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Best of BS Opinion: Sizing up the present and prepping for tomorrow
Have you noticed how a good tailor doesn't just note down size. They examine the grain of the fabric, test its stretch, study how it drapes and where it may crease. Precision in measurement matters, but it's the understanding of the material that determines how well a garment fits in motion, not just on paper. Much like today's world where the complexities don't lie in their surface figures, but in the hidden tensions, subtle shifts, and structural weaves beneath. Stitching the world together requires more than tape measures, it demands feel and a keen eye for detail. Let's dive in.
Take Donald Trump's proposed second-term economic plan, for instance. On the surface, it's just another size-too-big tax cut, but Kenneth Rogoff reminds us the fabric is strained, federal debt is at 122 per cent of GDP, interest payments outpacing defence spending, and the bond markets growing increasingly restless. The stitchwork that held Reaganomics together no longer fits. Yet both parties seem reluctant to tailor in tighter fiscal seams, even as the dollar's credibility frays.
In Tamil Nadu, Kamal Haasan's foray into politics reveals the limits of star power when not matched with political grain. Aditi Phadnis traces his trajectory which contains flashes of brilliance but little drape with the electorate. His alliance with the DMK may buy him a Rajya Sabha seat, but it's clear that charisma alone isn't a cut above unless it's lined with deeper grassroots stitching.
Sandeep Goyal draws the contrast between Zeenat Aman's nostalgia-laced but weak Netflix return and Bobby Deol's sharply recut villainous turns. Reinvention requires understanding not just the old silhouette but today's fabric. Campa Cola nailed that, relaunching not with sentiment but with savvy pricing and strategic placement, showing us how legacy can be re-tailored to fit modern demand.
Meanwhile, Shekhar Gupta threads through the geopolitical shift along India's borders. Pakistan's brief military flare-up wasn't a standalone patch, but a piece from China's strategic pattern. The drape of conflict has changed, subtle, layered, and stitched from multiple fronts, with Beijing quietly trimming the edges.
And finally, Jyoti Mukul brings us to a repair shop in Gurugram where old gadgets are being brought back to life. Sunil Kumar's soldering iron is perhaps the truest metaphor, a reminder that good fixes aren't about replacing parts, but respecting the integrity of what's already there. With India's new Repairability Index and global moves toward circular economies, we're slowly learning to value mends over disposals.
Stay tuned, and remember, true mastery lies in seeing how the cloth looks when worn in the real world!
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What it would take to convert a jet from Qatar into Air Force One to safely fly Trump
President Donald Trump really wants to fly on an upgraded Air Force One - but making that happen could depend on whether he's willing to cut corners with security. As government lawyers sort out the legal arrangement for accepting a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, another crucial conversation is unfolding about modifying the plane so it's safe for the American president. Installing capabilities equivalent to the decades-old 747s now used as Air Force One would almost certainly consign the project to a similar fate as Boeing's replacement initiative, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 새로 나온 '실비보험' 최적가 가입추천! "주요 보험사별 맞춤견적+가성비 굿"... 굿리치 보험대리점 (등록번호:제2006038313호) 가입하기 Undo Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers Thursday that those security modifications would cost less than $400 million but provided no details. 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Air Force One is the call sign for any plane that's carrying the president. The first aircraft to get the designation was a propeller-powered C-54 Skymaster, which ferried Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in 1945. It featured a conference room with a bulletproof window. Things are a lot more complicated these days. Boeing has spent years stripping down and rebuilding two 747s to replace the versions that have carried presidents for more than three decades. The project is slated to cost more than $5.3 billion and may not be finished before Trump leaves office. A 2021 report made public through the Freedom of Information Act outlines the unclassified requirements for the replacement 747s under construction. At the top of the list - survivability and communications. The government decided more than a decade ago that the new planes had to have four engines so they could remain airborne if one or two fail, said Deborah Lee James, who was Air Force secretary at the time. 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After all, Boeing has already scaled back its original plans for the new 747s. Their range was trimmed by 1,200 nautical miles, and the ability to refuel while airborne was scrapped. Paul Eckloff, a former leader of protection details at the Secret Service , expects the president would get the final say. "The Secret Service's job is to plan for and mitigate risk," he said. "It can never eliminate it." If Trump does waive some requirements, James said that should be kept under wraps because "you don't want to advertise to your potential adversaries what the vulnerabilities of this new aircraft might be." It's unlikely that Trump will want to skimp on the plane's appearance. He keeps a model of a new Air Force One in the Oval Office, complete with a darker color scheme that echoes his personal jet instead of the light blue design that's been used for decades. What happens next? Trump toured the Qatari plane in February when it was parked at an airport near Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort. Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Allvin was there, too. The U.S. official said the jet needs maintenance but not more than what would be expected of a four-engine plane of its complexity. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee , said it would be irresponsible to put the president and national security equipment aboard the Qatari plane "without knowing that the aircraft is fully capable of withstanding a nuclear attack." "It's a waste of taxpayer dollars," she said. Meanwhile, Boeing's project has been hampered by stress corrosion cracks on the planes and excessive noise in the cabins from the decompression system, among other issues that have delayed delivery, according to a Government Accountability Office report released last year. Boeing referred questions to the Air Force, which said in a statement that it's working with the aircraft manufacturer to find ways to accelerate the delivery of at least one of the 747s. Even so, the aircraft will have to be tested and flown in real-world conditions to ensure no other issues. James said it remains to be seen how Trump would handle any of those challenges. "The normal course of business would say there could be delays in certifications," she said. "But things seem to get waived these days when the president wants it."
