The best player in baseball today... and perhaps the best all-around hitter ever....
Pujols in the cage 090216
Pujols in the cage 090216
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
I am not surprised at all by this news. It matches perfectly my experience working in the military aerospace industry for 25 years before giving up and entering medical school....
From today's online Wall Street Journal...
Air Force Says
...Lockheed says problem-free F-22s are coming off of its Marietta, Ga., production line and the plane represents a known quantity, with one F-22 capable of replacing two older F-15 fighters. "We're trying to make the point that this isn't a decision you get back," said Lockheed's Larry Lawson, general manager of the F-22 program.
(emphasis mine)
This is what has happened to every major defense program of the past 20+ years...cut back, cut back, cut back... especially when Demos are in charge. I worked on the B-2 program for most of my 25 years as an engineer, and I watched that program go from 132 aircraft to an (almost) irrelevant 20, plus one or 2 token plus-ups added by Pres Clinton as a phony gesture to defense hawks in his attempts to move to the center....
This is one reason why engineers are hard to find in the US. We can no longer manage a Manhattan Project or Race to the Moon, and I think that all these Green Manufacturing Economy ideas are complete fantasies. Smart students no longer want to enter engineering, and especially defense-related engineering, because there is absolutely ZERO career stability. Every year the program you are working on is threatened with reduction or elimination, and big exciting programs like the B-2 or F-22 are always targeted, and not only by the military-hating pols and groups. It is impossible to raise your family, save for retirement, put your children thru college, and perhaps support your church and community and enjoy life some when you are CONSTANTLY worried that your project will be eliminated.
Please dont tell me that I am belly-aching, that this is how it is in every field of endeavor. I dont buy that. We that work, or have worked, in the national defense industry trade economic freedom for some expected benefits. In the defense industry, we have essentially a single customer - the US Military and, by extension, the population of the country. Foreign military sales are a relatively recent aspect of that industry, and are not a good thing but are instead a symptom of the problems with the industry - not enough purchases by your main customer, uncertain procurements, broken promises every 1-2-4-8 years, etc. I have also worked on foreign military sales programs, and they are very poor shadow of their US DOD counterparts.
Our single customer dictates how much we can charge, how much profit can be made, demands ownership of all work product - all things that do not happen in other work fields. It is true that the development of a product is paid for by the customer, but this is to be expected - can anyone imagine a company developing a product like the F-22 or B2 on their own nickel and then selling it to the US military. The commercial airplane manufacturer Boeing, and the others that have since disappeared - I have worked for both Douglas Aircraft and Boeing - develop their aircraft "product" on their own because they can sell them to companies around the world. This would never happen with important military products like the B-2 or F-22. Even foreign military sales version of US weapon systems like the F-15, F-16, and soon the F-22 are HIGHLY regulated by the US customer before the sale ever is approved. This is not the case for commercial products, at least not nearly to the same extent.
I wanted the blogosphere to have my words on this subject. I gave up on military engineering several years ago, and switched to a full-time medical career in 2007 after preparing part time for the previous 4 years. This essential industry is going the same way of all US manufacturing, although a little more slowly.
I will discourage my children from ever considering an engineering career, and especially in aerospace. It is a career choice full of disappointment and uncertainty lacking in real advancement potential.
Boys - Choose Medicine or Law.
From today's online Wall Street Journal...
Air Force Says
Fewer F-22s Needed
...Lockheed says problem-free F-22s are coming off of its Marietta, Ga., production line and the plane represents a known quantity, with one F-22 capable of replacing two older F-15 fighters. "We're trying to make the point that this isn't a decision you get back," said Lockheed's Larry Lawson, general manager of the F-22 program.
(emphasis mine)
This is what has happened to every major defense program of the past 20+ years...cut back, cut back, cut back... especially when Demos are in charge. I worked on the B-2 program for most of my 25 years as an engineer, and I watched that program go from 132 aircraft to an (almost) irrelevant 20, plus one or 2 token plus-ups added by Pres Clinton as a phony gesture to defense hawks in his attempts to move to the center....
This is one reason why engineers are hard to find in the US. We can no longer manage a Manhattan Project or Race to the Moon, and I think that all these Green Manufacturing Economy ideas are complete fantasies. Smart students no longer want to enter engineering, and especially defense-related engineering, because there is absolutely ZERO career stability. Every year the program you are working on is threatened with reduction or elimination, and big exciting programs like the B-2 or F-22 are always targeted, and not only by the military-hating pols and groups. It is impossible to raise your family, save for retirement, put your children thru college, and perhaps support your church and community and enjoy life some when you are CONSTANTLY worried that your project will be eliminated.
Please dont tell me that I am belly-aching, that this is how it is in every field of endeavor. I dont buy that. We that work, or have worked, in the national defense industry trade economic freedom for some expected benefits. In the defense industry, we have essentially a single customer - the US Military and, by extension, the population of the country. Foreign military sales are a relatively recent aspect of that industry, and are not a good thing but are instead a symptom of the problems with the industry - not enough purchases by your main customer, uncertain procurements, broken promises every 1-2-4-8 years, etc. I have also worked on foreign military sales programs, and they are very poor shadow of their US DOD counterparts.
Our single customer dictates how much we can charge, how much profit can be made, demands ownership of all work product - all things that do not happen in other work fields. It is true that the development of a product is paid for by the customer, but this is to be expected - can anyone imagine a company developing a product like the F-22 or B2 on their own nickel and then selling it to the US military. The commercial airplane manufacturer Boeing, and the others that have since disappeared - I have worked for both Douglas Aircraft and Boeing - develop their aircraft "product" on their own because they can sell them to companies around the world. This would never happen with important military products like the B-2 or F-22. Even foreign military sales version of US weapon systems like the F-15, F-16, and soon the F-22 are HIGHLY regulated by the US customer before the sale ever is approved. This is not the case for commercial products, at least not nearly to the same extent.
I wanted the blogosphere to have my words on this subject. I gave up on military engineering several years ago, and switched to a full-time medical career in 2007 after preparing part time for the previous 4 years. This essential industry is going the same way of all US manufacturing, although a little more slowly.
I will discourage my children from ever considering an engineering career, and especially in aerospace. It is a career choice full of disappointment and uncertainty lacking in real advancement potential.
Boys - Choose Medicine or Law.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
I'm Not a Socialist Now...or Ever....
Please read Claudia Rosett's latest post here
and ask yourself if you really believe that the government (any branch or part thereof) can provide the kind of life we all wish for ourselves and our children and grandchildren...look at what became of people in the Soviet Union ... look at how it seems that EVERY Chinese citizen wants China to be more like the US....
Think about it....
No, We Are Not All Socialists Now
and ask yourself if you really believe that the government (any branch or part thereof) can provide the kind of life we all wish for ourselves and our children and grandchildren...look at what became of people in the Soviet Union ... look at how it seems that EVERY Chinese citizen wants China to be more like the US....
Think about it....
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Congress Demos Trying to Sneak In Nationalized Healthcare !
Everyone should know about the nasty goodies tucked into the Spendulus package that will lay the foundation for Nationalized Health Care......
Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey
Very Bad JuJu !
Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey
Very Bad JuJu !
Its good to be back home in the good ol' USA...
Bad form, I know, to go through 20 months of medical school without posting a single thought on my blog. Too many things have transpired since I first opened this channel....
For now, I must try to study for my first medical licensing event, the USMLE Step 1 exam.
What I have learned is... a review class is a waste of time and money after 20+ months of classroom work. I underestimated my fatigue at sitting on my "brains" all day long. Sure wish that I had realized this before I shelled out the almost $7 Grand for the class.
Live and learn...
Is it just me, or does the political news surrounding the beginning of the Obama administration very similar to the "mess" at the beginning of the Clinton admin..... hmmm, wonder why???
Bad form, I know, to go through 20 months of medical school without posting a single thought on my blog. Too many things have transpired since I first opened this channel....
- Lots of studying
- Kids doing 2 school years worth of home schooling
- Living in a foreign country, making us all appreciate what we have in our beloved USA
- Many things I could have blogged on if I had the time, not the least of which was the elections, Iraq, the recession, etc etc
For now, I must try to study for my first medical licensing event, the USMLE Step 1 exam.
What I have learned is... a review class is a waste of time and money after 20+ months of classroom work. I underestimated my fatigue at sitting on my "brains" all day long. Sure wish that I had realized this before I shelled out the almost $7 Grand for the class.
Live and learn...
Is it just me, or does the political news surrounding the beginning of the Obama administration very similar to the "mess" at the beginning of the Clinton admin..... hmmm, wonder why???
Monday, February 09, 2009
Thoughts on the stimulus...
Does anyone else wonder why the President is so intent on getting Republicans to sign on to his "stimulus" package? He has sufficient votes in both the House and Senate to pass whatever he wants...clearly, there is SOME reason for desiring Republican support? Could it be that he wants to have Republicans on board in order to blame them when the boondoggle doesn't stimulate the economy at all?
FDR didnt care about Republican support...why does Pres. Obama?
Doesnt anyone read history at all, or learn from past mistakes? What lessons can be taken from Japan's lost decade? Surely the economists working for the Obama administration know that Japan's " Lost Decade " was not corrected with massive increases in spending! Talk about willful suspension of disbelief!
Watch for Sec. Geithner to unveil even more treasury stimulus (read = Spending) after the big Congressional stimulus package gets passed...perhaps we wont notice that ever more $BILLIONS are being poared down the rat home of wasteful spending.....
Watch this space...
Does anyone else wonder why the President is so intent on getting Republicans to sign on to his "stimulus" package? He has sufficient votes in both the House and Senate to pass whatever he wants...clearly, there is SOME reason for desiring Republican support? Could it be that he wants to have Republicans on board in order to blame them when the boondoggle doesn't stimulate the economy at all?
FDR didnt care about Republican support...why does Pres. Obama?
Doesnt anyone read history at all, or learn from past mistakes? What lessons can be taken from Japan's lost decade? Surely the economists working for the Obama administration know that Japan's " Lost Decade " was not corrected with massive increases in spending! Talk about willful suspension of disbelief!
Watch for Sec. Geithner to unveil even more treasury stimulus (read = Spending) after the big Congressional stimulus package gets passed...perhaps we wont notice that ever more $BILLIONS are being poared down the rat home of wasteful spending.....
Watch this space...
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