Tuesday, May 11, 2010
humpback and calf
On Mother's Day, down near Sloat, a group of complete strangers were transfixed for at least 20 minutes watching a couple of whales feeding, more than likely, just off the deep edge of Ocean Beach. I felt what I can only call a religious experience as I watched them rise to break above the waves just momentarily and then the tail fin appears and you realize how huge the animal is. I was left speechless.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Rain
Oh, we need the rain. We hear reports that rain is on the way and it turns out to be a drizzle or wee showers. If we don't get a good dousing soon, I'm sure we'll be on rationing before much longer. It's not just financial crises we worry about -- we've got deficits as far as the eye can see, in all directions....
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Spooner Lake
Bonnie and I got away just before the New Year. The weather held, so we didn't have to drag out the chains. The drive to Ponderosa country was a breeze and this is where we stayed for 2 nights; we had the cabin all to ourselves. There are 2 cabins on the 9000 acre trail system, only accessible by snowshoes or skiis. The cabin we stayed in is so deliciously isolated that the only sounds which stirred us from sleep were the yipping and howling of a wandering pack of coyotes deep in the night.
Change is coming
I was fascinated today listening to Hillary speak of contractor's at today's confirmation hearing:
"And, you know, Senator, on contractors, this is going to be a big issue for this committee. We have seen the abuses by contractors, but even when there are not headline-grabbing abuses, there has been a steady transfer of authority and resources from government employees and a chain of accountability to contractors, and we have reaped the very difficult consequences of that. We -- we know, obviously, of the security contractors and some of the difficulties that they have presented, but it's been contractors across the board.
We have used so many of them, particularly in Iraq, but not exclusively, and I think we have to take a hard look at whether we want the U.S. government to turn into a contracting agency or whether we're going to be smart about using our resources because, in most instances, contracting out a job costs more than keeping it in-house and building up expertise and experience and imposing accountability. So I look forward to working with you and your subcommittee to try to determine what we can do about contractors." (NYT excerpt: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/politics/13text-clinton.html?pagewanted=31)
Wow! I never thought I'd hear these words coming from her. I hope she's serious about pursuing this issue; it's very upsetting to think that these private security firms, the Blackwaters, etc., are cashing in on war, on our occupation of a sovereign nation. I guess you could say they are war profiteers, like so many in this conflict (and probably every conflict we get involved in). Perhaps the difference is that the individual contactors are risking life and limb for the money, whereas BW management, the Halliburtons and other war profiteers are reaping windfalls behind corporate bullet-proof shields. It's all disgusting to me; while our soldiers are accountable to the chain of command, who are these guys accountable to?
"And, you know, Senator, on contractors, this is going to be a big issue for this committee. We have seen the abuses by contractors, but even when there are not headline-grabbing abuses, there has been a steady transfer of authority and resources from government employees and a chain of accountability to contractors, and we have reaped the very difficult consequences of that. We -- we know, obviously, of the security contractors and some of the difficulties that they have presented, but it's been contractors across the board.
We have used so many of them, particularly in Iraq, but not exclusively, and I think we have to take a hard look at whether we want the U.S. government to turn into a contracting agency or whether we're going to be smart about using our resources because, in most instances, contracting out a job costs more than keeping it in-house and building up expertise and experience and imposing accountability. So I look forward to working with you and your subcommittee to try to determine what we can do about contractors." (NYT excerpt: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/politics/13text-clinton.html?pagewanted=31)
Wow! I never thought I'd hear these words coming from her. I hope she's serious about pursuing this issue; it's very upsetting to think that these private security firms, the Blackwaters, etc., are cashing in on war, on our occupation of a sovereign nation. I guess you could say they are war profiteers, like so many in this conflict (and probably every conflict we get involved in). Perhaps the difference is that the individual contactors are risking life and limb for the money, whereas BW management, the Halliburtons and other war profiteers are reaping windfalls behind corporate bullet-proof shields. It's all disgusting to me; while our soldiers are accountable to the chain of command, who are these guys accountable to?
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