Author: Matthew G. Saroff

KC-X Tanker Contest Canceled

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Looks like SecDef Bob Gates is dumping this one on the next administration.

I can’t say I blame him. The Airbus is a better aircraft, more modern and with greater fuel offload capacity, and it’s already flying, whereas the Boeing Frankenplane, cobbled together out of 3 different 767 models, has stronger pork barrel congressional support.

A delay might move Boeing to submit a shortened 777 as a bid, which would be more competitive, but the 787 is out, if just because they are so far behind schedule that they would not be able to begin deliveries until some time around 2020.

It might also have something to do with the strike, which obviously makes Boeing hitting any delivery, for any customers, which would give the delegation from Washington State more of an opportunity to whine.

Funny Cartoon of the Day

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Though I do think that Pat Oliphant is cruising for a lightning bolt.

The real issue, though, is far more serious. The Republicans speak in tongues to the press, and the press refuses to notice.

For example, in 2000, when Bush was speaking about “compassionate conservatism”, he was in fact speaking in tongues to the religious right, describing doctrine written about by Marvin Olasky and others, in which true compassion is to let poor people and their families fend for themselves.

Bush’s mention of Dredd Scott in the 2004 debate was the same thing; it was a dog whistle to the right wing about Roe v. Wade.

This is easy to understand, but the press refuses to cover it, so it continues.

So, Now it Appears that John McCain Used His Office to Support His Sugar Mama Dope Abusing Wife

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We know the basic story: Cindy McCain used a charity that she set up to steal Percocet and Vicodin to feed her habit.

One of the principals in this matter is Tom Gosinski, who discovered the abuse, and discovered that Cindy McCain was using his name to get the drugs, so he went to the DEA, and John McCain used his office to call in political favors to get the US Attorney to go after him.

While it is clear that Gosinski is no fan of the McCains, they got an investigation ginned up claiming that he had tried to extort them after he had been talking with the DEA for months, the picture that he is painting, both of McCain and of his family is unbelievably grim

Well, he’s now releasing his journals to the public, and among other things, there are allegations that the McCains medicated their kids unecessarily.

Gosinski details a conversation with Jeri Johnson, Cindy McCain’s aunt, regarding Cindy’s nanny, Diane, in a July 28, 1992 entry.

Diane voice concerns regarding Cindy’s use of drugs and the effect it is having on the kids. Diane told Jeri that Meghan recently told her to “f$#@ off” after trying to discipline her. She also told Jeri that she is concerned that Cindy is giving the kids drugs which unnecessarily sedate them. I hope that is not happening.

Concerns that Cindy McCain is unnecessarily drugging her children appear again in a July 31 entry — “Cari (Cindy’s adopted daughter) told the three that she fears Cindy gives the kids prescription drugs they do not need,” Gosinski wrote.

Republican family values, my ass.

What more, it appears that the Washington Post had an article about this recently, but it was scrubbed from the web site.

Talk about the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations!

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Because, seriously for Bush and His Evil Minions™ to try to spin the continued breathing of Osama bin Laden with this:

Q: But Osama bin Laden is the one that — you keep talking about his lieutenants, and, yes, they are very important, but Osama bin Laden was the mastermind of 9/11 —

MS. PERINO: No, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the mastermind of 9/11, and he’s sitting in jail right now.

I guess that bin Laden was some 6 foot 6 inch tall dude suffering from Marfan’s related kidney failure who occasionally attended meetings of the Ladies Sewing Circle & Terrorist Society, or some such.

Every time I think that I’ve grown too cynical to be shocked, they kick it up a notch.


The mendacity of these folks, even after 7 years, continues to stun me.

My Bizarre Thoughts 7 Years Ago

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My first thought was that their might be a Chilean connection, since it was on 9/11 that Allende was assassinated, my second thought was that it was a Reichstag fire, and there were dozens, if not hundreds of other odd thoughts.

The oddest one, and the one that sticks with me was driving home.

I was taking the outer loop of the Baltimore Beltway (I-695), and at the junction with I-83, which sucks, I blew through in no time at all. There were perhaps a dozen other cars on my stretch of interstate, and I remember thinking, “So this is what it takes to fix the traffic here.”

Completely inappropriate, slightly demented, and it is the feeling that I still remember the most vividly.

I’m not sure if it’s just me that is weird, or all of humanity.

John Sidney McCain III Has Been Nuts Since Birth

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The stories of McCain and his temper, he once called his wife the C-word in public, are legion, and I always assumed that it had something to do with his stint as a POW.

It appears that, in addition to the more recent stories listed in the article, he has been prone to destructive tantrums since he was an infant:

At age 2, McCain’s tantrums were so intense that he’d hold his breath for a few minutes and pass out. His parents would dunk him in cold water to “cure” him, he wrote in his memoir, “Faith of My Fathers.”

Ummmmmm….Are there any sane Republicans out there? Anywhere?

Republicans Looking to Make Lieberman’s Party Change Official

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This is no surprise, but he won’t change caucuses unless kicked out of the Dem caucus, which he should be, because Joe Lieberman is all about Joe Lieberman, and as a kinda-sorta Dem who spews Republithug talking points, he has more power, gets more face time, and is lauded as a bipartisan by the Beltway Gasbags, so I do not believe that Republicans will be successful in getting him to switch parties.

It’s a pity, because it would be good for the Democratic party and the nation.

Another Indictment of the LSI Concept

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Here is a good short article on the problems with the Lead System Integrator (LSI) concept from Bettina Chavanne , and I agree with his categorization of this as, “A Fox in the Henhouse”.

She raises the concern that she is , “not sure the military can run its own acquisition programs any better than private LSIs,” though, and I think that she is completely wrong here.

There is far greater accountability in the military, no golden parachutes, and the organizational imperatives are directed more towards military needs than to profits.

The real problem is that the entire defense procurement process is completely broken.

Why My Posting has Been Light Lately

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Things are fracked up busy.

  • Desperately trying to learn the ins and outs of feeds, and how to get Google ads on them.
  • Switching from lots of links to Google RSS reader.
  • Lost my job.
  • Dropped my cell phone in the toilet, needed to chase down a replacement.
  • Still working on my 1987 taxes (big refund coming, I am a bloody idiot).
  • Trying to get in some Torah study in while I have the chance.
  • Trying to resuscitate a Minyan in the area.

Still, you learn something new every day. I’m about 8 bucks from my first Adsense check, and according to the Maryland DOL, I have to declare it when I file for unemployment.

ATK’s Sizzler Simulator and Me

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I just had my resume submitted by a shop to ATK, which manufactures thing related to rockets, drones, and small arms, and then I came across the fact that they got a contract for a target drone to simulate the SS-N-27 Sizzler (Novator 34M-54E Klub).

It’s an interesting concept. It’s a two stage cruise missile proceeding at subsonic speeds for most of its flight path, but about 20-30 miles from the target, the second stages fires and it accelerates to somewhere around mach 2.9 for the final flight to target.

You end up with a supersonic approach just as it goes over the horizon, but the total package is much smaller, or the range is much greater, than something that would be supersonic along the complete flight path.

ATK’s job may actually be more difficult than making the weapon, as one would assume that you would want the possibility of recovery for the drone, at least when the defenders get it wrong in practice.

It’s called the Multi-Stage Supersonic Target (MSST).

Basically, you have a subsonic bus which carries the whole assembly, and the supersonic portion, based on the GQM-163 Coyote supersonic target drone is hung from a strongback.

Full disclosure: They have my resume in their hands right now, at least that’s what the shop told me.

OK, So I’ve Entered the Realm of the Jobless

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So it goes…..

All in all, the end of my contract was a good thing.

Working in nuclear power produced a level of cognitive dissonance, I think that nuclear poser is unsafe and economically unviable, that was wearing me down.

The day after it ended, I went to my chiropractor, and realized that I felt much better than I had in months.

The workplace as a bunch of people was actually pretty good. They were good people, but for the first time in my life, the nature of the work made me miserable.

So, while I am still fat and bald, I am no longer working in nuclear power, which means that all Homer Simpson jokes are now “inoperative”.

So, Now Bush and His Evil Minions&trade Are Claiming that the GSE Collapse is all the Fault of Congress

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What a group of WATBs.

But the White House blond bimbo, Dana Perino, is claiming that they could have fixed Fannie and Freddie, if not for those meddling kids Congress.

You know, this all occurred during a Republican controlled Congress…..You know….the folks who had their tongue so far up their ass that you never had to veto them even once.

Us Account of Afghanistan False: Cell Phone Pictures Tell The Tale

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Well, it appears that the US claims of 5 to 7 civilians and 30+ militants have been pretty convincinbly disproven:

The Afghan government, human rights and intelligence officials, independent witnesses and a United Nations investigation back up their account, pointing to dozens of freshly dug graves, lists of the dead, and cellphone videos and other images showing bodies of women and children laid out in the village mosque.

Cellphone images seen by this reporter show at least 11 dead children, some apparently with blast and concussion injuries, among about 30 to 40 bodies laid out in the village mosque. Ten days after the airstrikes, villagers dug up the last victim from the rubble, a baby just a few months old. Their shock and grief is still palpable.

Not only is the lying stupid, but it’s an attempt to justify a policy that reinforces the support of the Taliban.

Canada Calls Snap Elections

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Here and here.

Here is his political calculus in calling snap elections:

  • If Obama wins, Canadians will favor someone who is closer ideologically to the new president.
  • If the sick old man wins, then Canadians will want someone who will do their best to oppose 4 more years of Bush and His Evil Minions™ without the military restraint.

Thus holding Canadian elections after the US election is simply a losing proposition.

I hope that this doesn’t work for Harper, because he really wants go with Bushonomics, and we can say “buh-bye” to the best health care system in North America if he wins another term.

Economics Update

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Seeing as how the nationalization-in-everything-but-name of the GSEs has been covered elsewhere on the blog, it won’t be here.

That being said, the response of the international markets, rising dollar and oil prices falling despite a hurricane pointed at the gulf, appear to be positive.

It comes from the fact that while shareholders will get F$#@ed, the foreign national banks and sovereign wealth funds which bought Fannie and Freddie paper are getting bailed out.

It also looks like the monoliner bond insurers are winners here too, at least that’s how their stocks reacted to the news.

This does not mean that the housing crisis is over, or even that it has bottomed out, which is why foreclosures hit a record high in Q2.

Additionally with the official unemployment rate spiking to a 5 year high, the rest of the economy sucks wet farts from dead pigeons too.

What’s more, as Krugman notes that the U6 numbers are positively grim.

The common reported number is U3, while U6 is:

Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers

And U6 is higher than it was in the worst part of the 2001 recession:

It’s not just banking, real estate, or employment though; Paul Volker is saying that the current financial system, which relies on complex securitization, as opposed to conventional loans is very broken.

The best proof of this is that the bank of China is suffering a liquidity crisis, because its investments are illiquid.