They're at it again....

The Arab world is rioting again.  Well, as they're always pissed off about something, I guess this isn't really breaking news.  

Now things seem to be boiling over in Egypt, a "strategic American ally".  Really?  How so?  They hate us.  Except on the day our $1.5B foreign aid check arrives in the mail.  Then we're big buds.  But then the check clears and they go back to hating our guts again.

Even more ridiculous is the $3.5B we give to Pakistan every year.  Are there varying degrees of how much you can hate America?  If so, the Pakistanis would be at the top of that bar chart.  Except on the day our foreign aid check arrives in the mail.  Then we're big buds.

We also give $3.1B a year to Israel, but at least they share with us some of the world-class R&D they're doing.  Considering how much we shovel their way you'd think Pakistan and Egypt would share, too, since they're world leaders in....ummm....ahhhh.....somebody help me out here.  (Rock chucking doesn't count.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early this morning a UPS Airbus A300 cargo jet crashed on its approach into Birmingham, Alabama, killing the two crew members.  Tragic.  :(

This somehow brings to mind something I've wondered about for a long time:  Why do commercial pilots make so much money? *  (Smooth segue, huh?  Yes, my mind works in strange ways.)

Don't get me wrong, I don't want some slovenly bus driver up there hauling me and my family all over the sky.  It's a tough job, with terrible pay and long hours for newbies, but they eventually cash in big a few years later, while there are (or at least there used to be) hundreds of very competent high-hour pilots leaving the military every year who are turned away by the airlines.  (Many are now being soaked up by new foreign air carriers, but this is a fairly recent phenomenon.)  

What happened to supply and demand?  I always thought a shortage of a particular job skill = higher pay for those who had it, while an overabundance moderated wages. Apparently not so for commercial pilots.

Pilots I've asked about this say the public can't imagine the huge responsibility they have to care for the 200...300...400 or more passengers strapped to their back.  OK, fair enough.  But why then does a senior FedEx pilot make MORE than a senior Delta, American, or United Captain?  All they have strapped to their back are letters and packages.

*I wish someone would pay me for thinking of weird stuff like this.  I'd be rich!*

Oh well.  Just another of life's mysteries.  Have a great day everyone.  :)

S

* Why does a Boeing 747 have that big bulge on top of the fuselage at the front of the plane?  So the pilot can sit on his wallet.  :)

Will we never learn?

We seem to have it in our mind that "bigger is better".  We Americans like things BIG.  We Texans like thing REALLY BIG.  Trouble is, as we're always prone to do, we take things too far.  


Once this country's largest air carrier American Airlines is today in bankruptcy.  Now comes word that Delta Airlines and US Airways both might make a play to buy American.  We're supposed to have anti-trust laws to guarantee competition, but IMO meaningful anti-trust regulation / oversight  fell by the wayside long ago.  In just the last few years, Delta absorbed Northwest, United absorbed Continental, America West merged with US Air, Southwest snatched up AirTran, and pretty obviously American will be swallowed up by somebody, TBD.  


The same with banking.  I remember hearing experts say 20 years ago that some day there would be only a handful of mega-banks left.  As there was a local community bank on every corner at the time I thought this a ridiculous prediction, but look were we are today.  We're well on our way.  Homebuilding:  Today a handful of national homebuilders control over half the market, and their share is growing.  Retailers:  Think Wal Mart.  'Nuff said.


A hundred years ago we broke up "big railroad" and "big oil", rightly proclaiming it would be good for competition, and therefore for the people.  I understand the principle of "economy of scale".  I also understand the reality of "too big to fail" and "moral hazard".


Once again we're getting run over, and we just sit here and meekly take it.  The people we've elected to look out for our interests are failing us.  I guess we're getting what we deserve.


(Sorry for the boring post.  I guess I read / think too much.) 


S

For my cat-loving friends.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is almost funny:  Last night the co-pilot of a Delta Airlines flight from NC to NYC called air traffic control saying they were in the pattern for landing but the pilot was no where to be found.  He had stepped out to go to the bathroom and hadn't returned.  Then a guy "with a thick foreign accent" began trying to get thru the cockpit door, even using the proper security code, saying the pilot was in the lavatory and would not be returning for landing.  *que the scary music*  The co-pilot declared an emergency and landed, where law enforcement took over.  

Turns out the lavatory door latch broke and the pilot literally couldn't get out and sent the guy with the accent to tell his co-pilot "sup."  

Moral:  Always take something to read with you as you might be in there a lot longer than you expect.  ;)

S