Thoughts at large

[Bigb23]

Recent news story - the DoD scraps a 1/2 BILLION dollar Afghan cargo plane program for the scrap value of 6 cents a pound for aluminum TO an Afghan contractor.
That works out to $46,000 back to the American taxpayer.
I'd link it, if not for my tablet limitations. But google it for the story and comments - [[not Fox news, they still have a faulty headline).
Bought from Italy, with no supply chain for parts - WTF ?.
Major DoD waste of your money.

It seems to be a non-issue in the news right now. The more I know, the more my blood boils.
Sorry, Jimaz, the link won't work. But all of the rest of you, PLEASE follow up and research this!

[Bigb23]

Why do you FILM something with a smartphone?
Should'nt you be chipping or carding an event?

[Jimaz]

... Sorry, Jimaz, the link won't work. But all of the rest of you, PLEASE follow up and research this!

Very suspicious. The text at that link suddenly, visually fades out for me as shown in this actual screenshot:

Attachment 24615

This was from the Wall Street Journal. I've never seen that intentional graphic effect before. It's as if they're intending to gradually redact the text in a way that forces the reader to directly experience the redaction in real time. It's as if they're saying "We published this, you want to read it, but we're preventing you from reading it, and we want to make sure that you know that. Fuck you, dear reader."

Extremely 1984ish! So fuck you right back, Wall Street Journal!

But I snagged an earlier copy of the text:

KABUL—The U.S. military is disposing of an embarrassing eyesore—a fleet of cargo planes that were sitting idle at Kabul International Airport—as American troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

In December 2012, the U.S. Air Force scrapped plans to buy a fleet of 20 transport planes for the Afghan military after acknowledging that the 16 refurbished planes delivered to the Afghan military weren’t in flying condition. The issue was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

According to the U.S. government’s Afghan watchdog, those 16 planes are now being cut up for scrap.

The planes, which originally cost $486 million, were now being sold to a recycler for six cents a pound, or $32,000, said Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko in letters to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Air Force Secretary Deborah James dated Oct. 3.

“It has come to my attention that the sixteen G222s at Kabul were recently towed to the far side of the airport and scrapped by the [U.S.] Defense Logistics Agency,” Mr. Sopko wrote the Air Force secretary. “I was also informed that an Afghan construction company paid approximately 6 cents a pound for the scrapped planes, which came to a total of $32,000.”

Mr. Sopko added: “I am concerned that the officials responsible for planning and executing the scrapping of the planes may not have considered other possible alternatives in order to salvage taxpayer dollars.”

At issue is a fleet of Italian-built C-27A cargo planes that were procured for the Afghan Air Force, which has a shortage of air-lifters to haul troops and equipment. The Afghans began receiving the twin-engine aircraft, also known as the G222, in 2009, but the planes were grounded for several months in 2012 because of a lack of adequate maintenance and spare parts.
Related Articles

Maintenance Snafu Grounds Afghan Fleet [[May 25, 2012)
U.S. Watchdog Urges Delaying Delivery of More Cargo Aircraft [[July 15)
U.S. Grounds Afghan Air Force Plan [[Dec. 27, 2012)

The U.S. Air Force said it had spent a total of $596 million on the G222 program, including the cost of maintaining them in Afghanistan. Since the cancellation of the program, the 16 planes delivered to the Afghans had been parked on a tarmac near the main terminal at the country’s primary international airport, a visible reminder of a botched procurement.

“The G222 fleet was unable to fulfill mission needs, a decision was made to discontinue the program in December 2012, and the contract was allowed to expire in March 2013,” said Marine Corps Maj. Brad Avots, a Defense Department spokesman. “The Department of Defense recently completed disposal of aircraft located in Kabul, Afghanistan to minimize impact on drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.”

The U.S. and its allies are withdrawing combat troops by the end of this year, although the Obama administration plans to keep a residual force of just under 10,000 American troops to conduct training and counterterrorism missions. One of the primary training missions for the U.S. and its allies after 2014 will be building up the Afghan Air Force.

Left uncertain is what the U.S. military plans to do with the remaining C-27A airframes. Maj. Avots said the Pentagon was considering ways to dispose of the other four aircraft, including looking for other outside customers.

“Working in a wartime environment such as Afghanistan brings with it many challenges, and we continually seek to improve our processes,” he said. “We also are focused on building the capability and capacity of our Afghan partners to improve accountability and help instill sound financial management practices in daily operations while reducing the risk of fraud, waste and abuse.”

Take that, you WSJ bastards.

[Jimaz]

I think it's long past time for those who have relentlessly coddled the Parasitic Saboteurs in Power™ to ask to be forgiven for the harm that they have caused us all.

[Bigb23]

Thanks Jimaz -


This should be screamed across the internut.
One comment from a live fire officer for a state National Guard said that 12 Vietnam era Jeeps donated from the Marines for artillary practice had to be upgraded to running condition per DoD standards at a cost to the state budget of $150,000, just to be blown up!
Let's all take another look at how our money is spent.

And I'm astounded at how this program is being slipped bye the media.
Good catch Jimaz!!!!!!!!!!

[Bigb23]

I said $46,000 in scrap, now it's $32,000 ?
We've just been screwed out of $14,000.

Not a bad return on a $596 Million investment for a corrupt, backwards country.

Thanks DoD - I have blood into you already.

[Zacha341]

That's a subscription only article. That's why the fade out. Right below the fade out they have the click the subscribe-to-read link box.

Very suspicious. The text at that link suddenly, visually fades out for me as shown in this actual screenshot....

[Bigb23]

That's a subscription only. That's why the fade out. Right below the fade out they have the click the subscribe-to-read link box.

Of course Gannon already knew that - or did he? Dum-dum dum.

[Jimaz]

That's a subscription only article. That's why the fade out. Right below the fade out they have the click the subscribe-to-read link box.

Thanks for that, Zacha341. I suspected as much. Annoying nonetheless.

Perhaps someday search engines can evolve toward delivering what was searched for instead of these teases. But maybe not: YouTube Search & Discovery - Computerphile

Our success depends on helping the creators to find their viewers [vs. the viewers finding the creators]....

The biggest gripe is you have a billion videos and I can't find anything good to watch.

To be fair, YouTube has a way to remove videos from your search history so they can't effect which videos they recommend. That's worth researching for all YouTube patrons.

[Bigb23]

I'm watching "The Now Detroit" news magazine on channel 7. Boy, how I hate the handheld "Drunken Cameraman" effect for the studio shots.
It goes all the way back to those 1980's Dockers commercials. Enough already.

[Jimaz]

From a current Public Storage ad on TV:

We'll treat your stuff like it's our stuff.

Wait. Are they saying they're going to steal my stuff?!

[Jimaz]

Clocks fall back an hour tonight!

Daylight Saving Time Explained

The Official NIST Time

[rb336]

There is enough water in Lake Michigan to fill 1 1/3 Olympic swimming pools for every person on Earth, if I did the math right

[Jimaz]

Irony: The other day I watched a 1-800-GOT-JUNK? truck get towed away — as junk.

[Bigb23]

You would think that in this online digital age, that the horse and buggy line of "Allow four to six weeks for delivery", will not work in 2014.
Why do they hang on to this legal throwback from the 1800's?
Tell them by e-mail and on the phone that we will not put up with that anymore!

[Bigb23]

I used to use a plasma torch all of the time. In this months Popular Mechanics magazine they said the operating temperature was 55,000 degrees.


Cool !

[rb336]

You would think that in this online digital age, that the horse and buggy line of "Allow four to six weeks for delivery", will not work in 2014.
Why do they hang on to this legal throwback from the 1800's?
Tell them by e-mail and on the phone that we will not put up with that anymore!

Where did you see that? What kind of product? I have seen those sort of delivery date, but only on things that are essentially manufactured on order or bespoke clothing

[Jimaz]

Happy coldest day of the year!

[Jimaz]

Once again I had to switch from craps to blackjack to deliberately lose $1 million because otherwise if my bankroll exceeds $1 billion, the casino takes away all but $5k in return for putting my name in the "Hall of Fame."

It really is that easy to win — but only when you're filthy rich.

This is all fake money but the math is the same as it is in real life. Life really is that easy for the 1%. It's so easy for them to win that they have nothing left to do but hunt for creative ways to lose!

You're not paranoid. They really are out to get your money.

[Bigb23]

It's a shame they had to shut down NYC for a small-ish snowstorm, but they
probably had in mind the Buffalo, NY mid December snowstorm where Wales Center, NY
got 85" [[7') over the course of several days ! [[as reported by the Washington Post and the national T.V. news).

[Bigb23]

It's a shame they had to shut down NYC for a small-ish snowastounding but they
probably had in mind the Buffalo, NY mid December snowstorm where Wales Center, NY
got 85" [[7') over the course of several days ! [[as reported by the Washington Post and the national T.V. news).

I'll correct myself - that storm was in late November, which makes it even more astounding.

All other info still stands.

[Bigb23]

I just signed up for my Freep subscription E-edition. First, it can't be done from a tablet.
They told me only from a laptop or desktop. They ought to check into these new-fangled tablet things that everybody is talking about!

Second- it kept bringing up somebody else's name and address for inputting a password. They had to give me a new account number!

Third- it takes up to 48 hrs to be able to download your first edition. Again,
why this digital sign up takes so long is beyond me.

And finally, my paper edition is dumped in a pile at the other end of my apartment complex.
So much for HOME delivery.

Sorry for bitchin'

[Bigb23]

Where did you see that? What kind of product? I have seen those sort of delivery date, but only on things that are essentially manufactured on order or bespoke clothing

Most infomercials and some catalogs. Digital still does not mean fast
in some cases.

[rb336]

Most infomercials and some catalogs. Digital still does not mean fast
in some cases.

neither of those are digital

[Bigb23]

neither of those are digital

You're right, they're still blow cards, pneumatic tubes, and dictophones, same as this forum. ; )