IRRESPONSIBILITY AT THE PENTAGON

Another example of mismanagement and disregard for common sense and decency:

A quick summary-Halliburton is a a major company that does contract work for the government. KBR is a spin off of Halliburton. KBR has done contract electrical work in Iraq, and they have been involved with plumbing contracts as well. Follow? Now here are some headlines, please bear in mind this is not an exhaustive list, there are more soldiers that have been killed because of such ridiculous nonsense:

OREGON SOLDIER'S DEATH IS UNDER INVESTIGATION
According to the AP, Spc. Chase Whitham was electrocuted while swimming in a swimming pool in Iraq at a US operated base. Whitham 21, was in Mosul, Iraq, when he died. Italics mine.


FROM THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW ON MSNBC:
Posted Feb. 9.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

ABC NEWS: HIDDEN DANGER: SOLDIERS DYING FROM ELECTROCUTION
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth was 24 when he died. Here's a cut and paste.

"But little did the staff sergeant know that when he stepped into the shower at his military base in Baghdad two months ago, he was putting his life at
risk. Maseth, 24, of Shaler, Pa., outside Pittsburgh, was
electrocuted on Jan. 2 when an improperly grounded electric water pump
short-circuited and flowed through the pipes. Since the coiled hose was touching his arm, he was hit with an electrical jolt and went into cardiac arrest and died."

This kid was only 24, and he did not die in combat.

PENTAGON ADMITS TO MORE ELECTROCUTIONS IN IRAQ-KBR DENIES BLAME
Posted July 26, 2008
According to the HuffPo, Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has been involved with Cheryl Harris, the mother of Ryan Maseth. The article states there have been 16 electrocutions.

This was in 2008.

CNN: SOLDIERS ELECTROCUTION "NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE"
Story highlights, pay close attention to the third point:
-Manner of death should be changed from "accidental," Army investigator writes
-U.S. soldier electrocuted while showering at his base in Iraq in 2008
-Investigator: Contractor didn't ensure electricians, plumbers were qualified
-No charges have been filed; soldier's family is suing contractor

If you've watched the video you know where I am going with this: last headline-

COMPANY GETS PENTAGON CONTRACT DESPITE DEATH INQUIRIES
From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A defense contractor has been awarded a $35 million Pentagon contract involving major electrical work even though it is under criminal investigation in the electrocution deaths of at least two American soldiers in Iraq.
The contractor, KBR, announced last week that it had won a $35.4 million contract from the Army Corps of Engineers to design and build a convoy support center at Camp Adder in southern Iraq. The center will include a power plant and an electrical distribution center. Bold is mine.

I have contacted my Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell regarding this development. I suggest you do the same. I cannot describe the outrage I feel regarding the complete lack or respect for the families of the soldiers that have died as a result of potential negligence on the part of KBR. What a slap. Furthermore, according to the AP via The Columbian in Vancouver, WA;

"The Corps of Engineers said KBR has earned $615 million on 30
contracts similar to the new one and that KBR has not been banned or suspended from winning U.S. Government contracts."

The utter waste of money that is Iraq is apalling. My family and I are having trouble keeping our lights on and keep food on the table and there are some in Congress that have cut, yet again, services for the needy. At the very, very least, KBR and Halliburton should be immediately suspended from contracts until the investgation is resolved.

Again, we have the dead notion of trickle-down economics. Ronald Reagan is dead. Let his failed policies and those of the christian right die with him. It is time for trickle up economics, spending money to the people, not the corporations. The people will spend the money and benefit everyone. It is a no-brainer. The right's ideas are failed. It is time for a systemic change in the United States, and the previous headlines regarding yet another debacle is yet more proof on the desperate need for change. Peace-

Here are some numbers for the people that represent some of you in D.C.

Washington State: Senator Patty Murray-202-224-2621 (You and Maria Need to Pay Attention!)

Sen. Maria Cantwell-202-224-3441

Oregon: Sen. Jeff Merkly-202-224-3753

Sen. Ron Wyden-202-224-5244

Arkansas: Sen. Blanche Lincoln-202-224-4843

Sen. Mark Pryor-202-224-2353

And last, here is a link that will provide US citizens contact for their Senators.

Onward.

SEARCHERS: IT IS TIME TO PAY ATTENTION TO THIS PROFESSOR'S BLOG:

http://www.ridwanlaher.blogspot.com/

This is a scholar that helped enlightened me at Portland State University, and one I hold in extreme regard: Ridwan Laher

Britain's the House of Lords has overturned
a lower court ruling that would have allowed displaced Chagossian people to
return to their homes in the Indian Ocean archipelago.Hengride
Permel, who represents the Chagos Islands Community Association, said the
Britain missed "a chance ... to right a wrong ... it is a shameful day for the
government."The
Chagos Islanders plight to return is hardly covered in the mainstream media. It
is a story of brutal imperialism and war mongering that implicates Britain, and
of course, the United States.In the 1960s and 1970s Britain used force to remove
the Chagossian people from their homes in and around the largest Chagos Island
called Diego Garcia. The move came after Britain leased Diego Garcia to the US.
Britain also allowed the US to build a navy and air base.The vast majority of
displaced Chagossians were settled into slums in Mauritius.In 2007 the British
High Court ruled that the Chagossian people were wrongfully expelled and
that they should have the right to return.Today's House of Lords decision, the
highest court of appeal in Britain, sets the High Court decision aside.The
decision was in large part based on the British government's argument that the
right of return would bridge security because the US uses Diego Garcia to launch
military operations to Iraq and Afghanistan.The House of Lords decision confirms
that Britain (along with the US) have condemned the Chagossian people to
permanent and inhumane exile.See "Stealing a
Nation, A Special Report by John Pilger" (2006) for critical background
coverage. Also, you can get more information from the UK Chagos Support
Association.Onward!Picture Credit
Posted by Ridwan at 7:41 PM 3
comments
Monday,
October 20, 2008

Peace-
Mike

REPOST FROM SHANNYN MOORE, ALASKA BLOGGER

Great post-had to repost it from Shannyn Moore:


While Alaska endures a Constitutional Crisis, Governor Sarah Palin is working with a “suspended campaign”. Our Governor spent today in New York. She was asked about her support of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who now finds himself in a Washington DC federal courtroom defending a seven count indictment. She blew off the question saying, “Ted Steven’s trial started a couple days ago…we’ll see where that goes.” I wasn’t surprised she squirmed out of that question. She has been cozy with Stevens when it has served her political agenda, even headed up his 527 organization . With her new public persona of being a “Good Ole Boy” crusher, she is in a quandary.

She was asked another question and Americans ought to pay attention to her answer. Palin was asked if she thought the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan was helping to mitigate terrorism. “I think our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan will lead to further security of our nation. Again, because the mission is to keep the fight over there. Do not let them come over here and attempt again what they accomplished here and that was some destruction. Terrible destruction. On that day. But, since September 11th, Americans uniting and rebuilding and committing to never let that happen again.”


Why would Sarah Palin link the current occupations to September 11th? Does she not know? Even George W. Bush has stated Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the attacks on that day. The hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, and The United Arab Emirates.

It was neither Iraqi nor Afghani Citizens who crashed into our soil, our buildings, and our history. She should know this. Do you think it was a slip?


At her son’s Fort Wainwright deployment ceremony, the Governor also linked the Iraq war to the attacks of September 11, 2001. She told the Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would “defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the deaths of thousands of Americans.” She continued, “America can never go back to that false sense of security that came before September 11, 2001.” One could argue that ‘the false sense of security’ is repeating the Neocon idea that killing people in a different country makes you safer. One could also argue that breaking the backbone of the Constitution in exchange for “security” is a false sense of patriotism.


Palin highlighted her “trip of a lifetime” to Iraq in the Charlie Gibson interview to exhibit her foreign knowledge and experience. Maybe if she would have actually gone to Iraq, and not the border crossing on the Kuwait side, she could have discovered these facts. The chest pounding, not blinking, gut checking, fact ignoring policy results in a lack of “exit strategies” for the devastating wars, the economic crisis and the emerging environmental catastrophe.


For her to reference a link between 9/11 and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is either deliberately disingenuous or completely and unabashedly ignorant. America has endured eight years of the Bush Administration who have intentionally and continually misled the American people to believe this relationship exists. It has cost us dearly; some more than others.


Sarah Palin may not know what the Bush Doctrine is, but she sure understands the Bush Philosophy.

COLLEGE AND STUFF

So I'm finally going to take my ACT test and formally enroll in the University. I've been going for the last couple of terms, but I've never taken the ACT, and I'm not formally enrolled, so I can't get financial aid. Another issue in the richest country on the fucking planet. 12 million dollars an hour in Iraq and we have people living on the streets.



I remember a class I had when I was a kid, it must have bee in like 6th or 7th grade, I would have been 11 or so, and we were watching propaganda films from the Soviet Union that were against the US. The scene that stands out is a homeless dude sleeping on a bench and it was supposedly shot in middle America, Kansas or some shit, and the point the Soviets were trying to make was under capitalism you have people even in the heart of the country living in the streets with no place to go...and, the point they were making was their system is better. So to the point. My teacher, after showing us the film, gleefully pointed out that the scene couldn't have been shot in Kansas 'cause you can see the capitol building, ( in D.C.) in the background!!! We all got a good laugh about that. The point of all that is this: BY THIS TIME WE HAD FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT THE HOMELESS DUDE, IT TURNED INTO A BIG JOKE OVER HOW STUPID THE SOVIETS WERE.



This, my friends, is a large part of the problem...thank God, (or Apple) for our ipods so we don;t have to face these issues...like my professor Ridwan Laher said..."We gonna go to Starbucks and have a revolution over a latte" dude nailed it. Thank God for Starbucks and their pseudo-intellectualism, as well as their fake art on the walls...what a fucking joke.