Month: September 2005

Democracy is on the march

Looks like some folks in Iraq have the same instincts as some of ours. Procurement is just the place for people with sticky fingers and no ethics.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Ex-Iraqi defence minister wanted over $1bn fraud:

Iraqi authorities are preparing an arrest warrant for the country’s former defence minister in connection with a massive fraud case involving the “disappearance” of more than $1bn from ministry coffers. Judge Raid al-Radhi, who is head of Iraq’s commission on public integrity, said yesterday that he had given Iraq’s central criminal court a dossier of evidence against Hazim Shaalan, who was minister of defence under the former government of Ayed Allawi.

“What Shaalan and his ministry were responsible for is possibly the largest robbery in the world. Our estimates begin at $1.3bn [£720m] and go up to $2.3bn,” Judge Radhi, who is Iraq’s senior anti-corruption official, told Reuters.

The “robbery” is believed to include the signing of multimillion-dollar deals with companies to supply equipment that was sometimes inappropriate for the new army or was years out of date. It is also alleged that the ministry paid huge premiums for some military hardware.

Today the FBI arrested the former (as of last week) GSA chief of staff on ethics charges. This guy is well-connected: perhaps he’ll be the one to rat out the kingpins.

Former White House Official Arrested:

WASHINGTON — A former Bush administration official was arrested Monday on charges he made false statements and obstructed a federal investigation into his dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to court documents and government officials.

David Safavian, then-chief of staff of the General Services Administration and a former Abramoff lobbying associate, concealed from federal investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with GSA when Safavian joined him on a golf trip to Scotland in 2002, according to an FBI affidavit and the officials.

Arrrrrr, it’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Arrrrrr, it’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day!:

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In honor of today being International Talk Like a Pirate Day (who knew? well, besides the pirates.) we bring you the Corsair Ergonomic Keyboard for Pirates. Arrr, thar be plunderin’ ta be done!

Coincidentally (?), my 8 Year Old took Treasure Island in for his reading time today.

Think you can balance the federal budget?

See how you do: I ended up with a deficit of $125 Billion, down from the projected $401 billion, or as a commenter at Pandagon suggested, $401 thousand million, for those who don’t realize the difference between billions and millions.

National Budget Simulation:

This simple simulation should give you a better feel of the trade-offs
which policy makers need to make in creating federal budgets and dealing with deficits.
This simulation asks you to adjust spending and tax expenditures in the the 2006 budget proposed by the White House in order to achieve either a balanced budget or any other target deficit. In order to make the choices we face in the budget clearer, we assume that you make the adjustments all in one year.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2006 fiscal deficit is projected to be $296 billion. This does not include the costs of the Iraq War, so in the simulation the deficit has been increased by $105 billion, the costs of the supplemental appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan operation for fiscal 2005, for a total projected deficit of $401 billion. These costs and the associated deficits can be adjusted in the similuation based on your estimates of the likely continuing costs of the war or whether to scale back or end those operations.
The Simulation also allows you to adjust the costs of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, either cutting or cancelling them to raise revenue, or increasing them to create larger tax cuts. It also allows you to increase or decrease tax expenditures, also known as tax deductions, credits or “loopholes.”

anyone have any recommendations on better iPod earpieces?

The Apple ones are fading, crackling in the bass and generally starting to lose their punch.

ipod earphones – Google Search
B0002Zw5W4.01. Scmzzzzzzz -1

These look like the ones to beat.


I tried the Sony Fontopias but they didn’t last all that well. I didn’t realize earbuds were a consumable. And at the high end, Bose offers a pair that cost the same as the iPod: no thanks.
Continue reading “anyone have any recommendations on better iPod earpieces?”

me on TV? I doubt it

I have to assume it’s due to a comment I left here, but this came over the transom today:

Good Morning America is planning a segment focused on the “delivery debate”. Should men witness the birth of their children? Is it okay to be squeamish about it? What does it mean if they are?

We’re currently looking for men who were present during the delivery of their children, who believe that it was important for them to be there and would be willing to discuss their feelings. We’ll have men on both sides of the issue.

If you’d be willing to participate, please reply to this email as soon as possible with your name, telephone number(s) and best time to call so we can contact you this week. GMA will take care of any necessary travel arrangements.

A guy with a face for radio on TV? I expressed interest, but I’m not holding my breath.

<update> I just got called back and yes, they would fly me to NYC to appear on their morning broadcast. Not for me, though: I somehow doubt I would make the cut unless their makeup staff have prosthetic teeth on hand ;- )

a new meme: ongoing victory

DeLay declares ‘victory’ in war on budget fat – Nation/Politics – The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.

Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans’ choice to borrow money and add to this year’s expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn’t seem possible.

“My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I’ll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet,” the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing.

Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, “Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we’ve pared it down pretty good.”

Wonkette has the best take on this:

We admire the locution of “ongoing victory” — it opens up a whole new order of excuses, including “we’re not late, we’re experiencing an ongoing arrival” and “I don’t owe you money, you’re receiving ongoing payment.”

Spread the joy: tag posts with the new hotness.

Now playing: Home by Hothouse Flowers from the album “Home”

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numbers

Harper’s Index for August 2005 (Harpers.org):

Number of new U.S. soldiers the Army would need in 2006 to replenish ranks abroad : 80,000[U.S. Army Recruiting Command (Fort Knox, Ky.)]

Percentage of this goal it expects to meet : 9.9[U.S. Army Recruiting Command (Fort Knox, Ky.)]

Number of Iraqi troops that have been “trained and equipped,” according to President Bush in April : 150,000[White House (Washington)]

Number that the U.S. military considers ready to deploy independently : 1,500

So we’re 90% undermanned on US troops and 99% undermanned on Iraqi troops. This is what “mission accomplished” looks like?

Seriously, what will be the legacy of this mess? It may stabilize in 5 or 10 years — largely driven by how soon the US forces are withdrawn — but in the meantime, how much bloodshed will there be? And all so avoidable.

Now playing: Shanty Town by Desmond Dekker from the album “The Harder They Come” | Get it

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A tiny bright spot

Attytood: This man almost died because of Bush’s FEMA:
14Rescue.A1

In the past few days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered searchers not to break into homes. They are supposed to look in through a window and knock on the door. If no one cries out for help, they are supposed to move on. If they see a body, they are supposed to log the address and move on.

The morticians will remove the deceased later.

But [Lt. Frederick] Fell broke the rules and ordered his men to bash open the door, launching a series of events that would save a man’s life and revitalize California Task Force 5 from Orange County. In the past two days, the 80-member task force had identified seven dead bodies in the same neighborhood, and they had rescued no one.

But Tuesday, 16 days after Hurricane Katrina smacked this aging community in the face, an unconscious and emaciated man identified as Edgar Hollingsworth, 74, was rescued. The man is expected to survive.

Wonder if they’ll be disciplined for breaking orders?

Seriously, what would it take to break a window or try a door to see if anyone is beyond asking for help but still in need of it? This tough old bird lasted 16 days: how many others were bypassed?

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