The Mouse That Roared

Trust the intellectually dishonest to be, well, dishonest. Eamon Javers writing at Politico.com reports Disney's Bob Iger, at the White House Jobs Summit said:

Disney CEO Robert Iger, for example, used one of the break-out sessions to propose a cut in the corporate tax rate – a move that would cost the Treasury billions in uncollected funds at a time when the deficit is already $1.4 trillion.

“I think that’s where I would start,” Iger said. “It’s definitely an issue not just for the Disney company but for the whole television industry.”

Yes, because helping Disney's bottom line is good for America. Thing is:

Burbank, Calif.-based Disney said it earned $895 million during the three months that ended Oct. 3, compared with $760 million a year ago. Revenue climbed 4 percent to $9.9 billion.

Operating profit at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts fell 17 percent during the quarter to $344 million, on revenue that slid 4 percent to $2.8 billion. Park attendance improved, but ongoing discounts continued to eat into profit margins.

The results capped a difficult fiscal year in which Disney was squeezed hard by the recession. Disney said it netted $3.3 billion for the year, down 25 percent from last year, on sales of $36.1 billion, down 4 percent.

So even in this soft economy, the Mouse earned $3,300,000,000. That's 3300 times $1,000,000. That's serious bank. And against sales of $36,100,000,000. That's over 9% profit!

Disney has had layoffs, forced salaried employees to work hourly shifts, forced hourly employees to take shift cuts, etc., etc. Yet how has Iger's income been affected? 2009 numbers are not in yet, but for 2008, the result is pretty startling:

3. Walt Disney - DIS: Robert Iger earned around $1,965,384 for every 1% his stock dropped, giving him a total salary package of $51.1 million based on DIS shares declining 26% over the past year.

Read more: http://www.marketfolly.com/2009/05/top-10-highest-paid-ceos-of-2008-closer.html#ixzz0ZB3MohBI

$51 million . . . Say the average hourly employee makes $15 per hour, that's $30,000 per year. Iger's compensation package would fund 1700 hourly compensation packages per year. But since he has to keep his profits, the hourly folks who pay rent, and live in apartments, and buy groceries have their jobs cut.

Truth, justice, and the American way.

Your two lips are dripping honey, ah

How can you tell Dick Morris is lying? He writes an editorial:

As the suicidal Democratic congressmen proceed to rubber-stamp the Obama health care reform despite the drubbing their party took in the '09 elections, the president trotted out the endorsements of the AMA and the AARP to stimulate support.

Um, yeah. Say, Dick. Go ahead, say Dick, because you are. Seriously, I appreciate the concern trollphrase "suicidal Democratic congressmen", but first, some of them are women, and I do agree with you, some of them are suicidal but for far different reasons that you propose. And "drubbing their party took..."? Yes, we lost 2 Governors, which has NO Federal impact, but gained 2 Congresspersons, which does. Say Dick.

Sadly, Dick goes on:

•The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21 percent cut in physicians reimbursements under the current law. Obama promised to kill the cut if they backed his bill. The cuts are the fruit of a law requiring annual 5 percent to 6 percent reductions in doctor reimbursements for treating Medicare patients. Bravely, each year Congress has rolled the cuts over, suspending them but not repealing them. So each year, the accumulated cuts threaten doctors. By now, they have risen to 21 percent. With this blackmail leverage, Obama compelled the AMA to support his bill ... or else!

So Congress was brave when they refused to let physician reimbursements be cut, but when Obama does it, it's blackmail. I see, Congress good, Obama bad. Say Dick.

But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues.

Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medi-gap, but the AARP – which supposedly represents them – will make more money. (If this galls you, join the American Seniors Association, the alternative group. Contact sbarton@americanseniors.org.

Not so fast, Sparky. Medicare advantage offers exactly the same coverage Medicare offers, with a few extra meaningless perks, yet bills the government higher rates. And has higher overheads. Who wins? Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Aetna, that's who. So when Morris et al complain about cuts in Medicare to scare seniors, what they're talking about is stopping the taxpayer support for insurance companies profiting on what Medicare gives seniors for free.

Oh, and about the American Seniors Association? From Avenging Angel's diary at Kos:

A little digging into Stuart Barton's 60,000 member American Seniors Association would have made that clear. Founded in 2005 by Barton's father Jerry as the National Association for Senior Concerns (NASCON), the group targeted the "radical agenda" of the AARP. Topping its program is Social Security privatization, hard-line opposition to immigration reform, and an overhaul of Medicare, which Barton deemed "the most abused and wasteful of all federal programs that could be bankrupt even before Social Security." As its press page shows, the ASA is a right-wing talking point regurgitation machine:

"On page 425 of the bill, a person must go to counseling every five years to basically learn how to die," Barton says. "As I read this and hear about no preventative care, it dawned on me that Obama's plan is to let all these baby boomers die quicker so we don't have to care for them in old age."

The ASA's "Four Pillars," also extolled by former Hollywood Squares game show host and honorary chairman Peter Marshall, are a hardliner's dream and a senior citizen's nightmare:

Medicare Reform: This most abused and wasteful of all federal programs could be bankrupt before the Social Security System runs dry!
Social Security Reform: Voluntary personal accounts safe from government meddling must be approved providing senior citizens options and keeping the system solvent.
Illegal Aliens: Lawbreakers do not deserve Social Security payments intended for you and your family who are citizens.
Tax Reform: An easily understood and simplified tax code in the form of the Fair Tax.

Swell. Remember Little Red Riding Hood? Granny, meet fox (pun fully intended).

But you get the idea. Dick Morris will lie, say anything anyone wants him to, as long as he has toes to suck:

On the eve of the Democratic Convention in September 1996, Morris was forced to resign as head of Pres. Clinton’s reelection campaign after Sherry Rowlands, a call girl with whom he had a long-term for-pay relationship, sold her story to the supermarket tabloid “The Star” for around $50,000. In the article, Rowlands revealed that Morris had a fetish for toe sucking, a fact that will always have a place in the TMI hall of fame.

She also offered a glimpse into Morris’ marriage that may have some saliency today, if his phone number does appear on Palfrey’s list:

Asked about Morris’s wife, Rowlands said: “I’m sure this is hurting her, and was not meant to hurt her. He’s the one who hurt her, not me. . . . He loves his wife — that’s why he would pay me . . . to come see him. That makes him feel he is not cheating on his wife. This is business as long as he’s paying for it.”

Shorter: It isn’t adultery if you pay for it.

Since the Clintons kicked him out, Morris has earned millions as a professional Clinton hater inside the GOP noise machine. He bloviates regularly on the Fox News Channel, writes a syndicated column for the Fox aligned New York Post and has authored several books trashing the senator and ex-president.

He also converted to Catholicism.

Bastard.

After all the bad Dick, here's some good Dick: Dick Dale

After the boys of summer have gone

In sports news, the NYYankees, a small market team with the lowest payroll in the majors, staged an historic and heroic come-from-behind win, against all odds, to defeat the highly favored Philadelphia Phillies tonight in the World Series.

With their lack of well-known superstars, an old decrepit stadium, and virtually no fan base, the Yankees surprised even jaded sports journalists with their unlikely victory. When asked what it felt like to finally be a winner, catcher Jorge "Chinless" Posada said, voice breaking with emotion: "This is a win for the little guy, the guy who tries harder. We never expected to be here, and we're grateful, and humble".

Owner George Steinbrenner, racked with debt, and having tried unsuccessfully for several years to sell the money-losing franchise, remarked: "This is what can happen when guys have hearts larger than their talent. This is destiny".

Update & bump: While I mock Jorge Posada and his less than Dudley Do-right chin, he's a bad-ass player and a good guy:

In 2003, he hit 30 home runs (one every 16.0 at bats, ninth best in the league) and drove in 101 runs, both career highs. He batted .281 and was also fifth in the league in OBP (.405), and sixth in the league in walks (93; walking 17.5% of the time, a career high). He tied Yogi Berra’s record for most home runs by a Yankee catcher and finished third in the MVP voting. He also made the final out of that year's World Series, a groundout against Florida Marlins pitcher Josh Beckett.

In 2006, Posada posted one of his best offensive seasons and he led the major leagues with 20 pinch hits.^[4] In addition, work with new first base coach Tony Peña, a former catcher, helped him improve his percentage of runners thrown out stealing second almost 60 points above his career average.

In 2007, Posada batted at .338, with 20 home runs, 90 RBIs, and career highs in hits (171) and doubles (42). He joined Iván Rodríguez as the only two catchers in MLB history to record at least 40 doubles in two separate seasons. He was 3rd in the AL in on-base percentage (.426), 4th in batting average, 6th in OPS (.970), and 8th in doubles and slugging percentage (.543). Posada batted .395 in September, and became the first Yankee catcher since Thurman Munson, in 1978, to finish among the top 10 AL batting leaders. His longest hitless streak was only 11 at-bats. Posada is the first catcher to hit .330 or better with a slugging percentage of at least .540 and an on-base percentage of at least .420 since Mike Piazza in 1996-97. On the final day of the 2007 regular season, Yankees manager Joe Torre allowed Posada to act as the manager for the game,^[5] an honor that Torre bestows upon a veteran player if the final game does not matter in the standings. The Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-4 to give Posada an unofficial win in his 'managerial debut'.

On November 2, 2007, Posada openly backed new Yankes manager Joe Girardi, after reports claimed that he would have a difficult time playing under Girardi.

On November 12, 2007, Posada signed a 4-year, $52 million contract to remain with the Yankees.^[6]

On July 21, 2008, Posada was placed on the disabled list.^[7] Posada intended to recover from this injury in order to perform as designated hitter or first baseman. However, the team decided to acquire Xavier Nady, in order to allow him enough time to operate.^[8] On July 28, 2008, Yankees officially announced that he would undergo season-ending surgery to repair the glenoid labrum in his right shoulder.^[9] Consequently, Posada did not participate again until 2009 spring training. Through 2008, Posada has hit 162 homers from the left side of the plate and 59 from the right side.^[10]

On September 21, 2008, Posada was selected to catch the ceremonial first pitch prior to the final game at the original Yankee Stadium. The pitch was thrown by Julia Ruth Stephens, the only living daughter of Babe Ruth.

On April 16, 2009, in the bottom of the 5th inning, he hit the first regular season home run in the new Yankee Stadium against Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians. Teammate Robinson Cano was the first MLB player to go deep at the new Yankee Stadium off of Chicago Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly on April 3, 2009 in an exhibition game.

On May 1, 2009, he hit the first walk off hit in a nine inning game in the new Yankee Stadium against Brian Fuentes to help the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 10-9. On October 4, the last game of the season, Posada again served as the honorary manager, as the Yankees went on to win, 10-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays.^{[citation needed]}

On October 11, 2009, Posada hit a tie-breaking HR to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the top of the 7th inning against the Twins. This was also the last home run hit at Minnesota's Metrodome. He hit another HR to tie it 4-4 on Oct, 19, in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Angels.

. . .

On January 21, 2000, Jorge married Laura Posada, an attorney and former model and actress from Puerto Rico. They have two children, Jorge III and Paulina.

Posada's son, Jorge III, suffers from craniosynostosis, which he was diagnosed with 10 days after he was born, and has endured numerous surgeries to correct the condition. Posada established the Jorge Posada Foundation to help find a cure for the disease and support families with children affected by the condition. Jorge released a charity wine in 2008 called Jorge Cabernet to raise funds for his foundation.^[11]

Any team would be proud to have Posada as their regular catcher. Hey, Tony Reagins . . .

Well can't you just let it ring a little longer

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows my computer love is reserved for all things Mac. I've been using Macs since 1985, owned my first in 1990, and am typing one one now. I do use PCs when I have to, but using a Mac is like wearing my own comfortable clothes.

Apple has long been considered a progressive company, not only technologically, but socially. Heck, they even donated $100,000 to the recent No on Pro. 8 campaign here in CA. But this really makes me sad, and is hardly progressive:

Walmart has started to sell the iPhone 3G at nearly 2,500 Walmart stores beginning Sunday, December 28, 2008. The retailer is offering the black 8 GB iPhone 3G model with the price of $197 and the 16 GB black or white model for $297, with a new two-year service agreement from AT&T or qualified upgrade.

Damn. Hardly surprising, I guess. Profit transcends ideology for most companies. And for some other allegedly progressive folks too, who felt a need 2 years ago to get in bed with awful Walmart:

Don Henley is famous for his green causes and bad temper. Wal-Mart is famous for hyper capitalism and exploitation of its workers. What do these two parties have in common? Well they are now in business together, probably for the rest of Henley’s life.

An announcement on October 18 claimed that The Eagles are giving Wal-Mart an exclusive on their upcoming recordings that will be made and released sans major label.

Bastards. All of them.

Look at me way up high, Suddenly here am I, I'm flying

Beethoven wrote some beautiful music while totally deaf. Talent and drive, plus hard work.

Some people, however, can hear just fine and yet are completely tone-deaf. Like GM's Rick Wagoner:

General Motors said today that it is putting two of its five corporate jets out of service because the planes are not being used enough. The top three executives at GM, however, will continue to use the private luxurious jets for all of their business and personal travel, despite a flurry of criticism over the perk following an ABC News report this week.

An ABC News investigation revealed that the top three automakers have together spent several hundred million dollars to buy, maintain, and operate a fleet of top-of-the-line private jets for their top executives.

GM leased a fleet of seven planes at the beginning of this year, according to a company spokesperson. Two of the planes were dropped from the fleet in September and two more will be dropped by the end of the year.

"We're cutting back very drastically on all travel," said Tom Wilkinson, a spokesperson for GM. Wilkinson said the downsizing is "strictly in response to the planes not being used" and not a reaction to the harsh treatment CEO Rick Wagoner and others received from Congress this week after it was learned that the CEOs of all three big automakers flew to Washington on private planes to plead for public funding to bailout their ailing companies.

Selling 2 of 5 jets is sacrifice? 3 guys fly in from the same fucking city to attend the same fucking meeting, and they each fly on their own corporate fucking jet? And they want taxpayer help?

My congressperson made me proud:

"I'm going to ask you to raise your hand if you're planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial," asked Rep. Bradley Sherman (D-CA). "Let the record show no hands went up."

Indeed. Here's the video:

Money don't get everything it's true, What it don't get I can't use

The despicable sack of crap formerly known as America's Mayor™ has finally descended fully into Hell:

Rudy Giuliani is positioning his law firm to cash in on Wall Street's train wreck - a move that has become a gift to political enemies of his pal John McCain.

Even as the nation's $700 billion, taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailout was still being hashed out, the former mayor announced Thursday his high-powered law firm has set up a task force.
Its mission: to help corporate clients get a piece of the action - or keep the federal wolves from the door.

"Our team of former government officials and experienced attorneys in the fields of legislation, enforcement and finance are equipped to guide institutions in this quickly evolving and complex environment," Giuliani noted in a press release from his law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani.
Giuliani is not the only one poised to profit from opportunities created by the mega-meltdown, but he is the most politically famous.

Giuliani is a prime surrogate for Republican McCain, who has called the economic meltdown "the greatest crisis since the end of World War II" and has assailed Wall Street for "unbridled greed."

Unbridled greed? He should know:

Members of Giuliani's task force will include a number of Bracewell & Giuliani employees with deep connections to Washington in general and the Bush White House in particular.

They include Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan and the son of U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

The elder Mukasey is one of Giuliani's closest friends and, as a federal judge, swore in Giuliani at both his mayoral inaugurations.

Another task force member will be Robert Clarke, a one-time director of the Resolution Trust Corp. - the government-owned outfit set up in the wake the last major government bailout, the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, to sell off assets.
Bracewell & Giuliani spokeswoman Melanie Hillis declined to say how much the firm would be charging.

Top-shelf firms like Bracewell & Giuliani routinely charge corporate clients fees topping $800 an hour for every senior lawyer's time - or a commission based on the value of transactions that could reach billions of dollars.

Entrenched operators, cashing in on their connections. That's the American entreprenurial spirit.

Bastards.

Plastic, Fantastic ... Man?

From a US study on Phthalates in 2005:

The Rochester team, who examined 134 boys, found women with higher levels of phthalate-related chemicals in their blood were more likely to give birth to boys with undescended, or small testicles, small penises, or a shorter distance than usual between the genitals and anus.

It did not take exceptional levels of exposure to produce an effect - abnormalities were found in women exposed to levels below those found in a quarter of US women.

And fast forward to today:

Lawmakers Agree to Ban Toxins in Children's Items

Congressional negotiators agreed yesterday to a ban on a family of toxins found in children's products, handing a major victory to parents and health experts who have been clamoring for the government to remove harmful chemicals from toys.
[...]
Phthalates make plastics softer and more durable and also are added to perfumes, lotions, shampoos and other items. They are so ubiquitous that in one 1999 study, the Food and Drug Administration found traces in all of its 1,000 subjects.

The measure had wide support in the Senate, but it bogged down in the House, where the chemical industry waged a costly battle to defeat it. The campaign was led by Exxon Mobil, which manufacturers diisononyl phthalate, or DINP, the phthalate most frequently found in children's toys. The company spent a chunk of its $22 million lobbying budget in the past 18 months to try to prevent any ban.
[...]
"Chemical additives should not be placed in products that can impact health adversely until they are tested and found to be benign," [Sen. Dianne Feinstein] said.
[...]
"There is no scientific basis for Congress to restrict phthalates from toys and children's products. With over 50 years of research, phthalates are among the most thoroughly studied products in the world, and have been reviewed by multiple regulatory bodies in the U.S. and Europe," [Sharon Kneiss, a vice president of the American Chemistry Council, a chemical industry lobbying group] said.

Exxon Mobil contended that banning phthalates may inadvertently expose children to greater risks, because manufacturers will be forced to use substitute chemicals that may be even more hazardous.
[...]
The industry's position was repeated by Keith Hennessey, director of Bush's Economic Policy Council, who wrote to the Senate saying that a ban could hurt children.

OK, a couple of points here:
1) Why is Bush's Economic Policy Counsel weighing in on a public health concern?
2) Why is Bush's EPC parroting the exact same line that Exxon is?
3) Why is the the American Chemistry Council lying about the safety record of these chemicals considering the fact that Europe has already banned them?
4) Why is Exxon threatening to use even more dangerous chemicals to our children's health if these are banned, especially considering many alternatives already exist?
5) Why aren't chemical additives tested BEFORE they are put in children's toys?

The answer is simple: Bush, (who threatens a veto for this legislation), and all the lawmakers who voted against this bill, are hypocrites. They claim to be about family values and Christian morals, but they consistently put their profits over their prophets. The next time some concern troll cries "but what about the children!?" ask them what is in their baby's toys.

For more information please follow the actual links to scientific studies.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

The Profits That Bush Honors ... or ...The Wrath of Kahn

Inside the world of war profiteers
From prostitutes to Super bowl tickets, a federal probe reveals how contractors in Iraq cheated the U.S.

[...]
Federal prosecutors in Rock Island have indicted four former supervisors from KBR, the giant defense firm that holds the contract, along with a decorated Army officer and five executives from KBR subcontractors based in the U.S. or the Middle East.
[...]
The Pentagon has outsourced crucial troop support jobs while slashing the number of government contract watchdogs.
[...]
Last week, the Army pledged to add 1,400 positions to its contracting command.
[...]
Former KBR procurement manager Stephen Seamans, who was wearing a wire strapped on by a Rock Island agent, wondered aloud whether to return $65,000 in kickbacks he got from his two companions, executives from the Saudi conglomerate Tamimi Global Co.

One of the men, Tamimi operations director Shabbir Khan, urged him to hide the money by concocting phony business records.
[...]
October 2002, five months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Khan threw a birthday party for Seamans at a Tamimi "party house" near the Kuwait base known as Camp Arifjan. Khan "provided Seamans with a prostitute as a present," Rock Island prosecutors wrote in court papers. Driving Seamans back to his quarters, Khan offered kickbacks that would total $130,000.
[...]
In April 2003, as American troops poured into Iraq, Seamans gave Khan inside information that enabled Tamimi to secure a $2 million KBR subcontract to establish a mess hall at a Baghdad palace. Seamans submitted change orders that inflated that subcontract to $7.4 million.
[...]
By July 2005, Tamimi had secured some 30 KBR troop feeding subcontracts worth $793.5 million, records show. Khan continued to negotiate Iraq war subcontracts for Tamimi until shortly before he was arrested in Rock Island in March 2006.
[...]
"If you ever gave Tamimi a hard time, you'd get a call," former KBR subcontract manager Harry DeWolf told the Tribune.

When subcontracts came up for renegotiation, DeWolf said, companies like Tamimi "would say, 'Fine, we're going to pull out all of our people and equipment.' They really had KBR and the government over the barrel."

February 21, 2008 Hundreds of pages of recently unsealed court records detail how kickbacks shaped the war's largest troop support contract months before the first wave of U.S. soldiers plunged their boots into Iraqi sand.

Full disclosure: I rearranged a few of the paragraphs in the article to make a timeline. I recommend you read the whole article.

I'll wait ...

... hmm, hmm da, de da, da, dada, da duh, da, de dah ...

good, you're back! And in related news:

Former Halliburton subsidiary KBR's 4th quarter profits up 65%

Former Halliburton subsidiary KBR Inc. said Tuesday fourth-quarter profit rose 65 percent, lifted by contributions from natural-gas projects, work in Iraq and a tax benefit related to a 2006 asset sale.

Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Fly the Friendly Skies

Update below.

Even worse than the standard Friday Night News Dump is the steaming pile that NASA deposited on New Years Eve.

NASA has just released the Air Safety report they previously ordered destroyed, but only after they were sued under FOIA:

NASA gives glimpse of air safety survey

NASA grudgingly released some results Monday from an $11.3 million federal air safety study it previously withheld from the public over concerns it would upset travelers and hurt airline profits.
[...]
Released on New Year's Eve, the unprecedented research conducted over nearly four years relates to safety problems identified by some 29,000 pilots interviewed by telephone.
[...]
The data was posted as NASA officials began a telephone news conference, allowing no time to look at the material and ask them questions about it.
[...]
[NASA Administrator Michael Griffin] dismissed suggestions that NASA chose to release the data late on New Year's Eve, when the public is distracted by holidays and news organizations are thinly staffed.

"We didn't deliberately choose to release on the slowest news day of the year," Griffin said.
[...]
The Air Transport Association of America, an organization representing major airlines, responded to the NASA release with a statement praising U.S. skies as the safest in the world and said NASA's study "was not designed to capture real-time, verifiable data" and that FAA reports are more meaningful.

So once again the corporations and government colluded to suppress science because it might hurt the bottom line.

Anyone else see a pattern here? The bush government has deliberately lied and obstructed justice about everything. Whether it's toxic toys or infected food or drug safety or air safety or torture or spying or national security, all they do is lie.

Am I the only one that thinks we're living in Bizarro World?

UPDATE:

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told reporters in a conference call that the agency had no plans to study the database for trends. He said NASA conducted the survey only to determine whether gathering information from pilots in such a way was worthwhile.

He's such a liar! They spent years and millions of our dollars and he sez it was just an experiment on data gathering!?

I call BS!

The current system the FAA uses relies on anonymous self-reporting that they started in 1975, it is/was a good idea because pilots in general tend to be safety conscious because after all, they're the first ones to the scene of the crash.

But self-reporting has inherent statistical problems. As professionals at NASA and the FAA realized. So in 2001 they started a 4 year, $11 million project that used telephone surveys of airline pilots.

Then Bushco political appointees didn't like the results. And, as always, when they don't like the results they tried to suppress them, and then attack the messenger/methodology, and then partially release them in a flood of redacted statements deliberately put forth in a confusing manner on New Years Eve when they didn't think anyone will pay attention.

And they're right, in a way. They got away with lying about reasons to go to wars, they got away with lying about air standards at ground zero, they got away with subverting the JustUs department, etc, etc, etc.

FAQ:
Q:Is the US air traffic system the best in the world?
A:Probably. We don't know because they won't release the actual data.

Q:Can it be improved by simple measures?
A:Absolutely. More rest for pilots and air traffic controllers seems to be the key.

Q:Will it affect the airlines?
A:No, if all the current obstacles in place don't stop people from flying this report won't and shouldn't.

Q:Is it safe to fly?
A:Probably safer than ever. See #1. But we can make simple changes that will make flying even safer.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Update on the Baghdad police academy

Last year there was a, pardon the expression, $hitstorm about the

Heralded Iraq Police Academy a 'Disaster'

BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 -- A $75 million project to build the largest police academy in Iraq has been so grossly mismanaged that the campus now poses health risks to recruits and might need to be partially demolished, U.S. investigators have found.

The Baghdad Police College, hailed as crucial to U.S. efforts to prepare Iraqis to take control of the country's security, was so poorly constructed that feces and urine rained from the ceilings in student barracks. Floors heaved inches off the ground and cracked apart. Water dripped so profusely in one room that it was dubbed "the rain forest."

"This is the most essential civil security project in the country -- and it's a failure," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, an independent office created by Congress. "The Baghdad police academy is a disaster."

And now, over a year later, after all the promises made by Parsons, nothing has changed:

Iraqi Police Academy Remains Largely Unusable

BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 — More than a year after the Parsons Corporation, the American contracting giant, promised Congress that it would fix the disastrous plumbing and shoddy construction in barracks the company built at the Baghdad police academy, the ceilings are still stained with excrement, parts of the structures are crumbling and sections of the buildings are unusable because the toilets are filthy and nonfunctioning.
[...]
“They used bad pipes for the sewage system,” said an officer who gave his name as Lt. Selah, a maintenance adviser, as he pointed through a ruptured drop-ceiling that had been ruined by waste leaking from faulty pipes above it.

The concrete used in the construction was substandard and is already collapsing in places because of the constant rain of sewage, Lieutenant Selah said, barely able to contain his anger.
[...]
A company spokeswoman, Erin Kuhlman, said that Parsons, which is based in Pasadena, Calif., had strictly abided by the terms of the contract it had received from the United States Army Corps of Engineers to do the work at the academy.
[...]
But dire problems with the project were discovered in inspections in August and September 2006 by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent agency led by Stuart W. Bowen Jr.
[...]
Mr. Bowen’s report also stated that inspectors had found “indications of potential fraud” in the project and had referred the case to its investigative division.

Those indications are apparently still being studied.
[...]
On Sept. 28, 2006, as the inspector general’s report was released, Earnest O. Robbins II, a senior vice president at Parsons, testified before the House Government Reform Committee that the company would fix the problems at no extra charge. “We are repairing it at no cost to the government,” Mr. Robbins said in response to questions by Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland.

Bastards. Lying bastards.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

So your're in the kids' ward, You're in there cos you're ill

We really are the leader of the free world!

Some history:

Lead Paint Prompts Mattel to Recall 967,000 Toys
***************
Mattel issues new massive China toy recall
About 9 million items recalled; danger from magnets and lead paint
***************
Lead paint forces Thomas toy trains recall
***************
Halloween costume teeth pulled from US shops due to lead fears

Hmm, I'm starting to sense a pattern. But of course our government agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, will be asking for more labs and investigators to stop this from ever happening again! ... ehhh, not so much:

Strengthening of Consumer Agency Opposed by Its Boss

[...]
On the eve of an important Senate committee meeting to consider the legislation, Nancy A. Nord, the acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has asked lawmakers in two letters not to approve the bulk of legislation that would increase the agency’s authority, double its budget and sharply increase its dwindling staff.

Ms. Nord opposes provisions that would increase the maximum penalties for safety violations and make it easier for the government to make public reports of faulty products, protect industry whistleblowers and prosecute executives of companies that willfully violate laws.
[...]
In the last two months alone, more than 13 million toys have been recalled after tests indicated lead levels of almost 200 times the safety ceiling.

BTW:

The Consumer Products Safety Commission was founded in 1973 with a staff of about 800. It now employs about half that number, while the importation of products from other countries has vastly increased.

BTW2:

[The CPSC now] has just one employee testing toys.

13,000,000+ toys recalled ... yep, no reason to have more than one person testing them.

Bastards.


Cross posted at VidiotSpeak