Russian Air Crash

[Minimalist]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/2011090...SG980.html

TUNOSHNA, Russia (AP) - A private Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team slammed into a riverbank moments after takeoff Wednesday, killing at least 43 people in one of the worst plane crashes ever involving a sports team. Two other people on board were critically injured.

While I am a hockey fan and had seen a number of these guys play in the NHL or internationally, the reason for putting the story in Politics is this line from later in the story.

In recent years, Russia and the other former Soviet republics have had some of the world's worst air traffic safety records. Experts blame the poor safety record on the age of the aircraft, weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality.

As this seems to be the model which greedy corporate cocksuckers have for the airline industry - they are all flying in their private jets which are subsidized after all - I got to wondering if there was a "libertarian position" on the Federal Aviation Administration. There is...and it is completely typical of these bastards.

http://libertariananswers.com/what-about-the-faa/

Question:

What would the libertarians replace the FAA with and how would they keep the skies safe for air travel?

Answer:

Private groups would likely evaluate each airline and make suggestions for safety improvement. Airlines would probably pay for inspections in the hopes of getting the ‘Seal of Approval’ from such organizations. Prudent consumers would fly only airlines that received high safety ratings; without such certification, an airline would be unlikely to survive.

Airlines lose money when lives are lost. They face lawsuits from victims or their families and loss of business from frightened consumers. Airlines therefore have great incentive to avoid safety problems. They have nothing to gain and everything to lose by killing their customers.

What a crock of shit.

Looks like the Russians became libertarians.

[Autumnlicious]

A prudent consumer is a oxymoron.

[Minimalist]

It's an oligopoly: An industry dominated by a small number of providers.

When its an industry composed of foreigners we like to call them "cartels."

The consumer - prudent or otherwise - has only the choice to fly or not because all of them are the same. Only strict government regulation keeps the bastards from turning Delta or United into Aeroflot.

What the apologists for capitalism never talk about is that the ultimate offshoot of rampant capitalism is monopoly.

[Ashendant]

Kleptocracy

[Minimalist]

Alexander Galimov, the sole surviving player, has died of his injuries.