Tell it to the Marines. With one-in-five active duty Marines serving in Iraq, there’s mounting pressure to get new replacements in fast and dwindling money to pay for their training. So fast – and so cash-strapped, their combat training is getting cut short. Training for some has been more than cut in half. Many Marines no longer get to fire weapons in training they may need to defend themselves in real life. Marine instructors say there’s a 70% chance these Marines will see combat, and a 5% chance of being killed or wounded. I told you earlier this week how Congress had trimmed $2.8 billion from military training and equipment to make room for their pork projects at home. (Star-Ledger)
Custody Battle? Hire Franz Kafka, Attorney at Law. Soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan complain they face an unfair fight trying to win custody of their kids in divorces. Seems courts are considering their deployments as akin to absenteeism. They could stay home – but that’d make ‘em felons. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Yeah, You’re Going to Need a New Carburetor Belt, and the Piston Manifold is Shot. Contractors could be taking advantage of the Pentagon when they bring their tanks into the shop. DoD contracts out equipment maintenance on a lot of heavy weapons. But the way they do it may be driving up the price. The method is supposed to make the bids on the work more competitive. But the GAO finds that some of the equipment is so complex, there’s not likely to be many bidders. Those who fix the equipment usually know this, and jack up their bids. (GovExec)
Sharing Secrets. Lawmakers are looking at ways to get government agencies to quit classifying so much information. That would make it easier for agencies to share. A lack of sharing was blamed for much of the failures behind 9/11. (GovExec.com)
Asking Uncle Sam for Help. Since the August 1, terror alert took effect, New Jersey has been spending as much as $300,000 a day extra on security. They’re asking Uncle Sam for some help during the Republican National Convention. New York City is getting $50 million in federal tax dollars to help with security for the Republican’s party. (NYT)
Southern Comfort -- for Now. Thousands of undocumented aliens pour across America’s southern border with Mexico every month. But the Border Patrol has never found a single known terrorist coming in that way. It would seem to be an easy way for terrorists to get in. (USA Today)
Stop or I’ll Kick it Up a Notch, Bam! If the Border Patrol does find al Qaeda guys sneaking in across the southern border, they can shoot them with their new chile pepper bullets. They irritate the eyes, but make a great enchilada sauce. (AP)
Tourist or Terrorist. If you’re wanted by the law, accused of helping terrorist group Hamas, don’t get caught videotaping big bridges. Ismael Selim Elbarasse is being held as a material witness in an investigation that nabbed three others earlier this week. He says he and his wife were simply taping sites from the massive, double spanned Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland. Maryland police pull people over daily for questioning about taping bridges, buildings, and tunnels. Elbarasse’s name came up on a watch list. (NYT)
The Free Ride is Over. America may have kicked itself off the International Space Station. Back in 2000, Congress passed a law barring the US from paying Russia to launch our astronauts into space. With the Space Shuttle in dry dock, and no new American launch vehicle in sight, the US has been hitching free rides on Russian space launches. It costs $10,000 a pound to put someone in orbit and Russia says they can’t afford to keep carrying our astronauts into space. (WashPost)
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