Posted on 06/17/2012 3:15:39 PM PDT by Errant
Hey, my brother -in-law built a KR2-S (for stretch, he’s 6’3”). He’s from JAsper, ALabama.
Engineers deserve a lot of respect. Unlike slyentists with their ivory tower papers, the hard, real world quickly deals engineers a pass or fail grade in what they do. A successful engineer can not deal in B.S. Period.
“A successful engineer can not deal in B.S. Period.”
Bridges fail, buildings fall and planes crash when engineers, builders & technicians get it wrong.
Scientists just “tweek” their theory.
Politicians? Why they just run for reelection and promise more.
Actors, Journalists, etc. make a new movie or meet a new deadline. If their last work was successful, the put the Oscar or Pulitzer on the mantle, under the spotlight. If not, oh well.
Moms, Farmers, Truck Drivers, get up every morning and feed the family or the livestock or fuel the big rig and “hit the road”. The kids, cows and customers seldom fully appreciate their sacrifice and dedication.
A lot of that happening in fly-over country, not so much in the elite NW, DC, Academia and Cali La-La land.
The Code of Hammurabi, Babylonian law code from about 1772 BC, has this: “If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.”
Accountability.
I was at Oshkosh when he debuted the Vari-eze prototype. That was back when it had a VW engine. He (with his brother flying) was trying to set some kind of record with the plane during the convention. The VW engine burned up partway through the record attempt.
I watched him and his brother change out the old engine and replace it with a donated one in one of the convention workshops. The crew all had “glass-backwards” T-shirts on. They were good — and fast. His brother went out the next day and set the record.
He certainly has gone on to bigger and better things since then.
P.S. The KR-1 and KR-2 are not Rutan designs. They were designed by Ken Rand a few years before the Vari-eze. Construction is somewhat similar, but not identical. The KR-1 and KR-2 were transitions from “wood and cloth” to “foam and fiberglass” construction using a little bit of both. The Vari-eze was “all-the-way” foam and fiberglass.
Hammurabi was a bit harsh, granted, but it was one of the earliest efforts to create a written code embracing social ethics in law. Today we worry about more niceties like whether the builder meant the harm, and what liquidated financial damages are, etc. But even if the builder does not take a dirt nap his name and reputation and fortunes will be mud.
What kills me is the pomp of the catastrophic anthropogenic global warmists. Cleaning junk out of my car just yesterday I came across a magazine from an Ivy League school in which a writer to the editor made the usual well rhetorically crafted, but logically wanting, appeal for CAGW. Oh, look there’s warming that can’t ALL be explained by natural causes (can most of it be?)! Oh, look there’s a consensus among scientists (whether or not in climatology) that the globe is warming (how badly?) due to human activity (can you prove this component is more than infinitesimal?)! It was more like “oh stop arguing with us, we’ll never let you get anywhere” than “let’s compare scientific notes and see whose scientific wild ass guess looks best.”
Note: this topic is from 6/17/2012. Thanks Errant.
We know there’s fraud in the global warming scam - liberals are skimming the good stuff based on lies. It’s how they operate.
Remember ‘peak oil’?
Club of Rome?
Nuclear Winter?
Population Bomb?
ETC
ETC
ETC
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