WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Former Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, retired Adm. William James Crowe Jr., died Oct. 18, at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He was 82.
A 1946 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Crowes 43-year career started in the diesel submarine community and ended in 1989 when he retired after serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Most notably, Crowe helped to determine the military policy many consider to have hastened the end of the Cold War.
"On behalf of the men and women of the U.S. Navy, I extend our sincere condolences to the Crowe family," said Adm. Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations. "Adm. Crowe was the finest example of a true gentleman and naval officer who served his country with distinction. He cared deeply about people, and always approached his duty and life with enthusiasm and a unique sense of humor. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Adm. Crowe."
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#2
And when at length her course is run,
Her work for home and country done,
Of all the souls that in her sailed
Let not one life in thee have failed;
But hear from heaven our sailor's cry,
And grant eternal life on high!
(AKI) Up to 29 people died after a small wooden passenger boat capsised off the island of Sulawesi, government official and hospital staff said on Friday. The number of passengers estimated to be on board the ferry varies from 82 to 146 people. Such discrepancies are common in Indonesia, where accurate passenger lists are not kept
The accident took place on Thursday night just before the ferry was due to reach the town of Baubau in southeastern Sulawesi, according to the Indonesian transport ministry. It is the latest in a string of transport disasters across the archipelago-nation, where the safety record of Indonesian passenger ships and ferries is poor.
Passenger ships are widely used to connect Indonesias more than 17,000 islands, since they are cheaper and more readily available than aircraft. But accidents are common with boats often being overcrowded and in poor condition. According to Lloyds List, one of the problem is that Indonesian ships are registered for their lifetime and follow-up surveys are not enforced. Recent maritime disasters include a passenger ship, carrying 70 people, which disappeared off eastern Indonesia in July; a fire on a ferry, killing 53, in February; and a crowded ferry that broke apart and sunk, killing more than 400 people, just before New Year.
Indonesia is also grappling with problems in other transport sectors. A series of passenger aircraft accidents earlier this year caused the European Union to ban all Indonesian airlines from its airspace. Rail accidents also occur frequently as the country's rail network, built during the Dutch colonial era, is aging rapidly.
My sources tell me that people who go out for a walk on Indonesia's roads regularly trip, fall, and hurt themselves.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- It's a daily ritual for 8-year-old Bismillah. Every morning, five grimy plastic cans slung over his tiny shoulder, he descends a rugged hillside, negotiating the steep pitches of scree and gravel with goat-like agility. At the bottom of the hill, he waits under the broiling sun in a long queue leading up to a spigot. But wait he must or his family will be left without drinking water for the day.
Bismillah lives with his handicapped father, mother and four sisters in a mud-and-wood house in a cramped settlement clinging to a shale-brown hill overlooking Kabul. With no direct water supply, dwellers of these rudimentary housing settlements -- all illegally built -- must lug their water from the bottom of the hill. "Life is hard," says, Suraiya begum, Bismillah's mother, her face hidden behind the lavender fabric of her burqa. "We wouldn't live here if we had a better choice."
Six years after the invasion, ask ordinary Afghans the biggest challenge they face, and their answer isn't likely to be the Taliban. It is, in fact, to find a roof over their heads.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
With no direct water supply, dwellers of these rudimentary housing settlements -- all illegally built -- must lug their water from the bottom of the hill.
Why, why it sounds just like Mexico City. Gee, Senor Fox, maybe you should clean up your own mess before calling the gringo racists. You and your ruling elite could do with some of that graft to help your own people rather than export them to the US. At least Afghanistan has an excuse, they've been at war for decades.
#2
I fail to see the hardship here, growing up I drew water from a well whenever we wanted some, we had no running water (Electricity was very expensive back then, it's much cheaper now)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/20/2007 15:14 Comments ||
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There are few real problems, only opportunities. In this case, two problems with one solution. High unemployment and a housing shortage. The edge? Wages are very low.
Using inexpensive available materials, design a standard house, and then hire every available person to start building them, for pennies a day.
Every part of the process, from digging up dirt to clearing land, to building the houses is ordered, with workman being paid every day. You don't add infrastructure, but you plan for it to be added later.
Back in the 1980s, some ingenious individual invented a device that runs off a diesel truck air pressure system. You put mud and straw in it and it compresses it quickly to produce a high quality mud brick. Add one drop of an inexpensive sealant to the mud and the brick is near waterproof. The bricks dry in a day instead of several.
One tank of diesel can make enough bricks to make 3 houses. The average unskilled wage is $100/month. For $1B you could hire over 800,000 workers for a year. Imagine how much construction that many men could perform.
THE black market exchange rate for the US dollar had broken the 1 million Zimbabwe dollar mark, as the country's soaring inflation, fuelled by a crumbling economy, continued to spiral out of control. Worsening currency shortages more than doubled the price of the US dollar in the past 10 days, dealers said.
Travellers returning from trips for basics across the country's borders said central bank buyers at the downtown bus terminal offered top black market rates for US, Botswana and South African currencies needed to pay for food, power and petrol imports.
The official exchange rate is 30,000 to 1, but in the first week of this month, the black market rate surged to about 520,000 to 1. The International Monetary Fund forecasts inflation reaching 100,000 per cent by year's end.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Whoa! So, like, I'm a Zimbo millionaire? Who knew?
#3
Here's 3 US dollars; I'd like to exchange it for Zim dollars - in ones please. I'm not sure where I'll store them, but it should keep me in toilet paper for a long, long time.
"Posted: 20 Oct 2007 12:07 Post subject: Operation Sunset Saturday 20th October 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
It's been just over a year since three zeroes were removed from our currency. That move in August 2006 was called Operation Sunrise and turned a million into a thousand dollars and a thousand into a single dollar. Thirteen new notes were introduced. They weren't bank notes, still had expiry dates on them and were called Bearer Cheques. Now, just fourteen months later ten of those notes are as good as useless, two are useful for change but actually buy nothing and one new, bigger denomination note has been introduced.
Zimbabwe stumbled distressingly through the money change a year ago. Great armies of youths were disgorged onto our streets and they stood at roadblocks demanding to see how much money we had on us. Cars, buses, suitcases and handbags were searched and anyone found with more money than stipulated by the Reserve Bank, had their money seized. On a lower level, people with a million dollars in their bank or savings accounts, discovered that overnight the zeroes had been removed and a million became a thousand. Those lost zeroes are coming home to roost now as many investment centres are announcing new minimum balances of a million dollars - anything less and the accounts are being made dormant. Pensioners and others on fixed and minimum incomes are losing their precious savings again.
Fourteen months down the line since the zero slashing and Zimbabwe is back in that same ridiculous place again. The queues in the banks are huge, the piles of money we have to carry around have reached satchel size proportions, our regular bills are in millions and calculations run into billions very rapidly. We've stopped using paper clips to hold notes together and are back in rubber band land again. The prices of the few things still available to buy are so large they we're all back to peering at price stickers and counting the zeroes again. The money counting machines which temporarily went into the storerooms are back out on the counter tops and whirring their way through endless piles of almost worthless money.
Earlier in the week the official inflation rate was announced to be 7892%. With virtually no food to buy in the shops, it's impossible to try and understand just exactly how the food part of the inflation calculation is made. However it's done, is a world away from what's happening on the ground. When you've gone without a basic household product for three months or more, you grab it when you see it and just hope you've got enough money to pay for it. This week it was margarine. The last time this was openly on sale it had been 100 thousand dollars On Monday a friend said she'd seen margarine but it was 400 thousand dollars for a 500g pack. By Tuesday it was gone. On Wednesday it was back, same brand, same size but the price had gone up to 620 thousand dollars. By Friday there were only four or five packets left on the shelf and the price had gone up again, this time to 720 thousand dollars.
It's virtually impossible to live like this and everywhere, everyone longs for change. For most of us the politics, the secret talks, the quiet diplomacy and the rumours about succession have left the suffering of the ordinary people completely out of the equation.We are waiting, just waiting, for Operation Sunset.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy".
#5
If Zimbob floats the explanation that the imperialist US dollar has devalued to now be a millionth of a Zim, he might win the Nobel Prize for Economics next year.
LONDON - Britains economy expanded at its fastest annual rate in more than three years in the third quarter, showing resilience in the face of a global credit crunch, according to official data on Friday.
Preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics showed gross domestic product grew 0.8 percent from the previous three months, the same as the second quarter, despite forecasts for a slowdown to 0.7 percent. The annual rate of growth accelerated to 3.3 percent , the strongest rate since the second quarter of 2004, from 3.1 percent in April-June.
The pound rose and interest rate futures fell as investors bet the Bank of England would be in no hurry to cut borrowing costs this year, given signs that consumers and businesses have held up well against this summers financial market turmoil. Even the funding crisis at Northern Rock last month, which triggered the first run on a bank in Britain in more than a century, failed to dent demand for consumer services, which made a strong contribution to growth in the third quarter.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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It's all growth from debt. Which means it's not really growth (it has to be paid fro by a poorer future)!
European Union leaders voiced relief at clinching a deal on Friday on a treaty to reform the 27-nation bloc's institutions, replacing a defunct constitution and ending a two-year crisis of confidence in Europe's future. "It's an important page in the history of Europe. Europe is now stronger, more confident and ready to face the challenges in the future," Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said after brokering agreement at an EU summit.
After their post-midnight deal, leaders hugged each other and toasted with champagne a treaty that will be signed on December 13 in Lisbon. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who faces uproar at home over his refusal to put the treaty to a referendum, declined the champagne.
For enthusiastic European integrationists, on the other hand, celebration was tinged with regret for the constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who brokered the political mandate for the treaty in June, told reporters: "Certain items had to be taken out of the treaty but after what happened at the referendums we could not just go back with the same text. People would say that is not democratic." This time, only Ireland is likely to hold a referendum.
Provided it is ratified by all 27 member states, the treaty will take effect in 2009 giving the EU a long-term president, a more powerful foreign policy chief, more democratic decision making and more say for the European and national parliaments.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested former Prime Minister Tony Blair or veteran Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker would make excellent candidates for the new president's job. He also hinted at endorsing Jose Manuel Barroso for a second term as president of the European Commission.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I feel lots of things upon reading this news, none of them relief.
#2
The EU is now a single sovereign country regardless of how they want to call it.
If this "treaty" (aka constitution) is accepted then Britain, France, Germany, etc. should be stripped of their UN seats and all replaced with one EU seat.
Same thing with all International Organizations.
What we are witnessing is a bloodless coup of monumental proportions.
#4
If this "treaty" (aka constitution) is accepted then Britain, France, Germany, etc. should be stripped of their UN seats and all replaced with one EU seat.
That, or each one of our states get a seat too. That would be interesting.
So later this month, according to THIS INVITATION, the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, is holding a "Rural Americans for Hillary" lunch and campaign briefing at the end of this month .
..but she's holding it in Washington, DC...at a lobbying firm ...and specifically, though it's not mentioned in the invitation, at the lobbying firm Troutman Sanders Public Affairs, which just so happens to lobby for the controversial multinational agri-biotech Monsanto.
You read that right: Monsanto, about which there are serious questions about its culpability regarding 56 Superfund Sites, wanton and "outrageous" pollution, and the decidedly unkosher (and quite metaphoric) genetically-bred "Superpig."
...A company that the website "Ethical Investing" labels "the world's most unethical and harmful investment."
Holding an agri-summit in the plush halls of the lobbyists for Monsanto doesn't sound like the kind of "rural Americans" a presidential candidate would necessarily want to be photographed with. Particularly if Clinton's two primary opponents -- former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. -- don't take money from lobbyists and are trying to depict the frontrunner as too much a part of the corrupt Washington system, lobbyists, corporate America, et al .
But then again, it doesn't say Clinton will attend this luncheon -- just senior staffers and congressional endorsers! (Is that better or worse?)
#1
If she holds true to the current Hsu financing scheme then thousands of maximum dollar contributions from hardscrabble dirt farmers will arrive in her coffers. Ma and pa Kettle shore do like that there Hillary!
BATON ROUGE, La. Rep. Bobby Jindal holds a commanding lead heading into tomorrow's gubernatorial primary, but it is not clear whether he can avoid a runoff election.
A poll released last week by Southeastern Louisiana University showed the two-term Republican congressman leading the race with 46 percent of the vote. But a candidate must get 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election Nov. 17.His closest opponents are Democratic state Sen. Walter J. Boasso with 10 percent of the vote, independent businessman John Georges with 9 percent and Democratic Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell with 6 percent.
They are running to replace Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who decided not to seek re-election in the aftermath of widespread criticism of her response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She has not endorsed any of the candidates.
During a recent interview in Lafayette, Mr. Jindal said he is telling supporters to prepare for a runoff, noting that no non-incumbent has ever won the governorship in the first round. If elected, Mr. Jindal would become the country's first Indian-American governor.
Even the NYT has to praise Mr. Jindal. We're looking at a future GOP presidential/VP candidate on the rise.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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I used to think Jindal was a high potential candidate. But it appears he has caught the epicemic campaign finance contribution disease the same as everyone else - lots of donations from places I'd rather not see them coming from. And why in the world would anybody WANT that job? Either they're in it for the graft or they're masochistic nut-jobs. Still, I'm about to pedal down the street & cast my vote for him.
Sorta. On a Friday evening when no one is listening.
WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rebuked a fellow San Francisco Bay-area liberal Friday for what she said were "inappropriate" comments about Iraq during a congressional debate.
During a debate on children's health care Thursday, Rep. Pete Stark accused Republicans of sending troops to Iraq to "get their heads blown off for the president's amusement." Condemnations rolled in from Republican politicians, right-leaning bloggers had a field day, and a White House spokesman declined to "dignify those remarks" with a response.
Pelosi issued a statement Friday evening rapping Stark, who is in his 18th term representing the liberal East Bay. He's California's longest-serving House members. "While members of Congress are passionate about their views, what Congressman Stark said during the debate was inappropriate and distracted from the seriousness of the subject at handproviding health care for America's children," Pelosi said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
[span class=moonbat]
How did KKKarl Rove get to her?
[/span]
Posted by: Mike ||
10/20/2007 6:39 Comments ||
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And we all thought they were pals.
Although the Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office, the Coalition's research reveals that Rep. Stark is the first open nontheist in the history of the Congress. Recent polls show that Americans without a god-belief are, as a group, more distrusted than any other minority in America. Surveys show that the majority of Americans would not vote for an atheist for president even if he or she were the most qualified for the office.
#3
I was press-secretary for Bill Kennedy in his 1982 campaign against Fortney Pete Stark. I got a chance to see this guy up close and I was unimpressed with the quality of the man. Actually, he is a sleazy slimeball, and the best thing that can be said about the blue-eyed radical leftist is scum.
#5
Inappropriate? Gibberish doesn't do him justice.
How about Stark Raving Mad?
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2007 8:44 Comments ||
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When the Donk Titanic hits the rocks next November, remember all the lookout warnings given to the ship's captains. If 2006 reiterated anything to pols, it's a basic fundamental - don't make the American public mad, cause that'll motivate them [not your party members] to show up at the polls. Icebergs have been sighted, best to pull the ship hard to center course. Fortunately, we can anticipate they'll ignore the lookout's warming [though Captain Hillary is acting a bit apprehensive].
#7
Want to know what a pendulum swinging too far in one direction sounds like?
It sounds exactly like Stark's comments.
The Democrats' cynical backhanded efforts to undermine American military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan by rousing Turkish ire were not lost on astute followers of politics.
Now, as it is becoming clear that U.S. efforts in Iraq are making rapid progress, the incidents which stand out in public view are MoveOn's noxious ad against the heroic General Petraeus and Stark's loony-Left ravings.
Watch Hillary for early signs of a momentum shift among the electorate. With the nomination almost assured, she will proceed to move toward the center. This might be achieved with a mild version of a "Sister Souljah" moment in decrying upcoming antiwar excesses.
#1
About friken time. Another Bush crony that has almost killed the Republican party. His support and collaboration with Bush and the liberal dems on illegal alien amnesty caused Repub fundraising to take one of the biggest tanks in its history.
He has bigger problems - in FL - they need to get someone to oppose him int he primary - someone that can win against the Dems there.
#3
As a graphic, may I suggest the pic of the asian ladies waving goodbye?
Good riddance, idiot.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/20/2007 14:00 Comments ||
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So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight.
What a maroon. There's one silver lining, though..."Amnesty Mel" and his open-borders buddies SERIOUSLY woke up large elements of the Republican base. BTW, all a primary opponent needs to do is absolutely blanket the state and the Web with stills and photos of Martinez chortling with Teddy K over their wonderful immigration "reform" legislation.
I know a lot of people have talked about Michael Steele as a replacement for Melvin the Meathead - but myself, I'm hoping the RNC will pick Newt. Not so great at the nuts and bolts of governance, but absolutely incomparable as a message and strategy guy.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/20/2007 14:02 Comments ||
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#5
aarrggh...I meant "blanket the state and the Web with stills and videos...
"Now, young man...write on the chalkboard 1,000 times, Preview is my friend, Preview is my friend, Preview is my friend..."
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/20/2007 14:04 Comments ||
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#6
As I wrote to smiling Amnesty Mel: Not ADime, Amigo
Announcing Tuesday his decision to run for president, Stephen Colbert is seemingly of the "I laugh at them but will join them regardless" school of thought.
Despite that his chances of being -- or even wanting to be -- elected are slimmer than a Hollywood starlet's waistline, Colbert's decision has got everybody talking. The question is, is this a joke that's perhaps going too far for the Comedy Central funny man? Joe Saltzman, a former senior producer for Entertainment Tonight, with four Emmy's to his name, thinks not. "It's a funny gag and hikes up his comedy to the next level," Saltzman said. "Politics is already comedic, with carefully scripted answers. And with Colbert on the inside, he can expose how his opponents are contradicting themselves with clips of what they said then and what they're saying now."
On its face, it may seem like one big lark, but the fact of the matter is, Colbert has contacted both the Republican and Democratic parties in South Carolina. Joe Werner of the South Carolina Democratic Party told ABC News that Colbert's people actually contacted the party weeks ago to check whether his application would be viable. With this in mind, it seems that this is one joke Colbert is not going to let go of anytime soon. And the risk with any joke is people taking it the wrong way.
"When I'm up on stage and do a joke, half the people interpret it one way and half of them interpret it the way I want them to," said Maria Bamford, a comic who regularly appears on Comedy Central. "The character you play can seem more real than you, and it's amazing how many people buy into it."
The electorate buying into the idea of Colbert as a candidate could be one way that this particular joke turns sour. "While it's not much of a possibility, if Colbert takes votes from people interested in the job, than that could become troublesome," Bamford said.
This article starring:
Joe Werner of the South Carolina Democratic Party
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Air Force said Friday it would punish 70 airmen involved in the accidental, cross-country flight of a nuclear-armed B-52 bomber following an investigation that found widespread disregard for the rules on handling such munitions. "There has been an erosion of adherence to weapons-handling standards at Minot Air Force Base and Barksdale Air Force Base," said Maj. Gen. Richard Newton, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations.
Newton was announcing the results of a six-week probe into the Aug. 29-30 incident in which the B-52 was inadvertently armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown from Minot in North Dakota to Barksdale in Louisiana without anyone noticing the mistake for more than a day. The missiles were supposed to be taken to Louisiana, but the warheads were supposed to have been removed beforehand.
A main reason for the error was that crews had decided not to follow a complex schedule under which the status of the missiles is tracked while they are disarmed, loaded, moved and so on, one official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. The airmen replaced the schedule with their own "informal" system, he said, though he didn't say why they did that nor how long they had been doing it their own way.
"This was an unacceptable mistake and a clear deviation from our exacting standards," Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne said at a Pentagon press conference with Newton. "We hold ourselves accountable to the American people and want to ensure proper corrective action has been taken."
Newton acknowledged that the Air Force needs to "restore the confidence" lost among the American people after the August incident, which raised questions about the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal. "We are making all appropriate changes to ensure this has a minimal chance of ever happening again," Wynne said.
Highest among those to be punished are four officers who were relieved this week of their commands, including the 5th Bomb Wing commander at Minot - Col. Bruce Emig, who also has been the base commander since June. In addition, the wing has been "decertified from its wartime mission," Newton said.
Some 65 airmen have been decertified from handling nuclear weapons. The certification process looks at a person's psychological profile, any medications they are taking and other factors in determining a person's reliability to handle weapons.
Wynne prefaced his remarks about the B-52 incident by saying that, in publicly confirming that nuclear weapons were involved, he had authorized a one-time exception to U.S. policy, which states that the location of nuclear weapons will never be confirmed publicly. He said he made this exception because of the seriousness of the episode and its importance to the nation.
The weapon involved was the Advanced Cruise Missile, a "stealth" weapon developed in the 1980s with the ability to evade detection by Soviet radar. The Air Force said in March that it had decided to retire the Advanced Cruise Missile fleet soon, and officials said after the breach that the missiles were being flown to Barksdale for decommissioning.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Mass punishment? Not a good thing. Makes one wonder about procedural systems and oversight in place.
#2
Yep, mass executions on the taxiway. The ghost of LeMay is walking the halls at offut and the pentagon. I smell a good old witch hunt/ purge coming down the pipe.
This is gonna be unpleasant to watch.
I'm glad I'm army guard right now.
Posted by: N guard ||
10/20/2007 1:25 Comments ||
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#2 Yep, mass executions on the taxiway. The ghost of LeMay is walking the halls at offut and the pentagon. I smell a good old witch hunt/ purge coming down the pipe.
This is gonna be unpleasant to watch.
I'm glad I'm army guard right now.
Civilian is even safer.. LOL! Ima still afraid.. boo!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/20/2007 5:03 Comments ||
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This is quite amazing. Back in the 1970s when I came into contact with field artillery nukes, the handling and accounting procedures were fairly straightforward. Details can't be posted, of course, but suffice to say that there were designated officers who knew where every device was and what its status was at all times. Procedures in the USAF must be awesomely complex for this screw-up to be possible and for so many to be culpable. I suspect natural bureaucratic inflation as the real culprit. Procedures proliferated until there were too many cooks in the kitchen.
Posted by: Lord Piltdown ||
10/20/2007 5:06 Comments ||
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Procedures proliferated until there were too many cooks in the kitchen.
#6
Those whove been then can correct me, but my observation of what evolved is the result of a long trail of administrative cover up that should have resulted in about half as many reliefs over the past decade or so. Instead we get an avalanche in one quick shot.
How it works is that the reg and procedures say execute
1,2,3
However someone screws up, but because of influence or sympathy or just the unwillingness to pull the trigger right then and there, someone in the chain of command mods the procedure to
1, 2a, 2b, 3
Then another incident occurs, and again the corrective action doesnt happen but the procedure is mod once again to
1, 2a1, 2a2, 2b1, 2b2, 2b3, 3
The problem then compounds so that the procedures are now several lines of 2a, 2b, and now up to 2z. Meanwhile up the chain of command, no one is walking the process through so the guys down below just muddle through. No one cares to ask why arent we doing the old 1,2, 3 procedure?
BANG!
The years of paper patching what should have been solved by quick on the spot corrective discipline gets a boat load of people in one big shot with lots of collateral damage spread around. Not that people didnt understand the consequences, everyone has been playing musical chairs with the issues for years, just hoping theyre not the ones in the wrong spot [assignment] when the music stops. Ill believe in justice if the investigation does a look back to see all the previous supervisors/commanders who had let the situation deteriorate to this level get theirs too.
#7
The Air Force said Friday it would punish 70 airmen
Note it deliberately does NOT say "Officers" only "Airmen" so the ranks take the blame once again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/20/2007 12:36 Comments ||
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#8
RJ, note that the Wing Commander of the 5th Bomb Wing is the first to go. The Air Force has had a rule since there have been nukes that NO ONE will ever be alone with one, that is there will always be at least TWO qualified personnel around a nuke. That rule is hammered into everyone who ever sees a nuke up close and personal. Anyone, no matter what rank, who violates that rule is toast. As for officers, you can bet that every squadron and flight commander even remotely associated with this is looking for civilian employment.
A main reason for the error was that crews had decided not to follow a complex schedule under which the status of the missiles is tracked while they are disarmed, loaded, moved and so on, one official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. The airmen replaced the schedule with their own "informal" system, he said, though he didn't say why they did that nor how long they had been doing it their own way.
I can't begin to tell you how abhorrent that is to those of us who kept watch with the nuclear fire in the old days. Seventy is not enough. The units involved should be disbanded, their names stricken from the roles of active duty units and every member of them discharged. Better to start fresh than try and salvage units with this much rot.
(CNN) -- President Bush on Friday set new sanctions against members of Myanmar's military junta and their associates in response to the junta's violent crackdown on democracy protesters. President Bush announces new sanctions on Myanmar's ruling junta on Friday. "We must not turn a deaf ear to their cries," Bush said of those who have taken to the streets for democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.
Attention Span Deficit Disorder will result in Bush being internationally reviled for picking on the Myanmar junta, who after all never did anything to us. Who's GW to be expressing an opinion on what's going on inside Burma, anyway?
In late September, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it was freezing the assets of 14 senior members of the government of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Also, the State Department imposed travel restrictions against the same junta leaders. Bush said Friday he was expanding those sanctions to include 11 more members of the ruling junta. In addition, 12 individuals associated with Myanmar's government will face U.S. sanctions. "Burma's rulers continue to defy the world's just demand to stop their vicious persecution," Bush said in explaining the additional sanctions.
If the ASDD hasn't kicked in yet, then any action the U.S. takes will be too little, too late. I think we've got this game down now.
Bush praised nations that have joined in sanctions on Myanmar and asked others to join in the effort to hasten democratic reforms in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
After allnow that the Saudis are firmly on our side in fighting terrorismBush needs to do something with all that spare condemnation he has laying around.
Women in several countries have begun sending their panties to Myanmar embassies in a culturally insulting gesture of protest against the recent brutal crackdown there, a campaign supporter said Friday. "It's an extremely strong message in Burmese and in all Southeast Asian culture," said Liz Hilton, who supports an activist group that launched the "Panties for Peace" drive earlier this week.
The group, Lanna Action for Burma, says the country's superstitious generals, especially junta leader Gen. Than Shwe, also believe that contact with women's underwear saps them of power. "You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often!" the Lanna Action for Burma Web site urges.
"So far we have had no response from Burmese officials," Hilton said.
Amusing, but in the time I spent in Southeast Asia, I never ran into any unusual fetishes against ladies' underwear. I don't know where this comes from, unless I missed something. Since at that age and degree of singularity I was trying to do regular ladies' underwear checks, I'd probably have run into it at some point in my travels, unless it's a purely Burman thing.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#3
I recall similar campus "drives" which involved heavy drinking and frivolity at UW Madison and SIU, but I think it was focused on a different type of "peace."
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Cape Cod Commission in Massachusetts Thursday denied Cape Wind's application to bury electric cables needed to connect its proposed 420-megawatt offshore wind farm in the Nantucket Sound to the state power grid.
Cape Wind said in a release that it would challenge the Commission decision. The Cape Cod Commission is a local organization created by the state in 1990 to manage growth and protect Cape Cod's natural resources.
Sen. Ted Kennedy and many residents who own coastal property from where they could see the wind turbines on a clear day oppose the project along with some environmental groups concerned about disrupting the patterns of migratory birds and the potential effect on local sea life.
The project's supporters, who include other environmental groups, meanwhile claim it would provide renewable energy, improve air quality, lower electricity costs and increase the reliability of the power grid.
Although the wind farm would be located in federal waters, the transmission lines connecting the project to the grid crosses land controlled by state and local authorities.
The Commission said it did not have enough information to make a decision. Local papers said Cape Wind could offer to provide more information to the Commission or appeal to the state to override the local authorities, or both.
"The Commission's denial based, not on the merits but, on claims that Cape Wind provided insufficient information does not square with the record," Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind, said in a release.
CAPE WIND HISTORY
Energy Management Inc, of Boston, the developer of Cape Wind, proposed in 2001 to build the offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound.
At that time, Energy Management hoped the project, expected to cost more than $500 million, would start generating electricity in 2004.
The project consists of 130 General Electric Co 3.6 megawatt wind turbines, capable of generating over 400 MW, which is enough to supply about three-quarters of the electricity needs of Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
The turbines, located more than 5 miles away from the Cape Cod coast, will stand about 440 feet from the surface of the water to the tip of the blade.
Due in part to an increase in global demand for steel and wind turbines, Cape Wind now expects the project to cost about $1 billion and the permitting process to continue through 2008 or beyond.
The lead federal agency needed to approve the project is the Minerals Management Service, a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior. MMS manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf.
MMS has said it expects to issue a draft report on the project later this autumn.
If approved, it would take Cape Wind about 18 months to construct the wind farm.
#2
enough to supply about three-quarters of the electricity needs of Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
Those three communities should lose that amount from the Masshole Electric Grid. Let em eat caviar in the dark
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 10:54 Comments ||
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#3
Turn off the power and water to Gaza(Ummmm, Massaholia?)If teddy wants power, he's rich enough to buy a big generator.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/20/2007 12:41 Comments ||
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#4
The Commission said it did not have enough information to make a decision....and plans to visit Holland soon to gain more insight into this new, developing technology.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(AKI) Up to 29 people died after a small wooden passenger boat capsised off the island of Sulawesi, government official and hospital staff said on Friday. The number of passengers estimated to be on board the ferry varies from 82 to 146 people. Such discrepancies are common in Indonesia, where accurate passenger lists are not kept
THE black market exchange rate for the US dollar had broken the 1 million Zimbabwe dollar mark, as the country's soaring inflation, fuelled by a crumbling economy, continued to spiral out of control. Worsening currency shortages more than doubled the price of the US dollar in the past 10 days, dealers said. 
European Union leaders voiced relief at clinching a deal on Friday on a treaty to reform the 27-nation bloc's institutions, replacing a defunct constitution and ending a two-year crisis of confidence in Europe's future. "It's an important page in the history of Europe. Europe is now stronger, more confident and ready to face the challenges in the future," Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said after brokering agreement at an EU summit.
Announcing Tuesday his decision to run for president, 
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Cape Cod Commission in Massachusetts Thursday denied Cape Wind's application to bury electric cables needed to connect its proposed 420-megawatt offshore wind farm in the Nantucket Sound to the state power grid.
