vxbush 7/17/2025 5:57:12 AM

1

It took the State Department three months to figure out a complete list of employees. 

Three. Months. 

Top. Men. 

vxbush 7/17/2025 6:06:18 AM

2

Trump is done funding the speed rail project in California, at least from the federal side. If California wants to spend that kind of money, they are good and welcome to it. The fed is done after the Federal Railroad Administration declared the project to be "unviable". 

It takes a government to tell you after decades what anyone else could have figured out in months. 

Occasional Reader 7/17/2025 6:46:27 AM

3

Reply to vxbush in 1:

Makes those tearful farewells all the more poignant.

”We’ll never forget… whatsername!”

Occasional Reader 7/17/2025 6:47:19 AM

4

We’re Number One! We’re Number One!

Occasional Reader 7/17/2025 7:41:18 AM

5

UK government bill will lower voting age to 16

This is gerrymandering on a permanent, massive scale.

JCM 7/17/2025 7:51:08 AM

6

Reply to vxbush in 2:

HSR in CA was a scam from the beginning. The tip was in a document that discussed "leased rail" for part of the distance.

Simply put HSR cannot run on shared "leased rail" with freight, level crossings etc... freight would take priority.

It never was a HSR project. It looks more like a way to give payouts to donors.

JCM 7/17/2025 7:57:24 AM

7

Reply to vxbush in 1:

"50-layer approval processes."

I thought DoD projects were bad....

I do something.... Approvals have to: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Program Management, Legal, then to entity that assemblies the finished product, Electric Boat or Lockheed etc... then to the Department that used the "thing".

If somebody up that change doesn't like something it winds it way back down to me to fix and start over.

JCM 7/17/2025 8:02:51 AM

8

Reply to Occasional Reader in 5:

That would end the Empire 940 years before Sir Winston predicted.

It's a demographic disaster. The "immigrant" community tends to have more children that natives. IF those immigrants were assimilating it's not a problem, but they are not.

vxbush 7/17/2025 8:19:32 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 4:

Key sentence to me: 

About half of the convictions of government employees are federal, and half are state and local.

So government employees are twice as likely to be convicted of crime compared to state and local employees.

JCM 7/17/2025 8:43:31 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 9:

I would like a deep dive into things in the Seattle area. Boss Tweed ain't got nothing on the cabal here.

JCM 7/17/2025 9:01:41 AM

11

Air India captain may have shut off fuel ahead of deadly crash, WSJ reports

In December 2018, the FAA issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) for owners and operators of the 717, 737 Next Generation, 737 MAX, 747-400, 747-8, 757, 767, 787, MD-11, and MD-90 aircraft, warning “the potential for disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature.”

Air India replaced cockpit module with fuel switch in crashed AI171 twice since 2019

The "defect" in the SAIB was not present in the crash aircraft. This reduces the likelihood of an accident, like a clipboard, iPad, or other object hit and disengaged the switch. The time gap between of 1sec between Eng1 and Eng2 cutoff also mitigates against accidental contact. 1sec is more like the time for manual switch shutoff.

The pilot flying (copilot) at time of liftoff would by standard training have both on the yoke pulling for climb. The pilot monitoring (captain) would have both hands, again standard training, on both throttles, push them to max power, and making sure they don't retard. Once positive climb rate is confirmed the gear up call is made. The pilot monitoring would move his right hand to the gear select lever and move it to retract. His next task to monitor performance on the climb out, and handle comms with departure control.

The conclusion, based on standard procedures, training, etc... is that inadvertently moving switch to cutoff... is vanishingly small.

JCM 7/17/2025 9:22:29 AM

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Reply to JCM in 11:

Also is the timing of when the switches were moved to cutoff. 10 seconds after the switches were cutoff they were moved back to to run. Both engines indicated restart but didn't have time to spool back up to full thrust.

The switches were cutoff when there was no possible recovery scenario.

Even a few seconds later there would have been enough altitude to allow engines to spool up enough to maintain flight then resume climb.

JCM 7/17/2025 1:38:26 PM

13

I'm calling BULLSHIT!

Israel strikes Gaza church, killing 3 and wounding priest who was close to late pope

Raise your had if you think Hamas allowed a church in Gaza. NPR deserves to lose every damn penny of taxpayer money.

A church in Gaza.... NPR thinks its listeners a RETARDS!

buzzsawmonkey 7/17/2025 1:51:15 PM

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In #13 JCM said: NPR thinks its listeners a RETARDS!

They are, in many cases, correct.