Monday, June 17, 2019

Time For Suicide Watch?

I often, when speaking about a baneful influence of financial capitalism on real economy, use Boeing's example as an impossibility to kill the company which is more, way more, than a money machine for its shareholders--it is a national treasure. Well, I might have been very premature in my conclusions. Evidently, somebody desperately tries to do just that--to make sure that Boeing never recovers from the failure of its B-737 Max aircraft. Now, get this:
My first question is--what kind of sick joke is that? It is sick especially against the background of a catastrophic loss of contracts for Boeing due to 737 Max and 787 issues. The inevitable question thus is: are they doing it on purpose? I can imagine how Airbus is joyfully rubbing its hands and Russia, certainly, has a laugh, especially when one sees how MC-21 several test beds do not leave the sky while conducting an extremely vigorous flight testing. One is literally forced to wonder what is going on there? No computer modelling will ever substitute realistic flight testing and will be able to completely predict all contingencies which may arise in such a complex machine as aircraft, especially with the relatively short historic record of composites becoming crucial load-bearing parts such as wings--see B-787 and MC-21 who have carbon-fiber wings. I can only shake my head in disbelief. Is it time for putting Boeing and its commercial aircraft division on suicide watch? But, I guess profit, in the end, trumps safety, as long as shareholders are happy. 

In related news, European Commission, who operates, as most Western bureaucracies, outside causalities-driven universe, are complaining that some Import Substitution (a euphemism for Re-industrialization of Russia) measures by Russia "contradict" Russia's international "obligations" (in Russian). Russia is close second after China in EC's report as a country with the most trade barriers. Well, I think Russia certainly does a shitty job here because she should not follow but lead China as the nation with the highest number of trade barriers for European goods, many of which have been already pushed out of Russian market and have no future on it, due to Russian manufacturers enjoying those commercial benefits. What did those maroons (c) in Brussels, or Strasbourg, or wherever they exist, expect? That Russia, being assaulted by European sanctions non-stop, will beg? Again, Europe decided to play this game in 2013 in Ukraine and now whines that it is hurting her? I feel it is just the start. As I stated for years: Russian-European relations should be reduced economically only to the most basic trade: such as hydrocarbons from Russia, if Europe decides to buy them, plus very few other, mostly high-tech fields, while culturally--new Iron Curtain looks increasingly desirable. European "values" smell with decay and death of a culture, a real one. That is why I always said that Russia should not return to useless BS chamber of Parliament Assembly of Europe. Europe wanted Ukraine and Poland drive the agenda there (naturally a psychotically Russophobic one), let Europe deal with that. Ah, financial contributions--well, why should Russia pay a single Euro to this chamber of imbeciles. Stopping payments was a good step for Russia. Modern Europe and Russia are incompatible on a fundamental level. 

So, this is my short take on some Monday's headlines. But, Boeing certainly takes the prize--it is both technological, economic and, in the end, political suicide in progress. But then again, it is a microcosm of modern America--self-destructing, ungovernable and desperate. Living in a computer generated world.  

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