FERGUSON – MUST WATCH
If like me you wonder how the Ferguson grand jurors failed to see a reason to take the case to trial — even on a charge as relatively minor as involuntary manslaughter — watch Lawrence O’Donnell’s compelling report. This is not to say a full trial would have produced a conviction. But not to have a trial at all?
And while we’re at it, read this compelling Wall Street Journal account of a six-foot-three, 230-pound, 17-year-old black boy being mistaken for a 40ish, five-foot-six black man. (Because he wasn’t killed in the encounter, as he might have been, he grew up to be a Wall Street Journal reporter.)
The police have a tough job and no large organization can be perfect. But systemic changes in policing and drug policy and the criminal justice system are long past due. If this topic interests you, watch these videos from the recent American Justice Summit. I can rarely sit still listening to any live lecture or panel for more than a few minutes. I sat in the audience of that Summit, fully engaged, for five straight hours with one 15-minute break.
WHEELTUG IN MIAMI
Another inch forward? IATA — the International Air Transport Association whose acronym first penetrated my brainpan 50 years ago when I worked on Let’s Go, The Student Guide To Europe — is having a two-day conference in February whose “objective is to thoroughly present different aircraft taxiing systems and help aircraft operators and airports/ground handlers select the best taxiing system(s) they can utilize in their operations.” Here is the agenda.
My take-away? E-taxi is coming. My expectation? WheelTug will generate more enthusiasm at the conference than anyone else. Why do I think so? (And what’s with all the questions?) For starters: they’ve signed up 20 airlines with 976 reserved slots, versus none by the competition. Which is surely saying something when you consider how very small WheelTug and its grandparent, Borealis, are; and how very big its competitors, Honeywell and Safran are.
