End of the School Year

For the first time in many years POD is paying attention to the School year and its impending end. The reason for this is that the BPODAM (Beloved of Profit of Doom - Alpha Model)
is rapidly bringing her first year of school to a close. BPODAM has learned a great deal and is progressing quite well. Aside from her fascination with insects and a desire to become a Scientist (to which I say hurrah), she has begun to figure out math and reading and all of those various social skills. In fact, she has done such a good job that she will not be going to "first grade" next year, rather she will be going to a gifted first/second grade. This is good as she is also big for her age.

Over memorial day, on Monday in fact, BPODAM demonstrated how much her level of understanding has changed. We went to a Memorial Day service at a nearby Cemetery. On the way BPODAM told us all about the Civil War and why we celebrate Memorial Day. And then the concept of "death" and all of the people that were dead and buried sunk in. She was not her ebullient self for a while. And later in the day, as we were discussing what we would have on the grill, she asked why the DLPOD (Dearly Loved of the Profit of Doom) ate "special" Hamburgers. We explained that DLPOD was a partial vegetarian and only ate fish and vegetables and the like. She asked what Hamburgers were made of and we explained that they came from Cows. This provoked a cry that this was "mean" and I suspect that we have another Vegetarian on the way...

I am not sure that this rambling belongs in the POD's angry and mad blog. But what the heck.

POD

History and Facts -- Obama and Concentration Camps

Once again the media (or at least portions of the media) are playing the "gotcha" game for wholly immaterial comments. Sen. Obama recently commented that he supported strong benefits for the Veterans because of an experience by one of his Uncles in liberating Auschwitz. And the media (including the more and more Tabloid trending Washington Post (shame shame)) jumped on this. After all, it was not one of Obama's Uncles, but one of his Great Uncles that was involved and it was not Auschwitz, as Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets, but rather was Buchenwald. And in "defending" its comments on Obama, the "fact checker" article in the Post suggested that part of the problem is that Obama should have known that Auschwitz was not liberated by the Americans, but by the Soviets.

My comments are as follows:
The claim that he lied about calling the relative the Uncle, when he was a Great Uncle is sheer non-sense. I grew up knowing directly or indirectly a number of relatives that were known to me as Uncle Brev, Aunt Florence, Uncle Eddie, Aunt Jewel, Aunt Sally, Uncle Dan and so forth. All of these were "Great" (and in one case Great Great) Uncles of mine, but that's not how I knew them. I still sometimes relate "Uncle Eddie" stories even though he died before I was born and he was a "great" uncle, not an Uncle. As for the others, they were called "Aunt X" or "Uncle Y" and, again, if you asked me to name them now I would have named them that same way.

With respect to the name of the Concentration Camp, initially it is possible that his Uncle got the name wrong or the name changed as the family story was related from one member to the next. All family stories have a grain of truth to them, but the exact facts can shift over time. That's the nature of family stories. But the essential truth is there. Did Uncle Eddie, taking my Dad home from a Dodger game, really break the glass window on the door of the streetcar with his hand and then refuse to provide his identity (as a matter of civil rights) to the driver? Did he really waive the bloody hand at the car after they got off saying "See, this is why I didn't give you my name". Well, I wasn't there, and it isn't written down in any book, but its part of my family history. And even if all of the facts aren't right (although I have no reason to believe that they are wrong) that doesn't change the essential truth. And the essential truth is that one of Sen. Obama's relatives was involved in the liberation of a concentration camp (or at least told his family that he was) and that it had a severe impact on him down the road.

The fact checker then attempted to defend the indefensible by saying that Obama should have known that Auschwitz was liberated by the Russians, not the Americans. And that this was a lie. Initially, it has to be a knowing factual untruth in order to be a "lie". Otherwise it is simply a mis-stated fact. (And here the name of the camp is ultimately not relevant). Further, WHY should Obama have known this to be untrue. History classes have taught that the Nazi's ran concentration camps. History classes have taught that American Troops liberated some of those camps. History classes discussed the names and horrors of some of these camps -- Treblinka, Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald. And this is what students need to learn. They don't need to learn which set of allies liberated which camp and in which order. POD challenges the reader to answer the following questions without consulting reference material (POD couldn't do it)

1. Name the Country of the following Camps and the Ally that Liberated the camp:
a. Treblinka
b. Sachsenhausen
c. Sobibor
d. Belzec
e. Dachau

2. In Which States and/or battles were the following Civil War Generals Killed in Battle (You didn't think I was going to let you only answer questions in one subject....)
a. Thomas Jackson
b. Leonidas Polk
c. James McPhearson
d. John Reynolds
e. John B. Hood
f. Benjamin Butler
g. George Pickett
h. Lewis Armistead
i. John Sedgewick

Bonus Points. On which side did the General Fight and if they had a nick-name, what was it.

3. Place the following WWI flying Aces in order based on their number of "confirmed" kills.
a. Herman Goering
b. Eddie Rickenbacher
c. Rene Fonck
d. Ernest Udet
e. William Barker
f. Roland Garros
g. Frank Luke
h. Max Immelman
i. Albert Ball

Bonus Points. Name the Airplane Make and Model associated with the pilot and their nationality.

4. Name the Leader or Leaders of the Following Countries at the Year Specified.
a. Rhodesia (1965)
b. India (1974)
c. Austria (1938)
d. England (1938)
e. United States (1929)
f. USSR (1991)
g. Egypt (1961)

Bonus Points. Provide a reason why each year is significant for the country listed.

Now explain to me how not remembering any of these facts, all of which you should have learned in school before the "most children held back act", is relevant to any purpose. If I know, for example, the Patrick Cleburne was a Confederate General of Irish heritage, fought in the Tennessee campaigns, and was killed in a mismanaged battle late in the war, is it relevant that I know that the name of the Battle was the Battle of Franklin? No.

And in the same way, the fact that Obama didn't know (or at least didn't remember) that Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet troops is irrelevant.

Trivia is not knowledge.

They Still Don't Get It (pt II)

The Airlines still don't get it. I wrote the other major airline which serves O'Hare (POD's airport) and stated my objection to their possible implementation of a first bag charge. I clearly laid out that the problem was not the charge, per se, which really didn't apply to POD who is safely at a sufficiently high level in their FF program to avoid the problem, but rather the unthought of ramifications on air travel. Their answer showed a singular lack of getting the message. They wrote:

Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

I appreciate your email regarding our baggage policy. As a Premier
Executive member, you are one of our most valuable customers.

Mr. XXXXXX, let me apprise you that there is no such update so fare.
Currently, being a premier executive member you are allowed to check two
bags on your domestic travel. We at customer relations value feedback
from our valuable customers such as you and do consider them when
reviewing your policies or product. Meanwhile, I have shared your
comments with our baggage management team responsible for policies.
Your feedback will help us evaluate our decisions that impact your
choice of airline.

I truly appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concern and look
forward to serving you.


Regards,

Amit Madan
United Airlines Customer Relation

This is a singularly unhelpful response. Sure, as a high level FF I can check two bags for free. So what. That wasn't my concern. My concern is that charging for the first bag is going to radically increase the number of bags to be taken into the airplane (and more importantly, through the security lines.....). This is a problem which impacts all flyers, including those flyers of airlines that have not elected to impose such idiotic and short-sighted baggage charges.

Grumph.

Correspondence with an Airline.

They really don't get it. I send a complaint into AA after their announced charge for the first checked bag. I didn't complain over the charge, per se, but rather over the various unintended consequences and the impact at the airport. And they responded as if I were merely complaining about the price.

They wrote back:


May 22, 2008

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXX:

Thank you for contacting us. We appreciate hearing your perspective about a price
increase in fees for some services and products. Please know that this was a
difficult decision but reflects the reality of our business. We are taking direct
steps to ensure the long-term success of our company in the face of unprecedented fuel
prices. We hope to have our customers' understanding.

Sincerely,

Diane Hill
Customer Relations
American Airlines

I guess its time to write my Congressman.

Something Special in the Air?

American Airlines has announced that they are going to charge $15 for the first checked bag and other airlines are expected to follow this practice. Boy does this have me upset. Its not the $15, as I have a high enough FF status on the Airlines that I fly to avoid this, its the ramifications of this decision. It will result in:

1. Longer security lines as many people who used to check a bag will now "carry-on" that bag. This means more bags through security and more delays. This will make clearing security through an already over burdened system even worse. I expect that lines at BWI will not routinely take more than an hour.

2. The bins on the flight are already "full". Bins have never been designed to hold a suitcase for every flyer. And with everyone not checking the demand will rise even further. POD has already been on flights where, even though POD boarded early (and checked his bag so all he had was a computer bag), and put his bag in the overhead bin, the flight attendant has removed POD's bag because is was small, and insisted that POD put it under the seat in front of him. Now POD will regularly expect that he will be forced to put a bag in front of him.

3. The new policy will compromise safety. All of these extra bags in the cabin will create a situation where an emergency evacuation will be adversely affected. Because the US airlines cannot figure out how to properly price their flights, my safety is being put at risk.

The good news is that we do have a solution. A return to the re-regulation of the industry. The Federal Government needs to step in and tell the airlines, as a matter of cabin safety, that they must check the first bag for all passengers free of charge. The Federal Government must tell the passengers that the size of carry-ons must be reduced to speed clearance through security. And the Federal Government must hold the airlines to a baggage handling standard in order to ensure that baggage is quickly delivered to the passengers in order to remove the disincentive to check bags caused by the delays in handling. (POD had a flight from ORD to IAD within the past two months in which the plane arrived on time and the luggage, for all passengers, took well over an hour to be delivered to the baggage collection point. For at least 30 minutes the airline could not even tell any of the passengers where the baggage was located. And this was during a slow part of the day at IAD).

Of course POD has made a choice. He has decided to abandon the airline that was "Something Special in the Air" even if the other airlines of "force" (being hubbed at O'Hare POD has few choices) impose the charge as well. The Geniuses of that airline came up with the idea, and I hope that they go bankrupt and the airline goes out of business. (No, POD's not vindictive...not at all).