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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
January 30, 2013
“I think [the cuts are] more likely to happen. And I’m ashamed of the Congress, I’m ashamed of the president, and I’m ashamed of being in this body, quite frankly,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), an Air Force Reservist who has been working for months to develop a bipartisan plan to protect the Pentagon.
Deep spending cuts are likely, lawmakers say, with no deal on sequester in sight
By Lori Montgomery, Published: January 29
Less than a month after averting one fiscal crisis, Washington began bracing Tuesday for another, as lawmakers in both parties predicted that deep, across-the-board spending cuts would probably hit the Pentagon and other federal agencies on March 1.
An array of proposals are in the works to delay or replace the cuts. But party leaders say they see no clear path to compromise, particularly given a growing sentiment among Republicans to pocket the cuts and move on to larger battles over health and retirement spending.
Adding to the sense of inevitability is the belief that the cuts, known as the sequester, would improve the government’s bottom line without devastating the broader economy. Though the cuts would hamper economic growth, especially in the Washington region, the forecast is far less dire than with other recent fiscal deadlines, and financial markets are not pressing Washington to act.
Cuts to the military and the defense industry remain politically problematic. But Tuesday, even some of the Pentagon’s most fervent champions seemed resigned to the likelihood that the cuts would be permitted to kick in, at least temporarily.
unhappycamper comment: I'm also ashamed you are still in the Senate, Lindsey.
Deep spending cuts are likely, lawmakers say, with no deal on sequester in sight
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/deep-spending-cuts-are-likely-lawmakers-say-with-no-deal-on-sequester-in-sight/2013/01/29/286d4f94-6a1f-11e2-ada3-d86a4806d5ee_story.html“I think [the cuts are] more likely to happen. And I’m ashamed of the Congress, I’m ashamed of the president, and I’m ashamed of being in this body, quite frankly,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), an Air Force Reservist who has been working for months to develop a bipartisan plan to protect the Pentagon.
Deep spending cuts are likely, lawmakers say, with no deal on sequester in sight
By Lori Montgomery, Published: January 29
Less than a month after averting one fiscal crisis, Washington began bracing Tuesday for another, as lawmakers in both parties predicted that deep, across-the-board spending cuts would probably hit the Pentagon and other federal agencies on March 1.
An array of proposals are in the works to delay or replace the cuts. But party leaders say they see no clear path to compromise, particularly given a growing sentiment among Republicans to pocket the cuts and move on to larger battles over health and retirement spending.
Adding to the sense of inevitability is the belief that the cuts, known as the sequester, would improve the government’s bottom line without devastating the broader economy. Though the cuts would hamper economic growth, especially in the Washington region, the forecast is far less dire than with other recent fiscal deadlines, and financial markets are not pressing Washington to act.
Cuts to the military and the defense industry remain politically problematic. But Tuesday, even some of the Pentagon’s most fervent champions seemed resigned to the likelihood that the cuts would be permitted to kick in, at least temporarily.
unhappycamper comment: I'm also ashamed you are still in the Senate, Lindsey.
January 29, 2013
Okinawans continue protest in Tokyo against US military presence
By Ida Torres / January 28, 2013
Okinawa citizens, led by their political leaders, staged a large anti-US military rally in Tokyo over the weekend to protest continued heavy military presence in their prefecture. The rally is said to be one of the largest involving mayors and politicians since 1972 when the US returned control of Okinawa to Japan.
Protesters accuse the rest of Japan in discriminating against Okinawa by forcing them to house more than half of the 47,000 US military personnel currently in the country. Recent criminal misbehaviour by the personnel, including the alleged rape of an Okinawan woman, has spurred the unrest among the citizens and has fueled their opposition of the continued military presence. Tokyo’s attempts to further the country’s military alliance with the U.S is also one of the reasons for the series of protests and rallies by citizens and their leaders.
Another recent controversy is the announcement from the U.S. government that they will be deploying more of the controversial MV-22 Osprey aircraft at the Kadena Air Force base in Okinawa by 2015. This is despite the continued protests of the residents over the safety issues of the aircraft, which were first deployed at the Marine Corps’ Futenma base in Ginowan. Some banners in the protest on Sunday said “Firmly against Osprey”.
The Okinawan leaders are hoping to meet with government ministers by Monday to discuss their concerns regarding these issues. “Our anger has been boiled to its peak,” Takeshi Onaga, mayor of Naha city, the capital of the prefecture, said at the rally.
--
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/01/29/national/okinawa-leaders-urge-abe-to-remove-osprey/
Osprey hunt: Naha Mayor Takeshi Onaga faces reporters Monday in Tokyo after handing in a petition against the deployment of MV-22s in Okinawa to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Okinawa leaders urge Abe to remove Osprey
Kyodo
About 30 municipal heads in Okinawa urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday to rescind the government’s approval of the MV-22 Osprey deployment at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
The chiefs, including Naha Mayor Takeshi Onaga and Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine, handed the prime minister a petition against the odd-looking transport aircraft signed by the heads of all 41 municipalities in Okinawa. It also called on the government to drop the stalled bilateral plan to build an airstrip in Nago to replace the Futenma base.
Abe told the representatives at his office that his government will “comprehensively” consider ways to alleviate the concentration of bases in the prefecture with regard to the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
The meeting lasted only four minutes, with Abe making no specific comments on the Ospreys or the Futenma relocation plan.
Things Haven't Been Going Well In Okinawa
http://japandailypress.com/okinawans-continue-protest-in-tokyo-against-us-military-presence-2822257Okinawans continue protest in Tokyo against US military presence
By Ida Torres / January 28, 2013
Okinawa citizens, led by their political leaders, staged a large anti-US military rally in Tokyo over the weekend to protest continued heavy military presence in their prefecture. The rally is said to be one of the largest involving mayors and politicians since 1972 when the US returned control of Okinawa to Japan.
Protesters accuse the rest of Japan in discriminating against Okinawa by forcing them to house more than half of the 47,000 US military personnel currently in the country. Recent criminal misbehaviour by the personnel, including the alleged rape of an Okinawan woman, has spurred the unrest among the citizens and has fueled their opposition of the continued military presence. Tokyo’s attempts to further the country’s military alliance with the U.S is also one of the reasons for the series of protests and rallies by citizens and their leaders.
Another recent controversy is the announcement from the U.S. government that they will be deploying more of the controversial MV-22 Osprey aircraft at the Kadena Air Force base in Okinawa by 2015. This is despite the continued protests of the residents over the safety issues of the aircraft, which were first deployed at the Marine Corps’ Futenma base in Ginowan. Some banners in the protest on Sunday said “Firmly against Osprey”.
The Okinawan leaders are hoping to meet with government ministers by Monday to discuss their concerns regarding these issues. “Our anger has been boiled to its peak,” Takeshi Onaga, mayor of Naha city, the capital of the prefecture, said at the rally.
--
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/01/29/national/okinawa-leaders-urge-abe-to-remove-osprey/
Osprey hunt: Naha Mayor Takeshi Onaga faces reporters Monday in Tokyo after handing in a petition against the deployment of MV-22s in Okinawa to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Okinawa leaders urge Abe to remove Osprey
Kyodo
About 30 municipal heads in Okinawa urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday to rescind the government’s approval of the MV-22 Osprey deployment at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
The chiefs, including Naha Mayor Takeshi Onaga and Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine, handed the prime minister a petition against the odd-looking transport aircraft signed by the heads of all 41 municipalities in Okinawa. It also called on the government to drop the stalled bilateral plan to build an airstrip in Nago to replace the Futenma base.
Abe told the representatives at his office that his government will “comprehensively” consider ways to alleviate the concentration of bases in the prefecture with regard to the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
The meeting lasted only four minutes, with Abe making no specific comments on the Ospreys or the Futenma relocation plan.
January 29, 2013
Raytheon Warhead Completes Test Flight, Pentagon Says
By Tony Capaccio - 2013-01-28T22:56:52Z
Raytheon Co. (RTN)’s latest interceptor warhead intended to protect the U.S. from intercontinental ballistic missiles successfully completed an initial flight test to determine whether a guidance flaw has been fixed, according to the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer.
The launch wasn’t designed to destroy a dummy target representing an enemy missile headed to the U.S. Instead, its goal was to verify that a remedy had been found for a classified flaw in the warhead’s guidance system discovered after such an intercept test failed in December 2010.
~snip~
The “kill vehicle” made by Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon is a 120-pound (54-kilogram) spacecraft about the length of a broomstick. It looks like a telescope mounted on a pack of propane cylinders. It is supposed to pick out a target amid decoys and debris and destroy it by smashing into it high speed. The warhead is launched off a missile made by Orbital Sciences Corp. (ORB)
Iran, North Korea
It’s part of a $35 billion system of ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California that hasn’t successfully destroyed a target since December 2008. The system managed by Chicago-based Boeing Co. (BA) is intended to protect the U.S., including Hawaii, from a small number of missiles fired from Iran or North Korea.
Raytheon Warhead Completes Test Flight, Pentagon Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-28/raytheon-warhead-completes-test-flight-pentagon-says.htmlRaytheon Warhead Completes Test Flight, Pentagon Says
By Tony Capaccio - 2013-01-28T22:56:52Z
Raytheon Co. (RTN)’s latest interceptor warhead intended to protect the U.S. from intercontinental ballistic missiles successfully completed an initial flight test to determine whether a guidance flaw has been fixed, according to the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer.
The launch wasn’t designed to destroy a dummy target representing an enemy missile headed to the U.S. Instead, its goal was to verify that a remedy had been found for a classified flaw in the warhead’s guidance system discovered after such an intercept test failed in December 2010.
~snip~
The “kill vehicle” made by Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon is a 120-pound (54-kilogram) spacecraft about the length of a broomstick. It looks like a telescope mounted on a pack of propane cylinders. It is supposed to pick out a target amid decoys and debris and destroy it by smashing into it high speed. The warhead is launched off a missile made by Orbital Sciences Corp. (ORB)
Iran, North Korea
It’s part of a $35 billion system of ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California that hasn’t successfully destroyed a target since December 2008. The system managed by Chicago-based Boeing Co. (BA) is intended to protect the U.S., including Hawaii, from a small number of missiles fired from Iran or North Korea.
January 29, 2013
Report: Navy weapons testing safe for marine mammals
By David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel
8:44 p.m. EST, January 28, 2013
A Navy plan for testing submarines off Fort Lauderdale, torpedoes off Rhode Island and other weapons systems at installations across the East Coast will have only "negligible" impact on whales, dolphins and other marine life, according to a draft federal report to be released this week.
The Navy's testing and training plan for 2014-2019 calls for air-to-surface missile practice, large-caliber gunnery training, blasting the water with sonar and many other activities across 2.6 million square miles of ocean from Maine to Texas. The Navy calls these essential activities for maintaining combat readiness.
Included is the South Florida Ocean Measurement Facility, a network of undersea cables and detection devices off Port Everglades used to determine the acoustic characteristics of ships and submarines. That facility, which runs from near-shore waters to 25 miles out, will see increased testing of surface ships and submarines, mine countermeasures and unmanned underwater vehicles.
~snip~
But a draft report by the National Marine Fisheries Service says the Navy's activities are highly unlikely to harm any species as a whole, although individual animals could be injured or killed. The report says marine mammals will be exposed to sound from active sonar, underwater explosions and pile driving, as well as the danger of ship strikes. The use of sonar by the Navy has been linked to whale strandings, the fisheries service said.
Report: Navy weapons testing safe for marine mammals
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-navy-atlantic-testing-20130128,0,5874221.storyReport: Navy weapons testing safe for marine mammals
By David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel
8:44 p.m. EST, January 28, 2013
A Navy plan for testing submarines off Fort Lauderdale, torpedoes off Rhode Island and other weapons systems at installations across the East Coast will have only "negligible" impact on whales, dolphins and other marine life, according to a draft federal report to be released this week.
The Navy's testing and training plan for 2014-2019 calls for air-to-surface missile practice, large-caliber gunnery training, blasting the water with sonar and many other activities across 2.6 million square miles of ocean from Maine to Texas. The Navy calls these essential activities for maintaining combat readiness.
Included is the South Florida Ocean Measurement Facility, a network of undersea cables and detection devices off Port Everglades used to determine the acoustic characteristics of ships and submarines. That facility, which runs from near-shore waters to 25 miles out, will see increased testing of surface ships and submarines, mine countermeasures and unmanned underwater vehicles.
~snip~
But a draft report by the National Marine Fisheries Service says the Navy's activities are highly unlikely to harm any species as a whole, although individual animals could be injured or killed. The report says marine mammals will be exposed to sound from active sonar, underwater explosions and pile driving, as well as the danger of ship strikes. The use of sonar by the Navy has been linked to whale strandings, the fisheries service said.
January 29, 2013
$1+ million dollar MRAP.
MRAPs getting upgraded escape hatches
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY5:19p.m. EST January 28, 2013
WASHINGTON -- Massive roadside bombs in Afghanistan have forced the military to retrofit armored trucks with better escape hatches to rescue troops wounded in the explosions, according to documents and interviews with defense officials.
The Pentagon has sought to shift $48 million from its accounts to pay for more than 500 new escape hatches for its Cougar version of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and for upgrades to its other versions of the trucks.
That's because, Pentagon records show, Taliban insurgents have buried bombs weighing more than 2,000 pounds that are capable of flipping over 40,000-pound vehicles. Defense officials have added more harnesses inside MRAPs to keep troops from being tossed around inside the vehicles during an explosion, improved lighting to help them escape and more protection on the outside.
Every month, U.S. troops encounter at least two massive bombs, usually formed from homemade explosives packed into multiple 40-pound cooking-oil jugs, said David Small, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Joint IED Defeat Organization.
MRAPs getting upgraded escape hatches
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/28/pentagon-mraps-bombs/1866555/$1+ million dollar MRAP.
MRAPs getting upgraded escape hatches
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY5:19p.m. EST January 28, 2013
WASHINGTON -- Massive roadside bombs in Afghanistan have forced the military to retrofit armored trucks with better escape hatches to rescue troops wounded in the explosions, according to documents and interviews with defense officials.
The Pentagon has sought to shift $48 million from its accounts to pay for more than 500 new escape hatches for its Cougar version of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and for upgrades to its other versions of the trucks.
That's because, Pentagon records show, Taliban insurgents have buried bombs weighing more than 2,000 pounds that are capable of flipping over 40,000-pound vehicles. Defense officials have added more harnesses inside MRAPs to keep troops from being tossed around inside the vehicles during an explosion, improved lighting to help them escape and more protection on the outside.
Every month, U.S. troops encounter at least two massive bombs, usually formed from homemade explosives packed into multiple 40-pound cooking-oil jugs, said David Small, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Joint IED Defeat Organization.
January 29, 2013
Lawmaker looks outside VA to fill mental care gap
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press 12:20 a.m.Jan. 29, 2013
WASHINGTON — Veterans who have trouble getting timely mental health care from Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics should also have access to thousands of health care providers who care for military personnel and their families, says the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
The proposal by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., borrows from the playbook of Republican Mitt Romney, who raised the idea of tapping into the military's Tricare network of doctors during the course of the presidential campaign.
"We can double overnight the number of providers for those who are in need," Miller said in an interview. "Eighteen veterans a day commit suicide in this country. Nobody thinks that is acceptable."
The VA has beefed up its mental health staff over the years to try to keep up with the needs of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, but a critical inspector general's report last year found that about half of those seeking care for the first time waited about 50 days before getting a full evaluation. The VA had been reporting that the vast majority of those patients were getting care within 14 days.
unhappycamper comment: Jeff Miller, R-Naturally, must be a big proponent of outsourcing..... (Anyone who uses Mitt the Shit's playbook cannot be serious.)
Lawmaker looks outside VA to fill mental care gap
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jan/29/lawmaker-looks-outside-va-to-fill-mental-care-gap/Lawmaker looks outside VA to fill mental care gap
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press 12:20 a.m.Jan. 29, 2013
WASHINGTON — Veterans who have trouble getting timely mental health care from Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics should also have access to thousands of health care providers who care for military personnel and their families, says the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
The proposal by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., borrows from the playbook of Republican Mitt Romney, who raised the idea of tapping into the military's Tricare network of doctors during the course of the presidential campaign.
"We can double overnight the number of providers for those who are in need," Miller said in an interview. "Eighteen veterans a day commit suicide in this country. Nobody thinks that is acceptable."
The VA has beefed up its mental health staff over the years to try to keep up with the needs of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, but a critical inspector general's report last year found that about half of those seeking care for the first time waited about 50 days before getting a full evaluation. The VA had been reporting that the vast majority of those patients were getting care within 14 days.
unhappycamper comment: Jeff Miller, R-Naturally, must be a big proponent of outsourcing..... (Anyone who uses Mitt the Shit's playbook cannot be serious.)
January 29, 2013
Air Force belt tightening likely to hit Scott hard
Mike Fitzgerald | Belleville News-Democrat
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2013
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE — Some of the tightest austerity measures in a generation have led top Air Force commanders to cancel air shows and other unnecessary flight operations, to freeze civilian hiring and to prepare for unpaid furloughs for thousands of civilian workers.
Scott employs about 5,500 civilian workers, plus more than 7,000 military personnel from the Air Force, Navy and Army across a wide range of specialties and assigned to the major military organizations headquartered there. The air base's economic impact on the St. Louis region is estimated at $3 billion annually.
~snip~
The cost-cutting taking place at Scott -- as well as other military installations nationwide -- stems from the U.S. Congress' failure to pass a true budget for 2012.
~snip~
Even bigger budget cuts, however, are set to take effect by March 1 if a polarized U.S. Congress fails to avert the budgetary time bomb known as "sequestration." It would slash nearly 10 percent from most Air Force programs, though military personnel and war-related operations would be exempted.
--
Other states/organizations that have bitched about military cuts over the last week:
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/dod-s-46-000-temporary-workers-may-face-firing-1.205375
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/virginia-faces-1-4b-loss-under-planned-navy-cuts-1.205423
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2013/01/ap-study-carson-smaller-army-012413/
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/navy-orders-cuts-begin-now-thousands-be-fired
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/01/24/few-army-employees-would-escape-furloughs/?wprss=rss_politics
Air Force belt tightening likely to hit Scott hard
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/28/181267/air-force-belt-tightening-likely.htmlAir Force belt tightening likely to hit Scott hard
Mike Fitzgerald | Belleville News-Democrat
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2013
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE — Some of the tightest austerity measures in a generation have led top Air Force commanders to cancel air shows and other unnecessary flight operations, to freeze civilian hiring and to prepare for unpaid furloughs for thousands of civilian workers.
Scott employs about 5,500 civilian workers, plus more than 7,000 military personnel from the Air Force, Navy and Army across a wide range of specialties and assigned to the major military organizations headquartered there. The air base's economic impact on the St. Louis region is estimated at $3 billion annually.
~snip~
The cost-cutting taking place at Scott -- as well as other military installations nationwide -- stems from the U.S. Congress' failure to pass a true budget for 2012.
~snip~
Even bigger budget cuts, however, are set to take effect by March 1 if a polarized U.S. Congress fails to avert the budgetary time bomb known as "sequestration." It would slash nearly 10 percent from most Air Force programs, though military personnel and war-related operations would be exempted.
--
Other states/organizations that have bitched about military cuts over the last week:
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/dod-s-46-000-temporary-workers-may-face-firing-1.205375
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/virginia-faces-1-4b-loss-under-planned-navy-cuts-1.205423
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2013/01/ap-study-carson-smaller-army-012413/
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/navy-orders-cuts-begin-now-thousands-be-fired
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/01/24/few-army-employees-would-escape-furloughs/?wprss=rss_politics
January 29, 2013
The military may be facing cuts
Turning tide? Lawmakers look to Pentagon for budget cuts
By James Rosen | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2013
WASHINGTON — As another debt-deal deadline looms this winter in Congress, an unusual alliance of lawmakers has joined forces to put the Pentagon budget under greater scrutiny and to end the almost carte blanche status it enjoyed in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In a letter last month to President Barack Obama and congressional leaders, 11 Democratic and 11 Republican lawmakers asked that Defense Department spending be put squarely on the table in the coming clashes over debt reduction.
“We believe that substantial defense savings can be achieved over the long term without compromising national security, through strategic reductions in the Pentagon’s budget,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
~snip~
But some military experts, both analysts who favor deeper spending cuts and those who oppose them, say there are additional reasons for the re-examination: The record federal debt, now at more than $16.4 trillion, has become a crucial priority that Pentagon leaders say affects military planning. At the same time, the national urgency over anti-terrorism has subsided as the Sept. 11 attacks recede into the chronological distance; the Iraq War has ended, the Afghanistan War is winding down and anti-terror efforts shift to new strongholds such as Mali and Yemen.
Turning tide? Lawmakers look to Pentagon for budget cuts
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/28/181081/turning-tide-lawmakers-look-to.htmlThe military may be facing cuts
Turning tide? Lawmakers look to Pentagon for budget cuts
By James Rosen | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2013
WASHINGTON — As another debt-deal deadline looms this winter in Congress, an unusual alliance of lawmakers has joined forces to put the Pentagon budget under greater scrutiny and to end the almost carte blanche status it enjoyed in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In a letter last month to President Barack Obama and congressional leaders, 11 Democratic and 11 Republican lawmakers asked that Defense Department spending be put squarely on the table in the coming clashes over debt reduction.
“We believe that substantial defense savings can be achieved over the long term without compromising national security, through strategic reductions in the Pentagon’s budget,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
~snip~
But some military experts, both analysts who favor deeper spending cuts and those who oppose them, say there are additional reasons for the re-examination: The record federal debt, now at more than $16.4 trillion, has become a crucial priority that Pentagon leaders say affects military planning. At the same time, the national urgency over anti-terrorism has subsided as the Sept. 11 attacks recede into the chronological distance; the Iraq War has ended, the Afghanistan War is winding down and anti-terror efforts shift to new strongholds such as Mali and Yemen.
January 29, 2013
PBS Drone Coverage Brought to You by Drone Makers
Jan 28 2013
The PBS Nova broadcast "Rise of the Drones" was sponsored by drone manufacturer Lockheed Martin--a clear violation of PBS's underwriting guidelines.
As Kevin Gosztola reported (FireDogLake, 1/24/13), the January 23 broadcast was a mostly upbeat look at surveillance and weaponized drones. "Discover the cutting edge technologies that are propelling us toward a new chapter in aviation history," PBS urged, promising to reveal "the amazing technologies that make drones so powerful."
Some of that technology, unbeknownst to viewers, was created by the company described as giving Nova "additional funding" at the beginning of the broadcast. Lockheed Martin, a major military contractor with $46 billion in 2011 sales, is a manufacturer of drones used in warfare and intelligence, including the Desert Hawk, the Falcon, the Stalker and the Tracer. In December 2012, Lockheed bought AME Unmanned Air Systems, maker of the Fury drone (New Times, 12/19/12).
Nova's history of unmanned flight technology included comments from Abe Karem, dubbed the "father of the Predator" drone. His current company, FireDogLake's Gosztola noted, has a business relationship with Lockheed Martin.
PBS Drone Coverage Brought to You by Drone Makers
http://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/pbs-drone-coverage-brought-to-you-by-drone-makers/PBS Drone Coverage Brought to You by Drone Makers
Jan 28 2013
The PBS Nova broadcast "Rise of the Drones" was sponsored by drone manufacturer Lockheed Martin--a clear violation of PBS's underwriting guidelines.
As Kevin Gosztola reported (FireDogLake, 1/24/13), the January 23 broadcast was a mostly upbeat look at surveillance and weaponized drones. "Discover the cutting edge technologies that are propelling us toward a new chapter in aviation history," PBS urged, promising to reveal "the amazing technologies that make drones so powerful."
Some of that technology, unbeknownst to viewers, was created by the company described as giving Nova "additional funding" at the beginning of the broadcast. Lockheed Martin, a major military contractor with $46 billion in 2011 sales, is a manufacturer of drones used in warfare and intelligence, including the Desert Hawk, the Falcon, the Stalker and the Tracer. In December 2012, Lockheed bought AME Unmanned Air Systems, maker of the Fury drone (New Times, 12/19/12).
Nova's history of unmanned flight technology included comments from Abe Karem, dubbed the "father of the Predator" drone. His current company, FireDogLake's Gosztola noted, has a business relationship with Lockheed Martin.
January 29, 2013
$20+ million dollar MQ-1 Predator.
U.S. military plans to build drone base in North Africa: official
By Agence France-Presse
Monday, January 28, 2013 18:17 EST
The US military plans to set up a base for drones in northwest Africa to bolster surveillance of Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the region as well as allied Islamist extremists, a US official told AFP on Monday.
The base for the robotic, unmanned aircraft would likely be located in Niger, on the eastern border of Mali, where French forces are currently waging a campaign against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The base was first reported by the New York Times earlier Monday.
~snip~
If the plan gets the green light, up to 300 US military service members and contractors could be sent to the base to operate the drone aircraft, according to the New York Times.
U.S. military plans to build drone base in North Africa: official
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/28/u-s-military-plans-to-build-drone-base-in-north-africa-official/$20+ million dollar MQ-1 Predator.
U.S. military plans to build drone base in North Africa: official
By Agence France-Presse
Monday, January 28, 2013 18:17 EST
The US military plans to set up a base for drones in northwest Africa to bolster surveillance of Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the region as well as allied Islamist extremists, a US official told AFP on Monday.
The base for the robotic, unmanned aircraft would likely be located in Niger, on the eastern border of Mali, where French forces are currently waging a campaign against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The base was first reported by the New York Times earlier Monday.
~snip~
If the plan gets the green light, up to 300 US military service members and contractors could be sent to the base to operate the drone aircraft, according to the New York Times.
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