What is she smoking?

Rice thinks the matter can be settled this week. In the meantime, Israel expands the ground war and continues to bomb Lebanon, the UN can't get the leaders of the world to meet to try to resolve the crisis, Syria is getting its army ready. She really has faith in the face of what is shaping up as a disaster. What is that attribute called?

Haaretz says she's right! Let's hope so.

Update August 1 at 10 am:
Now Haaretz has changed the headline and some of the content of the article referenced above so that it is not, by any means, as optimistic as it was last night.

A Voice of Reason

Michel Aoun, former prime minister of Lebanon and commander of the Lebanese army, writes in today's Wall Street Journal of his belief that, sooner or later, the parties engaged in today's war will have to sit around a table and negotiate. Beginning such negotiations now rather than later will mean fewer casualties.

Aoun contends that the basic problem is the differing world views of the protagonists. He argues that we have to "change the basis upon which problems are judged...to one based on universal and unarguable principles", the first of which is the sanctity of all human life, yours and your enemy's.

Aoun has negotiated successfully with Hezbollah without selling his soul or that of his followers. He claims that the issue of an armed Hezbollah can be resolved if Lebanese prisoners are freed from Israeli jails, Shebaa Farms is returned to Israel and the establishment of "a strong national army and central state decision-making authority in which all political groups are assured a fair opportunity to participate". But, of course, he asks that Lebanon be protected from Israeli attacks.

Lebanon has a strangely comprised government in that power is allocated among various religious groups; the President must be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni, the Speaker a Shia and the number of seats in the legislative assembly are allocated on a religious basis also. Aoun feels that this system results in a government with the powers of a two-third majority, yet one that is elected by one-third of the people. This has resulted in the inability of the government to manage Southern Lebanon. So, Aoun also wants the elction laws changed.

He makes some good points.

How much do you know about Bush?

Take this quiz to test your knowledge.

Not exactly closing down Guantanamo

Despite the President's statement that he would "like to close" the Guantanamo prison, a new prison is being built there by, naturally, a subsidiary of Halliburton. This prison will house 200 inmates and will cost only $30,000,000 to build. That's $150,000 per inmate. I wonder how much it will cost to run the place annually.

Of course, talking about costs ignores the question of justice and the perception of the US by other countries. After all, we've only formally charged ten of the hundreds of inmates that have been imprisoned there and the Supreme Court has dismissed the administration's contention that military tribunals are constitutional.

Yes, all administrations lie. But, has any lied as much and as often as this one?

At last, a suit

The father of a dead Marine whose funeral was desecrated by the idiots of the Westboro Baptist Church is suing the church for invasion of privacy, defamation of character and emotional distress. After protesting at the funeral, here is what they posted on their web site about the father: "taught Matthew to defy his Creator, to divorce, and to commit adultery," and "raised him for the devil". To read more click here.

I hope he bankrupts this so-called church.

Now come the junior moguls

Or should I say the parents who want their kids to be junior moguls? Some parents send their 9 - 11 year-olds to BizCamp, a summer camp run by Junior Achievement. Now, I think Junior Achievement is a good thing for high school students. But having a 9-year-old spend a week learning how to sell ads, pay bank loans, to make a company profitable? That is criminal. A 9-year-old should spend the summer doing nothing but fooling around, trying different things on his/her own, exploring his world at his - dare I say it - leisure.

We have parents who think their child is the next Eli Manning; schools that pay kids to attend; parents who accompany their kids on job interviews; parents who carry signs advertising the marriageability of their children. Will these parents ever grow up?

I really am an old fart.

Irony of ironies

Tip O'Neill was such a major sponsor of The Big Dig that one of the tunnels is named after him. Unfortunately, as we are well aware, the construction and the management of the construction of that tunnel was not the best. Bechtel Corp., as the primary contractor, bears the brunt of the blame. Come to find out that O'Neill's son, who is also named Thomas P., is one of the lobbyists for Bechtel.

O'Neill fils has represented the company for a while. Since Bechtel was also a customer of mine, I can understand why he would have done so. Twenty-five years ago when I sold some software to the company, they were known as a top-notch engineering firm and they paid their bills on time. So, they were good as a reference and good for the cash flow.

Obviously, Bechtel has changed considerably. They not only screwed up in Boston, but it appears that they have screwed up in Iraq and who knows where else. It's sad.

Another black mark for Bechtel

Bechtel Corporation, a leading engineering firm, was the primary contractor on Boston's Big Dig. If you've been following my postings on that subject, you'll agree that they did a really crappy job - over budget, late and work that resulted in one death, several floods and other problems. Now comes word from Iraq of similar management problems.

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, has released his latest audit. This one covers AID and its primary contractor, Bechtel. Put simply, some of the reports filed by AID were deliberately misleading, primarily as to the allocation of costs. For example, the construction budget for a hospital was $50,000,000, however the cost will approach $98,000,000. Yet, AID told Congress that the cost would be $50,000,000. Another example: the direct cost of a building a power station was $6,600,000, the indirect cost was $27,600,000, or four times the direct costs. Conversely, an electricity project came in at $164,300,000 of direct costs and $1,400,000 of indirect costs, or less than 1% of direct costs. What game was AID playing?

It was not only dollars that were misallocated. In March Bechtel reported that the hospital project was nine months late; in April AID told Congress that there were no scheduling problems.

Watch what you say in Russia

Slandering a public official will bring you three years in the slammer. You'll pay a fine if you say "dollar" instead of "ruble". And don't mention the name of the National Bolshevik Party. It seems like old times.

Time is on the side of death

Israel has rejected a UN call for a three-day truce. Israel claims that there is a humanitarian corridor open which can be used to ferry supplies to thise trapped in Lebanon. However, today's news on NPR announced that the Israelis do not guarantee the safety of this corridor.

Why the UN has to wait until Monday to meet on this crisis is beyond me. How many people will die, be maimed, suffer this weekend is unknown, but there will be some.

Mario's back in the game

Mario Gabelli will be allowed to participate in the upcoming FCC auction of space on the nation's airwaves. His deal with the FCC did not bar him from participating in future auctions. However, this time around he will not be getting the small business discount that he got in previous auctions.

It will be interesting to see how he does, as there are over 150 bidders in this auction.

A picture is worth....

The two flags on the bottom of the right side are those of the UK and the US. They join Israel in not recommending an immediate cease-fire.

A BBC correspondent, Jim Muir, has been covering Lebanon for more than thirty years. His two articles do not support the current actions of the US and he offers a number of reasons why we are making what may turn our to be an error worse than attacking Iraq. Read the first article and then the second.

And then, according to the NY Times, you have the Arab leaders who had denounced Hezbollah backtracking in light of the continued hostilities. Israel and the US bet that Hezbollah would crack quickly. That does not appear to be happening. The wise man re-thinks his strategy.

We can't call all the shots

Not even in the Western Hemisphere any longer. In May we 'prohibited' the sale of arms to Venezuela. Many nations agreed to abide by our 'edict'. Russia, however, has decided to sell 100,000 Kalashnikovs as well as 30 helicopters and 30 fighter planes to Venezuela.

This is just one more example of Russia's return to the world stage. Certainly, that return has been bolstered by Russia's energy resources. However, the word in Moscow is that the deal with Venezuela is primarily a 'tit-for-tat' whereby Russia is getting even with the US for supporting former Soviet states that now oppose Russia. Apparently, Putin was miffed that we had invited the president of Georgia to the White House just prior to the G-8 conference in Moscow.

What's a mere 16 years?

That's how long it's been since the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments were passed. Yet, the EPA has not been able to fully implement the amendments and they still don't have a plan as to how they will do so, how much it wil cost or what the benefits will be. The GAO recently issued a report on EPA's efforts to do their job relative to the law. The EPA has not done well.

Here are a few excerpts from the GAO report:

• Major aspects of the program have still not been addressed.
• Many of the requirements pertain to limiting emissions from small stationary and mobile sources, which collectively account for most emissions of air toxics.
• The program's agenda is largely set by external stakeholders who file litigation when the agency misses deadlines.

The EPA does acknowledge that 95% of us are more likely to get cancer as a result of breathing air toxics. How many are no longer walking around because the EPA has not done its job?

Nuclear Bombs for India?

Foreign Policy has a divergent view of the recent deal between India and the U.S. relative to nuclear materials. Here are some of the concerns expressed:

• India decides which reactors are for civilian, which for military purposes. India will now be able to increase its bomb production capacity from 7 to maybe 50 each year.
• India has reneged on previous nuclear contracts with the U.S. and Canada. It has transferred nuclear materials to Iran. It has a deal with Iran for natural gas.
• Part of the raison d'etre of the deal is to bolster India's serving as a counterweight to China. China will soon be India's #1 trading partner, displacing the U.S.
• We're basing our relationship on nuclear materials, rather than education, science, etc. as well as supporting a country that has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

The Signs Do Not Look Good

The G-8 Summit
The Doha/WTO Trade Talks
The Rome Meeting on Lebanon/Israel.

All failures. Is agreement on anything substantive still possible?

How to solve the Lebanon-Israeli 'Problem'

Try yogic flying. It works every time.

The political picture is heating up

On the day when hearings begin to oust the Turnpike Authority chairman, Matthew Amorello, the Boston Globe publishes a story about the authority's most recent bond issues (those since March 2005). It seems that the prospectus for these issues state that the tunnels are the subject of ongoing safety examinations. One problem with that assurance: only one examination had been conducted since March 2005 and that was on a single tunnel.

From Romney's press release on March 15, 2005, announcing the bond issue:

"As governor, I have a responsibility to all the people when it comes to public safety. My job now is to assure that the tunnels are safe and to take whatever steps are necessary to put in place responsible management at the Turnpike Authority."

Tell that to Mina delValle.

Sounds Familiar

Okay, the Wall Street Journal is supposed to be a business paper, but today's edition had a very interesting - and dispiriting - take on the goings on in Lebanon. It sounded like the US in Iraq.

The Israeli military is convinced that their overwhelming military superiority will vanquish Hezbollah. Some Israeli leaders are already saying that more troops are needed. There is talk of establishing a secure zone in southern Lebanon. But despite destroying Lebanon's infrastructure and killing about 400 civilians, this militarily superior force has yet to make much progress on the ground. Hezbollah vanishes before they can really be defeated in any one battle.

As the war sounds very much like Iraq, so do the questions of what happens if Israel wins. Will the Lebanese government be able to do much in restoring their country? Will a decade-long occupation be needed? Will Hezbollah emerge from their caves if Israel leaves? Will the people of the ravaged lands and the people of the world be better off?

We entered Iraq to bring democracy to the Middle East. Israel entered Lebanon to exterminate Hezbollah. They may both be worthy goals. Unfortunately, they are goals set by a powerful military, not goals set by the residents.

Dusk comes to Route 93

Now politics starts taking center stage

Governor Romney has scheduled a hearing to remove Amorello, the head of the Mass. Turnpike Commission. Amorello likes his job and has authorized public moneys to be paid to three law firms to help him keep it. I guess he feels that the public is so appreciative of the fine work he's done that it is quite willing to spend this money as well as continue to pay his $263,000 annual salary plus perks.

If this happened in Japan, Amorello would have fallen on his sword, particularly since he said that the accident was an anomaly and the tunnel would be open the next day. Now two weeks later, with the discovery yesterday of three loose bolts in the Ted William Tunnel, no one knows when the tunnels will be fully open.

Do journal supplements help sell?

Pfizer thinks so. They've given $55,000 to a group of doctors to help them publish their thoughts in a supplement to the American Journal of Cardiology. In the arcane world of medical journalism, articles that appear in supplements to journals are not subject to the 'rigorous' standards for publishing in the journal itself.

The doctors want every man between the ages of 45 and 75 and every woman between 55 and 75 to take both a CT scan and ultrasound to detect their susceptibility to heart trouble. These tests would cost between $200 and $750. So, there is a good deal of money to be made if the doctors' recommendations are followed. The problem is that even the doctors acknowledge that the tests may not actually produce anywhere near the results they claim. But, hey, the Journal made some money, the doctors can claim they a published scientists, the drug companies got some PR. Isn't that what today's medicine is becoming for some people?

Cutting off your nose to spite your face

There is an expression something like that. It seems to describe our government's decision to withhold military aid to African nations who refuse to sign an agreement exempting American soldiers from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. As a result, in the opinion of several high ranking generals, we are hamstringing these nations - and ourselves - in their attempt to fight terrorists as well as opening the door wider for the Chinese to exert even more influence in Africa.

In the eyes of the people running our government today it is better to cede influence in Africa than to take part in an international system of justice which may actually prosecute our troops who commit acts similar to those that others commit and are held accountable for by the world and by us.

Twice in one month...

I find myself agreeing with Ben Stein. He seems to also have a concern about the report that several companies issued stock options when the market tanked after 9/11. Stein says that the granting of these options at that time "went beyond war profiteering. This was actual death profiteering". He then goes on to attribute much of the current state of the nation to the loss of community. He has a point.

Signing statements to be questioned

US News & World Report claims that the task force established by the ABA to look into the legality of the 750+ signing statements Bush has affixed to laws passed by Congress will recommend to the ABA membership that Congress pass a law requiring judicial review of such statements. Should such an event occur will Bush affix a signing statement to that law?

A new Joe Bftsplk?

Joe was a character in the Li'l Abner comic strip written by Al Capp when I was a kid. Joe was the guy who always had a cloud over his head, as he could never do anything right no matter how hard he tried. For a time under Purcell Morgan Stanley seemed to be Joe Bftsplk. The departure of Purcell seemed to lift the cloud. But yesterday comes news that the SEC wants to talk with John Mack, the new Morgan Stanley CEO, about the possible use of insider information by Pequot Capital Management, with whom Mack was affiliated.

More Big Dig Worries

Yesterday Governor Romney closed the east side of the Ted Williams Tunnel. It uses the same type bolts as the tunnel where the ceiling collapsed. Last week the head of the Mass. Turnpike Commission, which oversaw the Big Dig, said the tunnel was safe. Romney says he's not sure and will err on the side of safety.

Here's an interesting graphic from the Governor's office via the Boston Globe.

The Stock Option Poster Child

Based on an article in today's WSJ, I'd nominate Brocade Communications Systems as a company that exemplifies the theory of maximizing potential stock option value no matter what. If the stock has gone up recently and looks like it will continue rising, back date the options. If the stock has tanked and it looks like the holder will not make money, change the exercise date of the option to sometime in the future. If things got really bad, just issue new offer letters - changing all the relevant dates - although people were already employees.

In the Internet stock boom of the 1990s when Brocade did not have much cash but it had a rising stock they used options to help them recruit good people. So, they would grant options before you had joined the firm; in some cases you would be up 10% by the time you joined. Once they were made aware that this practice was not quite kosher, they offered part-time 'jobs' to those who would be joining the company over the next few weeks. It's doubtful that these new recruits could get much done in the four hours of work a week they were hired for. All these options were approved by the stock option committee, which consisted of one person - the CEO.

The company did finally have an internal probe of its stock option policies when a former employee threatened to go to the SEC. This review resulted in a restatement of net income for 2000; it went from a profit of $67,900,000 to a loss of $951,200,000. That's a difference of one billion dollars.

Update:
The CEO and VP of Human Resources have been charged both civilly and criminally. These are the first such charges by the Feds in this type of stock option matters

You can't keep a good man down

Tongsun Park is a Korean 'businessman' who was in the headlines thirty years ago when he was indicted in the Koreagate scandal; the charges included money laudering, racketeering and not registering as a South Korean agent. Well, he's just been convicted of conspiracy to launder money and not registering as an agent of Iraq. This latest crime is a result of the UN Oil for Food scandal.

Park did not serve any time for his involvement in Koreagate; he testified in exchange for immunity. By the start of the 1990s he had enough money to buy a restaurant in DC and start once more on the road to another scandal. This time he became friends with Boutros Boutros-Ghalli, the head of the UN. It's not sure how much money he was able to extract from Saddam for his services in buttering up the UN; he had asked for $10,000,000 for 'expenses'.

He faces as many as twelve years in prison and another trial - accused of lying to the FBI. Since he is now 71 years old, it's unlikely he'll be in the news anytime soon as being involved in another scandal.

All politics is local

Tip O'Neill, longtime Congressional representative and political powerhouse, spoke these words many years ago with regards to his district, but they really apply almost universally.

Reading the following from today's NY Times Op-Ed by Robert Kaplan reminded me of Tip's words: "And where democracy remains an abstraction, anyone who can provide security and other basic needs - by whatever means - commands respect." Kaplan was speaking of Afghanistan. But he could also have been speaking of southern Lebanon, controlled by Hezbollah, or Palestine, where Hamas is in power. (I don't agree with his opening phrase. People everywhere - in or out of a democracy - want security and their basic needs met.)

People everywhere - no matter what their religion - just want most of their needs to be met without too much trouble on their part. The failure of the central government to meet these needs is why those we call fanatics wield such power. These 'fanatics' provide the common man with what he needs. As a result, people vote for them in a democracy or allow them to rule in other forms of government.

This is a world where capturing hearts and minds is vital, but you can't do it if you don't meet people's basic needs. I think that Abbas and Saniora are decent people, but they have not been able to get the job done; the fanatics are the ones who get the garbage picked up, enable you to go shopping without being shot, make sure you can grow poppies.

And, as an outsider, you can't win hearts and minds if you don't know the people whose hearts and minds you want to place on your side. As Kaplan points out, more than 75% of Afghans live in villages, villages over which the Taliban is reasserting control. Our focus seems to be on the cities, which, in general, are more liberal than the villages and, thus, more amenable to the message of democracy. The people in the villages believe in the tribe and God; democracy is not exactly a hot topic. We need the support of the local leaders. Without that support there can be no form of success.

Another India-China Race

This time it's to see who can block more web sites. Yesterday India entered the race by blocking fifteen sites, including five blogs.

Another black mark for JAMA

Last week I reported on the problems the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) had with authors who did not disclose their financial ties to manufacturers whose products they tout. Well, it's happened again with the current issue of JAMA. This time the article is on migraines.

Update: The journal Neuropsychopharmacology (say that three times fast) will be publishing a correction to point out that a recent article was authored by people with a financial connection to the manufacturer. One of the authors is the editor of said journal.

Some medical/scientific publications are doing more than simply publishing corrections; they are banning the authors from being published for a period of time.

Is this civil war yet?

According to United Nations tallies of Iraqi deaths from the war, 1,778 civilians were killed in January, 2,165 in February, 2,378 in March, 2,284 in April, 2,669 in May and 3,149 in June, a total of 14,413 and the count does not not include Kurdistan. About 13% more civilians are killed every month.

Over the six months, the monthly average is 2402, or 80 a day. Clearly, the monthly average has picked up to over 100. Some days, 100 are killed in just 24 hours.

Unilateralism Seldom Works

The US has tried it. Israel has tried it. Last summer Israel decided that it would set its own borders and to hell with the Palestinians living in Gaza. Israel would set the rules by itself. Well, reality intervened and Israel is back in Gaza and Lebanon and the world holds its breath.

If people in the West Bank are living in a hell (whether of their own making or not is beside the point), they are unlikely to accept rules imposed by a perceived enemy. For Israel to survive relatively peacefully, it has to have a West Bank where the people have a chance at a decent life. Which means that if the current crisis does not escalate into a world crisis, Israel, Palestine - and the world - will have to figure out how they can help the Palestinians have a decent life.

Today's number is 1454

That is the number of bolt hangers in the Big Dig tunnel that have problems, or so says Governor Romney.

The Attorney General says that there was a dispute as to the safety of these hangers going back to 1999.

More good stuff from the Strategic Studies Institute

I've written here and elsewhere about the Strategic Studies Institute. Their studies are quite good. Their latest bulletin reports on two studies: key strategic issues and the need for us to be more culturally aware.

The key strategic issues publication is a listing of the wide variety of things we have to consider, from the global war on terror to regional security issues to military transformation to leadership and the impact of war and society. The list is the first I've seen which is a necessary tool in any serious competition.

The other document, "Friction in U.S. Foreign Policy", believes that our current leadership style is counterproductive. We need to differentiate between domestic and foreign policy strategies. Where domestically we can "blur differences and seek commonality" and approach issues directly, in foreign affairs we need to "work in more indirect ways with like-minded allies to create a world favorable to U.S. interests".

Talk is cheap

"On a scale of 10...the G-8 should be given a 10 for rhetoric, seven for pledges and a two for progress addressing the most urgent issues", so says Sam Nunn, former Senator and now co-chair of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. At the 2002 G-8 meeting $20 billion was pledged to secure nuclear materials and weapons from terrorists' hands. Thus far only $3 billion has been collected, little of which has been used to protect enriched uranium, without which there is no nuclear weapon.

What's happened without the redemption of pledges?

• A foreman in a Russian nuclear plant was arrested in April for trying to sell 22 kilograms of uranium.
• Less than half of Russia's nuclear cache has been secured, although the material is mainly in just a few places.
• Nothing is being done to destroy Russia's tactical nukes. We don't even know how many exist.
• Russia has 39,000 tons of chemical weapons.
• Thirty tons of enriched uranium are being converted to lower-enriched uranium each year in Russia. Russia admits to having 500 tons.
• Some reactors are guarded by a night watchman and a chain link fence.

A closing word from Sam Nunn, "Acquiring weapons and materials is the hardest step for terrorists to take but the easiest step for us to stop."

Terrorists are becoming more sophisticated. When will they fire their first nuclear weapon?

Searching for a savior

In an attempt to rescue his investment in General Motors Kirk Kerkorian has turned to Carlos Ghosn, the fellow who brought Nissan back from the dead. On Friday Ghosn, who now runs both Nissan and Renault, was scheduled to meet with GM. Ghosn performed a miracle with Nissan. He has yet to do so with Renault. Can he do it with GM?

Saturday's WSJ raised an interesting idea: merge GM and Ford. This may be the way the world is moving.

Mario settles

It cost him $130,000,000 but the fraud suit lodged against Mario Gabelli etal is over. R.C. Taylor, the whistleblower who filed the suit, will get $32,200,000.

A Military Man Speaks About Recruiting

True, Phillip Carter is only a lieutenant but you would not know it from his blog, Intel Dump. Here are some sensible comments on the military's decision to lower recruiting standards. Not only do we get skinheads practicing how to revolt, but we also get very troubled souls.

Another day, another possibility of system failure

Now the ramp to I-93 from the Ted Williams Tunnel is closed as more than 40 questionable bolts were found. I'm glad I don't have to go to Boston every day.

Tunnels are not new to Boston. The Sumner Tunnel has been open since before WW II. The Callahan Tunnel has been open since the 1950s. Apparently, tunnels were new to the contractor.

Here's a surprise

The administration is planning to change the Medicare reimbursement system to better reflect hospital costs, rather than charges. They will be using a software product developed by 3M to implement the changed system. Sounds reasonable, right. Here's the rub (from the NY Times):

In July 2005, the Bush administration awarded a “sole source contract” to 3M, to analyze whether it was feasible for Medicare to use a payment system modeled on the 3M product. The company said yes.

More on Backdating

A study by Erik Lie and Randall Heron of the University of Iowa concluded that 29% of 7,774 companies reviewed had backdated their stock options. It's more likely that smaller auditing firms will not catch this practice.

Saturday's WSJ showed that many companies took advantage of the market dive triggered by 9/11 to issue options. Most of these companies issued their options in September 2001. When you travel in those circles, you always have to strike when an opportunity arises.

Be glad you don't live in Bridgeport

The former mayor is in jail for fraud. The current mayor admits using cocaine. A building official is charged with seeking bribes.

Do we have any clout?

The current world crises point out another problem with our attempt to impose democracy on the world. The strategy we've used is 'us against them', with 'them' being seen as untouchables unworthy of our talking with them. I agree that at some point in time further talking with the opposition is fruitless and a waste of time. But we have decided to preempt just about all two way conversations before hearing what the opposition has to say, so that we really can't judge the opposition's intentions. Being unable to judge makes it impossible for us to decide on the proper course of action.

However, in light of our inability or unwillingness to rein in Israel, perhaps knowing one's intentions does not necessarily mean that we would act intelligently.

For the history

Today's Globe has quite complete coverage of the Big Dig fiasco.

More on the fiasco that is The Big Dig

240 loose ceiling tile fixtures. The National Transportation Safety Board will be coming. Despite grossing $4 billion on its part of The Big Dig, Modern Continental Construction had to be rescued from bankruptcy via a merger.

A Blast from the Past

The name "Ghorbanifar" may ring a bell for those of you who remember the Iran-Contra scandal. He was the guy who convinced North and Ledeen of the value of the deal. He also failed three polygraph tests and was dismissed by the CIA as being unreliable. Well, he's back, still telling us that Iran is ready for regime change. He figures prominently in an article by Laura Rozen in Mother Jones.

For Rozen, all of the back movements going on now about Iran seem very much like those that attended Iraq:

• The expatriates who smell revolution
• The money to promote democracy there
• People being moved to the Persian Gulf to get a better view of Iran
• The think tanks launching Iran initiatives

You would think that the debacle that has become Iraq would have chastened some of the leaders who appear to be moving towards making the same mistakes.

A Summer Day on the Vineyard

Jerry's Journey is complete

Back in March I wrote about a bike ride from Nebraska to Martha's Vineyard that a 63-year-old friend was taking in June. Well, he did it. Here are some of his thoughts upon being home.

Eighteen hundred miles, ten states, seven flat tires, two broken spokes, one hundred stories (give or take a few), and one dream fulfilled, and I found myself rolling my bike off the fast ferry in Oak Bluffs ready to make that last five mile ride to Edgartown to finish my trip! I hadn't realized how much I missed the Vineyard until I saw her for the first time in over a month. Once again I was awed!

I struggle to sum up in a few paragraphs all the emotions that are running through me at this time. This bicycle trip across half the country was everything I had ever hoped it would be and much, much more. We were fortunate, my riding partner, Chuck Hughes and I, as we crossed this wonderful nation. The weather cooperated with us and we always seemed to be just ahead of the next storm or just behind the last. Some did great damage across the upper part of New York State and we rode through the aftermath of the storm as if nothing had happened, and yet we knew from the people we talked with that we were seeing only the surface of what had taken place.

We were able to see the heartland of the nation with its wheat fields and corn fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. We stopped to take a picture of a beautiful wheat field and found ourselves singing, "O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain . . ." Something you are not able to see at 65 mph along the Interstate system. Everywhere we went, from small farm town to the city, we were met by new friends who wanted to know what two old, fat guys in spandex were doing out riding across the country. When we spoke to them about why we were doing this, the response was always the same. "Yes, we know the good work of Habitat for Humanity. Keep up the good work."

Both Chuck and I have discovered a vitality about this nation of ours that gets lost on the 6:00 and 11:00 news. Sure there are some difficulties out there, but we are still America the beautiful with good and loving people every place you go. Over the weeks and months ahead, I hope to be able to share the story in many forums, whether face to face, on the printed page, or maybe even a TV interview or two! It is good to be back home again with family and friends.

The over 1,600 mile bike ride to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Martha's Vineyard has been a great accomplishment. If you would like to support Jerry's efforts, please send a check made payable to Habitat for Humanity of Martha's Vineyard and write: "Jerry's Journey for Habitat" in the notation. Donations should be sent to:

Habitat for Humanity of Martha's Vineyard
Post Office Box 1093
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568

Home at last,

Jerry

NSVI....

stands for the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq. I was surprised that the GAO would have reported on this strategy, but it is a government plan and strategy, normal topics for the GAO.

The report finds the plan faulty in three respects:

• in some cases it's missing the who that is to implement various parts of the plan
• it does not define how we will integrate our goals with those of Iraq and
• it is weak on specifying costs.

Further, the underlying assumptions have changed. Originally, the thought was the post-war period would see a secure, operational government; Iraq is now very likely in a civil war. Reconstruction funds would soon make Iraq self-sustaining; they seem to be worse off than under Sadaam when it comes to infrastructure and oil revenue.

Another government agency has been heard from.

Caesar's Wife

You're a doctor, an expert in your field. A drug company asks you to review a drug they are working on. You do and think that the drug has promise. The drug company pays you some money along the way and promises more as you speak and write about the drug. So, you conduct a study of the drug and publish your findings. How do you ensure yourself and the readers that the study is really impartial, is not tainted by your being paid by the drug company?

Clearly, this issue is not new, but it has become more prominent over the past year or two. It even made the lead article in The Wall Street Journal. February's Journal of the AMA carried an article about taking antidepressants during pregnancy. Previous studies had concluded that women should not take the drugs. This study concluded the opposite. The authors had sixty different relationships with drug companies who produced antidepressants; the authors did not disclose these ties to the editors of the AMA Journal. Did they do they right thing?

Mass. General Hospital makes money from an organization called the Psychiatry Academy. This is funded by six drug companies, two of whom make antidepressants. Are their lectures and presentations biased?

The Occupation of Iraqi Hearts and Minds

That's the title of an article by Nir Rosen in Truth Dig, which is basically a report of the two weeks in which he was embedded with an Army outfit. However, these two weeks are seen through a rather different prism than that used by most Western reporters. Mr. Rosen, who was born in New York, has an Iranian father, looks and speaks Arabic. He took advantage of these 'assets' to meet and live with Iraqis. He writes, then, from the viewpoint of his version of an Iraqi's observations of the Americans. His conclusion is that "The occupation has been one vast extended crime against the Iraqi people, and most of it has occurred unnoticed by the American people and the media."

Mr. Rosen is young, he's 29. He was probably idealistic when he went to Iraq. He is no longer. This is his first war and he is amazed at the brutality exhibited by his fellow Americans. But, wars are brutal events where things are done that we in our sheltered homes have not thought of and cannot conceive. If we were in the same circumstances as our soldiers, we might do the same things. Rosen agrees that "These crimes were not committed because Americans are bad or malicious; they were intrinsic to the occupation, and even if the Girl Scouts had occupied Iraq they would have resorted to these methods. In the end, it is those who have dispatched decent young American men and women to commit crimes who should be held accountable."

However, the article does point out the rashness, over-confidence and lack of preparation with which we entered this war. Rosen recounts a number of incidents in which the inability of our troops to speak Arabic and to understand the culture resulted in nasty actions being taken. He writes of intelligence officials who do not leave the base, who do not know or meet with Iraqis or even with the soldiers in the field. He quotes a brigade commander speaking to a major responsible for civil affairs, "I am not here to win hearts and minds, I am here to kill the enemy."

Is Iraq better off today? Are we? Are the people who have been to the heart of darkness?

The wonderful world of Homeland Security

There are more terrorist targets in Indiana than in New York; in fact, there are almost as many in Indiana as in New York and California combined. There are more national monuments in Washington state than in Washington, DC. There are fewer banking and finance assets in North Dakota than in New York. Montana has more terrorist targets than Massachusetts. Other terrorist targets listed in the National Asset Database: nursing homes, jails, mortuaries. And stay away from the Mule Day parade in Columbia, TN.

All of the above information was in the National Asset Database, which in the words of the Department of Homeland Security is "a repository of the nation’s facilities and assets spanning the 17 Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CI & KR)." Not only is the database designed to facilitate DHS' responsibility "for reducing the nation’s vulnerability to terrorism by developing and implementing plans to identify and protect critical infrastructure and key assets, and to deny the use of these infrastructures as weapons" but it is also used to allocate DHS funds to the cities and states.

Does it help make our nation safer? Obviously, DHS thinks so. Like any upstanding public servant DHS' deputy press secretary says, "We don't find it embarassing. The list is a valuable tool."

Chickens coming home to roost

Eileen McNamara has a good column in today's Globe about Monday's Big Dig calamity.

A decade ago, former state inspector general Robert Cerasoli warned of safety concerns with the tunnels and the lax state oversight of Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff , the international engineering consortium that ran the project.

Last year, Edward M. Ginsburg , the retired Middlesex probate judge hired by the Turnpike Authority to recover damages, accused project managers of hiding information from his investigators and chastised state officials for having too cozy a relationship with contractors. ``They were all married to each other," he said after being fired for his efforts.

``My feeling was that it was not being taken care of," Ginsburg said last year. ``I mean it was going to be ignored or papered over. I just didn't think that was appropriate. And I wasn't going to be responsible for someone getting killed if one of those walls gave out again."

I doubt that there will be many people using the tunnel today. The traffic jams in Boston should be horrendous.

Then, in the same issue, Joan Vennochi equates the state's actions with the government actions re Katrina.

FOR POLITICIANS across America, Hurricane Katrina taught two valuable lessons.

When disaster strikes, return swiftly from vacation. Then, fire an underling.

Yesterday, Governor Mitt Romney followed the post-Katrina political guidebook. He interrupted his vacation. And he announced his intention to fire Matthew Amorello, the chairman and chief executive of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

Late Monday night, Milena Del Valle was killed when concrete ceiling tiles fell from the Ted Williams Tunnel connector. On Tuesday, Romney was back at the State House, trying to hang all of the blame for the Big Dig tunnel disaster around someone else's neck.

The governor's upper lip was uncharacteristically wet with sweat -- with good reason. He and his presidential ambitions were unexpectedly on the hot seat.

Update as of 3 p.m.
From the Globe:

Inspectors have already found 60 more problem areas in the eastbound lanes of the connector, which links the Massachusetts Turnpike with the Ted Williams Tunnel. Crews are still checking the westbound lanes.

Update 2 at 8:30 pm
From the Globe:

When anchor bolts gave way Monday night, 12-tons of ceiling tiles crashed into the tunnel, killing Milena Del Valle, 38, of Jamaica Plain.

“The problem with the anchor bolts was identified in the fall of 1999,” said Reilly, whose office has launched a negligent manslaughter investigation. “It was not only identified, but there was a plan to address that problem.”

Five of the anchor bolts gave way in the 1999 study, Reilly said, referencing documents unearthed during the probe by his office. Investigators are trying to determine what was done with the plan formulated to fix the problem.

What does the FDA have to hide?

The FDA has announced that the hearing on the safety of Hemopure will take place behind closed doors. The reason given by the FDA for closing the hearing from public view is "trade secret and/or confidential information".

Surprisingly, Biopure, the maker of Hemopure, does not understand why the hearing will be closed as they have "no objection to holding an open hearing".

Does the FDA feel so tarnished by its actions re blood substitutes that it is afraid to let the public in on the hearing for another blood substitute?

More about Private Security Companies

The latest GAO report on the use of private security providers (PSP) in Iraq concludes that there has not been much improvement. There is little coordination between the military and the PSPs increasing risk to both groups. The military is not trained on how to deal with the PSPs. Most importantly, the screening of people working for a PSP leaves much to be desired; it is likely that there are criminals working for some PSPs.

It's as I said last year - pretty shitty command.

Crapola customer service

My favorite government agency, the GAO, issued a report on the quality of customer service provided by the ten largest companies offering drug coverage to we Medicare subscribers. The quality of that service would, in a just world, cause these companies to go out of business.

The GAO made 900 calls; they were unable to reach customer service in 36 of those calls. Of the remaining 864 calls, one third of the agents gave correct and complete answers to the questions. Twenty-two percent gave wrong answers. Twenty-nine percent gave incomplete answers. Fifteen percent could not answer the questions.

What is the response of Mark McClellan, the top man at Medicare and Scott's brother? One question was "unclear and inaccurate"; two were "not appropriate". Having spent a fair amount of time in customer service, I find it unbelievable that someone would blame the caller for the lousy service. True, there are many people out there who are not the brightest lights in the room. But it is the customer service agent whose job it is to understand the caller's problem and then provide an answer that addresses and resolves that problem.

Not a bad deal for the drug companies: Sell at market. Hire unqualified and low paid people for customer service. Your margins go up.

As Pete Stark said, "If private plans can't meet basic standards for quality service, they should not be in the program."

Things will not go better with Coke....

if an imam in Somalia has his way. According to him, the Koran prohibits all Western products. So, he has declared a fatwa against Coke.

Tip O'Neill must be rolling over in his grave

Last night part of the ceiling fell on a car traveling in the Ted Williams Tunnel, part of The Big Dig, which is formally named after Thomas P. O'Neill, longtime Speaker of the House and acknowledged by almost all as a "good guy". The car was crushed, a female passenger died, the driver is in the hospital.

This is not the first problem to occur with the most expensive single highway project to date, at $14.6 billion. Rocks fell from a vent in April 2005 and trapped five vehicles, including an ambulance. A very large chunk of cement fell in March of this year; inspectors found leaks in the fireproofing material in forty places. There have been several minor leaks since the official opening in 2003.

The numbers are coming in

and, as we said last year, they're not good as regards FEMA's payments to victims of Katrina and Rita. The General Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that 16% of the $6 billion given to hurricane victims went to those perpetrating a fraud. Some examples:

• payments to people who lived at UPS stores and cemeteries
• payments to people not displaced
• payments to people in jail
• paying for hotel and rental assistance to the same people at the same time

That adds up to about $1 billion of our money.

Market Power

That's what the drug companies got in the Medicare prescription drug program. One industry publication, RPM Report, figures that the drug companies revenue will increase by $2 billion as a result of moving 6,400,000 old folks from Medicaid - where drug companies have to charge their lowest price - to Medicare - where there is no discount granted by the companies.

What could we do with an extra $2 billion?

Advice from Inside

The Defense Science Board, which advises the Department of Defense of a variety of matters, has published the second volume of "Transformation: A Progress Assessment". I found the section on DOD business practices most interesting. Here are some excerpts:

The Business Management processes of the Department are complicated and conflicting, and the systems that support them are inadequate, relative to the private sector. Improvement in this area offers a great opportunity for the Department to operate more effectively and efficiently to provide national security to its citizens.……………………………………………………………………………..

KEY ASSESSMENTS

The Task Force’s review concluded the following key assessments of the business processes and the systems that support them:

1. The Department does not have an effective multi-year business plan that aligns the resources of the Department, both personnel and financial, to its missions.

2. The capability-needs process continues to be dominated by the force providers and the Joint Staff, and is under-represented by the COCOM needs.

3. Logistics performance is well behind world-class standards in responsiveness, dependability, cost, and inventory management. The system is sub-optimized for each structural organization’s accountability, and many items are lost or mishandled at organizational hand-offs.

4. The allocation of the personnel resources of the Department, both civilian and military, does not reflect on mission priorities.

5. The Department management does not focus on outputs and metrics of performance with the same energy and focus as it does on acquiring resources; and accountability for performance-to-objectives is weak.

6. The Department needs integrated business management systems to support the management of resources and tracking for their use. The current systems are not interoperable and they do not reflect best practices.

7. The Department needs better methods for measuring and assuring Defense Agencies’ performance.

I thought Ben Stein was an unreconstructed conservative

This article says he is not as unreconstructed as I thought.

Setting the Record Straight

Has there ever been a compensation consultant whose report did not support the position of the people who hired him? I don't think so. So, what faith do we place in the report of Fredric Cook who produced a report for the Business Roundtable?

Here's the title of the press release:

"Business Roundtable Releases New Research that Sets the Record Straight on Executive Compensation".

There are a few minor problems with Mr. Cook's analysis which compares CEO compensation to stockholder return at 350 companies:

• Stockholder returns include dividends, CEO compensation does not include dividends on stock owned by the CEO.
• The value of stock options when granted is used for CEO compensation, rather than the value of the options when cashed in.
• Compensation does not include pension benefits, deferred compensation and severance packages.

Does this report "set the record straight"? If you think so, I've a bridge you'd be interested in.

Luck running out for Sergio?

Sergio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy, has been indicted for the eighth time. He was found guilty in four of his previous seven trials but avoided punishment as he won his appeals or the statute of limitations had run out. All of his previous trials occurred when he was either on the way up to or had reached the job of Prime Minister. What will happen now that he is an ex-Prime Minister?

Bomb Iran?

A major catastrophe according to Tad Daley of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Read his argument here.

Another downside of the recruiting decline

We are all well aware that the military is having trouble meeting its recruiting goals. So, I guess it's natural for the military to lower its recruiting standards somewhat. The issue is where the standards should be lowered. I don't think they should be lowered so that neo-Nazis are allowed to join the military and learn how to use weapons effectively. Yet, it appears as though that is what is happening.

The Chicago Sun-Times recently revealed that the percentage of recruits granted "moral waivers" for past misdemeanors has more than doubled in the past five years. While it may, at first, seem innocuous, you can now join the military if you have tattoos anywhere except on your face; many neo-Nazis seem to be covered in tattoos.

An investigator for the Department of Defense claims to have filed evidence on 320 extremists at one base, Fort Lewis, in one year. Several extremists in the military broadcast their views via web sites, interviews and magazines.

Why should this concern us? In 1996 the decorated combat veteran and neo-Nazi, Timothy McVeigh, destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building along with 168 people. That same year a skinhead group from the 82nd Airborne Divisioon murdered two black people. Read any of the publications put out by these groups; they urge their readers to join the military, particulalrly Special Forces, so that they can be properly trained to "better defend yourself, our people, and our culture. We must have people to open doors from the inside when the time comes".

Evolution in action?

You've probably heard about the extinction of some species of amphibians. Since 1980, scientists think we lost between nine and 122 species. Now they feel that because of changes in land use, disease, invasive species pushing out native amphibians and, the old bugbear - commercial exploitation, we are in danger of losing one-third of the existing 6000 species of amphibians. The biggest threat is from disease; a fungus causes the animals to reduce their intake of air and moisture. Is this fungus simply part of evolution?

Will the market restore New Orleans?

The answer of Jed Horne, the editor of the Times-Picayune, is probably not. In an article in today's Boston Globe, Horne criticizes the Nagin administration for ignoring the advice of his recovery commission and respected urban planners and allowing - nay, encouraging - rebuilding in the areas most likely to be severely damaged in the next Katrina. "The result is that many New Orleanians, savaged financially by Katrina, have been encouraged to pour what's left of their net worth into restoring properties that may not be safe, easily insurable, or, in the long run, marketable."

Horne acknowledges the crappy record of past city and state leaders and recognizes that current and future leaders may be as bad. But, he also recognizes that the private sector has not helped out the city either. His article is a cry for help and an expression of optimism that somehow enlightened leadership will emerge to implement a sound plan to restore the city's health, if not all of its neighborhoods.

What's with makers of artificial blood?

Earlier this year we saw some of the problems with PolyHeme, the artificial blood product of Northfield Labs. Despite poor results in some clinical trials, the FDA approved another trial.

Now it looks like the same thing is about to happen with Hemopure, the artificial blood product of Biopure. The company acknowleges that past studies showed more cases of cardiac arrest, more fluid in the lungs and more hypertension among patients who were given Hemopure rather than blood. Yet, the Navy wants to conduct a study using Hemopure on civilian patients without their consent. Despite the negative results of previous studies, the Navy feels that their study will be different as it will use trauma rather than surgery patients.

In the past year the FDA has denied the Navy's request for the trial. A year ago, the FDA said "subjects would be exposed to an unreasonable and significant risk of injury". But now the FDA has convened an advisory panel to determine whether the trial should proceed. Unlike most advisory panels, the Navy was allowed to recommend panel members. Further, two skeptics of the artificial blood products have been removed from the panel. Has a deal been made somewhere along the line? Is the FDA being responsible to the citizens?

First, the move to Canada.....

Then the return of war medals and the refusal to serve in Iraq. Sound like Vietnam to you?

Supply and Demand

A story on NPR today demonstrated that at least one law is working in Iraq today: the law of supply and demand. As the violence escalates, more and more people are buying and selling weapons. The story told of an aunt asking her nephew to buy her a machine gun. On the sales side, police seem to be fairly prominent. The market has boomed. In May a Glock pistol sold for $700, today the price is double. After the fall of Saddam an AK-47 sold for $50 and a rocket propelled grenade for $50 also. Today, the AK-47 is $350, the RPG $11,000.

Non-Profits Can Be Profitable

for the executives, that is. I wrote about one such operation a few months ago. Consider Nehemiah Corp. of America. In 1997, Don Harris, a lawyer and part-time minister, saw that many of his parishioners had jobs and a decent credit history but lacked the money for a down payment on a house. He sought to get them a down payment. He did so by going to home sellers and builders asking them to donate the down payment to a charity he had founded; this charity would then give the donated down payment to the buyer. He started the non-profit, Nehemiah, to implement his idea. Since FHA would provide mortgages to first-time buyers who could come up with a 3% downpayment, Mr. Harris also found banks willing to provide mortgages. Sounds good, doesn't it?

It was good until Harris met a broker and marketer, Ron Mellon, for a local home builder. Mellon saw possibilities in Harris' idea. He and Harris formed a marketing company, a for-profit marketing company which they called Invision. They took the idea national. Builders and sellers paid Nehemiah 6% of the selling price, a 5% gift for the down payment and a 1% fee; Invision kept a third of the fee.

Nehemiah did well; $67,000,000 in revenue in 1999, $139,000,000 the next year. Invision also did well, between 1998 and 2002 its share of Nehemiah's revenue was $42,000,000. During this period, Harris owned 38% of Invision. Their success spawned competitors.

Perhaps, one reason for Invision's ability to sell home builders across the country was indicated by an IRS audit which found that, in some cases, the sellers simply tacked the 5% gift onto the selling price. The IRS is now questioning whether the 5% money was a legal charitable deduction. In the meantime Harris is being sued for "unseemly wheeling and dealing in the non-profit world".

Mopeds can be dangerous

Yesterday Martha's Vineyard had its first moped death in five years, its fourth in ten years. The road was straight, the sun was shining, there was little traffic, it was 2:30 in the afternoon. But, apparently this 41-year-old visitor, here for the July 4 festivities, lost control of the moped and slammed into a utility pole. She died; her passenger is in serious condition.

I've never driven a moped but it seems as though it's just a bicycle with a motor. As a result, many neophytes rent them. There is no real training. They are given a helmet. And off they go to enjoy the Vineyard.

It is not just a bicycle with a motor. It can be dangerous for those new to it and new to the roads of the Vineyard. Usually there are at least a couple of very serious accidents each season, which indicates that something should be done to make sure the renters have some idea of how to drive these vehicles.

The Bermuda Triangle

Apparently, more than ships can get lost there. Refco sent $20 billion there and got back $18 billion. Where did the $2 billion go?

Refco established a Bermuda company although there were no employees in Bermuda; all business was conducted out of the New York office. The Bermuda operation was not regulated by any agency, so Refco mixed client money with company money and did not account very well for either. When the loans made by the Bermuda outfit were not repaid, the losses were hidden. They also took greater loan risks than most other firms; e.g, Lukoil was able to borrow up to 50% of its market value from Refco, Bear Stearns would only give them 15%.

However Refco did it, it was good enough to fool a hell of a lot of sophisticated investors. This Bermuda operation reminds me of Enron's Raptors.

Talking about Iran

Over the past couple of months you've probably talked about Iran with your friends. Well, Seymour Hersh has done the same thing except that his friends are people like generals, ambassadors, intelligence officers, government officials. Clearly, Seymour's friends should be more knowledgeable than yours. But are they?

Hersh's article in the current New Yorker tells us about his recent conversations. I wonder how much these conversations differed from yours. His friends have concluded that our intelligence about Iran is very poor. We don't know how far along they are. We don't know where the work is being done. We don't know how far they will go.

The military friends are concerned that we'd have difficulty bombing Iraq as we cannot identify all the targets. We don't even know how large the underground facilities at Natanz are or in which direction the underground chambers flow. They worry about the hundreds of secret piers from which Iran could launch suicide vessels. And, of course, they worry about whether Iran will move into Iraq and what such a move would do to our troops.

A former aide in Bush's National Security Council raises the spectre of Russia moving into the Middle East.

The article closes by quoting Mohamed ElBaradei, "We should have learned some lessons from Iraq. We should have learned that we should be very careful about assessing our intelligence... We should have learned that we should try to exhaust every possible diplomatic means to solve the problem before thinking of any other enforcement measures.....When you push a country into a corner, you are always giving the driver's seat to the hard-liners...If Iran were to move out of the nonproloferation regime altogether, if Iran were to develop a nuclear weapon program, we clearly will have a much, much more serious problem."

Another advance in prosthetics?

English researchers have been successful in a few cases in attaching a prosthesis to a piece of titanium that has been attached to a human bone. This is promising for those who wear today's prostheses as it may eliminate the chafing and resulting sores that often occur, particulalrly in hot weather.

When is a farmer not a farmer?

When he owns land that at some point in time was actually farmed. Whether the land is farmed today or not, our beneficent federal government - you and me - the owner receives a federal farm subsidy. It could be small; an owner of an 18-acre lot in El Campo, Texas, is paid $1,300 annually in subsidies. It could be large; a Houston surgeon was paid $490,709 since 1996. Since 2000, we, through our wonderful leaders and employees, have paid out $1.3 billion in farm subsidies to people who do not farm.

Although someone receives a subsidy for a specific crop, he does not have to grow the crop. In fact, he does not have to grow anything; he'll still get his subsidy check. These subsidy checks in 2005 were $25 billion; that's half again as much as we paid to people on welfare.

Subsidies were designed to protect farmers when prices were abnormally low; we still pay them even when prices are high. Farmers planted 600,000 acres of rice in 1981. In 2005 they planted 202,000 acres. Yet, we're subsidizing 600,000 acres.

Subsidies to the non-farmers also hurt the other taxpayers of the county as farm land is appraised at a signifcantly lower amount than non-farmland; e.g., in El Campo, Tx, farm land is assessed at $55 an acre; other land is assessed at $3000 an acre.

Tenant farmers are also getting squeezed out. Owners of the land being farmed by the tenants relaize that they can get the subsidy whether or not the land is farmed. Instead of renting the land at $40 and acre, they can get a subsidy of $125.

Aren't you glad that our representatives in Congress are so generous with our money?

Today is DOD day

Maybe I shouldn't have gone to the Sensible Priorities web site because I have another DOD post. Their latest publication is by Lawrence Korb and it's about the defense budget. I'd never read anything by Korb prior to my recent post. I knew he was part of Reagan's Cabinet; he was Assistant Secretary of Defense. So, I thought he'd be an ultra-conservative. I was wrong; he's a fiscal conservative who makes a sound argument for cutting the defense budget.

Korb claims that we could cut DOD's budget by $60 billion a year and still be very well protected. He uses data and conclusions from analyses done by CBO, GAO and the Unified Security Budget Task Force. As you know, I'm not a military man, but his arguments make sense to me.

He reviews six areas where significant cuts can be made:

• Nuclear Forces - we have 6000 operational nuclear weapons, far more than we need as a deterrent. Cutting back to 1000 would save $14 billion.
• Ballistic Missile Defense - it has yet to be shown to work. Cutting it back to basic research would save $8 billion.
• New Weapons - most of them are designed for the Cold War (which ended in 1990) and are of no use in today's wars. All have seen escalating costs on the order of two to three times original estimates. Possible savings: $28 billion.
• Space-based Offensive Weapons - have no advantage. Possible savings: $5 billion.
• R&D and Test and Evaluation - this is largely being spent on new weapons which are irrelevant today. Another $5 billion saved if cut back.
• Poor Management - running things right would save at least $5 billion a year.

More from Sensible Priorities

A little over a month ago I wrote about an ad placed by an organization called Sensible Priorities. The ad damned the Defense Department's financial management practices. Now, they've published a paper detailing some of the claims made in the ad.

The opening line of the paper is a good summary of it: "The Defense Department's financial managment practices would put any civilian company out of business." The basic problem is the lack of knowledge of their financial matters by the department and their ability to remain unscathed and unaccountable for this lack of knowledge. The paper faults both DOD's Inspector General and the GAO for their seeming unwillingness to hold people accountable.

I could summarize the paper, but it's really well-written and a fast and disheartening read.

Another $450,000 down the drain

The Information Forensics and Process Intregration research program has been launched as part of the Transformation program of the Department of Defense. One of the first research programs is entitled "Automated Ontologically-Based Link Analysis of International Web Logs for the Timely Discovery of Relevant and Credible Information".

This study will be conducted using an analytical technique dubbed RSTC by the firm, Versatile Information Systems, hired to do the work. And what does RSTC stand for? R - relevance, S - specificity, T - timeliness, C - credibility. Aren't there sites, such as Truth Laid Bear, that already analyze blogs for RST? How credibility will be analyzed is not discussed other than to define it as "the amount of trust you have in an information source".

For this groundbreaking work, we, the taxpayers, will spend $450,000 and we will give the researchers three years to finish. Wouldn't it make more sense to hire the people who have already been working in this area? It would be cheaper and take less time, but I'm not sure that's one of the goals of the Defense Department's Trasformation efforts.