"USA Today" Piece on GA

[David Mazer]

Completely off thread, sorry.

 

Being from FL, I can tell you that UF is an under-recognized exceptional school.  The state's scholarship program encourages the very best Floridians to stay here and go to UF.  I truly believe non of the Ivy league schools have anything on UF students.  I personally know of a kid with a 4.3 GPA in the gifted program with 98th percentile on the SATs that was rejected from UF.  I'm not sure what it takes to get in if that is rejected.

[fantom]

Funny....the University of Florida and the University of Texas/Austin are probably the two most exceptional public schools of higher learning in the country. I suspect that many legacy Ivy League types couldn't even gain admittance to either one.

 

Do one of your simple Google searches on Edward "Ed" Mezvinsky, flyboy.

 

You'll probably say, "Who is Ed Mezvinsky?"

Well, he is a former Democrat congressman who represented Iowa's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for two terms, from 1973 to 1977.

He sat on the House Judiciary Committee that decided the fate of Richard Nixon.

He was outspoken, saying that Nixon was a crook and a disgrace to politics and the nation and should be impeached.

He and the Clintons were friends and very politically intertwined for many years.

Ed Mezvinsky had an affair with NBC News reporter Marjorie Sue Margolies and later married her after his wife divorced him.

In 1993, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, then a freshman Democrat in Congress, cast the deciding vote that got President Bill Clinton's controversial tax package through the House of Representatives.

In March 2001, Mezvinsky was indicted and later pleaded guilty to 31 of 69 counts of bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud.

Ed Mezvinsky embezzled more than $10 million dollars from people via both a Ponzi scheme and the notorious Nigerian e-mail scams. He was found guilty and sentenced to 80 months in federal prison.

After serving less than five years in federal prison, he was released in April 2008 and remains on federal probation.

To this day, he still owes $9.4 million in restitution to his victims.

About now you are saying, "So what!"

Ed Mezvinsky is Chelsea Clinton's father-in law!

 

Her NBC pay is really a donation, not a salary earned from working.

 

UGH....I wish I was flying  
 

[aviatoreb]

Funny....the University of Florida and the University of Texas/Austin are probably the two most exceptional public schools of higher learning in the country. I suspect that many legacy Ivy League types couldn't even gain admittance to either one.

 

 

I take exception! I'm a UC Berkeley grad - so I can rightly say its the best one.  My mother and father in law say U Michigan.  Another fine school - but not as good as Berkeley.

 

There are a number of outstanding public schools.

[flyboy0681]

Funny....the University of Florida and the University of Texas/Austin are probably the two most exceptional public schools of higher learning in the country. I suspect that many legacy Ivy League types couldn't even gain admittance to either one.

 

 

 

Man did this thread go where no other threads have ever gone before.

 

Neil Bush, son of Bush 41 and brother of 43, is not exactly a stand-up guy either. Here is what some simple digging has produced:

 

"In July 1999, Bush made at least $798,000 on three stock trades in a single day of a company, Kopin Corporation, where he had been employed as a consultant". 

 

"Neil Bush was a member of the board of directors of Denver-based Silverado Savings and Loan during the 1980s' larger Savings and Load crisis. According to a court documents, Silverado's collapse cost taxpayers $1.3 billion."

 

What's it all mean? Not a thing.

 

 

I never said that Ivy league was any better or worse than other institutions, all I said was graduates had higher earning potential and a simple search will reveal that, I didn't fabricate my own facts. Why am I being vilified here?

 

 

I'll leave you with something a great American once said: So?

 

And I still don't know why triple8s posted the link here in the first place.

[fantom]

 

 

And I still don't know why triple8s posted the link here in the first place.

 

...or my dear friend, why you can't ever leave well enough alone when it comes to this stuff.

[bonal]

Well if you master an excavator you can take both those salaries and times by 2. We have linemen that gross over 200K every year where I work certified welders as well. Yes you have to work the hours to earn it but its good honest work that actually produces something of real value.

[flyboy0681]

Well if you master an excavator you can take both those salaries and times by 2. We have linemen that gross over 200K every year where I work certified welders as well. Yes you have to work the hours to earn it but its good honest work that actually produces something of real value.

 

Guess I'm in the wrong line of work.

[AndyFromCB]

Well if you master an excavator you can take both those salaries and times by 2. We have linemen that gross over 200K every year where I work certified welders as well. Yes you have to work the hours to earn it but its good honest work that actually produces something of real value.

 

Sounds very cold and windy ;-) As to lasting value, that's always questionable. At very best, the sun will explode in 4 billion years and then all that hard work for nothing...

[Hank]

Sounds very cold and windy ;-) As to lasting value, that's always questionable. At very best, the sun will explode in 4 billion years and then all that hard work for nothing...

 

That would apply to all of us. Why fix up our Mooneys . . .

[AndyFromCB]

That would apply to all of us. Why fix up our Mooneys . . .

 

It was a bit tongue in cheek. I was referring to the comment that states that welding (in oil/gas fields I assume based on salaries posted) is somehow more "real value" than working in finance. It takes both to extract gas/oil...And insurance, a ton of insurance. 

 

Most here are always dreaming of simpler, easier times when men were men and sheep were scared, or something along them lines. Truth is we need both welders and Ivy Leaguer's to make the world go around. Can't drill for oil/gas without lawyers, insurance, capital and derivative markets. I mean you can I guess, but not very profitably. And contrary to some here who apparently never left their little corner of their state, there is no left wing in American politics: there is right wing (the democratic party), and ultra right wing (the republican party), and then the people who believe in unicorns (tea party). You want to see left wing, go to Europe.

[moodychief]

Can we just get back to the subject?

Has anyone considered this journalist may be a hired gun for the airlines? The airlines may feel threatened since they are losing business travelers to GA due to the airlines no longer arriving on schedule to the destinations? What better way than to scare them back to the airlines by tugging on the emotional strings of family members of frequent GA travelers.

[flyboy0681]

I do so love it when you pontificate...hey, that rhymes with deficate...which is what I wish to do upon your post.

 

You're such an idiot.

[Seth]

Can we just get back to the subject?

Has anyone considered this journalist may be a hired gun for the airlines? The airlines may feel threatened since they are losing business travelers to GA due to the airlines no longer arriving on schedule to the destinations? What better way than to scare them back to the airlines by tugging on the emotional strings of family members of frequent GA travelers.

Take a look at Surf Air - Perfect example of how GA can trump the airlines.  Subscription based all you can fly service connecting San Francisco to Lost Angles, and a few other destinations.

 

 

 

-Seth

[flyboy0681]

There are a lot of idiots that take offense to that...

 

Sigh  

[chrisk]

I knew there was a reason I wrote and deleted a post multiple times. 

[PMcClure]

Talking with Rhett last week from Continental about this piece. Their counsel read it and says some of it reads almost verbatim for comments made by one of the leading trial lawyers pursuing the manufacturers. I find that many people are lazy and take what is given them and do little investigation on their own. You would hope for more from a major newspaper, but.....sigh...

[DaV8or]

Talking with Rhett last week from Continental about this piece. Their counsel read it and says some of it reads almost verbatim for comments made by one of the leading trial lawyers pursuing the manufacturers. I find that many people are lazy and take what is given them and do little investigation on their own. You would hope for more from a major newspaper, but.....sigh...

 

Like I said either here or on another forum, I can't keep it straight sometimes, anyways I said this thing reads like it had a lot of help from an aviation lawyer.

[AndyFromCB]

Talking with Rhett last week from Continental about this piece. Their counsel read it and says some of it reads almost verbatim for comments made by one of the leading trial lawyers pursuing the manufacturers. I find that many people are lazy and take what is given them and do little investigation on their own. You would hope for more from a major newspaper, but.....sigh...

There is a company that has a lot of room to talk. The valve seat job on most continental cylinders looks like it was ground by a 3 year with a dremel. Quite frankly, having have read the article, while obviously over hyped, it presented nothing that was not factually correct. Cessna's seat rails have been a know problem for years before Cessna got slapped with the giant verdict and cleaned up their act and don't even get me started on good old Frank Robinson and his way of doing business and his attitude towards any sort of safety innovation. Of course, that attitude permeates the entire GA community, as multiple threads on multiple forums refer to CAPS as a crutch.

 

And nobody says corporations are bad in themselves, but clearly, when not regulated, inspected, and fined the crap out of when they don't comply, we'd still have 10 year old losing their fingers daily in machines. That's the natural order of things.

[DaV8or]

There is a company that has a lot of room to talk. The valve seat job on most continental cylinders looks like it was ground by a 3 year with a dremel. Quite frankly, having have read the article, while obviously over hyped, it presented nothing that was not factually correct. Cessna's seat rails have been a know problem for years before Cessna got slapped with the giant verdict and cleaned up their act and don't even get me started on good old Frank Robinson and his way of doing business and his attitude towards any sort of safety innovation. Of course, that attitude permeates the entire GA community, as multiple threads on multiple forums refer to CAPS as a crutch.

 

And nobody says corporations are bad in themselves, but clearly, when not regulated, inspected, and fined the crap out of when they don't comply, we'd still have 10 year old losing their fingers daily in machines. That's the natural order of things.

 

In all fairness, I think a large part of the problem is litigious climate in our country and the FAA regulations. Neither promote a company quickly, or easily fixing a known defect.

 

Take the carburetor problem on Lycomings cited is this article. For change to occur, a redesign to the carburetor is required. Now it is a new carburetor and it needs to go through the entire certification program. Ditto for Lycoming and any engine equipped with this carburetor. The fact that there is a redesign is admission of a known problem, so unless they want to issue an AD for every owner of the old carburetor to immediately, before the next flight to replace them with the new design, they will set themselves up for many lawsuits.

 

All these things weigh heavy on the minds of manufacturers no doubt. You can see why they wait until there is a history of failure before they actually do anything rather than act at the first hint of a problem. The manufacturers are screwed no matter what they do. The profit margins and sales volumes just can't support redesigns and recalls. This IMO, is why don't have modern engines and why we see fewer and fewer new companies come to market. The industry is stagnant when it comes to power plants because it is just too damn hard of a business to be in in America.

 

GA is actually lucky there are any brand new piston engines available. I suspect that Lycoming will either throw in the towel on piston GA soon, or sell off to the Chinese also.

[flyboy0681]

I just saw my next door neighbor cutting her grass...or mowing the lawn in flip-flops. Maybe Honda should develop a camera that identifies when users are not wearing appropriate clothing and stop the lawn mower from starting. Call it the "flip-flop" failsafe...'cause all these incidents are the Corporations fault, no cupability for the end user. For goodness sake, everyone knows people are going to cut the grass in flip-flops. Why didn't you install that camera failsafe Mr. Honda. $35 million to the flip-flop wearing housewife. Next.

 

Well, with all due respect, a person's foot would be just as likely to be taken off with Bruno Magli shoes as well. Maybe the camera should look for Kevlar shoes.

[jetdriven]

In all fairness, I think a large part of the problem is litigious climate in our country and the FAA regulations. Neither promote a company quickly, or easily fixing a known defect.

 

Take the carburetor problem on Lycomings cited is this article. For change to occur, a redesign to the carburetor is required. Now it is a new carburetor and it needs to go through the entire certification program. Ditto for Lycoming and any engine equipped with this carburetor. The fact that there is a redesign is admission of a known problem, so unless they want to issue an AD for every owner of the old carburetor to immediately, before the next flight to replace them with the new design, they will set themselves up for many lawsuits.

 

All these things weigh heavy on the minds of manufacturers no doubt. You can see why they wait until there is a history of failure before they actually do anything rather than act at the first hint of a problem. The manufacturers are screwed no matter what they do. The profit margins and sales volumes just can't support redesigns and recalls. This IMO, is why don't have modern engines and why we see fewer and fewer new companies come to market. The industry is stagnant when it comes to power plants because it is just too damn hard of a business to be in in America.

 

The instance of the carburetor is factually incorrect. Manufacturers incorporate improvements to their products all the time and it does not make it a new carburetor. it is simply an alteration of an existing design. It still conforms to the existing type design granted by the FAA in the first plane. We used to have plastic floats that filled with fuel and sank, and the wonderful two-piece venturi that never ran right.  It takes a minimum of paperwork, and certainly not  complete recertification. But its a lot easier to keep selling the same old parts for ridiculous prices than it is to incorporate a steady product improvement program.   Mostly because of lack of competition and sole-source parts.

 

Now when trial lawyers get ahold of internal documents that show there is corporate knowledge of a defect and no action was taken to remedy the said defect, or worse, the company concealed the problem, we get huge awards at jury trials. Look at the latest fiasco with General Motors.

[flyboy0681]

With all due respect, I don't wear shoes that I cannot say the name of. Leather shoe or no protection. In what scenario is there more likelihood of stopping a blade/deflecting a blade/mitigating the severity/reducing the likelihood of slipping?

 

Your point is well taken. Besides, I would never wear those ugly ass shoes.

[flyboy0681]

On the cover of today's USA Today ... some ridiculous sounding rhetoric ... something like: "Untied States vows to vigorously support Iraq."

Truthfully - we are supporting jack! But we can't allow the public to hear the truth that Obama and all his rhetoric about political solutions and his cowardly, politically calculated decisions have been flat out wrong wrong

As we stand by and watch the country taken over by terrorists, promise 300 hundred advisors - (promised a week ago and not one on the ground there yet?), our Secretary of State pushes for a ridiculous last second government restructuring within their constitution and our Prezident makes publicly degrading remarks about failure of Iraq's leadership. What a farce!

Why can't they just admit:

1) while they hide just about everything else (Behghazi, IRS, sealed all his records and Obama's college transcripts) they were more than TRANSPARENT TO OUR ENEMIES just when we were leaving and exact numbers and dates. Idiots!

2) We removed our troops because of Political expediency, and left OR ABANDONDED the Iraqi government unprepared and unsupported. Our word around the world means nothing. We can't be trusted. We desert our allies! OBAMA deserts our allies!

3) while still clinging to their idealistic philosophy ... There is NO POLITICAL SOLUTION to radical religious terrorists who want to kill or subjugate everybody. Kerry and his rhetoric is ... Laughable at best!

4) Obama, his staff, his philosophies are incorrect and as a result they have TOTALLY BLOWN IT in Iraq. Everything our soldiers fought for has been lost.

Waiting for Obama to "draw a red line!" (What a joke ... and so is USA Today)

Why won't papers print the truth?

 

You forgot birth certificate.

[jetdriven]

The long form birth certificate that was released by the White House and certified by Hawaii?

 

here it is again:

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Obama-birthcertificate-WhiteHouse/2011/04/27/id/394249/

[flyboy0681]

There IS some Media that IS AWAKE. Stop going to that well (Mainstream Media). The agenda is clear and unwavering...Unless you are a Masochist.

 

Scott is actually right in this case. NewsMax now has its own cable channel.