Conspiracy Watch 

Was the Bridge Collapse Sabotage? 

After a cargo ship took down the Francis Scott Key bridge in Twin Tower fashion last week, I was not entirely surprised to learn that some people wondered if it was a planned event. I even read a few pieces that got me wondering. But then, thanks to GM, I read this take on what happened that was written by a certified master helmsman with lots of port transit time. I found it convincing:

“The ship in question is the MV Dali. The Dali has a fixed pitch prop, meaning the ship cannot go in reverse. She has an electric bow thruster, but that only really works at slow speeds and requires electrical power.

“The videos show the ship losing power and engines as it approaches the bridge. When the power goes out on a ship like that, the hydraulics that control the rudder stop working.

“After losing power, the helmsman likely turned the wheel all the way over to starboard in a futile effort to steer as the ship was drifting out of alignment. The rudders did not respond due to the power-outage. Then suddenly the engine (or auxiliary generator) kicks back on, which is the cause of the black smoke you see. Once the engine kicks back on, the power to the hydraulics is restored and the rudder immediately swings hard to starboard because the wheel is already turned over to that position. It would have taken the helmsman a few seconds to realize what was happening as rudder authority suddenly returns.

“A second ill-timed power-outage seals the fate, leaving the rudders locked hard to starboard just a few seconds too long.

“You can see him try to swing the rudder back over to the port side once he realizes the rudders are working again, but by then it is too late. The rudders on those ships are slow to respond. It can take over 10 seconds for the rudders to swing all the way over from one side to the other.

“I’ve had power-outages like this happen on a warship at sea with far more redundancy than this cargo ship has. Things like this can happen. Even with backup generators running, managing the electrical load on a ship like this is complex. It would have taken the engineers some time to figure out how to address an outage. As you can see from the video, the outages did not last long. They just happened at the worst possible time.

“There is no conspiracy.

“I would need to see some proof of sabotage before I believed this was planned. Killing the power also means killing the ability to steer. If the ship can’t be steered, there’s no way to intentionally aim it at the pier.

“I also see lots of questions about anchors. Anchors need to be manned. They typically can’t just be dropped by the push of a button. Further, it’s unlikely that even if they did have the anchors manned and managed to drop them that it would have managed to stop the ship in time. I doubt the captain even thought about it. I’m sure he was more concerned about keeping the ship on course. This all happens in just seconds. It’s easy to Monday-morning-quarterback this.”

Health Watch 

I Was Way Ahead of My Peers…

When I was in my mid-forties and most of my friends and colleagues were wearing glasses, I wasn’t. I felt proud of that and mentioned it to my doctor.

“You are in a very small club,” he said. “More than 90% of people your age are already using glasses.”

“Does that mean I might never need them?” I asked.

“No,” he said smiling. “You’ll be wearing glasses in about 12 to 18 months.”

That shocked me. But this graphic on eyesight (and hearing) made it easier to understand.

Authentic Autism, or Aspirational Asperger’s?

From Steven Tucker, writing in Taki’s Magazine:

“Apparently, the current psychological condition du jour is autism, according to a new report from a pair of London clinicians… which warns that, since 1998, there has been a ninefold increase in autism diagnoses across the UK.

“Do many such new patients genuinely have autism, however, or have they just been groomed to think they have, thereby stealing away scarce medical resources from those genuine sufferers who actually need it?”

Read more here.

Trends in Wokeness 

The Trump Camp and the White House Clash Over… Now What?

In 2021, Joe Biden proclaimed March 31 “Transgender Day of Visibility.” Because the date unfortunately overlapped with Easter Sunday in 2024, he is facing criticism from Donald Trump’s campaign and religious conservatives for this “years-long assault on the Christian faith.” Click here.