MooPig Evolving Budget Department :: "The Military Budget Deal"

How to Spend a Couple of Hundred Billion in an Afternoon
Mashed MoJo articles by Pat Darnell  |  Dec 15, 2013  |  Bryan TX

[Picture LINK] Awase Meadows Golf Course was built in 1948 by the U.S. Army and was most recently operated by Marine Corps Community Services. It was closed in February and turned over to Japanese control in June as part of a 1996 agreement to return 21 percent of the U.S. military property on the island.



Mother Jones Magazine has been around for about 40 years. I was on Trinity University campus "on its inception in 1970-1973, Mother Jones operated with an editorial board, and members of the board took turns serving as managing editor for one-year terms." They had a unique way of marketing; they gave free monthly copies away the first year to all us students in the dorms. Mother Jones would show up in my mail box each month. It also littered the mailroom floor as many students just threw their free copies there. Since then I have subscribed to Mother Jones once. But now I can read it online, HERE. MoJo tells me it is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and we rely on YOU to support our fiercely independent reporting.

TIME and NEWSWEEK were also pushed on the student body during my years at college. I also subscribed to them at the student rate, 19 cents a copy. I also subscribed to Mother Earth News during that time.

As MoJo is reporting military spending, Young Turks network also reports "the pentagon has apparently misplaced or can't account for 8.5 trillion dollars in the last decade and a half ..." in this youTube HERE.

The Budget Deal Is a Big Win for the Pentagon | Mother Jones: "Until Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) rode to the rescue this week, Pentagon brass and their allies had been issuing dire warnings about the nation's military readiness: The armed services were being decimated, they said, by sequestration—the automatic budget cuts that were set to trim $1 trillion from the Pentagon budget over the next decade. "It's one thing for the Pentagon to go on a diet. It's another for the Pentagon to wear a straitjacket while dieting," grumbled Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.). The message got through: The House overwhelmingly approved the Ryan-Murray plan just two days after it was introduced."

'via Blog this'

Like everything else, if I think too hard about this subject, I will get dizzy and feel old. The Pentagon has re-framed the military budget again just recently with a unanimous YES vote in Congress. Both parties saved military budget cutbacks with emergency legislation, right before they go for their own month and a half holiday break. Said MoJo: "... The House overwhelmingly approved the Ryan-Murray plan just two days after it was introduced ..."

" ... The Department of Defense expects its total 2014 budget, including supplemental war funding, to be more than $600 billion. (MoJo. 12/2013. HERE)..."

Recently, the government had resorted to the action of taking legal possession of assets until a debt has been paid or other claims have been met. This is called sequestration. The entire legislature is run by lawyers. Every Senate and Congress Person and every intern has a law degree. And they also therefore are officers of the courts. [Even Michelle Bachmann has a law degree]. So, every thing those government types do is always "lawyerly." There is no bigger cock blocker in the world than a high powered lawyer politician, believe you me. There are no beekeepers, pharmacists, MBA's, nor doctors in government. If there are other non-lawyer types in government by popular election, they end up being labeled "whack jobs."

" ... According to Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, the Pentagon could reduce its budget by $100 billion a year without undermining its readiness. The sequestration cuts for 2013 amounted to $37 billion. (MoJo. 12/2013. ibid) ..."

[Graphic LINK]

Our military can not abide a "sequestration" so they are let off the hook again this year by our lawyer leaders of the Legislature, Courts, and Executive Branch ... no audit, no accountability, just systems normal: all fouled up, SNAFU.

" ... David Vine who teaches at American University in Washington D.C. who has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Guardian, attempted to find out himself the cost of the more than 1,000 U.S. military bases outside of the United States and is currently completing a book on the subject.

Vine talked to budget experts, and both current and former Pentagon officials, among many others in his attempt to gather relevant data. Many interviewed said that Vine's task was hopeless because of the huge number of bases involved, the secrecy of Pentagon budgets and the often fictional nature of Pentagon figures. The Department of Defence Vine notes is the only federal budget yet to pass a financial audit. (Ken Hanly. Dec 16, 2012. HERE)..."

"The 2009 U.S. military budget accounts for approximately 40% of global arms spending. The 2012 budget is 6-7 times larger than the $106 billion of the military budget of China, and is more than the next twenty largest military spenders combined.(Ken Hanly. Dec 16, 2012. ibid.)..."

CONCLUSION

• The Pentagon employs 3 million people, 800,000 more than Walmart.
• The Pentagon's 2012 budget was 47 percent bigger than Walmart's.
• Serving 9.6 million people, the Pentagon and Veterans Administration together constitute the nation's largest healthcare provider.
• 70 percent of the value of the federal government's $1.8 trillion in property, land, and equipment belongs to the Pentagon.
• Los Angeles could fit into the land managed by the Pentagon 93 times. The Army uses more than twice as much building space as all the offices in New York City.
• The Pentagon holds more than 80 percent of the federal government's inventories, including $6.8 billion of excess, obsolete, or unserviceable stuff.
• The Pentagon operates more than 170 golf courses worldwide.

NEXT WEEK: ...Now if the US military is SNAFU, what is the condition of all the other nations' military?




__________________________Reference
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/12/pentagon-budget-deal-charts-cuts
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/26/exclusive_fired_army_whistleblower_receives_970k?fb_action_ids=606208336081746&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.UqzVMTsFDmg.like
http://youtu.be/68A_HPYGdlk
http://youtu.be/kUIrSAznMbM
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/14249/malaise-over-syria
http://youtu.be/fjOG_huEY70
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_deployments
http://digitaljournal.com/article/339184
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/12/20121213122226666895.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1nd0z8/eli5_why_dont_other_countries_have_military_bases/
http://moopigwisdom.blogspot.com/2013/12/moopig-budget-department-how-many-us.html

MooPig Opinions and Editorials Department :: " Middle School and Guns"

It's all a Set Up
By Patrick Darnell  |  Oct 24, 2013  |  Bryan TX

[Picture LINK]

Comment:
... You take a child out of a nurturing elementary environ, force them into a factory setting, [middle school] while the child is going through puberty and trying to manage strong hormonal injections of estrogen and testosterone, while girls are starting their periods, and older kids and teachers are there like predators who pounce rather than nurture... it is no wonder that adolescents are psychotic, by definition they are so. Then make guns available from dad's collection, and bullets to boot... psychosis plus lots of guns equals disaster.

I have a suggestion: turn all the middle schools into farms. Introduce all middle schoolers to the wonder of animal husbandry and growing things.

[Picture LINK]

Students learn math by studying hens laying eggs, and chemistry by milking cows, and about themselves while watching animals in cohabitation, and receive a liberal arts education watching animals reproduce.

Screw all the lawyers with there new-fangled CORE programmed learning, and STAR tests, and bullshit. Teachers today are referred to as "Facilitators." This is a crime against humanity.

Put America back in the agrarian state it belongs in. Put some backbone in our kids, instead of insidious, malfunctioning, brain drama.  


I have spoke!

[Picture LINK] Kids picking spinach ...


___________________Reference
http://mtprnews.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/farm-to-school-meets-lawn-to-lunchroom-at-somers-middle-school/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boy-suspended-school-toy-gun-family-property-article-1.1465745
http://www.grootbos.com/en/blog/eco-tourism/spaces-for-sports/dibanisa-lesson-4-sustainable-farming-in-fynbos

MooPig Counter Intelligence Department :: "More on DHS Fusion Centers"

Try to stay Calm
by Pat Darnell | Dec 19, 2012 | Bryan TX

" ... The U.S. government has spent up to $1.4 billion of taxpayer money since 2003 to create “threat fusion centers” under the guise of fighting terrorism. Yet a two-year bipartisan report recently released by the U. S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has found that these “fusion centers,” operating under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in efforts to engage national, state and local intelligence, have not yielded any useful information to support federal counter-terrorism intelligence efforts.
[ ... ]
Most people who rely on print and TV news probably have never heard of fusion centers. There are up to 72 of these facilities. As many as 50 state-based and 22 urban centers were set up during the Bush presidency in cooperation between the DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ). (October 14, 2012. Source: Gregory Patin. HuffpOst. HERE) ... "

[Picture LINK]

" ... [This comment from] 'Donald W. Dickson/Austin, Texas' ... Unfortunately, there is no constituency for reform. State and local governments love these DHS dollars. The fusion center here is the pride and joy of the Texas Department of Public Safety's top brass, and they've received beaucoup dollars from the same federal bureaucrats that our governor enjoys flogging in public. ( JAMES RISEN. Published: October 2, 2012. HERE ) ... " Since I represent one of DPS's officer associations, I'd sure love to see what their fusion center has on me. Terrorists, lawyers, what's the difference, right? ... "

 National Security Network | Heather Hurlburt Quoted in Huffington Post on Romney’s Homeland Security Silence, Support for DHS Fusion Centers:

[Picture LINK]

'via Blog this'

BEFORE NOVEMBER, DURING THE POTUS DEBATES
 " ... Whether inside or outside the debate hall, the report may at least raise the issue of what Romney would do about the troubled fusion centers today and whether he would add them to his promised $500 billion in federal spending cuts if elected president.

“I’d love to hear what Governor Romney thinks about the fusion center experience,” Heather Hurlburt of the progressive National Security Network told HuffPost via email. “I don’t believe he has put forward a homeland security policy — he’s not discussed the topic in speeches or debates.

Like most of his Massachusetts record, he hasn’t seemed anxious to run on or even discuss his homeland security policies as governor. It’d be a fair question for the debate tonight.”

Rose of the Massachusetts ACLU agreed: “Given Governor Romney’s role in launching these boondoggles — and President Obama’s decision to keep funding them — both presidential candidates should be asked tonight whether and why they would continue to waste billions of our scarce tax dollars on state fusion spying centers that don’t keep us safe but do undermine the right of ordinary Americans to be free from government snooping without a warrant.” (Andrea Stone. October 3, 2012 | Huffington Post. HERE) ... "

[Picture LINK]

“Fusion centers often produced irrelevant, useless, or inappropriate intelligence reporting to DHS, and many produced no intelligence reporting whatsoever.” ( ROBERT N. CHARETTE / WED, OCTOBER 03, 2012. HERE)
 ____________________________Reference
 http://nsnetwork.org/heather-hurlburt-quoted-in-huffington-post-on-romneys-homeland-security-silence-support-for-dhs-fusion-centers/ http://www.hsaj.org/?home=8.1 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/us/inquiry-cites-flaws-in-regional-counterterrorism-offices.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121004/18132820601/dhs-our-reports-to-congress-are-successful-bullshit.shtml http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/telecom/security/u-s-senate-report-dhs-counterterrorism-fusion-centers-often-produce-crap-intel http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/homeland-security-fusion-centers_n_1933998.html
http://www.acapitolblog.com/2010/10/official-opening-of-texas-fusion-center.html
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/10/senate-report-fusion-centers-meant-to-combat-terrorism-found-to-spy-on-u-s-citizens.html
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Article/084005-2011-02-16-goldwater-institute-promotes-4th-amendment-killing-fusion-centers.htm
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread631321/pg1
http://snippits-and-slappits.blogspot.com/2009/03/america-civil-unrest-unavoidable.html

MooPig City Desk Department :: Maine West High School

I had Three in this School
Snagged by Pat Darnell | Nov 29, 2012 | Bryan TX |  Des Plaines IL


 Maine West High School Hazing, Sex Assault: More Families Join Lawsuit Against School District: "TAGS to FOLLOW: Video, Tony Romanucci, Main West High School Sex Assault Coverup, Main West High School Sodomy, Maine West High School, Maine West High School Athlete Abuse, Maine West High School Hazing, Maine West High School Hazing Lawsuit, Michael Divincenzo, Chicago News

" ... A total of four families have now joined a lawsuit against Maine Township High School District 207 alleging that their children were sexually assaulted during hazing rituals that were sanctioned by the coaches as a long-standing tradition at Maine West High School."

'via Blog this'


_________________Reference
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/maine-west-high-school-ha_n_2212093.html

Cheap Shot Artist: Lawyer Ball

Urban Word of the Day
www.urbandictionary.com

March 26, 2008: Lawyer Ball

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Lawyer+Ball&defid=2153164

The art of playing the rules instead of playing a game. For example, trying to
work out a walk in slow-pitch softball. Swing the bat, you puss!

Also applicable to weenies who demand free throws after the slightest contact in
a pick-up basketball game and d-bags who take yardage penalties in backyard
football games.

Pops: Hit it out of the park, boy!
Son: Don't pressure me, I'm trying to work the count.
Pops: Don't play lawyer ball, son.

HeHe... lawyer ball --Thanks Urban D.
--One of my pet peeves since I was old enough to have peeves, has been cheap shot artists. You know who they are, and they know who they are. I get a full tilt adrenaline charge whenever the pip-squeak twerp shows up with his/her tired act. I have to watch it, though, because I kicked one's ass so hard once, ...well it wasn't pretty. So... go ahead twerps give it your best, then byte me.
Iowa Legal Malpractice Attorney, Waterloo Lawyer, Ball, Kirk, & Holm
Legal malpractice harms the image of other lawyers all over Iowa. Our attorneys at Ball, Kirk, & Holm, PC, in Waterloo, IA, are dedicated advocates who...

Strategy for Business Health

MooPig_Wisdom said... this is my story to wit, and I'm sticking to it.
I suggest that backyard inventing and garage-based tinkering are the healthiest state of mind.

Entrepreneurs are everywhere in the USA, tinkering. Garage businesses are the backbone of our free enterprise. Over half of business is Home-based in US. What is the first thing a newcomer to the USA does? He and she starts a job, then does a side job for cash, builds a cash flow, then buys a building.

There are plenty of buildings to buy, and with garages for tinkering with business ideas; viola'.

The government has little to offer the beginner. It is after all not a business. Government is a guidance counselor, and I shudder to think more than a few people think it is a panacea for business. Government is a lawyer killing a real estate deal. It is a collector of nickles and dimes.

Besides, there is a lot of slack in government, and slack is what makes us all unhealthy. Mark my words, "Soon they will be mowing lawns and building gizmo's in garages all over Baghdad, just you wait and see." For what was wasted in the Enron bankruptcy, $67 billion, we could have rebuilt Baghdad from the water table up! Lord knows they need water there. Ask Haliburton.

That is what we Americans take to the world; the healthy state-of-mind of Entrepreneur.

The value proposition is that you writers and readers Look at this, and make it sail:

Strategis: "This website has been created to share and present research on Global Value Chains for your benefit. Global value chains, GVC, include the full range of activities that are required to bring a product from its conception to its end use and beyond, e.g. design, production, distribution. The ability of [global] firms, [as entrepreneurs] to integrate and manage, GVC, is key to their future competitiveness and long-term economic viability.

This shift is also having a significant impact on the [North American] economy." http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/engdoc/main.html

That's the Report from the Middle; where the women are strong, men are good looking, and children are all above average.

Read Live Write Read Live Write

Old Wood Improvised grass rooted distant, flagged journalistic genre... and dense

I use the same method for everything I write. The types of writing we are doing in online accelerated classes are demanding a kind of loopy journalism. Often I wonder if the tasks are out-of-date just to test our mettle and resolve. Regardless, it is the task, and if I am aggravated by it, so it seems, that is part of the dig.
I am not an Ingrate
I hope instead of looking at the dissonance, the reader, you who are also writing and probably in the middle of your careers, will see another aspect. I truly hope you will see fourteen or more business ideas in each of my papers, and sincerity in my appeals for things to change. May I please feel strongly about helping others reach their fullest potential, using the maturing reading and writing tools? In brick and mortar construct, I often aspire to be the writer's writer.
My personality is non-confrontational, and reluctant-authoritative, unless it is a statement about my experiences, which after all are hard fought in this world. Then you may get a feel of concentrated case study that makes a reader look.

Thanks once again for posting a comment that calls me out... Old Wood Improvised home-grown Dissonant. Sometimes papers I write have big flaws, like any script. It also has unedited comments, one might get the wrong impression about. For that I am apologetic, and well just a bit peeved at myself: when my thesis is over stated and the argument is randomly spotted, and unclear. I want it to pop out, but the time needed to edit it to “rendering stage" is ever unavailable.


I write as I read the sources, with no notes taken, goes directly into the paper, to be edited later. Then, I re-write up to three drafts, depending on the cuts I want to remove or add. Sometimes I get so tired of the paper I just let it go, regardless of the stage it is in. Sometimes I hang on to a paper until I hear harmony in it.
Sometimes I am focused from the beginning, and the paper is usually harmonious in voice, content and style from a predetermined palette. Much of the time my focus is not, and my humor isn’t; then the paper really starts to sound like a Hoover.
Addled attempts to make brief the long winded. Much like the befuddled mathematician forming formulae in esoteric languages, logarithms and algorithms, to a condensation of equality in a balanced formula, such as: E = MC2.
Should a postulate be for good reason, a simple formula in judicial opinion with legalese grammar? Is that more eloquent and more efficient than the best concise Declaration of Independence?


Lawyers
Yes that was a wise crack, because I see lawyers as inflated, modifiable clerks. The task of filing a lot of decisions has been elevated to paying a large amount for clerks to keep track of large files. After a while the whole system seems based on when the vacations schedules of the judges and the dissenting lawyers “might” coincide, so that a decision can be made. Meanwhile, the file sits in an in box.
In that system systemic, time lags behind because the counselors do not want to face the truth that they are just file clerks, inefficient at that... how can anyone place a trust in it? Or maybe because my college sweetheart became a lawyer, after using me up and dumping me to go to law school, I have dim view.

Because I am older now, and have been in the creative fields for my 39 year work history, drafting/ graphic artist/ printing/ painting and trade show, I jam as much into the assignment as is possible.