– The largest state subsidy in US history goes to Boeing. Because all of our other priorities are so well met.
– And speaking of priorities, Seattle is making cuts to expanding the LEAD program? Did the City Council actually believe the rhetoric about downtown crime during the election, and somehow think that it was that program’s fault? The economy is expanding, time to cut programs?
– I supported Hillary Clinton last time and will probably again if she runs for President again. And I’m the biggest supporter of primaries I know. But can we all just pick a narrative and run with it for a while?
– Anti-change advocates don’t assess facts. They just claim, absurdly, that America currently has “the finest healthcare system in the world” and then cite horror stories about sick people dying in streets because they have to wait so long to get the (terrible) healthcare services available to them under “socialist” healthcare. (h/t)
We’ve reached the point where most of the people who are gasbagging about how the US has the “best healthcare system in the world” weren’t even born when it actually was.
@1 being said…I’m more than happy to share what I learned last week at a symposium honoring Dr. Leonard Cobb (the co-originator here in Seattle of the first Medic One project in the US and the second in the world) upon his retirement, that our fair city is still by far the “best place to have a heart attack”. In fact, just since the 1990’s continuing research in improving resuscitation techniques and the proliferation of automated emergency defibrillators (AED’s) has more than doubled the survival rate of out-of-hospital victims of cardiac arrest.
So yeah, in some respects we still do really well, especially here and thanks in large degree to the University of Washington and all the enterprises that were spun off from the work there.
More and more stories about how jobs are going away and what jobs are left are no longer living wage jobs.
Work for less, even in WA.
@3, @4 Welcome to the Great Depression, Rev 2.0. It would be interesting to go back and see how much the issues being debated in the three or four years following the 1929 crash resemble those we’ve been fiddling with since 2007.
The Machinists are making their final votes, and the results will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday).
I understand the anger of the Union members. It really is a lousy contract, forced on the Union with the proverbial gun to the head. Ironically, it’s the more senior members who won’t be impacted by the loss of pension contributions in 2024 who are the most vocal against the contract. For them, it’s fighting for the newer members that will lose the most. They have fought on this issued constantly, and struck twice to reserve the pensions and prevent a two-tier system of employment.
But this is not your normal contract renewal negotiation. The IAM can’t just go out on strike, it is bound by the existing contract for the next two years.
The operative word here is that the Union may fight to preserve the rights of the younger workers, but those younger workers won’t have a job any more anyway.
If the 777X goes to Long Beach or Charleston, Boeing may well move the remaining 787 production to Charleston, as soon as the existing contract expires. That just leaves the 747-8 (which isn’t selling well at all, and may be canceled), and the 767 Tanker (sales paced on a low rate depending upon federal budgets). I doubt they would move the 737MAX line in Renton, however.
So it’s a lousy contract, and Union members are right to be angry about it. But they really don’t have a choice.
@6 Maybe it’s time to imagine a Washington without or with a severely reduced Boeing. Of course it has happened before when thousands were laid-off….”last one out of Seattle turn off the lights”. Agriculture, import/export, technology, health care, timber, recreation, education/intellectual pursuits all contribute mightily to the economy of the state. If the B does bail maybe Embraer [sp.?] would be interested in a turn-key workforce and infrastructure. Or maybe we capitalize on passenger rail and light rail. Detroit failed to look at opportunities when the Big 3 started leaving. I believe that Washington has more going for itself.
@1 A new study shows U.S. health costs are not soaring because of aging baby boomers, but because of unhealthy people under age 65.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/.....2D11582695
What goes around, comes around.
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/.....l.cnn.html
(Safe for work; but do NOT have coffee in your mouth when you watch this video!)
Medic One is fantastic but it’s almost unique in the nation. Cobb was the founder but the recently retired Dr. Michael Copass of Harborview was the one who brought emergency services in King County to their present high standard. The much vaunted private sector has done nothing in this area, it’s been Harborview Hospital, the Seattle Fire Department and the UW Medical system. And let’s not forget Airlift Northwest, another UW Medicine program.
In most parts of the US, even in major urban areas, emergency response is uneven at best, often dreadful. Watch news footage of shootings and accidents in other parts of the US and you will see cops standing around while somebody bleeds out long before any EMTs make it to the scene.
Our area’s excellent emergency system shows what the public sector can do. What is absurd is that Medic One still depends upon regular levy votes for funding.
@10 There have been a lot of heroes. One was Dr. Al Alvarez (who I at one time shared an office with) who fought like a maniac against “Prince Wes” Uhlman’s efforts to privatize Seattle’s EMS and turn it over to Sheppard Ambulance.
Sarah Palin called Pope Francis a liberal, for some of his recent remarks.
http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2.....tatements/
Hawaii is now the 16th state with marriage equality. Final passage in the state Senate was 19 Democrats voting yes, 3 Democrats and the only Republican voting no.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/....._bill.html
@12 Hell, compared to Sarah, almost anything in the universe is “liberal”–at least assuming her degree of psychosis fits any sort of political classification.
Now, if you want some real fun, keep an eye on the semantic two-step on the part of the reactionary Catholics who spent most of Benedict’s watch gasbagging about subservience to the Holy See.
Boeing Workers Reject Contract
KING-5 TV News reports that Boeing workers have overwhelmingly rejected the company’s contract proposal by a 2-to-1 margin.
I get their anger about wages and benefits, but I think they should have taken the contract. The line has been built yet, the machinists have no leverage. Boeing will likely use this to move the line to the south and then nobody here will have jobs. It’s all about shareholder value. The Puget Sound Machinists need Boeing to be employed, Boeing can get workers anywhere.
14)Interesting. I am waiting to see if any of the Bishops here that led the fight on some of the wedge issues suddenly don’t know what to do about refocusing on helping people. Pope Francis has already suspended a German Bishop that had been called the”Bishop of Bling”.
Gets more interesting with Toronto’s crack smoking Mayor. New allegations include drunk driving, Oxycontin abuse, and prostitutes By the way, trolls, Mayor Rob Ford is a Conservative. He apparently has 5 supporters on the City Council, as the non-binding resolution asking him to take a leave of absence, passed 37-5. One of the 5 is his brother.
http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/1.2425344
Puddy asks ERF,
Have you noticed something happening on Swedish trains?
19)Looks like a victim of cyberattacks, Although mqy have been just SJ’s website, the tracks are owned by another entity, I assume that they would have a more secure system. Per an EU directive that aimed to liberalize(their term) railways in preparation for open access most national railways have been split into separate operating and infrastructure companies.
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/a.....el=5291130