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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
April 29, 2013
Israeli Aerospace reaches deal with Lockheed to make wings for F-35 next generation warplane
Published April 24, 2013
Associated Press
JERUSALEM – Israel Aerospace Industries says it has signed a long-term contract with U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin to produce wings for the F-35 next-generation fighter jet.
The state-owned company said Tuesday the contract is for 10 to 15 years and could generate up to $2.5 billion in sales. It says the wings will be made at an Israeli facility that already produces wings for Lockheed's F-16 warplane.
The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, with an estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. The program aims to replace a wide range of existing aircraft for the U.S. and several partner countries.
The program has suffered repeated delays. The Pentagon briefly grounded its small fleet of F-35s in February after discovering a small crack in an engine turbine blade.
unhappycamper comment: So much for the myth that American military contractors employ Americans to build American weapons in America.
Israeli Aerospace reaches deal with Lockheed to make wings for F-35 next generation warplane
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/04/24/israeli-aerospace-reaches-deal-with-lockheed-to-make-wings-for-f-35-next/Israeli Aerospace reaches deal with Lockheed to make wings for F-35 next generation warplane
Published April 24, 2013
Associated Press
JERUSALEM – Israel Aerospace Industries says it has signed a long-term contract with U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin to produce wings for the F-35 next-generation fighter jet.
The state-owned company said Tuesday the contract is for 10 to 15 years and could generate up to $2.5 billion in sales. It says the wings will be made at an Israeli facility that already produces wings for Lockheed's F-16 warplane.
The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, with an estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. The program aims to replace a wide range of existing aircraft for the U.S. and several partner countries.
The program has suffered repeated delays. The Pentagon briefly grounded its small fleet of F-35s in February after discovering a small crack in an engine turbine blade.
unhappycamper comment: So much for the myth that American military contractors employ Americans to build American weapons in America.
April 29, 2013
How Americans Became Exposed to Biohazards in the Greatest Uncontrolled Experiment Ever Launched
You and Your Family Are Guinea Pigs for the Chemical Corporations
by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz
Published on Monday, April 29, 2013 by TomDispatch.com
A hidden epidemic is poisoning America. The toxins are in the air we breathe and the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them. We can’t escape it in our cars. It’s in cities and suburbs. It afflicts rich and poor, young and old. And there’s a reason why you’ve never read about it in the newspaper or seen a report on the nightly news: it has no name -- and no antidote.
The culprit behind this silent killer is lead. And vinyl. And formaldehyde. And asbestos. And Bisphenol A. And polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). And thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised “better living through chemistry,” but instead produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United States into one grand unnatural experiment.
Today, we are all unwitting subjects in the largest set of drug trials ever. Without our knowledge or consent, we are testing thousands of suspected toxic chemicals and compounds, as well as new substances whose safety is largely unproven and whose effects on human beings are all but unknown. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) itself has begun monitoring our bodies for 151 potentially dangerous chemicals, detailing the variety of pollutants we store in our bones, muscle, blood, and fat. None of the companies introducing these new chemicals has even bothered to tell us we’re part of their experiment. None of them has asked us to sign consent forms or explained that they have little idea what the long-term side effects of the chemicals they’ve put in our environment -- and so our bodies -- could be. Nor do they have any clue as to what the synergistic effects of combining so many novel chemicals inside a human body in unknown quantities might produce.
The story of how Americans became unwitting test subjects began more than a century ago. The key figure was Alice Hamilton, the “mother” of American occupational medicine, who began documenting the way workers in lead paint pigment factories, battery plants, and lead mines were suffering terrible palsies, tremors, convulsions, and deaths after being exposed to lead dust that floated in the air, coating their workbenches and clothes.
You and Your Family Are Guinea Pigs for the Chemical Corporations
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/04/29How Americans Became Exposed to Biohazards in the Greatest Uncontrolled Experiment Ever Launched
You and Your Family Are Guinea Pigs for the Chemical Corporations
by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz
Published on Monday, April 29, 2013 by TomDispatch.com
A hidden epidemic is poisoning America. The toxins are in the air we breathe and the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them. We can’t escape it in our cars. It’s in cities and suburbs. It afflicts rich and poor, young and old. And there’s a reason why you’ve never read about it in the newspaper or seen a report on the nightly news: it has no name -- and no antidote.
The culprit behind this silent killer is lead. And vinyl. And formaldehyde. And asbestos. And Bisphenol A. And polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). And thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised “better living through chemistry,” but instead produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United States into one grand unnatural experiment.
Today, we are all unwitting subjects in the largest set of drug trials ever. Without our knowledge or consent, we are testing thousands of suspected toxic chemicals and compounds, as well as new substances whose safety is largely unproven and whose effects on human beings are all but unknown. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) itself has begun monitoring our bodies for 151 potentially dangerous chemicals, detailing the variety of pollutants we store in our bones, muscle, blood, and fat. None of the companies introducing these new chemicals has even bothered to tell us we’re part of their experiment. None of them has asked us to sign consent forms or explained that they have little idea what the long-term side effects of the chemicals they’ve put in our environment -- and so our bodies -- could be. Nor do they have any clue as to what the synergistic effects of combining so many novel chemicals inside a human body in unknown quantities might produce.
The story of how Americans became unwitting test subjects began more than a century ago. The key figure was Alice Hamilton, the “mother” of American occupational medicine, who began documenting the way workers in lead paint pigment factories, battery plants, and lead mines were suffering terrible palsies, tremors, convulsions, and deaths after being exposed to lead dust that floated in the air, coating their workbenches and clothes.
April 29, 2013
Off-the-books cash delivered directly to President Karzai’s office shows payments on a vast scale.
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Published: April 28, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.
~snip~
“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”
The C.I.A., which declined to comment for this article, has long been known to support some relatives and close aides of Mr. Karzai. But the new accounts of off-the-books cash delivered directly to his office show payments on a vaster scale, and with a far greater impact on everyday governing.
Moreover, there is little evidence that the payments bought the influence the C.I.A. sought. Instead, some American officials said, the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/world/asia/cia-delivers-cash-to-afghan-leaders-office.html?_r=0Off-the-books cash delivered directly to President Karzai’s office shows payments on a vast scale.
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Published: April 28, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.
~snip~
“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”
The C.I.A., which declined to comment for this article, has long been known to support some relatives and close aides of Mr. Karzai. But the new accounts of off-the-books cash delivered directly to his office show payments on a vaster scale, and with a far greater impact on everyday governing.
Moreover, there is little evidence that the payments bought the influence the C.I.A. sought. Instead, some American officials said, the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.
April 28, 2013
Claim: Kan. pill mill tied to soldier overdoses
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press
Updated: 04/23/2013 06:46:01 PM EDT
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—A Kansas doctor was charged Tuesday with operating a pill mill for painkillers and antidepressants after police and Fort Riley officials raised concerns about overdoses—some of them involving soldiers and their families.
The U.S. attorney's office alleged in a criminal complaint that Michael P. Schuster, 53, conspired to illegally distribute controlled substances. The charges were filed the same day that the FBI searched Schuster's clinic, called Manhattan Pain and Spine. The clinic is in Manhattan, Kan., about 15 miles from Fort Riley, a U.S. Army base that is home to the 1st Infantry Division.
~snip~
The investigation began last year when police received reports that Schuster was issuing high-dosage prescriptions based on "minimal and cursory physical examinations," leading to several overdoses, according to the complaint. Meanwhile, medical staff at Fort Riley reported to the Army Criminal Investigative Division that Schuster had treated several soldiers and their family members who died from overdoses.
~snip~
Schuster was the only one in his office authorized to prescribe controlled substances. But an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit that Schuster would sign his name to blank prescriptions and leave those behind, directing staff to fill them out while he was traveling, including overseas to Russia, South Africa and Uruguay. Authorities allege Schuster was out of the office when 542 patients received prescriptions for drugs including the painkillers oxycodone and morphine.
Claim: Kan. pill mill tied to soldier overdoses
http://www.ldnews.com/national/ci_23089404/claim-kan-pill-mill-tied-soldier-overdosesClaim: Kan. pill mill tied to soldier overdoses
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press
Updated: 04/23/2013 06:46:01 PM EDT
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—A Kansas doctor was charged Tuesday with operating a pill mill for painkillers and antidepressants after police and Fort Riley officials raised concerns about overdoses—some of them involving soldiers and their families.
The U.S. attorney's office alleged in a criminal complaint that Michael P. Schuster, 53, conspired to illegally distribute controlled substances. The charges were filed the same day that the FBI searched Schuster's clinic, called Manhattan Pain and Spine. The clinic is in Manhattan, Kan., about 15 miles from Fort Riley, a U.S. Army base that is home to the 1st Infantry Division.
~snip~
The investigation began last year when police received reports that Schuster was issuing high-dosage prescriptions based on "minimal and cursory physical examinations," leading to several overdoses, according to the complaint. Meanwhile, medical staff at Fort Riley reported to the Army Criminal Investigative Division that Schuster had treated several soldiers and their family members who died from overdoses.
~snip~
Schuster was the only one in his office authorized to prescribe controlled substances. But an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit that Schuster would sign his name to blank prescriptions and leave those behind, directing staff to fill them out while he was traveling, including overseas to Russia, South Africa and Uruguay. Authorities allege Schuster was out of the office when 542 patients received prescriptions for drugs including the painkillers oxycodone and morphine.
April 28, 2013
Thomas Gibbons-Neff: With Boston bombs, the war comes home
April 27, 2013 4:40 am
THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reportedly told investigators that he and his brother set off bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in part because of their opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a Marine who fought in Afghanistan in 2008 and 2010, I wondered: Had my war brought the horrors of battle home?
~snip~
I deployed to Afghanistan believing my presence in that country would help stop attacks such as Boston's from happening. But instead, my war had spilled over, striking the city where my 22-year-old brother goes to school and where my mom, until recently, felt perfectly safe eating lunch outdoors.
The Tsarnaev brothers aren't the first terrorists to cite U.S. military intervention in other countries as a reason for targeting civilians, and they won't be the last. Despite our best efforts and valor, I wonder, have America's wars made the homeland less safe? Sure, we've killed and captured thousands of radicals who wanted to harm Americans. But in doing so, have we created more?
It wasn't always easy to justify serving in a war that has devolved from its initial aim of ousting the Taliban and al-Qaida to a nation-building effort that appeared to have come 10 years too late. The conflict has dragged on for more than a decade, becoming increasingly unpopular after years of mixed results and no clear definition of victory. The counterinsurgency mantra of "clear-hold-build" echoed in our ears as we fought an elusive enemy and slowly pushed them out of the city centers. Day by day, we measured victory by the number of wells we had helped build and the time that had passed without a casualty.
Thomas Gibbons-Neff: With Boston bombs, the war comes home
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/thomas-gibbons-neff-with-boston-bombs-the-war-comes-home/article_c7000a38-bc48-5d1f-bab3-a22958877708.htmlThomas Gibbons-Neff: With Boston bombs, the war comes home
April 27, 2013 4:40 am
THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reportedly told investigators that he and his brother set off bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in part because of their opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a Marine who fought in Afghanistan in 2008 and 2010, I wondered: Had my war brought the horrors of battle home?
~snip~
I deployed to Afghanistan believing my presence in that country would help stop attacks such as Boston's from happening. But instead, my war had spilled over, striking the city where my 22-year-old brother goes to school and where my mom, until recently, felt perfectly safe eating lunch outdoors.
The Tsarnaev brothers aren't the first terrorists to cite U.S. military intervention in other countries as a reason for targeting civilians, and they won't be the last. Despite our best efforts and valor, I wonder, have America's wars made the homeland less safe? Sure, we've killed and captured thousands of radicals who wanted to harm Americans. But in doing so, have we created more?
It wasn't always easy to justify serving in a war that has devolved from its initial aim of ousting the Taliban and al-Qaida to a nation-building effort that appeared to have come 10 years too late. The conflict has dragged on for more than a decade, becoming increasingly unpopular after years of mixed results and no clear definition of victory. The counterinsurgency mantra of "clear-hold-build" echoed in our ears as we fought an elusive enemy and slowly pushed them out of the city centers. Day by day, we measured victory by the number of wells we had helped build and the time that had passed without a casualty.
April 28, 2013
Sgt. First Class Alvin Prado finishes talking to Susan Strong of the Entrepreneur's Source at the "Hiring Our Heroes" job fair in San Jose, April 11, 2013.
Young war veterans struggle to find jobs
By Mark Emmons
Posted: 04/27/2013 12:00:00 PM PDT
Updated: 04/27/2013 12:55:23 PM PDT
SAN JOSE -- The simple, heartfelt expression of gratitude toward men and women in military uniform has been repeated countless times in recent years: Thank you for your service.
But when post-9/11 members of the military exchange their fatigues for business attire, that thanks doesn't always extend to being willing to hire them as civilians. Joblessness for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan remains stubbornly higher than the overall population.
That is despite an unprecedented effort -- including government tax credits and high-profile initiatives by companies such as Walmart -- to help veterans transition into civilian careers. And the problem could get worse as an estimated 1 million people leave active duty over the next five years in what remains a tough job market.
Tyler Golightly, who was an Air Force captain who served in Iraq and has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Southern California, has been looking for work without success since October 2011.
Young war veterans struggle to find jobs
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_23119419/young-war-veterans-struggle-find-jobsSgt. First Class Alvin Prado finishes talking to Susan Strong of the Entrepreneur's Source at the "Hiring Our Heroes" job fair in San Jose, April 11, 2013.
Young war veterans struggle to find jobs
By Mark Emmons
Posted: 04/27/2013 12:00:00 PM PDT
Updated: 04/27/2013 12:55:23 PM PDT
SAN JOSE -- The simple, heartfelt expression of gratitude toward men and women in military uniform has been repeated countless times in recent years: Thank you for your service.
But when post-9/11 members of the military exchange their fatigues for business attire, that thanks doesn't always extend to being willing to hire them as civilians. Joblessness for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan remains stubbornly higher than the overall population.
That is despite an unprecedented effort -- including government tax credits and high-profile initiatives by companies such as Walmart -- to help veterans transition into civilian careers. And the problem could get worse as an estimated 1 million people leave active duty over the next five years in what remains a tough job market.
Tyler Golightly, who was an Air Force captain who served in Iraq and has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Southern California, has been looking for work without success since October 2011.
April 28, 2013
War against Taliban being won in Afghanistan: Dunford
By Mirwais Adeel - 25 Apr 2013, 3:58 pm
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander Gen. Joseph Dunford on Thursday announced the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan is being won.
Gen. Joseph Dunford’s comments regarding “indisputable” progress towards the goal of a secure and stable nation comes amid reports regarding a harp upsurge in insurgent attacks this year.
According to Afghanistan based NGO SAfety Office, insurgency activities by Taliban militants and other insurgent groups have risen by 47 percent in January-March this year.
Separately United Nations reported a rise of almost 30 percent in civilian casualties in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, with 475 civilians killed and 872 wounded.
unhappycamper comment: Some of the headlines at icasualties.org are somewhat less optimistic than Dunford's proclamation.
http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx
04/26/13 KP: Hailstorm damage 50 NATO helicopters in southern Afghanistan
04/26/13 DoD: Army Casualty Identified (2 of 2)
04/26/13 DoD: Army Casualty Identified (1 of 2)
04/26/13 AP: Fort Drum Army pilot from Washington killed in Afghanistan
04/26/13 LATimes: Six Afghan policemen poisoned, shot to death; seventh is missing
04/26/13 WaPo: Pakistan plans to seal Afghan border, restrict movement of Afghan refugees May 11 for election
04/26/13 AP: Bus crash blamed on Taliban insurgents kills 30 people in Afghanistan
04/26/13 buckinghamshireexaminer: Bucks soldier injured in Afghanistan completes gruelling rally
04/25/13 SkyNews: Armed RAF Afghan Drones Now Flown From UK
War against Taliban being won in Afghanistan: Dunford
http://www.khaama.com/war-against-taliban-being-won-in-afghanistan-dunford-1370War against Taliban being won in Afghanistan: Dunford
By Mirwais Adeel - 25 Apr 2013, 3:58 pm
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander Gen. Joseph Dunford on Thursday announced the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan is being won.
Gen. Joseph Dunford’s comments regarding “indisputable” progress towards the goal of a secure and stable nation comes amid reports regarding a harp upsurge in insurgent attacks this year.
According to Afghanistan based NGO SAfety Office, insurgency activities by Taliban militants and other insurgent groups have risen by 47 percent in January-March this year.
Separately United Nations reported a rise of almost 30 percent in civilian casualties in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, with 475 civilians killed and 872 wounded.
unhappycamper comment: Some of the headlines at icasualties.org are somewhat less optimistic than Dunford's proclamation.
http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx
04/26/13 KP: Hailstorm damage 50 NATO helicopters in southern Afghanistan
04/26/13 DoD: Army Casualty Identified (2 of 2)
04/26/13 DoD: Army Casualty Identified (1 of 2)
04/26/13 AP: Fort Drum Army pilot from Washington killed in Afghanistan
04/26/13 LATimes: Six Afghan policemen poisoned, shot to death; seventh is missing
04/26/13 WaPo: Pakistan plans to seal Afghan border, restrict movement of Afghan refugees May 11 for election
04/26/13 AP: Bus crash blamed on Taliban insurgents kills 30 people in Afghanistan
04/26/13 buckinghamshireexaminer: Bucks soldier injured in Afghanistan completes gruelling rally
04/25/13 SkyNews: Armed RAF Afghan Drones Now Flown From UK
April 28, 2013
Army says no to more tanks, but Congress insists
By RICHARD LARDNER
Associated Press
Published: Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 7:56 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 7:56 a.m.
WASHINGTON - Built to dominate the enemy in combat, the Army's hulking Abrams tank is proving equally hard to beat in a budget battle.
Lawmakers from both parties have devoted nearly half a billion dollars in taxpayer money over the past two years to build improved versions of the 70-ton Abrams.
But senior Army officials have said repeatedly, "No thanks."
It's the inverse of the federal budget world these days, in which automatic spending cuts are leaving sought-after pet programs struggling or unpaid altogether. Republicans and Democrats for years have fought so bitterly that lawmaking in Washington ground to a near-halt.
Army says no to more tanks, but Congress insists
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130428/APW/1304280598Army says no to more tanks, but Congress insists
By RICHARD LARDNER
Associated Press
Published: Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 7:56 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 7:56 a.m.
WASHINGTON - Built to dominate the enemy in combat, the Army's hulking Abrams tank is proving equally hard to beat in a budget battle.
Lawmakers from both parties have devoted nearly half a billion dollars in taxpayer money over the past two years to build improved versions of the 70-ton Abrams.
But senior Army officials have said repeatedly, "No thanks."
It's the inverse of the federal budget world these days, in which automatic spending cuts are leaving sought-after pet programs struggling or unpaid altogether. Republicans and Democrats for years have fought so bitterly that lawmaking in Washington ground to a near-halt.
April 28, 2013
This is an abridged version of a lecture this week at the 13th Seminary of Political Solidarity Don Juan Chavez in memoriam at the University of Zaragoza, Spain.
A post-history strip tease
By Pepe Escobar
OpEdNews Op Eds 4/27/2013 at 21:33:45
How cozy it would be to summon the retro-spirit of Burt Bacharach to define our geopolitical future and start singing, "What the world needs now/is love, sweet love".
~snip~
The disintegration and balkanization of Iraq, detonated by the Pentagon's Shock and Awe 10 years ago, was a sort of prelude for this Brave New Disorder. The neo-con worldview, from 2001 to 2008, advanced the project with its ideology of Let's Finish Off The State, everywhere; once again Iraq was the best example. But from bombing a sovereign nation back to the Stone Age, the project moved to civil war engineering -- as in Libya and, hopefully for the engineers, Syria.
When we have armchair analysts, influential or otherwise, paid by flush foundations -- usually in the US but also in Western Europe -- pontificating about "chaos and anarchy," they are just reinforcing a self-fulfilling prophecy. If "chaos and anarchy" turns them on, it's because they are just reflecting the predominant libidinal economy, from reality TV to all sorts of what De Cauter describes as "psychotic games" -- inside a room, inside an octagon, inside an island or virtually inside a digital box.
So welcome to the geopolitics of the young 21st century: an age of non-stop war (virtualized or not), sharp polarization and a pile-up of catastrophies.
A post-history strip tease
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-post-history-strip-tease-by-Pepe-Escobar-130427-281.htmlThis is an abridged version of a lecture this week at the 13th Seminary of Political Solidarity Don Juan Chavez in memoriam at the University of Zaragoza, Spain.
A post-history strip tease
By Pepe Escobar
OpEdNews Op Eds 4/27/2013 at 21:33:45
How cozy it would be to summon the retro-spirit of Burt Bacharach to define our geopolitical future and start singing, "What the world needs now/is love, sweet love".
~snip~
The disintegration and balkanization of Iraq, detonated by the Pentagon's Shock and Awe 10 years ago, was a sort of prelude for this Brave New Disorder. The neo-con worldview, from 2001 to 2008, advanced the project with its ideology of Let's Finish Off The State, everywhere; once again Iraq was the best example. But from bombing a sovereign nation back to the Stone Age, the project moved to civil war engineering -- as in Libya and, hopefully for the engineers, Syria.
When we have armchair analysts, influential or otherwise, paid by flush foundations -- usually in the US but also in Western Europe -- pontificating about "chaos and anarchy," they are just reinforcing a self-fulfilling prophecy. If "chaos and anarchy" turns them on, it's because they are just reflecting the predominant libidinal economy, from reality TV to all sorts of what De Cauter describes as "psychotic games" -- inside a room, inside an octagon, inside an island or virtually inside a digital box.
So welcome to the geopolitics of the young 21st century: an age of non-stop war (virtualized or not), sharp polarization and a pile-up of catastrophies.
April 28, 2013
The principal food supplier to US troops in Afghanistan is embroiled in a costly dispute with the Pentagon that has attracted congressional interest.
Pentagon Claims $757 Million Overbilling by Contractor in Afghanistan
Saturday, 27 April 2013 11:06
By Richard H.P. Sia, The Center for Public Integrity | Report
The Pentagon allowed a private firm providing food and water to U.S. troops in Afghanistan to overbill taxpayers $757 million and awarded the company no-bid contract extensions worth more than $4 billion over three years, according to the Pentagon’s chief internal watchdog and congressional investigators.
The deal represented one of the largest U.S. military contracts in Afghanistan. But the Defense Logistics Agency, which was overseeing the contract, failed repeatedly to verify that the contractor’s invoices were accurate, an official in the Defense Department inspector general’s office said. "This has to be one of the prime poster childs for a government contract spun out of control," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said last week.
~snip~
The House subcommittee, which launched a probe of the contract last spring, found that the defense agency already had paid Supreme $1.38 billion for distributing food to additional locations when it determined it had overpaid the firm by $756.9 million. “Despite all of these problems, the agency failed to rebid the contract after the contract expired [in 2010] and decided to grant Supreme a no-bid extension of the contract that ended up lasting two more years,” Tierney said.
Matthew Beebe, DLA’s deputy director for acquisition, told the panel that his agency has recouped $283 million — over a third of the $757 million in overpayments — by withholding nearly $22 million a month from Supreme, which is still supplying food and water to U.S. troops and NATO forces. The withholding, which began on March 2012, followed unsuccessful negotiations and audits in 2008 and 2011 to determine “whether Supreme’s rates were fair and reasonable,” Beebe said.
unhappycamper comment: http://www.warisaracket.com/
Pentagon Claims $757 Million Overbilling by Contractor in Afghanistan
http://truth-out.org/news/item/16034-pentagon-claims-757-million-overbilling-by-contractor-in-afghanistanThe principal food supplier to US troops in Afghanistan is embroiled in a costly dispute with the Pentagon that has attracted congressional interest.
Pentagon Claims $757 Million Overbilling by Contractor in Afghanistan
Saturday, 27 April 2013 11:06
By Richard H.P. Sia, The Center for Public Integrity | Report
The Pentagon allowed a private firm providing food and water to U.S. troops in Afghanistan to overbill taxpayers $757 million and awarded the company no-bid contract extensions worth more than $4 billion over three years, according to the Pentagon’s chief internal watchdog and congressional investigators.
The deal represented one of the largest U.S. military contracts in Afghanistan. But the Defense Logistics Agency, which was overseeing the contract, failed repeatedly to verify that the contractor’s invoices were accurate, an official in the Defense Department inspector general’s office said. "This has to be one of the prime poster childs for a government contract spun out of control," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said last week.
~snip~
The House subcommittee, which launched a probe of the contract last spring, found that the defense agency already had paid Supreme $1.38 billion for distributing food to additional locations when it determined it had overpaid the firm by $756.9 million. “Despite all of these problems, the agency failed to rebid the contract after the contract expired [in 2010] and decided to grant Supreme a no-bid extension of the contract that ended up lasting two more years,” Tierney said.
Matthew Beebe, DLA’s deputy director for acquisition, told the panel that his agency has recouped $283 million — over a third of the $757 million in overpayments — by withholding nearly $22 million a month from Supreme, which is still supplying food and water to U.S. troops and NATO forces. The withholding, which began on March 2012, followed unsuccessful negotiations and audits in 2008 and 2011 to determine “whether Supreme’s rates were fair and reasonable,” Beebe said.
unhappycamper comment: http://www.warisaracket.com/
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