For my US readers this is a day off from work for most of you, to be spent out of doors cooking and celebrating with friends and relatives. For me and mine it is a time to remember those who were brothers in arms, who are no longer with us. I know some of you may find this hard to believe, but I served my country during the Cold War when some idiot with a button to push could destroy all life on the face of the Earth. Part of my job was to keep the idiots separate from the buttons. I know that makes it sound glamorous and exciting, but it wasn’t really. I repaired communication equipment, so that the idiots would know this was not the time to be pushing the button. My first “up” I was pretending to be a college student on vacation as my cover, and whoever my higher up was would give me the location of a bit of local infrastructure to blow up and a package of spent Soviet ammo brass and a few packs of Soviet cigarettes to burn down (I could have smoked them had I wanted, but I quit smoking at the age of 3) to leave the butts around with the brass to make it look like Communist Rebels were Infesting the Countryside. I don’t know how many were employed in this, but I do know I wasn’t the first and probably wasn’t the last. My Dad was USN and (coincidentally) also worked in communications sending secure coded messages to people out in the field, and aboard ships. He also served during the Cold War and was stationed outside Vietnam for a tour. My Grandfather did something that got him shot at during WWII but he never talked about it much. My father-in-law was a Marine during WWII and saw some action in the Pacific, but I never found out where.
Up first because something had to be is a SWCC report from SC. Bike rider killed crossing Beaufort highway Aside from the fact that (again) the only witness to this wreck was the driver that was involved, I really can’t say anything about this wreck because of the lack of information given in the report.
Another SWCC wreck in PA. Vandergrift cyclist fatally injured in crash Again, not being able to see the bike or hear from any witnesses that didn’t kill the cyclist, I can’t say anything about the actual wreck. I will say that having 2 SWCC wrecks in a single Feed is unusual, as usually we only get the one SWSS or SWCC wreck at a time. I blame the holiday weekend in the US.
A report I got from several sources in the Feed, but this is the original report. Philly hoping for no repeat of car-bike wars Bicycles kill two pedestrians in a decade, and they get all kerflemt. Cars kill more pedestrians than that in a month, and they yawn and say “That’s the way things are.”
From Jolly Olde comes a story with very little doubt as to who was to blame for the wreck. Huyton crash: Cyclist killed in collision with taxi I love it when LEO gets it right, why can’t that happen in the US?
This report has even less information than usual for a UK story. Cyclist killed in A47 collision The story was so non-committal that I wasn’t even sure the cyclist that died was from the same wreck that closed the road.
From Oz LEO think they found the car that was used in a hit-and-run on a cyclist that had already been hit once. Injured cyclist dies after hit by second car To hit someone when they are being attended to by someone, and there is a car stopped at the scene… Well that’s either deliberate or the person driving the second car was on auto-pilot, or possibly drunk. More from another local paper Adelaide’s cycling groups alarmed over rising bike fatalities There was a much more complete report of the initial wreck in the second report.
From Enn Zed the final story on a German tourist killed while riding> Cyclist’s death costs truckie his licence and $5000 They couldn’t prove it was on purpose or that the driver was impaired, so all he got is a year without his license and a small fine for killing a human being.
Still in Enn Zed comes a report about a driver that left the scene while LEO were investigating why he hit a cyclist. Spouse of dead cyclist relieved I’m not sure if this counts as hit-and-run, or just DWS (driving while stupid).
And that’s all I have for you today. Remember your veterans whether they are alive or passed on, and enjoy your holiday.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
