Traffic @ MindSay

The next time I find myself sitting in traffic I will wish I had this tractor to run everybody in my way over.

Its insightful how your mood can rub off on other people.

Yesterday morning, I woke up with that sensation of dread.. that something is wrong.

And sure enough, I got a call from my Boss's boss that I was required for a meeting that I would never be able to reach in time for.

So I sped.. and there was this Old dude in a spanking new BMW who was understandably driving it like a Buffalo cart.... sloooowwwwlly.

But I was a man in a hurry and was cutting through the Mumbai traffic like a hot knife through butter.

So I honked and honked.. but he just wouldnt give way. And those of you who know what Mumbai traffic is like, will understand how crucial it is to cross a slow moving car.

I got angry but didnt say anything.

Finally I got a chance to pass him... and so I did.

What I didnt realise was.. that my lil brother sitting next to me... was showing the Old cultured dude "the Finger" ;-)

I immediately realised that patience was supposed to have been the flavour of the moment.

But that realization 'was' too late ;-)

well.... he got a finger.... He also got the BMW.

I say ! Whats a Finger when you have a BMW ! ;-)

What say !

By Army 1st Lt. Tomas Rofkahr

Special to American Forces Press Service

 

Aug. 27, 2008 - Members of the Australian Reconstruction Task Force and Task Force Castle's 420th Engineer Brigade completed the emplacement of two Mabey Johnson bridges near Andar and Moqur in eastern Afghanistan. Insurgent attacks during the summer left the bridges impassible, forcing Afghans and coalition forces to use single-lane bypasses.

 

Work progressed quickly once the Australian and American combat engineers arrived. The first bridge in Andar was erected in just over two days, and forces then moved on to Moqur, where they emplaced the second bridge.

 

Both bridges are on Highway 1, which connects Kandahar in southern Afghanistan to the Afghan capital of Kabul. Highway 1 is a paved route originally built in the 1960s. The 300-mile stretch that includes the bridges was refurbished in 2002 and 2003 as part of President Bush's Afghanistan Road Initiative. The U.S. Agency for International Development credits the work with reducing the transit time between Kandahar and Kabul by half.

 

In recent months, Highway 1 has become a focal point for insurgent activity, as Taliban fighters and common bandits target supply convoys and merchant traffic. The bridge attacks were the latest in the Taliban's efforts to impede Afghanistan's reconstruction and stability, officials said.

 

The bridge attacks are a serious concern, but not a serious engineering problem to solve.

 

"Each section of the bridge is called a bay and is about 10 feet long," said Army Capt. James Reid, Task Force Castle's assistant operations officer. "We were able to do a 10-bay bridge in two days."

 

Reid, an Arkansas native, has seen a great deal in his 20 years of military service, with multiple tours in Iraq and now building bridges in Afghanistan.

 

"I'm excited to be involved in this," he said. "It's helping everybody -- it's helping Afghanistan, it's helping the coalition forces, and it's just a win-win for everyone."

 

(Army 1st Lt. Tomas Rofkahr serves in the Combined Task Force Castle Public Affairs Office.)

I was driving to work today, at Hamline. The campus sits between Hamline Ave. and Snelling Ave. Because of the insane traffic on Snelling, I always take Hamline. From the Interstate I cruise north for about 10 blocks, through quiet neighborhoods and then cut over to the campus.

 

Today, coming in to work, I was driving down Hamline when I started noticing these street signs. They were at regular intervals and are about the size of a speed limit sign (intentionally, as it turns out). Each one was different from the next and they were all done with different images of abstract art. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had no idea what they were there for; I hadn't noticed them before.

 

Curiousity got the best of me and as soon as I got to work I looked it up. You can read the article here. Turns out, they are an art project, created by a local artist, in conjunction with the city to help slow traffic in these quiet neighborhoods.

 

The idea is that people will notice the signs (they definitely stand out) and will slow down in order to view them better, making the streets safer for all. The fact that they are the exact size as a speed limit sign is deliberate, a sort of unconscious reminder to slow down.

 

I've got to hand it to them. This is the single most creative idea for slowing speeders that I have seen. It certainly worked for me. Not that I drive like a madwoman anyway, but I was definitely creeping along more slowly once I noticed the signs. The artwork is pretty cool and I just wanted to see what was up next.

 

Couple things though, once people have seen them, won't they then become part of the daily scenery? And, what about drivers after dark (ooh, cool band name)? The signs aren't lit up, so I don't know how they'll play in the evening hours. I guess I'll have something to watch for on my drive home.

 

But if you're out for a leisurely drive, I'd recommend driving down Hamline Ave. north of 94. (Also, Thomas Ave, as the article mentions, but that's not on my route...so I can't vouch for it). The art is definitely worth the look, even if the experiment doesn't fulfill its true potential.

By Gerry J. Gilmore

American Forces Press Service

 

July 2, 2008 - A new enlistment waiver-reporting policy for all of the services that establishes four groupings and uses numeric coding for specific transgressions will assist the Pentagon to better gauge force quality, a senior defense official said here today. By dividing waiver terminology into four separate groupings and employing codes to identify transgressions, "we can keep [better] track of things, judge whether ... to allow more or fewer people in, based on whether that attribute matters to performance and retention," Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, told reporters during a Pentagon news conference.

 

Each armed service is to align its waiver-reporting procedures according to the new policy guidelines that become effective this fall, Carr said. Each service, he noted, had categorized offenses differently before the change.

 

The policy change won't affect the high quality of recruits that join today's all-volunteer military, Carr emphasized. Today's soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, he said, are the best quality ever.

 

Under the new policy, waiver groupings are divided into four categories: traffic offenses, nontraffic offenses, misconduct offenses and major misconduct offenses, Carr explained. Transgressions in the misconduct column are what are commonly known as misdemeanors, he said, while major misconduct transgressions are akin to felonies.

 

Today, about one in five recruits requires some kind of waiver to enlist, according to Pentagon statistics. About two-thirds of those waivers involve petty infractions of the law; the other third involve health concerns, low aptitude scores and other issues.

 

Most waivers issued to recruits involve youthful misconduct, according to a Pentagon news release issued today. One-third of medical waivers are issued for too-high body fat, according to the release.

 

"Waivers have long been a part of the enlistment process, allowing communities a greater voice in identifying young persons who, despite factors such as youthful misconduct, are judged trustworthy and capable, and found fully qualified for service in the armed forces," Carr stated in the news release.

 

The all-volunteer military that's been in place since July 1, 1973, is a proven success story, David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, reported Feb. 26 during a U.S. House Armed Services Committee hearing.

 

The vast majority of today's military enlistees meet a high-quality education standard, possessing a high school diploma or a general equivalency degree, Chu told legislators, adding that the percentage of military members with either a high school diploma or a GED surpasses the national average of 80 percent.