Terrorists and UAV's: reader feedback and further issues

In reader comments to yesterday's post about terrorists planning to use UAV's against aircraft, I feel that a few very important points are being missed.

The first is that our opinion of whether or not such low-powered, quadcopter UAV's have any chance of success is basically irrelevant.  ISIS terrorists do not share that opinion.  They have already 'weaponized' such drones and used them against enemy ground forces in Iraq and Syria.  They see no reason why they should not do so in the West as well.  Furthermore, it has now been demonstrated that they intend to try to use them against aircraft.  Thus, it's irrelevant whether we think they can or will be successful in the attempt.  They are going to try anyway. They just did, in Turkey.

Second, attempted attacks are perhaps even more important to terrorists than successful attacks.  The mere existence of such terrorist-operated UAV's will force airlines to suspend operations in affected areas until the threat is removed.  They simply cannot afford to operate there, no matter how often airports and security authorities play down the chances of success.  Let there be just one successful attack, killing a hundred or more passengers and crew, and the resultant lawsuits against the airline will probably be enough to cripple, if not bankrupt it.  Just think of the legal liability it will incur if it flies its aircraft into or out of an airport where there is known to be a threat of terrorist UAV activity.  It can't plead an 'act of God' or an 'act of war' or whatever.  It chose to operate there;  therefore, it knowingly exposed itself to liability.  That's a legal death sentence.

In that light, consider that an attack only has to frighten off potential passengers.  What if a terrorist flies a UAV, carrying a small explosive device, close to the inbound flight path of an arriving airliner, and detonates it where passengers in the air, and passersby on the ground, can see the explosion?  Instantly, a huge proportion of the passengers flying into and out of that airport will cancel their flights, and cargo shippers will seek alternate facilities.  They'd be fools not to do so, after all.  The terrorist won't have to actually damage or destroy an aircraft to produce an effect just as deadly to all the commerce and industry depending on that airport.  In exchange for a cheap, home-built UAV and a few ounces of home-brewed explosive, the perpetrators will inflict millions of dollars in economic damage.  That's a worthwhile exchange, from their perspective - and it's one we can't afford.

Thirdly, a number of commenters suggested that it would be very difficult indeed to fly a UAV into the path of an incoming airliner.  However, I think that's looking at the problem from the wrong direction.  Remember, flight paths approaching and departing from a runway are widely known - in fact, they're published for all pilots (and other interested parties) to read for themselves.  Courses, angles of approach, radio beacons, guide slope signals, etc. are all out there for anyone to see.

A terrorist (or a pilot who can advise and/or train terrorists) will know that he only has to put his UAV inside a narrow window of space, through which he knows an airliner must and will fly, in order to threaten it.  The glide path is a known factor.  If he can put his UAV within a few hundred feet of that path, vertically and/or horizontally, he's guaranteed to pose a threat to any aircraft;  and if he can position it more or less exactly on the glide path, the threat increases even more.  Many aircraft now follow that glide path slavishly under computer control, not relying on pilots to do so (because computer control is more precise, and crowded airspaces require greater precision).  Therefore, the odds of a collision go up exponentially.

What's more, if a terrorist or terrorists can put multiple UAV's into the same narrow window of space and time, the threat to aircraft using the glide path increases even further.  All it will take is a few hobbyist drones, a few small packages of home-made explosives, and a few operators with remote control units, who might be a couple of miles or more from the scene of action.  I suggest airport security authorities will find it extraordinarily difficult to prevent or deal with such an attack.

Some readers suggested terrorists would be better advised to fly a drone into power lines, or use an explosive-laden drone to attack critical infrastructure like airport radar systems and the like.  I think such attacks are very likely.  I recently mentioned the problem of, say, a series of UAV's attacking transformer stations scattered around a city.  That would lead to widespread blackouts, with predictable results.  However, I don't think that the greater ease of such attacks should blind us to the terrorists' need for spectacle.

One crashed airliner will attract headlines and screams of panic around the world.  It will only take one . . . and the airline and travel industries will be devastated.  To the terrorists, that's a result worth striving for.  They can afford dozens, even hundreds, of failures.  They only have to succeed once.

Peter

Heh (literally)

Courtesy of Dr. Grumpy, we learn of a product that makes us wonder, "Why aren't more of my co-workers taking this stuff?"  (Click the image for a larger view.)

I can think of a whole bunch of people who need a prescription at once, if not sooner . . .




Peter

Am I a prophet, or what?

In 2014, and again last year, I speculated that terrorists were likely behind some of the incidents of near-misses between aircraft and small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's, also known as drones).

Now comes this news.

A SUSPECTED ISIS jihadi has been arrested in Turkey after allegedly plotting to down a US jet using a drone, police said today.

Turkish cops swooped to detain the Russian national who they say was planning the terror attack against US forces operating out of the Incirlik air base, which is used by Nato forces.

The US Air Force has used the base as a staging post for the air campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq since 2015.

Officers reportedly moved to arrest Renad Bakiev when surveillance showed him to be scouting the area ahead of his planned attack.

During his interrogation, cops said he admitted to surveying the base for the atrocity.

There's more at the link.

I suppose I should be pleased to have been proved prescient in my forecast . . . but I wish I hadn't.  I confidently predict that this sort of terrorism will increase in frequency over the next few years.  It's terrifyingly easy for terrorists to get their hands on UAV's, which can be bought online or over the counter with no identification at all.  ISIS has already fitted some with hand grenades and improvised bombs, using them against infantry and armored vehicles in Iraq and Syria.

ISIS weaponized quadcopter drone in Iraq

It's a simple step from that, to flying them into the path of airliners that can't see them until the very last minute, and probably can't take evasive action without an increased risk of crashing.

This, of course, is one of the reasons why law enforcement authorities want to be able to track drone flights, and register their owners.  Bloomberg recently reported:

The Federal Aviation Administration created an advisory panel in June of more than 70 drone industry and user representatives -- including Sugahara -- in a fast-track attempt to develop requirements so battery-powered aircraft can be identified in the sky. They have to finish by Sept. 30 so the FAA can begin crafting regulations.

The pace is being driven by law enforcement agencies, which won’t go along with the agency’s plans to begin allowing more extensive unmanned flights over people and in congested urban areas until they get assurances they can tell the difference between legitimate operators and bad actors, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in an interview.

. . .

While the full requirements haven’t been hammered out yet, the idea is to give a police officer on the ground the identity of a drone’s operator, in the same way a car’s license plate can be traced to its owner. At the same time, it would give the drone’s location, so police or even traditional aircraft could monitor its path.

. . .

The FAA’s ability to monitor drone flights was dealt a blow on May 19, when a U.S federal court invalidated the agency’s registration system for unmanned aircraft. Both the House and Senate have pending legislation that would reinstate a drone registry.

A requirement that drones be tracked would go significantly beyond a registry -- and it’s opened a raft of questions about privacy, who should pay and whether a tracking system would benefit users.

Again, more at the link.

Yet another reason not to fly commercial . . .

Peter

The most accurate gender identification chart I've ever seen!

Courtesy of C. W. Swanson.  Click the image for a larger view.

Yep.  I've met some very honorable exceptions, but most gender-confused persons of my acquaintance fit the 'special snowflake' label perfectly.  The exceptions merely prove the rule.

Peter

Lawdog's adventures in Africa!

I'm delighted to report that the second volume of the Lawdog Files, "African Adventures", is now available.

I think it's even better than the first volume, which roared up the sales charts all the way into the top 100 books in Amazon's Kindle Store, and #1 in several categories.  At present it's available in an e-book version;  a print edition will follow very shortly.

Lawdog's included a number of new stories in this volume, which will be welcomed with open arms by his many fans.  A short while ago, I mentioned an Independence Day celebration in the African bush.  Here's another excerpt from that tale.

But, the real crescendo, was when the barrel that had cartwheeled into the jungle detonated.  And the jungle disgorged a veritable horde of olive baboons who proceeded to charge Wee Jock, the slit trench, and all the engineers behind it.  And whose fur was still smoking.

So.  We have fifty or so angry, recently-flaming monkeys, charging across an open five acre field.  Behind them, explosions are going off, tyres are arcing high through the air, rockets are shooting across the field, and tracers rounds are being fired damned near straight up.

And in front of this simian horde, one little Scotsman, clutching his bagpipes protectively with one hand, shaking his other at the on-coming Anthropoid Death, and screaming (I quote) “WHARGARBL!”

And then engineers started raining down into the trench, because I’m here to tell you:  baboons are Bad News.  Baboons that you’ve just tried to incinerate -- probably worse.

Oh, yeah . . . Lawdog at his best!

I really can't recommend this book too highly.  I've read it a dozen times, what with having written the Foreword for this volume;  yet I still find myself laughing out loud at some of the stories.  Hysterically funny reading!

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #969

Today's award goes to Dutch airline KLM.  Their attempt to be 'inclusive' would turn out to be a disaster, if actually attempted.  They tweeted this picture in celebration of Amsterdam's Gay Pride event this year:

Trouble is, when it comes to seatbelts, it most certainly does matter who (or what) you click with!  As RedState pointed out:

• If you choose rainbow belt combination #1, and the plane you’re in experiences turbulence or something worse, you will be grotesquely injured and/or killed.

• If you choose rainbow belt combination #2, and the plane you’re in experiences turbulence or something worse, you will be grotesquely injured and/or killed.

• The only safe option is rainbow belt combination #3. By connecting the opposite ends of the belt, you will be secured in your airplane seat, and will be following proper safety protocol.

I get the schtick they’re going for, but it is one of the stupidest ads I’ve ever seen for any agenda ... With some things, there is only one combination that truly works. Thanks for proving that, guys!

Insert politically correct "Oops-a-daisy" here!




Peter

Is war with North Korea inevitable?

Like many of my readers, I've been following developments in North Korea with great interest and growing concern.  I think Kim Jong-Un is not so much deranged, as living in an alternate reality.  He's surrounded by a party political apparatus that, through a bizarre cult of personality, seeks to semi-deify him in the eyes of the North Korean people, just as it did his father and grandfather.  That means the only feedback he receives on a regular basis is fawning approval and approbation.  He hears few, if any, voices that dare to "speak truth to power" - and those few that have tried, have died.  He has little or no idea of US determination to prevent him putting his outrageous nuclear threats into action.

Perhaps the best summation of the current situation is provided by Larry Lambert.

The fat little dictator, Kim Jong Un, playing his 'mouse that roared' scenario is over-playing his hand, but there's nobody close to him who can explain it in a way that he will understand.

. . .

North Korean leaders have prepared for only one kind of warfare and have no experience fighting it. There is a grave danger that North Korea will misperceive or misinterpret US and Allied intentions.

. . .

Chinese leaders have fundamental differences with the US about the nature of the crisis, who must take the lead in a confrontation with North Korea and about the aims of sanctions. In short, the Chinese leaders do not trust the US leaders to behave in a way consistent with Chinese best interests.

The Trump Administration is not the Obama Administration and SECDEF Mattis is not some jumped-up political appointee. I still anticipate a kinetic war that will likely go nuclear on the Korean Peninsula within the next 5-6 months. The Norks are increasing hysterical and emotional and as stated above, their naive world view would likely cause them to react to something that is not intended as 'preemptive action'. When missiles are flying back and forth, China, on the border with North Korea has far more to lose than they do by sanctioning North Korea and starving them into backing down -- but they're still very slow to do that.

My own personal judgment is that the Norks themselves are past the point of no-return.

There's more at the link.  Recommended reading.

I agree with Mr. Lambert.  North Korea absolutely refuses to back down;  but the United States absolutely cannot accept that so unstable and xenophobic a regime should be allowed to possess nuclear weapons that can strike US territory.  The irresistible force has run headlong into the immovable object, and the pressure between them is increasing by the day.  Since I see no peaceful way to relieve that pressure, I believe that military hostilities are inevitable in the short to medium term.

The trouble is, those hostilities are likely to be devastating to at least the Korean Peninsula.  If nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles are used, the devastation may well spread to other countries, too.  North Korea is insanely over-armed for its size, even though many of its weapons systems are outdated or obsolete.  Its military forces would likely destroy much of South Korea in any conflict, deliberately aiming to maximize civilian casualties.  It's the nature of the North Korean beast.  Equally, I believe that rather than commit hundreds of thousands of troops to a conventional war, the US will almost certainly use nuclear weapons.  North Korea has amassed a vast arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, and now has nuclear warheads as well - and it's publicly stated its willingness to use them.  The US has no logical, rational choice but to accept those statements as real, and - in the absence of any other alternative - forestall them by a preemptive counter-strike.

Folks, if any of you are in South Korea, or have family or friends there, you need to get the hell out of there.  RIGHT NOW.  In my judgment, this has gone beyond the point where peaceful resolution is still possible.  If you stay there, you're putting yourself (and perhaps your loved ones, too) in the line of fire.  That's not a good place to be.

For those so inclined, I suggest urgent prayers for peace.  It's about all that is left to us.

Peter

Sugar high (dudgeon)

It is to giggle (in Italian, of course) . . .

Veneto and neighbouring Friuli Venezia Giulia have for years been locked in a battle over which is the true birthplace of tiramisu, which is loved, imitated and bastardised in kitchens around the globe.

Friuli Venezia Giulia has now scored a significant victory in the culinary clash after persuading the Italian government to list tiramisu as one of its traditional dishes with an official decree.

. . .

The Friulians insist their claim is backed up by historical records, some of which were dug up by a pair of food writers last year.

Clara and Gigi Padovani unearthed recipes from the 1950s which referred to a dessert called “tirime su” or “tirimi su” being produced in the region, including at a restaurant in the town of Tolmezzo in 1959. “We travelled all over Italy to discover the true origins of tiramisu,” they said at the launch of a book they wrote on the quest to pin down the dessert’s provenance.

But the Friulians’ claim to culinary fame has been met with outrage just across the border in the Veneto.

The Veneto region, which encompasses Venice, has long claimed the title, insisting that the dessert was created in a restaurant in the town of Treviso in the 1970s.

Luca Zaia, the governor of Veneto, is even threatening to launch a legal battle to challenge his neighbours’ presumption.  “I’m literally thunderstruck in response to this decree,” he said. “It seems to me that someone has given the ministry not entirely accurate documentation.

“By signing this decree and assigning such recognition to Friuli Venezia Giulia, the ministry has effectively said that it counts for nothing that five million Veneto people recognise tiramisu as one of their typical dishes and that it counts for nothing that we have an industry based around this product. I ask the ministry to suspend the decree.”

There's more at the link.

A tiramisu industry?  Really?  Complete with chimneys belching coal smoke, and shifts of workers going to and from the factories to produce more and more of the stuff?

Regional pride in Europe is a strange thing.  I suspect it goes all the way back to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, when many regions were independent, not part of larger nation-states.  They've retained a certain local focus, demanding recognition of factors that set them apart and make them 'unique'.  However, arguing about 'ownership' of a dessert that's less than 50 years old . . . there's not much tradition in that!  Surely they could find some older and more historic recipe over which to fight?

Peter

The battle for the top of the tree

Ashbutt (top shelf) and Kili (lower shelf) are poised for battle over who gets to be top cat.  Just a few seconds after this picture was taken, the fight was on.

Ashbutt won that round.  He's about twice Kili's size and weight.  However, she gets her own back with ambush tactics that he still hasn't figured out.  She's also faster and nimbler than he is.  What's more, she probably remembers him as the upstart kitten who muscled his way in here less than a year ago, and she's not about to let him usurp her senior status.

Cats . . .




Peter

We have the best politicians money can buy

Stephan Pastis confirms it.  Click the image to be taken to a larger view at the cartoon's home page.

Peter

With friends like Wells Fargo, who needs enemies?

I'm absolutely mind-blown by the cluelessness - not to mention rapacious greed - displayed by Wells Fargo bank over the past few years.

• Back in 2015, the bank endured a major scandal involving accounts opened for customers without their permission (after which they were charged a great deal in fees and other expenses).  It led to a criminal investigation. A massive fine was levied against them, and the CEO lost his job.  The bank launched a big advertising campaign to persuade customers that it had changed, and was fixing the problems . . . but any positive result was rapidly demolished by the next scandal to come along.
• It emerged last month that Wells Fargo had imposed unnecessary insurance charges on thousands of customers who'd taken out vehicle loans.  It affected 'more than 800,000 people', and 'pushed roughly 274,000 Wells Fargo customers into delinquency and resulted in almost 25,000 wrongful vehicle repossessions'.  Many customers' credit ratings were affected.  Great customer relations, that.
• Not content with two major scandals in a row, Wells Fargo has just been accused of misleading and ripping off thousands of merchants using its credit card services, resulting in millions of dollars in losses to those businesses.  The bank's contract was reportedly 63 pages long, hiding the details inside the morass of fine print.  (Personally, if I get handed a contract that long, I'll hand it back unsigned.  Why subject myself to something that's undoubtedly weighted against my interests?  If it wasn't, it wouldn't be deliberately designed to be impossible for the average layman to understand!)
• I wonder what will be the next scandal to break over Wells Fargo?

I have to say, with a bank like that for a friend, who needs enemies?  Right now, just about the last bank in America I'd trust with my hard-earned dollars would be Wells Fargo!




Peter

Rebooting the justice system?

Glenn Reynolds, a professor of law and author of the popular Instapundit blog, suggests that robots and artificial intelligence may be keys to making the legal system more accessible and understandable.

That’s the central thesis of Rebooting Justice:  More Technology, Fewer Lawyers, and the Future of Law, a book by my University of Tennessee colleague Benjamin Barton, together with the University of Pennsylvania’s Stephanos Bibas.

Their thesis: The very things that are making life worse for lawyers and law firms may pay off for lower- and middle-income Americans by finally making legal services affordable.

. . .

Rebooting Justice tells the story of “wildly overburdened” public defenders and court-appointed attorneys who represent poor defendants in criminal cases (and even in death penalty cases), and who often do a substandard job of it. Meanwhile, in civil court, mothers and fathers fighting child custody orders, laid-off workers claiming unemployment, sick people claiming disability — and even couples just wanting a low-cost divorce — find getting legal representation prohibitively expensive.

In many states, we’re told, 75% or more of family law disputes involve at least one party trying to proceed pro se — that is, without a lawyer.  Unsurprisingly, these people usually do badly.

The authors quote Derek Bok, who said that in America, “there is far too much law for those who can afford it, and far too little for those who cannot.”  But the good news is that law may be about to become a lot more affordable.

One example:  A  lawyerbot called Do Not Pay helps people contest parking tickets.  In London and New York, it helped people overturn 160,000 tickets in its first 21 months.  Its creator, 19-year-old London-born Stanford student Joshua Browder observed:  “I think the people getting parking tickets are the most vulnerable in society. These people aren’t looking to break the law. I think they’re being exploited as a revenue source by the local government.”

. . .

Browder is working on other applications, and with good reason: There’s a need. And as Barton and Bibas point out, lawyer-substitutes like software (or paralegals allowed to practice on their own) don’t have to be better than the best lawyers.  They only have to be better than what people who can’t afford the best lawyers can get.

There's more at the link.

Intrigued, I took a look at a US edition of Do Not Pay.  It didn't play well with some browsers - I don't know why - but performed OK with Microsoft Edge.  Here's a quick video overview of the sort of cases it can handle.

I have to admit, I was impressed.  If this technology can be applied more widely, I predict that the present unemployment problems in the legal profession will become much worse.

Peter

Picture of the day

Here's a fascinating image of sperm whales "sleeping" vertically in the water, just a few feet below the surface of the sea.  It's from a series of photographs provided by National Geographic.  (Click the image for a larger view.)

The article cites a 2008 study:

The whales were found to spend seven percent of their day in these vertical sleeping positions near the surface of the water, where they napped from 10 to 15 minutes. Researchers suggested at the time that they might be one of the world's least sleep-dependent animals.

There's more at the link, and more photographs, too, available in a larger size than provided here.  It makes very interesting reading.

Peter

Are smartphones ruining teens' lives?

The Atlantic has a very thought-provoking essay that suggests they may be.

The more I pored over yearly surveys of teen attitudes and behaviors, and the more I talked with young people like Athena, the clearer it became that theirs is a generation shaped by the smartphone and by the concomitant rise of social media. I call them iGen. Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this generation are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the internet. The Millennials grew up with the web as well, but it wasn’t ever-present in their lives, at hand at all times, day and night. iGen’s oldest members were early adolescents when the iPhone was introduced, in 2007, and high-school students when the iPad entered the scene, in 2010. A 2017 survey of more than 5,000 American teens found that three out of four owned an iPhone.

The advent of the smartphone and its cousin the tablet was followed quickly by hand-wringing about the deleterious effects of “screen time.” But the impact of these devices has not been fully appreciated, and goes far beyond the usual concerns about curtailed attention spans. The arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect of teenagers’ lives, from the nature of their social interactions to their mental health. These changes have affected young people in every corner of the nation and in every type of household. The trends appear among teens poor and rich; of every ethnic background; in cities, suburbs, and small towns. Where there are cell towers, there are teens living their lives on their smartphone.

. . .

Psychologically ... they are more vulnerable than Millennials were: Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.

Even when a seismic event—a war, a technological leap, a free concert in the mud—plays an outsize role in shaping a group of young people, no single factor ever defines a generation. Parenting styles continue to change, as do school curricula and culture, and these things matter. But the twin rise of the smartphone and social media has caused an earthquake of a magnitude we’ve not seen in a very long time, if ever. There is compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy.

There's more at the link.

The author, Prof. Twenge, has also written a book on the subject, going into greater detail.

I hadn't noticed this teenage preoccupation, apart from observing that when they walk around, all too often it's with their heads bowed over a smartphone - causing them to walk out into the street without checking for oncoming traffic, leading to some pretty hair-raising near-misses.  However, the author of the essay thinks the problem goes much deeper than that, affecting self-image, relationships, and the whole process of growing up (possibly very negatively).  I suppose the jury's still out on whether or not she's right, but she advances some pretty persuasive evidence for her argument.

Food for thought . . . particularly if you're the parent of a teenager.  Is it time to confiscate their smartphones, and/or forbid them from getting or using one except during strictly limited hours of the day?  Is that even possible any more?

Peter

Transgenders in combat forces - an unvarnished perspective

When President Trump announced he was going to ban the enlistment of transgender persons in the US armed forces, I wrote about the issue from a practical perspective - that of a veteran of military service, and of combat.

Now another military veteran has written about it from his own perspective, in a series of eighteen Tweets that graphically illustrate the reality of combat service.  Here are just a few in the series.

There are many more at the link.  The whole series is highly recommended reading.

From personal experience, I can vouch for the author's accuracy.  Combat service is not a game, and it has no place and no time for political correctness, cultural relativism, gender sensitivity or anything else of that nature.  If you get distracted by such nonsense, either you're going to die, or you're going to make mistakes that kill others in your unit.  In either event, it will be your fault, and no-one else's.

There is no place, space, time or opportunity in combat to worry about transgender issues - and that means they can't be allowed to distract peacetime preparations for combat, either.  That's it.  End of discussion.  That may be hurtful to some individuals, but military service is not about the individual.  It's about the unit, and the larger unit to which the smaller unit belongs, and killing the enemy before he kills us.

Peter

Now that's a piece of aviation history!

I was surprised - and, of course, very pleased - to learn that an Airco DH.9 bomber from World War I had been discovered in - of all places! - an elephant stable in India, and is being restored.  The video tells the story.

I'm familiar with the aircraft's history, and was able to see one of the very few surviving examples at the South African National Museum of Military History when I was still resident in that country.  (The museum has an extensive collection of aircraft and vehicles operated or captured by South African forces over the years, including the only surviving example of the night fighter version of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter from World War II.)

It's fascinating to see the restoration under way.  Those aircraft were almost all hand-built, with many individual variations, so it's not like World War II aircraft, built on production jigs with machine assistance.  I'm sure almost all the essential parts had to be fabricated by hand.  That's dedication!

Peter

Sunday morning music

I think it's time we had some good old-fashioned Irish music.  This morning, we'll listen to a few of Andy Irvine's songs.  He's been active for more than fifty years, and has amassed a huge base of fans.  He was a founding member of Planxty, Sweeney's Men, and other very influential music groups, and also has a thriving solo career.  He has so many recordings that it's very difficult to choose among them;  so I've selected three that appeal to me, and I'll leave you to look for others.

From 1976, here's a young Andy Irvine with "The Blind Harper".  He's performing with Dónal Lunny and Paul Brady.

Here, performing with the group Patrick Street, is "The Holy Ground", one of my favorites.

Performing with Dervish, here's a live performance of "The Rambling Siúler".

There are many more of Andy Irvine's songs on YouTube.  Enjoy!

Peter

Is this the trigger for the next economic crisis?

Alan Greenspan has a dire forecast for the US bond and stock markets, one that would threaten world financial markets as well.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan issued a bold warning Friday that the bond market is on the cusp of a collapse that also will threaten stock prices.

In a CNBC interview, the longtime central bank chief said the prolonged period of low interest rates is about to end and, with it, a bull market in fixed income that has lasted more than three decades.

"The current level of interest rates is abnormally low and there's only one direction in which they can go, and when they start they will be rather rapid," Greenspan said on "Squawk Box."

. . .

"I have no time frame on the forecast," he said. "I have a chart which goes back to the 1800s and I can tell you that this particular period sticks out. But you have no way of knowing in advance when it will actually trigger."

One point he did make about timing is it likely will be quick and take the market by surprise.

"It looks stronger just before it isn't stronger," he said. Anyone who thinks they can forecast when the bubble will break is "in for a disastrous" experience."

There's more at the link.

I've mentioned this problem on several previous occasions, but it bears repeating:  the US government's expenditure is funded, to a very large extent, by the sale of Treasury securities ('bonds').  At present, there are literally trillions of dollars of such bonds outstanding (you can check the current and historical figures here).  They were mostly sold at very low rates of interest.  As they fall due, the Treasury usually issues and sells new bonds to replace them, effectively 'recycling' the bond rather than paying off the debt.

If the newly-issued bonds have to be issued at a higher rate of interest, in order to attract buyers, it would have an immediate and dramatic impact on the US budget.  In 2016, the US Treasury paid out no less than $432,649,652,901.12 (for convenience, let's round it to four hundred and thirty-three billion dollars) in interest.  That's money that had to be raised from taxes, or new bond sales, or interest earned on investments.  It's a mandatory payment.  If the USA ever stopped paying the interest it owes on its financial instruments, the so-called "full faith and credit" of this country would become a risible, meaningless joke.

If interest rates rise by (say) 50%, the amount of interest that has to be paid will rise in the same proportion, as new bonds are issued (at the higher rate of interest) to replace older, lower-interest bonds that fall due.  If interest rates double (not at all unlikely, given their present deliberately and artificially low levels), the interest paid every year will soon double, too . . . but there is no spare cash in the US budget to pay those amounts.  The only way it can be paid will be to cut other expenditure, including entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.

That's why the bond market is such a big deal;  and that's why Mr. Greenspan is so worried.  We should be, too.  He knows whereof he speaks.

Peter

Africa, "devil children", and large quantities of explosives

I had fun last night reading the draft of the next Lawdog Files book, 'African Adventures'.  It's scheduled for publication less than a week from today, and is already available for pre-order.

I had the honor of writing the Foreword for the new volume, following in Larry Correia's footsteps (he wrote one for the first book in the series, which became a runaway bestseller in its genre last month).

Fans of Lawdog's writing will love this one.  He's included many old favorites, not just about his youth in Africa, but also about life, the universe and everything in these United States.  What's even better is that he's written a lot of new material for it.  Readers are in for a real treat with the story of the man-pig, the sapper lizards, the African version of Fourth of July fireworks (including bagpipes, bombs and baboons), and many more.

Lawdog introduces those Fourth of July fireworks like this.

Now, I want you to close your eyes.  Imagine a five acre chunk of bare West African red clay bounded on three sides by dense, damn-near-impenetrable triple-canopy tropical rain forest.  On the fourth side (the left side, for those still following along) is the sullen glorping majesty of the Warri River.  You have this fixed firmly in mind?  Now, in the middle of that river, anchor three dilapidated barges (that hadn’t been there two days previous).  On the near end of the five acre bare spot, imagine that someone has dug a slit trench, and at the other end of the clearing, postulate that person or persons unknown have stacked barrels and tyres.

Yes.  When a slit trench is needed for spectators to enjoy 'mere' fireworks, that have been invented/created and set up by bored, homesick expatriate engineers, who have access to large quantities of booze and industrial explosives . . . well, interesting things may happen . . . particularly when baboons get involved.  Just sayin'.

Publication is scheduled for August 10th (Thursday next week) in e-book format, with a print edition to follow as quickly as it can be arranged.  Miss D. and I have already pre-ordered our copies.

Highly recommended.  Prepare to laugh a lot!

Peter

Safely in Amarillo

After last night's (and early this morning's) excursion to Dallas, we all tried to sleep in this morning (with varying degrees of success).  We packed our bags once we woke up, and prepared our materials for Ama-con, then left town at about noon for the run north-west.  We got in safely at about 3 p.m., and settled in.

This evening Alma took us to the Trail Boss restaurant, which we've visited before (and liked very much).  This time I tried their chicken fried steak, complete with a unique white gravy stuffed with extra bits and pieces (including jalapeno peppers).  Spicy, and utterly delicious!  We had plum cobbler to follow, which was equally tasty.

We're back at our hotel now, stuffed to the gills and groaning with satisfaction.  It's time for an early night, before the convention gets going tomorrow morning.  I'll try to put up an occasional blog post, but it'll be a quiet weekend as far as blogging is concerned.

Peter

Suicide shoes?

I was a bit mind-boggled to read about the latest fashion accessory.

Enter Saint Laurent’s latest must-have accessory — roller skate stilettos.

Yes, you heard us correctly.

Three-inch stiletto heels, with a roller-skate wheel attached to the bottom and a kick-stop brake — because it’s just so easy walking in a normal pair of heels.

Aptly dubbed the Anja 100 Patch Pop Pump Roller, the heels are part of Saint Laurent’s autumn/winter collection and are yours for a mere $2,600.

There's more at the link.

My immediate reaction was that roller-skate stilettos must surely be a disaster looking for a place to happen;  but it seems they're not that unusual.  There are even Guinness World Records that have featured them - like, for example, this one.

Verily, the mind doth boggle . . .




Peter

Exhausted

Yesterday afternoon Miss D., Old NFO, aepilotjim, Lawdog and Phlegmmy headed down to Dallas to meet bestselling author and blogger Larry Correia at a book signing, and take him out to supper afterwards.  He's a friend of long standing to most of us, so it was great to see him again.

His signing session (as always) was very well attended and took longer than planned, so it was after 10 pm before we reached the Café Brazil.  Fortunately, they're open all night, so we didn't have to eat in a hurry.  They didn't have many staff on duty, so our bustling, laughing, boisterous group of 10 sort of overloaded those who were there, but they rose to the occasion.  Good food (I had the prime rib quesadilla, a combination I hadn't previously considered), great company and better conversation.  What's not to like?

Of course, all good things come to an end;  but it was almost midnight before we left, and we still had a 2½-hour drive to get home.  (Thanks, Old NFO, for driving both ways!)  Miss D. and I fell into bed sometime around 2.30 am, to the indignation of our cats, Kili and Ashbutt, who wanted to play after being left alone for so long.  They were doomed to disappointment, I fear . . .

I've just woken up, and Miss D. is still fast asleep.  She'll have to get up soon, though, because we're headed up to Ama-Con in Amarillo this weekend.  The North Texas Writers Association (as some have christened our little group of authors) has hired a shared table.  If you're in that area this weekend, drop in and see us.  We'll be selling our books, shaking hands, and distributing candy, bouncy balls and what have you.

Blogging will be a little scarce today and tomorrow, given our hectic schedule.  Normal service will be resumed on Monday.

Peter

George Carlin on education

The late George Carlin is his usual profanely brilliant self as he analyzes education in the United States.  LANGUAGE ALERT:  He uses the F-word a lot.  I wish he didn't, but it's part and parcel of his schtick, so we just have to live with it.  It doesn't detract from the truth of what he says.

Word.

Peter

Is US foreign aid to Palestine subsidizing terrorism and murder?

Strategy Page reports:

[The] latest terror campaign against Israelis is fundamentally a side effect of the struggle between Hamas and Fatah for control over all Palestinians. These two groups keep score by how many Israelis they can kill as does mass media in Moslem nations.

. . .

Palestinian leaders don’t even try to hide what they are doing as Palestinian media regularly runs stories encouraging Palestinians and Israeli Arabs to use whatever kind of violence they can to attack and kill or injure Israeli Jews. Palestinian leaders get on TV and tell teenagers that throwing rocks and fire bombs at Israelis, especially those in cars or busses, is a patriotic obligation and is justified resistance to Israeli repression. The Palestinian politicians further encourage the teenagers by pointing out that if Israel uses force against rock throwers and kills or injures any of them it is the Israelis who will be guilty of war crimes. Naturally this encourages a lot more Palestinian teenagers to throw rocks. There are rewards as those that manage to injure or kill Israelis are considered heroes in Palestinian media and throughout the Moslem world (and in some Western media as well).

Palestinians are also attracted to the financial rewards, which are considerable for many impoverished (by Fatah corruption) young residents of the West Bank. Palestinians who are jailed, injured or killed (martyred) while trying to hurt Israelis receive large payments from Fatah. For example families of dead terrorists get an immediate payment of $1,700 from Fatah plus monthly payments for the life of immediate family. These monthly payments ($400 to over $1,000 depending on the number of wives and children) can make a family relatively affluent and open new opportunities, like enough cash to afford a people smuggler who can get one or more family members to the West.

There is also a bonus ($86 a month) if you are a legal resident of Israel and a similar monthly bonus if you were a resident of Jerusalem. Fatah is currently paying about $200 million a year to the families of over 26,000 martyrs as well as smaller payments to 6,000 badly injured while trying to kill Israelis. Monthly payments to jailed Palestinians vary according to how long they have been in jail, how many dependents they have and if they are from Israel or Jerusalem. There are also bonuses for how many Israelis the prisoner killed or injured. Some of these convicts get over $50,000 a year. Fatah currently spends about $160 million a year to reward over 6,000 jailed terrorists. Fatah considers this payment program a success even though fifty Palestinians have died in the Fatah-promoted violence this year. These attacks have left a dozen Israelis dead and for Fatah that is political gold as far as Arab language media is concerned.

With this approach Fatah and Hamas together currently spend over $400 million a year to make murder economically attractive to many young Palestinians. Most of it comes from Fatah although Hamas is trying to make more payments to Palestinians in the West Bank who support Hamas and attack Israelis in the name of Hamas. The Arab language media throughout the Middle East take for granted that these payments are just and necessary for the war against Israel. Until recently Western donors, who contribute most of the aid that keeps Fatah and Hamas going, generally refused to believe that much of their money went to reward terrorism. That is changing as a growing number of Western foreign aid donors are trying to prevent their aid from being diverted to this terrorism financial incentive program.

There's more at the link.

In December last year, the Congressional Research Service reported (link is to an Adobe Acrobat document in .PDF format):

Since the establishment of limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the mid-1990s, the U.S. government has committed more than $5 billion in bilateral economic and non-lethal security assistance to the Palestinians, who are among the world’s largest per capita recipients of international foreign aid ... In addition to bilateral aid, the United States is the largest single-state donor to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

According to the New York Post, just a few days ago:

Your tax dollars at work: The Palestinian Authority is now using half of its foreign aid to reward terrorism.

The new PA budget boosts support to terrorists in prison by 13 percent and aid for the families of those killed “in the struggle against Zion” 4 percent, reports the Institute for Contemporary Affairs.

The total, $344 million, equals 49.6 percent of all foreign aid to the PA. In other words, cash from Uncle Sam, Europe and even Israel is subsidizing “welfare for terrorists.”

Again, more at the link.

As a prison chaplain, I was familiar with more than one case where a prisoner in US custody received a monthly check or money transfer "from his family in Palestine", with no further details provided.  It was known to US authorities that the funds came direct from the Palestinian Authority - and all the recipients of whom I was aware, without exception, were terrorists convicted of crimes in, or directed against, the United States.  In other words, our aid to Palestine was supporting terrorists who had conspired and/or acted against us.

Five-billion-plus dollars in US aid to Palestine since the mid-1990's?  $215 million in US aid budgeted for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 2017 - on top of $221 million released to the Palestinians on President Obama's last day in office?  I don't know about you, dear reader, but I object strongly to my tax dollars being used to subsidize and encourage terrorists!

Isn't it time the US reconsidered its aid to Palestine?




Peter

At times like this, I hate being right . . .

Just yesterday, I put up an article on this blog titled 'If police want our trust, they must prove themselves to be trustworthy'.  In it, I noted:

Any normal, sane, law-abiding person wants to like and trust them.  We want to believe that they truly are protecting and serving us . . . but then something like this happens, and we have to ask:  Why?  Why does the steady drip, drip, drip of scandal, abuse of power, malfeasance of office, etc. continue?

Twenty-four hours later, what's the latest headline?

Seven Baltimore cops are caught on body cameras 'planting drugs in a car' days after another video was released 'showing an officer placing evidence'

I guess the 'good cops' of my acquaintance (of whom, thank God, there are several) must think it's not worth getting out of bed some days, because they can't win for all the losing that their less honest and scrupulous 'brothers in blue' do without compunction.

I guess we can chalk this one up as a win for body cameras.  Now, if we could just stop (some) officers from switching them off or 'forgetting to switch them on' at critical moments . . .

Peter

Submarines that can be manufactured at sea, on demand?

I note with interest (courtesy of a link at Old NFO's place) that the US Navy is looking at a 3D-printed, easy-to-assemble submersible vehicle.

A team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy have created the military’s first 3D-printed submarine, an achievement that may have the potential to accelerate the defense R&D process.

The sub – called the Optionally Manned Technology Demonstrator – is a 30-foot submersible made of thermoplastic resin, and it closely resembles the covert infiltration mini-subs used by the Navy SEALs. The hulls for these subs currently take three to five months to build and about $600-800,000 each. But the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division's Disruptive Technology Laboratory (DTL) partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ONRL) to bring down the expense: using ORNL's Big Area Additive Manufacturing facility, they printed the hull in six sections at a cost in the tens of thousands. A contractor assembled the sections into the final product. The whole process took weeks rather than months.

There's more at the link.

If this works, think of what it'll mean for deployment.  Instead of having to ferry something like this (for example, for use by Navy SEAL teams in a combat zone), a 3D printing facility can be installed aboard something like a Landing Platform Dock, or LPD.  I'm sure the US Navy's San Antonio class LPD's could accommodate it.  The Navy could "print-on-demand" however many of these it needed, and simply sink or otherwise discard them after use.  They'd be cheap enough to be disposable.  The technology need not be limited to submersibles, either.  Boats, aircraft parts, even weapons housings could be produced in this way.  Think of the saving in shipping, through not having to get them all the way from rear bases to the front line.

This might indeed be a revolutionary development.

Peter

You want to milk WHAT???

I'm sorry, but this just boggles my mind.

Extracting venom from scorpions can be a dangerous, but rewarding, task.

The poisonous secretion, while fatal to humans, contains hundreds of components that have potential uses in the health sector when they are broken down to a molecular level.

In a bid to remove the venom safely, for both scorpion and extractor, a group of scientists in Morocco has developed a remote-controlled “milking machine,” which straps to the scorpion’s tail and uses an electric impulse to stimulate the venom glands for the poison to be released.

. . .

According to the researchers, the business of scorpion-milking can be lucrative. They said that a gram of venom can be sold for around $8,000, with venom from rarer scorpions selling for up to $12,000 per gram.

There's more at the link.

I can almost hear the job interview now:

"So, what exactly is it I'm going to be doing?"

"You're going to fit milking nozzles over the stingers of scorpions."

"You want me to put my hand up against a scorpion's stinger? Thanks, but no thanks!"

Peter

The real addiction problem - government subsidies

Over in formerly great Britain, this economist gets it.

The head of a group which advises the government has called for a review of tax breaks for farmers.

Economist Dieter Helm, who chairs the independent Nature Capital Committee which advises the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said the current system led to "subsidy addiction".

Farmers will be paid for delivering benefits for nature and the countryside after Brexit instead of receiving subsidies for the amount of land they farm, Defra secretary Michael Gove has indicated.

However, Professor Helm, who said he was speaking in a personal capacity, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If you're producing 0.7% of output, receiving £3 billion of subsidies for that output of about £9 billion and being exempted on rates, and being exempted on diesel and being exempted on inheritance tax, this is quite a list and we've got there by accident almost, one after another of these concessions has been made, it's kind of a subsidy addiction in the end.

"Farmers receive not just the £3 billion of subsidy, they receive a whole range of other benefits that nobody else in the economy gets."

There's more at the link.

He's right, of course;  but the problem extends far beyond farms.  In a sense, every single government payout to any recipient runs the risk of growing into a subsidy without which the recipient simply can't make it.  Welfare and entitlement programs are the most prominent example.  Back in 2014, Forbes reported that "perhaps 52 percent of US households - more than half - now receive benefits from the government".  I'm willing to bet that at least half those households would not be able to cope if those benefits were cut (much less withdrawn completely).  Our tax system actively subsidizes the lowest-income element of society by paying them the so-called 'Earned Income Tax Credit'.  (I've heard the EITC called 'reparations-for-slavery in disguise' by some economists.  Current agitation for the implementation of some form of 'Basic Income' is, in part, fueled by those who regard it as another potential element of reparations.)

The biggest subsidy problem in this country arises in commerce and industry.  To name but a few:

• There's the ethanol subsidy, in the form of tax credits and other measures, which nets giant corporations such as Archer Daniels Midland and the like billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars, each and every year.
• There are agricultural subsidies in general.  According to Wikipedia, these paid about $20 billion to farmers and industrial corporations in 2005.  I'm sure it's a lot higher by now.
• There are rescue measures for troubled industries.  The most prominent in recent history is the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout of the financial industry in 2008, which disbursed almost $430 billion, including over $80 billion to the US auto industry.

Those are only three out of many subsidies paid out annually by US taxpayers, many of whom know little or nothing about how their tax dollars, both federal and state, are being spent.  In 2014, Forbes reported:

I recently read the February 24 Good Jobs First report, “Subsidizing the Corporate One Percent” ... It says that three-quarters of all state economic development subsidies went to just 965 corporations since the beginning of the study in 1976. The Fortune 500 corporations alone accounted for more than 16,000 subsidy awards, worth $63 billion – mostly in the form of tax breaks.

Think about that. The largest, wealthiest, most powerful organizations in the world are on the public dole ... there are 514 economic development programs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 245,000 awards have been granted under those programs. I ask again, where is the outrage? The system is antithetical to the idea of free markets. A quarter of a million times, state governments decided what is best for producers and consumers. That should make us cringe. First, the government is inefficient at providing public goods, and it is terrible at manipulating the markets for private goods. But more importantly, those 514 economic development programs are almost all the result of insidious cronyism. Narrow business interests manipulate government policymakers, and those interests prosper to the detriment of everyone else. Free markets be damned.

. . .

The 965 companies in the report received over $110 billion of public money.

Again, more at the link.

That $110 billion would pay for an awful lot of other needs, if it weren't being siphoned off to feed corporate greed.  Do you want to know why so many companies spend so many millions of dollars every year on lobbying Washington for their own special interests?  It's been estimated that up to $9 billion every year is spent on the lobbying 'industry'.  In other words, by spending that $9 billion, companies get back up to $110 billion or more (according to Forbes) in direct and indirect benefits.  They get back $12.22 for every $1 they spend.  Sure sounds like a bargain to me!

In general, government subsidies to commerce and industry are, I submit, a curse, and a ripoff of the taxpayers of that nation.  I've no doubt there are some that are justifiable . . . but how can we identify them amid the morass of corporate cronyism, bribes and backdoor deals?  I think that British economist is right.  Subsidies have become nothing more or less than an addiction.

Here's a corporate litmus test.

• Can a company, or an industry, survive on its own, without government subsidies?
• If not, is it essential to the security and/or survival of that nation?  By that I mean, can the nation continue to exist, and guarantee its own security, without it?
• If the answer to both questions is "No", then let it sink.  Don't subsidize failure!

Peter

A great new read from Cedar Sanderson

My friend and fellow author, Cedar Sanderson (who also designs covers - I had her create the cover for my forthcoming fantasy novel) has just published another novella (i.e. a short novel - usually considered to be between 17,500 and 40,000 words).  This one's titled 'Snow in her Eyes'.

I bought it and read it at once.  Being a short read (and priced accordingly), it didn't take me too long.  It's great!  In this book, Cedar combines her love of modern fantasy with her education as a forensic chemistry assistant (I'm sure that job title is wrong, and she'll probably scold me for using it, but it's the best I can come up with at short notice).  The result is startling - a police investigation involving a paranormal detective, with some very unusual twists to the plot.  Highly recommended reading.

If you like modern fantasy (not necessarily just urban fantasy, which so many are writing these days  - a lot of her work involves rural scenery, such as her Pixie For Hire trilogy, which begins in Alaska), then take a look at all Cedar's books.  Miss D. and I are definitely her fans, as well as her friends.

Peter

Take one white mattress cover . . .

. . . wash it, tumble-dry it, and put it over the back of a chair to finish drying and air out.

What happens next - at least, in this household?

Why, it grows a cat, of course!

Ashbutt regards any laundry temporarily placed on or draped over furniture - particularly if it's still warm from the dryer - as his personal nesting place, and gets quite indignant if we try to remove him from it.  "But I saw it first!  I claim it!  It's MINE, dammit!"




Peter

Feel like some more motoring mayhem?

If so, here's a compilation of the 'best' crashes in Finnish rallies over the past few years.  'Best' is relative, of course, depending on whether or not one's in the car!

I'm betting most of those won't buff out . . .




Peter

If police want our trust, they must prove themselves to be trustworthy

Following a long string of scandals, police in Chicago have a long way to go in that regard.  The latest does nothing to improve their reputation.

Thirteen years ago, William Stewart Boyd, a Cook County judge, drove to a South Side church to turn in a handgun his late father had owned.

The Chicago Police Department was accepting guns as part of a buyback program meant to take weapons off the streets and help make the city safer.

Boyd, who hears domestic relations cases, brought them his father’s .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, serial number J515268. He remembers handing it to plainclothes officers who wore their badges and service weapons on their belts. Under the buyback program, they, in turn, gave him a prepaid Visa card. It was for less than $100.

The police recover thousands of guns every year, many of them through buyback programs like this, as well as by confiscating weapons seized during arrests — more than 5,000 guns so far this year alone.

The guns are supposed to be destroyed. But the gun Judge Boyd took in somehow wasn’t. Instead, it turned up eight years later next to the body of a young man who was shot to death by a Cicero police officer.

. . .

How did a gun Chicago cops were supposed to have kept in a locked custody room and then destroyed end up all of those years later at the scene of a police shooting in Cicero, on a patch of pavement next to the body of a 22-year-old Latin Counts gang member named Cesar A. Munive?

. . .

Police departments in Harvey, Elmwood Park and Dolton all have had guns vanish in recent years. And long before Boyd’s gun disappeared, a city audit found that the Chicago Police Department lost track of more than 130 guns that were stored at an evidence warehouse in the 1990s. Four of those later were seized during arrests.

Now, the Chicago department has opened an internal affairs investigation into how the judge’s revolver ended up in Cicero — something police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi calls “extremely abnormal and troublesome.”

. . .

Whatever happened to keep the gun from being destroyed, Munive’s family members believe they know how it ended up next to his body. It was planted there by Cicero police to cover up an unjustified shooting by a cop of an unarmed man, according to a civil rights lawsuit the family filed in federal court.

Now, after five years of litigation, Cicero officials are poised to pay the family $3.5 million to settle their case. The Cicero Town Council agreed earlier this month to approve the settlement and is expected to take a final vote soon.

There's more at the link.

This exemplifies the dilemma most of us face in our relationships with, and attitudes towards, law enforcement officers and agencies.  Any normal, sane, law-abiding person wants to like and trust them.  We want to believe that they truly are protecting and serving us . . . but then something like this happens, and we have to ask:  Why?  Why does the steady drip, drip, drip of scandal, abuse of power, malfeasance of office, etc. continue?  Why is it permitted and/or tolerated by those in authority?

All too often, those authorities exhibit an attitude of contempt and disdain towards those they are supposed to be protecting and serving.  We've discussed several such incidents in these pages.  See, for example, Haversham County Sheriff Joey Terrell, a poster child for the problem.  If he were in charge of a local law enforcement agency, I'd be demonstrating in the streets for his immediate removal;  and I'd distrust any officer demonstrating so great a lack of honor and principle as to be willing to serve under such a man.

If you want to know why, despite all its fallacies, flaws and failings, Black Lives Matter, and organizations like it, continue to be a force in society . . . reports like that above demonstrate conclusively why they still find support.

I'm blessed to know, in person and online, several law enforcement officers whom I'd unhesitatingly trust with my life.  I've served alongside several others.  It's truly sad that there are not more of them . . . and that the actions described in the report above may lead to some suspecting them, too, of being untrustworthy.  They deserve better than that.

Peter