Insurrection!

 

The Progressive Left is getting frantic.  Every time they indict Trump, his poll numbers go up.  The calls to prohibit Trump from the ballot because of his participation in the January 6th 'insurrection' have started anew, but they have a small problem.  Several of them, actually.

The first problem is proving — other than introducing New York Times editorials — that there was an insurrection.  The second is proving that some particular person (in this case: Trump) was a participant.

Since both those issues involve criminal behavior, the rules of criminal procedure apply, and that's the third problem.  My guess is that everyone who bleats about the 14th Amendment and permanently barring Trump from elective office under its provisions is too stupid to realize that it takes more than a simple accusation to prove that an insurrection actually happened, or that some person is/was an insurrectionist.  'Due process' is owed to any such defendant, even if the defendant is Donald Trump.

Either that, or they're hoping you're too stupid to ask the obvious question:

Why has no DA or AG actually charged Trump with the crime of insurrection?

And there does not exist any Secretary of State who is brave enough or foolhardy enough to actually order Trump to be excluded from the ballot without an actual conviction for insurrection, because that would be 'election interference' right out in the open where it couldn't be denied.  Something like that could end a career.

So if you happen to be one of those who has suggested Trump be barred from public office because he's an insurrectionist, it may be time to STFU.

 

Target: General Aviation

 

The EPA has decided that leaded aviation fuel (avgas) is an environmental hazard.  In effect, the EPA has painted a huge target onto the sides of virtually all light aircraft used by the General Aviation community.  Spared from the ax will be anyone flush enough to own a jet-powered aircraft, and anyone who flies Part 103 (ultralights) because neither needs leaded fuel.

An article in the Orange County Register notes that "Lead isn’t in the jet fuel used by commercial aircraft", and that's true.  Jet fuel is — with all the lace around the edges stripped off — either kerosene or naphtha (cigarette lighter fluid), and neither are supplemented with tetraethyl lead, but avgas is because it improves performance in piston engines enough to allow them to actually... you know... fly.

So, what does the EPA want?  Probably, they are going to require that all engines that currently run on 100LL (100 octane low-lead) be converted to use unleaded fuel.  They will do this by interfering, legislatively or economically or both, with the production of 100LL.  The approximately quarter-million owners of such aircraft will be faced with replacing their existing power plants with ones that can run on unleaded avgas with an octane number well above 100.  Retrofitting existing engines will likely be cost-prohibitive.  General aviation, already quite expensive, is going to get even more so.  In fact, this may spell the end of most GA and the resulting closure of many small private and municipal airports.

So you typically commute in your Cessna 172 between Tallahassee and Sarasota?  Well, good thing for you that Delta flies SRQ-ATL-TLH (and return) and it only takes a little over five hours each way!  That 240 mile trip that your Cessna can do in about 90 minutes — starting whenever you wish — can now be done in just 312 minutes, but you have to get up at 4:30 to be at the airport by 5:30 for your 7:00am flight.  $450 dollars!  Cheap!  Not as cheap as flying yourself, and you can only do it twice a week because 'schedules', but you no longer need to rent a spot at the airport or have insurance on the airplane.  Think of all the money you'll save!  (Other trips by extension.)

Cherchez l'argent.  This is a giant pile of loot being redirected to the very small community of commercial aviation from the very large community of general aviation.

 

Repositioning Cruises

 

Mention 'cruising' to almost anyone and the first image that pops into their mind is a 7-day jaunt that leaves out of Miami, stops in San Juan and a few more ports in the Leeward Islands before returning to the originating port.  For a few, the cruise begins (or ends) in San Diego, passes through the Panama Canal, and ends (or begins) in New York, with the cruisers on board either flying to the first stop or flying home from the last.  For that second group, the notion of a 'repositioning cruise' won't sound at all strange.

Some cruise lines, Holland-America and Celebrity for example, cruise their fleets in warmer waters (the Caribbean, perhaps) during the Winter months, then shift the fleet to cooler waters (Mediterranean, Baltic) for the Summer.  For the North Atlantic market, this shift happens in late March through early May when each ship makes a one-way crossing from the U.S. East Coast to somewhere in Europe, and in late September through early November from Europe to the U.S. East Coast.  As with the New York-San Diego route above, most of the cruisers will have a flight either at the beginning to get them to the start-point, or at the end to get them home.

Any Atlantic crossing by cruise ship will involve a 5-7 day segment where the only thing visible for 360° is 'horizon'.  Eastbound, the first stop in Europe (or the last stop westbound) is either Horta in the Azores, Funchal (Madeira), or Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

In order to avoid sending their ships across the Atlantic with empty staterooms, cruise companies often low-ball their prices and offer deep discounts on the airfares at either end.  As a result, repositioning cruises are typically very economically attractive.  For Holland-America, as an example, prices typically break the $100/night bar, something rarely seen elsewhere on H-A's schedule.

The number of ports-of-call is generally higher than expected.  Whereas a 7-day Caribbean cruise might touch 4 ports, a 15-day transatlantic (of which 8 are sea days) will stop in 7 different ports.  This tremendous variety is not simply for the benefit of the passengers.  At each port, crew members whose contract is expiring will be dropped off and replaced with new crew starting fresh contracts.  It's a win-win for all concerned.

For cruisers who have the time available, repositioning cruises are an excellent bargain, not just in terms of price, but also for the variety of experience.  It's my favorite way to cross an ocean.