Things That Piss Me Off Tuesday - the unfriendly skies, polluted water and egotistical wiener edition

I'll warn you people. I'm in a mood today, and it's not a good one. It's a good thing it's Tuesday.

Off we go.

The Unfriendly Skies
It generally takes a lot for me to say wow these days, but this story did just that. This one is going to piss you all off too, so you might want to sit down before you read it.

Baraka Kanaan is the head of a non-profit organization and used to be a college professor. He's also in a wheelchair due to injuries sustained in a car accident over a decade ago.  Last summer, he took a trip from Hawaii to Massachusetts, as many disabled people do every day in this country. He verified with the carrier ahead of time that there were accommodations for his wheelchair and that there wouldn't be any mobility problems.


When the plane landed in Massachusetts, though, the Delta Airlines employees told him that they had no way to get him off the plane. Under the Air Carrier Access Act, airlines are required to provide assistance with ramps, lifts or other devices, but Delta's employees claimed they had none of those items. This man was forced to crawl down the center aisle, down the stairs and across the tarmac to reach his chair.

On his return trip, the employees at the airport said that the equipment was still unavailable and that they had no way to get him back on the plane. Forced to crawl again, this time the employees offered to place cardboard underneath him so he wouldn't get as dirty.

He obviously complained, and all Delta offered him was a $100 trip voucher and points. He declined their offer, and filed a lawsuit in federal court instead.

Does this really surprise anyone?
Halliburton lied and destroyed evidence about the oil spill in the gulf in 2010, in an attempt to keep blame focused on BP. This isn't an accusation, by the way, it's an admission. They said they did it.

For those who aren't sure of the connection between Halliburton and the spill, they were the ones who made the cement used in the deep water rig set-up. BP didn't use the recommended number of stabilizers, and Halliburton promptly threw them under the bus resting all liability for the spill at their feet, when Halliburton knew that the lack of stabilizers likely didn't contribute at all to the spill. They did this all while quietly destroying evidence that the number of stabilizers was irrelevant, of course.

Their punishment?

This is the part that'll piss you off, I promise.

They are to plead guilty to one count of criminal conduct, pay a $200,000 fine and be subject to three years of probation.

$200,000.

That's it.

Of course, this admission will complicate any pending litigation, as they truly share a larger portion of the responsibility for the spill than anyone was aware.

Seriously, get off the phone
In Spain last week, a high speed train derailed, killing 79 people and injuring hundreds more. The video is horrific, and I highly recommend you don't watch it if you can't handle that kind of stuff.

Not only was the train conductor known for speeding as he drove the train almost twice the speed limit for the curve when it derailed, he was on the phone AND reading documents at the same time.

79 people are dead because he liked to go fast, dead because he wasn't paying attention. 79.

Carlos Danger is in danger
Oh, Anthony. The mayoral candidate has slipped to fourth in the polls this week in the wake of his latest sexting scandal. I highly suspect that the information that has come out recently isn't everything, and wouldn't be surprised one single bit if there is more.

Here's the thing. No one really cares how you get your freak on...it's the fact that you lied to everyone about it, swore it was over and done with, posed for that picture of your wife and baby, all while you were still sending dick pics to girls you met online.

It's not the sexting that bothers me, truly, though in this day and age it's pretty moronic for someone who's already been caught to do it again knowing full well that it's probably going to come out. Once you post that stuff online or send it away in a message, it's going to live on forever. You can't delete it, you can't wish it away, you can't pretend it never happened because you involved other people in your sordid crap who will toss you under the bus and make that shit public the second you piss them off.

It's the lying.

The lying to everyone, that is the issue. Anthony, if you want to be a shitty husband and your wife wants to put up with that, it's absolutely your right and hers to decide that. It's fairly obvious that y'all don't have an open marriage and that she's not okay with what you do, but you keep promising not to do it anymore, then you do it again. If she wants to tolerate that, for whatever her reasons are, it's not my place to judge. In fact, I'll defend her right to try and save her marriage until the cows come home. What I won't do, though, is defend you.

You lie to everyone, including those voters you claim to care about. What you do on your private time isn't necessarily a reflection of your abilities as a politician, but it is indicative of your ability to fudge moral codes, to stand there before your constituents and portray yourself as something you aren't, to display a lack of remorse and to prove to the world that your ego is writing checks that your press conferences can't cash.

You aren't winning this race, I can tell you that much.

You'd be better served getting your house in order before you attempt anything in the public spotlight again. Lord knows people in this country have short memories when it comes to this stuff, so if you are truly as capable a leader as you claim to be, they'll forgive you.

You truly just have to stop sending dick pics first.

Seriously. No one wants to see that shit.