More Bears

 

They are awake and checking things out. Yes, snow in May!

State Farm and New Jersey

 Just got a notice from State Farm stating:

If the subsequent filing is approved for the full amount requested, when combined with the previously approved rate increase, the average policy will see a rate change of +147.0%. The impact of these filings on your rates may vary substantially, depending on the terms of your policy and your individual circumstances. 

 Yes, 147% increase! Last year it was 50%. Cumulatively that is well over 225% increase. And I have a 2 year old Honda with only 4,000 miles! I guess it is all those under 30 males crashing into us older folks. Solution, not allow any male under 35 to drive!

Oh yes, the Gov and his cronies, remember the guy that sent all the old folks sick into nursing homes with the result of massive deaths, well he could stop this but alas he seems to be on his last legs. 

So avoid NJ at all costs!

 

Another Gilson Masterpiece

 Etienne Gilson, the French Thomist, has written many excellent works. This work summarizes many of Leo XIII writings. It includes the writings but Gilson's summaries are exceptional in detail but are brief and to the point. As one looks at Leo XIV, who has indicated he looks back to Leo XIII, this becomes a timely text. Leo XIII was a strong anti-socialist, as he defines socialism. He was a strong supporter of property rights and the rights of workers. An interesting mix. Leo XIII advocated universal adherence to Thomistic philosophy, abjuring the philosophers of the 19th century.

Overall it is an exceptionally clear work and worth reading in our current environment. One may disagree yet knowing what the views are helps.

The FAA and Gross Incompetence

 In 1972 I began some work at MIT Lincoln Lab on advanced air traffic control systems. It ran the gamut from radars, tracking and airport surface traffic control. In 1977 I was seconded to the FAA to work on AirSat, and using GPS. At the time I lectured on GPS at GWU, and I gather I was one of the few experts in the area. I spoke with Congress to incorporate GPS as well as advanced ATC systems. Strangely the greatest opponent was Senator Kennedy and his staff. I guess he finally concurred.

Now fifty years later we are no further ahead than in the mid 70s. One example of this mess is the MIT Lincoln Lab group who has spent fifty years and billions working on this. A leader in the group asserts that their major achievement is:

... is invested in cultivating a strong culture of innovation and is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion across the Laboratory. She currently serves as the Executive Sponsor for the Lincoln Laboratory Hispanic/Latinx Network employee resource group

It seems that this person is more involved with DEI things than getting the billions of dollars of technology working.  As the NY Times asserts:

 The Federal Aviation Administration said that the outage, which affected communications and radar displays at the facility in Philadelphia, occurred just before 4 a.m. and lasted about 90 seconds.
A similar outage of about 90 seconds last week, on a Monday afternoon, upended travel at the airport, leaving controllers with no way to communicate with pilots and keep planes from crashing into one another. Several controllers working that afternoon were distressed by that episode and took time off, which resulted in several days of low staffing at the facility, causing widespread flight delays and cancellations.

 Now loss of telecom connectivity is a demonstration of gross incompetence in my opinion and my experience. In building my fiber network in Eastern Europe I demanded fail safe systems. Diversity touting and redundancy. If the FAA moved things to Philly then there should have been several alternate route for a fail safe system. Instead, after five decades we are still providing a mid 20th century system. Heads should roll, publicly. The Secretary of Transportation should not spend time saying what is wrong but fix it from day 1 on the job. Stop the Press announcements and solve the problem. 

One simple solution is that there should be no politicians in charge, just operations thugs, solving problems, cleaning out the stables, and no press meetings. Also stop the praise of their DEI efforts, lives are at risk.

 

It's a Shame

 The NCI has abandons its web page. They note:

Due to restructuring and reductions in force at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Cancer Information Highlights bulletin will no longer be published.  

At most it was a 1 person job. It was powerfully useful in understanding what NCI was up to. I think they may be cutting too deeply.

"Sweetheart"

 The article in the NY Times presents just the tip of human arrogance in medicine. It begins with elder speak, the way medical support workers deal with their customers, or shall we say patients. 

When I first started to study medicine I got a copy of Harrison's, a Bible of Internal Medicine. The first chapter told physicians how to speak with patients. One called them Mr or Mrs or Miss Jones etc. Never call a patient by their first name unless you are colleagues and even then one called each other Doctor.

What has happened are the following:

First the employees speaking this was are the lowest paid care givers. They are generally uneducated, paid minimal wage and use this speak as a way of dominating the people in their care. It is the only time in their lives they can give orders or even denigrate others when they have often been denigrated.

Second in the olden days the physician was a god. All answered to the physician and the patient received equal treatment. Now the physician is terrified of the Administrators, generally uneducated but politically connected and over paid managers and moneymakers of medical institutions.

Third, the loss of RNs, professionals in medicine and the explosion of the uneducated care givers means that no one is trained to do anything professionally.

 My general approach is to not become a weakling but to dress properly, be well groomed, speak clearly and if necessary speak down to those trying to be in control. All it takes is a bit of astute medical questioning. Yet the first instance almost always is an interface with the "sweetheart" babes especially in New Jersey!