Video: How the Pentagon Used Video Games to Spy on Users Worldwide

Obama and Pentagon Plan to add 20,000 troops to US streets in the event of Civil unrest

Escargot instead of apple pie

Just found out today that the United States Pentagon has requested the Air Force, One, the airplane that transports our commander in chief, be built over seas, over seas in France. Seems that these US citizens feel that we as a nation will be better served if folks who are not American are best fit and prepared to build the best dang luxury jet in the world than folks born on these shores.

Doesn’t make too much since to me. Especially in this age in which safety is paramount. Now I know Americans can be just as likely to see harm come to our great leader, but I do not think they will be more likely than foreigners. Nope, I aint xenophobic, I just think that doing such, especially in this economy sends the wrong message.

For almost twenty years, Boeing Co. has made the 747 jumbo jet that has become equal to the flying White House. As such, it is seen is aw inspiring to other nations and a since of pride for Americans – I just don’t think it is sending a message that will encourage…. Not to mention, I know it got some with top-secret, high-tech stuff that I can’t even begin to name. However, I would not want anyone other than Americans to be privy to what this stuff is. Seems to make the job for our security forces, especially the Secret Service a lot harder. What sense does it make to have the internal blueprints of this vehicle in the hand of another nation, even if that nation is considered a friendly nation?

Although this is not schedule to start until 2016, it still seems like a slap in the face to me for of all folks, it should be our government that should by American first just as much, if not more than the American people. This is not a slap in the face of Airbus, the likely builder of the next generation of Air force one, but more so the Pentagon, who tried to sneak this tid bit of info under the cloak of darkness. And it is not as if Airbus would build a cheaper plane. Reports suggest that the Airbus A380, if passenger planes are compared, will cost $50 million more than the new 747-8.

I read once where Thomas Jefferson wrote “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” I do not thinking the consideration of building what we can build at home abroad, at a likely higher cost is taking care of the American public. Likewise I think doing such is no way protecting us, neither in the form of jobs, nor in terms of our national security. This aint no slap in the face to Airbus as I said, and I may be putting too much into this, but last I looked the Presidential limousine was a Cadillac and it was made in America. If Air force one becomes a flag ship product for Airbus, we may as well make the next limousine a Mercedes Benz, or better yet, replace Apple pie with escargot..

kabul b4 december

I know a many are geared regarding the upcoming general elections to be held in November and regardless if you want Obama, McCain or Nadar to win, just do me one favor, ask them some well thought out and prospective questions regarding Afghanistan. Yep, I am about to bore you with another haterated triad.

I have come to accept that most folk don’t get me jones. And when I say I don’t give a fk bout certain things, they say I’m disrespectful or berating folks. So I am about to do more of the same. I feel that the ability to ask pointed questions, especially with respect to having some knowledge of possible solutions is the key to evaluating responses from any candidate for any office and or job. And for some reason or another, what’s going on in Afghanistan scares the shit out of me.

Just last week it was reported that say about 200 Taliban fighters attacked a US military base located in the distant and mountainous northeast province of Kunar. They say it resulted in nine dead US soldiers and nearly a score of wounded. It aint been that many US military personnel killed in a single attack in more than three

For some reason, it appears that over the past seven months, the Taliban has gotten stronger, smarter and more brazen as opposed to what the current administration has been telling us. I mean it seem like it was just yesterday when folk was saying that they had accomplished victory and had won the war in this poppy growing country. Report released by the Pentagon on the situation, among other things said “the Taliban is likely to maintain or even increase the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks and bombings in 2008. The Taliban will challenge the control of the Afghan government in rural areas, especially in the south and east."

They say that this is a problem for the current administration; I feel that it is more of a problem for which ever jones steps in office after the elections in November. These attacks just aint on the outskirts, they like a hop, skip and a jump from the capitol Kabul. The Capitol. And this recent attack was just one of many against a military base which they hitting up the regular now, not to mention it lasted all day. And this based had about 200 US troops. No little bitty convoy and it lasted all day.

When I do get a chance to hear what folks are talking about politically, they just be rehashing messages from stump speeches with little content. All I have heard Sen. Barack Obama say is that he will send two more combat brigades to Afghanistan and that he may take the troops from Iraq. All I know about Nadar is something he said 6 years ago regarding sending a small multinational force into Afghanistan to arrest Osama bin Laden. McCain, well first he disagreed with Obama saying more troops were not needed; now he is copying Obama’s position on the issue (u can read his flip flop history here at Obsidian wings, which is on my blog roll).

Like I said, I think we got to frame this issue and make it apart of the discussion, Iraq seems to get all of the attention, I am glad they TRYING to talk about the economy, albeit none from a global or international perspective in terms of problem solving (correct me if I’m wrong). Just talk of green Jobs and stuff like that. But about this small country, I’m not so sure, for at this rate, the Taliban will be in Kabul by December and in control of the government, again.

U promised me a rose garden folk

Book is out: Click on cover to right to order: DIRT BEHIND MY EARS: ESSAYS AND SATIRE FROM THE DIRTY
Addiction is a very serious disease (yep disease). Just like depression and/or cancer, it disables the body in various fashions and can be stimulated prior the consumption of any substance such as cocaine and alcohol, or via disruptions in cyclic AMP pumps or varying levels of naturally occurring chemicals in the body such as enzymes and neurotransmitters.

Now I know a many of bloggers have touched on a few speeches recently, in particular the one delivered by Barack Obama. However, it was really something I could not attend to since it was based on old news, albeit I was asked to consider writing about it by some of my fellow bloggers. I did not for it would have been a short brief; one that would have advocated that he listened to School House rock too as a child.

Today, our recovering addict in chief, President George W. Bush, addressed the Pentagon in honor (if it can be considered a celebration) of our fifth year anniversary of our invasion and occupation of Iraq. To me considering such as an anniversary is like celebrating the coming of the plague.

In his first speech, in 2001, which I have only read and not heard, he made several statements that stuck out like a hard dick. He made a few statements that stuck with me. The first was “One by one, we are eliminating power centers of a regime that harbors al Qaeda terrorists.” Moreover he added that “Enemies of America have now added to these graves, and they wish to add more.”

This time, he did the same, and like an addict, it appeared as if he was intentionally misleading or even lying to the America public. He said that "The tasks that remain in Iraq - to bring an end to sectarian conflict, to devise a way to share political power and to create a functioning government that is capable of providing for the needs of the Iraqi people - are tasks that only the Iraqis can complete.''

I find this strange since first, the sectarian conflict hat he speaks of did not start till expost facto our invasion and next because the violence that is sectarian, has been mainly promulgated by our policy – namely of paying insurgents and militias that are apart of Awakening Councils, to protect each neighborhood. Now Iraq may as well be like Compton, California, where each block is maybe controlled by some set of Crips or Bloods. In Iraq, especially Baghdad, each neighborhood is controlled by their own militias, who we pay, like sects, to war against each other neighborhood.

Mr. President also suggests that: “…for the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where al-Qaida rallied Arab masses to drive America out. Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al-Qaida out. In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his terror network. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated.''

This too is strange since the CIA and his own military and other assorted advisors admitted that Al Qaida was not operating in Iraq when Sadaam was in power. In particular given that they wanted to see his form of government abrogated and replaced with a theocracy – meaning he was a thorn in the side of Al Qaida and observed as their enemy, an infidel. And again, the only way one could say that Arabs are working with the American military is to say that the 1) assist with maintaining the roughly 2hr of continuous electricity the have a day when before the war it ran uninterrupted and 2] that accepting payola from the US military, to use insurgent groups to protect their neighborhoods and battle with other neighborhoods is considered the definition of working together with the US military.

For a person that doesn’t live in or visit Iraq regularly, it is unintelligible to cognize how he can make such a denouement. As a scientist, I can’t use a single indicator to mark such a consummation. For it appears to me that the only one he is using is the number of death, or the reduction of deaths thereof. The killer was the catch phrase of how it ended up being “The battle in Iraq has been longer and harder and more costly than we anticipated” – like I am supposed to believe he gave this war serious ideation in the first place – LOL.

To me, they only difference from the first speech and this one today was that back then, by his side, well almost was his distant cousin of the executive office, Senator Hillary R. Clinton. In addition, I guess today he was trying a wag the dog and remove all of the attention from the fucked up economic position his deficit spending war-mongering ass has facilitated. All in all, I just know he said we would triumph and that I have yet to get the rose garden he promised. And mean while, Mr. 100 year war - John McCain (albeit he is ld enough to have been in the war between France and England), is in Israel, campaigning, like the a state in the US.

y i gotta pay

To start off with, I just want to say that if you want to make some loot, a person needs to get an office on K street in DC and start to lobbying. Not lobbying for anyone but rather for big business like defense contractors. This past Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted to support a plan proffered by members of the Senate from Mississippi to give Northrop Grumman $200 - 500 million for hurricane-related losses that its insurers are unwilling to pay. Gruman owns the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, which was severly damaged during last years hurricane season. This support will be provided over and before support supposedly for hurricane relief funding.

In essence, US taxpayers wil have to foot the bill for losses that should be borne by insurers of the huge defense contractor the way i see it and stand by the little man and woman.

Thanks to Folks the Likes of Trent Lott and Bob Helm, a former Senate Budget Committee staff member and Pentagon appointee, it seems that the interest of Northrop is more important than the thousands of people still waiting to rebuild their homes and lives in the devistated region of the gulf. So what if the NG shipyard had huge costs not covered by insurance due to Hurricane Katrina, that is no reason to place a huge defense contractor ahead of the other Hurricane victims. The Seneate is not vgoting to help them with the problems they are having with thier insurance companies so why do they care so much about NG?

Northrop Grumman is a defense contractor that specializes in building ships for the Navy, managed will get this loot to cover what congress defines as “disruption costs” due to Hurricane Katrina. The concern is that Northrop Grumman's insurance company will cover these very costs.

I wish congress would bail me out of my losses at the ticket of $500 million in so-called ‘emergency’ bailout loot on my pockets behalf. Add that to the fact`that Northrop Grumman has had a 25% increase in its stock price since Katrina, what the congess is saying is that governement is supposed to cover a company's business costs for contracting delays and still have to pay for the products that they have ordered from them - stupid.

This is just another mindless reflection of fiscal foolishness that appears to say that defense shipbuilders are more important than the true Hurricane Katrina sufferers.