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POPSReport: Military Should Use Less Private Security Government Executive story, by Robert Brodsky, points to more pressure on President-elect Obama to scale back on use of private contractors. Pair this story with another interesting one from the Washington Post today: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/16/AR2008111601841.html
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POPSSix Blackwater Guards 'May' Be Charged in Iraq Massacre Immunity and impunity have gone hand in hand. Representative Jim McDermott. "The private contracting thing is the most erosive thing that this administration has done. You look at all the things that are being run by private contractors, you simply cannot be handing money to a private contractor who is not under the law of that country or the law of this country and can do anything they want. They're really -- they're rogue outfits." Blackwater and at least 300 other companies have been hired by the US government for privatized armed services in Iraq to the tune of about $6 billion in taxpayer money..
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POPSWhat is Blackwater Doing in Alaska? The Blackwater guards are nominally employed by Chenega, an Alaska Native corporation associated with the Alaskan coastal village of Chenega Bay, population 86. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, architect of the “Bridge to Nowhere” and recently convicted of a seven-felony string of corruption charges, is one of the principal proponents of the anti-missile system and was also instrumental in writing laws which help secure government contracts for Alaska Native Corporations. Chenega gets contracts through the Small Business Administration, rakes off a percentage, then lets giant Blackwater provide the actual services. Since 2000 Chenega has received over $1.1 billion in sole-source or non-compete bids from the Army, Air Force and Department of Homeland Security. It's good to have friends in high places.
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POPSBlackwater Busted, Prince Has "Compliance Challenges" Makes one smile. The arrogant Prince of Blackwater just got nailed with a big fine from the same corrupt Federal government they contracted with. The "war on terrorism" is so profitable. What happened to all the hardware that ended up on the black market in Iraq? (Someone knows). "Compliance challenges", he says. More like rogue operations. This is the same company that shoots whoever is in the area and quickly leaves, whose crimes even U.S. military personnel have reported. Dirty mercenaries are never held accountable for war crimes because they are independent contractors. This is the least the State Dept has on them, just the tip of the proverbial ice berg. Iraq wants to try them there.
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POPSSelf employed loans is a good option for all Self Employed Loans offered to borrowers, who are proprietors, consultants, independent contractors, etc.Self employed loans can be categorized in to secured and unsecured self employed loans. To use the secured self employed loan, you must place a security against the loan amount.
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POPSLess Biz for Contractors Under Obama? Washington Post story, by Robert O'Harrow, also notes that slimming down federal procurement at the clip Obama proposes would require "a huge cultural change inside the government." Huge cultural changes don't come easily in Washington. For anyone wondering, 19 large U.S. technology services firms, all publicly-held and catering to the public sector, show a 52-week stock decline of 25%. The market's drop over that period: 37%.
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POPSMilitary Spending: Not ‘Recession Proof’ The New York Times' Thom Shanker and Christopher Drew survey the outlook for U.S. military spending. From the equities standpoint, U.S. aerospace and defense stocks are down 33.2% year to date, versus a drop of 33.9% broadly for U.S. equities.
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POPSGood Evening Commish'ner With Obama polls showing high, the FCC is doing a little campaigning of its own. Its customers and some of their contractors (the status quo) might have some 'splainin 'ta do after the Holidays. Complete article: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29263
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POPSPrivate Security Firms Join Battle Against Somail Pirates When all else fails, send in the *real* security providers. With the failings of the UN, the wimpiness of the International community, and the laws (apparently) all on the side of the criminals....I believe more & more countries and individual companies will be seeking the services of such firms. If I get in trouble....send Blackwater.
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POPSPacks of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans "What we have here are the beginnings of something designed to enable robots to hunt down humans like a pack of dogs. Once the software is perfected we can reasonably anticipate that they will become autonomous and become armed.
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POPSNew GI Bill: Leery of Contractors Washington Post story on updated veterans benefits touches on a theme we're watching: a backlash against government contractors. American Legion official quoted in the story expressed his organization's opposition to the VA handing over "one of its most important benefits to the lowest bidder."
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POPSDefense contractors on the offense We all know one basic thing " you get nothing for nothing". But it takes an army of lawyers to prove it. If these defense contractors have that much money to give away they're not paying enough in taxes.
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POPSBusiness First If you’d rather do things the old-fashion way {and no, I’m not calling you a Brachiosaurus}, and find that your budget is thinning, you can try software applications that may already be installed in your computer
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POPSPact May Open US Troops to Iraqi Prosecution Bush administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the evolving diplomacy on the so-called Status of Forces Agreement, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top Bush aides will soon to begin briefing key members of Congress on the draft. In case American troops are arrested for such offenses, they would be transferred to U.S. custody but made available to Iraqi authorities for questioning and trial, the officials said. The negotiating teams have decided they cannot improve on the proposal and have sent it to higher-ups for a political decision as time runs out on both the Bush administration and the U.N. mandate. (T)he State Department confirmed that a draft agreement had been finalized but refused to discuss any details...
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POPSRonald Reagan Returns in Form of Joe the Plumber
European Model The implication is that the U.S. now should follow the European model -- a bigger, more stable state. In the Euro plan, government doesn't have to come out and extend deposit insurance. That's because everyone assumes the government is already guaranteeing everything anyhow. But Republicans don't listen to non-Republican pundits very often. They listen to their own. So Reagan's true coroners are the Republican or Republican-friendly experts who have dismissed him as ``yesterday.'' For years now, long before the recent market debacle, party advisers have been talking about building up Theodore Roosevelt as a Reagan substitute. TR's muscular diplomacy could be cast as a precedent for the Iraq action. TR's emphasis on reform also seemed modern. Taxes and Faxes What Joe the Plumber reminds us is what Republicans used to know -- that the only path to true recovery for the U.S., even now, is growth. U.S. isn't a petro-economy. It's an incentive economy.
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POPSTortue: Direct Authorizations from White House Revealed
Torture is against Internation law In March 2008 Bush vetoed Congressional legislation outlawing torture. New legislation was later passed officially approving waterboarding & other modes of torture (John McCain voted in favor of this approval) Approving torture and approving totally allowed spying on citizens without specific warrants or reasons are two fatall steps towards full-fledged fascism. This documentation of these White House memos would document Bush/Cheney & other White Houses officials of war crimes OR complicity in war crimes. If these officials can get away with this now, not only does the corruption and descent of our nation deepen now but makes it more probably that such evils will happen in the future. (Having private armies is another classic step down the road to fascism -- like Blackwater, like other "private security contractors.") Ruling by fear and lies, etc. The legacy of George Bush will be that he's the first president to be tried for
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