[Traveler24] Cape Town - Travellers are being warned about a mile-high syndicate operating on board flights to Asian destinations, alleged to have netted stolen goods to the value of R6.5m in the last 9 months.
Figures released by the Hong Kong police point to an increase in theft during flights that land in Hong Kong. Over the past five years, reported cases of this mile high criminal activity have more than doubled and on 21 December 2015, South African Airways passenger Warren Becker became one of the latest victims.
Becker wrote to Traveller24 when he landed back in South Africa after what he calls a "ruined holiday". No mention here, but I wonder how many landed in Hong Kong surprised to find their passports nicked.
#2
"They left all the South African Rands as well as my camera, as if to make it look like nothing was taken," he told Traveller24.
Perchance it is the victim running the scan?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/14/2016 13:10 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Scam
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/14/2016 13:11 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I don't see it as a scam as the chance of getting any compensation back from most any airlines is lower than getting a Victoria Secrets underwear model assigned to the middle seat next to you!
Austal's Expeditionary Fast Transport ships need bow repairs
U.S. Navy adopted a flawed design to save weight, report finds
The U.S. Navy is spending millions of dollars to repair new high-speed transport ships built by Austal Ltd. because their weak bows can't stand buffeting from high seas, according to the Pentagon's chief weapons tester.
"The entire ship class requires reinforcing structure" to bridge the twin hulls of the all-aluminum catamarans because of a design change that the Navy adopted at Austal's recommendation for the $2.1 billion fleet of Expeditionary Fast Transports, Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation, said in a report to Congress.
"The Navy accepted compromises in the bow structure, presumably to save weight, during the building of these ships," Gilmore wrote lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, in a September letter that wasn't previously disclosed. "Multiple ships of the class have suffered damage to the bow structure."
The speedy catamarans are designed to transport 600 short tons of military cargo and as many as 312 troops for 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots. They've been deployed to Africa and the Middle East as well as to Singapore as part of the U.S.'s Pacific rebalance and are being considered by military officials for expanded use there by the Marines. The vessels fill a transport gap between larger, slower vessels and cargo aircraft.
Meets Criteria
Michelle Bowden, a spokeswoman for Henderson, Australia-based Austal, deferred comment to the Navy. Captain Thurraya Kent, a Navy spokeswoman, said the service accepted Austal's recommendation because the company's analysis showed the lighter-weight bow met criteria of the American Bureau of Shipping and Pentagon requirements. She said in an e-mail that Gilmore's report confirms that the vessel "meets and in certain area exceeds" key performance parameters.
The Navy bought 10 of the shallow-draft vessels, at about $217 million each. Five have been delivered and are in operation, while the other five are under construction at Austal's Mobile, Alabama, shipyard. Senator Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which added $225 million for an 11th vessel to the fiscal 2016 defense spending bill last month.
So far, the Navy has spent almost $2.4 million strengthening the bow of the first four vessels delivered since late 2012.
Repair costs include $511,000 on the initial vessel, the USNS Spearhead, which was damaged during deployment by waves slamming into the superstructure, according to test data cited by Gilmore and the Military Sealift Command.
The second, third and fourth vessels cost as much as $1.2 million each to repair and a fifth vessel, the USNS Trenton, awaits its bow reinforcement during its next scheduled shipyard visit, Tom Van Leunen, a spokesman for the Military Sealift Command, which owns the vessels, said in an e-mail.
Added Weight
The retrofits have added 1,736 pounds to the ship's weight, displacing 250 gallons of fuel but having a minimal impact on the vessel's range when fully loaded, Gilmore said. His concern about the vessel is likely to be highlighted in his annual report on weapons testing that's scheduled to be released by Feb. 1.
"Since the repairs are still in progress, there has been no heavy weather testing yet to verify if the fixes are sufficient," Marine Corps Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a spokesman for Gilmore, said in an e-mail.
Even with reinforced structures, the fast transport ships operate under sailing restrictions because "encountering a rogue wave" can "result in sea-slam events that causes structural damage to the bow structure," Gilmore wrote. The operating restrictions include requiring vessels to wait out the highest seas or travel at speeds much lower than their maximum, according to Gilmore's report.
Van Leunen, the Military Sealift Command spokesman, said that "the Navy routinely diverts ships during transits to avoid heavy weather" and this ship is no exception. Its primary missions will often be in coastal waters that offer "some protection from weather and sea state when compared to open ocean transits," he said.
Generator Reliability
The vessel's latest sea tests also were marred by the poor reliability of generators made by Fincantieri SpA that supply electrical power, according to Gilmore. The generators failed "at a much greater rate than predicted."
Required to operate 8,369 hours between major failures, the generators failed as soon as 208 hours at some points, improving to 1,563 hours in the most recent tests.
Fincantieri spokesman Antonio Autorino said in an e-mail that "the concerns described in the report have been resolved and this information was provided to the Navy, yet was not included in the report."
#3
These repairs appear to be about 1% or so of the costs of the ship. I suspect they're not as big a deal as it's being made out to be, but they're in a mode of scrambling to Quick! Find! Out! Something! Austal! Did! Wrong! because budget cuts are probably going to force the Navy to downselect to one LCS hull that they'll then refuse to put antiaircraft or antiship missiles on.
[THECOLLEGEFIX] At Pennsylvania State University, the public university is in the midst of a massive campaign that encourages students not only to watch what they say, lest they offend someone, but also to report any and all biased statements to campus officials.
“There is no place for hate, overt or subtle, at Penn State – such actions do not represent our mutually held values,” Eric Barron, president of Penn State, stated in a recent message to the campus community. Well, I'm offended. Rat bastards.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
I bet if they ever post the list of reports it reads like something out of the onion and further I suspect it nearly breaks the internet as non-students pile on to read and mock.
#5
OK, Fred. We need a microagression meter, with a logarithmic scale so we can see all the way from mega to femto agression. Kinda like a dB meter. Damn! Autobartender could build up one if he is on line.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/14/2016 14:57 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Well Hello 1984, come right in and make yourself comfortable.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
01/14/2016 16:42 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Too bad they weren't as sensitive to the victims of their pederast coaching staff.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/14/2016 19:58 Comments ||
Top||
#9
As the resident Penn State alumni here (in my handle)let me mention that the PSU alumni base is still quite fragmented from the Sandusky scandal and most folks have settled on where they place the blames and for what. For the record, I have looked at the facts and the hundreds of nameless trained professionals who signed off that it was a good idea to place at risk kids with the former coach have more responsibility than the old school football coach- but I feel no need to try to change opinions like Sgt above any longer...I face the same sniggering every time I go to an away game!
But to get to my bigger point, how does PSU plan to mediate between my POV and Sgt. D.T. above? I could easily consider that a MA... he/she could consider mine a MA. If we meet on campus and both express our opinions, who is the white hat and who is the black hat?
If I do trigger a micro aggression, please accept my micro apology... and as for PSUs Dean of fundraising? Please look for my micro donation in the mail.
#10
the guys in the black hats are the guys that failed to take appropriate action when they should have known that Sandusky was buggering little boys. The guys in the black hats are the guys that were and continue to be more concerned about a
Alumni funding and sports teams than the welfare of children who never had a chance to pay for college or become an Alumni donor.
#11
Sorry Sgt. Who are these people you speak of? State of Pennsylvania sure hasn't found a good reason to go to trial for anyone " not the monster" for over 4 years now? Educate me please...
#12
Does the above exchange require a new "micro aggression incident report" or do the comments get carried forward on the original, even though I don't yet have a incident request number? Is there an 800 number I can call?
[HUFFINGTONPOST.AU] Al Jazeera America will shut down its operations in the United States by the end of April, the company told employees in a meeting on Wednesday.
Al Jazeera America President Kate O'Brian tearfully relayed the news to stunned colleagues, alongside CEO Al Anstey. In a memo to staff, Anstey said the decision was driven by the "fact that our business model is simply not sustainable in an increasingly digital world, and because of the current global financial challenges."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"fact that our business model is simply not sustainable in an increasingly digital world, and because of the current global financial challenges."
Among other things......heh
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/14/2016 1:33 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Well, then MSNBC and CNN should be right behind!
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/14/2016 7:47 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Gee, what's the job of last resort for all those old left-wing MSM reporters, producers and hosts?
Details are slim prior to an official announcement, but here's what we know so far:
The terms offered by state and local government in Massachusetts weren't immediately clear. Another person familiar with the matter said GE could notify employees at its Fairfield, Conn., offices as soon as Wednesday. A GE spokesman declined to comment.
Boston's win came amid competition from New York officials, who hoped to bring the headquarters to Manhattan or Westchester County, and from Connecticut officials, who wanted to avoid losing one of its most iconic corporate citizens, if not its largest employer.
GE has complained before about Connecticut's high new corporate tax rate and its "inhospitable business climate," so the move comes as no surprise.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/14/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
When Boston is your low-cost, business-friendly alternative, you might want to rethink a few things.
Similarly, I was wondering how Boston was such a good place. Any comments from our local 'Burg correspondents?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/14/2016 7:45 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Well, Bobby, we do have a 'pub governor.
Boston, as a city isn't too bad. The cultural tone is first rate, the crime rate isn't too bad and the football team is quite good.
The weather does suck for a good part of the year but............
#3
Young, good food, summer --> winter over a weekend (but you can drive north to see fall early), high taxes, limited awareness of the civil war, aggressive drivers. Oh yes, white mountains are an easy drive away.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/14/2016 10:33 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I spent 1991 and 1992 working in Boston. I found it quite pleasant once I convinced peopl The Beverly Hillbilly was not a documentary.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/14/2016 10:49 Comments ||
Top||
#5
"aggressive drivers"?!?
Boston is the only place I've been, and that includes Paris, where the drivers will come up on the sidewalks after pedestrians... and I grew up in MA, so I know whereof I speak.
Posted by: Enver Lover of the Giants1228 ||
01/14/2016 12:29 Comments ||
Top||
#6
My 1st time in Boston, I was coming out of the Lincoln tunnel when someone tried to pass me on the right in rush hour traffic. I was in the right lane and they had to give up because a mailbox was blockingg their path.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/14/2016 12:37 Comments ||
Top||
#7
It was common practice for drivers to use the breah-down lane as aa regular lane.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/14/2016 13:22 Comments ||
Top||
#8
My 1st time in Boston, I was coming out of the Lincoln tunnel when someone tried to pass me on the right in rush hour traffic.
Overtaking on the right via a turn lane, is legal in Georgia. It must be, no one is ever pulled over or ticketed.
#9
There was no turn lane. Sidewalk then wall. Got my attention.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/14/2016 14:02 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Sven, there is no Lincoln tunnel in Boston, Callahan or Sumner maybe?
Now I did get bumped deliberately on the Tobin bridge. When I stopped to confront the bumper he turned directly across my front to go down the off ramp onto Storrow Drive.
But Boston drivers are legendary for good reason. God help you if you try to go from the North Shore to Cape Cod on a Friday afternoon in Summer.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/14/2016 19:51 Comments ||
Top||
#12
I flew into Logan on my second trip requiring a rental car, heading north to Manchester. Made it out of the tunnel, on some elevated highway, MMOB in the second lane over... see something ahead, what is it? HOLY CRAP a shopping cart laying dead ahead! Cut left and fortunately no one occupying the same space at the same time in the Time and Space continuum... guy behind me not so lucky, bangs into cart that comes up next to me! Driving gods not angry with me that night but a long drive until I could check my shorts.
h/t Instapundit
With Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court took on the outcome of one election. But the case heard by the Supreme Court on Monday could affect elections for many years.
The justices' remarks during arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association point to a major setback looming for public unions. The court will likely rule teachers and other unionized public workers don't have to pay their unions for representation unless they want to.
That means unions will have much less money to spend tilting elections for Democrats. Not only in California, but also in 22 other states where public workers are forced to support the union whether they want to or not. It's a political earthquake for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- where unions dominate public employment and politics.
#2
...Oh, I'd bet the house payment on a VERY fast, bi-partisan solution to this one by the Unified Ruling Party. Way too much at stake here for a little thing like Constitutionality to get in the way.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/14/2016 5:13 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Wonder what will happen to the CSEA's "union dues payments" where the employer pays employees' nominal union dues as part of their pay package if they opt to join the union; the employee never sees the money (they don't get it if they opt not to join.)
#4
As a retired military officer I opted not to use the CALPers healthcare plan since I had Tricare for life. (Different topic about what happened to that promise at 65). The state pay package for healthcare as a part of my salary showed over $200 a month. When I opted out, it just went away.
[Daily Caller] Oregon State Workshop: Ordering Starbucks Shows 'Implicit Bias,' Relates To 'Killings Of Black Men.'
The Jan. 19 workshop entitled "Making the Unknown Known: Exploring Implicit Bias in Everyday Life" is part of a nine-day Martin Luther King celebration at the school,
Michele Ribeiro, Oregon State's interim mental health promotion director, explained that going to Starbucks and purchasing coffee involves implicit bias and relates to white cops shooting black people "because it is a common, everyday thing people do."
#4
Ordering coffee is racist. That'll go over well with the student population. Next thing you know they'll go after beer to make sure they are mocked and loathed.
#7
"because it is a common, everyday thing people do."
So that'd certainly include drinking beer. But maybe not Chardonnay (or whatever it is the lefties like).
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/14/2016 13:21 Comments ||
Top||
#8
And HERE is the illustrious Psychologist that is explaining how buying a Starbucks coffee connects to white cops shooting black people.
On New Years Eve I ordered a pumpkin spice latte from a barrista (who was black) in Portland, Oregon. As I exited the building, I did not see any black people being shot within a 2 mile radius of the building.
Now I feel guilty as hell-----not.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/14/2016 14:52 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Good name for a poorhouse.
Behind each intolerance-hater,
Each tirelessly indolent tater,
Each beatboxing nudnik
And nattering beatnik...
There stands a concerned educator.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[THECOLLEGEFIX] At Pennsylvania State University, the public university is in the midst of a massive campaign that encourages students not only to watch what they say, lest they offend someone, but also to report any and all biased statements to campus officials.
[HUFFINGTONPOST.AU] Al Jazeera America will shut down its operations in the United States by the end of April, the company told employees in a meeting on Wednesday.
Details are slim prior to an official announcement, but here's what we know so far:
[Daily Caller] Oregon State Workshop: Ordering Starbucks Shows 'Implicit Bias,' Relates To 'Killings Of Black Men.' 
