Requiring Maturity For Big Rig Operators

A couple of summers ago, I had a dangerous run-in with a truck driver who should not have been behind the wheel of a big rig.

It happened when I was driving back to New York on Interstate 91, not far south of White River Junction, Vermont. I was in the passing lane, going past several cars that were traveling near the 65 miles per hour speed limit. I was probably doing between 70 and 75 mph myself, when the grill of an 18-wheeler took up my entire review mirror. The truck was about a foot off my rear bumper, where it stayed for several minutes as I passed the other vehicles.

I pulled into the right lane to let him go by once I was able, at which point the driver sent me a clear message by coming back into my lane when there was still about 20 feet of trailer yet to pass me. My choices were to pull onto the shoulder or let him knock me off the road. Luckily, I saw what was happening in time and safely moved over. I then exchanged looks with my wife, who, like me, could conceivably have been killed if I hadn't been paying enough attention.

We decided not to let the matter drop. I followed the truck driver - closely, but not too close - while calling out identifying characteristics to my wife, who contacted the state highway authorities. Over the course of the next 50 miles or so, the driver did his or her best to lose me. First the truck sped up to close to 85 mph, during which time I dropped back but kept it in sight. Then it slowed to about 30 to try to induce me to go past. I didn't.

My reward came around the time we went through Brattleboro. There, as we emerged from a construction zone (at which point the driver was behaving virtuously), a Vermont patrol vehicle was waiting in the median. As soon as the obnoxious semitrailer driver went past, the patrol car pulled out, turned on its flashers and pulled the 18-wheeler over for a roadside inspection.

I don't know what happened after that. I assume the driver received no sort of citation for his treatment of me, since the officer would not have seen the incident firsthand. But if the driver's logbook and other credentials were not in perfect order, I expect he or she did not have a very good afternoon.

An underage driver? I have no reason to think so. But one acting without the maturity and judgment necessary to be entrusted with a 40-ton machine? Absolutely.

Maturity doesn't always come with time, but it always takes time. Proponents of a congressional proposal to allow teenage truck drivers to operate across state lines within certain limits put a lot of people in peril when they lose sight of this.

The proposal in question is part of general highway legislation currently before the Senate, introduced by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. If adopted, the legislation would amend a federal law that currently prohibits drivers under 21 from operating large trucks between states, even if state laws permit the teens to drive them. According to Bloomberg, 48 states currently allow younger drivers (between 18 and 21) to hold commercial licenses for intrastate commerce. (1) And as older drivers retire, industry researchers warn of a worsening driver shortage, which allowing younger drivers to operate across state lines might help address.

The new system would introduce a graduated licensing program for commercial drivers. The American Trucking Associations has thrown its support behind this idea. "Graduated licensing is proven and effective for reducing the risk of young drivers of passenger vehicles -millions of drivers have gotten their licenses this way - and it has been a top policy priority for many organizations, including some that are attacking Senator Fischer's proposal now," ATA's executive vice president, Dave Osiecki, said in a statement. (2)

Those attacks mainly focus on safety concerns. Jackie Gillan, the president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, has argued that statistics indicate young truck drivers are four to six times more likely than drivers over 21 to be involved in fatal crashes. Gillan argued that, instead of introducing graduated licensing, the Senate should consider cracking down on laws permitting drivers between 18 and 21 to operate large trucks within a state. (1)

We need good truck drivers, and a lot of teens need good jobs. Of this, I have no doubt. Allowing teenagers to drive trucks, however, does put a lot of people at risk, starting with the teenagers themselves. Anybody who lives in the Rocky Mountain West can tell you how easy it is for a semitrailer to jackknife across an interstate during a blizzard. And anybody who has seen it can tell you just how frightening it is.

Whether this proposal is the right path will depend on exactly what the proposed graduated licenses look like. Many states allow for graduated licensing for teens getting their first standard driver's license, moving from a permit (where the driver must be supervised at all times) to a provisional license, where a driver can operate alone only in certain conditions, such as during daylight hours or when driving directly to and from a job. The exact provisions vary between states, but they provide a useful guide for considering how a graduated commercial licensing program might work.

Let 18-year-olds drive big trucks, but let them do so only under the immediate personal supervision of a second, experienced driver. Maybe require that older drivers have a certification, or an endorsement of their safety record, to demonstrate the maturity necessary to supervise a younger operator this way. At first, maybe only allow such driving at certain hours of the day, or forbid it in weather conditions that would require the truck's lights or wipers.

Can a properly trained 18-year-old safely operate an 18-wheeler in broad daylight on a wide-open freeway in South Dakota? Sure. There is a lot to be said for providing that experience and bolstering the national truck fleet in the bargain.

But we don't need more immature truck drivers on our highways. It only takes one fit of pique or one lapse in attention to put lives at risk.

The Free Public Library!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The public library is free, and believe it or not, it's not even guarded! That's right ladies and gentlemen of all ages and all shapes and sizes! You can just walk right into that incredibly valuable building and just take whatever priceless knowledge you want without even paying for it! Yup! You can just take it! You don't even have to wait for the drawbridge to drop to storm this castle! Just rush inside like a knight in shining armor and take whatever books and whatever knowledge that you want!

It's so amazing that I'm going to have to say it again! The public library is free, and it will give you an incredibly valuable education, as well as anything else your little heart may desire. You can actually walk in there and spend as much time as you want, and then walk out as a higher quality person. Can you believe that?

I feel so lucky to have known about our free public library system for the last twenty-five-years. And during that time I have never stopped sipping from the fountain of knowledge and potential power that has been made so easily available to all of us. And come to think of it now, I can't see myself ever stopping the winning habit of sucking up everything I can from this country's library system.

Hmm... Imagine another twenty-five-years of this country's public library system feeding my brain and quenching my thirst for knowledge and potential power. Wow! Now I'm imagining fifty more years of feeding my brain and quenching my thirst... It's mind-boggling, wouldn't you agree? Nothing is impossible with sustained effort over time in a library.

How could any one of us not take advantage of how easy the public library system has made it to be a lifelong learner? Just look at all that information floating in the middle of all of those neatly stacked aisles of books!

Now teens and even tweens, go learn, lead, and lay the way to a better world for all of us. Remember, the public library is free and it will give you an incredibly valuable education. But this will only happen if you stop sitting on your hands and get up and get your feet moving toward your public library; and don't forget your library card! And once again, thanks for all that you do, and all that you will do...

Award-Winning Author, Speaker, Educator, and Life Coach Daniel Blanchard wants you to start spending more time in the free public library. It's guaranteed to make you a better person.

Life Is Interesting

Life is full of adventures, interesting encounters, and opportunities. Most of these, I find, include the study of people and their actions and reactions. Some are funny, some exhilarating, and some puzzling or sad, but they all lead to the fullness of my life and extend my understanding. Three years ago I was selected as a member of the State Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias. A heady title, it is a volunteer position that included creating a state planning and then actively working with our legislature to help enact laws to educate and train citizens, health professionals, law enforcement, and any other interested individuals about this horrendous disease and to safeguard those who have it and their caregivers.

Because legislative action is slow and the fact that my legislature meets every other year I decided to initiate my own awareness campaign to educate individuals throughout the expansive rural section of my state. I designed and purchased posters and brochures plus created a letter of introduction and explanation and then outlined my first route. When a member of the state Aging and Disabilities Services learned of my plan, she found funding for the materials and to cover mileage, a blessing that allows me to do more and with more authority. And so I set out on my first 600-mile education and information circuit. The first stop, 74 miles west of home was the public library. The librarian greeted me with an effusive welcome and expressed the desire for a live presentation on Alzheimer's disease. What a terrific, encouraging beginning. In the same town the senior center asked for more brochures and to please come share my information at Frontier Days in August. The long-term care facility and sheriff's department were excited as well and so I smiled, felt my heart lift, and drove on.

60 miles later I visited my second town and while the greeting was not as thrilling, law enforcement especially was interested in training to better understand and work with individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. And so I sped on visiting every town in the loop trying to always stop and visit with law enforcement, long-term care facilities, senior centers, and libraries. Because my state has been hesitant to require training and education for police, highway patrol, fire fighters, and other first responders, I was jazzed at the fact that every community's law enforcement agencies appeared eager to read the posters and study the brochure and intent on learning more.

Back to the interesting part, let me tell you about a post office I visited in a tiny town. I placed my materials on the community bulletin board and then took my explanation hand-out into the postal matron. She nodded, sighed, and announced, "No one here is interested in this."

Surprised I tossed out a couple of statistics and the importance of education and she repeated her negative reply. I tried a third shot, only to be shot down again. I pointed out my name and phone number and my email address on my flyer as I sort of pleaded with her, "If you do have someone ask about this, please have them contact me." With her, "I doubt it," good-by, I jumped in my pickup and headed 90 miles up the road to the last stop on this swing as I wondered at the disinterested voice of one person, the self-decreed spokesperson of the town.

Since a library had been my first inspiring stop, I made it my last in this community, the last on Loop #1. The room was entirely empty and I had to search for the librarian who was hidden in the stacks. I offered my spiel as she gazed at me thoughtful while keeping her distance at the same time.

"And what would I have to do?" I explained to her that it required nothing other than setting a date and time with me, then placing an announcement in her bulletin. She wrinkled her brow with consternation, scratched her head, pondered some more and then asked again what she would have to do. I reiterated and must have appeared forlorn enough that she finally gave in, handed me her card with library hours and a phone number for future contact. I guess that was a rousing cheer of encouragement.

This driving and driven moment of life I am finding, is full of adventures, interesting encounters, and opportunities. This is my chance to spread the word about Alzheimer's disease, increase understanding through education, and encourage citizens to contact Congress about increasing the research for a cure budget. I am seeing new sites and meeting new friends. I am studying and learning. My goal, my dream, is that every single person in my enormous region will know more about Alzheimer's with facts and figures and also know resources and help available to those with the disease and their caregivers and family. If we talk enough, know enough, and raise a ruckus, this disease will be brought to the forefront of everyone's conscience and we will demand and receive a cure now!

Current Comment: Search for a New Labour Leader

It seems strange to many people that in a search for a new leader for the UK's labour party the leading candidate is being criticised for proposing to offer a real alternative to the ruling conservative party of David Cameron. In recent decades the belief has arisen that to have a realistic chance of being elected to government a political party must occupy the middle ground. This has led the two main parties to squeeze together into an ever narrower band of policies and the people have been denied a meaningful choice.

The election of May 2015 saw the rise of two parties that did seem to offer some new policies; on the right, the UK Independence Party proposed to curb immigration into the UK, and on the left, the Scottish National Party advocated less austerity and more help for the poor and needy. The first is showing the conservatives that there is room to move further to the right, and the second is showing labour that there is room to move to the left, which, after all, is what the leading candidate, Jeremy Corbyn is proposing.

Although Mr Corbyn is being demonised by his opponents for advocating outdated policies that would return labour to the political wilderness, his pronouncements have been both tentative and moderate. The main concern is his promise to look into the possibility to re-introduce clause four of the party's original manifesto, which concerns the nationalisation of key industries. At a time when the privatised energy companies and national railway system are in crisis, calls for renationalisation are being heard from many quarters and such a policy could win many votes. At least the policy would open some space between the parties and provide the voter with a clear choice between privatised exploitation and nationalised inefficiency. If that does not seem much of a choice, at least the latter provides many more jobs for working people rather than huge profits for a few, and isn't that a socialist objective?

It is strange in a democracy in which poor people greatly outnumber the wealthy that policies that favour the poor are so hard to sell. The answer must lie in the power of big business to influence policy and threaten economic disruption. The myth that the poor can only get richer through continual economic growth should be challenged by left-wing politicians. Economic growth has not been found to 'lift all the boats' as was promised in the 1960s, neither have the benefits trickled down, as some still maintain. The left now has an opportunity to advocate redistribution of wealth in new terms that all can understand.

John Powell

To learn more about life in general and the intriguing story of the grassroots industrial revolution in the turbulent Ghana of the second half of the twentieth century, read John Powell's novels The Colonial Gentleman's Son and Return to the Garden City or his non-fictional account The Survival of the Fitter. More details of these books and photographs of the informal sector artisans of Suame Magazine in Kumasi will be found on the following websites.

The Hidden Truth on How Israel Became a Nation

How was Israel really created is a question many have asked for the past few decades. It's stated that Israel was created on May 14th 1948, but the process would begin much earlier than that. Um el Aleq was a small vast village which was originally founded and created by el-Khouri a christian Arabic family. The land would then be purchased by Baron Edmond James de Rothschild in 1912-1913. During 1912 and 1913 Rothschild would create The Jewish Colonization Association which would manage the land for Rothschild as well as colonize it. The area was bought to create a Jewish Settlement from the Zichron Yaakov area to the property bought for the colony in Binyamina.

Later in 1914 the Ottoman buildings would be settled by Jewish farmers whom were sons from Zichron Yaakov, who gave their selves the name Gidonites. The sons would rename the land Givat Binyamina to honor Baron de Rothschild. They would lead the underground movement (NILI) which stood for "The eternity (God) of Israel will not Lie." The group was an Jewish espionage group which helped the United Kingdom fight the Ottoman Empire in Palestine during World War I.

In 1919 Rothschild would come back to the area and for the next three years Binyamina founders would be trained there. The settlers were fighters in the Hebrew Brigade whom would help drain swamps and help create farms throughout the area turning it into an agricultural master piece, despite the farm being abandoned in 1925.

In 1939 during the Stockade settlement operations, a band of Beitar members would create a new settlement by the name of Tel Tzur on the hill between Shuni and Ramat Hanadiv. (The Betar Movement was a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir Jabotinsky. Their Chapters started and grew across Europe, even during World War II.) The area they founded was quite isolated and would become an strategic site for military training as well as weapon practice. The military activities would come to a stop on August 16th, 1945 when the British army raided the Shuni and arrested members of the Irgun (A right-wing Conservative' Zionist organization founded in 1931. During the period when it was active (1937-48) they would carry out violent attacks on Arabs and Britons in its campaign to establish a Jewish state; it was disbanded after the creation of Israel in 1948.)

Shuni would be used as an operational base for many big military campaigns which included assaults on enemy ammunition stores and attacks on British Police stations. They would become most famous for the Acco Prison break on May 4th, 1947 where Israeli freedom fighters would be broken out of jail by their allies. The land is still under Israel control and is still a hotbed for enemy attacks by Arabic nations.