More carmakers caught in headlights of VW engine-rigging scandal

More carmakers caught in headlights of VW engine-rigging scandal
Volkswagen has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter and 3.0 liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson)

Volkswagen emissions scandal

Iran's 'catastrophic mistake': Speculation, pressure, then admission

Iran's 'catastrophic mistake': Speculation, pressure, then admission
Analsyts say it is irresponsible to link the crash of a Ukraine International Airline Boeing 737-800 to the 737 MAX accidents (AFP Photo/INA FASSBENDER)

Missing MH370 likely to have disintegrated mid-flight: experts

Missing MH370 likely to have disintegrated mid-flight: experts
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 commercial jet.

QZ8501 (AirAsia)

Leaders see horror of French Alps crash as probe gathers pace

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …

Saturday, February 2, 2008

TSA (USA) Launches Blog, Gets An Earful From Weary Travelers

Officials set up the site to open a dialog with travelers and to reconcile the perceived need for security with the desire for unhindered transit.

By Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek

January 31, 2008 03:00 PM

The Transportation Security Administration wants to know why we can't all just get along.

So, on Thursday, the agency launched a blog to open a dialog with travelers and to reconcile the perceived need for security with the desire for unhindered transit.

"There is no time to talk, to listen, to engage with each other," lamented TSA Administrator Kip Hawley in the blog's first post. "There isn't much opportunity for our Security Officers to explain the 'why' of what we ask you to do at the checkpoint, just the 'what' needs to be done to clear security. The result is that the feedback and venting ends up circulating among passengers with no real opportunity for us to learn from you or vice versa. "

Hawley's avowed goal for 2008 is "to get TSA and passengers back on the same side, working together." And to do so, he is promising "a lively, open discussion of TSA issues." Although he acknowledged that "destructive" posts will be removed, he said site moderators will "not touch the critical or cranky."

The blog's Comment Policy is rather more specific about permissible feedback. All comments are reviewed before posting. Posts must treat the agency and its employees with respect. That means no vulgar or abusive language, no personal attacks, no ethnic or racial epithets, no spam or marketing pitches, and no unsupported accusations.

However, the presence of a post that begins "Dear fear mongering air Gestapo" suggests that those screening the TSA blog's comments are letting some rather barbed statements slip through. Perhaps surprisingly, TSA appears to be quite earnest in its desire to hear what people really think: One of the moderators assured blog visitors that "commenting on this blog will NOT get you on any list TSA keeps."

A day after its launch, the site's premiere entry has more than 330 comments. Those posting range from enthusiastic TSA employees who think the blog is "a great idea" to aggrieved travelers who want their civil liberties restored to an inventor who believes he has the answer to fungal infections arising from checkpoint shoe removal.

Some comments are quite supportive of TSA. "I understand that some of the passengers do not like taking off their shoes or surrendering their toothpaste, however, there are many passengers that thank us for what we do," said an anonymous commenter who claims to be a TSA employee. "We must all remember that 9/11 happened and we are just trying to make the air safe for everyone. Flying is not a right granted under the Bill of Rights and due to the state of the world today, we must all make smart decisions. I am proud of what we do and what we represent."

Other comments are quite critical. "As a police officer working at a Midwest airport, the thing that irks [me] and the other officers is the attitude of some of the screeners," said someone posting under the name "airport-leo." "There are some that are on a real power trip. They seem to delight in bullying any passengers that might question their reason for doing certain things. They like to come across as having the sole power and authority to let that person on that flight. I have personally complained to Screening Supervisors and Screening Managers about the attitude of certain Screeners but to no avail."

How TSA responds to the criticism it has invited remains to be seen. But the agency certainly has some work to do if it's to win the hearts and minds of the traveling public. In a December IP/Ipsos Poll of 1,004 adults that asked respondents how they felt about government agencies, TSA came in third to last, ahead of Congress and the IRS, but behind FEMA. Only 15% of those surveyed said they had a very favorable view of TSA, compared with 11% for Congress, 14% for the IRS, and 16% for FEMA.

1 comment:

JoeK said...

TSA takes items from passengers that are not against the law, only against airport policy..TSA should be required to give passenger a numbered receipt for the confiscation, so the passenger can reclaim item upon returning from their trip..It was never meant for TSA to keep these items not for the TSA agent to keep these items..It is not a freeby for the TSA...