Saturday, November 14, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Been A Long Time
So caught up in campaign managing, running that blog, tweeting and facebooking, that I've had no time to post here. Soon a lengthy post on health care-Obama, torture and rendition-Obama, state secrets-Obama, and my rather deep disapointment that is NOT, sadly enough, disillusionment.
Oh well.
Oh well.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The most expensive fence in the U.S.
A Very Good Short Read:
The most expensive fence in the U.S.
"In a nutshell, it will cost $6.5 billion over the next 20 years to maintain the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, despite the fact that $2.4 billion has already been spent to build 633 miles of fence along the southwest border, there's no way to evaluate cost-wise whether the fence has helped to control the flow of illegal immigrants.
The GAO noted two big problems with the fence. One is that people are still getting over, under and through it. As of May 14, there have been 3,363 breaches in the fence, and each one costs around $1,300 to repair. That's $4.3 million in repairs. Another is that the new technology being installed to work on the border (sensors, radars and cameras) has either been delayed or doesn't work. (Aircraft maker Boeing has the contract for that and will be paid $1.1 billion for it). That means border agents still uses old equipment that breaks down. Until all that new technology is up and running, there's no way to know whether it works or whether it's cost effective."
The most expensive fence in the U.S.
"In a nutshell, it will cost $6.5 billion over the next 20 years to maintain the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, despite the fact that $2.4 billion has already been spent to build 633 miles of fence along the southwest border, there's no way to evaluate cost-wise whether the fence has helped to control the flow of illegal immigrants.
The GAO noted two big problems with the fence. One is that people are still getting over, under and through it. As of May 14, there have been 3,363 breaches in the fence, and each one costs around $1,300 to repair. That's $4.3 million in repairs. Another is that the new technology being installed to work on the border (sensors, radars and cameras) has either been delayed or doesn't work. (Aircraft maker Boeing has the contract for that and will be paid $1.1 billion for it). That means border agents still uses old equipment that breaks down. Until all that new technology is up and running, there's no way to know whether it works or whether it's cost effective."
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
RIP Les Paul...Another Giant and Genuis Gone
First Merce, now Les.
I saw him in the late 80's (when he was in his late 70's) before his weekly gig moved to the Iridium. I was thinking then that I had better go see him while it was still possible. The man kept gigging regularly for 15 more years! The inventor of the electric guitar, a studio genius way ahead of his time, and by all accounts the nicest guy in the world.
Here he is at the age of 91, unbelievable.
And two more from the 50's, stuff I used to listen to with my parents.
I saw him in the late 80's (when he was in his late 70's) before his weekly gig moved to the Iridium. I was thinking then that I had better go see him while it was still possible. The man kept gigging regularly for 15 more years! The inventor of the electric guitar, a studio genius way ahead of his time, and by all accounts the nicest guy in the world.
Here he is at the age of 91, unbelievable.
And two more from the 50's, stuff I used to listen to with my parents.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Trouble With Tea Baggers
OK this has been floating round the net for awhile, don't know who wrote it.
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
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