Long after Midnight
Bright and early this (Tuesday) morning, I hit the 'snooze' on my alarm for the last time and decided it was time to get out of bed. I stumbled to front door and picked up the paper, then made some breakfast--Kashi, Go Lean! cereal. Chubby little Event Coordinators need all the help they can get. Spoon in fist, I started flipping through the Washington Post. I get three different papers at home, but the Post has the best comics.
After I finished the comics and slurped the last of the milk out of my bowl, I turned to the business section. The front page shows a huge airliner with fighters behind it. Zing! Now I must read this article.
The article I am talking about was written by Dana Hedgpeth and talked about how up-in-arms Congress and Union Leaders are about Boeing losing the contract to build air tankers. This is real news. This is a $100 Billion contract that Boeing lost out on. There are ramifications to dropping the ball that badly. I have no trouble with anything in the article at all. I see it is reporting the news. But I do have a problem.
Boeing Lost. They lost. You know what happens when you lose? You go home. You don't cry to your Congressman and get them to bully the Airforce into reversing the decision. You don't stand out in the streets and protest, holding signs that say "American Workers = Best Tankers". If that were, in fact, the case then you would have won the bid. This is direct from the article: 'Past Performance: Northrop had higher ratings than Boeing on programs relevant to the tanker competition, and its subcontractors were more highly rated. Cost: Boeing failed to adequately explain its cost projections.'
These signs also insinuate that the people working in Mobile, Alabama are not Americans. Now I have never been to Alabama, I have only heard stories about the folk down there, but that does not make them un-American. In fact it probably makes them more so than the Washingtonians.
One of the other complaints cited in the article says "By Assembling the plane at a plant in in Mobile, Ala., they said, EADS will gain a foothold in the United States much as foreign automakers Honda and Toyota did."
Foreign automakers gained a foothold because they did a better job. That is why when I sold my Honda Civic that I had bought used, I got more money than when I sold my Pontiac Sunfire that I bought new. They are better cars. They hold their resale value and preform better with lower carbon output. If we had all stuck with our 1972 Plymouth Fury, the country would have run out of gas in 1988. All the workers in Indiana are probably very happy that Honda gained a foothold in America. I think the workers in Mobile, Alabama are going to be VERY happy with Northrop.
One of my other problems with the protesters/Boeing is the sense of sovereignty they are fighting for. America First, Above All Others. Why shouldn't an international company get the bid? Is there a problem with raising the rest of the world up to our minimum standards? I thought that was the goal. To make the world a better place? I think we are living in a time where it is past the point of separation from the rest of the world. The world is a little smaller than it used to be and as the last super power on earth, I think it is our job to help bring the rest of the world up. Do we really want to fly in inferior planes just because they are American made? Personally, I would like to fly in a plane that doesn't fall out of the sky. I don't care if it is made in Canada.
I don't know. I am not an expert on these things, I am just a blogger who reads. It was a good article and if anyone would like to talk more about it, feel free to comment.
Oh Right. Book events. Thursday the 13th at Dupont Circle, come down and learn how to Tango! Long After Midnight at the Nino Bien. Brian Winter packed his bags as a young man and moved to Argentina. Once there, he discovered how deeply ingrained into the society the Tango truly is. A lovely portrait of a beautiful country through a very troubled time. Brain has agreed to come down to Dupont and tell us his tales of living through the hardest times in Argentina. If we get lucky, he might show us a couple of steps.
If you have any love of history, Argentina, Peron, dance or just hate television and prefer interacting with real people, or if you just want to punch me in the nose for bashing Boeing, come out to Dupont on Thursday night and see what real people look like. It is WAY better than HD.
Oh, and Rest in Peace Jeff Healey.
After I finished the comics and slurped the last of the milk out of my bowl, I turned to the business section. The front page shows a huge airliner with fighters behind it. Zing! Now I must read this article.
The article I am talking about was written by Dana Hedgpeth and talked about how up-in-arms Congress and Union Leaders are about Boeing losing the contract to build air tankers. This is real news. This is a $100 Billion contract that Boeing lost out on. There are ramifications to dropping the ball that badly. I have no trouble with anything in the article at all. I see it is reporting the news. But I do have a problem.
Boeing Lost. They lost. You know what happens when you lose? You go home. You don't cry to your Congressman and get them to bully the Airforce into reversing the decision. You don't stand out in the streets and protest, holding signs that say "American Workers = Best Tankers". If that were, in fact, the case then you would have won the bid. This is direct from the article: 'Past Performance: Northrop had higher ratings than Boeing on programs relevant to the tanker competition, and its subcontractors were more highly rated. Cost: Boeing failed to adequately explain its cost projections.'
These signs also insinuate that the people working in Mobile, Alabama are not Americans. Now I have never been to Alabama, I have only heard stories about the folk down there, but that does not make them un-American. In fact it probably makes them more so than the Washingtonians.
One of the other complaints cited in the article says "By Assembling the plane at a plant in in Mobile, Ala., they said, EADS will gain a foothold in the United States much as foreign automakers Honda and Toyota did."
Foreign automakers gained a foothold because they did a better job. That is why when I sold my Honda Civic that I had bought used, I got more money than when I sold my Pontiac Sunfire that I bought new. They are better cars. They hold their resale value and preform better with lower carbon output. If we had all stuck with our 1972 Plymouth Fury, the country would have run out of gas in 1988. All the workers in Indiana are probably very happy that Honda gained a foothold in America. I think the workers in Mobile, Alabama are going to be VERY happy with Northrop.
One of my other problems with the protesters/Boeing is the sense of sovereignty they are fighting for. America First, Above All Others. Why shouldn't an international company get the bid? Is there a problem with raising the rest of the world up to our minimum standards? I thought that was the goal. To make the world a better place? I think we are living in a time where it is past the point of separation from the rest of the world. The world is a little smaller than it used to be and as the last super power on earth, I think it is our job to help bring the rest of the world up. Do we really want to fly in inferior planes just because they are American made? Personally, I would like to fly in a plane that doesn't fall out of the sky. I don't care if it is made in Canada.
I don't know. I am not an expert on these things, I am just a blogger who reads. It was a good article and if anyone would like to talk more about it, feel free to comment.
Oh Right. Book events. Thursday the 13th at Dupont Circle, come down and learn how to Tango! Long After Midnight at the Nino Bien. Brian Winter packed his bags as a young man and moved to Argentina. Once there, he discovered how deeply ingrained into the society the Tango truly is. A lovely portrait of a beautiful country through a very troubled time. Brain has agreed to come down to Dupont and tell us his tales of living through the hardest times in Argentina. If we get lucky, he might show us a couple of steps. If you have any love of history, Argentina, Peron, dance or just hate television and prefer interacting with real people, or if you just want to punch me in the nose for bashing Boeing, come out to Dupont on Thursday night and see what real people look like. It is WAY better than HD.
Oh, and Rest in Peace Jeff Healey.
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