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Boeing's newest problem: Pilots are too weak to use the cockpit hand-crank

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 16:22 UTC
boeing 737 cockpit
One of the biggest flaws keeping Boeing's 737 MAX 8 grounded has nothing to do with AI and advanced flight-control software. Instead, it's an issue of whether all pilots will have enough upper body strength to turn a crank - a surprisingly low-tech hangup in a scandal that was catalyzed by malfunctioning software.

Boeing has scrambled to redesign the 737 MAX and its software to eliminate the safety flaws that contributed to the crash landings of two jets in under six months from October to March. All told, 346 people died after the 737's MCAS anti-stall software misfired, driving the planes into deadly downward spirals.

Now, the latest obstacle for Boeing, which hadn't been reported before WSJ published a story on Wednesday morning, appears to be convincing regulators that all pilots will possess the upper body strength to turn a crank that controls a panel in the rear of the plane. That panel, in turn, can change the angle of the plane's nose, potentially saving it from the types of malfunctions that afflicted the two planes that crashed. Apparently, during times of crisis, when the plane is moving unusually fast at an unusually steep angle, the crank can become extremely difficult to move.
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Info

Kyle Kashuv responds to ex-GOP rep who compared him to school shooter

Rebecca Klar
The Hill
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 16:16 UTC
Kyle Kashuv
© Getty Images
Parkland shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv said Tuesday he would not accept comparisons to the shooter who murdered his classmates.

Kashuv's comment were in response to former Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.) who said Kashuv's past racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric is similar to that used by school shooters.

"I've said repeatedly that I'm horrified by comments I sent a few years back - I'll spend years working to make it right. I will accept and learn from criticism, but I will NOT accept being compared to the shooter who murdered my classmates," Kashuv said.

Comment: David Jolly probably made some off-color jokes or comments when he was a kid too. The difference is that that was a long time ago for Jolly and the internet wasn't around for people to save and share those comments later.

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Smoking

Nanny state: San Francisco votes to ban e-cigarettes not approved by FDA

Owen Daugherty
The Hill
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 16:04 UTC
e-cigarette, vape
© Getty Images
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to ban the sale of e-cigarettes in city limits if they are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The decision brings San Francisco one step closer to becoming the first U.S. city to ban the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes. A final vote is required before it becomes law.

"This temporary moratorium wouldn't be necessary if the federal government had done its job," Dennis Herrera, the city's attorney, said in a statement announcing the decision. "E-cigarettes are a product that, by law, are not allowed on the market without FDA review. For some reason, the FDA has so far refused to follow the law."

Comment: Ah, the infamous "but who will protect the children" line used to justify all kinds of nanny state interventions into the private life of citizens. Do children in San Francisco not have parents?

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Marijuana

Nevada becomes first state to ban employers from testing workers for marijuana use

Elias Marat
The Mind Unleashed
Thu, 13 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
spliff
In a move that could blaze a small but important trail for workers' rights across the U.S., Nevada has passed a bill telling employers and state agencies that they can no longer refuse to hire workers on the basis of their testing positive for cannabis. It's a long way to come for a state that was once infamous for its notoriously strong prohibitionist laws penalizing those in possession of marijuana.

Last week, Governor Steve Sisolak signed AB 132, which prohibits the denial of employment to cannabis consumers after drug pre-screenings. Advocates are hailing the passage of the bill because it finally clears a major gap in the law between states that have rendered marijuana totally legal for medical or recreational purposes and those U.S. companies that try to block their workers from toking up at all.

In Nevada, as in the other several states that have made recreational cannabis legal across the country, employers were still able to turn people away from jobs if they failed the "whizz quiz," or urine-based drug tests. NFL players seeking to recover from the intense physical pressures of football are unable to use cannabis-based remedies, doctors have lost their licenses for using medicinal cannabis, and 48 percent of businesses in otherwise weed-friendly Colorado have "well-defined" rules that allow them to fire employees if marijuana is detected in a worker's test results.
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Dollar Gold

Facebook cryptocurrency launch meets widespread skepticism, demand for safeguards


RT
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 08:37 UTC
FB currency
© Reuters / Dado Ruvic
The much-hyped launch of Facebook's cryptocurrency Libra has met a brick wall of institutional skepticism as politicians and regulators take one look at CEO Mark Zuckerberg's privacy record and raise a collective eyebrow.

Calibra, the new Facebook subsidiary which will operate Libra, has made no secret of its ambitions to branch out from funds transfer into credit, bill payments and other more sophisticated products. Such consolidation of power in the hands of a company that already has a monopoly on online social interaction for its 2-billion-plus users - and a terrible record of protecting users' privacy - has understandably worried the skeptics.

"Any further concentration of personal data poses additional risks to the rights and freedoms of individuals," European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli told Business Insider. "It would be deeply concerning, for example, for a company with access to massive volumes of personal information, gathered through its social media platforms and communications services, to be able to combine this information with the tracking of online digital purchases."

Comment: As the above article points out, the idea that a company with as little trust-worthiness as Facebook should be trusted with financial transactions is questionable, at best. While its likely many users will jump on board (a large percentage of them probably being those without access to more established financial institutions), one has to wonder it this is really a good idea.

Libra explained:

See also:

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Handcuffs

Kim Kardashian strikes deal with Lyft to help 5,000 former inmates land jobs

Maria Goncalves
Inquisitr
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 09:42 UTC
Kim Kardashian Donald Trump
She may still be studying to officially become a lawyer, but Kim Kardashian is already doing as much as she can to help soon-to-be-released prison inmates.

The Keeping Up With the Kardashian star headed to the White House last Thursday to meet up with President Donald Trump in an effort to back criminal justice reforms, with a focus on helping recently-incarcerated people or soon-to-be-released prisoners experience an easier integration back into society, as The Inquisitr previously reported.

One of the biggest struggles faced by individuals who have done time is to find fair housing and employment opportunities once they are out. But now, TMZ reported that the KKW Beauty founder has partnered with the rideshare service company Lyft to help inmates get jobs once they are released from jail.
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Attention

Extinction Rebellion protesters glue themselves to Brisbane's busiest street

Joanne Nova
JoNova
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 08:27 UTC
Extinction rebellion in Australia
© Liam Kidston.Source:News Corp Australia
Sergio and Ebony glued themselves to the road.
Master Plan: Let's fight extinction ...by gluing ourselves to a road.

Lo! Australia voted, and the large Adani coal mine magically emerged from eight years of red tape. But the anguish has just begun. Rebels are gluing themselves to main roads to stop traffic in Brisbane. The Environment Minister admits she shed tears and just yesterday was caught using the word "devastated". On Friday, there's a national day of "action" (or inaction perhaps, on crosswalks).

This is only going to get worse. Its the logical end in a country with no conversation. It makes sense if you think the world is going to end. In a mature community they'd hear other voices. In Australia, they hear The ABC.

So what does it take to get in the national media these days? Two people lie down...


Comment: EnvironMentalism is spreading. See also:

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Cupcake Pink

High times: $1bn worth of cocaine seized at Philadelphia port - That's 16.5 TONS!


RT
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 23:00 UTC
cocaine
© REUTERS/Ranu Abhelakh
In one of the biggest drug busts in the US history, 16.5 tons of cocaine have been found aboard a ship docked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The street value of the haul is estimated at $1 billion.

The US Attorney office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced on Twitter that an astonishing 16.5 tons (15 metric tons) of cocaine was discovered in course of the raid by federal agents, which is the biggest amount ever seized in the history of the district.


Law enforcement swooped down on a "large" container ship moored at the Packer Marine Terminal on Tuesday afternoon. Photos from the scene show agents with sniffer dogs inspecting a large red container loaded onto the vessel.
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People 2

Hong Kong protesters make rest of the world look bad with 2am rubbish clean up


RT
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 13:11 UTC
hong kong protesters
© Reuters / Tyrone Siu
Demonstrators demand Hong Kong's leaders to step down and withdraw the extradition bill, in Hong Kong, June 16, 2019
Hong Kong protesters showed up the rest of the world's demonstrators when, after a 2 million-strong march, they worked through the night to ensure not a scrap of trash was left in their wake.

The mass protests against an unpopular China extradition bill took place on June 16 and, after the 3km march was over, the diligent demonstrators worked into the night to ensure the streets they had marched on were not left strewn with litter.

Images circulated on social media showed young people working to pick up rubbish late at night, with a few doing a final sweep of the area the next morning.


This isn't the first time Hong Kong protesters turned litter collectors after a march. Following the June 12 protests, demonstrators returned to the protest site to clean up after themselves.


The hardworking Hongkongers made a lot of other protesters look bad in comparison. When thousands of protesters gathered in London to show their opposition to President Donald Trump at the start of June, they left a trail of rubbish in their wake and were accused of hypocrisy for demonstrating against Trump's climate policy while littering themselves.

Occupy ICE protesters in Portland sparked anger when they left their protest site looking like a scrap heap in 2018. Even the Dakota Pipeline protesters left millions of pounds of garbage behind when they were evicted from their demonstration site in 2017.



Comment: See also:

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No Entry

You want 'em..you got 'em: New Mexico sanctuary city sues Trump admin for releasing too many immigrants into its borders

Holly Matkin
BlueLivesMatter
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham

In February, Grisham scoffed at the predicted influx of immigrants at the state’s southern border, calling the matter a “charade,” and withdrew National Guard troops from border locations.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the federal lawsuit on Monday.

Albuquerque, NM - The State of New Mexico and the sanctuary city of Albuquerque have filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for releasing too many immigrants into the state's border cities.

The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico on Monday, alleged that President Trump's administration has enacted an "indiscriminate practice of releasing migrants in communities," in violation of the federal "safe release" policy, KVIA reported.

The federal "safe release" policy was canceled in October of 2018 due to the massive wave of immigrants who flooded over the U.S. southern border from Central America.

That policy provided those seeking asylum with assistance in getting to their final destinations while they were waiting for their claims to be processed, KVIA reported.

"[The] sudden and unlawful abandonment of this policy was done without notice or opportunity for input by affected jurisdictions," the lawsuit alleged.

The sanctuary city and the State of New Mexico has also demanded to be reimbursed for the funds it has shelled out to temporarily shelter immigrants.

Comment: Judging from the majority of the comments to the above article, there isn't much sympathy for New Mexico's complaint.

Trump offers sanctuary cities an "unlimited supply" of illegal immigrants

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