The Single Bullet That Killed 16 Million


Ed Hudgins

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Brant – The initial expectations of Rand and her circle concerning the impact of Atlas certainly were too high; the world didn’t transform in six months. But that speaks to a lack of appreciation about how societies and cultures change. Your remarks on “the complicated human dynamic” and “inertia” are to that point. Long-term change involves fundamental principles but it is complex and has always been one of my interests for practical reasons as well as academic interest.

In creating her community of like-minded individuals, Rand did what we all do through family, friends, voluntary associations, and internet groups like OL. But one challenge is to be reality-oriented, to not ignore those complexities of human nature in order to construct some Platonic fantasy world.

You might place me to be on the conservative end of the Objectivism spectrum (glad you think I have gravitas!), but I like to consider myself on the realist end. But since Objectivism is reality-oriented, this should not be an “end” but, rather, the whole spectrum! I accept the core insights of Objectivism, but I neither blind myself to the challenges that the real world poses to making that world as it can be and should be, nor do I sink into impotent carping and complaining.

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Brant – The initial expectations of Rand and her circle concerning the impact of Atlas certainly were too high; the world didn’t transform in six months. But that speaks to a lack of appreciation about how societies and cultures change. Your remarks on “the complicated human dynamic” and “inertia” are to that point. Long-term change involves fundamental principles but it is complex and has always been one of my interests for practical reasons as well as academic interest.

In creating her community of like-minded individuals, Rand did what we all do through family, friends, voluntary associations, and internet groups like OL. But one challenge is to be reality-oriented, to not ignore those complexities of human nature in order to construct some Platonic fantasy world.

You might place me to be on the conservative end of the Objectivism spectrum (glad you think I have gravitas!), but I like to consider myself on the realist end. But since Objectivism is reality-oriented, this should not be an “end” but, rather, the whole spectrum! I accept the core insights of Objectivism, but I neither blind myself to the challenges that the real world poses to making that world as it can be and should be, nor do I sink into impotent carping and complaining.

I take a broader view of conservatism than Rand did; she seemed focused on Buckley who dominated publicly rendered conservatism in his writing lifetime. She also had no truck with religionists, of course, but the turf war was with Buckley. She had another turf war with libertarians. These conflicts blew off a lot of people who otherwise might have been more interested in and supportive of her philosophy, especially from the political end. Taking common sensically, conservativism can be a good basic mind set sans cultural warfare on the non-embracing-your-values-not-of-your-tribe crowd. There are two ways--concerning one's family and one's community--where a cultural clash is apropos to maintaining one's space, but when it gets political one needs to turn on the intellectual and conservatives as such are not much for thinking as reacting with absorbed and embedded comfort values to their environment. Even brainiac Buckley was a twit as an intellectual.

--Brant

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I was always confused about WWI. It never made sense to me. A guy gets shot and the world goes to war?

I never had that problem with WWII. That was easy to understand. Those people over there wanted to conquer the world. Those others didn't want to be conquered. Kaboom.

I read sporadically about this over the years and, a long time ago, I even read a pretty interesting book: The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman. I was not very sophisticated back then so it still didn't make much sense to me. Something about Germany being insecure and envious of the long history of the courts and monarchies of England, France, Spain, etc.

One day on a lark, I was looking at the Khan Academy and saw there was a part on WWI. I saw the section called Beginning of World War I was not that long (see the first section with the others here), so I decided to watch it.

Yup. That did it.

The first thing I felt during the very first lecture was relief. This is not how people normally talk or write about WWI, at least not what I have encountered. Since watching those six videos, that nagging "why" in the back of my mind has disappeared, although some other "whys" have replaced it. At least I know this war happened as a major crack breaking open between two ways of life on a global level: from monarchies and empires as social organization to the world being divided and governed mostly around culture and language. Not a perfect explanation and there are some exceptions, but one that rings true to my ear.

Here are the six videos in the first part. Kahn continues with WWI in other sections at the link above, but I did not see those videos yet. My problem was why and I think he did a pretty good job of explaining it. I might even watch them again. This might be a quickie overview, but it is a very good one.

Michael

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WWII. That was easy to understand. Those people over there wanted to conquer the world.

I'd say it was fought over food and oil. Coming soon to a theater near you, if you live in a place that produces oil.

Thanks for posting for the Khan Academy videos (above).

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In the early 1970s Germany--if it was called Germany then--kicked France's ass in a short war that resulted in a brief occupation of Paris. While the first modern industrialized war was the American Civil War, that war lacked the leathal firepower of the machine gun. In 1914 the Germans abandoned a battleplan that might have given them another quick victory over the French and the conflict stagnated into trench warfare which would not have been possible in WWII because of the tank. If there had been trench warfare in WWII, then poison gas might have been used too. All in all WWII was the logical extension of WWI and it had to do with the rebalanceing of European powers that Great Britain could no longer maintain with the rise of Germany. Bismark said the most significant thing respecting this was that the North Americans spoke English and, sure enough, The United States took Britain's place in maintaining the status quo in Europe--the world actually--leveraging off the Soviet threat from the East and communism generally. Now that the Cold War is over, significant cracks are beginning to appear with a weakening of American resolve, understanding, focus and economic-military might. Hence, the oil war fiascos.

--Brant

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In the early 1970s Germany--

--Brant

I assume you meant 1870.

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War (German: Deutsch-Französischer Krieg, lit. German-French War, French: Guerre franco-allemande, lit. French-German War), often referred to in France as the War of 1870 (19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871), was a conflict between the Second French Empire against the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. The conflict emerged from tensions caused by German unification. Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck planned to provoke a French attack in order to draw the southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt—into an alliance with the Prussian dominated North German Confederation.

Bismarck adroitly created a diplomatic crisis over the succession to the Spanish throne, then rewrote a dispatch about a meeting between king William of Prussia and the French foreign minister, to make it appear that the French had been insulted. The French press and parliament demanded a war, which the generals of Napoleon III assured him that France would win. Napoleon and his Prime Minister, Émile Ollivier, for their parts sought war to solve political disunity in France. On 16 July 1870, the French parliament voted to declare war and hostilities began three days later. The German coalition mobilised its troops much more quickly than the French and rapidly invaded north-eastern France. The German forces were superior in numbers, had better training and leadership and made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railroads and artillery.

A series of swift Prussian and German victories in eastern France, culminating at the Battle of Sedan and the Siege of Metz saw the French army decisively defeated; Napoleon III was captured at Sedan on 2 September. The war continued, after the Third Republic was declared in Paris 4 September, under the Government of National Defence and Adolphe Thiers. For the next five months the German forces fought and defeated new French armies in northern France. Following the Siege of Paris, the capital fell on 28 January 1871. The German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king, Wilhelm I, uniting Germany as a nation-state. The Treaty of Frankfurt of 10 May 1871, gave Germany most of Alsace and some parts of Lorraine, which became the Imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen).

Here is the Wiki on Wars between 1800 and 1899 - it is astounding - the numbers and the carnage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_1800%E2%80%931899

Hey they were jest gettin warned up as we say in Kentuck!

A...

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I don't think the root of the problem was nationalism, and it isn't a good idea to treat the assassination as an ordinary crime. Consider things from the viewpoint of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor. Some filthy foreign commoner just murdered your son and ... ... Its feudal-like institutions tied The Emperor's hands in such a way that any response other than a declaration of war would be unthinkable.

Wish, I understand the actual situation. I was suggesting an analysis de novo, from the beginning, with no assumptions or with the least necessary. Gavrilo Princips was Serbian Orthodox. Franz F. Hapsburg was Roman Catholic. So, should all Roman Catholics all over the world have gone to war against all Orthodox sects? You must see the reductio ad absurdum in that. So, too, with nationalism. Yes, it was a dominant philosophy of the time, if not the dominant philosophy. It was nonetheless wrongheaded. muddled nonsense.

If we analyze situations according to individualism they become much clearer and much simpler.

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I'd say it was fought over food and oil. Coming soon to a theater near you, if you live in a place that produces oil.

... or food if you live in a place that produces food. Before communism, the Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe. In Roman times, it was Egypt. But you know, during the Middle Ages in England, local records show local crop failures with no (appreciable) increase in the local price of food, because it could be imported.

That is a significant point that the anti-urban hillbillies of the Prepper Movement love to ignore. They blank out on the fact that living isolated on your survivalist farm, your crops can fail - draught or rain... heat or cold... insects or insects... It is the traditional vice grip of the market that when times are good and crops are good, crop prices are low because everyone has crops. When crops fail, prices skyrocket, but no one can profit because their crops all failed. In the city - whence come the tractors and combines and hand tools and robots - we might pay more, but we do, indeed, import food. My favorite is those out-of-season fruits from Chile.

My wife had a great-uncle who was a "millionaire" farmer - or so the cousins claimed. Basically, when everyone else planted wheat, he put in beans... That sort of thing...

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That is a significant point that the anti-urban hillbillies of the Prepper Movement love to ignore. They blank out on the fact that living isolated on your survivalist farm, your crops can fail - draught or rain... heat or cold... insects or insects...

Michael,

I know, and know of, many preppers that you would call "anti-urban hillbillies." I don't know one who blanks out crop failures, pests and so forth.

In fact, one the things that keep most of them going to church is to let God know they hope He does His part and does not abandon them to surges of hostile life forms, bad weather and natural disasters.

One can debate whether that is a good cause-effect evaluation, but the issue is definitely not ignored. It is feared and, at best, treated with caution.

Michael

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I'd say it was fought over food and oil. Coming soon to a theater near you, if you live in a place that produces oil.

... or food if you live in a place that produces food. Before communism, the Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe. In Roman times, it was Egypt. But you know, during the Middle Ages in England, local records show local crop failures with no (appreciable) increase in the local price of food, because it could be imported.

That is a significant point that the anti-urban hillbillies of the Prepper Movement love to ignore. They blank out on the fact that living isolated on your survivalist farm, your crops can fail - draught or rain... heat or cold... insects or insects... It is the traditional vice grip of the market that when times are good and crops are good, crop prices are low because everyone has crops. When crops fail, prices skyrocket, but no one can profit because their crops all failed. In the city - whence come the tractors and combines and hand tools and robots - we might pay more, but we do, indeed, import food. My favorite is those out-of-season fruits from Chile.

My wife had a great-uncle who was a "millionaire" farmer - or so the cousins claimed. Basically, when everyone else planted wheat, he put in beans... That sort of thing...

Well, try living in your "survivalist" New York City apartment when the elevators don't go up and down and the lights don't come on and the water doesn't flow and the sewage doesn't flush and the stores have no food and you can't even get out of town.

--Brant

hell is for children!

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and so it begins?

Las Vegas Is "Screwed"; The Water Situation "Is As Bad As You Can Imagine"

The beef and veal CPI is up 10.7 percent since May 2013 and has increased nearly 10 percent thus far in 2014. The cattle inventory in the U.S. has continued to decrease in recent months and is currently at its lowest level since 1951. At the same time, beef exports are increasing, while imports are flat. The drought in Texas and Oklahoma has worsened somewhat in the last month, providing further complications for the beef production industry. Most retail beef prices, on average, are at record highs, even after adjusting for inflation. Pork prices are up 12.2 percent since a year ago... decreased litter sizes and increased piglet mortality. [USDA]

...yields and production of many field crops, particularly corn and soybeans, remained far below levels that would have been expected under more normal growing conditions... Crop production estimates for several major crops declined throughout the summer as the drought intensified... estimates for corn were down 27.5 percent from those reported in May 2012 [USDA]

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So? They truck it in.

--Brant

...trucking industry is facing a shortage of drivers... The current shortage of roughly 25,000 is due to a multitude of reasons, including demographic and regulatory... 90% of companies are small businesses with fewer than six trucks. [ATA]

"...a long-term problem with no short-term solution in sight,” said John Esparza, president and CEO of the Texas Motor Transportation Association, a trade association that represents trucking businesses. Roughly 21 percent of commercial truck drivers are 55 to 65 years old, according to industry figures. Fewer than 8 percent are 25 to 29. [Press Herald]

PHILADELPHIA, June 11, 2014 -- A local trucking firm, New Century Transportation, announced on Monday to its 1,500 employees that the business had filed for bankruptcy and would be closing. [Business Journal]

ST. LOUIS, April 30, 2014 -- A tractor-trailer that was weaving along westbound Interstate 64 this morning near New Baden crashed into an overpass bridge, killing the truck's driver... "The semi driver was weaving all over the roadway, drove off the roadway, hit a bridge and rolled over," said Trooper Calvin Dye, citing the witness account. "The passenger was ejected from the sleeper berth and trapped under the semi." [Post-Dispatch]

MICHIGAN CITY, March 14, 2014 -- Transport Investment Corp., Tandem Transport Corp., Consolidated Transport Systems Inc. and Tandem Eastern, Inc., all at 1111 W. U.S. 20, reported the closure to Michigan City Mayor Ron Meere ... due to a host of factors including the severe winter's impact on revenue, the doubling of health insurance costs and a subsequent lack of of cash needed to update and modernize the fleet. [NWI]

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, January 17, 2014 -- Ruan Transport Corporation will close its Wisconsin Rapids terminal, cutting 37 jobs. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the company notified the state this week, saying it had decided not to make the significant investment necessary to replace out-of-date equipment at the terminal. [WSAW]

NAPERVILLE, April 25, 2014 -- DND International, Inc. has been ordered to immediately shut down after an investigation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) revealed it was an imminent hazard to public safety. Characterized as widespread and serious, the violations of federal regulations by DND International came into focus after a Jan. 27 crash when an Illinois Tollway worker was killed and an Illinois State Police trooper was seriously injured. In that crash, Renato V. Velasquez, a driver for DND International, crashed into two fully illuminated stationary vehicles causing the death and injuries. He had been on duty for 26 hours straight, driving 1,000 miles with just 3.5 to 5.5 hours of break time... FMCSA investigation of DND International operations compared seven company drivers’ toll transaction data with samples of their hours-of-service records. Records had been falsified by all seven drivers. [Trucker]

HOUSTON, April 8, 2014 -- An investigator from the Harris County Sheriff's Office said the truck overturned and its fuel tanks ruptured after the driver veered right and hit a guardrail and a concrete barrier. An explosion followed. The driver died at the scene, according to officials. A passenger was ejected and is expected to survive.... the driver and the passenger are both from Rockdale and were taking a load of apples to a farmer's market in the Houston area. [2]

CHERRYVILLE, November 6, 2013 -- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration forced the closure of Moonlight Express, a five-truck operator... According to the federal order, Moonlight Express failed to monitor drivers, properly inspect and maintain vehicles and keep up with drug testing for employees... It alleges another driver continued work after having a commercial license suspended. [Shelby Star]

OAKDALE, November 8, 2013 -- Gold Star Foods Inc., a food distribution and long haul trucking company based in Ontario, CA, agreed to pay $8.5 million to Katuszonek’s family to settle claims that its truck driver employee caused his death... The investigation showed the driver, Jose Hermosillo, had been driving for over 22 hours with only 4 ½ hours rest, when he rear-ended Katuszonek's vehicle at 55 mph without slowing for the road closure. [Leader]

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So? They truck it in.

--Brant

...trucking industry is facing a shortage of drivers... The current shortage of roughly 25,000 is due to a multitude of reasons, including demographic and regulatory... [ATA]

"...a long-term problem with no short-term solution in sight,” said John Esparza, president and CEO of the Texas Motor Transportation Association, a trade association that represents trucking businesses. Roughly 21 percent of commercial truck drivers are 55 to 65 years old, according to industry figures. Fewer than 8 percent are 25 to 29. [Press Herald]

PHILADELPHIA, June 11, 2014 -- A local trucking firm, New Century Transportation, announced on Monday to its 1,500 employees that the business had filed for bankruptcy and would be closing. [Business Journal]

MICHIGAN CITY, March 14, 2014 -- Transport Investment Corp., Tandem Transport Corp., Consolidated Transport Systems Inc. and Tandem Eastern, Inc., all at 1111 W. U.S. 20, reported the closure to Michigan City Mayor Ron Meere ... due to a host of factors including the severe winter's impact on revenue, the doubling of health insurance costs and a subsequent lack of of cash needed to update and modernize the fleet. [NWI]

Interesting. I was thinking of going back into trucking--I'm 70--but boy, the crap thrown up in my face! I'm ten times the driver any driver getting out of truck driving school, but they want me to go back to school for insurance reasons. That's because I last drove over a decade ago. New rules and cover-your-ass insurance company bullshit. Then there are the electronic logs which are reducing productivity and income by at least 8% across the board. Understand, I used to train drivers. I had to drive 400,000 miles over 26 consecutive months to really learn how to be safe and efficient in a way not comprehensible to most everyday civilian drivers, much less fresh, new semi-tractor drivers.

What the electronic logs do is destroy the driver's ability to control his own hours and run safely in favor of big brother. When I ran a paper log I could creatively lard on another ten legal hours and get the goods delivered. Now I would just hardly care. There's always been a problem with outlaw drivers running multiple logs driving 36 hours without sleeping keeping dangerously awake with caffeine. This won't stop with logs, but it can be otherwise done. What especially is untouchable is husband and wife teams with the husband doing all the driving and the wife everything else including the occasional blow job at 75mph.

--Brant

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What the electronic logs do is destroy the driver's ability to control his own hours and run safely in favor of big brother. When I ran a paper log I could creatively lard on another ten legal hours and get the goods delivered. Now I would just hardly care. There's always been a problem with outlaw drivers running multiple logs driving 36 hours without sleeping keeping dangerously awake with caffeine. This won't stop with logs, but it can be otherwise done. What especially is untouchable is husband and wife teams with the husband doing all the driving and the wife everything else including the occasional blow job at 75mph.

--Brant

Listen laddie. (I am 78 so I am going to call you kid). You only think you have the stamina you used to have. You don't.

And I would feel a lot safer if you got more rest than think you needed because a fully load 18 wheeler is a deadly weapon.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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What the electronic logs do is destroy the driver's ability to control his own hours and run safely in favor of big brother. When I ran a paper log I could creatively lard on another ten legal hours and get the goods delivered. Now I would just hardly care. There's always been a problem with outlaw drivers running multiple logs driving 36 hours without sleeping keeping dangerously awake with caffeine. This won't stop with logs, but it can be otherwise done. What especially is untouchable is husband and wife teams with the husband doing all the driving and the wife everything else including the occasional blow job at 75mph.

--Brant

Listen laddie. (I am 78 so I am going to call you kid). You only think you have the stamina you used to have. You don't.

And I would feel a lot safer if you got more rest than think you needed because a fully load 18 wheeler is a deadly weapon.

Ba'al Chatzaf

There are two things here: me and my driving. I am an expert about both and you don't know shit about either.

--Brant

and please be aware of the precise wording of my statement

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What the electronic logs do is destroy the driver's ability to control his own hours and run safely in favor of big brother. When I ran a paper log I could creatively lard on another ten legal hours and get the goods delivered. Now I would just hardly care. There's always been a problem with outlaw drivers running multiple logs driving 36 hours without sleeping keeping dangerously awake with caffeine. This won't stop with logs, but it can be otherwise done. What especially is untouchable is husband and wife teams with the husband doing all the driving and the wife everything else including the occasional blow job at 75mph.

--Brant

Listen laddie. (I am 78 so I am going to call you kid). You only think you have the stamina you used to have. You don't.

And I would feel a lot safer if you got more rest than think you needed because a fully load 18 wheeler is a deadly weapon.

Ba'al Chatzaf

There are two things here: me and my driving. I am an expert about both and you don't know shit about either.

--Brant

and please be aware of the precise wording of my statement

And I am a pilot. So what. Age does slow one down. That is just a fact of life. If I wanted to resume active flying (I don't because my hand eye co-ordination has degraded) I would have to take another pilots test and submit to a medical examination. Considering that planes crashing on people is a hazard I do not consider that unreasonable.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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What the electronic logs do is destroy the driver's ability to control his own hours and run safely in favor of big brother. When I ran a paper log I could creatively lard on another ten legal hours and get the goods delivered. Now I would just hardly care. There's always been a problem with outlaw drivers running multiple logs driving 36 hours without sleeping keeping dangerously awake with caffeine. This won't stop with logs, but it can be otherwise done. What especially is untouchable is husband and wife teams with the husband doing all the driving and the wife everything else including the occasional blow job at 75mph.

--Brant

Listen laddie. (I am 78 so I am going to call you kid). You only think you have the stamina you used to have. You don't.

And I would feel a lot safer if you got more rest than think you needed because a fully load 18 wheeler is a deadly weapon.

Ba'al Chatzaf

There are two things here: me and my driving. I am an expert about both and you don't know shit about either.

--Brant

and please be aware of the precise wording of my statement

And I am a pilot. So what. Age does slow one down. That is just a fact of life. If I wanted to resume active flying (I don't because my hand eye co-ordination has degraded) I would have to take another pilots test and submit to a medical examination. Considering that planes crashing on people is a hazard I do not consider that unreasonable.

Ba'al Chatzaf

I'm a pilot too, but not active though I probably will be again in a year or two. As for truck driving, I take the DOT physical every two years. On a scale of 1 - 10 I'd give my physical health a 9 and take no meds and mentally I'm firing on all cylinders. When age slows me down, I'll let you know. How about fast-walking 2 1/2 miles to the store, 10 minutes in the store and 2 1/2 miles home in 1 hour and 25 minutes? That's 25 minutes faster than 3mph or 4mph. By phasing in jogging I'm going to reduce that by at least 50 percent. I intend to resume my Grand Canyon hiking next year. I almost died down there of heat stroke when I was 20. At 70 I know how not to put myself at such a risk. You seem to be like Naomi who can't understand the difference between nuerons firing and consciousness making them fire--or rational thinking and consideration of extant relevant factors and risks.

--Brant

I ain't that "Old Man" on Pawn Stars (who is 72)

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What the electronic logs do is destroy the driver's ability to control his own hours and run safely in favor of big brother. When I ran a paper log I could creatively lard on another ten legal hours and get the goods delivered. Now I would just hardly care. There's always been a problem with outlaw drivers running multiple logs driving 36 hours without sleeping keeping dangerously awake with caffeine. This won't stop with logs, but it can be otherwise done. What especially is untouchable is husband and wife teams with the husband doing all the driving and the wife everything else including the occasional blow job at 75mph.

--Brant

Listen laddie. (I am 78 so I am going to call you kid). You only think you have the stamina you used to have. You don't.

And I would feel a lot safer if you got more rest than think you needed because a fully load 18 wheeler is a deadly weapon.

Ba'al Chatzaf

There are two things here: me and my driving. I am an expert about both and you don't know shit about either.

--Brant

and please be aware of the precise wording of my statement

And I am a pilot. So what. Age does slow one down. That is just a fact of life. If I wanted to resume active flying (I don't because my hand eye co-ordination has degraded) I would have to take another pilots test and submit to a medical examination. Considering that planes crashing on people is a hazard I do not consider that unreasonable.

Ba'al Chatzaf

I'm a pilot too, but not active though I probably will be again in a year or two. As for truck driving, I take the DOT physical every two years. On a scale of 1 - 10 I'd give my physical health a 9 and take no meds and mentally I'm firing on all cylinders. When age slows me down, I'll let you know. How about fast-walking 2 1/2 miles to the store, 10 minutes in the store and 2 1/2 miles home in 1 hour and 25 minutes? That's 25 minutes faster than 3mph or 4mph. By phasing in jogging I'm going to reduce that by at least 50 percent. I intend to resume my Grand Canyon hiking next year. I almost died down there of heat stroke when I was 20. At 70 I know how not to put myself at such a risk. You seem to be like Naomi who can't understand the difference between nuerons firing and consciousness making them fire--or rational thinking and consideration of extant relevant factors and risks.

--Brant

I ain't that "Old Man" on Pawn Stars (who is 72)

If a properly trained doctor agrees you are fit to drive, then drive.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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It's a DOT certified doctor. If you are in a rural area he might be 500 miles away. I've got a line on one 3 miles away.

--Brant

I'm well aware of fatigue and driving--a tired driver is hard to tell apart from a drunk driver respecting reacting to the unexpected; as for stamia, if you run out of stamia within your hours of service you should retire from driving, but that's not what generally happens, sitting on your ass, unless you're tarping a flatbed or chaining up to cross the Sierra Nevadas out of Reno--I turned down a flatbed job offer last month for that reason (and lack of experience) and because I was going to Arlington to bury my uncle--I also won't drive swinging beef (hardly anyone does anymore anyway) or wide extra heavy loads or deign to learn--I just saw a job offer for team driving--usually husband and wife--with an "armored" truck with you armed for secure probably US governemnt loads (you can put a hundred million dollars in hundred dollar bills in a 53 foot semi and get to blow by weigh stations with escorting they-will-shoot US Treasury agents preventing the highway patrol from pulling you over)--I got no wife and no way will I go out for 4 weeks at a time time after time even with a ______ ___ ___ [?] ___ ____

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