Planes, Blame and Automobiles

You thought air travel was bad before, but now fares go up daily and new fees are created every week. High fuel prices have already led to a hand full of bankruptcies, and now analysts think US Airways and United may be next. So what can be done? Well if you missed it, many airlines have been changing $25 to check that second piece of luggage, and now American Airlines will be charging $15 for the first bag. This change is only likely to hit about 20-25% of passengers and will raise an estimated $300 million... but the increase costs of fuel are over $3 billion. So look forward to less employees, less planes flying, and higher fairs. Don't like it? Well tell our government to allow nuclear powered airplanes!

High oil prices are also screwing things up for Ford Motor Company; they have decided to cut production of trucks and sport utility vehicles through the rest of this year, and layoffs and plant closures could be coming next. No one seems to want to buy these gas guzzlers! From an economics point of view, one analyst said, "Ford is doing the right thing. I expect other manufacturers will follow and I expect other manufacturers will continue to focus on the offshore consumer, which is where most domestics are focusing right now." Domestic companies are focusing on offshore consumers and people here are buying smaller foreign cars... I guess its true what they say about the grass always being greener on the other side.

Follow-ups

Hundreds of immigrants willingly boarding crowded buses to leave the country they came to in hopes of a better life? Obviously I'm not talking about the Texas border as I used the word willingly... but if you read yesterday's post, you already know what's going on in South Africa! The poor are going after the migrants, blaming them for their problems of crime and unemployment. The army is out in force to stop the violence... but in simple terms... its not working. Perhaps they will come here to the United States?

Last month the Russian Soyuz capsule had a bit of a botched landing as it returned from the International Space Station, i.e. it landed hundreds of miles off course. Now we know it was caused by "the failure of an equipment module to separate from the capsule on time." What that means, we may never know. If this does not convince you that NASA needs more funding so that we do not have to rely on the Russians to get to space, I do not know what would!

Last week was a big victory for gays in Cuba and in California... now there is a victory for gays in the military. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not strike down the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but it did rule that the military cannot automatically discharge people because they're gay. So now military officials "need to prove that having this particular gay person in the unit really hurts morale, and the only way to improve morale is to discharge this person." So if they can just pick on a minority instead, that would be fine!