The Great Boston Molasses Disaster

 Today in 1919, a molasses storage tank in Boston's North End ruptured sending a 30' wave of molasses through the streets. It killed 21 people.

I have  done presentations on this accident with respect to Project Management issues and comparing issues then with similar issues today. It's an ongoing joke in construction that "You can get it fast, good or cheap. Pick any two". They opted to go for fast and cheap as they had to have it completed in time to receive a shipment of molasses that was then on the way. Short cuts were made. The tank was never filled with water to test for leaks and it leaked so badly that children in the area would get raw molasses of its side. The company painted it brown to hide the molasses stains. It was the worst industrial accident of its day and resulted in urban legends that exist up to today.

COVID and Lunch

 My wife and I took her mother with us to day to get the COVID vaccine. Our parish is long and narrow and the only place to get the injection was about 45 minutes south. But, it was worth it as we had no line and no wait. We were in and out with 30 minutes. 

On the way back we stopped to get lunch at a local BBQ place. They had this sign as a sales promotion...A crudely drawn pistol and the words "Open Carry, Free Drink".

Unfortunately, I could not take advantage.

What Did You Expect?

It seems that some politicians are not pleased with the police response to the demonstration in DC the other day. They believe that the police, in some cases, even aided the protesters by removing barricades. Well, what did you expect. Politicians from the left have denigrated police, defunded them and charged them as criminals for doing their duty. Did you really expect that after all that that they will form a line and protect the people that have been beating them for so long?

And I had a bit of cognitive dissonance as  I watched the news on the protests. What I was seeing did not jive with what I was hearing. I didn't see any fires or burning buildings, I didn't see and destruction of property except for a few broken windows, I didn't see any graffiti being sprayed on the capital building, but what I was hearing, even on Fox, would make you think that what was happening was as bad the British burning the capital in 1812. 

I'm afraid that this will not get better. Wait until the Dems try to make major changes to the Supreme Court and their other agenda items and you will see real protests.

Head Count

 Saudi Arabia celebrated the end of 2020 by beheading two murderers, bringing their total head count to 17.

What's Up, Doc?

There has been a lot of hot air recently about Jill Biden wanting to be called "doctor". Evidently she has a PhD in Education. It takes a fair amount of effort, dedication and intelligence to earn a PhD. Most people I know outside of academia use those initials after their name and don't want to be confused with a medical doctor. I have known lots of folks with doctorate degrees and most of them don't make a big deal about it. Those that do usually have an ego problem or a Napoleon Complex. So lets think about what she and Joe meant with this directive.

What they meant was that they are better than you and me - much better and we should only address them with awe and reverence using the proper title. This, to me, is typical of the Dems. They believe they are smarter than us, they know what we should do and we should follow their orders without question.

I cannot recall a First Lady with this kind of superiority issue. 

Chinese Infiltration?

 About 10 or 15 years ago I noted an increase in the number of Japanese restaurants. The funny thing was that the owners of these restaurants were Chinese. (and they didn't speak any Japanese) I found that odd but thought that a good way to get a large number of Chinese into the US was to teach a bunch of guys to do the knife tricks you see in a Japanese grill and them claim they need a visa for them as those skills could not be hired locally. It seemed a good way to get a bunch of deep cover agents into the country.

I dismissed my own thoughts as being extreme conspiracy theories but with the recent news about Chinese infiltrations of US politicians, I'm not so sure.

Tax Proposals Fail

 We had an election here last Saturday. Besides a DA runoff, we had 5 millage proposals on the ballot. They were for recreation, levees, medical center, mosquito control and senior services. None of them passed! Faced with future tolls from an unwanted bridge being built under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and a recent user fee for mosquito control, the people had had enough of a spendthrift parish council and rejected their taxes.

Across the river, tax proposals in New Orleans also failed. These were for renewals of millages that were due to expire but were re-packaged to cover different stuff. This is what the politicians call "no new taxes" but people aren't that stupid and understand that renewing an expiring tax is still "new". Also, there was a sales tax for the French Quarter that failed. There was controversy about how the money was to be spent. The residents wanted it to go to the police but the mayor wanted half of it to go to an unarmed force of  "quality of life" code enforcers. People rejected it by 67% !