Two legged sheep

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 8:35am

I'm just reading the headline regarding Boeing pleading guilty to fraud and being fined 246+ million dollars.
The picture in my mind immediately becomes my standing before a judge and pleading guilty of the same charge. As a certified thousand aire, would the judge fine me a quarter billion dollars?
Or would he/she fine me a fraction of my wealth.
I'm pretty sure he/she would bankrupt me and send me to prison for years.
So who was it that pleaded guilty to the court in Boeing's stead, and why didn't they serve time?
Ok, so it was a lawyer for Boeing that stood before the court. I get it. But why doesn't the CEO face jail time. It happened on his watch.
And here I thought "Corporations are people too", quoting a former POTUS candidate.
It is becoming apparent that they are more than people in the eyes of the Robert's court, they are God's. For they have immortality, unlike the rest of us. We are just lessor creatures.
The awe the Robert's court must feel when their God's send apostles (lawyers) before them to lay down the law of the Gods.
End rant.
The heat is triple digits into the next three days, and then down into the nineties.
Stopped watering my lawn a month ago but it's still somewhat green. It doesn't match all the neighbors yards, which are dirty blond.
Garden looks great though. Onions are hugh and ready to harvest.
Have the garden on an automated watering system for when we are up at the farm, and it works great.
Thinking of going to the coast for a few days to cool off a bit.
Thread is open. What's going on?

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Submitted by usefewersyllables on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 9:26am

Boeing's slow motion

seppuku has been going on since their "acquisition" of McDonnell-Douglas in 1997, which has been widely described as "McDonnell-Douglas buying Boeing with Boeing's own money". The result of that merger was all of Boeing's engineering-sourced management getting shitcanned, and being replaced with McD-D paperpushers and MBAs, all in search of the almighty shareholder value. In short, they started trying to make the maximum possible money for its execs, instead of the best possible aircraft for the customers.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/how-boeing-lost-its-be...

They have never recovered, and they won't. The old Boeing is long since dead- and it it weren't for the lavish sums they spend on buying Congressmen, they should have been up for the corporate death penalty, just to make it official. So it goes.

My little container garden finally set a few tomatoes. The squirrels ate 'em all. But I woke up not-dead again this morning, and that should be seen as a miracle in its own right. So I'm ahead of the game.

—

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 10:14am

Haven't been following

@usefewersyllables
the aircraft mergers over the years. I know there used to be many more. McDonald-Douglas was a merger also. Consolidation was the name of the process. Otherwise known as monopoly.
I watched it happening with Icahn taking over Continental Airlines and stripping it of assets and tossing the hollow shell away along with it employees.
That one was called a hostile takeover.
Monopoly Capitalism will enslave us all.
Just like the board game Monopoly, after all the properties are bought up, you tend to want to stay in jail until the inevitable end.
Thanks for stopping by.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 10:21am

Heh, McDonald-Douglas was a somewhat special case,

@earthling1

One or the other had so often and so egregiously defrauded and otherwise fucked over uncle sam on military contracts that it was actually prohibited from ever receiving any more government contracts. Presto-chango, via merger the old company vanished and the prohibition on government contracts vanished with it. Voila! business as usual.

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by dystopian on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 12:02pm

bean counts over engineering

@usefewersyllables Hi UFS,

I have folloiwed this all very closely as an aviation geek. You have it exactly right. I would say if anyone has any question to check out their foray into space and see how that is going. Like Boeing. It should be Boing! now. The merger was largely the end of great McDonnel-Douglass and Boeing aircraft.

Wall St. and corporate profiteering killed Boeing. And everything else it touches.

Thanks for making sure everyone knows!

—

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 1:09pm

Boeing CEOs should be in prison

@usefewersyllables

They have been on probation for 3 years because of fraud and they have committed fraud again after 2 of their planes crashed. But what did the justice department do? Offered them a plea deal and fined them $240 MILLION when their ceo made more than that and they just got a $22 BILLION contract. Their sloppy fraud filled work killed over 300 people and they’re offered a fcking measly fine?

But Pelosi and Biden keep telling us that no one is above the law! I guess that only means Trump isn’t .Killing 300 plus people just gets you a slap on the wrist! No wonder corporations keep committing fraud. There is no down side.

—

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 10:15am

goor morning earth1. It is only supposed to get up to 79 here

today, which means 85-90 in our back yard and house. The heat pump will, of course, take care of the house, but the yard and garage will still be a tad warm. Nonetheless, I shall spend most of the day working in one or the other and will probably grill some chicken thighs for dinner out there too. I got started already, around 6:20 or so in order that I won't begrudge myself 'puter time as the day progresses. Like you, I hear the coast calling, but not yet, I fear, nor wine country either, damn it. All said and done, I am alive, and not unduly attentive to US and global politics, so all is more or less acceptable if not outright good.

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 10:28am

Yep, I was up early today

@enhydra lutris
Opened up the house and garage to catch some cool morning air before it gets hot. Will close it up when it gets to 80 or so. Both the house and garage are insulated well and it stays pretty cool well into the afternoon before the system kicks on.
The sun goes down around 9 pm but it stays light out until 10 or so. So I do my chores early in the morning and late in evening.
I've been known to mow the lawn 9:30 at night.
My neighbors are pretty cool and I have a quiet electric mower.
Chicken thighs are the best tasting meat of the whole bird. Enjoy.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by soryang on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 10:31am

Boeing Starliner- Nothing amiss

Boeing assures “we have the luxury of time” as Starliner stuck with NASA’s astronauts at ISS for one month

We’re not stuck on ISS. The crew is not in any danger, and there’s no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth,” said Mark Nappi, manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program.

Ken Bowersox, an associate administrator at NASA, said the delay will allow for the collection of more data and that there is no hurry to bring the astronauts back. “We have the luxury of time,” he said.

The teams on-console in NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston and Boeing’s Mission Control Center at Kennedy Space Center checked out various systems of the spacecraft with the crew, including repressurizing the propellant manifolds. They also conducted mission data loads, or MDLs, which are files for the spacecraft’s computer to understand current inertial and relative navigation states, Earth rotation, and thermal conditioning on thrusters used during Starliner’s return, and more.

“We really want to understand the thruster and how we use it in flight,” said Dan Niedermaier, the lead Boeing engineer for the thruster testing. “We will learn a lot from these these thruster firings that will be valuable for the remainder of the Crew Flight Test and future missions.”

I heard this reported on NPR a couple of days ago. Basically they said there's nothing wrong with the thrusters we just want to review our procedures and check them out over and over again after what we experienced. We could bring em back now, but we want to make sure Starliner gets the certification from NASA.

Thanks for the OT Earthling1! Waiting for the monsoon pattern to resume here. Ms. So is out with a good friend who returned with her husband to the our local area permanently from Aspen. We've known them for years. Unfortunately our friend is recovering from a slip and fall and serious neck surgery. She really can't drive (or work) anymore. She's relatively young compared to us. Unfortunate situation, caused by a work place injury. While their home here was empty they were kind enough to let us stay there for a month when the flooding from TS Ian drove us out of our home. This gave us a place to start from to plan our recovery. I hope everything works out for them from here on.

—

語必忠信行必正直

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 11:17am

Love the Orwellspeak

@soryang
"We're not stuck on the ISS...." says Mark Nappi, who is safely on the ground and sipping a latte.
"We really want to understand the thruster and how we use it in flight"
said the lead engineer as he booked a round of golf.
He didn't do that beforehand? Bunch of morons.
Aspen to Florida, quite a change. I wish them well though.
I had a good neighbor friend and his wife decide to move out of the PNW down to an Arizona retirement community. I quess they have family there.
They threw a four week garage sale and put their house on the market and five days later the house sold and they are gone.
Thanks for stopping by.

Boeing assures “we have the luxury of time” as Starliner stuck with NASA’s astronauts at ISS for one month We’re not stuck on ISS. The crew is not in any danger, and there’s no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth,” said Mark Nappi, manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. Ken Bowersox, an associate administrator at NASA, said the delay will allow for the collection of more data and that there is no hurry to bring the astronauts back. “We have the luxury of time,” he said. The teams on-console in NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston and Boeing’s Mission Control Center at Kennedy Space Center checked out various systems of the spacecraft with the crew, including repressurizing the propellant manifolds. They also conducted mission data loads, or MDLs, which are files for the spacecraft’s computer to understand current inertial and relative navigation states, Earth rotation, and thermal conditioning on thrusters used during Starliner’s return, and more. “We really want to understand the thruster and how we use it in flight,” said Dan Niedermaier, the lead Boeing engineer for the thruster testing. “We will learn a lot from these these thruster firings that will be valuable for the remainder of the Crew Flight Test and future missions.” I heard this reported on NPR a couple of days ago. Basically they said there's nothing wrong with the thrusters we just want to review our procedures and check them out over and over again after what we experienced. We could bring em back now, but we want to make sure Starliner gets the certification from NASA. Thanks for the OT Earthling1! Waiting for the monsoon pattern to resume here. Ms. So is out with a good friend who returned with her husband to the our local area permanently from Aspen. We've known them for years. Unfortunately our friend is recovering from a slip and fall and serious neck surgery. She really can't drive (or work) anymore. She's relatively young compared to us. Unfortunate situation, caused by a work place injury. While their home here was empty they were kind enough to let us stay there for a month when the flooding from TS Ian drove us out of our home. This gave us a place to start from to plan our recovery. I hope everything works out for them from here on.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 1:16pm

Are they free to come home?

@soryang

Nope which to me means they are stuck at the station. Whose boneheaded decision was it to launch the rocket when they knew it had a problem? I was expecting the Challenger fiasco again. No lessons learned? I was very involved with the men who worked on the booster rockets and saw the aftermath of their lives when it exploded. They might have recovered, but their lives were never the same again.

Boeing assures “we have the luxury of time” as Starliner stuck with NASA’s astronauts at ISS for one month We’re not stuck on ISS. The crew is not in any danger, and there’s no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth,” said Mark Nappi, manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. Ken Bowersox, an associate administrator at NASA, said the delay will allow for the collection of more data and that there is no hurry to bring the astronauts back. “We have the luxury of time,” he said. The teams on-console in NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston and Boeing’s Mission Control Center at Kennedy Space Center checked out various systems of the spacecraft with the crew, including repressurizing the propellant manifolds. They also conducted mission data loads, or MDLs, which are files for the spacecraft’s computer to understand current inertial and relative navigation states, Earth rotation, and thermal conditioning on thrusters used during Starliner’s return, and more. “We really want to understand the thruster and how we use it in flight,” said Dan Niedermaier, the lead Boeing engineer for the thruster testing. “We will learn a lot from these these thruster firings that will be valuable for the remainder of the Crew Flight Test and future missions.” I heard this reported on NPR a couple of days ago. Basically they said there's nothing wrong with the thrusters we just want to review our procedures and check them out over and over again after what we experienced. We could bring em back now, but we want to make sure Starliner gets the certification from NASA. Thanks for the OT Earthling1! Waiting for the monsoon pattern to resume here. Ms. So is out with a good friend who returned with her husband to the our local area permanently from Aspen. We've known them for years. Unfortunately our friend is recovering from a slip and fall and serious neck surgery. She really can't drive (or work) anymore. She's relatively young compared to us. Unfortunate situation, caused by a work place injury. While their home here was empty they were kind enough to let us stay there for a month when the flooding from TS Ian drove us out of our home. This gave us a place to start from to plan our recovery. I hope everything works out for them from here on.

—

Submitted by Tall Bald and Ugly on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 11:17am

damn, anybody

remember the pinto? cheaper to pay a few claims
then recall and fix the problem

but what happened to Not having the
problem in the first place

boeing hah!
youze want youze astronuts back on earth?
settle the case

they still stuck on the iss

as far as dopey joe and the circus?
scripted long ago and far away

that saying about malice and stupidity?
sheer chance says some of the stupid
would fall Our Way at least on occasion

it don’t ergo it’s
All Evil right to the bottom
of the turtles
long way down

one third of usians admit to
Some prepping of a sort
it’s coming don’t need to know what
just that it’s on the way
better be ready

take care bruddah

—

Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 11:25am

Yeah, didn't the Pinto

@Tall Bald and Ugly
give Nader his soapbox to stand on? FORD....found on road dead.
And the Bronco rollover debacle where they threw the tire manufacturer order the bus.
Good times.
How's the weather there on the coast?

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by Marie1 on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 3:52pm

Nader made his name

@earthling1
off the Corvair. Although his critique was wider than the Corvair and included Detroit failings on all automobiles and resistance to installing safety features.

Submitted by lotlizard on Wed, 07/10/2024 - 1:27am

As Marie1 and others have said, it was General Motors’ Corvair

@earthling1
… that prompted Nader to do his investigation and publish his book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed:_The_Designed-In_Dange...

Submitted by dystopian on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 12:19pm

Hi all,

Hi all, Hi E!,

Quick quiz: How many want to ride the Starliner back from the ISS? Volunteers?

I think the unibody Corvair was Nader's first big win. I had a friend with two, they were cool in a funny sort of way. You had to get to know them. Among a long list of cars, I drove VW microbus as it was first called, and bugs, and a Saab so who was I to judge?

Woke up to my hobby website being hacked, some foreign language shat on it, much of morn spent with server people, we seem to have it back. This is a non-monetary hobby site on natural history of a tiny area, trying for the most boring soporific website award with a couple thousand visitors a month last time I looked. Doubtfully any of them speak whatever language that was. That replaced my own friggin;' desktop icon with something appearing phallic. Our biz site is at a different company and state and is fine. What could the benefit be? Just being a prick?

a couple funnies...

Way behind now, gotta fly!

happy trails all!

—

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Submitted by Enchantress on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 12:21pm

The Corvair

Nadar wrote his book about the Chevrolet Corvair, titled "Unsafe at Any Speed." They really hated him up where I grew up. The Pinto was a few years afterwards.

The Devil's waiting room has been close to 100 degrees for the last 3 weeks. I am seriously thinking about moving to a state or two above me. They say that 1000 people are moving here every month. Why? Twenty years ago, the weather was nice. Now you can barely breathe outside. I used to be able to sit under the trees and enjoy myself. It's too hot to do anything outside. I've been trying to clean up since I can walk so much better than before but after an hour I have to quit. It's 80+ degrees by 8:00 in the morning.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 1:31pm

I rode tp school every day in a Pinto

@Enchantress

and my friends mom had one to drive us around in…glad I didn’t know the problem.

We’re in for a spell well over 100 this week. Sam will take dips in the creek.

Little stinker. I put all her gazzilion toys in her bed before I left so I didn’t come home to a mess. One of the first things she did was throw it across the room and scatterer all of them.

Glad to hear that your knee is doing well.

—

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 2:06pm

Ya, I'm watching

@Enchantress
video of people posing in front of a Death Valley digital thermometer displaying 133 degrees. Gluttony for punishment.
Motorcyclist dies from the heat there also.
Cray cray peeps.
I'm still using the stationary bike to fold my knees to the max, even after almost two years. But my stamina is way better and no pain at all.
Keep working it.
Thanks for the Corvair reminder.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 2:26pm

Do androids dream of electric sheep?

-
-
Is AI smart enough to distinguish between 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 legged sheep?
Don't think so. Thought experiments usually get stuck in the weeds.

Thanks for the OT. Hot as hades here too.
Try to be cool.

—

question everything

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 3:19pm

I don't think androids sleep

@QMS
so no need to count sheep.
But what do I know?
Stay cool.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by exindy on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 5:51pm

Wonderful comment

@QMS thank you very much.

Was this tongue in cheek?

I'm very much enjoying my lurking here.

Thank you, please keep it up. I am with you in spirit during these trying times.

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 6:11pm

not sure what tongue in cheek means exactly

@exindy
-
-
but glad you enjoy your lurking here abouts
more or less an example of my 'dry' sense of
humor but happy you get it! Come back often.

—

question everything

Submitted by exindy on Tue, 07/09/2024 - 6:58pm

I'm afraid enjoy was the wrong word.

@QMS

What I meant was appreciate. I feel deeply the trauma our country is going thru and I think I have a grasp on the reasons for it but I definitely realize that I as an individual in my circumstances can do little about it.

C99 gives me reason to hope for the future. I believe we are in for a very serious wakeup call.

Meanwhile it's 110 here and we're dealing with a pretty nasty smoke plume. Alaska is on fire and we're downwind.

Be well, please.