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Experts puzzled by 2018 spike in air fatalities - 6 big passenger plane crashes


RT
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 23:06 UTC
Cuba air crash
© Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Remains of the Boeing-737 that crashed in Cuba in May.
While total flights increased by about 1 million, last year saw 556 aviation related deaths compared to only 44 the year before.

Airline safety took a plunge last year, particularly compared to 2017's numbers, according to statistics published by the Aviation Safety Network. While 2018 saw only five more fatal accidents than 2017, the 15 crashes included six large passenger planes which dramatically increased the total number of dead.

Despite how bad the numbers look at first glance, 2018 was actually a relatively safe year for air travel by several metrics. With the ASN estimating 37.8 million flights globally in 2018, the number of crashes is relatively low (around 1 in 2,520,000), particularly if we compare beyond the last five years which have all seen very low numbers. In 2014, for instance, there were 21 crashes resulting in 990 deaths, and the numbers were mostly higher going back through the years.

Comment: FAA reviewing Boeing's safety analyses as part of investigation into deadly Lion Air crash

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Arrow Down

Only about 10% of the US rail systems met safety deadline

Karen Graham
Digital Journal
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 18:18 UTC
As of Dec. 31, only four of the nation's railroads had fully implemented positive train control (PTC) systems to prevent train accidents, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.

Amtrak Rail
© Paul Sullivan/Creative Commons
Amtrak announced it will be upgrading rail lines along the Northeast Corridor.
The railroads not meeting the deadline, including Amtrak, had to meet Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requirements to receive a two-year deadline extension known as an "alternative schedule."

The four railroads that fully met the deadline are the North County Transit District, Metrolink, Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp., and the Portland & Western Railroad, federal officials said in an update on the USDOT website.

Of the railroads requesting alternative schedules, seven are Class Is, 25 are intercity passenger and commuter railroads, and five are short-line or terminal railroads. Additionally, 12 railroads have received conditional PTC system certification from the FRA.

According to the latest USDOT report, there are now 41,000 route miles in PTC operation, which is 71 percent of the route miles that are subject to the mandate.
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Snowflake

Washington DC becomes second major US city to ban plastic straws

Jacob Fenston
dcist
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 20:42 UTC
straws
© Jacob Fenston / WAMU
Alternative straws in use at Founding Farmers in D.C. Hay straws (left) and paper straws (right) are more expensive but less polluting.
Add one more item to those "Out for 2019" lists : plastic straws.

D.C. banned plastic straws in restaurants and other businesses effective Jan. 1, 2019, becoming the second major U.S. city to do so. Seattle made the change six months ago. Plastic straws won't disappear immediately, however. Businesses have until July to make the transition to alternatives, before fines kick in.

Dozens of local businesses have already made the change voluntarily, responding to pressure from customers and environmental groups.

"Many have started using hay straws, which are popular - they hold up well in drinks," says Zachary Rybarczyk, part of the enforcement team with the District Department of Energy and Environment. "We've seen restaurants switch over to paper straws. And we've also seen restaurants using reusable straws - also popular in bars," says Rybarczyk.

Comment: Keep in mind that the claim that Americans use 500 million plastic straws daily is based on a nine-year-old's school project. Yes, you read that right.

Will a straw ban have any real affect? That's very unlikely, although this only furthers the erosion of freedom. Only about 1 percent of plastic pollution comes from the U.S. Of that 1 percent, only a tiny fraction comes from plastic straws. But people like to feel good about themselves, so they convince themselves they are doing something good when what really is happening is that people want the government to be its Nanny State. The Far Left loves to get the government involved in forcing people to do things. It's going to come back to bite them in a big way if they keep it up.

More on the myth of plastic straws being bad for the environment:



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Bad Guys

Deadly train accident on Danish bridge kills six


BBC News
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 20:52 UTC
train accident denmark bridge
© European Press Agency
The incident closed the bridge linking the islands of Zealand and Funen
Six people have been killed and 16 injured in a train accident on the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark.

Rail network officials said debris from a freight train - possibly a tarpaulin - hit a commuter train during a heavy storm, forcing it to brake suddenly.

Rescuers are working to free around 100 passengers who remain trapped on board.

The debris struck the commuter train - running from Odense to the capital Copenhagen - at about 07:35 local time (06:35 GMT).
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Control Panel

Arizona: Migrant children dragged and pushed at Southwest Key shelter

Mary Jo Pitzl
azcentral
Fri, 28 Dec 2018 19:21 UTC
shelter for migrant children
Videos from a Southwest Key shelter for migrant children show staffers dragging and pushing children, incidents that occurred shortly before the federal government suspended the shelter's operations early this fall.

The Arizona Republic obtained the videos from the Arizona Department of Health Services under state public-records law.

Southwest Key had reported the mid-September incidents, which involved three children and numerous staffers at the Youngtown shelter, to state authorities, as well as local law-enforcement and federal officials, but declined to publicly provide details at the time.

Southwest Key ultimately closed the shelter, called Hacienda Del Sol, in late October. That came in the wake of negotiations with state health authorities over potential revocation of all 13 licenses that Southwest Key holds in Arizona, because of the company's lapses in background checks for staff.
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Handcuffs

Florida man arrested after attacking McDonald's employee over a straw


Sputnik
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 20:33 UTC
customer attacks mcdonalds employee
© Screenshot/TJ Biandudi
A viral Facebook video showing a McDonald's customer attacking an employee is causing outrage, with many netizens calling for the dismissal of the Florida restaurant's manager over his failure to intervene.

Posted to Facebook on Monday by user TJ Biandudi, the video begins with customer Daniel Taylor in the middle of a heated conversation with a McDonald's employee, since identified as Yasmine James, standing behind the front counter. Seconds after the employee yells out, "quit it," the pair throw down after Taylor suddenly grabs onto James' t-shirt.

The fight continued for roughly 15 seconds, with Taylor taking repeated hits to his chest and face for his refusal to release the employee from his grip. Throughout the encounter, other workers attempted to pull the pair apart, with two employees eventually opting to jump in between the brawlers.
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Robot

Arizona residents revolt against driverless cars, slashing tires and trying to wreck the autonomous cars

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 20:14 UTC
waymo
More than 20 driverless vehicles in Arizona have reportedly been vandalized over the last two years, according to the New York Times, as enraged locals in the Waymo test market of Chandler have begun to revolt.

Tensions began to flare last year after an Arizona pedestrian was killed by a self-drivng Uber car, with residents slashing tires, throwing rocks at, pulling guns on, and trying to wreck the autonomous cars.
Some people have pelted Waymo vans with rocks, according to police reports. Others have repeatedly tried to run the vehicles off the road. One woman screamed at one of the vans, telling it to get out of her suburban neighborhood. A man pulled up alongside a Waymo vehicle and threatened the employee riding inside with a piece of PVC pipe.

In one of the more harrowing episodes, a man waved a .22-caliber revolver at a Waymo vehicle and the emergency backup driver at the wheel. He told the police that he "despises" driverless cars, referring to the killing of a female pedestrian in March in nearby Tempe by a self-driving Uber car. -NYT
"There are other places they can test," said 37-year-old Erik O'Polka, who was issued a warning in November after multiple reports that his Jeep Wrangler had tried to run Waymo vans off the road. In one instance, O'Pokla reportedly drove head-on toward one of the self-driving vehicles, forcing it to abruptly stop.
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Heart - Black

For decades, nuns in India have faced sexual abuse and rape from priests

Tim Sullivan
Associated Press
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 20:02 UTC
nuns in india
© AP Photo/Manish Swarup
The stories spill out in the sitting rooms of Catholic convents, where portraits of Jesus keep watch and fans spin quietly overhead. They spill out in church meeting halls bathed in fluorescent lights, and over cups of cheap instant coffee in convent kitchens. Always, the stories come haltingly, quietly. Sometimes, the nuns speak at little more than a whisper.

Across India, the nuns talk of priests who pushed into their bedrooms and of priests who pressured them to turn close friendships into sex. They talk about being groped and kissed, of hands pressed against them by men they were raised to believe were representatives of Jesus Christ.

"He was drunk," said one nun, beginning her story. "You don't know how to say no," said another.

At its most grim, the nuns speak of repeated rapes, and of a Catholic hierarchy that did little to protect them.
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Attention

Germany: Driver ploughs his car into a group of Syrian and Afghan migrants in xenophobic attack - UPDATE

Justin Huggler
Telegraph
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 17:04 UTC
Bottrop Germany
© Marcel Kusch/dpa
Police sealed off the scene in Bottrop after a man ploughed his car into a group of migrants on New Year's Day
A man drove into a crowd of pedestrians celebrating the New Year in the west German town of Bottrop on Tuesday in an apparent xenophobic attack.

The driver targetted a group of Syrian and Afghan migrants in the attack shortly after midnight. Police are investigating whether he has any far-Right links.

One woman was in critical condition following the attack, while three others received serious injuries. The victims have not been named but are believed to include Syrians and Afghans.

The driver escaped the scene of the attack and fled to the nearby city of Essen, where he was captured by police. He has not been named but is believed to be a 50-year-old resident of Essen.

When he was arrested he made several xenophobic remarks, according to police.

Comment:

UPDATE 01.02.19 RT reports authorities are investigating the incident as terror-related and may have been caused by a combination of racism and a mental disorder. The suspect, identified as Andreas N., is an unemployed German national. Local news sources claim he had been previously admitted to a mental facility and treated for schizophrenia.

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Heart

'Beautiful moment of respect': Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova praised for comforting injured opponent Wang


RT
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 19:20 UTC
maria sharapova
© VCG via Getty Images
Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has won praise after comforting opponent Wang Xinyu after the teenager was forced to retire injured in the pair's match at the Shenzhen Open.

Wang, who had entered the tournament through a wild card, took the first set against the five-time Grand Slam winner on a tie-break.

However, the 17-year-old suffered intense cramps during the second set, first taking a medical timeout at 3-2 down before ultimately forfeiting two matches as she struggled to continue before pulling out.

Comment: Sore loser Serena Williams could learn a thing or two about sportsmanship from Maria Sharapova. The 'cultural guardians' tried to make people believe Williams was someone worthy of looking up to, whereas Sharapova was 'a cheat'. Reality says something rather different.

Sharapova was roasted over the coals for testing positive for melodonium, a drug which only became illegal to use 6 months before she tested positive. Plus, there are many questions about how many athletes were even made aware of the rule change making melodonium a banned substance. Williams, meanwhile, regularly takes hardcore steroids - 'legally' - something which either explains or goes with her on-court behavior:

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