From "hero" to "goat"

It's an old saying that means to go from someone who can do no wrong to a (scape)goat, the Biggest Loser.  It's everywhere....in sports, business, politics, and even in pet owners.

In sports:  I watched an absolutely incredible college football game on Saturday.  Highly favored and ranked Georgia escaped by the skin of their teeth after Tennessee surprisingly played them off their feet.  It was a classic Cinderella story until, in overtime no less, this Vols running back fumbled on the one yard line....

DOH!  Touchback, Georgia's ball, field goal, game over.  Tennessee loses.  That poor running back will live with that play for the rest of his life, especially in a football-crazy state like Tennessee.

And do I even have to mention the Dallas Cowboy's ridiculously overpaid quarterback, Tony "Choke" Romo, who threw for 500+ yards, an awesome feat, but then threw an interception with a minute to go in the game to lose it all?

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In business:  I remember being at the Farnborough airshow in the UK back in 2006 when Boeing was a hero, writing orders a hundred mph for their new plane still on the drawing board, the 787.  Now they're being delivered and have become little more than super-expensive Hangar Queens.  Various bits keep exploding, catching fire, and falling off....

It got so bad a couple of weeks ago Norwegian Airlines demanded Boeing send over its engineers and mechanics and fix their flying White Elephants.  And just this weekend a Korean Airlines 787 took off from Dallas/Ft. Worth headed to Seoul and immediately had to dump $$$ worth of fuel and return to DFW due to a malfunction.

Today I read that Japan Airlines, a solid, long-time Boeing customer, is buying $9.5B worth of Airbus jets.  I'm thinking Boeing would be turning out its lights if it wasn't for the fact that there is too much demand for new aircraft for either major manufacturer to build all by themselves.

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In politics:  Sen. Ted Cruz, the huge embarrassment from my state of Texas, the once immensely popular poster boy for the Tea Party, is now spontaneously combusting.  

I guess Ted never heard the old political adage, "Always know the answer before you ask the question."  There is not now nor ever has been a snowball's chance in hell Brick O'bama would back off his health care agenda.  And he has a veto in his back pocket as a last resort.  Game, set, match.

Ted's gubment shutdown is doing no good whatsoever, and weekend polls now show the Republican's approval rating to be lower than an enema.  (It makes Congress' overall 10% approval rating look enviable.)  The majority seem to hold the GOP primarily responsible.

This game of chicken is just the opening act.  Next week comes raising the debt ceiling vote.  If it fails, the US theoretically will default for the first time ever paying it's bills.  Thinking Republicans are engineering a coup right now to squash the Tea Party extortionists.  The only magazine cover Ted will be on after that will be Mad magazine.

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And in pet owners:  That hero-to-goat figure would be me.  I took my breakfast, a (pre-cooked) sausage link and a croissant out on the terrace this morning.  Luke the Wonder Dog knows that the last little bite of sausage is his, per our dog/owner agreement.  He sat there, patiently waiting his turn.  Then, just as I was passing to him his little piece of meat, it slipped out of my fingers, bounced, and fell three-stories to its death.  

I looked into Luke's little brown eyes as his prize fell over the edge and could see plain as day what he was thinking:  "You dumb shit!  You're a goat.  You know that?"*

Yep, it's Monday.  Yea.

S  (or should it be G?)

* Don't worry, we're good now....I made it right.  :)

Airplane talk....funny stuff here!

We'll put this one under the heading of "Wat de Fuk".  In case you haven't already heard, someone pranked a San Francisco TV news station, sending them a press release listing the names of the four Asiana Airlines pilots involved in the Boeing 777 crash last week.  The station dutifully called the NTSB to confirm their information, and an intern there confirmed it as correct.  (I suspect his internship is now over.)  Tragic as that event was, I must say this is pretty funny.  See for yourself HERE.

So Sah Ree.

Also in aviation news, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner caught fire while parked at London's Heathrow Airport yesterday.  As you can see from this photo, the fire burned through the composite skin of the fuselage.  This follows a recent 3-month grounding of 787's due to problems with their lithium-ion batteries which caused several on-board fires.  Something isn't right here, folks.

Methinks Boeing just might have gone a little too far, a little too fast with this revolutionary (not evolutionary) new aircraft.  To save weight they used light/strong composites instead of aluminum, fully electric controls instead of hydraulics, etc.  This all looks good on paper, but apparently still has some kinks in it.

If they don't get it right and lose one in flight with major loss of life, the flying public might lose confidence in the type and refuse to fly it.  Check out the history of the deHavilland Comet back in the 1950's and the Lockheed Electra in the 1960's.  A series of crashes doomed both aircraft.

And if Boeing starts losing major orders for 787's* their financial viability as a company will be on the line.  They've pinned their long-term future on this aircraft.   While 737's and 777's are their bread and butter, the Dreamliner was to be their meat and potatoes for decades to come.

Boeing had better be very careful here.

S

*Twin-engined aircraft are given an ETOPS (Extended-Range Twin-Engine Operations) certification based among other things on their reliability.  The more reliable they are, the more of a straight line they can fly away from land over long water or polar routes.

If a plane's ETOPS certification is limited they have to fly closer to coastlines (and divert airports), making for a longer flight that uses more fuel.  If the 787 is "restricted" for questionable reliability, airlines will be dropping out by the drove as it's fuel efficiency is it's reason for being. The FAA is looking at this issue right now.