Khan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Author: Matthew G. Saroff
Gordon Brown apologises for Tony Blair
Really, this is about separating himself from Tony Blair, who is about to do the only thing that could possibly make him less popular in Britain, he is becoming a Catholic.
Brown is calling Blair a lying sack of $#@!.
Brown apologises for Iraq intelligence ‘mistakes’
Britain’s next prime minister Gordon Brown apologised for mistakes in intelligence made in the run-up to the Iraq war in a BBC television interview Friday.
Brown has stressed that he will push for a new emphasis in Iraq when he takes over from current premier Tony Blair on Wednesday but went further than before in his latest comments.
“We have apologised, and I repeat that, for the mistakes that were made in intelligence,” he said.
“I think we’ve got to be honest about it that mistakes were made at the point of reconstruction after Saddam Hussein fell … mistakes made by all of us in the reconstruction progress,” he said.
Brown also said that there would be clearer boundaries between intelligence and politics when he was in office.
“I’m setting in place what I think are far more rigorous procedures so that the intelligence is seen to be different from, if you like, any decision by a politician,” he added.
“I want people to know that in future, they can be satisfied that, where public information is provided, it has gone through an authoritative process and it is free of political influence.“
emphasis mine
Made in America????
Same thing with your cars. Toyotas have more US content than GM cars.
Feds Investigate Patch Flap
Thursday, June 21, 10:17 a.m.
By Jim HamillU.S. troops are wearing patches made overseas and the patch flap apparently started right here in the Poconos.
Federal prosecutors said Moritz Embroidery Works in Coolbaugh Township, near Mount Pocono, contracted with the U.S. military to make more than three million American flag patches, but prosecutors say that didn’t happen.
They’ve charged Brian Moritz with conspiracy to defraud the United States by sending some of the work overseas.
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News Flash: Air Force Hates Helping Soldiers On the Ground
The real story here is that the USAF really, REALLY, REALLY hate doing anything that smacks of close air support. They have since the creation of the USAF.
It’s fighters, and strategic bombing, with perhaps a bit of tactical bombing that they want to do.
It’s embarrassing to do close air support. After all, some sergeant is telling an officer what to hit and where to drop bombs.
UAVs, Other Aircraft Being Misused, ACC chief Says
Jun 21, 2007
Michael Fabey/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and pod-equipped combat jets to find improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is often a misuse of time and resources, said U.S. Air Force Gen. Ronald Keys, commander of Air Combat Command.
Often, requests for airborne surveillance are based on the assumption that such aircraft help find IEDs and save ground forces from such attacks, he said. Certain military leaders feel they need the full-motion video feeds to locate the explosives. The truth, he said, is much different.
Based on Air Force analysis, the number of IEDs found by UAVs, surveillance aircraft or combat jets outfitted with advanced targeting pods per 100,000 flight hours is very low, according to Keys. “It’s a waste,” Keys said June 20 during a morning keynote speech at the Transformation Warfare 07 conference and exhibit in Virginia Beach, Va.
“People come to me and tell me they want a Predator,” he said. “I ask, ‘What are you looking for?’ Tell me what you’re looking for, don’t just tell me you want a J-STARS.”
Unfortunately, the military is basing some of its decisions on anecdotes instead of real metrics, he said. Indeed, the only metric being used is whether the Air Force is meeting certain tasking orders, instead of making sure those assets and flights are effective and the best use of time and aircraft. “This is no way to fight a war,” he said.
Keys said ACC has developed a “concept of deployment” to help fight IEDs that is air-centric “to a certain point.” Without going into specifics, he said, “We ought to be attacking the system – to the left of ‘the bang,'” meaning the process before the IED is emplaced. What needs to be looked at is the network, “not the thing that’s buried out there,” he said.
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Bush Admin to Create New Gulags
Replacing one Gulag with a bunch of little ones….Delightful.
Bush Administration Nears Decision To Close Gitmo
AP) WASHINGTON The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility and move the terror suspects there to military prisons elsewhere, The Associated Press has learned.
President Bush’s national security and legal advisers are expected to discuss the move at the White House on Friday and, for the first time, it appears a consensus is developing, senior administration officials said Thursday.
The advisers will consider a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum security military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where they could face trial, said the officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations.
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And These Guys are Protecting US???
Would that Karl Rove’s evil minions were so incompetent.
Hacker breaks into Pentagon email system
By Austin Modine in Mountain View
Published Friday 22nd June 2007 00:20 GMTThe Pentagon took as many as 1,500 computers offline yesterday to stamp out a security breach in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters in a news briefing today that a hacker had penetrated an unclassified OSD email system, prompting the shutdown. The system reportedly does not contain information related to military operations.
“A variety of precautionary measures are being taken. We expect the systems to be online again very soon.”
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Bush Official Flips Out
He is impassioned, vocal, and wrong.
Standard Bushie industry flak.
Bush official goes nuclear in Net Neut row
By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco
Published Friday 22nd June 2007 01:00 GMTSupernova 2007 A San Francisco tech show degenerated into a shouting match today, after a pugnacious Bush commerce official squared off with heated supporters of net neutrality.
John Kneuer, the assistant secretary for communications and information, quickly lost his temper and began shouting back at Supernova 2007 attendees after taking flack for saying the free market – not government intervention – would protect internet innovation and access.
Taking a brief time out from shouting his responses at delegates who’d rejected his claims the free market has ensured consumer choice in US broadband internet access, Kneuer remarked in an aside: “I started out very politely.”
That came seconds after he told delegates what they really wanted was for the government to mandate terms and conditions of internet service in the US.
“That’s absolutely what you are asking for!” he shouted to counter-shots of “no!” and “there is no market place!”, referring to the fact a handful of phone and cable companies control the lion share of broadband internet access and service in the US.
Increasingly, it seems, those companies will be allowed by the Government to charge for different levels of internet service – ending net neutrality.
Kneuer, who previously served with a Washington DC law firm representing telecoms companies, had fueled the crowd’s anger during a short Supernova presentation.
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Troubled Program Canceled
It’s nice to see a multi billion dollar program canceled when it’s way behind schedule and over budget.
Spy chief scraps satellite program
June 21, 2007: 04:55 PM EST
Jun. 21, 2007 (AFX International Focus) —
WASHINGTON (AP) – Spy chief Mike McConnell has junked a multibillion-dollar spy satellite program that engineers hoped would someday pass undetected through the space above other nations.
The move from the director of national intelligence comes after several years of congressional efforts to kill the program, known publicly as the next generation of ‘Misty’ satellites. The new satellite was to be a stealthy intelligence spacecraft designed to take pictures of adversaries and avoid detection.
Little is known about the nation’s classified network of satellites, which represent some of the most expensive government programs and receive almost no public oversight. Because of their multibillion-dollar price tags, sensitive missions and lengthy development schedules, spy agencies go to great pains to keep details from becoming public.
McConnell gave no reason for his recent decision. Despite the program’s secrecy, he almost dared further inquiry into it.
Speaking Tuesday to an intelligence conference on workplace diversity, McConnell changed the subject and ended his speech by saying: ‘I have been advised when I was getting ready (OTCBB:GTRY) for this job, you have to do two things: kill a multibillion-dollar program. Just did that. Word is not out yet. You’ll see soon.
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And in the “F%$@ the Consumer” Category.
They really don’t realize how they are driving consumers to Bit Torrent, do they?
If I wanted to make a tape of my LP for my boom box in 1981, that was simple, and now they want to prevent this.
The customer base is increasingly technically savvy, and they increasingly understand how the industry is all about ripping off the artist, so they do not see the industry as benefiting anyone but themselves.
The regime required for the future will make Beria’s NKVD look like a kiddie show.
DVD ripping to be rendered impossible?
By James Sherwood
Published Monday 25th June 2007 12:52 GMTBuying a DVD and then copying it for use on your PSP, iPod or laptop could soon become impossible, if the DVD Copy Control Association gets its way.
The association wants to amend the licence underpinning the use of its DVD copy-protection technology, CSS (Content Scrambling System). This would, if successful, oblige you to have the original disc in your DVD drive every time you watched it.
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However, the move is already prompting industry opposition. Michael Malcolm, CEO of Kaleidescape, a company that manufactures video servers to copy DVDs legally for use in multi-room display systems, has already written an open letter to the US Senate, claiming such a move could destroy businesses like his.
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RuAf to Acquire Updated Flanker.
The aircraft is expected to carry the Novator K-100 missiles, which are to have a range in excess of 200km (some reports say 300 km).
Sukhoi Pushes Ahead With Revamped Flanker(subscription required)
Aviation Week & Space Technology
06/25/2007, page 43Douglas Barrie
Le BourgetSukhoi plans aggressive flight test and weapons integration schedule for latest Flanker version
Printed headline: Family Affair
Fighter manufacturer Sukhoi is trying to persuade the Russian government to contribute development funds for its latest version of the Su-27 Flanker family, the Su-35, with indications that the air force has already decided to acquire the aircraft.
Three Su-35 prototypes are initially being manufactured, with a first flight planned by the end of September, according to a senior Sukhoi executive involved in the program. “Currently, there’s no government funding,” he says. “The program so far is being funded by industry participants.”
The first aircraft, No. 901, is now complete and undergoing ground tests. It’s slated to be at the Moscow air show in August, before beginning flight trials. The company has an ambitious flight test and initial weapons integration plan that it aims to finish by 2010, followed by the first aircraft being handed over to the air force.
The first prototype of Sukhoi’s Su-35 is due to appear at the Moscow air show on the flight line, rather than only as a display model.Credit: DOUGLAS BARRIE/AW&ST
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The Su-27 derivative will certainly include systems also destined for the T-50. It will also provide the air force with an interim fighter should–a distinct possibility–the time scale for introducing the PAK FA into service be extended. First flight of the T-50 is penciled in for 2009.
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It’s not clear in the picture, but there appears to be a fairing on the aft end of the large missile hanging on the right hand (left of picture) pylon. This might be an air intake.
Given the Russian experience with solid fuel ramjets, the SA-6 had one in the early 1970s, the range of this AIM-54 sized Phoenix sized missile could be rather long.
Good News: WTO Talks Fail
A bit late, but….
This is a good thing.
The rules are about making bankers rich, depressing wages, and imposing neo-colonial regimes on less developed countries.
Until we redefine what free trade should be, and it shouldn’t be denying drugs to babies in Guatemala, progress should stop.
WTO talks stumble, raising doubts over future of Doha pact
U.S. blames Brazil and India for asking for impossible concessions; future of World Trade Organization’s Doha pact in question.
June 21 2007: 1:23 PM EDTPOTSDAM, Germany (Reuters) — The future of World Trade Organization’s Doha pact is under doubt, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Thursday, as talks between the United States, European Union, India and Brazil broke down.
“It places a very major question mark on the ability of the wider membership of the WTO to complete this round,” Mandelson told a press conference in Potsdam. “It does not in itself mean that the negotiations cannot be put back on track.”
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Tax Fairness on Private Equity Will Define the Democrats in This Congress
Seriously, this is a defining issue for Democrats.
The idea that the commissions that people get for investing other people’s money should be taxed as capital gains is a disgrace.,
Bill Is Offered to Increase Tax on Private Equity
By JENNY ANDERSON and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Interest on Capitol Hill in raising taxes on private equity and hedge fund managers reached a peak yesterday as leading Democrats introduced a bill that would more than double taxes on most of the income earned by partnerships, including private equity managers, venture capitalists and some hedge funds.
Representatives Charles B. Rangel of New York, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sander M. Levin of Michigan joined 12 other Democrats in introducing the legislation to tax the performance income earned by many partnerships, including private equity firms, at ordinary income tax rates of 35 percent instead of the current 15 percent capital gains rate.
“Congress must ensure our tax code is fair,” said Mr. Levin, who has been looking at the measure since a friend of his, a retired tax lawyer, brought the issue to his attention a few months ago. The congressman insisted the bill was meant to address equitable tax treatment and was not an attempt to penalize success. “Some Republicans have attacked us for trying to soak the rich,” he said. “I am not trying to soak the rich; I am trying to find tax equity.”
Exactly the point.
Tyson to Sell Antibiotic Free Checken
Antibiotics have been banned in Holland for years.
It just requires a bit more cleaning. Real end cost is less than $0.05/pound.
That’s not much of a price to pay for not creating a superbug.
Tyson is using it to go up market though.
Soyuz rockets set to blast off from Kourou-21/06/2007-Paris-Flight Daily News
Obviously, it will need to deal with the humidity at the launch site, but the boost from being the equator is significant.
Soyuz rockets set to blast off from Kourou
By Steve Nichols
Arianespace has signed a contract with Roskosmos, the Russian space industry, to buy the first four Soyuz rockets that will be launched from the Guiana Space Centre (GSC) in Kourou.
Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace, and Anatoly Perminov, managing director of Roskosmos, signed the contract at the show, and confirmed launches will start in 2009.
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The medium-launch Soyuz fits in well between the existing Vega light launcher and the heavy lift Ariane 5.
….it is expected to become the most cost-effective path to orbit for commercial satellites in the 3 tonne class.
Very true. The Russian boosters are very mature technology, and most of the costs of their development have been amortized long ago.
Lawsuit shows how to sue spammers | CNET News.com
Short version, he filed in Washington State, won a 31K judgement, and followed up with a suit in Florida to collect, and won there.
Lawsuit shows how to sue spammers
By Declan McCullagh
A recent decision in a lawsuit filed against a Florida credit counseling company offers a promising road map to follow for suing spammers.
After receiving at least nine unsolicited e-mail messages offering credit counseling services, Washington state resident Joseph Hylkema did more than just consign the spam to his junk mail folder: he decided to get even.
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MyNuMO Scores with Celeb Video Game
I know the guy who runs MyNuMo, he’s one of those classic, “Friends that I’ve never met except through the net.” and some of the content there is in-dirtyword-credibly good.
The Jewish Mother ringtones are prize.
How they describe themselves:
MyNuMo is an online community that lets its members create, share, and sell mobile content. We make it possible for anyone to publish and sell content into the $9B Mobile Market. The MyNuMo portal delivers independently created content that’s rated and promoted by real people and delivered to any mobile phone. MyNuMo is selling user-generated content to mobile users with direct billing and delivery agreements on ALL major US Carriers.
In any case, they put a flash game up on the web. It’s amusing, and it doubled their traffic.
Every once in awhile we find a reason to stand up and applaud a marketing/advertising campaign. For all of you Trads out there, this case study falls into the emerging markets category, so hold on to your PCs real tight while we head into the digital divide.
MyNuMo is a service that allows users to generate and post content, from short videos to ringtones for mobile phones. Unlike the soon to be released service from Nokia called Mosh (it’s in beta) when users download content from MyNuMo, the poster of that equity is paid a small sum. In order to promote and differentiate MyNuMo’s fledgling services, the creators of the site created a quick and entertaining flash game in which players try to….
I can’t go any further, because it would involve mentioning she who must not be named.
And in the Department of the Glaringly Obvious
This is why the The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was such a disaster.
Yet another case of a personal political success by Bill Clinton which had disastrous side effects for the Democratic party and the nation.
Check out The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio
The link is to an html summary. The full report is a PDF.
Indeed
The origins of the Religious Right have to deal with their losing the right to be tax-exempt and segregated, not abortion.
Obama says some have ‘hijacked’ faith
By STEPHEN SINGER, Associated Press WriterSat Jun 23, 5:11 PM ET
Sen. Barack Obama told a church convention Saturday that some right-wing evangelical leaders have exploited and politicized religious beliefs in an effort to sow division.
“Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and faith started being used to drive us apart,” the Democratic presidential candidate said in a 30-minute speech before the national meeting of the United Church of Christ.
“Faith got hijacked, partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, all too eager to exploit what divides us,” the Illinois senator said.
“At every opportunity, they’ve told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design,” according to an advance copy of his speech.
“There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich,” Obama said. “I don’t know what Bible they’re reading, but it doesn’t jibe with my version.”
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Not currently my first choice for Democratic nominee, but he’s right on the money here.
Defense Boondoggle, June 24 Edition
I see an IP lawsuit. They are using my likeness (sort of) without my permission.
A more pressing question is how is Lockheed getting its cut of this?
Sentient world: war games on the grandest scale
By Mark Baard
Published Saturday 23rd June 2007 09:02 GMTPerhaps your real life is so rich you don’t have time for another.
Even so, the US Department of Defense (DOD) may already be creating a copy of you in an alternate reality to see how long you can go without food or water, or how you will respond to televised propaganda.
The DOD is developing a parallel to Planet Earth, with billions of individual “nodes” to reflect every man, woman, and child this side of the dividing line between reality and AR.
Called the Sentient World Simulation (SWS), it will be a “synthetic mirror of the real world with automated continuous calibration with respect to current real-world information”, according to a concept paper for the project.
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Yes, It Is Racist, Beds Are Burning Edition
(It’s a reference to the song by Midnight Oil.
Australian clampdown on Aborigines condemned as racist
Fri Jun 22, 1:44 AM ET
An Australian government plan to ban alcohol and pornography in Aboriginal communities to try to curb rampant child sexual abuse was labelled racist and knee-jerk by indigenous groups Friday.
Prime Minister John Howard announced the unprecedented measures on Thursday following a government report detailing paedophilia and juvenile prostitution in Aboriginal communities across Australia’s vast Northern Territory.
As government ministers appealed on national television for health professionals to help solve what Howard described as a “national emergency”, critics said Canberra’s plan had been hastily prepared and poorly thought out.
Indigenous activist Michael Mansell accused Howard of trying to stir hysteria against Aborigines ahead of national elections later this year, where the prime minister’s conservative government will seek a fifth term in office.
Mansell said the government’s plans singled out Aborigines.
“It would be different if his social behaviour strategy applied to everyone in Australia, but it doesn’t, making his policies racist,” said Mansell, the director of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.
“This is a racist attack on the weak and an immoral abuse of power, amounting to nothing more than political vote scoring.”
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Emphasis mine