Risk Mismanagement Railroaded

As sentient beings, we face risks 24-7, from cradle to grave. Regardless of our current mental state, awake to sleep, risks are an inherent part of life.

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You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1984

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Risk: noun | possibility of loss or injury | peril | someone or something that creates or suggests a hazard ¹

Railroaded: verb | to force something to happen or force someone to do something, especially quickly or unfairly ²

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Foreword

As sentient beings, we face risks 24-7, from the cradle to the grave. Regardless of our current mental state, awake to sleep, risks are an inherent part of life. The dangers of injury and even death occur mainly passively, such as sleeping. Here, we live with the risk of injury from fire, storm damage, and even intruder incursion. We face an even higher risk factor in an active state due to interaction with other people and mechanical devices such as tools and vehicles. Walking about is a hazard, even in a docile, awake state. Instinctively, each person knows how to mitigate risk exposure, such as stopping and looking before crossing a street.

A sterile environment without risk would be the functional equivalent of non-existence. Therefore, we willingly accept risks by invoking mitigation measures. Factors like common sense, as well as engineered contrivances such as seat belts, mitigate hazards. However, within our “new normal” existence, fueled by the COVID-1984 plandemic, risk management has gone “off the rails.”³ The following short essays illustrate how “COVID-1984 mass psychosis” and associated strange thought processes have torpedoed risk management.

Canceled Clubhouse

Your author lives in a “55 and over retirement community.” The clubhouse, a nice feature of this community, lets residents enjoy various social events throughout the year. However, our community leaders (board of directors) shuttered this amenity under COVID-1984 safety and “litigation fears.” 

More recently, it is puzzling why the board proposed a procedure requiring signing a form/waiver to open the clubhouse and partake in any event. This wholly unnecessary and insulting procedure is a symptom of COVID-1984 mass psychosis. Even before COVID-1984, we had a risk of contracting many other disorders, but like driving an auto, we move on with our lives, knowing the risks while taking precautions. Likewise, from a practical standpoint, we all know that as mature individuals, we should take the necessary precautions, such as staying home when sick to be away from each other.

It is annoying to find out that the community board has decided to implement a “COVID policy” with minimal input from homeowners. Concerning signing a waiver, your author does not do such a thing when letting people into his home. Furthermore, of the many venues we take part in throughout the same metropolitan area on a professional and casual basis, we have yet to see such a waiver procedure.  

Your author spoke up in opposition to this foolish and tyrannical decree. Specifically, for the clubhouse and the community at large, let us drop the litigious talk and say no to the “new normal.” Your author pointed out that allowing the residents to follow the published guidelines would be a breath of fresh air and more humane. Also, funds drawn from residents’ monthly dues to engage a lawyer would waste money. The inquiry feedback was a snarky “clubhouse closed indefinitely.” Right out of the playbook from the Caustic Cancel Culture Pogrom.

Meanwhile, retirement community residents have scheduled a routine “happy hour” at a restaurant attached to a local country club. Therefore, the SARS-Cov2 virus must have the intelligence to infest the clubhouse and stay clear of the restaurant two miles from the community.

As a takeaway, if you are not already a real estate owner within a community with a Home Owner’s Association, avoid it like the bubonic plague.

Let that intelligent virus sink in. Risk mismanagement railroaded.

Touched by a Train

Those who work in the construction or industrial environment are familiar with “lockout-tagout” procedures. This process mitigates the dangers of moving equipment or electrical current. The “Roadway Worker Protection” (RWP) regulation in the railroad transportation industry is analogous to lockout-tagout.⁴ Railroads must have rules and procedures that mirror the RWP regulation to prevent trains from striking roadway workers while maintaining the track and associated structures. The two RWP regimes include 1) keeping trains away from workers (working limits) and 2) providing workers with a warning of the train’s approach (Train Approach Warning).

In 1997, RWP procedures became a Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) regulation. Before that time, railroads used various internal rules to safeguard roadway workers. Statistically, the RWP regulation has helped to reduce incidents.

Like airline incidents, the government investigates major railroad crashes. The DOT’s airline oversight agency, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), investigates airplane accidents. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) gets a bite of the apple for railroads. As an independent body, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates major accidents of all modes. Therefore, it is common for major accidents to have two or more transportation government bodies investigating the same incident.⁵ Because of the NTSB’s robust media section, consumers will get the impression that they are the sole investigators.⁶ Of note, the NTSB has no regulatory authority and can only recommend that transportation mode-specific agencies issue new regulations.

The NTSB has decreed that “train approach warning” (TAW) is a grossly deficient RWP procedure by its investigations and analysis. In a news release on September 30, 2021, titled NTSB Urges Railroads to Better Protect Rail Roadway Workers, the board states:

The National Transportation Safety Board Thursday again called on the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak to put an immediate end to the use of “train approach warning” as the sole method of on-track safety in areas covered by positive train control. TAW is an older method of using designated watchmen to look out for approaching trains in a work zone. By using TAW instead of available protections provided by advanced positive train control systems, Amtrak circumvented important PTC safety features that could help prevent rail worker deaths.⁷

So far, so good. Now for the juicy part.

In addition to the above news release, a few days earlier, on September 23, 2021, the NTSB’s online information platform Behind the Scenes Episode 43: Improve Worker Safety details the need to mitigate roadway worker incidents further. An investigator discusses a strange mitigation device in the embedded podcast at 44:37. He makes the pitch, “... I envision a time when they put a small GPS the size of a grain of rice under the skin of workers ...” This investigator’s proposal would provide workers with an automatic in-skin warning of approaching trains (virtual touch by a train).

Let that hunk of rice sink in. Risk mismanagement railroaded.

Putrid Plastic and Mask Madness

As a “handyman” (uh oh, for using the word man - hate speech) and workshop enthusiast, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) forms an effective measure. It mitigates injury from tools, equipment, and associated air particulates. Safety glasses stop projected items from striking or impaling the eyes. Simple face masks prevent large particulates from entering the lungs. Throughout your author’s 45-plus year-long professional career, PPE included safety boots, reflective vests, noise mitigation, and hard hats. 

As the COVID-1984 plandemic hit, many things implemented to “stop the spread” did not make sense. Based on nearly half a century of industrial safety experience, it was evident at the beginning of the pandemic that measures such as face masks or plastic shields provided minuscule antiviral mitigation. Meanwhile, we have a media engaged in a love affair with collectivist leaders pitching masks. Never mind, the media luminaries to this day tell you to wear a mask while they broadcast bare-faced. And it is quixotic to think these mad media machine munchkins are in an air-purified environment.

Nevertheless, such measures mitigate larger particles, such as saliva. Before the pandemic, masks would have been good only for restaurant workers when delivering or preparing food. The same would have been true for customers at a salad bar.

To supply some level of viral protection, properly fitted N95 masks are in order but not encouraged.⁸ Why? Nevertheless, wearing flimsy things like a plastic face shield, bandana, or neck gaiter is acceptable to “stop the spread.” Really?! Speaking of plastic shields, a New Your Times (!) article titled Why Anti-Covid Plastic Barriers May Make Things Worse sheds some light on the topic. The following paragraph from the September 20, 2021, issue of the New American magazine succinctly summarizes the Times article:

The concept of germ-proof barriers, however, runs smack into the laws of physics. Unless people are completely enclosed in such barriers, air can still get around them; and eventually it, and the particles it carries, will. Furthermore, by changing the airflow pattern in a space, the barriers may redirect the particles to other people and even concentrate those particles in their space, making them more likely to contract COVID-19 than they otherwise would be.

So, the plexiglass manufacturers and suppliers made a bundle during the pandemic, not to mention the environmental impact of making this product and future disposal issues.

Let that plastic pollution sink in. Risk mismanagement railroaded.

Analysis

In our modern society, up to the beginning of the plandemic, we never demanded, in a cult-like manner, that people cease activity to save others from the possibility of ill health. We usually invoke common sense and human relationships to allow acceptable moment-to-moment risks. Like in a time of war, some will make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of society to move forward. Even outside a war environment, we need to accept some risk to prosper; otherwise, we stagnate in poverty—obsession with safety breeds mental illness.

The government-imposed mandates to counter COVID-1984 are the antithesis of standard rules or law-making processes. Of course, extraordinary measures are necessary in exceptional times—when truly needed. Our leaders (cough, cough) and politicians panicked. Despite their trickery, they did not follow the science or sometimes committed linguistic gymnastics to make fiat science work to impose their will. 

For those who virtue signaled to “stay home,” please consider the above words. Additionally, sometimes good intentions have harmful consequences, such as when “Cuomo says it’s ‘shocking’ most new coronavirus hospitalizations are people who had been staying home.” For the NTSB to suggest a GPS implant in a worker’s skin, many negatives remain even if one gets past such a disgusting thought and makes it a good one. Warning: colorful language, but as the late George Carlin said:

The most tragic and frightening aspect of the virtual tyranny we now live under in the USA is that most people (the sheeple) go along with losing the freedom to obtain “safety.” That is a tragic mistake and blunder that is quite frankly unforgivable. We are so docile that the few cogent-minded people who rightfully and legally express their right to grieve the COVID-1984 tyranny and the WOKE yoke in public schools are tagged as domestic terrorists. As your author wrote many times, street-level collectivists in the name of social justice (communism) can Burn, Loot, and Murder under the WOKE banner. These collectivist debased folk are cheered on by the evil elitists engaged in a war to destroy our beloved nation to usher in the Nasty New World Order (aka Great Reset). These puppet masters (reincarnated modern Illuminati) can go pound sand. Warning again: colorful language, but as the late George Carlin said:

Remember, even if restrictions disappear, the sheep-like public attitude can place freedom on shaky ground. That will undoubtedly result in a lot worse occurring at a moment’s notice. Today, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have a total virtual lockdown, with rumors of quarantine facilities (read camps) in the construction phase. If true (sure seems so), shame on the workers who are doing the construction. Shame on the police who go along with this mind-numbing madness and enslave the people under the inane mantra of “zero COVID.” Some risk “management,” eh?! These same tyrannical collectivist puppets must stop driving their autos to get to “zero car accidents.” Stay home, and do not drive your auto, so your fellow citizens do not have to put up with your crummy attitude, lousy driving habits, loud music, noisy mufflers, and dangerous vehicles.

The principal difference between the nations mentioned above and the USA is that many households have “extra friends.”

In closing, the evil, vile vomit-projecting collectivist cauldron consisting of the mainstream media (Fox included with some exceptions), governments (local, state, and national), the medical industry, pharmaceutical mob machine, military leaders (!) and non-government organizations all tag conservatives for being the “flat earthers.” ⁹ This cauldron broadcasts the trickery that the conservative Flat Earthers are solely responsible for the never-ending COVID-1984 problem. They say these conservative Flat Earthers are anti-vaccine, anti-mask, and pro-super spreaders—an outright lie. Your author personally knows liberals and conservatives who may be Flat Earth folk under the cauldron’s trickery. ¹⁰

The curtain hiding the cauldron has a small opening, and we see the mad machine eating some of its own these days. Go pound sand evil power-hungry collectivist Reincarnated Illuminati. You know who you are.

Patton said, “Rommel, You Magnificent Bastard. I Read Your Book!” Fred says, “Reincarnated Illuminati, You Magnificent Bustards. I Read Your Book!” ¹¹

Cogent author and publisher, Frederick R. Smith

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/risk

2. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/railroaded

3. Sympathy goes out to those who lost loved ones. Just as tragic are those lost because of the lockdowns and not included in the hyperbole. “Plandemic” refers to the debased elite (Reincarnated Illuminati) and their debased WOKE puppets. Both enjoy the power trip to use Corona-doom (created mainly through manipulation or data suppression) to control the world’s population.

4. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-II/part-214/subpart-C?toc=1

5. Additional government bodies, such as the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the United States Coast Guard, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, get involved during select railroad accident investigations. Of course, the FBI gets involved if vandalism is suspected as general system railroads are engaged in interstate commerce.

6. The media has an infatuation with the Leviathan government, and the NTSB has a big brother-like persona

7. Positive Train Control as described by the Federal Railroad Administration: “Positive Train Control (PTC) systems are designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones, and movements of trains through switches left in the wrong position. On December 29, 2020, FRA announced that PTC technology is in operation on all 57,536 required freight and passenger railroad route miles before the December 31, 2020, statutory deadline set forth by Congress. Furthermore, as of that date, railroads had reported that interoperability had been achieved between each applicable host and tenant railroad that currently operates on PTC-governed main lines. In addition, as required, FRA certified that each host railroad’s PTC system complies with the technical requirements for PTC systems. This accomplishment was the culmination of over a decade of sustained and direct engagement and collaboration among FRA and the 41 railroads currently subject to the statutory mandate, including seven Class I railroads, Amtrak, 28 commuter railroads, five other freight railroads that host regularly scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger service, as well as key railroad industry associations, material suppliers, and service providers.” Author’s note: PTC is better than not having it, but it won’t prevent everything, like certain types of rail failures and switch points that break or chip under a train, low-speed rear-end collisions, switches that are thrown directly in front of a train, washouts, landslides, fallen trees, vandalism, and cutting out the system, to name a few. Also, the FRA only requires 59,000 miles out of about 135,000 to be equipped.

8. Approved N95 Respirators 3M Suppliers List | NPPTL | NIOSH | CDC

9. The UN-American United Nations deserves special mention. Of course, there are exceptions within all such organizations (God-fearing people who are spitting into the wind against the debased collectivist hurricane)

10. We hear about the “conservatives vs. liberal” trickery, but there is much more. The debased collectivist side includes but is not limited to Maoists, Marxists, Neo-Cons, Neo-Marxists, Communists, ANTIFA, post-modernists, and BLM. The cogent has traditional (or classical) liberals, (true) conservatives, paleoconservatives, constructive constitutionalists, classicalists, traditionalists, and distributionists (not to be confused with collectivists). Some people, such as your author, cherry-pick the good parts from several of these groups. For the record, Fred Smith is a “mutt.” Specifically, a mixture of DNA from each of the above cogent types.

11. Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time by Carroll Quigley, 1,348 pages, The Mcmillan Company, 1966 (reprint GSG & Associates). To wit, on pages 949 and 950: “This radical Right fairy tale, which is now an accepted folk myth in many groups in America, pictured the recent history of the United States, in regard to domestic reform and in foreign affairs, as a well-organized plot by extreme Left-wing elements ... This myth, like all fables, does in fact have a modicum of truth. There does exist, and has existed for a generation, an international Anglophile network which operates, to some extent, in the way the Radical right believes the Communists act. In fact, this network, which we may identify as the Round Table Groups, has no aversion to cooperating with the Communists, or any other group, and frequently does so. I know of the operation of this network because I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years, in the early 1960s, to examine its papers and secret records. I have no aversion to it or to most of its aims and have, for much of my life, been close to it and to many of its instruments. I have objected, both in the past and recently, to a few of its policies... but in general my chief difference of opinion is that it wishes to remain unknown, and I believe its role in history is significant enough to be known.”