Slashdot Mirror
Production of Boeing 787 Dreamliner Delayed Again
Hugh Pickens writes "Boeing has discovered microscopic wrinkles in the skin of the 787's fuselage and has ordered Italian supplier Alenia Aeronautica to halt production of fuselage sections at a factory in Italy. 'In two areas on the fuselage, the structure doesn't have the long-term strength that we want,' says Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter. To repair the wrinkles, additional layers of carbon composite material are being added to a 787 at the South Carolina factory and twenty-two other planes must also be patched. Production of the 787 has been fraught with problems with ill-fitting parts, casting doubt on Boeing's strategy of relying on overseas suppliers to build big sections of the aircraft before assembling them at its facilities near Seattle. The 787, built for fuel efficiency from lightweight carbon composite parts, is a priority for Boeing as it struggles with dwindling orders amid the global recession. Customers had been expecting the first of the new jets in the first quarter of 2010 — nearly two years earlier than they will be delivered. The delays have cost Boeing credibility and billions of dollars in anticipated expenses and penalties. Orders for 72 planes have been canceled already this year, although Boeing still has confirmed orders for over 800 aircraft."
The Big Dig isn't even done yet - the tunnels have been in constant disrepair since they were "completed" what with collapsing ceilings, gushing water leaks, and crumbling walls. It's a total clusterfuck that only Taxachusetts can mismanage so badly.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Oh, and the best part? It didn't even solve the daily traffic jam problems here in Boston. They neglected to take into account that the majority of the jam is coming from the North Shore into Cambridge, and from the South Shore into the Southie and Mass Ave exits. What they really should have done if they wanted to spend $20B in the first place was to build 93 into a raised highway, with northbound and southbound both being five or six lanes wide from Mass Ave all the way down to Quincy, and from Starrow Drive all the way up to Somerville, fix the 93-95 interchange at both the North and South shore, and the braintree split, and widen 128, eliminating the wide median. They're finally working on widening 128 now, and they're finally fixing the 93/95 interchange in the South Shore.
That's not even the real cause of the daily traffic jam anyhow. The real cause is the failure to yield the right of way when the law (and courtesy) requires you to do so. If you are traveling in the breakdown lane (it's allowed here during rush hour), you MUST yield to all other traffic, and if you are merging in from the right, unless otherwise posted, you must yield. Instead, people jockey for position. Every time I drive in the right lane through the braintree split going up route 3 on to 128, some fuckwad pulls right in front of me from the on-ramp from Quincy. The best part if it is the ignorant fucks who don't yield invariably accelerate slowly. If they're in such a fucking rush that they feel the need to not yield, the least they can do is find the damned throttle and mash it down. WTF? I do like to keep right unless passing someone, but most of the time through there I try to keep through the left due to the total disregard everyone has for everyone else. There is a reason we're called Massholes here. I think we have the worst drivers in the world. I value my clean driving record (it helps keep my insurance down - I usually drive sports cars) so I tend to drive very defensively and give Massholes a wide berth.
If actual safety laws were enforced (right-of-way/yield laws, keeping to the right, not passing on the right, using turn signals, changing lanes properly and not cutting across three lanes to take your exit that's 200 feet ahead) then the daily traffic jam wouldn't exist. oh sure with the traffic volume traffic would be heavy, but it would probably be a steady 35mph rather than the stop-go-20mph-stop crap that occurs every day after the first "accident" (read: avoidable collusion) two massholes caused by jockeying for position/failing to yield.
The Big Dig is Massachusetts' White Elephant.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50