Unintended Consequences

I would Have Never Thought

September 13, 2022

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Unintended Consequences

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By Ron Munden – September 13, 2022

Last month I misplaced my driver’s license. So I rode to the DMV office to get a replacement copy. My license does not expire until 2026. The last time I did this was about 10 years ago and it took me 15 minutes.

That was before our Governor and our State Legislators passed a set of voter suppression laws – sometimes called election integrity laws.

When I arrived at the DMV office two other elderly people were in line. Both wanted to renew their driver’s license. Both were told they had to have their birth certificate with them in order to renew. Neither had the document and both walked out shaking their heads.

I thought I was OK since I only wanted to get a copy of my current license and I had a photocopy of that document on my phone. I filled out a form and waited. Soon I was called to a desk. I explained I just needed a copy of my current license and showed the lady the photo of the license on my phone.

The response was, “you can’t get a copy unless you have your birth certificate with you.”

I explained that I had no idea where my birth certificate was and had not seen it for 70 years. I was told I MUST have a copy of my birth certificate or I could not get a copy of my current driver’s license. I was told to go to the county courthouse and apply for a birth certificate.

So Senior Citizen #3 left the DMV shaking his head.

I drove to the courthouse and met with two very nice ladies. I told them I needed a copy of my birthday certificate. I filled out a form and they asked to see my driver’s license.

I explained that I misplaced my drivers license and I need a copy of my birth certificate in order to get a copy of my driver’s license. We all laughed.

Luckly, the “License to Carry Handgun” card opens all doors in Texas. Being a gun-carrying Texan, I produced my card and $23 later I had my very own birth certificate.

So it was back to the DMV office with my birthday certificate. I proudly showed them my birth certificate. They were impressed. They wanted to take a picture of it. I was so excited I took a selfie of me and my birth certificate.

My birth certificate and a few dollars more got a piece of paper that said I had applied for a replacement driver’s license.

This entire effort only took 2 ½ hours and tied up three people not including yours truly.

The next morning I walked into my office, opened the top of my copy machine and there was my missing driver’s license. Sure I had wasted 2 ½ hour but I was happy with the experience. I got to see our state tax dollars at work thanks to our lawmakers in Austin.

I admire our Legislators’ attempt at making it difficult to vote in hopes that it will keep their entire party in office even if the citizens don’t want them there. Unfortunately, I think their approach was poorly thought out.

If these people were serious about security, which they were not, requiring a birth certificate is the least secure document they could have selected.

A birth certificate was designed using 1850 technology. It is the easiest document to counterfeit of all documents known to man. A 9th grade computer nerd can produce 1000’s a day working in his bedroom. I am sure there are underground operations producing counterfeit birth certificates on demand for the real bad guys. Most likely at a cost less than the $23 it costs to get a real birth certificate.

A birth certificate is a nuisance document. It makes life difficult for honest people, particularly old people, but is not a roadblock for any dishonest person.

In the 1980s I worked on Department of Defense projects that required a Top Secret SBI clearance. As part of the application process I have to provide numerous documents and fill out a stack of forms a ¼ inch high. One thing they did not require is a birth certificate. Most likely because it is a useless document when it comes to security.

So thank you Mr. Legislators for making life difficult for us old people and increasing the workload for state and county employees. When I go to bed at night, I feel much better knowing you are in bed sleeping and not out here passing more stupid laws.

Note:

While I am less than impressed with the Texas Legislature, I am very impressed with the ladies I dealt with at both the DMV office and the Harrison County Courthouse. They could not have been any more professional and courteous.

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9/11 – Twenty-One Years Later

Things They Are A Changin

September 11, 2022

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9/11 – Twenty-One Years Later

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By Ron Munden – September 11, 2022

It’s 9/11 – twenty-one years after the worst foreign terrorist attack in this nation’s history.

It is a sad day. Not because of what happened on 9/11/2001 but where the nation stands on 9/11/2022.

9/11/2001 was a sad day but that was short-lived. This nation quickly united and pulled together to get through those difficult days. For a short time we set political affiliations aside and we were one nation. That was inspiring and generated a sense of pride.

It is now twenty-one years later and this nation has moved a long way – unfortunately in the wrong direction.

Today I fear we are living through the final days of a nation with the greatest democracy that this world has ever known – the USA.

If you are thinking that these are the words of an irrational fear-monger, let me remind you that recent surveys show more than ⅔ of the people in the country share my concern .

In 2001 UNITED we stood. Twenty-one years later – DIVIDED we’ll fall.

The Queen is dead and soon American democracy will follow in her footsteps – unless the American people wake up and snatch democracy from the authoritarian jaws of death. The time is short!

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A Real Nail-Biter

By Ron Munden — started 11/28/2021 -> finished 7/5/2022

Have you ever dreamed you failed to pay 10,000 people? I had this nightmare and I was awake.

Today I received an email from my bank. It said that my December retirement check had been deposited into my account by the Federal Reserve one day early.

This email sent old memories flooding back into my mind.

In the mid-1980s I was moved from the Head of Technical Support for the Design Division position into the Head of Information Resources Management (IRM) for Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Two weeks into my new job an incident occured that remains crystal clear in my mind today.

One of the responsibilities of IRM was processing payroll data and generating a computer tape that could be delivered to the Federal Reserve (FR) in San Francisco. The Federal Reserve processed the tape and sent electronic transactions into the country’s banking system and deposited funds into the accounts of the 10,000+ people working at Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

The process is repeated every two weeks. On Monday the payroll for the previous two weeks was processed on swing shift at Mare Island. Tuesday morning the tape was hand delivered to the FR. That evening the FR used the tape to generate the transactions that would deposit the pay into MI employees’ banking accounts. On Thursday night all 10,000 employees’ bank accounts were credited with the pay for the previous two weeks. On Friday morning the funds were available for use.

This process had been used for the prior couple of years without a problem.

This time we ran payroll and the Comptroller Department took the tape to the FR Tuesday as scheduled.

On Tuesday night I was at home having dinner when I received a call from a computer operator at the FR. He told me that our magnetic tape had failed validation at the FR and they could not process Mare Island’s payroll.

I was not really worried when I got off the phone. I knew magnetic tapes were not completely reliable and we have to rerun jobs from time to time.

On Wednesday morning I got to the shipyard at about 6:30am. I noticed the schedulers in operations that we were going to need to re-run payroll and generate a new tape to take to the FS. My next call was to the Comptroller, a Navy Captain. I explained the situation. He said that he would have the Deputy Comptroller dive it to the FR and wait to ensure it passed validation.

We re-ran payroll and got it to the FR by mid-morning.

Just before noon the Comptroller walked into my office and told me that his Deputy had just called and said the new tape had failed validation. This was the point that the Comptroller and I both realized we had a serious problem. If we could not pay people on Friday, there were going to be a lot of bounced checks Friday night.

Our problem was complicated by the fact that our office did not write the software that was failing. It was written by a central design agent on the East Coast. We reported the problem to them but the group was not known for quick responses so we could not count on them to fix our problem.

We started looking for solutions. The shipyard had been using this software for about 6 months. Prior to that we printed checks and distributed them on Friday at the Shipyard. We thought we could go back to the old software and print checks bypassing the FR electronic processing. A quick look at check form inventory showed that we did not have enough checks in stock to print 10,000 checks.

That left us with only two alternative:

Find the error in the payroll software and fix it or
Modify the magnetic tape going to the FR so it would pass validation.

We also recognized we had to develop a plan of action to address the possibility that we could not get the people paid.

I took the lead on 1 and 2 approaches. The Comptroller finalized his plan of action if alternative 1 and 2 both failed.

It is now mid-afternoon on Wednesday and the drop-dead for FR processing was late-afternoon Thursday without special processing by the FR.

I used the Admiral Rickover approach by assigning different teams to work in parallel and trying to solve a problem using two different approaches.

We assigned the two best Cobol coders to read the payroll source code listing and try to find any coding errors that might be causing the problem.

A second team of engineers started writing computer C code to read the payroll output tape and recalculate the tallies that the FR expected so the modified tape would pass validation. I worried a little about if this was legal but the vision of the Comptroller and I hanging from a crane on the waterfront trumped the legal concern at this point.

Meanwhile the Comptroller scoped out the size of the problem. As I mentioned at that time the shipyard employed about 10,000 people. Those people used 54 banks in the Bay Area.

The Comptroller wrote a letter that would be hand delivered to each of the 54 banks first thing on Friday if our efforts to fix the problem failed. Each letter had an attachment listing the name and bank account number for each person doing business with that bank. The letter quickly outlined the problem and asked the banks to honor all checks listed in the attachment. It also committed the Shipyard to pay all the bank charges resulting from any account overdraws.

At about 6pm the Comptroller stopped by the office. I briefed him on my status. I calculated we had about 12 to 14 hours to fix the problem and deliver a good magnetic tape to the FR. I told the Comptroller we would work through the night and with luck we would have a tape that would pass validation before 8am Friday morning. The Comptroller said he could not be much help but he could keep us supplied with coffee and donuts.

He was true to his word. Every couple of hours he would drop by our office with more coffee and donuts.

At about 3am Thursday morning the Cobol programmers came to my office and said that they thought they may have found the bug. They showed another manager and me the code. There was a problem but was that the only problem? They ask if they should continue looking? I did a quick calculation in my head and decided we had run out of time. I told them to stop looking and start fixin. I also allerted computer operations to prepare to re-run payroll again.

The programmers made the corrections to the source code and recompiled the corrected code. They were very careful because everyone knew we only had one change to get it right.

By 6am we were ready to re-run payroll and cut a new tape. By 10am the Deputy Comptroller had the tape and was driving to San Francisco.

Then the hard part – we wait to see if the tape would pass validation. Before 2pm we got the call. The tape passed validation at the FR. The transaction would be loaded into the banking system on its next run. Money would be in employee bank accounts Friday morning.

It had been a long two days. We were all very happy people. The image of the Comptroller and yours truly hanging from a crane on the buildways slowly faded from my memory, replaced by a team working together.

Footnote:

After more research we knew what had happened. The software had worked and paid personnel in all the shipyards for 6 months. That was about 80,000 people. Why did it stop working at Mare Island?

There are 8 Federal Reserve banks in the country. The software should have been able to handle payments going through more than one FR bank but for the previous 6 month all shipyards had all their employees using a single FR bank.

For years Mare Island supplied employees to work at a prototype nuclear reactor site in New York state. The assignments were usually 3 to 6 months. During these assignments no employee had ever opened a bank account in NY and had their paycheck deposited into that account. The week before our payroll run failed validation, one employee did exactly that. The payroll software had a bug. It only worked when all the deposits went to a single FR bank. Therefore, our payroll contained data for two FR banks and the central design agents software generated tallies that could not pass validation.

We notified the central design agent in Washington of the problem. They issued a software fix to all of the shipyards prior to the next pay date.

I stayed in the IRM job for another 7 or more years. We ever had another nail-biter moment like this during that period. What a way to start a new job.

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Arming Ukraine

World News – March 8, 2022

from New York Times

‘Arming Ukraine: 17,000 Anti-Tank Weapons in 6 Days and a Clandestine Cybercorps’

The United States has walked to the edge of direct conflict with Russia in an operation that is reminiscent of the Berlin airlift of 1948-49, but far more complex.

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On a snowy tarmac at Amari Air Base in northern Estonia on Sunday morning, pallets of rifles, ammunition and other weapons were being loaded onto one of the largest cargo planes in the world, an Antonov AN-124, belonging to the Ukrainian air force. It is an artifact of the Cold War, built and purchased when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union.

Now it is being turned back against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, part of a vast airlift that American and European officials describe as a desperate race against time, to get tons of arms into the hands of Ukrainian forces while their supply routes are still open. Scenes like this, reminiscent of the Berlin airlift — the famed race by the Western allies to keep West Berlin supplied with essentials in 1948 and 1949 as the Soviet Union sought to choke it off — are playing out across Europe.

In less than a week, the United States and NATO have pushed more than 17,000 antitank weapons, including Javelin missiles, over the borders of Poland and Romania, unloading them from giant military cargo planes so they can make the trip by land to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and other major cities. So far, Russian forces have been so preoccupied in other parts of the country that they have not targeted the arms supply lines, but few think that can last.

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Former Marshall Main Street Manager discusses appeal of termination

City Government – February 27, 2022

from Marshall News Messenger

Former Marshall Main Street Manager discusses appeal of termination

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A meeting to discuss an appeal of Marshall’s former Main Street Manager Veronique Ramirez’s termination has taken place, both Ramirez and the city confirmed.

Ramirez was terminated from her position at the end of last year amid a range of unusual circumstances and formally appealed her termination with the city. That appeal lead to a formal appeal hearing, which Ramirez and her attorney, Josh Maness, as well as interim city manager David Willard confirmed took place last month.

Willard also confirmed that the meeting did take place before the city posted a job opening for the new Main Street Coordinator position.

Ramirez said she was present at the meeting along with Maness, city attorney Scott Rectenwald and Willard.

Willard described the meeting as cordial, stating that he was grateful for Ramirez coming in and sharing with him details on what occurred with the termination.

“While it is very unfortunate me and the city parted ways, I have learned valuable lessons, and I will take with me the knowledge of municipality processes, how to manage a geographic area and organize a large-scale festival,” Ramirez said. “I am forever grateful for all the support from city co-workers to downtown business and interest holders that have supported me along the way.”

Rumors surrounding the termination began when Ramirez officially filed to run for the City of Marshall District 5 council seat in the upcoming May election.

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Marshall Community and Economic Development Director resigns

City Government – February 27, 2022

from Marshall News Messenger

Marshall Community and Economic Development Director resigns from city

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The City of Marshall’s Community and Economic Development Director Fabio Angell officially resigned from his position last week.

According to interim city manager David Willard, Angell resigned from his position and is no longer working with the city, though his resignation is not effective until March.

Willard said that Angell utilized vacation time and will not return to his work with the city before the effective date of his resignation.

The decision whether or not to replace Angell with a new hire, or to promote current city employees, has not yet been made, according to Willard, who said that the city planned to announce that decision early next week.

Angell joined the city in December 2020, bringing with him over a decade’s worth of experience in urban planning, downtown revitalization and economic development.

More information on what the city of Marshall plans to do with the Director position for Community and Economic Development will be released by the News Messenger as it becomes available.

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At least one contested city council race

City Government – February 16, 2022

from Marshall News Messenger

Marshall to see at least one contested city council race in May

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The filing period for the Marshall City Council elections in District 5, 6, 7 will officially close Friday, Feb. 18. So far four people have filed for a spot in the May election thus far.

Incumbents Amanda Abraham, of District 6, and Micah Fenton of District 7, have both filed for re-election. Thus far no other community members have filed for either district spot.

Incumbent Vernia Calhoun is unable to run for re-election, having volunteered to serve as the District 5 councilmember for eight years, the maximum amount of time.

Two community members have filed to run for the open District 5 position, Reba Godfrey and Ken Moon.

Community members interested in filing for the election can pick up an application for the general election ballot at the City Secretary’s Office at Marshall City Hall. Candidate packets can be picked up in-person at City Hall, or accessed online at http://www.marshalltexas.net.

The General Election is scheduled for Saturday, May 7, at the Marshall Convention Center, located at 2501 East End Blvd. South.

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Marshall microbrewery to kick off new MEDCO program

Today’s News – February 11, 2022

– from the Marshall News Messenger

Marshall microbrewery to kick off new MEDCO program targeting empty buildings

A new microbrewery is the first to be funding through a Marshall Economic Development Corporation program that seeks to get empty, blighted buildings occupied.

Marshall City Councilmembers unanimously approved funds for the Marshall Economic Development Corporation’s first project funded through the new Certificate of Occupancy Grant Program during Thursday’s regular city council meeting.

Director Rush Harris presented on the new program, and the planned project, during the meeting.

“We have another interesting project here, and this isn’t what you are used to seeing from me,” Harris said during the meeting.

The project is for the creation of a new microbrewery, restaurant and pub at 108 W. Houston by the Rueggenbach Brewing Company, which Harris said is owned by a Marshall native.

He explained that the owner has a plan to turn the blighted structure into a taxable business, and through this has been working with MEDCO and applying through the organization’s new Certificate of Occupancy Grant Program for funding assistance.

Due to the current state of the building, construction costs to get the building up to code and receive a certificate of occupancy are expected to be over $1.2 million.

Harris said that the structure has been determined to be blight by the Marshall EDC Board of Directors and an economic or social liability to the municipality.

This, Harris said, made the project the perfect candidate for MEDCO’s new CO grant program, which offers a reimbursement grant of up to $100,000 or 10 percent of construction costs and site improvements needed to receive an official CO from the City of Marshall.

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Amtrak News

Transportation – January 9, 2022

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Amtrak and freight railway company, Canadian Pacific, announce CP’s formalized agreement to supportexpanded passenger rail routes in the Midwest and South

Amtrak and the freight railway company, Canadian Pacific (CP), announced this past week, on January 6, that the two transportation entities had reached an agreement formalizing Canadian Pacific’s support of Amtrak’s expansion of passenger rail service in the Midwest and the South.

In the announcement, Amtrak President Stephen J. Gardner said, “Given CP’s consistent record as an Amtrak host, we support CP’s proposal to expand its network. This is exactly what Congress and the Administration are seeking: Amtrak and the freight railroads working together to benefit freight customers, Amtrak passengers, our state/regional partners and the general public.”

This announcement also conveyed that the agreement included Amtrak’s support for the proposed combination of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern (KCS) railways. Merger negotiations between KCS and CP began in March of 2021.

The announcement by Amtrak and CP was very welcomed news to passenger rail advocacy organizations throughout the nation, including the I-20 Corridor Council.

The I-20 Corridor Council is a non-profit grassroots advocacy organization and multi-state coalition, comprised of mayors, judges, elected officials and other stakeholders along the I-20 Corridor, which has been working consistently for more than 15 years to establish the East-West long-distance passenger rail connection between Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta, Georgia. This route would also connect to the East Coast, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The announcement also stated: “Subject to CP’s application for control of KCS being approved by the STB (Surface Transportation Board), the agreement also includes CP’s commitment to support Amtrak efforts to work with the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) and others for the first service in more than 50 years on two U.S. routes.”

The two passenger rail routes referenced in the announcement in this regard, which would involve track owned by CP, are Amtrak service between New Orleans and Baton Rouge and to study the potential for Amtrak service between Meridian, Miss., and Dallas, which is the proposed I-20 Corridor passenger rail route.

Former Texas State Senator and former Harrison County Judge Richard Anderson is the chairman of the I-20 Corridor Council and shared the following comments:

“The I-20 Corridor Council and all who have been working with great devotion to re-establish this important East-West passenger rail connection across the southeastern region of our nation are very pleased and grateful for the positive steps that Amtrak and Canadian Pacific have announced. We look forward to continued progress in this regard as we continue to work toward making the I-20 Corridor long distance passenger rail connection a reality for the great benefit of our Southern region and nation.”

In addition to thanking Amtrak, CP, and the members of the multi-state I-20 Corridor coalition, Anderson also thanked fellow passenger rail advocacy organizations, as well as governmental and quasi-governmental entities, who also support the proposed I-20 Corridor rail route.

These entities in support of the I-20 Corridor route include the Southern Rail Commission (SRC), Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization (TEMPO), North Central Texas Council of Governments, East Texas Council of Governments, North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NET RMA), Coordinating & Development Corporation, Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments, North Delta Regional Planning & Development District, Rail Passengers Association, Texas Rail Advocates, and others.

Judge Anderson also shared his deep appreciation for his former Texas Senate colleague, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who, since 1993, has represented the 30^th Congressional District of Texas, which includes southern Dallas. Representative Johnson also serves as a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Judge Anderson stated: “Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has provided outstanding leadership in transportation throughout her impressive career in Congress and in public service. We appreciate her leadership and strong support and assistance in working with us to establish the I-20 Corridor passenger rail route.”

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson added: “I am pleased that Canadian Pacific Railway has announced that they are receptive to supporting Amtrak’s expansion of passenger rail service in the Midwest and the South. Along with the I-20 Corridor Council and the North Central Texas Council of Governments, I will continue to work steadfastly to bring to fruition an Amtrak passenger rail line that, once complete, will provide rail service from Dallas to Atlanta.”

Judge Anderson also stated that, with the passage of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the I-20 Corridor passenger rail project could provide an excellent return on investment. That’s because it would requirea comparatively small fraction of a percent of what will be needed for this project from the $16 billion which the IIJA has designated for long-distance passenger rail.

This once-in-a-generation legislation was passed by Congress then signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021.

Judge Anderson explained: “The feasibility and capacity studies on the I-20 Corridor route, which have already been completed by Amtrak, TXDOT, and others using the $738,000 in grant funding that the Corridor Council obtained, with the assistance of former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, determined that the I-20 Corridor route would be economically viable on existing track without an annual subsidy. It also determined that capacity could be increased, such as additional sidings, for a relatively low cost and in a relatively short period of time. Plus, this new passenger rail service should not adversely affect freight traffic.”

Judge Anderson concluded: “Again, we appreciate these positive steps announced by Amtrak and CP for the routes in the Midwest and South. Plus, in rural Amtrak-served communities, such as Marshall and Longview, we always appreciate the strong partnership with Amtrak.”

He went on to share: “We look forward to continued progress ahead not only in collaborating to establish the important I-20 Corridor route but also strengthening the Texas Eagle route to its full pre-pandemic capacity and strengthening Amtrak’s National Network.”

“In this way, we can continue to increase connectivity between our rural and urban communities throughout the United States and bring increased benefits to the American people with regard to transportation, economic development, quality of life, and many other benefits.”

Click here to learn more about the proposed I-20 Corridor

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TxDOT CREWS TO PRETREAT BRIDGES, ROADS STARTING TUESDAY – 2/1/2022

TexDOT – January 31, 2022

Monday Update from TexDOT

ATLANTA – Due to the possibility of winter weather conditions later this week, TxDOT crews plan to begin pretreating all bridges and overpasses, along with interstates and U.S. 59, starting tomorrow/Tuesday.

Crews will retreat roads as necessary on Wednesday and work through the night as warranted starting Wednesday night.

Motorists are asked to keep a safe traveling distance between their vehicles and mobile convoys spreading brine on the roadways ahead of the possible weather event. Brine is a solution consisting of salt and water designed to prevent ice and snow from sticking to surfaces.

In the event of hazardous conditions on the road due to weather, motorists are urged to stay home if possible. If travel is necessary, drivers are advised to buckle up, stay alert and slow down.

You should allow for at least three times more space than usual between you and the vehicle in front of you.

Visit driveTexas.org or call 1-800-452-9292 for around-the-clock updates on highway conditions.

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