Google Barges, the untold story

Google two days ago broke its official silence to put speculation to rest on its barge program.  It is a weasel worded statement so general it is useless and it even says things may change.  Here’s the money quote from Google in an article published by Tech Crunch

 

Google Barge … A floating data center? A wild party boat? A barge housing the last remaining dinosaur? Sadly, none of the above. Although it’s still early days and things may change, using the barge as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology we’re exploring.

Treasure Island CA Barge

 Earlier versions of the barge story were leaked by “authoritative” anonymous sources (supposedly from Google).  They described the barges as floating sales area for Google Glass, with a VIP suite atop.  But the story is breaking down.  It is breaking down because the lease for Hanger 3 on Treasure Island states it is to be used exclusively for “fabrication of a special event structure and art exhibit only and for no other purpose” according to the Tech Crunch article.  Google’s initial story didn’t fit that requirement. Sticking to the it could have jeopardized the lease and stopped the project cold.

Portland Maine Barge

 

At the heart of the controversy is the ineptness of the cover story, and the handling of the entire supposedly hush-hush project.  If you want to maintain a low profile, you don’t build a monstrous oddball structure next to a bridge within view of several hundred thousand people a day.  It all broke down when some folks wondered if a permit had been issued to moor in San Francisco Bay.  The barge owner, Buy and Large, did not have one.  At that point the story broke in the media and went viral.  The latest pronouncement dampens speculation, but leaves unanswered many others.

 

The first question is, is this a Google project or a government project using Google for cover?  Given the proclivity of this administration for ineptness, my vote goes to the government.  Cover stories for top secret marine projects are not new, and some have been tremendously successful as well as well hidden.  The most famous took place almost 40 years ago.  Then a ship ostensibly built by reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes was to be used to search for and mine manganese nodules from the sea bottom over 3 miles deep. The ship, the Glomar Explorer set sail in 1974 amid a storm of controversy of who owned the sea bottom and who could mine it.  The UN got involved claiming the sea bottom outside nations’ 200 mile economic zone belonged to it.  It claimed it should have sole authority for licensing and royalties.  The noisier the controversy, the more it masked the true purpose – to raise and salvage a Soviet missile submarine from where it sank beneath 16,000 feet of water in the North Pacific in a project codenamed Azorian.

 

Let’s first look at the cast of characters for Google Barges:  There are 4 barges under construction.  They are registered to a Delaware corporation Buy and Large LLC, a shell corporation thought to be owned by Google.  Two of the barges are registered as passenger barges.  These are the two seen with superstructures made of modules/containers.  There are minor differences between the two.  The California barge appears to be made with a larger number of “containers” than its Maine counterpart.  The California barge has 12 “masts” installed where the Maine item does not.  The other two barges are registered as cargo barges, one at Treasure Island, just beginning alterations and the other located at New London, Connecticut.  The two passenger barges are 260 ft. long with a beam of 72 ft.  The two cargo barges are ten feet shorter and have the same beam.

April 2013 imagery showing the two Google barges and the Hughes Mining Barge HMB-1

Google Earth imagery gives a good look at the two California barges, plus a surprise pier mate.  Barge A is registered as a cargo barge.  There is no activity on it as of the April 16, 2013 imagery.  Barge B, a passenger barge, is in the very early stages of construction with painted outlines for positioning the modules. 

 

Barge C is one of the most unusual marine vessels ever conceived.  It is the HMB-1 (Hughes Mining Barge), a submersible floating drydock with a retractable roof.  It is no stranger to black ops.  It was designed to work with the Glomar Explorer in Project Azorian.  It covertly transferred the monstrous “claw” to the underbelly of the Glomar Explorer from a submerged position.  And it may have been intended as the covert receptacle for the Soviet sub once retrieved.  The claw is what clamped around the Soviet sub to raise it.  The sub however never made it to the US.  It fell from the “claw,” but only after much was retrieved from Soviet sub. In its second life HMB-1 covertly housed the highly classified experimental stealth ship, the Sea Shadow, designed and built by Lockheed in the 1980s.



Stealth ship Sea Shadow docking in HMB-1

So why was the HMB-1 at Treasure Island at the same time the Google Barges?  Good question!  It may be coincidental, but it makes you wonder.  Here’s the story:  It was purchased by Bay Ship and Yacht Corporation of Alameda last April (2012) as part of a deal to scrap the Sea Shadow inside.  The Hughes barge has been refurbished and made operational at Treasure Island and then transferred in June 2013 to Bay Ship’s yard in Alameda.  Sounds good?  Well chew on this little factoid:  The Google barges have a length and beam of 260 ft. x 72ft. which conveniently fits the 280 ft. x 76 ft. well dimensions of the HMB-1.  Could there be a connection?  Your guess.

 

It is difficult to conceive the barges as a Google project.  The story keeps changing.  And the multi-billion high-tech firm simply wouldn’t use a rusting barge to do high tech research or operate a training center.  It doesn’t fit its image.  More likely it is some government project to be kept under wraps until later. 

 

What is the project?  Island Turtle doesn’t know?  Several come to mind.  But none fit conclusively.  I’ll review three of them, but it is more likely some other project we simply don’t know about.  Here are some thoughts with pros and cons.

 

1.  A mobile command center for Homeland Security in the event of a WMD (terrorist or missile) attack on a coastal city.

Pros:  Homeland Security is awash in money and taking its job seriously.  It conducts communications and civil unrest exercises with local police in major urban areas.  Miami and Chicago are two recent examples.  Some of its mobile communications equipment is awesome (see photo).  Being able to cruise up to the shore of a paralyzed city and disgorge vehicles would be an asset if roads were jammed.

 

Cons:  While potential prime east coast targets are fairly closely spaced, Boston to Washington,  the major cities on the west coast are widely spaced.  It would take several days to move a barge from San Francisco to San Diego.  Heavy winter storms could halt movement.

2.  A floating mobile ballistic missile defense system.

 

Pros:  The Air Force Mid-Course Ground Based Interceptor system is in trouble.  The updated version scheduled for production has had multiple failures.  The US Navy’s Aegis/Standard Missile has had an excellent track record and newer versions will have a capability to intercept ICBMs such as those North Korea and Iran are developing.  A barge borne version using off the shelf vertical launch hardware would add mobility to the system and hinder accurate targeting of them.  Such a system would keep  navy missile armed destroyers and cruisers from being tied down with defensive work.  Several studies have recommended missile defense armed barges be used in Europe by Europeans for the same reasons.  Barges are much cheaper.

 

Cons:  The square footage of the barge superstructures is far in excess of the needs for a launch crew.  And despite their mobility, barges are easy to spot with satellites.  Security for a floating barge is more difficult than for a land based version.

 

3.  A floating replacement for the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

 

Pros:  The Bangor newspaper said the Portland Maine barge looks like a prison.  It does.  The small window slits are large enough to admit light, but small enough to prevent escape if the glass is broken or forced out.  Escape would be difficult in the cold waters of San Francisco Bay where “escape proof” Alcatraz is located.  Maine waters provide similar protections.  The New London newspaper, The Day ran a story that gives a glimpse into future plans for the east coast barge:

“Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound took part in a conference call on July 1 with a naval architect, a marine transportation company and Michael Tierney, of Google Glass, to review the plans.  The purpose of the vessel is not described in the [FOIA] documents, but they reveal a plan to operate the vessel in various ports, the first being New York Harbor."

Editor’s note:  The last sentence of the quote above has been edited out of The Day story.  It was found here, quoting the original version.

 

Cons:  Would Google lend its name in any way to a prison ship?  I think not.

 
Would floating prison ships allow the administration to bypass federal law forbidding the use of federal funds transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo to the US by shortstopping them to barges just offshore, but in international waters? 

 

At some point we will know the answer, but number 3 makes the most sense now.

 

Is Obama ready to throw Hillary under the bus? … The tea leaves say yes

On Friday a caller to the Rush Limbaugh show said she saw the most unusual and unexpected tabloid headline while in the checkout line of Wal-Mart.  It stated:

OBAMA WORSE THAN NIXON

And she went on to say the subheads said even more:

Ordered IRS to target political enemies

Spied on US citizens

Lied about terror attack

Now that’s the way to reach low information voters!  But how could Republicans get so lucky?  Well, it’s probably not luck.  It’s most likely a sign there is bad blood boiling up between the Clintons and President Obama again.  Possibly Hillary is being prepped to be thrown under the bus for the Benghazi affair  And Bill Clinton may be using his surrogates to express his displeasure – this one being political ally Roger Altman and his tabloid the Globe to send a message.

And it doesn’t end there.  Sunday’s Drudge Report carries the headline:

 

The headline links to a New York Post article, which to put it mildly, is uncomplimentary to Obama.  Here’s the gem of all gems from the mouth of Bill Clinton:

I have no relationship with the president — none whatsoever. Obama doesn’t know how to be president. He doesn’t know how the world works. He’s incompetent. He’s an amateur!

This blog has said before there is no love lost between the Clintons and Obama.  Bill Clinton simply can’t stand him.  It all goes back to the presidential primary campaign, where on several occasions Hillary was branded a racist.  That is an unpardonable sin in blue on blue confrontations.  Likely there will be more to come.

Throwing a chill into the press … The administration’s latest tactic.

The Justice Department’s monitoring of the AP’s phone records is one of the most bone headed moves of this administration.  And to announce it on the heels of two major scandals seems to defy logic.  But does it?

The only thing standing in the way of a torrent of whistle blowers, purloined emails and first hand testimony has been the pliant and fawning media.  They have ignored blatant falsehoods, obvious phony cover stories and have not followed through on potentially explosive stories such as Fast and Furious.  With few exceptions, the established media has been an effective shield protecting those senior level officials who are the motivating forces in this thuggish and deceitful administration.  But with the Benghazi hearings and the disclosure of the IRS targeting conservative political groups, that protective wall is crumbling.  At recent press conferences, Jay Carney has been pummeled.  And the President knows he will come under fire in the IRS scandal.

So how do you stop the potential Woodward and Bernsteins?  

In every administration there are disaffected people.  Some are elbowed out, some tire of the job and some leave because of philosophical differences.  Obama’s entire original White House financial team has left.  There are 4 flag level military of former military, who were either relieved of command or forced out shortly after Benghazi.  There are lower level folks who through gossip or otherwise, know where bodies lie. 

So the administration must throw a chill into potential sources, which is precisely what the Justice Department is trying to do.  It is sending a message, Chicago style, saying we will know who you are and you will pay for it.

Matt Drudge, remembering how Deep Throat passed messages, tweeted:

Warning to reporters and sources: Assume all your communications are being monitored. Time to move back to the parking garage #longhotsummer

Journalists and sources:  Actually that may not work.  If you have your cell phone with you, even turned off, you can be tracked.  The best way is the US mail, either to you or a nearby trusted friend.  Phone records require only a subpoena, intercepting mail requires probable cause and a court order.

 

Obama ecomomy failure means a one term presidency (video)

I have wondered why the Romney campaign hasn’t used President Obama’s own words against him.  So I will.  In an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer in June 2011 addressing the economy, Obama stated:

If I don’t have this done in three years, then there is going to be a one term proposition. 

Well said, Mr. President!  We will take you at your word.

Open video here.

 

 

Did Shieffer zing Candy Crowley last night?

I think Bob Schieffer’s opening comments that he had not discussed his topics with either the candidates or their staffs was wholly appropriate after Candy Crowley’s obvious support for Obama in the previous debate. 

There has been suspicion in past debates of favored treatment and even coordination on the part of liberal moderators.  Crowley’s interjection of “You are right Mr. President” has no place coming from an unbiased moderator.  And it was especially inappropriate after being challenged by Obama to check the transcript, and she had that particular transcript.

It was important that Schieffer clear the cloud of coordination and bias from the debates and he did it well. 

Obama’s motto “Forward” has the ring of Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”

Great Leap Forward Propoganda Poster 1958

Let’s hope nothing like it happens here.  China’s Great Leap Forward (1958-61) was Mao’s ill conceived effort to jump start China from a rural economy into an industrialized nation overnight.  Not only did it fail, but it was a disaster of epic proportions.  An estimated 30 million Chinese died of starvation in its aftermath.  Mao’s later Cultural Revolution, which received greater publicity, can’t compare.  That was a political purification program.  The Great Leap Forward was destructive communist socialism at its worst.  It should be a lesson.

Backyard Furnace

Mao in all his wisdom wanted to build an industrial economy by uprooting peasants from their traditional lands and forcing them into self-sufficient people’s communes.  Farming was collectivized, Soviet style.  But communes went beyond that.  They were meant to be part of the newly industrialized economy.  Steel production was begun in backyard furnaces diverting much needed labor from growing and harvesting crops.  Coal to make coke was unavailable so they used charcoal made from trees, denuding the local forests.  With no steelmaking expertise, the steel was of such poor quality it couldn’t be used.

Eliminating the Last Sparrow 1959

But the greatest damage was to agriculture.  Poorly planned planting procedures were mandated by party officials in Beijing.  As mentioned above, labor was in short supply because of steel making.  There was no fertilizer.  Typical of problems in a communist society the ownership of night soil, the common fertilizer of the era, came into dispute.  Party officials said it was state property, the peasants claimed their own waste for their garden plots.  The state won.  When locusts began destroying crops, China began a program of enlisting it’s hundreds of millions in the effort to kill and many as possible.  That effort also included birds that were devouring the harvested grain.  Unfortunately this ill advised program made a greater dent in the bird population than 0n insects.  The results were predictable.  Insects thrived without birds to control them.

Despite the agricultural shortages, grain was sent to the cities leaving rural China to starve.  And they did.

You would think we should have learned our lessons by now that command economies simply do not work. But this administration continues to run hell bent into ideologically driven projects.  It still promotes electric generation policies with costs double to quintuple existing methods.  It pushes electric cars the public refuses to buy and it forces us to buy oil from unreliable nations who maintain a pricing cartel to keep prices high.

But unlike China of Mao’s era and today’s, we still have the ability to vote these people out.

Obama worshipers fell all over themselves when he offered food to N Korea. Wonder how they feel now?

In researching Island Turtle’s article on the folly of President Obama’s agreement to buy the same horse twice (actually the third or fourth time is more accurate) with his 240 kilotons of food, for 8 months of good behavior (until the election)  I was bowled over by the obsequious praise of The One by NY Times readers. 

It took only two weeks for young Kim to announce he was breaking the deal and 6 weeks to launch the rocket which ended in failure.  And it now appears he will detonate a nuclear weapon to add an exclamation point to his defiance of Obama.  Young Kim is now a big cheese with his flock, showing he has no fear of The One.

Here are a few of the comments from the true believers. The Times’ article and complete comments are here, read them all if you can stand it. Yes there were some doubting Thomases who expressed concerns, but most were on the praise heaping side.  I wonder if they have second thoughts now.

Jack  Illinois

This is welcome and encouraging news. If this is the result of a new leader in North Korea I am glad that this could happen. Let's build on this development to stabilize the region and hopefully strengthen our ties to the Korean people.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 9:50 a.m.

Jb  ok

You mean that the war hawks aren't going to shriek and stomp and demand that "we" bomb and invade North Korea? With its nuclear program as far as it is?

Oh, I see. No oil.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 9:50 a.m.

Travis Bennett  New Hampshire

Good news! Peace!
Feb. 29, 2012 at 9:51 a.m

Lisa  NYC

Wow...imagine that, a diplomatic breakthrough which didn't involve going to war. Are you listening, Iran? I'd imagine that those in the US who are beating the drums for war with Iran are not going to like seeing this news because it demonstrates that diplomacy can work - even with whacko dictators at the helm.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:04 a.m

Newton Gregory  Miami

This is encouraging. Way to go Obama administration..Let's build bridges that break down barriers one step at a time and count each victory, even though small, as progress in the right direction.
This is a win win for USA and the world.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:04 a.m

Puristartist  Boulder, CO

God Bless Obama - seriously people, it does make a difference that's he's president.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:05 a.m

Donald Dal Maso  Manhattan

I want to congratulate HILARY CLINTON for her extraordinary work over the past three years. President Obama, you made a terrific choice by enlisting her in the work.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:07 a.m.

Lastcardjb  ct

This is a huge win for international diplomacy - to all those who say Obama doesn't have the chops- take a look at a surging auto industry, the justice brought to many terrorists, the opening of at least a small crack in the North Korean facade and many other small steps forward. Not perfect but damn good.

Also, NK insisting on tying the food to the disarmament, it saves face. They can spin it so their people don't perceive thee government as weak - good politics.
And the people win.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:31 a.m.

Mark T.  Henderson, NV

Another example of this government working quietly, professionally, behind the scenes, to make small improvements around the world. I'll never forget watching the "Correspondents' Dinner" and Obama's hilarious speech, and finding out the next day he knew all the while that we had just gotten bin Laden. And he never said a word. He must have been BURSTING to tell, but he didn't. Very professional. Never saw Bush do ANYTHING comparable.

Of course there's so much stuff going on behind the scenes we'll never know about, but that's just the world we live in. Good victory for Obama and Secretary of State Clinton.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:32 a.m.

Mehrdad Sahba  Sarasota, FL

This is triumph of diplomacy and sane thinking over sabre rattling which hopefully will add to promise of less nuclear weapons and a safer world for all humanity.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:32 a.m

Rene Joseph Louis Lefebvre  Montreal

We can praise President Obama and his administration for engaging North Koea in a way that lead to today's announcement that will open North Korea's nuclear facilities. China and Russia had much more leverage to engage this secretive nuclear country but it seems that their policies toward North Korea were only facilitating the late Kim Jung-il to increase his nuclear military arsenal while starving his people and depriving his country of much needed money and revenues used to buid and maintain his nuclear arsenal and facilities instead of making sure every North Korean citizen had enough food to survive.

I hope that Republicans are not going to use this opening and try to point at President Obama as being weak on defense and caving to North Korea's traditional threats and chest beating. It is in everybody's interest that this openeing, "although limited" be used to continue to engage Korea's new leader in a face saving and not try to humiliate him and his people by blocking food aids in order to get more demands and risk going back the terrible policies of the past. Russia and China should also send positive signs to encourage North Korea to continue in this deirection. They must show clearly to North Korea will benefit from taking further steps similar to the change of mind they just demonstrated. After blocking twice the UN's Security Counsel votes against Syria, Russia and China must demonstrate they are not only mentors for crual dictators.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:33 a.m.

James Hadley  Orleans, MA

How true! You can bet that the Republican candidates will denounce this as another enormous mistake by Obama. But at least no-one will have to explain to Herman Cain where N. Korea is located.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:34 a.m

Scott  Massachusetts

A step at a time. Good work by the Administration. Hillary Clinton is doing such a great job -- she is completely inspiring.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:38 a.m

Cedar  Colorado

The Republican candidates for all governmental offices can yap all day long about the social agenda they want to foist on the US, but nothing will overshadow the accomplishment of getting the worst rogue nuclear power in the world to stop its weapons development programs. Why? North Korea can blow up parts of Japan, South Korea, and the US, including large population centers, easily. If the new "dear leader" has the sense to take aid in exchange for peace and stick to the agreements, then real progress has been made. The trouble on our side has been the right wing ideological idiocy of Bush and others in refusing to meet, much less negotiate, with North Korea. The trouble on their side has been similar ideological volatility. Combine those two ideologies and you get only closer to danger.

I cannot see that any of the current crop of Republican blow hards would ever have been able to accomplish this since they are too knotted up in their own radical right wing ideas and threats against peace (or too focused on figuring out clever ways to deny basic health care to women, treat our veterans like garbage, discriminate against gays and reduce medical and educational benefits to the poor and needy all in the name of reduced taxes and "self sufficiency".)

As a country we must be vigilant and ready to meet any military threat, but must equally be ready to make peace. This is a great accomplishment for America and our current President, even if it is only an incremental step.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 12:06 p.m

Final comment by Island Turtle:  Eat your words liberals!

Obama’s deal with North Korea a disaster … His reaction, please don’t report on it

The Obama administration has just proven its utter failure in foreign policy.  It had negotiated an agreement with the North Korea that in exchange for food it would give up its uranium enrichment program, allow IAEA inspectors into the Yongbyong facilities, halt missile tests and cease nuclear weapons tests.  It is now 43 days since the agreement was inked and in that short period of time North Korea has announced plans to launch a satellite with missile based technology (a lightly veiled test of its long range Taepodong-2) and begun preparations for an underground nuclear detonation.  This sets the record for the shortest lived agreement yet.

The reaction from the White House?  Nothing.  Well, almost nothing.  It seems more concerned with negative press coverage than a rogue nation perfecting its long range ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads and threatening its neighbors.  This from the New York Times, datelined today.

The White House has urged media organizations not to overdo their coverage, saying it would give Pyongyang a propaganda victory. The satellite, one official said, was a “dishwasher wrapped in tinfoil.” But that has not stopped news organizations from sending correspondents to Pyongyang, where they have filed frequent reports on preparations.

The agreement was doomed to failure from the beginning and the administration knew it. Obama’s Defense Secretary Gates said in 2009, when asked about buying off North Korea with food, “We are tired of buying the same horse twice.”  But all Obama wanted was good behavior from Kim for 8 months until the election was over.  He reportedly attempted same thing with Netanyahu, when he pressured (unsuccessfully) the prime minister to make a commitment not to attack Iran before the election.  Short term palliatives don’t work. Kim knows that and he knows Obama won’t make tough decisive moves before the election. 

It is now open season for the rogue states of the world to misbehave.  And they are.  Aside from Kim thumbing his nose at Obama, Iran is playing a stalling game of go nowhere talks.  This does give the administration the opportunity to talk tough, really really, really tough.  But no one trusts the administration to back up its words with action, least of all the Israelis. 

Other notable foreign policy initiatives gone bad include Egypt where the administration is playing footsy with the military to keep a lid on, or at least delay until after our elections, a full Muslim Brotherhood takeover of all aspects of Egypt’s government. But instead, Khairat el-Shater’s has entered the presidential race, despite the Brotherhood’s insistence it wouldn’t field a candidate. Obama’s insistence on Mubarak’s ouster and the rise of a fundamentalist Islamic regime in Egypt has eerie parallels to Jimmy Carter’s treatment of the Shah in Iran.  And it will probably result in a theocratic regime, just as it did in Iran.  That’s not a pleasant prospect. And of course there is Afghanistan where Obama’s insistence on a “date certain” for withdrawal is the poison pill that guarantees failure.

Weakness does not win wars, nor does it lead to diplomatic victories.

Why did Judge Smith lecture Obama? Because he simply ignored a court order the judge had approved.

Most lawyers trying a case abide by the maxim: Don’t piss off the judge. 

President Obama disregarded that when he lectured the Supreme Court not to overturn the health care law.  Indirectly the President was challenging the entire judiciary and it struck a raw nerve with Judge Jerry Smith, of the 5^th Circuit Appeals Court.  Judge Smith had, less than two years earlier, rejected, in a 2 to 1 decision, the Interior Department request to stay a lower court order lifting the offshore drilling moratorium (Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC v. Salazar) – thus requiring the moratorium lifted. 

In one of the most blatant examples thumbing its nose at the courts, the administration simply ignored that order.  After the administration’s appeal was rejected, they rescinded the original moratorium order (ostensibly complying with the court), but almost immediately after, replaced it with another essentially identical order, affecting precisely the same rigs in the first order.  When the second moratorium was lifted in October, still no drilling permits had been issued.

The original judge of the 5^th Circuit, Martin Feldman landed on the administration three and a half months later.  He issued a contempt citation against Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar citing a “determined disregard” of his order.  And he added to the insult by requiring Interior to pay Hornbeck’s legal fees.

Today Attorney General Eric Holder sent his single spaced, three page answer to Judge Smith on the Supreme Court’s ability to overturn legislation it has judged unconstitutional.  We don’t know what it said, but it should have included:

Don’t piss off the judge

Don’t piss off the judge
Don’t piss off the judge…

OCCUPY THE WHITE HOUSE

Has anyone in the conservative spectrum thought about the best campaign slogan for Republicans?  And one that will backfire on the protestors and their Democratic allies.  How about this:

OCCUPY THE WHITE HOUSE

Vote Republican

Why LightSquared is more than cronyism … It’s about safety

The recent revelations by Eli Lake at The Daily Beast that a four-star Air Force general was pressured to alter his testimony to favor Light Squared, revealed a new case of cronyism in the White House.  Now a second individual has now come forward to say he too was urged to parrot OMB suggested text in his testimony - that the OMB wants expedited testing for frequency interference.  He refused to do so out of safety concerns.  From The Daily Beast: 

The four-star Air Force general who oversees Air Force Space Command walked into a highly secured room on Capitol Hill a week ago to give a classified briefing to lawmakers and staff, and dropped a surprise. Pressed by members, Gen. William Shelton said the White House tried to pressure him to change his testimony to make it more favorable to a company tied to a large Democratic donor.

The episode —confirmed by The Daily Beast in interviews with administration officials and the chairman of a congressional oversight committee —is the latest in a string of incidents that have given Republicans sudden fodder for questions about whether the Obama administration is politically interfering in routine government matters that affect donors or fundraisers. Already, the FBI and a House committee are investigating a federal loan guarantee to a now failed solar firm called Solyndra that is tied to a large Obama fundraiser.

Now the Pentagon has been raising concerns about a new wireless project by a satellite broadband company in Virginia called LightSquared, whose majority owner is an investment fund run by Democratic donor Philip Falcone.

LightSquared hopes to become a satellite based phone operation similar to land based cell phone service providers.  It seeks to use additional unused frequencies adjacent to the GPS band that currently provide a buffer to GPS service.  Interference from LightSquared satellites could degrade GPS service both for civilian and military users.  The majority owner of LightSquared is hedge fund manager Phil Falcone who between himself and his wife have been heavy contributors to the Democratic Party (over $60,000 last year).

But this meddling is far more than crony capitalism it’s about threatening the integrity and safety of the GPS system.  GPS has grown from its infancy as navigation system to pilot sailboats or to guide you to Aunt Katie’s house in rural Vermont. With accuracy improvements, it can now position anyone consistently within 3 feet, anywhere in the world.  Because of that accuracy it is now being used by aircraft to conduct precision approaches to weathered in airports without ILS.  Down the road air traffic control will become GPS based, rather than ground radar based, as will collision avoidance systems.  In the future GPS will be used to help drive your car autonomously (hands-off or driverless).  Google is currently testing a fleet of autonomously driven Priuses in the Bay area (using backup drivers) and soon will be testing them in Nevada, driverless.  The DARPA Grand Challenge conducted in the 2004 to 2007 period proved that driverless cars can operate safely even in an urban environment.  And farm tractors will soon be doing the same thing.  It is the very accuracy and dependability of this system that will be applied to yet undreamed of applications. 

The administration and the FCC should refrain from reducing safety margins for this irreplaceable system.  The recent case of the North Koreans jamming a US intelligence plane’s GPS navigation system, forcing it to cut short its mission shows that the system is fragile.  We should be working on hardening it, not putting it in jeopardy with risky, self serving actions.

Bloomberg warns of riots … Is he actually encouraging “US Days of Rage” riots in NYC tomorrow?

Matt Drudge’s red and bold headline screams about Mayor Bloomberg’s prediction of civil insurrection by disaffected youth against the government.  But is Bloomberg actually encouraging, rather than predicting, disruptive behavior on the eve of the US Days of Rage protest led by former SEIU official Stephen Lerner?  Surely the mayor is aware of Lerner’s plan and background. 

The US Days of Rage is scheduled as a “nonviolent” protest outside the JP Morgan Chase headquarters
 tomorrow, Saturday, September 17.  It has been organized by Lerner, a far leftist, to bring down Wall Street and the banks and ultimately collapse the economic system of the US.  Lerner has been an acolyte of Andy Stern who resigned the presidency of the SEIU in March, 2010.  Lerner left the union seven months later.  Neither the Days of Rage nor Lerner’s incendiary speech at Pace University in March (see below) have been reported by the legacy media.  Only The Blaze (Glen Beck) and Fox News have given it coverage.

Lerner’s March 19 speech at Pace University is a call to destroy the capitalist system (audio and text from the Blaze here).  The initial plan was to mob the JP Morgan Chase shareholders meeting in May to demand social justice.  That failed because the meeting in Columbus Ohio was held at a motel surrounded by a moat.  The intended tactics there and presumably Saturday are to encourage mortgagees and student loan recipients to withhold payment to force JP Morgan to renegotiate or eliminate their loans.  Cities would follow with the same tactics, forced by the unions under the threat of a strike, to blackjack JP Morgan to write down municipal debt and free up funds for union employee wages.  From the Blaze:

And so the question would be, what would happen if we organized homeowners in mass to do a mortgage strike. Just say if we get, and, and, if we get half a million people to agree, we’ll all not, we’ll agree we won’t pay our mortgages, it would literally cause a new financial crisis.

There are four things we can do that could really upset Wall Street. One is if city and state and other government entities demanded to renegotiate their debt because they’re paying too much interest. And you might say, well why would the banks ever do it? Because they, the cities and counties could say we won’t do this and this in the future with you if you don’t renegotiate the debt now. Meaning, about a third of bank profits generate from dealing with cities and states. So we could leverage the power we have of government to say we won’t do business with you, JP Morgan Chase, anymore unless you do two things: you reduce the price of our interest, since your interest rate is down; and second, you rewrite the mortgages for everybody in the community so they can stay in their homes. We, we could make them do that.

The second thing is there’s a whole question in New York now about austerity and student’s rates and the question of the debt structure. What would happen if students said we’re not going to pay? It’s a trillion dollars. Think about your …sweeping that debt, a trillion dollars from students debt?

There’s a third thing that we could think about, what about if public employee unions, instead of them being on the defensive, put on the collective bargaining table when they negotiate they said we demand as a condition of negotiation that the government renegotiate, we want, we believe in good financial management. It’s crazy that you’re paying too much interest to your buddy the bankers. It’s a strike issue for us. We will strike unless you force the banks to relieve the debt of the city. I’m not going to go through all the detail except to say there’s extraordinary things we could do and if you add on top of that, if we really thought about moving to the kind of disruption in Madison, but moving that to Wall Street and moving that to other cities around the country where we basically said you stole $17 trillion, you’ve impoverished us and we’re going to make it impossible for, for you to operate.

Lerner continues

The folks that control this country care about one thing: how the stock market does; how the bond market does; and what their bonus is. So I think we weed out a very simple strategy: how do we bring down the stock market, how do we bring down their bonuses, how do we interfere with their ability to, to be rich. And if we don’t do, and that means you have to politically isolate them, economically isolate them and disrupt them. So, it’s not all theory, I’ll do a pitch.

So, a bunch of us around the country are thinking about who would be a really good company to hate? We decided that would be JP Morgan Chase.

Lerner’s use of the term “Days of Rage”, the Weatherman inspired riots in Chicago in1969, does not appear to be a call for a peaceful protest.  Lerner, reportedly has been a guest at the White House on 4 occasions, two of them more than ceremonial functions.  Keeping company with folks like that throws a bad light its current occupants.

Pulling the R lever in NY-9

The most important fact that has Democrats in Washington quaking in their boots, is that thousands of Jewish voters discovered last night they could pull the R lever and not be struck by lightning.

“When you’ve lost the New York Times …”

Sunday’s NY Times opens a subject being whispered in the halls of Democratic power.  Will a second run by a severely weakened President Obama destroy the party as it did for the 12 years following Jimmy Carter’s loss to Ronald Reagan?  Is the war of 2008 now lost?  Blame is put on his lack of resolve for liberal ideas, namely killing the EPA’s new ozone dictates, his lack of aggressiveness and of course the economy. 

In English spoken west of the Hudson, it’s called panic. 

Democrats are expressing growing alarm about President Obama’s re-election prospects and, in interviews, are openly acknowledging anxiety about the White House’s ability to strengthen the president’s standing over the next 14 months.

Elected officials and party leaders at all levels said their worries have intensified as the economy has displayed new signs of weakness. They said the likelihood of a highly competitive 2012 race is increasing as the Republican field, once dismissed by many Democrats as too inexperienced and conservative to pose a serious threat, has started narrowing to two leading candidates, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, who have executive experience and messages built around job creation.

Democrats have been deluding themselves in the past nine months that the massive losses they took in 2010 were just a fluke.  The race for Weiner’s Brooklyn/Queens seat is proving them wrong.  There, the central issue is Obama himself because of his treatment of Israel. Polls are now trending to the Republican candidate, and even if the Democrat manages to hold it, it would be a humbling win. The district is a 2 to 1 Democratic and heavily Jewish, one that would normally go at least 60/40 in their favor.  Democrats are very vulnerable especially in the Senate next year, where 23 seats they own or control are up for grabs, versus 10 for Republicans. 

While the Times bemoans the threat Obama presents to the party next year, it doesn’t say how to get to there from here.  That is, who tells Obama he should step aside?  Bill Clinton?  No way, with the presumptive candidate his wife.  Jimmy Carter?  Give me a break!  For good or bad, Democrats will have to stick with their man.   

Republicans could create a little mischief if they wanted.  And that would be to convince either Rasmussen or Gallup to do public polling of Democrats to see who would be the best nominee, Hillary or Obama.   And keep doing it each month.

Now that would cause ruckus!

Will Obama admit his policies are failing as Lenin once did? Will he declare a New Economic Policy?

After Lenin seized power in the USSR in 1917, he instituted a repressive policy of seizing industry, farms, banks and almost all productive enterprises (without compensation), a policy called “War Communism” (essentially communism as we know it today).  It was an unmitigated disaster.  There were famines, diseases and a general breakdown in production.  Because of these failures, in 1921 he ordered a major change called the New Economic Policy (NEP) which allowed significant private ownership for small business and gave peasants a share of their output. This rapidly improved the economy that had been devastated by WWI and his earlier policies.  I am definitely not a fan of Lenin, but he had the wisdom to realize his original policies were unworkable.

With the miserable failure of President Obama’s jobs program in the past two and a half years, will he have the courage of Lenin to admit his policies are a mistake?  Will he see the wisdom of capitalism and its ability to generate jobs?  Or will he wallow in his ideology and watch the country tank, while blaming his opposition?

I’m not optimistic.