737 Facts:
-The Boeing 737 was designed in 1958 and put into commission in 1965
-A 737 takes off somewhere in the world every 5 seconds
-About 1,250 737s are in the air at any time.
-Conspiracy theorists believe it was actually a 737 and not a 757 that hit the Pentagon on 9/11. (Flt 77 was a 757)
A few hours earlier I had arrived at the airport in a 2007 Ford Taurus rental car which was just as crappy as the 1987 version (which I will discuss in a future blog) and now I was sitting on a plane which has been in the air longer than I have been on the earth. After considerable deliberation, at least five minutes worth, I’ve concluded that the only progress that I have seen in my 30 years of existence is thinner TVs, heated car seats and the internet. In the last 200 years we have seen great leaps in science, engineering and standards of living; so why the sudden slowdown? Is a flying car or a supersonic train that much to ask for? Yes, and here are a few reasons why:
. . . I was about to list some data on how much we spend on weight loss, hair loss and our sorry excuse for space travel when I started watching this testosterone filled Discovery Channel program called Future Weapons. My eyes have been opened. From laser beams to robots, we have found more ways to kill people then calories in a kool-aid stand. With a $400 billion dollar a year budget the pentagon has more money then they know what to do with, they recently reported misplacing $1 Trillion. Sorry Mr. Jetson, your briefcase car is going to have to wait.
5 comments:
Just think about all the sweet stuff we get from the army though. Two things immediately come to my mind:
1) The Humvee - Now assholes with too much money can waste it on impractical vehicles that get 8 mpg and aren't even comfortable. The pathetic thing about Hummers is that they don't even make the H1 anymore which was the only one that was actually tough. Now you get a boxy Tahoe with less space.
2) Assault rifles - dangerous weapons inevitably make their way out of the armed forces and into the arms of crazies, i.e. white supremacists, gang bangers, mafia etc. Where would they get their weapons without our military budget? And I don't want to live in a world where assault rifles are off the street. We wouldn't hae any sweet movies.
I'll agree with the premise that it's pathetic that we haven't been able to build upon things like the 737 or our method of space travel (it's sad to admit that we couldn't fly to the moon if we WANTED to right now). There have been a few other advances that you've overlooked however:
1) Parabolic skis/Snowboards
2) Rap music
3) DVR/Tivo
4) Ipods
and last but not least:
5) Video games
I hate to think what weapons we would be missing out on with those noninventive democrates in power... what a bunch of pussies.
I’ll admit my list of inventions was not all encompassing; however I must take a stance against Ipods. The only thing the Ipod has done is make it cool to walk around with headphones again. I had an “Ipod” in 6th grade and it had removable memory that would work in any stereo (no Ipod accessories needed), with a double-sided 120min tape I could fit GNR’s Appetite for Destruction, Hammer’s Can’t Touch This, and Bad Religion’s Suffer all on one cassette. What more could you ask for?
Hmmm... the collected works of GN'R, MC Hammer and Bad Religion on one Ipod with a little Jack Johnson thrown in for good measure?
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