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Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

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581–590 of 618 posts

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#581
post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The NTSB is bearing down on Boeing to give up the names of the staff that worked on the Alaska Airlines aircraft whose door plug blew out. At this rate, Boeing wont have to worry about whistleblowers. The investigation alone will be enough to open that can of worms.

I will believe it when I see it, can’t recall the last time a major executive went to prison

"VW executive given the maximum prison sentence for his role in Dieselgate"

https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/6/16743308/volkswagen-olive...

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Corporate serial killers are everywhere really. The tobacco industry knew their product was giving people cancer and tried to hide that from the people they were poisoning. Philips knew their CPAP machines were filling people's lungs with poison and killing them but hid that as long as they could so they could sell more machines. Baby food companies like Gerber and Beech-Nut Nutrition knew/know that their baby food c…

Do you have more information about Gerber and Beech-Nut Nutrition contamination? My baby eats Beech-Nut baby food.

I'm really sorry to hear that. There were a few internet articles and even two congressional reports on the problem showing that both the baby food companies and the FDA knew about unsafe levels of heavy metals, but did not address it.

https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversig...

https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversig...

In light of the scandal the FDA started a "Closer to Zero" program (https://www.fda.gov/food/environmental-contaminants-food/clo...) because I guess zero poison in baby food is asking too much. The website shows that the FDA hasn't continued to outright ignore the problem at least, but you can see that they haven't come close to doing anything meaningful in terms of action levels and don't expect to until Dec 2024.

In the meantime, high levels of heavy metals are still being found in baby food sold in stores: https://www.consumerreports.org/babies-kids/baby-food/are-he...

There are ongoing calls for the FDA to step in and do more (https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2024/attorney-general-james-...) and there are lawsuits in the works (https://www.wisnerbaum.com/blog/2024/january/appeals-court-r...) that you might want to check into since your child could be being hurt.

Some foods are worse than others (rice is a common culprit) so if you're stuck using any kind of baby food off the shelf you might be able to reduce exposure if you're careful about what you buy, but I wouldn't have much confidence in any of it. Once a company has proven that they're willing to poison babies for profit trust shouldn't come easy.

I'm sorry that I was the one to tell you about this, but I'm really glad that you now know and if beech-nut has been hurting your kid I hope the damage done is small and that you're able to get some kind of compensation for the harm they've caused your family. Until companies know that they'll face significant and meaningful consequences if they knowingly hurt us for profit they'll never stop hurting us.

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#583

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> right to face one's accuser I will buy this ‘corporate rights are human rights’ argument when a corporation is put on death row for murder.

Corporate rights aren't human rights, but the right to face one's accuser should be extended to any entity under the judicial process. I don't think it's wise to just hand the government the power to dissolve corporations on evidence they got from... Somewhere, they don't need to tell you. Imagine how that could be abused by a corrupt executive or judiciary.

Closed court proceeding, lawyers only, and a jury of peers to know they exist then with enough proof without naming them.

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#584
post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

suicide due to mental health makes zero sense. sorry you just have to introduce way too many elements. The real explanation is simple.

I am grateful that you have been so fortunate in life to not even understand how someone’s feelings could lead to suicide.

Thanks, nice strawman tho

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve seen enough vindictive behavior in corporate structures that if assassination is on the table at all, so is assassination after the cat has been let out of the bag. That said suicide due to extreme demoralization is also a plausible explanation.

You don't have to assassinate the whistleblower, but merely extra-judicially harass them as much as physically possible and let whatever happens happen. Boeing may not have needed/wanted him dead, but managers have done plenty of petty bullshit retaliation before, for far far less.

They did do all that shit to whistleblowers. Have you seen any of the Boeing documentaries?

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#586
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hacker News is extremely strongly manipulated. What users see as popularity order is actually the order manipulated to the moderators' liking. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#behavi... I believe this is a good technical article for HN concerning safety culture of engineers, but moderators didn't think so.

It's not a technical article. It's a lurid media topic* about a suspicious-looking alleged suicide with zero information for a substantive discussion, and tons of fuel for sinister speculation. That's not what HN is supposed to be for. However, we can give this one a pass because the ongoing Boeing saga is of interest and there's clearly a community appetite to discuss this development. Edit: even though the thread i…

The required explanation is unnecessarily unreadable, so I explain it again.

As I wrote in my other comment, I meant the article as it relates to technology. My original comment is hidden below so I explain it again here. The safety of the environment surrounding engineers is a serious concern of engineers. Note that even if it is a suicide, it is still a safety problem of the environment surrounding engineers. Since it is Boeing that pressured him until he committed suicide.

So I wrote "concerning safety culture of engineers". Your interpretation is a complete misunderstanding. At least the points voted on my above comment indicate that your interpretation is not the majority. Hence, thanks to the many supporters, my above comment received many votes and was moved to this thread and this thread was eventually returned to the top page.

We must not remain ignorant or indifferent to unsafe working environments.

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#587
post #385

"Self-inflicted wound"? Obviously the story is still developing but I'm immediately skeptical. EDIT: Also weird that BBC is already memory-holing that it was a gunshot wound. archive.is has the original. https://archive.is/wj0LE

It was a breach of their guidelines to report a method of suicide, so it sounds like they were just fixing that. This is standard in the UK because of evidence showing that reporting methods can be followed by further suicides. https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines/harm-an... Suicide, Attempted Suicide, Self-Harm and Eating Disorders 5.3.45 Suicide, attempted suicide and self-harm should be portrayed w…

[deleted]

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#588

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> https://www.npr.org/2024/03/12/1238033573/boeing-whistleblow... His family doesn't believe so: > The family says Barnett's health declined because of the stresses of taking a stand against his longtime employer. > "He was suffering from PTSD and anxiety attacks as a result of being subjected to the hostile work environment at Boeing," they said, "which we believe led to his death."

I think we could agree generally that "the hostile work environment at Boeing ... led to his death." It is appalling that they could apply this kind of pressure to one of their own . I'm not familiar with the process here, but does anyone know if the officer makes the determination that this is a "self-inflicted gunshot wound"? I thought that kind of assessment was for the coroner to determine over the course of the…

So he flew in from out-of-state, gave disposition next day, and magically got a gun bypassing 5-day wait period.

Mmmmmm. You don't even need the help of Occam's Razor here.

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the time, huh? Not the usual lawyer intimidation, pressure and PI surveillenace, but actual murder? Ok, can you link to cases then? In the US or Europe or some place like this, not Africa or some developing country where western companies run amok at times. And also some recent ones, in the last 20 years or so?

Okay. - Jeffrey Epstein (2019, US): no explanation needed. - Michael Hastings (2013, USA): Journalist known for his critical reporting on the US military, died in a car crash consistent with a car cyberattack (maximum speed/brake tampering, body charred beyond recognition) amidst national security investigations he was involved in. Expressed concerns his car had been tampered with and that he was being targeted hours…

The GCHQ guy found in a bag in his home

Re: Boeing whistleblower found dead in US

#590
post #548

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can deconstruct language all you want, but it's not going to change basic facts. You're not going to find quality education in North Korea. You will find it in Finland.

You can state your vague opinions as facts all you want, but it doesn't make them facts. Imagine if we wrote code the way we talk about political matters, where trying to be correct was considered wrong, worthy of punishment or banishment . Or for a more apt analogy: imagine if the inaccuracy and untruthfulness in threads like this was tried in a thread about technology right here on HN: do you think that would stand…

I have no idea what kind of weird language game you're trying to play. If you have a problem with vague opinions, maybe you should be more clear about what you're trying to say there. You make vague claims of wrongness, inaccuracy, untruthfulness, and even punishment or banishment, without making clear what the fuck you're hinting at.

You doubt that democracies tend to have better education than dictatorships? Why? Do you have any basis for that doubt?

If you look at lists of countries with the best education, the top is dominated by democracies, with Finland usually at the top. Lots of dictatorships around the world are not exactly known for their quality education. The only exception to that that I can think of are communist dictatorships: Cuba has apparently pretty good doctors, the old USSR was pretty big on research and engineering, and China is currently investing heavily in engineering.

But their educations tend to focus entirely on STEM fields, and not on fields that might lead people to question the politics of the system; it's vital for the survival of dictatorships to suppress that kind of thinking.

> Is Finland the absolute pinnacle of what's possible?

I don't see why. There's always room for improvement.

> And is there some reason the US cannot replicate across the country the quality offered there?

Americans always claim that their country is too big to replicate the successes of Europe. I think that's bullshit; there's a political drive to keep government programs that help the people underfunded, to keep people stupid and poor, particularly from the Republican party that's increasingly pushing the US towards dictatorship. Because they know critical thinking is not going to help their case.

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