Dec. 12, 2002 - 17:21 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Nuke 'Em ?

Maybe going by Mr. Bush's philosophy or whatever it is, perhaps our police in this country should confiscate, destroy motor vehicles and imprison the owners. Pre-emptive strike against people who drive guided missiles and who are a threat to the public.

Sound a bit far fetched ? Maybe so, but we have heard a lot of talk about all the things we are in fear of, but there has been no evidence whatsoever to support many of those claims. I too am in fear of some drunken, high on dope, dimwit talking on a cell phone wiping me, any of my family or as far as that goes, wiping out anybody alive on our streets or highways. The threat is ever present here. Pre-emptively maybe the proper thing to do is to send our forces out in helicopters to blow all traffic off the highways. Yeah, I know, matter of degree.

Now United Airlines is trying to bail themselves out of a leaky craft. For years now I have read about this, that or the other airline that due to some form of mis-management or mis-calculation finds itself behind the eight ball. Usually a cut in pay is forced on the very people who keep the aircraft in the air -- the mechanics. The pilots fly the aircraft and are owed a high wage and can affort a cut in pay, but a pilot can't keep an aircraft in the air if some mechanic hasn't done the proper maintenance or his plane or if someone orders the mechanic to pay no attention to certain aspects of proper procedure on maintenance or inspection of aircraft. I have not the actual figures at hand but can guess that a mechanic makes a hell of a damn sight less per year than a pilot. Yet things like this come up time after time, the mechanics agree to lower wages on the condition that when the airline begins to once again make money they will get back what they gave up. The old yo-yo effect, be persuaded to give something up on condition and then have to fight forever to get it back as promised. Hmmmm does the name Lorenzo strike a familiar chord ?

I keep reading that United is after all owned by its employees. Uh huh, I would be willing to make a guess that the high level brass, although employee owners are ones who held high level jobs to begin with and have bigger shares in the company. Can't blame it all on the airlines I know, 9-11 was a disastrous happening and put the airlines in trouble right off. But why was United set up to tumble ? Employee owned and all ? My idea is mis-manageent and mis-calculation. Not paying attention to reality. And then at this time saying, "Last choice," is to void labor contracts." Which they will have to go to court to accomplish, if the higher up bench approves mechanics and every other employee once under a union contract will have to single handedly fight his own battles for rights, wages and security.

I will say this, that if such a thing happens I will never again be a passenger on that airline's aircraft. Matter of personal safety and matter of principle.

Our Homeland Security is trying to get set up to void union or civil service rights to its employees, paving the way to treat its employees as they wish, wages, hours, working conditions and security of any kind not available, possibility of being forced to work across country from family. Unions are being busted now in many ways. The company / corporation I used to work for has been split up and portions sold off here and there, making union membership less effective. And the new owners are attacking the bargained for rights of the employees. "Oh, well - that was the former employers - this is a whole new ball game and we don't have to honor isht." They find ways to wiggle out of treating their peons fairly.

Seems according to what I read in the news, Republican leader Trent Lott some twenty years ago in effort to keep Bob Jones University on the tax exempt rolls, wrote in a friend of the court brief, concerning the school's policy prohibiting inter-racial dating, "Racial discriination does not always violate public policy." He was then a congressman. Doesn't seem to have changed much to me.

I don't know any more, so many things wrong, so many things lacking support or sense, it seems that the current philosophy of the biggies is, "When in trouble and in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout, and debate - should we Nuke 'Em ?

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