Monday Meanderings

 Elevation Church has left the Southern Baptist Convention due to the Southern Baptist belief that women should not be "teaching pastors". Unwilling to accept this rule, Elevation Church is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention. Contrast this with the United Methodist Church where those who seek to follow the rules in the Methodist Discipline are being forced to leave so that the rules can be changed. 

It's another holiday weekend where the longest lines are not at the grocery store or the liquor store but at the airport. Pete Buttgig is too busy attacking Ron DeSantis to do any part of his job at the Department of Transportation. When asked about the airport delays, Buttgig blamed it all on the weather. Based on Buttgig's observations, one would be led to believe that this is the first summer where there have been thunderstorms. They are also blaming the smoke from the fires in Canada. Anything that will absolve the government of responsibility for the problems.

At some point in the future, Buttgig or whoever takes his place is going to have to get the people who run airlines together with the folks who operate airports. They need to figure out how many flights and how many people can be moved through every airport. Then they can schedule airlines accordingly. In the age of computers, this really should not be that difficult. 

My wife and granddaughter flew to Orlando a couple of weeks ago. They flew out of Raleigh-Durham airport because they could get a nonstop flight. When we arrived at the airport at 5:00 AM, it was already a madhouse. My wife was flying on Delta. They used to have skycaps who would take your bags and get them checked in. I would rather tip the skycap $10 than wait in a line thirty minutes. They don't have skycaps there anymore. Look at all of the money they are saving. We spent billions of dollars to bail out the airlines during the government-caused pandemic so that they could transfer the work from their employees to their paying customers. WOW! What a deal!

Last year, my wife and I had dinner at a restaurant where reservations were required. The wait was a little long and I expressed my concerns to a manager. He told me that they were having trouble getting enough help. I pointed out what I thought was the most obvious solution. "Stop taking so many reservations." The same advice will work for airlines. Stop scheduling more flights than you have pilots to fly!! If the government screeners have long lines, hire more screeners! How hard can it be to find people willing to piss off long lines of travelers by spending ten minutes trying to find fliers with a pair of nail clippers? Delta, get some skycaps out to the curb!! This is a supply and demand issue. In an age where everything is on computers, this situation should not even exist.

The NASCAR races in Chicago were delayed by record rainfall. Apparently, God decided that Chicago could use a bath. Either that or it was a move to hold down the criminal element as those guys can't stand to get wet. The Cup race was won by a guy from New Zealand. The weekend body count for the city has not been posted yet.

Lindsey Graham was booed at a Trump rally in South Carolina the other day. Have the scales fallen from some eyes down there?  Or have they realized there is no future for us in the Ukraine?

Mike Pence went to the Ukraine a few days ago. I guess that it was closer than Taiwan. Don't bother asking for a campaign contribution from me, Mike!