It's the Letter P

Here it is the end of another week and our hapless bunch of news makers have make a few "missteps". This week, there seems to be a preponderance for the letter P.  Planes, pilots,  planets, pot,  pictures, police and paranormal have all been reported this week.


Riddle...The Difference Between  "Plane" and "Planet"

An exhausted Air Canada pilot mistook the planet Venus for an airplane and sent the plane into a rapid 400 foot descent in order to prevent an imaginary collision from occurring, according to an official report released Monday. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board released the statement which read:


"Under the effects of significant sleep inertia (Yeh, we get it....the guy was half asleep) the first officer perceived the oncoming aircraft as being on a collision course and began a descent to avoid it."

The unfortunate event occurred at night on board a Boeing 767 twin passenger plane flying from Toronto to Zurich 95 passengers and a crew of 8 aboard. According to reports, the first officer had just awoke from a long nap. According to the report, in a disoriented state:

"The FO (First Officer) initially mistook the planet Venus for an aircraft but the captain advised again that the target was at the 12 o’clock position(straight ahead) and 1,000 feet below."

No one on the plane was wearing their seat belts, despite the "fasten your seat belt" indicator being turned, which resulted in the subsequent injury of 14 passengers and 2 crew members. (oh no you didn't..... just blame the passengers for their injuries!)  Seven required medical treatment and were taken to the hospital. Air Canada expressed their sincerest apologies to the passengers injured in the accident and explained that they are currently in the process of taking the steps requisite in order to avoid a recurrence. Their approach is simply to remind pilots to follow the rules regarding taking naps during flights and increased efforts to heighten crew awareness to the effects of pilot fatigue.


OOPS....I think that the statement from Air Canada reps stating that they will takes steps in order for that not to happen again is commendable but clearly a little light.  Reminding the pilots not to wake up "groggy" from their naps, doesn't seem quite stern enough.  Their first order of business should be to  get a big flashing sign on Venus that says "I am a planet not a plane."  The T makes all the difference.



Posting Pictures of Stealing is Poorly Thought Out

There it was on Facebook for all to see – Michael Baker with a gas can, a siphon hose stuck into a police cruiser in eastern Kentucky and a middle finger raised.

Micheal, if I were one of your Facebook friends, I
would give you a status update"
YOU ARE A MORON!

Among those who saw it were Jenkins police, who arrested 20-year-old Baker on Monday and charged him with theft by unlawful taking. (Isn't that the definition of theft...unlawful taking????)


Police didn't laugh. Chief Allen Bormes says that if Baker would steal from police, he'd steal from "just about anybody."


Authorities say they plan to buy lockable gas caps.

OK,  Let me see if I have this straight.  Instead of catching thieves and keeping them from stealing (especially from cops) they are going to lock up their gas caps.  That is some serious police work.

Granny's Plan for Retirement is Pot

A Granny in Oklahoma has a real flair for running her own business.  Unfortunately her business, is illegal.  Never-the-less, a 73 year old woman, Darlene Mayes, has been arrested and authorities believe she is the kingpin of a drug ring that provides 40% of all the marijuana in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. 


 Well, now aren't looks deceiving?  Kingpin?
Drug Lord????



In Mayes' house, cops found the supply in her bedroom, which reeked of weed. A vacuum-sealed bag full of the stuff was found in the closet, and bundles of bills labeled "$15,000" were found under her box spring. They found a pipe and another bag of weed in the bathroom, and a total of $200,000 in more vacuum-sealed bags in a guest room where Mayes' grandchildren reportedly slept.

In the article it was quoted that Vinita Police Cheif Boby Floyd  told The Daily, an IPad only news site,  "That was quite a surprise. She is in very good shape for her age." (huh? Did he just say that?)

Mayes allegedly first told officers that the money was for her retirement fund.

This story brought up a lot of questions in my mind. Why isn't a female ringleader called a queenpin? ...and really let's give her a little "woot, woot"  ...40 percent of the market share!!!
If she was selling something legal we would really be impressed.  AND who does the interviewing for the IPad only news???  Oh yeah, and as far as her retirement, I think it has been taken care of.


Ghostbusters are a bust

A New Jersey couple is suing their landlord.  Now you wouldn't think this would be even worthy of my "back page" news...but clearly, it just doesn't take much to amuse me today.


In Toms River, N.J. Josue Chinchilla (see, I am already amused...Chinchilla???) and Michele Calan, an attorney by trade, are suing their landlord to break their lease and refund their $2,250 security deposit.


Why????...because they say the house they leased is haunted.  (Allegedly)


Dr. Richard Lopez, the owner of the house isn't about to return the deposit and claims the couple is in violation of the lease's terms.  He is counter suing, although none of the articles say exactly what he is suing for.


According the Doc Lopez, he thinks the couple is just using the "haunted" claim as a way to get out of a lease that they can't afford. 

But the couple contend their fright is real. They say that shortly after they moved in on March 1, they heard mysterious sounds coming from the basement, lights turned on and off by themselves, doors creaked open and slammed shut, and clothes and towels that were stored in closets somehow wound up on the floor. To top it off, an unknown force tugged at Chinchilla's sheets in bed one night, and Callan saw a dark apparition in the bedroom, they told the Asbury Park Press.

To help prove their case the couple called in  “ghostbusters” – the Shore Paranormal Research Society, a nonprofit team that investigates and tries to prove the  claims of paranormal activity.

But Carlson says he’s not ready to call the house “haunted.”

This is the house...perhaps, I have taken a few liberties with the visitors.

“There’s a big difference between ‘haunted’ and ‘paranormal activity,’" Carlson told msnbc.com on Tuesday.

“Paranormal means you have an occurrence that can’t be explained scientifically. Haunted? No, I do not think so. Do I think there’s stuff paranormal going on there? Absolutely.”

Carlson wouldn’t offer an opinion on the merits of the couple’s lawsuit. But he says there was clearly something unexplained going on in the house.

The couple has since moved into a motel. “This has been a horrific nightmare for us,” Callan told the newspaper.

Well, so much for the ghostbusting group helping the matter.  Splitting hairs aren't we???.... whether to call it "paranormal activity" or "haunted".  When things are moving around, short sheeting your bed and flashing the lights on and off, it's time to move. 

So much for the news this week, my bloggee friends.  Feel free to send me any unusual news that you hear about and I will try to report it next time. 

Friday Around the Water Cooler

I, probably should get my apology out of the way before I even start this

post.  You see..now that I have all of these really stellar, intelligent blog writers as my cyber friends,  who write eloquent beautiful prose about the world and the ebb and flow of life, I am writing about wieners. Yep, that's right.  My brain seemingly is on par with that of a 13 year old boy.  I don't think my brain has actually morphed into that of an adolescent  in the literal sense, you understand.  More reactively...that is to say...I find myself giggling at all the assorted stories dealing with Rep. Weiner's **giggle, giggle** wiener.  Sorry...**giggle** really, sorry.

How many opportunities does the national media get to say Weiner and Mobile in the same sentence and still not be referring to this. -------->>

 Of course in this case, the media is talking about a mobile phone not
 a MO BEEL as in Wienermobile.


This weeks big (errr..maybe not all that big) story is just the kind of fun, salacious fodder that the mainstream media outlets  live for. The story that has now become known as Weinergate is in reference to a picture of a male crotch shot being tweeted from a phone to a young Seattle woman.  Now you wouldn't think that a closeup picture of a man in his undies would be all that noteworthy but I guess if you are a Democratic Representative from New York it merits a couple of comments or maybe a few more than a couple....or perhaps hundreds.  Let's get real.  How often do you get a chance to say wiener over and over on the news? 

What makes this story even more LAUGHABLE (not with him, at him kind of way)...is how Representative Weiner is handling it. (to clarify, handling the story, not the wiener).  Instead of just saying clearly and forthright "that is not mine" or "clearly, my equipment doesn't protrude in that fashion" or "I wear tidy whities, so that can't be mine", he says crap like:

It certainly doesn't look familiar to me, but I don't want to say with certitude to you something that I don't know to be the certain truth.

Did he really just use the word CERTITUDE?  All, I can say is Weiner needs to shut up now.  Truly, just don't talk...you are making it worse. Don't believe me? How about this statement he made in an interview with Wolfe Blitzer on CNN. When asked if this photograph could be of him, he says....

 I can tell you this, that there are -- I have photographs. I don't know what photographs are out there in the world of me.

Are there so many pictures of your groin floating around out there you can't recall them all?  Here are a couple of other choice nuggets comments out of that interview.


You know, I -- I -- I fear we're going to find out that perhaps our security here was not particularly good. And maybe it's going to turn out to be a worse situation than it looks right now.

(what does that mean?  Is there going to be more?  Can it get worse than having your name associated with Weinergate and being the butt of wiener jokes? Sorry, couldn't help myself from throwing in another body part)

(when asked if he still wants to run for the mayorship of New York) Put it this way, it's the only better job than the one I have. Just imagine how many Weiner jokes will be in play, you know, when you become mayor, but you know, the thing I'm really focusing on now is this is a tough two years coming up, the presidential re-election

(why did he say "when you become mayor" instead of "I become mayor"...really the guy needs to quit talking and oh yeah, he needs to close his Twitter account)




OK..I am all petered out on that topic so let's move onto a more fun news story....

Newsweek did an article about called the "TOP TEN DYING CITIES". And the winners are....

10. Grand Rapids, Michigan
9. Flint, Michigan
8. South Bend, Indiana
7. Detroit, Michigan
6. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
5. Cleveland, Ohio
4. Rochester, New York
3. Hialeah, Florida
2. Vallejo, California
1. New Orleans, Louisiana

This is where this turns into a fun story for the week. Grand Rapids, Michigan doesn't particularly agree that their city is dying and they are doing something about it.

WAY TO GO, GRAND RAPIDS....AWESOME VIDEO....
I know this video is long but you have to see the part with the emergency vehicles and the helicopter.  How cool are the folks in Grand Rapids??  Very!

So Newsweek you might want to rethink your picks.  Looks like Grand Rapids is alive and well.


One last story that has come out of this weeks news.

A United Flight headed for Ghana had taken off from Washington DC with 144 passengers on board, had to circle for 25 minutes then re-land the plane.  Why, you ask? The reason is that two men got into a fist fight over one of them reclining their seat causing the other man to have his knees bumped.   The "cramped" guy smacked the "reclining" guy across the head.  AND A FIGHT ENSUED... The plane being too heavy to land with a full tank of fuel had to circle the airport for 25 minutes to  lessen the fuel weight before trying to bring down the plane safely.  As the crew tried to subdue the two idiots fighting, two fighter jets were dispatched out of Andrews Airforce Base to escort the passenger plane back to the runway, on the outside chance there was any link to terrorism.
WOW...such a fiasco  because two guys are jerks.

The Good for the Week....  Community spirit...I love that a city would come up with a unified effort to refute a negative article.


The Bad for the Week....Obviously, not having enough leg room is worth fighting for.


The Weird for the Week ...There is a One Eyed Pirate wanted in Colorado...yes, I said a pirate. A pirate knocked over a Walgreen's pharmacy last weekend.  Police are looking for this guy after he robbed the Colorado Springs, CO pharmacy of prescription drugs.

So be wary maties...if you see this guy...ARRGGGHH

Let's Cooperate

S.W.I.F.T Air  (anagram for, shit we're in flippin trouble)  has a plane approaching Major City, and is calling the tower to get clearance to land.


RIIIIINNNNGGGG...... voice mail picks up ..."Hello, you have reached Major City airport's control tower. We are unable to take your call right now.  However, your call is very important to us ....please, leave a message at the sound of the beep".....BBBEEEPPPP

It could happen....

This week's incident, two planes coming into Reagan National Airport in Washington DC were unable to reach the control tower to get a clearance for landing.  The first plane coming in was an American Flight 1012 which is a Boeing 737. It  had 91 passengers and 6 crew members  on board, but was unable to make contact with the  air traffic controller. 

The pilot radioed a nearby FAA facility in Warrenton, VA.  FAA, also, tried numerous times to contact the air traffic controller at the Reagan tower.  STILL NO ANSWER.

As, I am sure most of you have followed this story and  know that everything worked out fine in the end.  Both the American Flight 1012 and United Airlines Flight 628T, an Airbus, landed safely. After taking steps to make sure their air space was clear they landed without the help of the tower's controller.  It turns out that the traffic controller had fallen asleep.

I am a bit conflicted (as usual).   I think the pilots did exactly what they needed to do. Of course, the talk shows are having "experts" with alternate points of view weighing in on  how it "should" have been handled. Both planes landed safely, isn't that the important part?

The pilots were  trained professionals that took all the necessary precautions to land safely.  The first pilot going in (The AA pilot) was communicating with other planes in the area and the FAA so he knew there weren't other planes in his descent path.  The only problem is he had no way of knowing if anything was sitting on the runway.  Thank you very much, SLEEPY.

My problem is that I feel that the air traffic controllers that are up in the tower ALONE are put in an unsafe position.   There are a lot of "what ifs".   I can imagine sitting up in a quiet tower with long stretches of nothing happening, a person could fall asleep. (I am not saying that's right, or acceptable or anything along those lines.)   AND what about the little human inconveniences of  having to eat, drink and use the bathroom.  Maybe he wasn't asleep but had severe diarrhea.  Maybe, he is just saying he nodded off because it sounds better than "I had just crapped in my pants and was trying to clean myself up".

The thing is...had there been a second person there, whatever was going on wouldn't have mattered so much.

As I was researching the whole "air traffic control" issue, I ran across some interesting stuff.  Most of the articles cite facts and figures pertaining to issues such as controllers being over worked,  over stressed, working in under manned towers, and  the shortage of quality controllers.  I did happen to notice a few that were some what more entertaining though.

Conversations that have been recorded between the pilots and the air traffic controllers: I have no idea how true the first two are but I found them listed on several aviation themed web sites. Who knows?? Kind of funny though.


Here's one...

The tower at the small but busy airport in Sarasota, FL is open from 6AM until 10PM but most of the traffic is during the daylight hours.  In 1975 there was a National flight that came in every night at about 8:30PM. One of the regular pilots of this flight was a jokester.  On a particular night a controller that was in communication with the flight coming in from Tampa heard:

Pilot:  Sarasota Tower, National 123 with you..........guess where?"

The Controller: (presumably after making sure there was no other traffic) turned off the tower lights, then replied "National 123- Sarasota tower.....guess where?"

The Pilot:  (after a period of around 15 seconds) Sarasota Tower, this is National Flight 123 from Tampa we are exactly 10.3 DME on the 300 degree radial, inbound for landing."

The Controller (turning the lights back on)  You are clear to land.


AND

Tower:   "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees.”

Pilot:     “Centre, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?”

Tower:  "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?”



Here's a little video dealing with the more from a passengers point of view.





The Good...I have great faith in pilots.  I was in an emergency landing a few years ago and while it scared me sh******.the pilots, remained calm and told us what was happening.  Big thumbs up to the guys that can fly and LAND  a plane.

The Bad....The glitches.  All the things that occasionally go wrong. Especially when they result in death or injury.

The Weird..... I spotted an article in the Kansas City Star that the guy that got suspended last year (around March) for letting his 9 year old direct traffic at JFK is returning to work.  That isn't the weird part.  The paper says he is returning after a year of paid suspension.
Can that be right?  He got a year off with pay????