The Roman Empire in the 21st Century

The National Post, a Canadian newspaper, has an illuminating graphic of what they call the United Bases of America, i.e., our military bases around the world. It is too big to show here in its full glory. Go to their site to learn just how far we are spread around the globe.

How many U. S. casualties in Iraq?

We've seen the numbers - 4,487 dead, and 32,226 wounded. But 'wounded' is defined as 'wounded in action'; i.e., they have "incurred an injury due to an external agent or cause." Any other wounds, whether physical or emotional, are excluded. And we do know that there have been a considerable number of 'other wounds', especially those related to PTSD.

The Pentagon's Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center reports having diagnosed 229,106 cases of mild to severe traumatic brain injury from 2000 to the third quarter of 2011, including both Iraq and Afghan vets. Studies by Rand Corporation and others have found that almost a third of the veterans examined had some major problems. Apply one-third to the 1,500,000 veterans and you wind up with casualties of 500,000.

I'm indebted to Dan Froomkin for these numbers.

The effect of drones on the military

More men are required to attack a target by a drone than by an airplane. Civilians play an important role in a drone attack. These are some of the facts you'll learn from this article on the McClatchy web site. It is certainly an eye-opener.

To keep a Predator in the air for 24 hours requires 168 people, a Global Hawk drone requires 300. An F-16 needs 100 people per mission. We have 230 drones now and plan to have close to 1000 by 2020. You can see why the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff says,"Our No. 1 manning problem in the Air Force is manning our unmanned platforms. "  However, we can train drone 'pilots' faster. It only takes 44 hours for a drone pilot, but at least 200 hours for a regular pilot. 

There are just not enough military personnel to analyze the film from drones. So, we employ hundreds of civilians. There are at least a dozen contractors billing us for their analytical services. One firm, SAIC, has at least 450 people working on this project. 

Solitude is not always a bad thing

When I was traveling a lot for work, the only consistent pleasure was not being able to contact or be contacted by my colleagues when I was airborne. I had time to think and work without being distracted. I could really focus. Some of my best ideas and best work was done flying across the country. 

But those days are gone, I know. Now there is no escape. You are always available. Some of the time your availability is useful, but often your callers are really wasting your time. On my recent trip on the Rhine with my son there were very few hours when he was not on his phone. I don't know but I strongly suspect that most of his conversations were ephemeral and really added little to his life or that of his colleagues and did prevent him from truly and deeply savoring much that was on view.

I was prompted to write this post because I see that many theaters are now promoting tweeting at their performances.  They see it as a marketing ploy to re-capture a younger audience. I don't tweet nor am I on Facebook. However, I would think that a certain degree of concentration is required to communicate one's thoughts via these devices. When I go to the theater after having paid a fair amount of money I want to understand and, hopefully, enjoy the performance. I have no interest in telling you my reaction during Scene 1 of Act 1. I want to focus and understand what is happening on stage. I doubt that tweeting - yours or mine - would enhance my concentration or enjoyment. However, I am an old man not really in tune with the 21st century and in the minority. Tweeting will eventually become a standard practice in the theater.

Interesting Charts. No Words Needed.

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities via Jared Bernstein:

Will we ever be #1 in Internet Capabilities

Bruce Muchnick has another paper about the future of broadband in America.  It does not look bright. We still offer slower speeds at higher prices than most advanced countries. He also thinks that the FCC is giving our money to the carriers without getting anything in return.

The high cost of internet access in America is not new. It has been the case since at least 2006. When will we get an FCC that stands for us?

Iraq is still a nightmare

There has been a fair amount of press to the effect that Maliki is moving to really consolidate power and eventually link even more closely with Iran. Naturally, the opposition is very worried. They've expressed their concern in an op-ed in the NY Times. You would expect the opposition to use a variety of means to achieve their objective. But the basic point they make in the op-ed is a fact: nothing has been done to implement the Erbil power-sharing agreement signed in 2010. Maliki has been exerting more and more control over the military and we are helping him by soon shipping $11 billion in arms and training to him.

Despite Obama's claims, things do not look very good in Iraq almost 10 years after we began the war to make Iraq a better place.

The United States of Fear - Part 2

Okay, the world has always been a dangerous place. Bad people exist. Good people do bad things. But, do our police forces have to be as well-armed as our military? Does it say something about us that many of the police forces that have broken up Occupy sites do not look like police, they look like soldiers? 

Do our police forces need $300,000 pilotless surveillance drones, $180,000 bomb robot, $400 ballistic helmets, $1,500 tactical vests, a 54-foot, remote-controlled “crime-fighting blimp” with a powerful surveillance camera affixed to its belly and a plenitude of additional weapons?  We've spent billions buying this equipment and still more training police to use it. How worthwhile an investment has this been when violent crime has been on a downswing since the 1990s?

Today is Snake Day

Karel Abelovsky loves snakes and other reptiles so much that he put over 200 of them in his baggage for a flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid. Baggage inspectors became suspicious when Abelovsky's bags started to move on their own volition. He faces 10 years in prison. 

The United States of Fear

That's the title of a new book by Tom Englehardt.  I think that the title does describe our situation quite accurately.  Although I have yet to read the book, this interview seems to be a reasonable summary of his argument. He opens by comparing us to Russia before its fall - the spending on the military of money it did not have, the refusal to attend to a crumbling infrastructure and a little war in some place called Afghanistan.  Does that sound familiar?


Here is an intriguing excerpt:
Fear - of terrorism and nothing else - has been the "drug" that has powered the national security state to heights and a size it never reached when it had a genuine superpower enemy with a nuclear arsenal. Today, the intelligence bureaucracy dwarfs what existed in the Cold War era; the Pentagon budget is so much larger and so on. Give credit where it's due: it's been quite a feat based on remarkably little when you think about it.

There's a lobby for everything

Even Burmese pythons! They are a problem in South Florida. They've eaten everything from alligators to rats. The most recent find was a 76 pound deer inside a python.

Senator Bill Nelson and the two Congressmen from the area have filed legislation to ban the import and sale of these dangerous snakes. But, the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers has mounted a lobbying campaign that has thus far been successful in keeping the pythons working.

Here's a short video  of a python being removed from a local pool.

Good Customer Service

Unlike Zagat Wine, Amazon knows the importance of customer service and practices good customer service assiduously, at least in my experience. Unlike Zagat Wine, there was no need for a series of e-mails or telephone calls to get a problem resolved. The problem was that one of Amazon's vendors supplied an empty box rather than a dvd. I informed Amazon of the situation and bingo - problem solved.

I bought almost all my Christmas gifts from Amazon this year as I have in prior years. Their prices are not always the lowest, but I know they will resolve - and quickly - any problems that may occur and in my experience problems very seldom occur.

Another Failure of the War On Drugs

Most of us in America are well aware of the problems Mexico has had with its war on drugs. An article by Cecilia Balli in Harper's provides more insight into that war. Had the Harper's web site been more au courant (i.e., more usable), I could provide more dramatic views of just how badly that war has gone. 

The problem stemmed from Calderon's decision to bring in the military when the judicial system was incapable of investigating and prosecuting drug traffickers. Plus, the military was ill equipped to wage war against the drug traffickers; they wound up really waging war against the poor in Mexico. A typical raid would involve soldiers demanding entry into a house late at night, robbing the home owners and arresting their sons; legal authorization for any of this was imaginary. Eventually the military was replaced by federal police. They preferred to seek protection money.

What effect for good this war has provided is very, very uncertain.

“My family thinks that grandma has gone crazy"

says a 58-year-old economist protesting today in Moscow. She is one of thousands who are trying to change things in Russia. This is the first major protest movement against Putin since he came to power in 1999. Whether it will continue is questionable. However, Medvedev has proposed some reform actions.

Frankly, I'm surprised that the protest movement has surfaced in Russia. But, life is full of surprises. Is it not? I have the sense that we are living through the start of a very significant change in the way countries are run, a change on the order of that of 1848.

Reconciling the cash account

One of the basic monthly accounting functions in any organization - even your home accounts - is the reconciliation of cash. Would you believe that the Navy and Marines are unable to do so? They have been trying to do so for at least 4 years (having spent $29,000,000), but still can't do so. As of April 2011, they were off by only $22 billion.

The Navy and Marine Corps figure that they only need to address 650 DCAS system change requests to straighten out the situation.

Flash Mob - Lawrence, Kansas

This one made national news. It's a group of seniors 'dancing' to a song made popular last Christmas via the Glee tv show.

I'm not sure if this generates positive or negative feelings about we older citizens.

“Now I have a new dream: To leave this country.”

That's a quote from Ali Suhail, whose electronics shop in Baghdad was destroyed on the day it opened. Mr. Suhail is not the only Iraqi damaged in yesterday's bombings; 67 people have been reported killed thus far, with another 185 wounded.

The country seems to have begun imploding. We, in the persons of our Ambassador, Vice President and CIA Director, are trying to prevent this from happening. But, it does not look good. Will we start moving troops back in?

Another Example of 21st Century Customer Service

It's almost axiomatic that any business that faces competition has to be very concerned about customer service. Essentially, the company has to believe the cliche that "the customer is king".  Most companies make that claim on their web site and other communication media and opportunities, few actually practice it. Here's a little story about one of those companies that seems ill-prepared to actually provide even so-so customer service. That company is Zagat Wine, an affiliate of the Zagat survey people.

On Saturday, December 3 I ordered wine from Zagat Wine. There was a quirk in their purchasing process such that I could not enter a shipping address different from my billing address. Surprisingly, the process did not give me an opportunity to review such items as name, address, credit card number, items ordered, etc. Once I entered the billing details, I had bought the wine. Problem #1 - no way to confirm the details of the sale.

Almost immediately I sent an e-mail telling them that the billing address was not the shipping address. I gave the shipping address, which was my daughter's home. The response that day was "Thank you for your email, we appreciate your interest in Zagat Wine. You should expect a response from us within 1 business day."

Not receiving a response on Monday, I re-sent my original mailing with a note that I was going out of town on Wednesday. I got the same canned response. Problem #2 - not doing what they said they would do.

After I had left on Wednesday, Zagat Wine sent an e-mail, the important section was "I do sincerely apologize, Your order has already been processed and no changes are able to be made to the order at this time. I can confirm that I have submitted a request ot have this order rerouted to the shipping address you provided below. I do apologize for any inconvenience that has been caused." (Note typos in their canned response.) Can you decide where the order will be shipped? Problem #3 - unclear communication.

Upon my return on the 22nd, my daughter informed me that she had not received the wine. This caused me to begin a half-hour call to Zagat Wine to find out whether the wine will be delivered by the 24th. I could only learn that it had been shipped that day, or so I was told. Problem #4 - Zagat Wine did not honor their 12 day shipment guarantee and did not inform me of this.

For some arcane reason Zagat Wine ships their wines via Fedex. Okay, that is not arcane. But the wine is not shipped to the buyer; it is shipped to a company in Connecticut, said company does nothing but pass the wine back into the hands of Fedex. I asked friend at Zagat Wine what the logic of this was. He had no answer. It's my understanding that Zagat Wine could ship to Connecticut by simply paying some fees, which appear to be less than $10,000. Maybe, this amount is too much for them. Problem #5 - creating doubt in a buyer's mind as to the intelligence and viability of the company.

My next question was what was the name of the retailer and the phone number. My friend knew the name but not the phone number. Okay, give me the Fedex tracking number. My friend did not have it. Problem #6 - sheer incompetence.

Since Zagat Wine really had no information as to when, if ever, the wine would arrive, I proposed a deal: no charge if the wine does not come by December 24. My friend did not buy it, but he said he would give me a rebate of $20. Problem #7 - no imagination.

Will I buy another thing from Zagat Wine or Zagat pere? Would you?

How long will the market tolerate such incompetence?

Men with Three Names - Part 4

In case you've forgotten, the man here is Dominique Strauss-Kahn (aka DSK). Edward Jay Epstein has a very different take on the reason for DSK's travails this past summer. Epstein does not come right out and say that DSK was set up by the folks trying to get Sarkozy re-elected as President of France. But he makes a strong case for it. Epstein does not deny that some form of sex took place in Room 2806 of the Sofitel Hotel; it would be impossible to do so as DSK's sperm was found with the maid's saliva.

A review of Epstein's web site makes evident that Epstein is a somewhat different individual. However, my recollection is that his work is very good, different in the positive sense.

An Appropriate Message

From the Carlson School of Business of the University of Minnesota

We're out of Iraq

So says our President. What about the 16,000+ who will be staffing our largest embassy? There will be troops and contractors as well as embassy personnel in Iraq for many, many years. Remaining in countries with whom we have battled is not a new phenomenon for us. Germany, Japan, Korea still have substantial American troops residing there. Is this a good use of our military or a good financial investment?

Christmastime in Egypt

1 Term, 6 Years

Yes, the idea of a single-term, 6-year presidency has been considered since the days of our founding. Arthur Schlesinger summarizes the arguments against it in an op-ed piece 25 years ago. He makes many good points, but they were based on the presidents and the political processes of the 20th century.

This is not the same America of which Schlesinger wrote. The country has deteriorated quite a bit since 1986. None of the presidents we have had in that time will be considered among our great presidents. The last two presidents will certainly wind up on the list of our worst presidents. And, as is pretty obvious, the quality of all of our federal leaders is nowhere near what it was. The 21st century political climate is a lot different than that of the 20th. It will not get better, so we should change our system to minimize the problems that will occur and will linger for longer and longer periods of time, as the opening decade of the 21st century has shown us.

At this point you´re probably saying isn´t it good that Obama will only serve four years. It is true that four calendar years will have elapsed by next November, but how much of that time has been spent in reelection mode. It will be at least two, probably more years - years in which he should have been working for us. Furthermore, Obama is a classic example of the difference between a candidate and a doer. No matter what he says on the stump, it is quite unlikely his personality and style will change. So that he will always lack the courage to be a true leader. I fear that the Republicans will not offer a serious challenger and we will sink further and further toward mediocrity.

The nation needs a leader. A one-term presidency might help.

On the Rhine

I´m now sailing up the Rhine. Here are some initial observations:

• Air France thinks it can load a 747-size plane in 10 minutes
• Stay away from Charles DeGaulle Airport. Signage stinks. Help is hard to find. English is not even the second language amongst the workers.
• It does seem as though the English language has slipped here in Europe. We´ve met very few good speakers of the language. The Gutenberg Museum has several exhibits explained only in German.
• The Black Forest is truly beautiful.
• Mainz looks like a great city.

Panderers Not Anonymous

Huntsman has joined the group. Now he says, "questions about the validity of" climate science and "not enough information right now to be able to formulate policies" to address climate change.

It's just re-election blather

Here's our president yesterday, “This is the defining issue of our time. This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. At stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home and secure their retirement.”

And then he had the gall to say, "We shouldn’t be weakening oversight and accountability. We should be strengthening them."

If he really believed his speech, things would be a lot different today. He's just a politician whose highest - and, perhaps, only - goal is to be re-elected.

70 Years Ago Today

I know exactly where I was - playing on the floor of the dining room/kitchen at my parent's house. It was around 6 p.m. on a Sunday evening. I can't say that I understood the import of "The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor" that came over the radio, but I do know how much WWII has affected my life and that of my contemporaries.  I like to think that it affected our lives in a positive manner. We lived when America was truly a great nation. Of course, we were not without sin; this nation did some very un-American things. Overall, however, we were a force for good in the world.

70 years later the song in the video is truly corny, but we all sang it often.

A different version of the Hallelujah Chorus

From the village of Quinhagak, Alaska

Another War?

The LA Times has floated the idea that Israel and the U.S. have been attempting to slow Iran's nuclear activities to such a degree that they have engaged in serious clandestine activities resulting in Iranians killed and facilities severely damaged. It is just speculation at the present time, with 'experts' speaking on both sides.

The Times article lists a number of events:

• the Stuxnet virus
• in November an explosion at a military base where weapons work was going on
• more than two dozen major unexplained explosions in the past two years
• the killing of two senior nuclear physicists and the wounding of a third earlier this year
• a number of unexplained blasts in gas pipelines, oil installations and military bases.

Then, we have Iran's claim to have shot down one of our drones.

Huntsman's Financial Plan

I've said before that he is the most rational of the Republican candidates for president.  Here's a summary of his proposed financial policies. Of course, as with any candidate (Obama being the current classical example), you have to take these with a grain of salt. They do, however, make sense, by and large.

End Too-Big-To-Fail
Maximize Derivatives Transparency
Repeal Dodd-Frank - rather than repeal it, it needs to be modified so that it actually regulates the financial industry.
End Wall Street's Reliance On Excessive Short-Term Leverage
Fix Basel
Ensure a Stable Dollar Policy
Shut Down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Restore the Rule Of Law

Is he too rational to succeed? Thus far, he hasn't been a factor. However, there is still time, especially as the line of candidates shooting themselves in the foot continues to grow.

This is a supercommittee

From John Sherffius

Testing for brain injury

It seems that our 21st century wars have produced a significant number of brain injuries. So, the military has been pushed to develop tests for brain injuries. Unfortunately, the test they use,  the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric (ANAM), is not doing the job, per ProPublica. Here are their reasons why. My emphases.

• The people who invented ANAM and stood to make money from it were involved in the military's decision to use it, prompting questions about the impartiality of the selection process. No other tests received serious consideration. A report by the Army's top neuropsychologist circulated last year to key members of Congress labeled the selection process "nepotistic."
• The Pentagon's civilian leadership has ignored years of warnings, public and private, that there was insufficient scientific evidence the ANAM can screen for or diagnose traumatic brain injury. The military's highest-ranking medical official said the test was "fraught with problems." Another high-ranking officer said it could yield misleading results.
• Compounding flaws in the ANAM's design, the military has not administered the test as recommended and has rarely used its results. The Army has so little confidence in the test that its top medical officer issued an explicit order that soldiers whose scores indicated cognitive problems should not be sent for further medical evaluation.
• Top Pentagon officials have misrepresented the cost of the test, indicating that because the Army invented the ANAM, the military could use it for free. In fact, because the military licensed its invention to outside contractors, it has paid millions of dollars to use its own technology.
• The military has not conducted a long-promised head-to-head study to make sure the ANAM is the best available test, delaying it for years. Instead, a series of committees have given lukewarm approval to continue using the ANAM, largely to avoid losing the data gathered so far. 

Inalienable Rights

Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican, speaks against an un-American provision of the National Defense Authorization Act. Basically, the provision gives the President the power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians - even U.S. citizens - anywhere in the world.

Here's the real story

Figuring out what is true or false in today's media is not an easy task. This article in Bloomberg is an example. The article is based on the word of one person who was at a meeting in the summer of 2008. Another attendee was Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury.

At a press conference days before this meeting, Paulson had stated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would not be taken over by the government, they would remain shareholder-owned. He repeated this message in a Senate hearing a few days later. However, at the meeting referenced by Bloomberg, Paulson told a different story: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were going to get whacked, they would be taken over by the government.

The fact that Paulson changed his mind (if he actually did) is not the issue here. The issue is that the meeting at which Paulson told his story was a meeting with fund managers and others in the financial world. 

If the article is truthful, did Paulson commit a crime? Attorneys quoted in the article say 'no'.  Did the audience act on the inside information? Bloomberg could find no evidence that they had. So, what is the real story?

How big were Black Friday sales?

Despite the hype as to how much better sales were this year, Barry Ritholz reminds us, "We actually have no idea just yet as to whether, and exactly how much, sales climbed. The data simply is not in yet. The most you can accurately say is according to some foot traffic measurements, more people appeared to be in stores on Black Friday 2011 than in 2010".

He finds it humorous that some people (e.g., ShopperTrak) think they can measure sales based on foot traffic alone.

I think that, by and large, we now accept numbers that would have been questioned years ago.

Another Fallen Leader

Eastern Airlines, TWA, PanAM and a host of other airlines I can't remember. They were big deals when I was a traveling man. They are no longer here. And now  American has filed for bankruptcy.  It is true that Delta, United and Continental made it through bankruptcy, although United and Continental merged. Maybe American will also.

How much is a college football coach worth?

Ohio State thinks it's $26,650,000 over a six year period. That's the deal they struck with their new coach, Urban Meyer. Here are the pieces that have been made public: $4,000,000 in base salary, bonuses as much as $700,000 a year, lump payments every other year, an annual automobile stipend, a golf club membership, 50 hours of private jet use and 12 tickets to each home game. This is a little more than the OSU president makes: $1,320,000 a year. Part of the funds will clearly come from television; the Big Ten pulled in $227,100,000 last season. 

Maybe you should urge your child to become a college coach. The average salary of such is $1,470,000, which is not chump change.

Something's rotten in the state of college athletics.

Keep it to ourselves was the watchword of Tim and Ben

Messrs Geithner and Bernanke were really worried about the banks' failing - especially the huge banks run by their friends. So, not only did they see that the banks got TARP money, but they also loaned the banks an obscene amount of money ($1.2 trillion) at truly bargain basement rates (.01%).  Then, they made it very difficult for most people to find out what they'd done. Bloomberg was at it for over two years and has finally been able to get some details.

Ben's argument for the secrecy was that those banks who got the money would be working under such a stigma that needy banks would be unwilling to seek federal aid in the next crisis. You buy that one?  Of course, the banks were not forthcoming either.  They were all claiming that they were very healthy. Yet, they were willing to take $1.2 trillion in loans from us and I don't think it was only because of the low interest rate, although that did help them make around $13 billion on our money.

Of course, the bankers, being true capitalists, have been quite successful in lobbying against any regulations which would make life a little difficult for them, while minimizing the likelihood of a repeat of the current situation.

What the commotion in Egypt is about

Nagla Rizk teaches at the American University in Cairo. Here are some excerpts from a recent posting that speak of the failures thus far of the Arab Spring in Egypt:

When we stormed the streets last January, we chanted “Aish, Horreya, Adala Egtema’eya” (“Bread, Freedom, Social Justice”).  Ten months down the road, yesterday we chanted in Tahrir, “Aish, Horreya, Adala Egtema’eya” (“Bread, Freedom, Social Justice”). Why?

No one expected bread and social justice right away. People wanted a roadmap, a plan, a timeline. They got none. Naturally, what emerged was a series of demonstrations and strikes by employees and workers whose demands were never acknowledged, let alone addressed. Rather than tackling the root of the problem or starting a dialogue with the protesters, SCAF chose to order them to go home.  

Meanwhile, the economy has suffered gravely. 

The political atmosphere under SCAF is no different from Mubarak’s. Indeed, we are still under Mubarak’s emergency law of 30 years. So far, 12,000 civilians have been subjected to military trials.  

SCAF have also carried out unprecedented attacks on media, specifically attacking the premises of two television stations, both documented on video.

On March 19, we excitedly participated in a referendum on 9 constitutional amendments to the 1971 constitution. The amendments were accepted by a 77% majority. Right after, SCAF dictatorially issued a constitutional declaration with 63 articles including the amendments with some editorial changes. This nulled the old constitution. Article 56 of the declaration gave SCAF their legitimacy as rulers of Egypt. This was not subject to a referendum.

 On October 9, we wept witnessing the Maspero massacre, where SCAF vehicles brutally run down street protesters in scenes that moved the whole world. 

In short, we have a clear failure of SCAF to lead the political transition and to allow for proper management of the economy by an independent government. SCAF has ruled with an iron fist, with a very weak government in place.

Judge Rakoff does not approve of SEC practices

At the beginning of the month I wrote about the SEC's settlement of still another dispute with Citicorp. I asked the question of whether the SEC was in bed with them. Apparently, Judge Jed Rakoff felt they were, as he threw out the settlement as being “neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest” because it does not provide the court with evidence on which to judge the settlement. The judge felt that the policy "asks the court to employ its power and assert its authority when it does not know the facts.”

And, he goes on, “In any case like this that touches on the transparency of financial markets whose gyrations have so depressed our economy and debilitated our lives, there is an overriding public interest in knowing the truth.” The S.E.C. in particular, he added, “has a duty, inherent in its statutory mission, to see that the truth emerges.”

The U.S. Ambassasor to Iraq Speaks

Our ambassador, James Jeffrey, held a roundtable discussion with reporters yesterday.  In addition to his announcing that we'll be spending $6 billion in Iraq next year and there will be 16,000 embassy employees, here's another intriguing excerpt:

Jeffrey also discussed U.S. military sales to Iraq.

“We have about $8 billion, give or take some, of active (foreign military sales) cases with Iraq.

“That’s not counting the new one that just came out for the F-16s (warplanes). That will send it up by a number of additional billions of dollars,” Jeffrey said.

“This is one of the biggest programs in the world.”

“We have a large number of trainers and people from the defense contracts that are doing the equipping and training of the Iraqis throughout the country,” he said.

We must make sure the revenues to our defense companies continue to pour in, war or no war.

Government Employees Around the World

It's unclear from this chart whether employees from state and local governments are included.

The disparity between Japan and the rest of the countries is major.

It's nearing an end

But will it be the end?

Supposedly most of our troops will leave Iraq next month. What will Obama say when it's over?  Here's what Bush said when it started, "This will not be a campaign of half measures and we will accept no outcome but victory." It was certainly not a campaign of half measures - almost 4,500 American troops dead, 32,000 wounded, almost $1 trillion spent. And the costs will continue for decades. Just consider the number of veterans with PTSD or the number of suicides. In the past two years the VA's crisis line has received over 500,000 calls.

I'll never see the end. Will my grandchildren?

Federal help to cities?

Is the federal government helping cities to 'handle' their Occupy sites? There certainly appears to be a coordinated effort among these cities. The U.S. Conference of Mayors helped sponsor conference calls among mayors of affected cities. The Police Executive Research Forum arranged for police chiefs to discuss their efforts.

Now, I really don't have a major problem with mayors and police chiefs discussing common problems. The big issue is that the federal government seems to have entered the picture in the form of the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and other agencies. That is really overstepping in a major way.  It is unAmerican.

I'm not an animal lover, but I was intrigued with an article on bulldogs in the NY Times. It seems as though people have bred these dogs in such a way that their future is unlikely. Look at how much these dogs have changed in 50 years.

The dog on the left is a drawing of the Georgia mascot in 1956, the one on the right is the 2011 mascot. While many veterinarians think that the future of the bulldog is questionable, the AKC and its British counterpart as well as some longtime breeders think things are wonderful.

More bad news for BofA

For the past 2.5 years Bank of America has been operating under a memorandum of understanding with bank regulators. The memorandum named a couple of areas - governance, risk management, liquidity - that needed to be improved. So far, there has been no improvement. If this continues, then the secrecy will be dropped and the problems of BofA will become even more public, as the regulators take action to enforce the terms of the memorandum.

Orioles like peanut butter

A Thin Line

For some drugs there is a thin line between effective use and damaging use.  Often, it is difficult to determine when that line has been crossed.  Combine these problems with the fact that 40% of those of us over 65 take between five and nine medications a day and you have a problem which manifests itself in a trip to a hospital's emergency ward. 

More than two-thirds of the trips old folks take to emergency wards are due to four medications.  Warfarin, a blood thinner usually known as Coumadin (and sometimes as rat poison) causes one-third of these trips. Diabetes, whether from insulin injections or drugs taken orally, account for 25% of trips to emergency. Aspirin and other drugs that prevent blood clotting make up 13% of the trips.

Cutting hair can be a hate crime

That is, if the Amish are involved. Seven men have been arrested and accused of cutting the beards of Amish men and the hair of Amish women. Hair to Amish is almost sacred; cutting it is a big deal. The cutters knew that, as they are all Amish.  Violence accompanied most of the cuttings.

Apparently, the cuttings were the outcome of an internal religious dispute. In 2002 Samuel Mullett, named as the ring leader and shown below, excommunicated some followers, but the excommunication was overturned by higher-ups. Mullett was incensed,"You have your laws on the road and the town - if somebody doesn't obey them, you punish the people. But I'm not allowed to punish the church people? "I just let them run over me? If every family would do just as they pleased what kind of church would we have?"

Wish I could learn more

The Wall Street Journal had this teaser on its site today:

A group of investors and analysts have access to top Fed officials who give them a chance at early clues to the central bank's next policy moves, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Journal.

Unfortunately the story is behind a paywall. The entrance to the wall tells of Nancy Lazar making double digit returns, seemingly the result of information she gained after meeting with Bernanke. 

Is there something here or is the Journal just mouthing off against Bernanke?

Bring back the old blue laws

When I was growing up in Massachusetts, most stores - except for the corner grocery stores - were closed on Sundays and holidays. As we were raising our young children, some stores were allowed to open at noon on Sundays and holidays. Then in 1994 the blue laws were essentially abandoned and Sundays and holidays made little difference in whether stores were open or not.

I actually liked having most stores closed on Sundays. It made Sunday a different day of the week, a day of peace and relaxation. Now, Sundays and holidays are far from days of peace and relaxation. 

And the Christmas season may be the best example of just how bad it has gotten. Black Friday began as a way of one chain store trying to get an advantage over its competitors. But now that every chain store is opening on holidays, that advantage has gone away. The business now is essentially selling at a discount stuff that would otherwise be bought at regular prices. In Massachusetts employees who work on Sundays and holidays must be paid time-and-a-half. So, revenue is less, costs are more.  There is no financial advantage when everyone is doing the same thing.

If there is no financial advantage, then why don't we return to a more human way to enjoy Sundays and holidays?

This makes no sense

In Michigan parents of handicapped children who receive state aid are classified as home health care workers. As such, they are considered state workers and, by default, members of the state workers union, SEIU. Every month, the state sends $30 per child to the union for union dues. Remember we're talking about parents taking care of their kids. Why should they be considered state workers? They do not get a salary from the state. They have no manager to whom they report. They don't earn a vacation from their job. In any sort of rational world, they are not state workers. Yet, they have been making their monthly payment for five years now. To top it off, they get zero union benefits.

It is possible that other states, such as Connecticut where I now live, have adopted a similar 'rule'.

Only in America.

Indulge an old man

There is nothing magical about this video. I had some time on my hands and wanted to fool around with Microsoft's MovieMaker.

How some "colleges" make money

By and large we taxpayers have made for-profit colleges an industry. We give them more than $4 billion a year in Pell grants and we loan their students more than $20 billion a year, some of which is never paid back.  It is a competitive industry. Some companies do quite well. Unfortunately, a good number of them rely on fraud and deceptive practices to do well. The GAO has just released a study that shows just how bad the situation is.

The GAO investigated fifteen for-profit colleges and found that all of them "made deceptive or otherwise questionable statements to GAO’s undercover applicants". Four of them"were encouraged by college personnel to falsify their financial aid forms to qualify for federal aid". Listen to some of the b.s. that was thrown by the schools.

These colleges are not cheap. The GAO found that they "cost substantially more for associate’s degrees and certificates than comparable degrees and certificates at public colleges nearby". In one case, the for-profit charged $14,000 for a course that was available from a local community college for $520.

Filibuster is a dreaded word

At least to some of our leaders. They are so afraid of that word in the Senate that they now consider it necessary to get 60 votes to pass legislation; a majority of 51 is not good enough. I can't understand why letting a Senator make a fool or hero of himself is so bad. Of course, most of those who do filibuster do not become heroes or fools. They just demonstrate the stupidity or rightness of their causes. 

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has a new take on the filibuster. You get a chance to participate in the filibuster. Wyden is trying to protect the freedoms we have on the Internet. The entertainment industry and the Chamber of Commerce are lobbying hard for a bill which would allow the government to essentially shut down sites which they suspect are guilty of intellectual piracy. The operative word is 'suspect', as they would not need court authorization to do the job. 

I agree that intellectual piracy is a problem, but the proposed bills are not the answer to the problem. You can do something about it by supporting Wyden's planned filibuster. 60,000 people have already signed a petition opposing these bills. Wyden's plan with regard to the filibuster is to read the names of all who sign the petition. Will you be one of them?

He's enamored with payroll taxes

Mr. Obama is urging Congress to extend the payroll tax cuts that were part of his supposed stimulus.  One has to question just how much stimulus these cuts provided. Economists I read say "Very little". Yet, by continuing to espouse the idea of tax cuts, even if payroll taxes, Obama is playing into the hands of the GOP tax cutters. We need both higher taxes and more judicious spending if we are to reduce the deficit significantly. Pushing for a tax cut that has little benefit is not a smart thing to do.

Taxes and GDP

Here's an interesting chart from the OECD. It adds up state, local and federal taxes and compares the total to GDP. Maybe the U.S. is not overly taxed.

You know where you were and what you did 48 years ago today

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That is if you are of a certain age, for November 22, 1963 was the day President Kennedy was killed. There has been a world of speculation as to what effect, if any, this had on the world. Would he have pulled out of Vietnam? Could he have gotten civil rights legislation passed? Would we old folks be benefiting from Medicare? The questions go on and on.

There has been a lot more speculation as to whether Oswald was the assassin or the lone assassin. Probably more books have been written about the assassination itself than Kennedy's presidency. Personally, I think he was the lone assassin, but, really, who cares?

Capt. Raymond Lewis on Occupy Wall Street

Is it now the Arab Fall?

Things are not good in Egypt. Tahrir Square is once more a gathering point for those opposed to the regime. It is once more a gathering point for the authorities. Yesterday, two protesters were killed and 750 injured there.  And disenchantment with the military regime goes beyond Cairo; it's in most large cities. Even the Egyptian cabinet is worried as indicated by their statement, "What is happening in Tahrir is very dangerous and threatens the course of the nation and the revolution."

The Courts Should Not Enforce Gambling Debts

Lynn Stout, professor at UCLA Law School, believes that most derivatives are gambling. If our courts did not enforce gambling debts - a practice that has been recognized by most countries going back to the Romans - a major cause of the Great Recession would have been eliminated.

Stout asserts that "most of the bets on Wall Street were pure speculation. Against $15 trillion of mortgage bonds, Wall Street marketed credit default swaps in 2008 with a notional value of $67 trillion. Worldwide, traded swaps at their peak equaled $670 trillion or $100,000 for each person on the planet, vastly more than all the wealth in the world. Those numbers make it a mathematical certainty that the swaps were mostly speculation, not hedging".

Stout would not consider all derivatives as gambling. Those that are backed by hard assets would be allowed.

Good point!

Serving priests is a job for boys only

Now, I'm not referring to the pedophiles in the Roman Catholic priesthood. I'm referring to what in my day was known as an altar boy. Their function is to assist at mass: to respond to the priest's prayers, to help serve communion, to hold the censer and do whatever else necessary for the saying of the mass.

In 1994 the Vatican declared that girls could also perform the tasks of an altar boy. Now, seventeen years later the majority of the dioceses in northern and eastern Virginia have not implemented the Vatican's declaration. And in some of those which do allow altar girls, the boys wear black, more priestly garments, while the girls wear white.

The official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano has stated, "The exclusion of girls from all this, for the sole reason of belonging to the female sex, has always weighed heavily and signified a profound inequality within Catholic education, which fortunately has been cancelled by now for several decades."  The 'cancellation' is attested to by a 2010 meeting of altar boys and girls in Rome. The girls outnumbered the boys 60-40.

It's obvious that the Roman Catholic church is in decline, particularly in the U.S. This altar girl situation is simply another reason for this decline.

Moving into Asia

I must say that my initial reaction to stationing our troops in Australia was not favorable. It seems like another empire-grabbing move and that may be what it eventually winds up as. Stephen Walt has a different view.   

He sees it as an attempt to ensure that China does not become powerful enough to seriously challenge us. In his view this emphasis on Asia is really a defensive position, not only with regard to Asia but also with regard to the Western Hemisphere. Of course, Walt does not believe in unilateralism; he urges "extensive diplomatic engagement with China and with our various Asian partners".

While Walt approves of this initiative, he is very far away from agreeing with many of our other foreign policy positions. Maybe he is right about our new Asia policy.

Attacking Water Pumps

Speculation has it that the computers that control a water pump in Illinois were hacked. The FBI and DHS are investigating a failure of a pump in the Springfield water plant. The theory is that minor problems caused the pump's motor to be turned off and on repeatedly so that eventually the motor blew. Whether or not this incident was the result of hacking, it is obvious that we are very vulnerable when it comes to our infrastructure.

Update:

Although the cause of the problem is still unknown, authorities assert that there was no cyberattack. They claim an employee, who had the necessary authority, accessed the computer system while traveling in Russia .

Who does acceptance testing?

When I was selling computer software, the sale was never final until the customer had performed his own acceptance testing. That's normal. You try to do acceptance testing on any major purchase you make. You don't rely on the seller to do the testing; his interest is in closing the sale. Yet, here's a comment from the Army Chief of Staff, General Raymond Odierno, "Do we need to take a review of our testing requirements? Sometimes we have tests that are done by the private industry and yet we redo the tests because we have to meet certain regulations and requirements. And I think those are areas that we could look at that could reduce those costs significantly." He is willing to accept the tests of the contractor.

In a comprehensive, somewhat technical article, Dina Rasor explains why this is a stupid comment. We're going to see lots more, as the Pentagon fights the upcoming budget cuts.

Obviously, I know nothing about weapons systems. However, I was really struck reading that one major test for the M-1 tank was to travel 97 miles without a serious failure of the engine, power train or transmission. That is not a typo. Can you believe - go less than 100 miles before a major failure and that considered success? Would you also believe that the tank crapped out after 34 miles? Didn't the tanks of WWII travel hundreds, even thousands, of miles to get the job done?

A slightly different view of Occupy Wall Street

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Tomorrow

Drew Westen thinks that Obama's fundamental management style is delay. Perhaps, not so much delay in making a decision, but in setting a date for when the decision becomes operational. He has a slew of examples in his latest NY Times op-ed: tar sands, budget, health care, etc. He gives two possibilities as explanations of Obama's reason for delay:

the president either doesn’t know or doesn’t want anyone else to know what he believes..... Perhaps the most intriguing thing about an Obama-Romney election would be the question of who could hold out longer without the public discovering what they actually believe.

the president is tied up in the knots of indecision because he lacks the passion that motivates decision-making and distrusts or fears precisely the emotions that allow us to choose between one course of action or another.

Whatever the reason, I hope the Republicans smarten up and choose someone with a brain, a conscience and a sense of responsibility.

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?

The title of this post was heard often in America in the 1940s and 1950s. It was part and parcel of a radio show, "Twenty Questions".  Some of our Congressmen have figured out that since pizza is neither animal nor mineral, it must be vegetable. You would agree, would you not?  After all, most pizza does have tomato sauce and tomato is a vegetable.

Whether pizza is a vegetable or not is a very important question to those who supply food to our schools. A lot of that food is subsidized by the federal government and, because of this, our Congress has to grapple with this complex question, as to the degree of vegetable that makes pizza eligible for payments from us. The Agriculture Department, the agency that sets school lunch standards, says that you need a half-cup of tomato paste to turn pizza into a vegetable; very few pizzas have this much tomato paste. Ergo, pizza is not a vegetable.

Congress is also interested in making sure the schools can serve as many starchy foods, such as french fries, as often as they want.  Surprisingly, a group of retired generals, called Mission: Readiness, thinks Congress is wrong. Mission:Readiness has called poor nutrition in school lunches a national security issue because obesity is the leading medical disqualifier for military service.

How would you like your rice?

With or without caesium? Rice from a farm about 40 miles from Fukushima has been found to be contaminated with caesium.  Authorities say that this rice has not been sold and, of course, will not be. So, do they now inspect all rice within 50 miles of Fukushima? Do the Japanese stop eating rice?

Lipitor Forever

Lipitor is one of the biggest selling drugs ever. Pfizer would like to milk it even though its patent expires in a few weeks, which gives the makers of generic drugs an opening. Pfizer is trying to close off that opening by making deals with pharmacy benefit managers, such as Medco. The deals are such that Pfizer is offering the benefit managers big discounts on Lipitor if the managers tell pharmacies that these generic drugs will not be covered. So, although your doctor may have prescribed a generic - and cheaper - replacement for Lipitor, pharmacies will be prevented from filling the prescription with anything other than Lipitor.

Bankers are becoming more honest

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Over the past twenty years the number of financial institution fraud cases prosecuted by our Justice Department has declined by more than half (56.5%). Even in these days of the Great Recession the number has declined (2.4% from last year). Of course, you suspected that, because our bankers have gotten religion. Very, very few of them actually consider robbing the public. In fact, some bankers have even been nominated for sainthood.

This conversion to a more honest way of life began under W and continues to improve under Barack. Look at these numbers from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse to see how much the improvement has been.

What's "twirling around" in Herman Cain's head

Keep Foreigners Out....

...at least when it comes to political matters in Israel. Many left-wing organizations in Israel - such as B'Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights and Peace Now - receive some of their money from outside Israel, mainly the U.S. and Britain. The Knesset has just passed laws which will make it difficult for these organizations to continue to raise funds from these sources. One law "bans political organizations in Israel from receiving donations of more than $5,000 from foreign governments and other international groups. Another would tax organizations at a rate of 45 percent on all revenue provided by foreign governments." 

This will have a devastating effect on an organization like Physicians for Human Rights which receives 80 percent of its donations from outside Israel.