerous to trespass on the railroads.  Interesting fatality rate.

I wonder what the ratio is, of drunk hoboes slipping while trying to hitch a train ride and bleeding out on the side of the track with a severed leg, versus railroad bulls collapsing skulls and throwing hoboes off the train.

[MillCreek]

Tuco opened my eyes, because I thought railroad trespasser fatalities were people getting run over at crossings or scenarios like AZ describes.  Railroad suicides did not cross my mind, but that makes a lot of sense.  One of my neighbors a few years back is a Burlington-Northern conductor for railway freight, and once I got over my surprise that conductors still existed, told me some stories about how it can take a mile or so to stop one of those long coal or oil trains that are heading to Vancouver BC for shipment to the PRC.