Not to be outdone, Boeing has ominously merged its communications and space unit with its military aircraft and missiles division. Why? According to Boeing CEO Paul Condit, the reorganization reflects the way future systems will be "designed, acquired and maintained" and will help Boeing better target "R&D opportunities."
Chew on that a minute. Sounds harmless enough at first, but remember this is Boeing - the same company that justifies its billions in tax breaks and corporate pork by emphasizing the company's contributions to civilian life. Never mind that Boeing has a disgraceful track record of violating governmental contracts, and that in spite of accepting "job creation" subsidies, it has slashed 100,000 employees in the last ten years. Never mind that even though the company is propped up with taxpayer dollars, its profits remain private and nothing stops it from moving production - and jobs - to places like military factories in Xian, China. Doesn't matter: Boeing is still the leading recipient of US Export-Import bank corporate welfare, and a symbol of American pride.
So just what then is implied by "communications" and "space" now falling under the military domain? Brings to mind the Pentagon's purchasing all rights to Ikonos satellite pictures of Afghanistan soon after the allied bombs started falling, thereby shielding the suggestible masses back home from gruesome displays of Afghan civilian casualties. "Communications" = hiding information.
Chew on that a minute. Sounds harmless enough at first, but remember this is Boeing - the same company that justifies its billions in tax breaks and corporate pork by emphasizing the company's contributions to civilian life. Never mind that Boeing has a disgraceful track record of violating governmental contracts, and that in spite of accepting "job creation" subsidies, it has slashed 100,000 employees in the last ten years. Never mind that even though the company is propped up with taxpayer dollars, its profits remain private and nothing stops it from moving production - and jobs - to places like military factories in Xian, China. Doesn't matter: Boeing is still the leading recipient of US Export-Import bank corporate welfare, and a symbol of American pride.
So just what then is implied by "communications" and "space" now falling under the military domain? Brings to mind the Pentagon's purchasing all rights to Ikonos satellite pictures of Afghanistan soon after the allied bombs started falling, thereby shielding the suggestible masses back home from gruesome displays of Afghan civilian casualties. "Communications" = hiding information.