Blackwater Banned In Iraq
AFP – Ouch –
Iraq has ordered the cancellation of the operating licence of US security firm Blackwater after it was involved in a shootout in Baghdad that killed eight people, a senior official told AFP on Monday.
Of course, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service is involved given that it is one of the leaders in force privatization –
“The incident is being investigated by the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service law enforcement officials in cooperation with the government of Iraq and multinational forces,” the official added
Israel Sends A Message
Israel’s recent bombing of a Syrian nuclear facility (a cross-link on the black network) was most likely a message to Iran. Actions are beginning to match the rhetoric.
No Full Audits of DHS, DOD
AP – No one’s tracking security expenditure…
Ten years after Congress ordered federal agencies to have outside auditors review their books, neither the Defense Department nor the newer Department of Homeland Security has met even basic accounting requirements, leaving them vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse.
An Associated Press review shows that the two departments’ financial records are so disorganized and inconsistent that they have repeatedly earned “disclaimer” opinions, meaning that they simply cannot be fully audited.
“It means we really can’t put any faith in the numbers they use,” said Ross Rubenstein, who teaches public administration at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School.
New Challenges Replacing The Old
Bah. The e-governance Facebook app I have been working on is dead. Instead of an organic product with commercial potential the old guard just blew thrice my budget on a piece of commercial junk that looks like it was designed by the same guys that did Barnett’s front page. (Who, BTW, is not Sean)
Oh well, the bills still get paid. Now I have more time to work on new and exciting things. More time to spend thinking and writing.
OldButGold: Sterling “The Sham Economy”
Came across this classic piece by Sterling again –
Black globalism extends well beyond easy, offhand intellectual property thefts like videotaping first-run films and burning them onto DVD. It commandeers the manufacturing, distribution, and business infrastructure in a parasitic rejection of the global order that is the engine of our collective future. The folks who made my shoes have everything it takes to make excellent footwear. Yet they choose to make counterfeits. It’s a brave, new, destructive world of manufacturing and marketing: Just fake it.