(The Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill advances from Congress for signing at the White House).
We tend to be a little contemplative on Sunday mornings. You know how that goes. Saturday nights express relief that another week has passed without disaster. Or at least complete disaster. We were arguing about numbers this morning, but not in a hostile manner, just about what sort of ground formations would be required for the: 1. Partial subjugation of the Ukrainians. Or, alternatively, 2. Complete conquest. That naturally led to more numbers, like the ones NATO or the DoD use.
Numbers are fun. There were a bunch of other ones to talk about, sort of like the ones in the pandemic discussions. There is nothing like vigorous Sunday morning discussion of the components of Corps-level mechanized formations and Public Health Emergencies. It made us feel at home.
If you haven’t been following, the situation in Ukraine has a large formation of Russian troops in the field around the perimeter of a nation that used to be part of it. Press reports indicate that particular number ranges between one and two hundred thousand people under arms.
The argument- discussion, rather- was how much of the ready reserve Mr. Putin has allocated to back up the ones already there and how much it costs to maintain them. Some things are clear. It appears likely he will act. They announced the American embassy in Kiev, or what we are now supposed to call Kyiv, is supposed to be evacuated by next week. That would suggest something is expected “soon.”
We in the Writer’s Section are in general agreement with that, and of course fully support our national commitment to whatever it is we are going to do.
An effort not to talk about that led to a longer discussion about what we can talk about. Legal has assigned the youngest attorney to listen to what the Writer’s Section is talking about and enable her to help steer conversations in a manner that supports consensus. She brought a copy of a new law on the books. It was part of the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill. We don’t know a great deal about what is in it. Talk at the time it became law was about highways and bridges, but there was a lot more.
The Attorney had printed a few copies of one of the provisions in the Bill to lead us in a rational discussion. She passed them around, hoping to direct the conversation on the Reduce Impaired Driving for Everyone Bill. The shorter term is where the fun starts. It is an interesting new law. In sum, the RIDE law directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue an instruction to the automakers to include a system on new cars that can detect impaired drivers and then turn the cars off.
“We are opposed to drunk driving, right? Ten thousand people a year die from crashes due to impaired drivers. This is a good thing.”
Splash had actually read the Bill. He waved the copy around for emphasis. “Would you have voted for an expensive new system that monitors everything you do, and then, independently turn off the motor on your car while you are driving it?”
“Sounds like the insurance companies sponsored that one.” Rocket naturally was suspicious on anything that would impair his ability to control his vehicle.
Splash smiled. “We all agree drunk driving is bad, and it is already illegal. But this new law also has one of those “and other purposes” phrases in it. The law says that the system monitoring everything in the car must have the capability for other people to shut down the vehicle. People who aren’t actually in the car.”
“There could be some positive results from that. Eliminate drunks. Stolen cars- carjacking prevention. It is a good thing.”
“Late payments, people fleeing spousal abuse, tax deficiencies. All sorts of things. Plus the idea that the State would be effectively sitting in the car with you. Can you imagine driving the Beltway with an unknown number of other commuters having their cars shut down? Would they just swerve across four lanes to the break-down lane?”
“We all used to drive the Beltway every day. How would that be any different? Plus, the new law just directs the Secretary to issue the guidance and he will get on it just as soon as he finishes the supply chain thing.”
“And the 5-G interference problem that makes helicopters fall out of the sky.”
“They have only known about that for five years. It is the same thing with the RIDE Bill.”
Melissa frowned and stretched. “You would think this would be worth some discussion. For all the good parts, I wouldn’t buy it as an option. I want some privacy when driving, and not another thing to worry about. In fact, it sort of looks like things are stood on their heads. We used to talk about this stuff before it became law, not after.”
Our Attorney just smiled. “There are 2,700 pages in the new law. The RIDE Bill is just four of them. That is where the fun starts with numbers.”
There were smiles around the stove in the bunkroom. This would actually have caused more commotion if we had to have the discussion outside, where it is cold.
Copyright 2022 Vic Socotra
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