For those who don't know, troglodytes are another name for cave dwellers. It's an insult to be sure, but more than an insult it points to a dark view of reality constricted as if witnessed from the mouth of a narrow cave. That's Pat. You know Pat Buchanan, the same happy go lucky Nazi wannabe who penned:
"First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known."
He's almost topped himself by railing vehemently against the Obama administration for having the audacity to engage in talks with socialist like Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua who he claims is a 'scrub stock' a term with a long racist pedigree implying inferior heritage or stock. He thinks there's a special 'DNA' in Americans that allows them to be particularly vehemently paranoid, jingoistic and stupid in almost equal measure.
"It is this part of America that does not understand how the president could sit in Trinadad and listen to the scrub stock of hemisphere trash our country--and say nothing"
Now, he actually maybe right. Maybe there is a hind quarter of America, the denizens of trailer parks, the low rent back water bars, and, naturally, the brain dead conservative pundit or two that actually thinks listening to criticism about your nation is indefensible prima facie. Furthermore, it's likely that said grouping of people are probably on the low end of the bell curve and, if we were doing what Pat does--generalizing from prejudiced opinion and racist attitudes -- we might just say something like the low rent crackers that currently make up whatever remains of the Republican party are kibbitzing about Obama listening to another head of state because they are knuckle dragging cave dwellers. We needn't pay attention to them, because, from all apparent evidence they are nothing more than scrub stock.
Of course, I'm not a racist asshole, so I won't say that, but you get my drift.
In a just world, Pat would be turned into the equivalent of media dog food for his stupidity. But this isn't a just world. This is a world where 99% of the wealth is owned by 1% of the population and that population is old and probably as dunderheaded as Pat. That's why we still see his silly racist butt on prime time television when the old boy should have been shit canned along with the Jim Crowe laws we shit canned nearly a half a century ago.
Pat, sometime I'm going to spend more than five minutes thinking about your sorry ass confederate legacy. Trust me, it's not something you should look forward to.
~DelicateMonster
Friday, April 24, 2009
What Atrios Said
Radicalizing
As Krugman says, the period leading up to the Iraq war was indeed a radicalizing experience. I think there were plenty of people like me who had a degree of faith in elite opinion, in the sensible people in nice suits, which I never will again.
And those people hate the dirty fucking hippies more than ever for the simple crime of being correct.
As Krugman says, the period leading up to the Iraq war was indeed a radicalizing experience. I think there were plenty of people like me who had a degree of faith in elite opinion, in the sensible people in nice suits, which I never will again.
And those people hate the dirty fucking hippies more than ever for the simple crime of being correct.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A Libertarian Nation vs. A Socialist Nation
or, to be this in the clarified light of day:
We've been told that the United States is on a path towards socialism, towards government control of everything, towards socialized medicine, higher taxes, and an enforced set of public moral or ethical standards which may offend some people's religious sensibilities.
There are countries like this. There are also countries quite the opposite.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the big event. In one corner, weighing in as the dreaded "European socialist", we have Sweden.
In the other corner, we have that land of absolute freedom and no taxes - Somalia.
In Sweden, between income taxes, consumption taxes, and other levies, you could end up with only 25 cents out of a dollar that you've earned.
In Somalia, whatever you make is yours.
In Sweden, health care is provided to every man, woman, and child. The care is of high quality, and while you can't just go in and demand a facelift any given day, you can choose a doctor and recieve good care quickly.
In Somalia, whatever health care you want, you can have, as long as you have the money.
In Sweden, the government has strict and complex laws regulating food and medicine. Dangerous foods are removed from the market, and food sellers must disclose what ingredients they use, and are subject to strict sanitary regulations.
In Somalia, nobody tells you what you can eat, what you can't, or what's good for you. Personal responsibility all the way - if you cared whether that meat was contaminated with E. Coli, you'd test it yourself.
In Sweden, roads are maintained by the government, clearly marked, and driving safety and courtesy laws are strictly enforced.
In Somalia, there are no taxes to build highways, no speed traps, and nobody is going to tell you how much you can drink before you drive. Personal responsibility.
In Sweden, taxes pay for local and national public safety, and all citizens are expected to participate.
In Somalia, you can pay for police if you want protection, or you can take money from those who don't pay enough for protection.
In Sweden, gasoline is expensive due to taxes. Financial incentives encourage people to drive small vehicles. Taxes fund a widespread and inexpensive public transporation system, though, so travel from one part of the country to another is fast and predictable.
In Somalia, you drive whatever you want. You can drive an 18-wheeler loaded with medical waste if you feel like it. So can your neighbor. There is no public transportation. You can pay someone to transport you, and you are free to determine whether they are competent, whether they are well-armed enough to protect you, and whether they actually deliver their passengers or simply kill them. Personal responsibility.
In Sweden, there is a large and well-funded primary and secondary education system. Education is compulsory, and every locality is expected to have schools that are safe, staffed with professional educators, and capable of graduating students prepared for a wide variety of careers.
In Somalia, if you want education, you can determine what you want, and pay someone to teach you or your children. There are no fixed cirruculum, and if you don't want your children being taught about evolution, christianity, chemistry, or math, that's entirely up to you. You'll have to negotiate the terms with whoever you choose, and enforce the agreement until completed.
In Sweden, employers treat employees as if they have a long-term interest in their financial, social, and physical well-being. If you expose your employees to danger, or hire and fire them arbitrarily to meet short-term business objectives, you will pay a steep price.
In Somalia, employees can negotiate any terms they like, as can employers. Those terms may be changed by either party at any moment, depending on who reaches their gun first.
In Sweden, there are strict limits on the ownership of firearms and their use. While the ownership rate of firearms is high, the number of deaths is very low.
In Somalia, you can buy whatever weapon you like. The person who wants your possessions may also buy any weapon he likes.
In Sweden, churches are treated widely as social and community organizations, allowing people to work together to solve local problems, help their neighbors, and find fellowship. Religious influence in government is very muted, but the Christian ethic of "love thy neighbor as thyself" is a core principle of government policy.
In Somalia, religious freedom is absolute. If your religion says you should kill someone, you can kill them. If someone drives by and finds you blasphemous, he can kill you. Of course, you can also kill them, if your religious conviction is such.
So, make your choice: Do you want to live in Somalia that great experiment in Libertarian philosophy? Or that crippled Socialist nation of Sweden?
Be careful, the answer is more important than you probably realize.
Somalia vs. Sweden
We've been told that the United States is on a path towards socialism, towards government control of everything, towards socialized medicine, higher taxes, and an enforced set of public moral or ethical standards which may offend some people's religious sensibilities.
There are countries like this. There are also countries quite the opposite.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the big event. In one corner, weighing in as the dreaded "European socialist", we have Sweden.
In the other corner, we have that land of absolute freedom and no taxes - Somalia.
In Sweden, between income taxes, consumption taxes, and other levies, you could end up with only 25 cents out of a dollar that you've earned.
In Somalia, whatever you make is yours.
In Sweden, health care is provided to every man, woman, and child. The care is of high quality, and while you can't just go in and demand a facelift any given day, you can choose a doctor and recieve good care quickly.
In Somalia, whatever health care you want, you can have, as long as you have the money.
In Sweden, the government has strict and complex laws regulating food and medicine. Dangerous foods are removed from the market, and food sellers must disclose what ingredients they use, and are subject to strict sanitary regulations.
In Somalia, nobody tells you what you can eat, what you can't, or what's good for you. Personal responsibility all the way - if you cared whether that meat was contaminated with E. Coli, you'd test it yourself.
In Sweden, roads are maintained by the government, clearly marked, and driving safety and courtesy laws are strictly enforced.
In Somalia, there are no taxes to build highways, no speed traps, and nobody is going to tell you how much you can drink before you drive. Personal responsibility.
In Sweden, taxes pay for local and national public safety, and all citizens are expected to participate.
In Somalia, you can pay for police if you want protection, or you can take money from those who don't pay enough for protection.
In Sweden, gasoline is expensive due to taxes. Financial incentives encourage people to drive small vehicles. Taxes fund a widespread and inexpensive public transporation system, though, so travel from one part of the country to another is fast and predictable.
In Somalia, you drive whatever you want. You can drive an 18-wheeler loaded with medical waste if you feel like it. So can your neighbor. There is no public transportation. You can pay someone to transport you, and you are free to determine whether they are competent, whether they are well-armed enough to protect you, and whether they actually deliver their passengers or simply kill them. Personal responsibility.
In Sweden, there is a large and well-funded primary and secondary education system. Education is compulsory, and every locality is expected to have schools that are safe, staffed with professional educators, and capable of graduating students prepared for a wide variety of careers.
In Somalia, if you want education, you can determine what you want, and pay someone to teach you or your children. There are no fixed cirruculum, and if you don't want your children being taught about evolution, christianity, chemistry, or math, that's entirely up to you. You'll have to negotiate the terms with whoever you choose, and enforce the agreement until completed.
In Sweden, employers treat employees as if they have a long-term interest in their financial, social, and physical well-being. If you expose your employees to danger, or hire and fire them arbitrarily to meet short-term business objectives, you will pay a steep price.
In Somalia, employees can negotiate any terms they like, as can employers. Those terms may be changed by either party at any moment, depending on who reaches their gun first.
In Sweden, there are strict limits on the ownership of firearms and their use. While the ownership rate of firearms is high, the number of deaths is very low.
In Somalia, you can buy whatever weapon you like. The person who wants your possessions may also buy any weapon he likes.
In Sweden, churches are treated widely as social and community organizations, allowing people to work together to solve local problems, help their neighbors, and find fellowship. Religious influence in government is very muted, but the Christian ethic of "love thy neighbor as thyself" is a core principle of government policy.
In Somalia, religious freedom is absolute. If your religion says you should kill someone, you can kill them. If someone drives by and finds you blasphemous, he can kill you. Of course, you can also kill them, if your religious conviction is such.
So, make your choice: Do you want to live in Somalia that great experiment in Libertarian philosophy? Or that crippled Socialist nation of Sweden?
Be careful, the answer is more important than you probably realize.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Who says print journalism is dead?
from Sun Times
To: Bill O'Reilly
From: Roger Ebert
Dear Bill: Thanks for including the Chicago Sun-Times on your exclusive list of newspapers on your "Hall of Shame." To be in an O'Reilly Hall of Fame would be a cruel blow to any newspaper. It would place us in the favor of a man who turns red and starts screaming when anyone disagrees with him. My grade-school teacher, wise Sister Nathan, would have called in your parents and recommended counseling with Father Hogben [...]
I understand you believe one of the Sun-Times misdemeanors was dropping your syndicated column. My editor informs me that "very few" readers complained about the disappearance of your column, adding, "many more complained about Nancy." I know I did. That was the famous Ernie Bushmiller comic strip in which Sluggo explained that "wow" was "mom" spelled upside-down.
Your column ran in our paper while it was owned by the right-wing polemicists Conrad Black (Baron Black of Coldharbour) and David Radler. We dropped it to save a little money after they looted the paper of millions [...]
Bill, I am concerned that you have been losing touch with reality recently. Did you really say you are more powerful than any politician?
That reminds me of the famous story about Squeaky the Chicago Mouse. It seems that Squeaky was floating on his back along the Chicago River one day. Approaching the Michigan Avenue lift bridge, he called out: Raise the bridge! I have an erection!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The most important thing you'll read tonight:
From Jerome a Paris (Eurobtrib)
eithner & co are now saying that this is necessary to save the system - which is wholly untrue: what they are doing is trying to save those that bet against AIG (ie Goldman Sachs et al.), by honouring, wihout cause, AIG's commitments with taxpayer money. And what's more annoying is that they're not even talking about that - they're still talking about the toxic assets that banks supposedly hold, and that everybody sane in the financial markets has already discounted down to their true value, ie close to zero - the second-order problem in that mess.
Again: the bigger problem is not worthless assets, it's unlimited liabilities on all the financial bets that were made.
What is so depressing is that money is being thrown at banks in the guise of solving the asset problem, when it goes to not solving the liabilities problem (because it's so much bigger) - and that markets know that it's not solving anything (they have the liabilities on their books, and guess that others have the same).
What is depressing is that this money - staggering amounts of money - is being wasted when it could be used in ways that actually help the economy (hell, giving a $40,000 check to every living American would be a way smarter use of the same money).
What is so depressing is that the goal still seems to be to save banks when it should be to save the economy.
What is depressing is that people are again being steamrolled into "bailouts" - 5 years after being steamrolled into a war against mushroom clouds by essentially the same people - and the Serious People are still wrong, utterly wrong.
What is depressing is that it's happening despite a smart Democrat being president.
What is depressing is that each day that goes by makes the problem noticeably worse. More bailouts. More unemployment. More avoidable economic - and personal - pain. And that this pain has irreversible consequences - people dropping out, people unable to pay for healthcare, people losing their homes, families broken, etc...
What is most depressing is that the problems - and the solutions - have been on the internets for months, but are not listened to, let alone implemented.
What is depressing is that Serious People still see solutions (single payer healthcare, higher minimum wages, investment in infrastructure and smart energy, redistribution) as evil because they sound like Socialism or - gasp - solidarity.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Pork, by any other name would smell as sweet
So called conservatives, by which we mean FOX news and those seduced by the current FOX news propaganda efforts, have been screaming about fiscal irresponsibility and the horrors of having $9.2 million of the budget intended for "core public health functions" going toward contraception provided through public health clinics.
My God I am speechless.
9.2 million bucks for condoms.
But here's a little compare / contrast to put things in perspective...
9.2 million for preventing unwanted pregnancies AND....
What follows is a typical day last week. I've merely displayed it so you can scroll through it to get the scope of Defense Spending as it is passed out each and every day through mostly no-bid contracts. This is the Military Industrial Complex that you and your children are enslaved by.
This is just one day of dubious and often illegal spending.
An ordinary day of spending.
Spending that has scrolled your life and future away.
Scroll on:
Missile Defense Agency
$736 Million
The Computer Sciences Corp., Federal Sector of Falls Church, Va., is being awarded a cost plus award fee contract modification under contract HQ0006-03-C-0003 for $108,011,668. After award of this modification the cumulative contract value will be $736,989,348. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama. This sole source award is a modification to extend the existing contract through Jan. 2010. This is a bridge modification to provide continuity of support until the competitive award of the Missile Defense Agency Advisory and Engineering Support Services contracts. The amount obligated on this action is $40,129,330 using fiscal year 2009 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funds. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (HQ0006-03-C-0003).
$175 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., for $175,000,000. This action is to procure the congressionally mandated advance procurement of long-lead parts in FY08 and FY09 for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency Satellite Vehicle four. At this time $104,450,000 has been obligated. MCSW/PK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-02-C-0002 POO347).
$22.8 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with Jacobs Technology, Incorporated, Tullahoma, Tennessee for $22,801,396. This action will provided operational support required by the Air Force Research Laboratory for design, construction, reconfiguration, modification, test operations and maintenance of experimental and support facilities used to perform research and development of rocket propulsion, space systems and their components. At this time $9,250,909 has been obligated. AFFTC/PK, Edwards AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04611-99-C-0003 P00115).
$16.5 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with IAP Worldwide Services, Incorporated, Cape Canaveral, Fla., for $16, 512,251. This contract will exercise option one to perform Civil Engineering Services for Hanscom AFB to include customer support services, infrastructure maintenance, facility maintenance, physical plant operations, utilities management, civil engineer services, environmental compliance, engineering support services, repair, some construction, property management and financial management. At the time$7, 736, 473 has been obligated. 66 CONS/LGCA, Hanscom AFB, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA2835-08-D-0001 P00005).
$12.7 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with the Science Applications International Corporation, El Segundo, Calif., for $12,737,017. This modification will modify the system Engineering and Integration services contract to expand the Modernized Global Positioning System User Equipment program. At this time $69,368 has been obligated. GPSW/PK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FAA807-07-C-002/P00019).
$9.7 Million
The Air Force is awarding a contract to Lockheed Martin Corp., King of Prussia, Pa., for $9,725,522. This contract action will design, fabricate, integrate, and test the Payload Delivery Vehicle for flight demonstration of the Conventional Prompt Global Strike Capability. SMC/XRC, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8814-08-C-0003).
$8.4 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta for $8,419,000. This contract action is for the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engineering Program estimate at completion growth and cost overrun. At this time $6,419,126 has been obligated. ASC/516 AESW/716 AESG, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-02-C-2000 P00172).
$5.9 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Air Combat Systems, San Diego, Calif., for $5,857,128. This action will provide Engineering, manufacturing and development infrastructure activates in support of the Global Hawk Program. At this time $5,362,526 has been obligated. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-01-C-4600 P00304).
ARMY
$46.2 Million
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla., was awarded on Feb. 26, 2009, a $46,257,600 firm fixed price contract for 30,000 each, M865 (Target Practice Cone Stabilized Discarding Sabot-Tracer) 120mm Cartridges. The M865 is the Kinetic Energy Training round. This round has inert projectiles and is used in live-fire training for M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams Tanks; 15,000 each, M1002 (Target Practice, Multipurpose Tracer TP-T) Cartridges. Load, Assemble and Pack (LAP) will take place at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Middletown, Iowa, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2010. Two bids were solicited and two bids received. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Contracting Center – Tank & Automotive Command (TACOM), Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52P1J-08-C-0010).
$16.2 Million
Cubic Simulation Systems, Inc., Orlando, Fla., was awarded on Feb. 26, 2009, a $16,169,357 mixed line items primarily firm fixed price contract for which the delivery order is for the procurement of up to 255 Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) 2000 systems, and supporting weapons and spares. Work is to be performed at Orlando, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2012. One bid was solicited and one bid received. Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training and Instrumentation, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity (W900KK-07-D-0720).
$34.3 Million
Parker Hannifin Corp., Minneapolis, Minn., was awarded on Feb. 25, 2009, a $34,322,920 firm fixed price UCA contract for the procurement of 1,354 each, Door Assistant Mechanisms for the Frag Kit 6. Work is to be performed at Minneapolis, Minn., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid received. Tank & Automotive Command Contracting Center, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52H09-09-C-0062).
$11.5 Million
Alutiiq International Solutions, LLC, Aurora, Colo., was awarded on Feb. 25, 2009, an $11,510,573 construction firm fixed price contract for construction of a Tactical Equipment Maintenance Facility at Fort Riley, Kan. Estimated completion date is Sept. 2, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with three bids received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity (W912HN-08-D-0032).
NAVY
$39 Million
Rolls Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded a $39,085,141 indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for logistics support, technical engineering support services, and spare engines and associated parts for the U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J, which includes the AE2100D3 turboprop engine and R391 propeller. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Ind. and is expected to be completed in Feb. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-09-D-0020).
$26.5 Million
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a not to exceed $26,500,000 modification to a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N00019-04-C-0014) for non-recurring engineering and recurring effort associated with Engineering Change Proposal 6359 in support of Australian F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., (40 percent); El Segundo, Calif., (30 percent); Bethpage, N.Y., (25 percent); and Mesa, Ariz., (5 percent) and is expected to be completed in Aug. 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
$24.5 Million
Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $24,505,932 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-07-G-0008) to support the Naval Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Squadron by providing on-site and off-site flight test management, flight test engineering, design engineering, and related efforts to support the conduct of flight and ground testing for the MV-22 tiltrotor aircraft. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md., (70 percent); Philadelphia, Pa., (19 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas, (11 percent) and is expected to be completed in Dec. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
$15.9 Million
General Dynamics C4 Systems, Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz., is being awarded a $15,883,079 indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, firm fixed price, commercial contract to provide Very High Frequency Ultra High Frequency (VHF/UHF) transmitter and receiver radio equipment and VHF/UHF multi-frequency transceiver radio equipment, amplifiers, remote heads, and ancillary accessories to support Air Traffic Control. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $99,008,749. Work will be performed in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by Feb. 2010 (Feb. 2016 with options exercised). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured with an unlimited number of proposals solicited and one offer received via the Federal Business Opportunities web site, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command E-commerce web site. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (N65236-09-D-3532).
$15.9 Million
Solpac Construction Inc., dba Soltek Pacific Construction, Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $15,868,171 for firm fixed price task order #0007 under a previously award multiple award construction contract (N62473-08-D-8615) for design, construction and repair of Bldg. “A” and Bldg. 730, at the Naval Air Station, Lemoore, Calif. The work to be performed provides for design and construction to Training Building “A” which includes Wings 1 through 6, and Building 730 which includes Wing 7. Work will be performed in Lemoore, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
$9.7 Million
Chesapeake Technology International Corp.*, California, Md., is being awarded a $9,866,703 cost plus fixed fee, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for engineering, technical and program services in support of the design, development, integration, testing and Fleet distribution of communications jamming and receiver operational flight program simulations for EA-6B, EA-18G, and other advanced electronic attack derivatives. Work will be performed in California, Md., (50 percent); Cherry Point, N.C., (20 percent); Point Mugu, Calif., (20 percent); Whidbey Island, Wash., (2 percent); China Lake, Calif., (2 percent); Patuxent River, Md., (2 percent); Iwakuni, Japan, (2 percent); and Yuma, Ariz., (2 percent), and is expected to be completed in Feb. 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Point Mugu, Calif., is the contracting activity (N68936-09-D-0017).
$10 Million
Raytheon Co., Electronic Warfare Operations, Goleta, Calif., is being awarded a $9,866,703 cost plus fixed fee contract for products and engineering services in support of the AN/ALR-67(V)3 F/A-18 A-F operational flight programs for U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F aircraft and the F/A-18 A-D and E/F aircraft owned by the Governments of Canada, Australia, and Switzerland. The estimated level of effort for this contract is 57,686 man-hours. Work will be performed Goleta, Calif., (80 percent) and Point Mugu, Calif., (10 percent); and China Lake, Calif., (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in Feb. 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $1,152,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy, ($5,426,688; 55 percent) and the governments of Canada, ($1,480,005; 15 percent), Australia, ($1,480,005; 15 percent); and Switzerland, ($1,480,005; 15 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., is the contracting activity (N68936-09-C-0029).
$5.6 Million
BAE Systems Land & Armaments, LP, Ground Systems Division, York, Pa., is being awarded a $5,583,600 firm fixed priced modification to previously awarded delivery order #0007 under previously awarded firm fixed price, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract (M67854-07-D-5025) for spare vehicle effector boxes. Work will be performed in York, Pa., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2009. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
$22.4 Million
Woodward Governor Co., Rockton, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $22,374,542 fixed price with economic price adjustment, sole source, requirements type contract for various spare aircraft parts. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. There was one original proposal solicited with one response. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is exercising the third two-year option period. The date of performance completion is Jan. 30, 2011. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM400-03-D-9402).
Just one day of ruinous spending.
Day after day.
Week after week.
Month after month.
Year after year for eight years.
Your hopes for the future spent and wasted.
And yes, there are still idiots out there that think spending on preventing unwanted pregnancies will somehow actually stop this hideous bleeding of our treasury---and they will think this without considering -- for an instant-- the billions wasted on disastrous defense contracts outlined above.
Thank you for your interest.
~DM
My God I am speechless.
9.2 million bucks for condoms.
But here's a little compare / contrast to put things in perspective...
9.2 million for preventing unwanted pregnancies AND....
What follows is a typical day last week. I've merely displayed it so you can scroll through it to get the scope of Defense Spending as it is passed out each and every day through mostly no-bid contracts. This is the Military Industrial Complex that you and your children are enslaved by.
This is just one day of dubious and often illegal spending.
An ordinary day of spending.
Spending that has scrolled your life and future away.
Scroll on:
Missile Defense Agency
$736 Million
The Computer Sciences Corp., Federal Sector of Falls Church, Va., is being awarded a cost plus award fee contract modification under contract HQ0006-03-C-0003 for $108,011,668. After award of this modification the cumulative contract value will be $736,989,348. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama. This sole source award is a modification to extend the existing contract through Jan. 2010. This is a bridge modification to provide continuity of support until the competitive award of the Missile Defense Agency Advisory and Engineering Support Services contracts. The amount obligated on this action is $40,129,330 using fiscal year 2009 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funds. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (HQ0006-03-C-0003).
$175 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., for $175,000,000. This action is to procure the congressionally mandated advance procurement of long-lead parts in FY08 and FY09 for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency Satellite Vehicle four. At this time $104,450,000 has been obligated. MCSW/PK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-02-C-0002 POO347).
$22.8 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with Jacobs Technology, Incorporated, Tullahoma, Tennessee for $22,801,396. This action will provided operational support required by the Air Force Research Laboratory for design, construction, reconfiguration, modification, test operations and maintenance of experimental and support facilities used to perform research and development of rocket propulsion, space systems and their components. At this time $9,250,909 has been obligated. AFFTC/PK, Edwards AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04611-99-C-0003 P00115).
$16.5 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with IAP Worldwide Services, Incorporated, Cape Canaveral, Fla., for $16, 512,251. This contract will exercise option one to perform Civil Engineering Services for Hanscom AFB to include customer support services, infrastructure maintenance, facility maintenance, physical plant operations, utilities management, civil engineer services, environmental compliance, engineering support services, repair, some construction, property management and financial management. At the time$7, 736, 473 has been obligated. 66 CONS/LGCA, Hanscom AFB, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA2835-08-D-0001 P00005).
$12.7 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with the Science Applications International Corporation, El Segundo, Calif., for $12,737,017. This modification will modify the system Engineering and Integration services contract to expand the Modernized Global Positioning System User Equipment program. At this time $69,368 has been obligated. GPSW/PK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FAA807-07-C-002/P00019).
$9.7 Million
The Air Force is awarding a contract to Lockheed Martin Corp., King of Prussia, Pa., for $9,725,522. This contract action will design, fabricate, integrate, and test the Payload Delivery Vehicle for flight demonstration of the Conventional Prompt Global Strike Capability. SMC/XRC, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8814-08-C-0003).
$8.4 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta for $8,419,000. This contract action is for the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engineering Program estimate at completion growth and cost overrun. At this time $6,419,126 has been obligated. ASC/516 AESW/716 AESG, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-02-C-2000 P00172).
$5.9 Million
The Air Force is modifying a contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Air Combat Systems, San Diego, Calif., for $5,857,128. This action will provide Engineering, manufacturing and development infrastructure activates in support of the Global Hawk Program. At this time $5,362,526 has been obligated. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-01-C-4600 P00304).
ARMY
$46.2 Million
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla., was awarded on Feb. 26, 2009, a $46,257,600 firm fixed price contract for 30,000 each, M865 (Target Practice Cone Stabilized Discarding Sabot-Tracer) 120mm Cartridges. The M865 is the Kinetic Energy Training round. This round has inert projectiles and is used in live-fire training for M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams Tanks; 15,000 each, M1002 (Target Practice, Multipurpose Tracer TP-T) Cartridges. Load, Assemble and Pack (LAP) will take place at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Middletown, Iowa, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2010. Two bids were solicited and two bids received. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Contracting Center – Tank & Automotive Command (TACOM), Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52P1J-08-C-0010).
$16.2 Million
Cubic Simulation Systems, Inc., Orlando, Fla., was awarded on Feb. 26, 2009, a $16,169,357 mixed line items primarily firm fixed price contract for which the delivery order is for the procurement of up to 255 Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) 2000 systems, and supporting weapons and spares. Work is to be performed at Orlando, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2012. One bid was solicited and one bid received. Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training and Instrumentation, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity (W900KK-07-D-0720).
$34.3 Million
Parker Hannifin Corp., Minneapolis, Minn., was awarded on Feb. 25, 2009, a $34,322,920 firm fixed price UCA contract for the procurement of 1,354 each, Door Assistant Mechanisms for the Frag Kit 6. Work is to be performed at Minneapolis, Minn., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid received. Tank & Automotive Command Contracting Center, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52H09-09-C-0062).
$11.5 Million
Alutiiq International Solutions, LLC, Aurora, Colo., was awarded on Feb. 25, 2009, an $11,510,573 construction firm fixed price contract for construction of a Tactical Equipment Maintenance Facility at Fort Riley, Kan. Estimated completion date is Sept. 2, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with three bids received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity (W912HN-08-D-0032).
NAVY
$39 Million
Rolls Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded a $39,085,141 indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for logistics support, technical engineering support services, and spare engines and associated parts for the U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J, which includes the AE2100D3 turboprop engine and R391 propeller. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Ind. and is expected to be completed in Feb. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-09-D-0020).
$26.5 Million
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a not to exceed $26,500,000 modification to a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N00019-04-C-0014) for non-recurring engineering and recurring effort associated with Engineering Change Proposal 6359 in support of Australian F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., (40 percent); El Segundo, Calif., (30 percent); Bethpage, N.Y., (25 percent); and Mesa, Ariz., (5 percent) and is expected to be completed in Aug. 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
$24.5 Million
Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $24,505,932 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-07-G-0008) to support the Naval Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Squadron by providing on-site and off-site flight test management, flight test engineering, design engineering, and related efforts to support the conduct of flight and ground testing for the MV-22 tiltrotor aircraft. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md., (70 percent); Philadelphia, Pa., (19 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas, (11 percent) and is expected to be completed in Dec. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
$15.9 Million
General Dynamics C4 Systems, Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz., is being awarded a $15,883,079 indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, firm fixed price, commercial contract to provide Very High Frequency Ultra High Frequency (VHF/UHF) transmitter and receiver radio equipment and VHF/UHF multi-frequency transceiver radio equipment, amplifiers, remote heads, and ancillary accessories to support Air Traffic Control. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $99,008,749. Work will be performed in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by Feb. 2010 (Feb. 2016 with options exercised). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured with an unlimited number of proposals solicited and one offer received via the Federal Business Opportunities web site, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command E-commerce web site. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (N65236-09-D-3532).
$15.9 Million
Solpac Construction Inc., dba Soltek Pacific Construction, Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $15,868,171 for firm fixed price task order #0007 under a previously award multiple award construction contract (N62473-08-D-8615) for design, construction and repair of Bldg. “A” and Bldg. 730, at the Naval Air Station, Lemoore, Calif. The work to be performed provides for design and construction to Training Building “A” which includes Wings 1 through 6, and Building 730 which includes Wing 7. Work will be performed in Lemoore, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
$9.7 Million
Chesapeake Technology International Corp.*, California, Md., is being awarded a $9,866,703 cost plus fixed fee, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for engineering, technical and program services in support of the design, development, integration, testing and Fleet distribution of communications jamming and receiver operational flight program simulations for EA-6B, EA-18G, and other advanced electronic attack derivatives. Work will be performed in California, Md., (50 percent); Cherry Point, N.C., (20 percent); Point Mugu, Calif., (20 percent); Whidbey Island, Wash., (2 percent); China Lake, Calif., (2 percent); Patuxent River, Md., (2 percent); Iwakuni, Japan, (2 percent); and Yuma, Ariz., (2 percent), and is expected to be completed in Feb. 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Point Mugu, Calif., is the contracting activity (N68936-09-D-0017).
$10 Million
Raytheon Co., Electronic Warfare Operations, Goleta, Calif., is being awarded a $9,866,703 cost plus fixed fee contract for products and engineering services in support of the AN/ALR-67(V)3 F/A-18 A-F operational flight programs for U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F aircraft and the F/A-18 A-D and E/F aircraft owned by the Governments of Canada, Australia, and Switzerland. The estimated level of effort for this contract is 57,686 man-hours. Work will be performed Goleta, Calif., (80 percent) and Point Mugu, Calif., (10 percent); and China Lake, Calif., (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in Feb. 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $1,152,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy, ($5,426,688; 55 percent) and the governments of Canada, ($1,480,005; 15 percent), Australia, ($1,480,005; 15 percent); and Switzerland, ($1,480,005; 15 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., is the contracting activity (N68936-09-C-0029).
$5.6 Million
BAE Systems Land & Armaments, LP, Ground Systems Division, York, Pa., is being awarded a $5,583,600 firm fixed priced modification to previously awarded delivery order #0007 under previously awarded firm fixed price, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract (M67854-07-D-5025) for spare vehicle effector boxes. Work will be performed in York, Pa., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2009. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
$22.4 Million
Woodward Governor Co., Rockton, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $22,374,542 fixed price with economic price adjustment, sole source, requirements type contract for various spare aircraft parts. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. There was one original proposal solicited with one response. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is exercising the third two-year option period. The date of performance completion is Jan. 30, 2011. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM400-03-D-9402).
Just one day of ruinous spending.
Day after day.
Week after week.
Month after month.
Year after year for eight years.
Your hopes for the future spent and wasted.
And yes, there are still idiots out there that think spending on preventing unwanted pregnancies will somehow actually stop this hideous bleeding of our treasury---and they will think this without considering -- for an instant-- the billions wasted on disastrous defense contracts outlined above.
Thank you for your interest.
~DM
Monday, February 23, 2009
I have become a ditto head
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) recently wrote in The Nation:
Ditto, ditto, ditto.
"I would be very happy if there was some way to make it a misdemeanor for people to talk about reducing the budget deficit without including a recommendation that we substantially cut military spending.... Current plans call for us not only to spend hundreds of billions more in Iraq but to continue to spend even more over the next few years producing new weapons that might have been useful against the Soviet Union. Many of these weapons are technological marvels, but they have a central flaw: no conceivable enemy.... In some cases we are developing weapons - in part because of nothing more than momentum - that lack not only a current military need but even a plausible use in any foreseeable future.... If, beginning one year from now, we were to cut military spending by 25 percent from its projected levels, we would still be immeasurably stronger than any combination of nations with whom we might be engaged."
Ditto, ditto, ditto.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Chippers Beware!!
GA of VA passes partial smoking ban. A lot less effective than it might have been but considering the where and when of this particular chunk of legislation, pretty impressive. Still, I really love the last line of this AP story...so true.
"I think it will be signed quite promptly, in the quickest-drying ink I can find," said Kaine, the Democratic National Committee chairman, who privately negotiated the bill with Republican House Speaker William J. Howell. Republicans had tried to dilute it but were unsuccessful.
The measure passed the House and Senate without debate in a state where tobacco is so revered that frescoes of the golden leaf are painted on the ceilings of the Capitol rotunda. The crop was a mainstay of the earliest Virginia settlements, dating to Jamestown in 1607. A few miles south of the Capitol, Philip Morris churns out Marlboros and Virginia Slims at the world's largest cigarette factory.
A coalition of restaurant and tobacco industry lobbyists argued the bill went too far and would hurt business.
"Every restaurant in Virginia already had the right to ban smoking on their own, and many of them did," said Phillip Morris spokesman Bill Phelps.
The bill also got a lukewarm reception from anti-smoking groups who felt it didn't go far enough.
Hilton Oliver, executive director of the Virginia Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, or Virginia GASP, called it "a pretty good bill under the circumstances."
"It's not as good a bill as it could have been, but in this state with this legislature, nothing ever is," Oliver said.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Chuck's stupid question and what it reveals
Mostly, during the Presidential election, I found Chuck Todd's insight to be spot on. He was never clearly partisan but he seemed to have a pretty good handle on where the country was headed politically and was not given to using the elaborate double think of the DC punditry to explain away differences that mattered.
But I have to admit his recent question after the House definitively passed the stimulus package without a single Republican vote was rather breathing taking.
Chuck Todd asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs if Obama would veto the bill because it wasn't 'bipartisan'.
Let's unpack some assumptions that come ribbon wrapped in that query:
1)Bipartisanship means you must have Republican support. But does it? Or should it? Nearly one third of this bill was a gift to Republican dissent. Offering tax cuts, a large portion of which were pushed through by the Obama Whitehouse at the request of the Republicans. But because the stimulus bill actually contained government spending that will help to bolster the economy the Republicans refused to vote for it: en masse.
They weren't opposed because it might help the country or hurt they country--they were opposed on purely ideological grounds--and beyond that, more likely, purely political grounds.
Moreover, it was their ideology--no good can come from Government, starve the beast Grover Norquist infantilism -- that actually led the way to the current depression. But because Republicans are acting like purely political hacks, or more generously, refuse to take off their ideological blinders and vote for aid to a country and a people that desperately need it, the bill is no longer considered 'bipartisan' and therefore, according to Todd, Obama might be moved to veto it?
2) Bipartisanship is a goal in and of itself and not a means toward an end --like the economic health of our country. But really, bipartisanship that destroys the country economically in its quest for cheerful 'getting along' is useless. Republicans suffer under the myth that Government must be starved, because, they don't think government can ever solve any problems. And yet, in the last 8 years, under Republican leadership, there has been pratically no government oversight of hundreds of financial transactions, and trillions--literarily trillions -- of dollars of value has been lost or stolen. Our infrastructure is on a disastrous footing, our health services are daily causing economic diasters for inviduals who can't pay the exorbitant costs---costs easily paid for under systems that have the sense to allow government to control the legder sheets of the health industry.
Every single area that the Republican ideology has touched and affected (one could say 'infected') has brought disaster. Who wants to be bipartisan with some of the demonstrably worst ideas of the 20th century?
It would be great if Republicans could forgo their political instincts and forget their jihad on Government long enough to vote for the single largest middle class tax cut in US History, or to help restore unemployment insurance to millions of unemployed Americans. But if they decide that maintaining doctrinal purity is more important than the men and women in their own districts--men and women who are having to make the hard choices now about how they are going to live without jobs and sometimes without houses--than one can only express surprise and sadness.
To think that anyone would expect the President to reject a bill because a set of ideologically and politically opposed idiots have not bothered to learn either economics nor simple lessons from their last two electoral losses has obviously breathed too long the toxic air of DC punditry.
I'm sad to see Chuck go the way of so many others, but it's well to remember that the District is built on a swamp, and those who make a swamp their home necessarily become innured to the more fetid odors of daily decay; brain-wise and otherwise.
But I have to admit his recent question after the House definitively passed the stimulus package without a single Republican vote was rather breathing taking.
Chuck Todd asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs if Obama would veto the bill because it wasn't 'bipartisan'.
Let's unpack some assumptions that come ribbon wrapped in that query:
1)Bipartisanship means you must have Republican support. But does it? Or should it? Nearly one third of this bill was a gift to Republican dissent. Offering tax cuts, a large portion of which were pushed through by the Obama Whitehouse at the request of the Republicans. But because the stimulus bill actually contained government spending that will help to bolster the economy the Republicans refused to vote for it: en masse.
They weren't opposed because it might help the country or hurt they country--they were opposed on purely ideological grounds--and beyond that, more likely, purely political grounds.
Moreover, it was their ideology--no good can come from Government, starve the beast Grover Norquist infantilism -- that actually led the way to the current depression. But because Republicans are acting like purely political hacks, or more generously, refuse to take off their ideological blinders and vote for aid to a country and a people that desperately need it, the bill is no longer considered 'bipartisan' and therefore, according to Todd, Obama might be moved to veto it?
2) Bipartisanship is a goal in and of itself and not a means toward an end --like the economic health of our country. But really, bipartisanship that destroys the country economically in its quest for cheerful 'getting along' is useless. Republicans suffer under the myth that Government must be starved, because, they don't think government can ever solve any problems. And yet, in the last 8 years, under Republican leadership, there has been pratically no government oversight of hundreds of financial transactions, and trillions--literarily trillions -- of dollars of value has been lost or stolen. Our infrastructure is on a disastrous footing, our health services are daily causing economic diasters for inviduals who can't pay the exorbitant costs---costs easily paid for under systems that have the sense to allow government to control the legder sheets of the health industry.
Every single area that the Republican ideology has touched and affected (one could say 'infected') has brought disaster. Who wants to be bipartisan with some of the demonstrably worst ideas of the 20th century?
It would be great if Republicans could forgo their political instincts and forget their jihad on Government long enough to vote for the single largest middle class tax cut in US History, or to help restore unemployment insurance to millions of unemployed Americans. But if they decide that maintaining doctrinal purity is more important than the men and women in their own districts--men and women who are having to make the hard choices now about how they are going to live without jobs and sometimes without houses--than one can only express surprise and sadness.
To think that anyone would expect the President to reject a bill because a set of ideologically and politically opposed idiots have not bothered to learn either economics nor simple lessons from their last two electoral losses has obviously breathed too long the toxic air of DC punditry.
I'm sad to see Chuck go the way of so many others, but it's well to remember that the District is built on a swamp, and those who make a swamp their home necessarily become innured to the more fetid odors of daily decay; brain-wise and otherwise.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Virginia GOP Chairman's Blog Outreach: Massive Fail
From By Eric Kleefeld - February 11, 2009, 6:04PM
As I've noted before the perfect definition of Republicanism is loosely borrowed from a John Kenneth Galbraith quote regarding the Hapsburgs -- cruelty tempered by incompetence.
Love live teh stupid!
The Republican Party's embrace of technology, which many inside and outside the party see as essential to a political recovery, so far is working out like...well, it's not working out at all.
Yesterday the Virginia GOP came very close to taking control of the state Senate, nearly luring a Democratic Senator to switch parties and put them at a 20-20 tie, which would have been broken by the Republican Lt. Governor. Then Jeff Frederick, a state legislator and the party chairman, ruined it all by Twittering this:
Big news coming out of Senate: Apparently one dem is either switching or leaving the dem caucus. Negotiations for power sharing underway.
The Dems then read the message, quickly mobilized to talk the renegade out of it, and stopped the GOP coup before it could happen.
We usually don't cover state-level politics, but this is just too much. Really, Mr. Frederick, you don't live-blog about ongoing secret negotiations!
(Via the Not Larry Sabato blog)
As I've noted before the perfect definition of Republicanism is loosely borrowed from a John Kenneth Galbraith quote regarding the Hapsburgs -- cruelty tempered by incompetence.
Love live teh stupid!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
For the next time...
Begin with two words: Fuck you. Then show them this
Compared to the pay rate of an average CEO, the average full-time worker would have to work in the upwards of 385 years to make what a CEO receives in one year. During the 1980s the pay gap between CEO and ordinary factory workers grew from 42 times to
almost 85 times (Byrne 1991).
In 2004 CEOs in the United States made over 475 times as much as the average worker.
Country Ratio of CEO pay to
average worker pay
Japan 11:1
Germany 12:1
France 15:1
Italy 20:1
Canada 20:1
South Africa 21:1
Britian 22:1
Hong Kong 41:1
Mexico 47:1
Venezula 50:1
US 475:1
Europe has far better equity than we have and they are already
taking it to the streets.
Are we such docile chumps that we will watch the Oligarchs (excuse me, 'Masters of the Universe'),the Evangelical brain dead (excuse me, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Ted Haggard, Rick Warren and their gay baiting, war mongering, piously inane hypocritical followers) and the Republican fuckwits whose last course in economics was in the sandbox of Milton Friedman where they learned that screaming it's mine, it's mine is all that matters and taxes per Lilly Helman were for the little people (that's us). .... destroy this country without a peep?
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
John Updike, RIP
If you hit google news right now (01/27/2009, approx. 7:45 EST), you would see the"Death of John Updike" ensconced between a headline heralding "Obama Visits Capitol to Press Republicans on Stimulus Plan" and another far more crude declaring "Man Kills His Wife and 5 Children".
Updike would find his obit caught thus between the proverbial rock of a politics he never really liked or understood (he was much more conservative than liberal) and the hard place of the brute philistine of human nature (he was a soft spoken gentleman of letters who was both hospitable as well as charming) par for the course.
He had a knack for being caught between those extremes.
In terms of his place in literature, he crosses a curious divide between a now faded modern movement insistent on the primacy of language and the older schools of narrative realism from which he ultimately descends. Language wise, Updike could probably fashion a description of a man's hand, a woman's belly, a mountain range or the quiet stubbornness of a library on Saturday evening ten minutes before closing better than any writer on Earth. Seriously, he was a master of the gem like sentence, so masterfully cut it takes your breath away. His aphoristic descriptors nail with visual intensity. He's not especially witty--ultimately, I've come to decide he never thought that much of wit--he's painfully, subjectively visual, turning abstract concepts--like time, for example-- into visualizations.
Updike would find his obit caught thus between the proverbial rock of a politics he never really liked or understood (he was much more conservative than liberal) and the hard place of the brute philistine of human nature (he was a soft spoken gentleman of letters who was both hospitable as well as charming) par for the course.
He had a knack for being caught between those extremes.
In terms of his place in literature, he crosses a curious divide between a now faded modern movement insistent on the primacy of language and the older schools of narrative realism from which he ultimately descends. Language wise, Updike could probably fashion a description of a man's hand, a woman's belly, a mountain range or the quiet stubbornness of a library on Saturday evening ten minutes before closing better than any writer on Earth. Seriously, he was a master of the gem like sentence, so masterfully cut it takes your breath away. His aphoristic descriptors nail with visual intensity. He's not especially witty--ultimately, I've come to decide he never thought that much of wit--he's painfully, subjectively visual, turning abstract concepts--like time, for example-- into visualizations.
Watch:
"He comes into Brewer from the south, seeing it in the smoky shadow before dawn as a gradual multiplication of houses among trees beside the road and then as treeless waste of industry, shoe factories and bottling plants and company parking lots and knitting mills converted to electronic parts and elephantine gas tanks lifting above trash filled swampland yet lower than the blue edge of the mountain from whose crest Brewer was a warm carpet woven around a single shade of brick. Above the mountain, stars fade."
--Rabbit Run, p. 41
You can do that with almost any Updike novel, plop down on a page and find some extravagant description that is conceptually accurate, visually demonstrated and somewhat melancholy and sonorous. Like William Styron, his contemporary, Updike loves the long description, lives to tell you what someone or something looks like, how they fit into a particular context, or better, even, what exactly that context is. He lives on every page of his novels, is there, his opinion, whether right or wrong, is always inexorably there--and this has probably won him as many literary enemies as any literary gift is apt to do.
And it is a gift, for surely the one thing we must say of praise about Updike is that he was an enormously gifted writer, with an enormous awareness of his place and his time. His awareness, his insistent consciousness and instruction on such to the reader ends up being something of a hindrance, however. Certainly, not to speak ill of the dead (as Updike would necessarily admonish) but there is nearly a sophomoric awkwardness to the display of his gifts which might put off even his most admiring fans.
One of Updike's first published pieces, a short essay poking fun at the use of quotation marks in Henry James's work comes to mind. I remember reading it years ago, after I'd already tackled a few of Updike's greatest hits, Centaur and his Rabbit trilogy. It was an attempt at humor at the expense of Henry James larded use of quotes for ironic purposes. Updike, of course, found the `quotes' nettlesome and took James to task for them in no uncertain terms. The result was somewhat effective, but not terribly funny, and left you feeling ultimately a bit sorry for Henry James.
Much of Updike's fiction does this--creates characters that are visually accurate, perhaps even emotionally accurate, yet are surprisingly unconvincing. It's not that they aren't `liked', per se, it's that ultimately they are not believed. Maybe Updike himself understands this, naming his most realistic attempt 'Rabbit Angstrom'....Angstrom being the world's smallest unit of measurement (at least at the time Updike wrote the novel, I believe it's been since replaced with the nanometre--no little irony in that, either). It's as though the characters Updike invokes are so small and diminished in his eyes that his language completely overwhelms them. He needed a Quixote or Ignatius O'Reilly to fill out that fulsome tongue, but he only allowed himself the thin shades of characters in a gray state suffering an deep economic downturn and social upheaval. So, I think, Updike's overweening presence seems to mask his more realistic characters (Chiron, the mythical protagonist in the Centaur is an exquisite exception that seems to prove the rule), or create a penumbra of words that visually talks about them even as they indict and ultimately hide them.
The hard truth is, he had very few compelling characters that walked and talked and danced on his stage.
What he had ultimately was his voice. A multileveled, incredibly talented voice that talked about these ideas he had for people in really extraordinary ways. He just never got around to the hard work of letting his people, his characters talk for themselves.
I can already hear his singular judgment from the piney woods of Pennsylvania. Not so direct, sir, I am, after all, dead. A bit of respect is in order.
Indeed. His criticism -and I single out Hugging the Shore as one of his best volumes of criticism, will be reread by future generations. Some of his short stories, especially those illuminated in his Pigeon Feathers collection, and his wonderfully fanciful work, The Centuar will all be honored and remembered. As will John Updike.
A great writer died today. That he did not do all that he might--even after 50 books, should surprise no one--especially not for those of us engaged in these dark arts. As Samuel Beckett once said at the end of one of his works, "try again, fail better."
Let us grieve.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen
What you need to know is that Pete Seeger is 89 years old and according to Tommy Stevenson of the Tuscaloosa News he actually hoboed with Woody during the Depression and Dust Bowl. When he got on the stage with Springsteen, he had the crowd sing the song, "This Land", as it was actually written, as not only a celebration of this great land, but as a demand for workers' and people's rights.
That is, he restored the verses that have been censored from the song over the years to make it less political.
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
The "relief office," of course, refers to the ad hoc soup bowls and such set up during the Depression before the New Deal began to get the social security net we have all depended upon since the 1930s in place.
Seeger, like Guthrie, has been a controversial figure at times during his life, questioned by the witch hunting committees of Congress in the 1950s, black listed, and even banded from television as late as the late 1960s.
But while he hasn't got much of a voice left anymore and did not attempt to play his banjo today, it was wonderful to see the gleam in his subversive eye as he did his call and response with the throngs in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Somewhere Woody - and Leadbelly, and Sonny and Cisco and the rest of the great balladeers of that bygone era - are smiling tonight.
Below are the full lyrics:
This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me
As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!
Chorus
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.
Chorus (2x)
On an especially ironic note, Josh over at
TPM writes:
As most of you likely know, the inauguration committee sold HBO the exclusive rights to broadcast yesterday's inaugural concert festivities. I don't think that was a good idea since certainly not every American subscribes or can subscribe to HBO. But they at least had it available free on their website. But now it seems that HBO is going over Youtube with a fine tooth comb and having all clips of the event pulled under copyright claims. Want to see the special moment where an 89 year old Pete Seeger sang This Land Is Your Land on the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial? Tough luck.
Now, logically, the one follows from the other. They claim a copyright in the video of this event. And so they can prevent anyone from uploading it to Youtube -- though I'd be eager to see someone challenge them legally on it because I'm not sure how strong their claim really is against the use of short clips. But the fact that Americans can't show other Americans brief segments of these events because HBO owns the event in perpetuity just puts in much higher relief how ill-conceived a decision that was.
Lucky, this last update makes it not quite so bad....
Later Update: Alas, okay, another important qualifier. It turns out HBO does not own the copyright. They have a six month license. The inaugural committee owns it. Not as bad as I thought.
So 6 months until you get to see an HBO filmed version of the event. Or, ya know, you can just cut your own version of reality and view it here. Last I checked, reality doesn't have a copyright. Eat your heart out, HBO.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Israelis kill the 'wrong' Gazans on live TV
What's most striking is that Israeli military had to murder this man's daughters on live television before the masses in Israel and the West could begin to notice what's been obvious for days and weeks: The Israel military is slaughtering an occupied people.
It's generally not a good sign when it takes murder on live television so that people 'get it', but more and more this seems to be true.
ee cummings springs to mind
pity this busy monster, manunkind,
...
--- listen: there's a hell
of a good universe next door; let's go
Sunday, January 11, 2009
No, I'm not going to 'let this go' and neither should you.
According to a report issued last Thursday by the U.N.'s Humanitarian Affairs Office, more than 1/3 of overall Palestinian deaths are children (34% of the almost 800 total deaths), and a similar percentage of the more than 3,000 wounded are also children (34.8%).
To put that in perspective, note that the Russian invasion of Georgia -- which was vehemently and universally condemned in the U.S. as an excessive and brutal response to Georgia's assault on South Ossetia -- resulted, according to the Georgian government, in total deaths on the Georgia side of 405 (220 of whom were civilians) and total number of civilians wounded between 200-250 (see page 10 of this Amnesty International Report -- .pdf). The Russians agreed to a cease-fire accord after 5 days; the Israelis explicitly reject the U.N.'s call for a cease fire and continue to "escalate" after 14 full days (and counting) of full-scale air and land attacks on Gaza.
Of course, as Greenwall notes, all of that pales in comparision to the duration, destruction and carnage created by the U.S. as a result of the Iraq War (the most unprovoked of all of these conflicts). To say that the U.S. applies a glaring double standard to wars fought by its allies and its "enemies" (to say nothing of itself) is to understate the case.
To put that in perspective, note that the Russian invasion of Georgia -- which was vehemently and universally condemned in the U.S. as an excessive and brutal response to Georgia's assault on South Ossetia -- resulted, according to the Georgian government, in total deaths on the Georgia side of 405 (220 of whom were civilians) and total number of civilians wounded between 200-250 (see page 10 of this Amnesty International Report -- .pdf). The Russians agreed to a cease-fire accord after 5 days; the Israelis explicitly reject the U.N.'s call for a cease fire and continue to "escalate" after 14 full days (and counting) of full-scale air and land attacks on Gaza.
Of course, as Greenwall notes, all of that pales in comparision to the duration, destruction and carnage created by the U.S. as a result of the Iraq War (the most unprovoked of all of these conflicts). To say that the U.S. applies a glaring double standard to wars fought by its allies and its "enemies" (to say nothing of itself) is to understate the case.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
From Haaretz
From The time of the righteous
- Gideon Levy
And yes, the same, exact thing could be said about our miserable adventure in Iraq.
- Gideon Levy
You can't have it both ways. The only "purity" in this war is the "purification from terrorists," which really means the sowing of horrendous tragedies. What's happening in Gaza is not a natural disaster, an earthquake or flood, for which it would be our duty and right to extend a helping hand to those affected, to send rescue squads, as we so love to do. Of all the rotten luck, all the disasters now occurring in Gaza are manmade - by us. Aid cannot be offered with bloodstained hands. Compassion cannot sprout from brutality.
Yet there are some who still want it both ways. To kill and destroy indiscriminately and also to come out looking good, with a clean conscience. To go ahead with war crimes without any sense of the heavy guilt that should accompany them. It takes some nerve. Anyone who justifies this war also justifies all its crimes. Anyone who preaches for this war and believes in the justness of the mass killing it is inflicting has no right whatsoever to speak about morality and humaneness. There is no such thing as simultaneously killing and nurturing. This attitude is a faithful representation of the basic, twofold Israeli sentiment that has been with us forever: To commit any wrong, but to feel pure in our own eyes. To kill, demolish, starve, imprison and humiliate - and be right, not to mention righteous. The righteous warmongers will not be able to allow themselves these luxuries.
Anyone who justifies this war also justifies all its crimes. Anyone who sees it as a defensive war must bear the moral responsibility for its consequences. Anyone who now encourages the politicians and the army to continue will also have to bear the mark of Cain that will be branded on his forehead after the war. All those who support the war also support the horror.
And yes, the same, exact thing could be said about our miserable adventure in Iraq.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Things to worry about
Here are two big things to worry about for the New Years. I'm sure there will be others to come.
1) Israel's ugly and ultimately criminal bombardment and invasion of Gaza. There's just no excuse for this nonsense. And no, Jewish apologists everywhere, a few Qassam rockets do not an excuse make.
There's this thing known as proportionality of response. Interesting thing about the concept of proportionality is that when it's violated, those who are signatories to the Geneva Convention by law consider it a war crime.
Objectively speaking, Israel just blew that wide open with its vicious bombing and invasion of Gaza...But of course, Israel does stuff like this about once every year or two.
I found it ironic and sad that representatives of Israel could very well find themselves sitting in the same docket Eichmann warmed over half a century ago because they refuse to recongize the very laws put in place to prevent the same kind of horror happening again.
Of course, that won't happen, but here's hoping it does, nonetheless. The attack on Gaza is merciless and inexcusable morally, politically and legally.
2) Obama--a handful of very worrying trends: Allowing Rick Warren to deliver his invocation, his refusal to denounce the slaughter in Gaza and finally his absymal ideas on an economic stimulus package. A 300 billion tax cut is probably the least efficient way to stimulate the economy. He's obviously doing this to get the Republicans on board and it's just a bad, bad idea. Because Republicans are not about getting on board for anything. They will play obstructionist games and try to wrangle a 700 billion dollar tax cut because they are ideologically rigid that way--and not just a little blind to their own hubris and stupidity. Krugman has a lot more to say about this here.
I knew Obama was more centrist than I was. I just hope he doesn't let the whole post-partisan good guy riff go to his head. The Warren decision was ugly and unncessary, his silence on Gaza is political and cowardly and playing 'tax cuts' games with the Republicans is politically and economically dumb. It cedes the economic frame to their own grossly inept ideologoical bent and will be bad for the economy to boot.
Naturally, if he gets a deal done that includes some tax cuts, I suppose half a loaf is better than none and all of that, but I'm not holding my breath.
1) Israel's ugly and ultimately criminal bombardment and invasion of Gaza. There's just no excuse for this nonsense. And no, Jewish apologists everywhere, a few Qassam rockets do not an excuse make.
There's this thing known as proportionality of response. Interesting thing about the concept of proportionality is that when it's violated, those who are signatories to the Geneva Convention by law consider it a war crime.
Objectively speaking, Israel just blew that wide open with its vicious bombing and invasion of Gaza...But of course, Israel does stuff like this about once every year or two.
I found it ironic and sad that representatives of Israel could very well find themselves sitting in the same docket Eichmann warmed over half a century ago because they refuse to recongize the very laws put in place to prevent the same kind of horror happening again.
Of course, that won't happen, but here's hoping it does, nonetheless. The attack on Gaza is merciless and inexcusable morally, politically and legally.
2) Obama--a handful of very worrying trends: Allowing Rick Warren to deliver his invocation, his refusal to denounce the slaughter in Gaza and finally his absymal ideas on an economic stimulus package. A 300 billion tax cut is probably the least efficient way to stimulate the economy. He's obviously doing this to get the Republicans on board and it's just a bad, bad idea. Because Republicans are not about getting on board for anything. They will play obstructionist games and try to wrangle a 700 billion dollar tax cut because they are ideologically rigid that way--and not just a little blind to their own hubris and stupidity. Krugman has a lot more to say about this here.
I knew Obama was more centrist than I was. I just hope he doesn't let the whole post-partisan good guy riff go to his head. The Warren decision was ugly and unncessary, his silence on Gaza is political and cowardly and playing 'tax cuts' games with the Republicans is politically and economically dumb. It cedes the economic frame to their own grossly inept ideologoical bent and will be bad for the economy to boot.
Naturally, if he gets a deal done that includes some tax cuts, I suppose half a loaf is better than none and all of that, but I'm not holding my breath.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Krugman Nails it
from the NY Times
So the reign of George W. Bush, the first true Southern Republican president since Reconstruction, was the culmination of a long process. And despite the claims of some on the right that Mr. Bush betrayed conservatism, the truth is that he faithfully carried out both his party’s divisive tactics — long before Sarah Palin, Mr. Bush declared that he visited his ranch to “stay in touch with real Americans” — and its governing philosophy.
That’s why the soon-to-be-gone administration’s failure is bigger than Mr. Bush himself: it represents the end of the line for a political strategy that dominated the scene for more than a generation.
The reality of this strategy’s collapse has not, I believe, fully sunk in with some observers. Thus, some commentators warning President-elect Barack Obama against bold action have held up Bill Clinton’s political failures in his first two years as a cautionary tale.
But America in 1993 was a very different country — not just a country that had yet to see what happens when conservatives control all three branches of government, but also a country in which Democratic control of Congress depended on the votes of Southern conservatives. Today, Republicans have taken away almost all those Southern votes — and lost the rest of the country. It was a grand ride for a while, but in the end the Southern strategy led the G.O.P. into a cul-de-sac.
Mr. Obama therefore has room to be bold. If Republicans try a 1993-style strategy of attacking him for promoting big government, they’ll learn two things: not only has the financial crisis discredited their economic theories, the racial subtext of anti-government rhetoric doesn’t play the way it used to.
Will the Republicans eventually stage a comeback? Yes, of course. But barring some huge missteps by Mr. Obama, that will not happen until they stop whining and look at what really went wrong. And when they do, they will discover that they need to get in touch with the real “real America,” a country that is more diverse, more tolerant, and more demanding of effective government than is dreamt of in their political philosophy.
Deepak Chopra on 10 steps to Peace
Steps the incoming president can take to build a peace-based economy.
The following is a memo to Barack Obama from Deepak Chopra.
The following is a memo to Barack Obama from Deepak Chopra.
You have been elected by the first anti-war constituency since 1952, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected after promising to end the Korean War. But ending a war isn't the same as bringing peace. America has been on a war footing since the day after Pearl Harbor, 67 years ago. We spend more on our military than the next 16 countries combined. If you have a vision of change that goes to the heart of this country's deep problems, ending our dependence on war is far more important than ending our dependency on foreign oil.
The most immediate changes are economic. Unless it can make as much money as war, peace doesn't stand a chance. Since aerospace and military technologies remain the United States' most destructive export, fostering wars around the world, what steps can we take to reverse that trend and build a peace-based economy?
1. Scale out arms dealing and make it illegal by the year 2020.
2. Write into every defense contract a requirement for a peacetime project.
3. Subsidize conversion of military companies to peaceful uses with tax incentives and direct funding.
4. Convert military bases to housing for the poor.
5. Phase out all foreign military bases.
6. Require military personnel to devote part of their time to rebuilding infrastructure.
7. Call a moratorium on future weapons technologies.
8. Reduce armaments like destroyers and submarines that have no use against terrorism and were intended to defend against a superpower enemy that no longer exists.
9. Fully fund social services and take the balance out of the defense and homeland security budgets.
These are just the beginning. We don't lack creativity in coping with change. Without a conversion of our present war economy to a peace economy, the high profits of the military-industrial complex ensures that it will never end.
Do these nine steps seem unrealistic or fanciful? In various ways, other countries have adopted similar measures. The former Soviet army is occupied with farming and other peaceful work, for example. But comparisons are rather pointless, since only the United States is burdened with such a massive reliance on defense spending. Ultimately, empire follows the dollar. As a society, we want peace, and we want to be seen as a nation that promotes peace. For either ideal to come true, you as president must back up your vision of change with economic reality. So far, that hasn't happened under any of your predecessors. All hopes are pinned on you.
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