You're Right Mr. Obvious [update]

Regular readers may recall the notion, offered here and many other places, that there really aren't any Red States. All states are made of two components, much as atoms are made of protons and electrons (for the picky, neutrons don't define the atom), the shithole empty Red counties and the smart Blue cities. After the 2016 and 2020 presidentials, I showed that all states have Blue (-ish in the more crimson states) cities surrounded dumbass Red counties. Aside: in last Sunday's "Last Week Tonight", John Oliver allowed as how 690,000 idiots did vote for wannaBePresident Huey Long 2024, which is more than those who voted thusly in both Dakotas combined.

So, what does David Brooks pontificate today (dead trees version)? Here's the headline - "Why People Are Fleeing Blue Cities for Red States". Which is a lie. All those Smurfs from Cambridge aren't heading for the shithole counties in Iowa and Texas and the like. No fucking way. They're all heading for the Blue cities in those Red, and increasingly desiccated, states. They ain't be flocking to the shithole counties.

He goes on through a bunch of paragraphs extoling the virtues of shithole states, but finally offers up some data from real demographers to tell the truth.

As the Democratic Party becomes more and more the party of the college-educated voters and as the Republicans become more the party of white working-class voters, Democratic prospects in the upper Midwest get worse. But Democratic prospects in the Southwestern growth areas get better. It would not surprise me if a different kind of Democrat emerged from these areas.

He mentions South Carolina. In recent days, Lady Lindsey has been all palsy walsy with bin Salman, since the Saudi has put in an order for a passel of 787s (if you search for '787 Saudi' you'll find a bunch of numbers), to be built in Boeing's scab assembly plant in that state. This is the plant that has been screwing up the 787 from the get go. Still is.

Boeing has been forced to halt deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner once again, just months after it resumed deliveries to customers following a year-long halt.

Ya caint tetch a shitkicker how to build something important. You can read more of the grim tale here.

When Boeing broke ground on its new factory near Charleston in 2009, the plant was trumpeted as a state-of-the-art manufacturing hub, building one of the most advanced aircraft in the world. But in the decade since, the factory, which makes the 787 Dreamliner, has been plagued by shoddy production and weak oversight that have threatened to compromise safety.

Many people say that Boeing went in the crapper after the merger with McDonnell-Douglas, and the ascendence of the MD Suits into the Corner Suites. So it seems.

[update, and only 1 day!!]
Boeing shares tumble as some MAX deliveries halted, airlines fret over impact.

The problem, disclosed by Boeing on Thursday, involves the installation of two fittings that join the aft fuselage made by Spirit AeroSystems to the vertical tail, which were not attached correctly to the structure of the fuselage before it was sent to the planemaker.

The latest quality issue is the second such problem to plague the planemaker this year, after it was briefly forced to halt deliveries of 767 freighters.

The assembly in question appears to be made in Witchita, which makes this bit from the Yahoo! report make some sense.

The recent discoveries can be attributed to two main factors: less experienced workers and more rigorous inspections of aircraft before delivery, Melius Research Vice President Scott Mikus said.

How many more planes need fall out of the sky while the ex-MD Suits run Boeing into the ground? The hapless French are eating their lunch as it is. Don't get on a 787!

Boeing's become just a clown car.