The disappearing airplane winds up crashing into a remote part of the Indian Ocean? Of course it’s a Chicago story

One of the reasons why I have never really sought to work as a reporter-type person outside of Chicago (even when I was in Springfield, I was surrounded by Chicago-oriented people) was because of the fact that it seems just about every story of significance on Planet Earth has a Chicago angle.

The story of how an airplane like this ...

Have a disaster or military conflict that is killing people? There ARE ethnic enclaves somewhere in the city filled with concerned people wondering if their relatives are suffering.

THERE ARE GOVERNMENT officials around the globe who were educated, if not outright raised, in Chicago.

And how many foreign governments feel compelled to have consulates in our city to supplement the official embassies they maintain in Washington, D.C.? I can recall once having a job a couple of blocks from an ominous – and heavily secured – building I later learned was the Chinese consulate.

But back to the point – this is a place that is most definitely a part of the global economy; and one that takes full advantage of it. Our courts can wind up making rulings that have a significant impact on the planet.

Which is the real focal point of this commentary – because it seems the dominant news story of recent weeks is about to get not only a United States angle, but one that will cause it to get the dateline “Chicago.”

FOR A CHICAGO-based law firm (Ribbeck Law, to be exact) filed a lawsuit this week in Cook County Circuit Court that demands information about the airplane specs of the type of jet used by Malaysia Airlines for the flight that disappeared – only to have officials convinced it lies in pieces at the bottom of the ocean.

... winds up in a remote place like this ...

The airplane was one designed by Boeing Co. The law firm – which says it may try to organize a lawsuit on behalf of the families of the Malaysia Airlines flight in question – claims its actions this week are to gather information so that they can hire experts who can find potential defects in the design.

That could potentially allow for any lawsuit to include Boeing; and we all know that having a big and rich company legitimately involved in a legal action increases the potential for a financially big payout.

That big payout, of course, is the reason why people would want to get involved in a lawsuit of any type.

... may be learned at this place.

WE DON’T KNOW officially what happened with that Malaysia Airlines flight that had 239 passengers – of which it would be miraculous if any of them survived the disaster itself, let alone were still alive now.

The early speculation was that the airline pilots themselves may have somehow hijacked the flight – although no one ever carried that theory out to the point of trying to explain “Why?” they’d do that!

Which would make it hard to sue anybody. How many international terrorist organizations are public enough to have assets that could be seized as part of a lawsuit settlement?

That is why the legal types are telling the Reuters wire service that they’re trying to show that it was a mechanical defect that caused the airplane to disappear, then crash into the ocean.

A FIRE ON board the plane, or perhaps a loss of oxygen in the cockpit? Either of which would have the effect of causing the plane to fly out-of-control for awhile before finally crashing.

Because it could be believed that if the pilots had been fully aware and conscious, they would have tried to make an emergency landing somewhere – anywhere – on land. Instead of letting the flight fly out so far into the ocean that there was no chance of survival for the passengers.

The world has been focused on Malaysia in recent weeks to find out where the plane disappeared to. It’s going to wind up focusing on that rust-colored building near the Picasso statue to learn “Why?”

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Boasting about business? Is Quinn desperate for an accomplishment?

I realize that government officials like to be able to claim they’re bringing business interests to within their boundaries.

Now a part of Chicago economy

It’s a boost for the economy, creates some jobs that can be held by local people and also makes it look like the officials actually got off their collective duffs and did something to earn their share of the taxpayer money that covers their salaries.

YET I COULDN’T help but be amused by the lengthy statement issued by Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday that took great pride in the fact that Mike’s Hard Lemonade Co. is now a Chicago-based business.

The company is developing a corporate headquarters just west of the Loop. Some 80 people will be employed there. Although as Crain's Chicago Business reported Thursday, the move actually occurred in April 2012.

Now, every time that someone decides to imbibe themselves with that particular substance, they will be doing their part to bolster the economies of both Chicago and Illinois. While also laughing at us for how ridiculous of an extreme our officials will go to in order to boast about a business accomplishment!

Because getting all worked up over Mike's strikes me as being the equivalent of when a suburban municipality gets all worked up over having a chain ice cream stand or some other fast food franchise develop a location within their boundaries. Or maybe when they get a new gasoline station.

I’M NOT SAYING Mike’s Hard Lemonade should go away. It just strikes me as something miniscule to get all worked up over. Having 80 new jobs in Chicago isn’t going to be the key to revitalizing the local economy.

It strikes me more as a statement made by a governor whose getting tired of hearing all kinds of cheap rhetoric from surrounding states about encouraging businesses to leave Illinois and locate in their boundaries – usually because they charge lesser tax rates.

Although the truth usually comes down to a business gets what it pays for. And many of those surrounding states don’t offer as much in perks or services as Illinois offers.



QUINN: Needs something to brag about

Which is why the lower rates are essential for anyone to consider locating in those spots.

NOW I’M NOT interested in turning this commentary into a regional spat of Illinois vs. Indiana or Iowa or Missouri or Wisconsin or anywhere else.

I just find it odd the way this attitude makes our officials feel compelled to overhype every little move. How else to explain the Quinn statement, “The presence of a dynamic company like Mike’s is the kind of business Illinois needs to advance our vision of becoming one of the most exciting and vibrant business corridors in the nation.”

This is the kind of hyperbole I would expect if Illinois were to attract a business like Boeing within our boundaries. Which we did many years ago – the corporate offices for the airplane manufacturer are in the Second City.

But the business climate has changed since that move occurred about a decade ago.

WHICH IS WHY we now get all excited at the thought of Mike’s Hard Lemonade locating in Illinois! Woo hoo!!!!

I hope this commentary doesn’t come across as a Mike’s bashing session. It isn’t. I’m not a regular consumer of their product. But I don’t have anything against people who do drink it.

It’s just that I’d like to think our public officials are thinking on a bigger scale.

While I realize it is possible to snatch a small business here and there and have them add up to something significant, it also is hard to keep up such a pace. Even though Illinois claims to have added 244,300 private sector jobs since 2010.

IT’S NOT LIKE Anheuser-Busch suddenly became tired of being located in St. Louis and decided to shift their operations to a South Side-based brewery, or anything like that.

It would be nicer if we didn’t have a governor so desperate (just like a Chicago Cubs fan often does, in fact) to tout miniscule achievements on this issue.

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