Friday, June 26, 2009

Engineer Needs an Assistant on T

Better WAKE UP!

Related:
Getting Took By the T

You know where the tax monies are going in this state, reader.

"Brake, computer failure possible train crash causes; NTSB says all activated prior to deadly wreck" by Lena H. Sun and Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post | June 24, 2009

WASHINGTON - Millions of passengers in cities in Massachusetts and across the United States ride old subway cars like the ones that crumpled in the deadly crash. The largest transit systems depend on such cars for more than one-third of their fleets, despite safety concerns expressed by federal investigators more than three years ago....

What more is there to say, really, about any level of government these days.

It is ONE BIG LOOTING OPERATION!

Related: Delay on the T

You guys can't do anything on time, can ya?

Washington is among the seven largest transit systems that rely on older cars in poor or marginal condition for more than a third of their fleets, according to a federal study published in the spring. The others are in Boston, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, and suburban New Jersey.

I'm way out here 100 miles away and I'm sad for YOU, Bostonian, because YOUR CITY DOESN'T GIVE a FLYING you-know-what about you!

Your SUBWAY CARS are DANGEROUS -- but BLAME OPERATOR ERROR or TEXTING or SOMETHING ELSE!!!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE when I READ the PAPER ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Transit officials elsewhere defended their trains, including Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. He said the MBTA’s system’s preventive maintenance program keeps its rail cars “safe and reliable at a reasonable cost.’’

I'll keep that in mind the next time one accordions.

--more--"

"Deadly subway crash in D.C. turns spotlight on regulation; US safety board cannot require changes it wants" by Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press | June 25, 2009

Oh, now we need MORE REGULATION!

Pfft!


WHERE the hell are the GUYS WE WERE PAYING?

You know, the POLITICIANS who are SUPPOSED to be LOOKING OUT for US instead of lining their pockets and living lavishly at TAXPAYER EXPENSE!?!!!!


WASHINGTON - When the board’s advice goes unheeded, money is usually the reason....

So we don't even really need regulation; we just need SOMEONE to LISTEN, huh?

Thanks for the deceptive agenda-pushing, MSM. I never tire of it (sigh).

“They just can’t afford it,’’ said John Tolman, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, who has assisted on more than a dozen NTSB rail investigations. “They are totally underbudgeted, and you have to weigh that against the cost to the customer.’’ Metrorail is funded by the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia....

Of course, PENSION LOOTERS and the like have NOTHING to DO with the "underbudget" costs. Why do I smell a TAX INCREASE or FARE HIKE?

A former safety board chairman under Democratic President Bill Clinton, Jim Hall, said a spate of recent accidents related to ignored recommendations could be partially the result of the aversion to government regulation during the business-friendly Republican administration of George W. Bush.

Oh, GO BLOW it out your pffffft!

"In the 1990s, the T and other transit agencies were encouraged by federal officials to sell their train equipment to banks and then lease it back. The arrangement brought the T $53 million in upfront payments. In return, the private banks realized a tax benefit"

"The authority was attempting to renegotiate terms of a complex financial deal with the banking giant UBS. Known as a swaption, the arrangement could force the authority to pay out a $450 million lump sum"

NOT a GOOD IDEA at all!!!

Thanks, Bill Clinton! And here his flack is blaming Bush!

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the s*** political fooleys!

--more--"

You know what, Bostonian?

You are BETTER OFF taking a
CAB!

Update:

"all trains will run manually until crews inspect all 3,000 circuits, or sections beneath the track that include a signaling system."

Then why is that guy sitting in front of the car doing?

YOU THINK he is DRIVING IT when he comes at you, but we find it's a COMPUTER?

Not that I want to toss guys out of work, but he (or she) is COLLECTING a TAXPAYER/TOLL-PAYER SALARY, right?

With generous pension benefits??


"Signal glitch found at site of D.C. rail crash" by Associated Press | June 26, 2009

I'm sorry; I have no faith in anything that is in the newspaper anymore. What's one more cover-up lie in an endless array of them
?

WASHINGTON - The signaling system for the Washington-area transit system failed to detect a test train stopped in the same place as one that was struck during a deadly crash this week, federal investigators said yesterday.

Money well spent, huh? If this is even true.


The National Transportation Safety Board was testing the control system that provides critical information to passing trains such as when to stop or slow down.

Thinking about all those physical NIST tests that wouldn't make Building 7 fall until they jiggered the computer results.

The test results released by the safety board indicate the oncoming train in Monday’s crash might not have received information that a train was stopped on the tracks ahead of it. A news release from the safety board did not say whether investigators think the problems were occurring before the crash.

But they are getting it out there so when they present the "official" account everyone will nod and say, yeah, I heard that, Im soes smartz!


The safety board also said the operator of the struck train was interviewed yesterday. He told investigators that his train was running in manual mode at the time of the crash. The operator said he was waiting for another train to clear when he felt a hard push to his train from behind.

Messages left with the safety board seeking further comment weren’t immediately returned.

Investigators said they were still examining the crash site to understand how the train control system functioned Monday. The safety board also announced that it had recovered data recorders from the struck train; none were found on the striking train.

?

Metro said it is inspecting every stretch of its tracks to make sure there are no signaling problems elsewhere. The system’s general manager, John Catoe, said all trains will run manually until crews inspect all 3,000 circuits, or sections beneath the track that include a signaling system.

--more--"

And SPEAK of the DEVIL!

"Body of Air France pilot retrieved' by Associated Press | June 26, 2009

PARIS - Search crews in the mid-Atlantic have retrieved the bodies of the chief pilot of Flight 447 and a flight attendant, Air France said yesterday.

The two are among 50 bodies pulled out of the ocean in the international search for remains of the 228 victims and wreckage of the May 31 crash....

The Airbus A330 went down in the Atlantic after running into thunderstorms en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The Brazilian military has led the search and recovery efforts for bodies and debris, while the French are in charge of investigating the crash and the hunt for the flight recorders, or black boxes.

The cause of the crash is unclear. The plane’s two black boxes could be key to determining what happened. But they will only continue to emit signals for a few more days. They send out an electronic tapping sound that can be heard up to 1 1/4 miles away.

French officials said this week military ships searching for the wreckage have detected sounds in the Atlantic depths but they are not from the flight recorders.

Two French-chartered ships are trolling a search area, pulling US Navy underwater listening devices attached to 19,700 feet of cable. A French submarine is also searching.

Yeah, they can fish out the TWA 800 boxes but "can't" find these.

Hey, I DUNNO WHAT HAPPENED!

I suspect the "authorities" either already have them and are keeping them secret (a la 9/11 here) or are not really interested in finding them, but are putting up a big show.

That's the feeling I get when reading the agenda-pushing official version in my obfuscating "news"paper.

--more--"

But you know what?

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH and YOUR OWN THINKING!!!

Don't take it all from me.

I'm not God, I'm just a heartbroken (for so many reasons I will not elaborate on) old man.