This article is excellent, and extremely disturbing. In the little newsletter I send to a group of folks, I provided the following summary of this awesome TAP article, in case it's length is too daunting for you:
This article about Boeing is not for the faint of heart.
Maureen Tkacik, investigations editor at The American Prospect, provide…
This article is excellent, and extremely disturbing. In the little newsletter I send to a group of folks, I provided the following summary of this awesome TAP article, in case it's length is too daunting for you:
This article about Boeing is not for the faint of heart.
Maureen Tkacik, investigations editor at The American Prospect, provides a long and detailed look at the disgusting (definition: “arousing revulsion or indignation”) business practices of Boeing, focusing on their stock price, not their engineering, or their safety and quality inspections.
I am currently reading Dante’s The Divine Comedy, and one cannot help but think of these Boeing executives when encountering the descending circles of Hell. As one descends, one meets the avaricious, later the thieves, and, in the Seventh Circle, the falsifiers.
Among other things, this article describes:
--->Appalling mistreatment of employees trying to follow the rules that ensure safe airplane operation (one of whom either committed suicide or was the victim of foul play when scheduled to continue in testimony in a whistleblower lawsuit; the details of his treatment by Boeing are infuriating to read)
--->Targeting of Good machinists and inspectors who wore wristbands in support of a union drive were framed with dubious infractions.
--->Purposeful purging of knowledgeable veteran workers into early retirement or transfers
---Prioritization of intellectual property, trade secrets and data, rather than shop floor expertise and the complex reasoning of a skilled and experience workforce
--->Outsourcing of development and engineering design of the 787 Dreamliner to suppliers, “many of which lacked engineering departments.” [Italics in the original] Why? To save money and bust unions (but instead went $50 million over budget and was 3½ years behind schedule).
--->Institution of a process in which quality inspectors were directed to outsource 90% of their duties to the mechanics they were supposed to be supervising (with intention to axe the then-surplus inspectors). [The Federal Aviation Administration charter explicitly requires that quality inspectors document all defects detected, work performed, and parts installed on a commercial airplane in one centralized database.]
--->Multiple examples of problems with Boeing aircraft over and above the ones that hit the big headlines; one inspection team compiled a list of 300 defects on a fuselage scheduled for delivery
--->Boeing had quietly assumed many of the roles traditionally played by its primary regulator, an arrangement that was ethically absurd.
--->Qatar Airways had become so disgusted with the state of the planes it received from Charleston that it refused to accept them
--->Al Jazeera produced a withering documentary called Broken Dreams, in which an employee outfitted with a hidden camera chitchatted with mechanics and inspectors about the planes they were producing. “They hire these people off the street, dude … fucking flipping burgers for a living, making sandwiches at Subway,” one mechanic marveled of his colleagues; another regaled the narrator with tales of co-workers who came to work high on “coke and painkillers and weed” because no one had ever had a urine test. Asked if they would fly the 787 Dreamliner; just five of 15 answered yes, and even the positive responses did Boeing no favors: “I probably would, but I have kind of a death wish, too.”
--->Boeing had quietly assumed many of the roles traditionally played by the FAA, an arrangement Ms. Tkacik calls “ethically absurd”
--->The FAA forced Boeing to halt deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner pending further investigation after so many problems were found, and nonconformances and noncompliances piled up, one headline was “Boeing Looked for Flaws in Its Dreamliner and Couldn’t Stop Finding Them.” (Here the article contained a visual of a diagram showing numerous locations where problems existed.)
Ms. Tkacik calls the plea bargain that settled the criminal probe of Boeing’s practices in the aftermath of two downed 737 Max jets “one of the most pathetic plea bargains in the history of American justice.”
Stan Sorscher, a longtime Boeing physicist and former officer of the Society of Professional Engineering, called Boeing’s business practice a war on “brilliance.”
AS ALWAYS, READING THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IS WAY, WAY BETTER.
I sincerely hope that, if in fact Swampy's death was not suicide, that case gets cracked. The circumstances were Jeffrey-Epstein level suspicious - creepy.
Your cross-posting is very helpful, as it gets messaging out to so many who would not otherwise see it. I just know many of my contacts are not about to dig into an article that long.
I want to believe that Swampy didn't commit suicide, but is it all that easy to kill a man in this fashion and make it look like suicide? According to Maureen Tkacik's March 14 _American Prospect_ story (URL below): "Swampy was inside the Ram, bleeding from his right temple with a silver pistol in his hand and something 'resembling a note' in the passenger seat." He'd been under massive stress at Boeing for well over a decade. A doctor had expressed concern about the state of his heart, and he'd been "diagnosed with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, incurred in his daily struggles with Boeing management." His wife, Diane, had died a little over a year earlier.
Tkacik herself writes in the March 14 story: "I personally have trouble believing Boeing would plot a whistleblower murder, mostly because there are dozens of internal whistleblowers where Swampy came from, and it would be impractical to kill all of them, especially given that Boeing has thus far enjoyed exceptional impunity without bringing about the mysterious death of any crucial witnesses."
Even if Mr. Barnett actually did commit suicide--it was still murder. Boeing's relentless pressure to "conform" and the management's lies that framed him for sub-par work performance and their refusal to let him transfer to another part of the company...all that stress killed "Swampy" even he was the one that pulled the trigger. No question that Boeing is ultimately responsible for Mr. Barnett's death and that is murder in my eyes.
From what I've read, Boeing was responsible for Swampy's death, but that doesn't make it murder. I'm an editor and writer by trade, and since words are the tools of my trade, I take them seriously.
Maybe they will when other companies stop buying their shitty planes. Of course they will blame anybody else. Like chump said in Sun, in 2005 " You never blame yourself. You have to blame something else. You never, ever blame yourself." No wonder a Boeing CEO was hanging with chump in the WH. Sure wish I could remember where I read that, and when.
If I had had Fred as Dad, and Roy as mentor, I may have been a serial killer. One has to have had a "core" which was sorely missing in chump. Empty through and through
This article is excellent, and extremely disturbing. In the little newsletter I send to a group of folks, I provided the following summary of this awesome TAP article, in case it's length is too daunting for you:
This article about Boeing is not for the faint of heart.
Maureen Tkacik, investigations editor at The American Prospect, provides a long and detailed look at the disgusting (definition: “arousing revulsion or indignation”) business practices of Boeing, focusing on their stock price, not their engineering, or their safety and quality inspections.
I am currently reading Dante’s The Divine Comedy, and one cannot help but think of these Boeing executives when encountering the descending circles of Hell. As one descends, one meets the avaricious, later the thieves, and, in the Seventh Circle, the falsifiers.
Among other things, this article describes:
--->Appalling mistreatment of employees trying to follow the rules that ensure safe airplane operation (one of whom either committed suicide or was the victim of foul play when scheduled to continue in testimony in a whistleblower lawsuit; the details of his treatment by Boeing are infuriating to read)
--->Targeting of Good machinists and inspectors who wore wristbands in support of a union drive were framed with dubious infractions.
--->Purposeful purging of knowledgeable veteran workers into early retirement or transfers
---Prioritization of intellectual property, trade secrets and data, rather than shop floor expertise and the complex reasoning of a skilled and experience workforce
--->Outsourcing of development and engineering design of the 787 Dreamliner to suppliers, “many of which lacked engineering departments.” [Italics in the original] Why? To save money and bust unions (but instead went $50 million over budget and was 3½ years behind schedule).
--->Institution of a process in which quality inspectors were directed to outsource 90% of their duties to the mechanics they were supposed to be supervising (with intention to axe the then-surplus inspectors). [The Federal Aviation Administration charter explicitly requires that quality inspectors document all defects detected, work performed, and parts installed on a commercial airplane in one centralized database.]
--->Multiple examples of problems with Boeing aircraft over and above the ones that hit the big headlines; one inspection team compiled a list of 300 defects on a fuselage scheduled for delivery
--->Boeing had quietly assumed many of the roles traditionally played by its primary regulator, an arrangement that was ethically absurd.
--->Qatar Airways had become so disgusted with the state of the planes it received from Charleston that it refused to accept them
--->Al Jazeera produced a withering documentary called Broken Dreams, in which an employee outfitted with a hidden camera chitchatted with mechanics and inspectors about the planes they were producing. “They hire these people off the street, dude … fucking flipping burgers for a living, making sandwiches at Subway,” one mechanic marveled of his colleagues; another regaled the narrator with tales of co-workers who came to work high on “coke and painkillers and weed” because no one had ever had a urine test. Asked if they would fly the 787 Dreamliner; just five of 15 answered yes, and even the positive responses did Boeing no favors: “I probably would, but I have kind of a death wish, too.”
--->Boeing had quietly assumed many of the roles traditionally played by the FAA, an arrangement Ms. Tkacik calls “ethically absurd”
--->The FAA forced Boeing to halt deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner pending further investigation after so many problems were found, and nonconformances and noncompliances piled up, one headline was “Boeing Looked for Flaws in Its Dreamliner and Couldn’t Stop Finding Them.” (Here the article contained a visual of a diagram showing numerous locations where problems existed.)
Ms. Tkacik calls the plea bargain that settled the criminal probe of Boeing’s practices in the aftermath of two downed 737 Max jets “one of the most pathetic plea bargains in the history of American justice.”
Stan Sorscher, a longtime Boeing physicist and former officer of the Society of Professional Engineering, called Boeing’s business practice a war on “brilliance.”
AS ALWAYS, READING THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IS WAY, WAY BETTER.
Swampy didn't commit suicide.
When an article is important, I cross-post for those who can't subscribe.
I sincerely hope that, if in fact Swampy's death was not suicide, that case gets cracked. The circumstances were Jeffrey-Epstein level suspicious - creepy.
Your cross-posting is very helpful, as it gets messaging out to so many who would not otherwise see it. I just know many of my contacts are not about to dig into an article that long.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
I want to believe that Swampy didn't commit suicide, but is it all that easy to kill a man in this fashion and make it look like suicide? According to Maureen Tkacik's March 14 _American Prospect_ story (URL below): "Swampy was inside the Ram, bleeding from his right temple with a silver pistol in his hand and something 'resembling a note' in the passenger seat." He'd been under massive stress at Boeing for well over a decade. A doctor had expressed concern about the state of his heart, and he'd been "diagnosed with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, incurred in his daily struggles with Boeing management." His wife, Diane, had died a little over a year earlier.
Tkacik herself writes in the March 14 story: "I personally have trouble believing Boeing would plot a whistleblower murder, mostly because there are dozens of internal whistleblowers where Swampy came from, and it would be impractical to kill all of them, especially given that Boeing has thus far enjoyed exceptional impunity without bringing about the mysterious death of any crucial witnesses."
https://prospect.org/justice/2024-03-14-strange-death-boeing-whistleblower/
Yes, that scene can be staged.
Even if Mr. Barnett actually did commit suicide--it was still murder. Boeing's relentless pressure to "conform" and the management's lies that framed him for sub-par work performance and their refusal to let him transfer to another part of the company...all that stress killed "Swampy" even he was the one that pulled the trigger. No question that Boeing is ultimately responsible for Mr. Barnett's death and that is murder in my eyes.
From what I've read, Boeing was responsible for Swampy's death, but that doesn't make it murder. I'm an editor and writer by trade, and since words are the tools of my trade, I take them seriously.
If chump cheats his way back into the WH, Boeings shenanigans will be business as usual
Yup. Regulations? We don't need no stinkin' regulations.
Maybe they will when other companies stop buying their shitty planes. Of course they will blame anybody else. Like chump said in Sun, in 2005 " You never blame yourself. You have to blame something else. You never, ever blame yourself." No wonder a Boeing CEO was hanging with chump in the WH. Sure wish I could remember where I read that, and when.
He learned that from Roy Cohn, Snakehandler LLC.
If I had had Fred as Dad, and Roy as mentor, I may have been a serial killer. One has to have had a "core" which was sorely missing in chump. Empty through and through