Sunday thoughts

copyright David Horsey

Ok, it's Sunday April 6th. I've read the sunday newspapers, watch my, yes mine because fans are like that, very possessive, Seattle Mariners blew a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, to Baltimore no less. And that's three loses in a row to the Baltimore too. They're a very frustrating team to watch, and especially going 8 innings of great baseball to have the closer blow it.

Anyway, I thought today's editorial cartoon (above) by David Horsey Seattle PI newspaper is excellent. It's self-explanatory.

Or if you don't know, our President "served" in the Air National Guard (ANG) during the Vietnam war, first in the Texas ANG and then in the Georgia ANG, except he was attending university at the time as well as working political campaigns for republican candidates, and no one in either Air National Guard can remember him or did he ever show up for weekend and annual duty, not even for the required physicals.

His father pulled strings to get him in the ANG to avoid active duty, pulled strings to get him transferred to help on campaigns, and then pulled strings to get his discharge when he was in university in the face of his inattendence. All the offiical records have been deemed classified, but it's easy to see his service is a lie and a fraud. Nothing more.

Ok, enough on George. Onward.

The Census Bureau has cancelled plans to use the new high tech census wireless communications recorders. Both sides seem to be at fault, the Bureau for never had experience with large contracts and routinely changing the specifications during the life of the contract, and the company for typical government contracting, bid low and raise the cost after you win it and progess. Even cutting the number of recorders to 1/4 didn't help, the cost still went up. The whole thing simply got out of hand and is costing the taxpayers $3 Billion.

Amazing what the price of pencil and paper goes for these days?

The peace sign is 50 years old. It was originally designed for the No-Nuke protests in England where the symbol was meant to identify their view of US nuclear bomber bases. The peace advocates and protesters latched on to it. And the designer didn't copyright it so it's free. Gee, peace and all it's symbols are free. What a concept, cheaper than war.

Two researchers have broken the Aztec math code for land surveying and measurements. All these centuries later too. Geographer Barbara Williams and mathematician Maria del Carmen Jorge y Jorge have solved the connections between the symbols (hand, arm, heart rod, arrow and bone) for distance and area in the Aztec land survey. The Aztec developed it for irregular shaped parcels of land which used fractions for shorter lengths.

Do we really need a missile defense program in Europe? NATO agreed to Bush's plan to install two anti-missile defense sites in Eastern Europe, over the objections to Russia. But the logic is to protect us, yes us here in the US, from missiles from Iran, yes Iran. Well, we have secret prisoons under the extraordinary rendition program operated by the CIA in Eastern Europe, so I guess this is normal for a paranoid President.

I hope the next President cancels the program. It's unnecessary and too costly.

The GAO conducted their annual evaluation of 295 Defense Department military contracts for equipment, and discovered all over buget, to the tune of $1.6 Billion, all overdue, at least 2+ years past their deadlines, and all don't do what's specified in the contract. Gee, the new industrial-military complex?

Is this the new government? And ideas who's paying the bills?

MRAP's are saving soldiers' lives. That's good. No one doubts the benefits that no soldier has yet been killed in an MRAP in Iraq. But that's only half the story. These are $1.5 Million vehicles. The enemy knows that all they have to do is disable them to be successful. The fewer of them there means more to repair, if possible, or buy new ones. They's using a few hundred dollars IED to destroy a $1.5 Million personnel vehicle.

Who has the cost-benefit ratio here? And what's the price of a soldier? I'm not being critical, just trying to understand they if we save 3-4 soldiers in one MRAP, worth the cost to me, but at $400-500,00 for each soldier. At what point do we decide the cost is prohibitive to stay in Iraq?

We waging this war on credit, so it's hard for people to see the money, but the future generations will be paying the bills, including interests, and especially with China who holds 40% of the US debt. Is that what we want?

This one I really have to say, "WTF?" The Homeland Security Administration has decided Boise, Idaho is the highest terrorist risk, the only one west of Houston, Texas. Really. Boise, Idaho, the city no one knows what's there to even be a target for terrorists. Even the local law enforcement officials are asking, "WTF?"

And you wonder where HSA's mind is at? Obviously not in reality that any of normal people know. Can you picture terrorists planning a high risk, high publicity attack on the US, and out of the blue they decide it's in Boise, Idaho. Can you imagine Osama bin Laden's leader listening to this plan?

That's hard to follow up on. Have a good week.