No. 3

Seized by pirates! (II)
At time of posting, not too much new in the situation of the Ponant, the French yacht seized by pirates near Somalia on Friday. According to news services, contact has been made with the ship, which is anchored off the coast of Puntland, a breakaway region of the country.
According to Agence France-Presse, Puntland's leader wants French and American forces in the area to take the pirates out. Musa Ghelle Yusuf told the the agency he would be "happy . . . to see the pirates killed." "The French and American ships must attack the pirates. They have our blessing." However French Defence Minister Herve Morin is quoted as saying there won't be any military intervention unless the safety of the crew can be guaranteed.
Ailments Of Our Times Dept.
Michael Quinion's always interesting newsletter World Wide Words for April 5 notes a UK Post Office survey in which nine per cent of respondents said having their mobile (cell) phone switched off made them anxious. A spokes person for the Post Office was quoted in the Glasgow Daily Record as saying, "Whether you run out of credit, lose your phone or are in an area with no reception, being phoneless can bring on panicky symptoms. The Post Office coined the name "nomophobia," short for "no mobile phobia," for the condition. Quinion describes nomophobia as "a dreadful term, doubtless fated to vanish together with the papers it was printed in this week," while admitting there isn't another. The suggested "atelephobia," while "rather neat" and with proper Greek roots, could be fear of not having any telephone access.
A much more pressing concern, to my mind, could be called "abibliophobia," the fear of being stuck without a book on an airline flight, in a waiting room or some other dreary situation.
Where's Mussolini when you need him?
A recent report to Congress by the US Department of Transportation described big problems produced by the Amtrak rail service's poor on-time performance. The report found the tardiness "significantly undermines the viability of intercity passenger rail as an option for travelers and also weakens Amtrak’s financial position by reducing its revenues and increasing its operating costs."
The analysis focused on Amtrak’s long- and medium-distance routes outside the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak considers a train to be on-time if it arrives at its destination less than a prescribed number of minutes after its scheduled arrival (the specific thresholds vary depending on the end-to-end route length). In fiscal year 2006, average on-time performance across Amtrak’s long-distance and medium-distance routes (excluding the Northeast Corridor) was 30 per cent and 67per cent, respectively.
For these routes, it was found found that significant improvements in on-time performance could lead to substantial increases in ridership and revenue. For example, if Amtrak had attained on-time performance values of 75 per cent, 85 per cent or 100 per cent in fiscal 2006, it could have increased its actual annual revenues by $91 million (15.4 per cent), $111 million (18.9 per cent), or $143 million (24.3% per cent), respectively.
Of course, Canada's Via Rail train service also has its own on-time performance issues.
Silent but deadly?
Another U.S. transportation item illustrates the adage that one man's meat is another man's poison. Many new vehicles, particularly those using hybrid or electric engine technology, are silent. This might seem like an unalloyed good, considering the pervasive noise pollution we endure. But advocates for the blind say that not being able to hear engine noise can be very dangerous to them and others.
Legislation intended to protect the blind and other pedestrians from injury or death as a result of silent vehicle technology will be introduced by Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) at a press conference tomorrow. The legislation is supported by the National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of blind people, according to a press release.
"Other people, including pedestrians who are not blind, bicyclists, runners, and small children, also benefit from hearing the sound of vehicle engines, rendering them extremely dangerous in situations where vehicles and pedestrians come into proximity with each other. This bill will ensure the safety of pedestrians who, for whatever reason, do not see a vehicle approaching and are placed at risk for injury or even death," the release stated.