Opinion-Columns.com

What Sets Them Apart is What Sets Them Off

One of the great attributes that sets Americans apart from most of their world kin is what sets them off. Kate got pissed on an Austin, Texas runway and in no time had 18,000 signatures on a petition holding Congress’s feet to the fire to pass a bill of rights for passengers. She wants regulation and by god, she wants it now, before another passenger sits another hour (or ten) on some dumb runway without so much as a Perrier or an apology.

Automated Targeting, Cruise-Control for What Hitler Had to Do By Hand

I’m mad as hell. I’ve written in as moderate and civilized a manner as is possible (for me) for seven years now about this evil band of co-conspirators we call an administration. No matter, the gloves are off. I am like Howard Beale, the newscaster in the 1976 film Network. Grab some dialogue;

Losing Our Edge on Our Own Home Turf

John McQuaid makes the case in an editorial, The Can’t-Do Nation, that America is losing its knack for getting big things done. It’s an interesting premise.

Getting in the Game, When Representative Government No Longer Works

Every special interest is in the game. Boeing and Microsoft, Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry, everything from agriculture to zen has its lobby in the halls of the Congress of the United States. On a moment’s notice, the gun lobby or casino of your choice can marshal a quorum of lawmakers to get stuff done.

The Airline Industry, Following Detroit Down the Tube

It’s 200 miles from Washington to New York. A high-speed, Bullet-train, at 200mph, would make the trip, city-center to city-center in something approaching an hour and twenty minutes (figuring the get-up-to-speed and the slow-down times).

Conserving Scenery, Natural Historic Objects and the Wildlife Therein

Woodrow Wilson’s instructions are pretty succinct;

“to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Carry-On Luggage? Who Needs It?

Come to think of it, flying without any kind of hand baggage might just be a pleasure.