Guess it wasn't her day to die

Due to my interest in the great Waco Biker Ambush & Coverup, I've become a regular reader of the Waco Trib website. While the coverup continues, at least for now, one of the lead characters in that scandal, Sergeant Patrick "Pinocchio" Swanton, makes regular appearances in the Trib in his capacity as spokesman for the Waco PD.

That's how I happened upon the story of Brittney Garrett, who was driving her Toyota Tundra while simultaneously texting on her phone, and whoopsie!...

 Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said officers were called about 11:55 p.m. Wednesday to a single-vehicle crash in the westbound lanes of State Highway 6 at the Twin Bridges, where they found a heavily damaged 2015 Toyota Tundra straddling the inside guardrail.

Officers could not find the driver or any other occupants and presumed the driver, later identified as Brittney Ann Garrett, may have fallen into the water.

“The report says that she was distracted by her cellphone, looked down at her cellphone and ran into the sidewall, on the driver’s side . . . hit the guardrail, rode up that guardrail and it apparently caused the driver’s side door to be torn off and cause a hole through the floorboard,” Swanton said. “She was ejected from the vehicle, through the hole created in the floorboard, and into the lake below.”

Officers began to call for a water rescue and helicopter assistance to light the lake before they found Garrett on the shore at Speegleville Park. She swam about 150 to 200 yards to reach land, Swanton said.

There are a few lessons to take away from Brittney's adventure. First off, don't text and drive.

Two, if you do text and drive, don't do it in a Toyota. A Ford, Dodge, or GMC pickup can mess with guardrails and survive. A Toyota gets ripped wide open and poops its passengers into the raging waters sixty feet below.

Finally, Brittney's fabulous adventure is proof yet again that if your number ain't up in this great lottery 'o life, not even the most brazen act of stupidity is gonna send you to a premature reward.

Congratulations Brittney!

Twilight in Lebanon

As darkness descends on Lebanon, the Beirut Star has this journalistic gem to help ease the minds of anxious Beirutis.

Porsche or BMW, what's it gonna be? The barbarians may be at the gates, but there's still time to decide one way or another in this "clash of the titans."

Frankly, I'd go for the Porsche. Due to the electronic rev-limiter on the BMW, the Porsche can get the hell outta town a whole lot faster. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of places to go.

Still, for Beirutis of means, there is still time to make a choice. In a year or two the only vehicles on the streets and highways of Lebanon will be Toyotas.

We're losing the race to the bottom

Don't take it personally; everybody loses in the race to the bottom.

I'm old enough to remember the debate about how much the various levels of government should be prepared to subsidize the proposed Cambridge Toyota plant thirty years ago. Toyota made it clear that they were playing off one jurisdiction against another.

Why should they build their factory in Ontario in return for 50 million in subsidies if Kentucky was offering 100 million and so on.

This has become the norm in the car industry. Why build here if they're going to give us more free money over there? It's the strategy that got Alabama a Mercedes plant. It's the strategy that got anybody any car plant anywhere in the last thirty years.

Originally different communities were prepared to offer those subsidies because of what they got in return; long-term, stable, well-paying jobs.

That has slowly been changing, and the pace of that change will only speed up in the future. Today the car companies want those billion dollar subsidies in return for providing fewer, less stable, mediocre-paying jobs. In a few years they will demand even greater subsidies in return for shit jobs.

We're well on our way.

One of the arguments put forward by Canadian officials is that companies will continue to see Canada as a desirable location because of our well educated work-force. This is a conceit unique to those who have never worked in a car assembly plant. Face it; as anybody who has ever walked that mile will readily attest, you don't have to be particularly bright or particularly well-educated to nail that gig.

Here's a telling quote from Professor Tony Faria, of the Odette Business School at the University of Windsor; " We like to talk about a skilled, educated workforce in Canada... the US workforce is equally as skilled and educated... the Mexican workforce is equal to that in the US."

So where does that leave Canadian autoworkers?

The going wage for assembly line workers in Mexican plants owned by the big three is $3.75 an hour.

Where do you think that leaves Canadian autoworkers?