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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Step Aside Airbus! Boeing Just Left You In The Dust
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 08-21-2006 02:23 AM
There's nothing wrong at all with wanting to celebrate what you feel are the positive aspects of 'your' country (defined as the one the one you were born in and/or relocated to), just as long as that doesn't make you blind to its problems and/or lead to inconsistencies. For example, most western democracies, the US included, operate the principle that free trade within and between countries should be allowed to happen unless there is a very powerful reason not to allow it. That annoys me somewhat about the Airbus/Boeing business: surely airlines should be buying the best plane for the job in hand, not having a situation whereby US airlines buy Boeings simply because they're American, or Air France buys Airbuses simply because they're built in Chirac's back yard. In reality, the industry needs at least two makers of big airliners, both to ensure price competition, global security (if there was only one, it or the government above it could start restricting the sale of planes for political reasons) and ongoing R & D. The current system, whereby Boeing is massively subsidised by US Government military contracts and Airbus through the EU gravy train, doesn't look particularly good on paper, but it appears to more-or-less work in practice.
I now fly quite frequently for work (around 20-30 trips a year, including 2-3 long hauls), and to be honest I've never seriously worried about safety in relation to aircraft type; because maintenance and design are now so reliable that your chances of being involved in an air accident are a lot lower than being killed while driving to work. One of my memories of growing up in the '70s and '80s was that there would be a plane crash (or hijacking) on the news seemingly all the time: now, an airliner being lost with all on board is very rare indeed, and when it does happen, the culprit is usually Air Sodomistan (i.e. some dodgy third world outfit), not a reputable airline in a developed country.
I do remember the Chicago DC-10 crash and the subsequent accusations that it was a fundamentally unsafe aircraft, and I have to admit that I was just a tiny bit nervous when I started flying long haul regularly to be doing so on, you guessed it, DC-10s. I've now done about 15 transatlantic trips in them, and the worst that ever happened was the reading light and video projector used for the in-flight film not working. After the first flight I didn't really worry about DC-10 crashes again, except when trading bad-taste jokes with my cousin (an aeronautical engineer). Northwest are now getting rid of them and last month I took my first trip in their replacement, the A330. Comfort and facilities wise it was a massive improvement: in particular it was a lot quieter in the cabin. I'm sure its direct Boeing competitor (the 777?) is, too. Presumably this US airline bought Airbuses because they were most suited to the routes and passenger loads that had previously used DC-10s, and/or the price was right; just as a French or UK airline would have no hesistation in buying Boeings for the same reason.
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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene
Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 08-21-2006 03:44 AM
quote: Michael Schaffer
I am surprised that I as a foreigner have to explain that to you. If you want to flagwave, you should at least roughly understand what you celebrate and live up to what you celebrate. I don't think there is anything wrong if people like where and how they live and want to celebrate that, but as you have demonstrated so well with your post, it gets hollow pretty easily and then what is left is a hollow symbolism which does indeed hold all the dangers which Carl listed. It has been seen time and time again throughout history that that sort of uncritical "patriotism" can actually become the worst enemy of democracy very quickly.
As an American born American, I can explain to you that America is NOT A DEMOCRACY!!! All of these silly things that carl put down, some of them in neat little quote marks, I guess quoting himself, are just rhetorical nonsense.
America is a representative republic. It was designed to be devoid of the very things that turn so called democracies into the very thing that you think it is, but it isn't.
If you actually read the constitution of the US, you will see they went to very great lengths to avoid the pitfalls of monarchy and majority rule. As we are prevented from political discussions here I will keep this very plain and simple... I can and will go toe to toe with anyone on the finer points of where the US stands in current and in history, and plainly show that the only danger that the US has is at the hands of apathy, not empty flagwaving.
Ciao
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Ron Yost
Master Film Handler
Posts: 344
From: Paso Robles, CA
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 08-21-2006 03:49 PM
No, Dave .. we are, broadly-speaking, a republic, as is every other nation on earth, except hereditary monarchies, that is GOVERNED by a system of representative democracy.
"Democracy," strictly defined, refers to the method of government wherein the members of the group vote directly on all matters of legislation. "Republic" comes from the Latin 'res publica', and refers only to the nature of the government, 'a thing of the people' (that is, not a monarchy), without actually making claims as to how the leaders are selected or how the laws are enacted.
Ron Yost
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