New Laws - Continued

Caution! New Laws Ahead

One of the things I observed when I first came to Spain was that many men went through every day pissed out of their minds. It started with coffee at breakfast that was embellished with brandy, and that was followed up with a litre of beer at eleven that went with a bocadillo. Then, if the guy was a construction worker he would go back up on the scaffolding and fall off, and then wonder what happened. At lunch time you could drink a full bottle of wine if you wanted, because wine cost less than coca cola. During the later afternoon a short coffee with a good shot of whisky would be just fine. Then at night there would be more alcohol, but in the meantime he drove to work and then back home, and whereever else he had to go.

It was so common I thought it would never change, but change it has, and along with the change of habits has come a huge drop in deaths on the road. Now to push a little harder the incentives to not drink and drive just increased by 100%. The punishment for drinking and then getting on your bike or in your car just went from 500 euros to 1000 euros for a first offense, if you didn't actually kill yourself. Then, if you were so silly to do it again the cost goes to 2,000 euros. Don't even think about a third offense. The same thing goes for the druggies who prefer to take their poison directly in their veins.

When I saw how people were making an effort to sober up I concluded that I would simply not touch a drop of alcohol if there is even a possibility that I may have to drive because these roads are crazy enough as it is. How do I feel about the crackdown?  Frankly, considering how much trouble a drunk driver could cause innocent people, I say if the new punishments serve to save just one family from misery, then so be it. That includes myself should I lose my mind and drink and drive.

A funny side to the new regs is that pedal cyclists are no longer subject to keeping their speed up to a minimum of 50% of the maximum. Many roads that cyclists use carry a maximum limit of 80, so can you just see a poor cyclist struggling on an uphill stretch to keep it up to 40 kilometroes. It's enough to give you a heart attack.

Finally, the parliament is seriously considering increasing the limit along some stretces from 120 to 130 klms, but that really means that people  who regularly drive at 130 can now drive at 150. I see this as a sort of reward for being disciplined and obeying the regs, to let off a little steam. If it doesn't lead to an increase in the death rate on the road, then all will be well.

Unfortunately, we'll just have to wait and see.


Copyright (c) 2014  Eugene Carmichael

How do you make a Boeing 777-200ER Disappear?

By paying attention to the smallest detail.

When I first heard that MH370 had gone off course and its identifying systems had been shut down I muttered to myself, "Oh Shit!" Al Qaeda up to its nefarious tricks again. However, I have held this theory to myself as I have watched developments spellbound for almost one full month. The more I see the more I am convinced that we are watching the execution of a well crafted and supported plan that has been a long time in the making and preparation.

If we accept that all we think we know of the plane's movements were caused by deliberate human action with a purpose, then we can expect that the plane has not crashed into the Indian Ocean, except through an accident, but is rather safely parked somewhere in North Western Australia under a false mountain, and the passengers and crew are the guests of their abductors awaiting the other shoe to fall.

This may sound far- fetched, but if Disney can make whole sets of buildings and mountains of fake material, so can Al Qaeda. There is the Great Sandy Desert in the North West of Australia, and Australia is bigger than all of Europe with a whole lot of unoccupied space, so its just a matter of having got the plane down without it being noticed.

Al Qaeda promised that something was going to happen, and they would have the ego to outdo their 9/11 "masterpiece."  The modus operandi is the same. With 9/11 they first flew one plane into tower one, and when they had the world's attention they flew the second plane into the other tower.

MH370 has completely dropped off the face of the earth for almost one full month and the greatest mystery of all time has consumed the world. It is topic A  around the world which mimmicks the crash into the first tower. Now, while everybody is paying attention we can expect something new to happen, perhaps on April 8th, being the one month anniversary of the disappearance.

So far an intensive sea search has been taking place involving a massive assortment of men and equipment at a staggering cost, but it all reminds me of the great magicians who make gigantic objects appear and disappear before our eyes through the use of misdirection. While the search has been taking place at sea they could have had time to cover their tracks on land.

Some people have suggested that the terrorists may have stolen the plane for a future attack. Why not steal a cargo plane? Because if people are stolen as well that involves a great many families and we can all empathise with them. That's the human factor.

What would be the point of this if a terrorist action? Other than theatre there doesn't have to be a real point. The attacks on 9/11 demanded no money or release of prisoners. It was simply Show Business, that demonstrated what Al Qaeda was capable of.

So, stand by and keep vigilant on April 8th, two days from today for Breaking News!

Copyright (c) 2014   Eugene Carmichael