Boeing, What The Actual F#$k

Boeing, What The Actual F#$k

It’s been a rough year for Boeing. But maybe it’s their own fucking fault.

ICYMI: Boeing is a felon. They failed to address issues in their planes that caused them to fall out of the sky and kill people. After paying billions for killing those people, they managed to avoid paying additional billions in a subsequent settlement. Instead, they pled guilty and agreed to pay $243.6 million for defrauding the FAA. newsweek.com, reuters.com, justice.gov

Boeing also paid Alaska Airlines $160 Million (and is likely to pay more) because the door on one of their 737 Max 9 aircraft blew off mid-flight with people on the fucking plane. Someone fucking forgot to screw in the four bolts that kept the door plug in place. forbes.com, abcnews.go.com

In a recent interview, pilots from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 explained how it all went down. youtube.com

In March, at least fifty people were fucking hurt when a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner dropped abruptly mid-fucking-flight from Sydney to Auckland. What the actual fuck, Boeing? reuters.com

Somehow, NASA thought it was a brilliant fucking idea to let two astronauts fly into orbit in Boeing’s Starliner. The craft fucking failed before, during and after launch, stranding astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the fucking ISS for eight months. ctvnews.ca

Starliner returned to Earth without a crew last week. Although NASA believed their astronauts would be fine, it landed even more damaged than initially known. qz.com, arstechnica.com, fortune.com, space.com

Butch and Suni will come back on a SpaceX flight in the spring. In the interim, things are getting crowded up there, and Butch and Sumi are probably going to eat a lot of NASA MREs. cnn.com, nasa.gov

Fast forward to this week, 33,000 Boeing workers went on strike, halting production of those fucked up planes that lose doors and fall out of the sky. cnbc.com, vox.com, bloomberg.com, bbc.com

I get where Boeing employees are coming from. Clearly, the company is happy to spread some cash around to solve its problems.

While it might be safer to fly in a Boeing aircraft than, say, riding a motorcycle naked without a fucking helmet, you are much more likely to die in your SUV than in a Boeing 737 Max. injuryfacts.nsc.org

That said, Boeing’s safety issues are real. vox.com

Thankfully, some online travel services now let you filter on aircraft models, letting you choose your own fiery death flight for yourself. theguardian.com, abcnews.go.com

China’s Automotive Expansion

Chinese officials are not happy about the EU’s approach to EV tariffs. reuters.com

China asked their automakers to keep their secrets secret. bloomberg.com

BYD goes on a hiring spree. reuters.com

BYD might be considering getting into electric motorcycles. electrek.co

BYD opens a new flagship showroom in the UAE. cnevpost.com

The Fast Lane Truck YouTube channel reviewed the BYD Shark — warns GM and Ford to take notice! youtube.com

Toyota’s bZ3C is powered by BYD tech. carnewschina.com

Geely’s EX5 electric SUV will be available in Norway, Australia, Thailand and Indonesia. carnewschina.com

The first vehicle from Nio’s Onvo brand will launch later this month. cnevpost.com

In case this was not already clear, CNN reported that the “glory days” for non-Chinese OEMs in China are over. cnn.com

Must Know Musk News

Three dudes successfully drove a couple of Cybertrucks to the Arctic, giving away Level 2 chargers along the way. futurism.com

Shaq got a sexy carbon fibre Cybertruck. supercarblondie.com

Tesla launched an integration with Uber to simplify navigation app access for Uber drivers. teslarati.com

Tesla and Eaton collaborate to make it easier to install your Powerwall. electrek.co

The Boring Company has made some progress. teslarati.com

Starlink provides crucial telecommunications capabilities to people in remote areas of the Brazilian rainforest. And sometimes, also for criminals. theguardian.com

Starklink-powered wi-fi is now available on all United Airlines flights. theverge.com

A former Twitter (X) employee was awarded about $600,000 due to unfair dismissal. businessinsider.com

SpaceX's Starship will start flying uncrewed missions to Mars by 2026 (where is Gary Sinise when you need him?). space.com

SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew conducts historic first private spacewalk. space.com

Energy

ICYMI: Portugal plans to build the first megawatt-scale wave energy project. newatlas.com

Researchers from the Chinese and the US have concluded that covering highways with canopies of solar panels could meet more than 60% of the world’s energy needs. onlinelibrary.wiley.com, pv-magazine.com

Other researchers may have found a biomass-based ionic polymer that can capture CO2 cost-effectively. phys.org, onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Britain paves the way for larger solar projects. reuters.com

GM wants to build batteries with CATL (kinda like Ford did). reuters.com

Meanwhile, in Europe, Northvolt is more fucked than you might have thought. reuters.com

Indoor solar may replace household batteries. abc.net.au

Texas now produces more solar-based electricity than California. electrek.co

Saskatchewan wants to produce more oil. regina.ctvnews.ca

Three words: See-through Solar WIndows (or is that four words?). cleantechnica.com

But Wait, There’s More

GM expands BrightDrop EV van production. canada.autonews.com

GM and Hyundai partner up to develop next-generation EVs and FCEVs. theverge.com, autonews.com

Ford plans to restart production in India. reuters.com

Ford wants to record your in-car conversations so it can serve you ads. gizmodo.com

Stellantis dealers continue to be unhappy with their company’s CEO. canada.autonews.com

NHTSA looks to determine how likely your Wrangler and Gladiator are to catch fire. reuters.com

The Jeep Wagoneer S EV is likely delayed. electrek.co

VW tosses out labour agreements and job guarantees in the face of ongoing restructuring. reuters.com

Italy’s Energy Minister, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, thinks the EU’s “2035 ban on new combustion engine cars is absurd and needs to be revised." reuters.com

America’s safest pickup is the all-electric Rivian R1T. carbuzz.com

Lucid’s CEO thinks electric pick-up trucks are a bad idea. insideevs.com

United States Postal Services started driving the first of its anticipated fleet of electric delivery vans. electrek.co

ICYMI

Solar-powered water pumps could revolutionize clean water access for hundreds of millions of people. theguardian.com

Amazon won’t stop selling taxi roof signs that let criminals defraud unwitting passengers across Canadian cities. cbc.ca

Kick Out The Jams

LL Cool J and Eminem are unapologetic. youtube.com

The Weeknd is dancing in the flames. youtube.com

Tate McRae says it's okay. I'm okay. youtube.com

Jack White explains how he’s feeling. youtube.com

Vin Jay and GAWNE want to tell em all that they are the motherfuckin' GOAT. youtube.com

Suki Waterhouse is a model, actress or whatever. And all she wants is big love. youtube.com, youtube.com

AURORA is reading the wisdom written up for her in her veins. youtube.com

Dead Posey says this is gonna leave a scar. youtube.com

Pixel Grip wants you to show them your stamina. youtube.com

DeathbyRomy wants to die while the camera is flashing. youtube.com