- From the “Damn Shame” Department – The Navy has announced that they will scrap the U.S.S. Miami rather than pay to repair the submarine. You’ll recall that the boat was heavily damaged by fire in 2012 when a worker decided it was better to commit arson than work through his shift. Rather than tie up a large amount of money in repairing one ship, which would have had to be taken from the budgets of other maintenance projects, the Navy will have the submarine destroyed. I hope the jerk who lit the fire feels a bit of guilt over this, because his attempt to have an afternoon off is costing the country a lot in both money and military readiness.
- From the “Peace In Our Time” Department – Political dissidents in Iran are urging President Obama to unilaterally halt U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic and meet one on one with the countries new president. If President Barack OChamberlain indeed does this, then we’ll know just how serious he is about stopping the Iranians from developing nuclear weapons. Here’s my deal for the Iranians – You all unilaterally halt nuclear research, open up to United States inspectors, and deliver over to us the unharmed persons who violated our embassy and held our people in 1979 to 1980, and we’ll let humanitarian aid through. Other than that, I care if the entire country dries up and blows away.
- From the “Faith in Humanity” Department – An organization that helps out victims of sexual assault was recently burglarized, but got a surprise a couple of hours later. It seems the miscreants who took their computers, children’s books, and candy figured out who they’d robbed, and returned the loot. This doesn’t excuse the inevitable damage and anxiety that the break-in caused, but this goes a long way with me toward saying “OK, you don’t get thrown into prison for a long time.”.
- From the “Playing With Fire” Department – Scientists are working with a flu virus to try to figure out what would have to change about it to make it more deadly and more infectious to humans. If you’ve ever read “The Stand”, then you know why I look at this with a jaundiced eye. The rational part of me knows that the controls at labs are very tight and effective, and that scientists need to study how a virus evolves in order to develop ways to prevent and treat disease outbreaks. But the irrational part of me wonders if this just might be a really bad idea. Also, can someone please remind me to get the flu shot this year? Laying on my back dreaming about snakes and fire for three days was no fun whatsoever.
- From the “Vector” Department – In related news, scientists in London are investigating a possible connection between a new flu strain and camels. It appears that antibodies to MERS have been found in all of the blood samples from camels, which suggests that the animals have gotten over the disease at one point or another. If this flu takes hold and becomes prevalent, I can see an interesting nickname for it. “Anyone seen Joey?” “Not lately. Joey’s home sick with The Hump”.
- From the “Window Dressing” Department – The city of Los Angeles has decided to do something other than something useful again. This time, they’re putting together ordnances that would require BB guns to be brightly colored so that police officers can tell the difference between them and a real firearm. Apparently the city fathers have never heard of spray paint and electrical tape. Rather than try to make cosmetic changes to toys, why doesn’t the council urge the cities of Los Angeles to not point guns of any kind at police officers?
News Roundup
Posted by daddybear71 on August 8, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/08/08/news-roundup-200/
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DaddyBear
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Old NFO
/ August 9, 2013Re the MIAMI, there are also all the lost jobs that would have come with the rebuilding effort, and the loss IS having an impact on Navy Readiness…
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daddybear71
/ August 9, 2013Yep, as well as the jobs that do normal maintenance and management when it’s in port.
I imagine that this will mean longer and more frequent cruises for the other subs and their crews in the fleet.
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oldnfo
/ August 9, 2013Yeah, MAJOR impact…
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