dballance
dballance's JournalDU Can be Such a Wonderful Place
I got this PM from another member here on DU. It was so wonderful to have another member show appreciation and take the time to actually send me a PM.
The PM follows. I have blocked out the name of any member that was snippy.
Just wanted to give you props for being so nice when xxxx was kind of snippy--unnecessarily snippy, I thought, given that you hadn't declared yourself an expert and said you were interested in learning more.
Every once in a while, threads on DU seem like a dogfight that starts with a little nip here and another one there and suddenly there are teeth everywhere. So, well done for being gracious and not letting that happen.
Can we Have a Happy Day?
i am just as guilty as the next person who has posted snarky replies to other posts here on DU.
Recently, I've tried to take a different tact. I've been trying to say "thank you" and "good going" to other members who post positive posts.
So, can we have a day, or two, where we support our fellow members for their great posts? Can we not be approving by our silence and post a well deserved "thank you" or other positive messages to them?
Why The Hell Would Ashley Judd Want to Run?
First of all, she lives in TN so she'd have to move back to KY. Since I'm from TN and have close relatives in KY I don't see much difference in the two states as far as politics are concerned.
The most important question is "Why the hell would you open yourself up to the current political process when you can continue to be an actor and offer opinions that will get covered by the media?"
Ms. Judd must have reasoned, properly, that she can stay out of direct politics and still have a great influence on the political discussion. In fact, if she has roles in high-profile endeavors that raise her stature she will have a far broader audience than she could command as a senator from KY.
I think she's made a wise decision from a strategic point of view.
Why Is Lockheed Martin Still a Government Contractor?
Why is our government still giving billions of dollars to Lockheed Martin? Lately I've noticed a trend here when reading about defense project screw-ups. It seems they are more than likely to be run by Lockheed Martin.
Three recent stories come to mind. All of them use words like "technical problems, mismanagement, over budget, behind schedule." All of them seem to tie back to Lockheed Martin.
F-35
First, and foremost, is the F-35 project. Already in it's 12th year the GAO recently said “Overall, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is now moving in the right direction after a long, expensive and arduous learning process.” Sure, give me 12 years and billions of dollars and I'll finally get something right too. By the way, the GAO said we're really only one-third of the way through flight testing so any number of new issues that arise in the latter two-thirds could be costly and bump the cost of the project even worse than it is now. Which is just about at $400 billion now.
From Stripes: "The Defense Department began the F-35 program in 2001, but made revisions in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2012 after performance problems, delays and cost overruns. The original 2001 estimates of 2,852 planes at a cost of $233 million have turned into about 400 fewer planes for 70 percent more money, and over a longer period of time." What a bargain. We get to pay 70 percent more and get 14% less. Who the hell agreed to that? I won't be taking them car shopping with me anytime soon.
GAO Report: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-309
MEADS
Next comes the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). According to Mother Jones: "Congress is spending $380 million on a missile program that has no funding authorization, doesn't work, and the Department of Defense doesn't plan on buying." This of course, is another Lockheed Martin project. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/meads.html And, "Unfortunately, according to the Office of Secretary of Defense, MEADS has had serious technical, management, schedule, and cost problems since it was introduced in the mid-1990's" and has been unable to 'meet schedule and cost targets.'" There's that recurring theme with Lockheed Martin projects.
Link to Mother Jones article: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/03/pentagon-paying-380-million-useless-missile-everyone-hates
Littoral Combat Ship
Finally, for this post anyway, is the Littoral Combat Ship. According to Bloomberg: "The U.S. Navy’s troubled Littoral Combat Ship, a vessel intended to be small and speedy for use in shallow waters close to shore, lacks the firepower it needs, a top U.S. navy commander said in a classified memo." Further: "...the Navy may be starting to re-examine the $37 billion program. The ship has been beset by troubles, including cracks and corrosion, its price has doubled since 2005 to $440 million per vessel..."
How's production going on these $400 to $500 million each vessels? Well, again from Bloomberg: "The two versions of the Littoral Combat Ship -- derided by critics inside the Navy as the “Little Crappy Ship”-- are being built simultaneously.
A steel-hulled vessel is being made in Marinette, Wisconsin, by a team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) (LMT), and an aluminum trimaran is being built in Mobile, Alabama, by a group led by Austal Ltd. (ASB) Lockheed’s first ship developed a crack in the hull, and Austal’s vessel had corrosion problems."
Link to Bloomberg article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/ships-costing-u-s-37-billion-lack-firepower-navy-told.html
When I played softball and baseball in school after three strikes you were out. Seems to me Lockheed Martin has had three strikes but keeps bellying-up to the defense trough without being pushed away. I think it's time for a Senate and House investigation of contracts between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin. Who, on the inside at the Pentagon, keeps on sending business their way?
Poor Rick Scott - The Legislators in Flori-DUH? are Worse Than Him.
So it turns out Florida's legislature is even more extremist than Gov. Rick Scott. He gets a deal with the federal government to use the Obamacare Medicaid expansion funds to essentially privatize Medicaid, which should be a key goal for any Republican, but the legislature just hates Obamacare so much, they are rejecting the deal.
More at link:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/05/1191783/-Scott-s-Florida-Medicaid-plan-hits-legislative-nbsp-snag?detail=hide#
Anyone else he looks a little like some sort of Skeletor type?
Please Take the Time to Make Comments When You're on a Jury
This is a cross-post from Meta where it might have been more appropriate as commentary on DU and its processes. However, I don't feel it got the review of enough people there so I'm posting it here as a plea to DU members. As my plea to help us all make DU a great place. One of the great places I visit every day.
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I know it takes time to make comments when you volunteer to serve on a jury and you've already given of your time by participating on a jury. Thank you for your service.
What people may not realize is that taking time to comment on your thoughts for why you voted to Hide or Leave a post is very helpful to people upstream of that jury service. The admins and the MIRT team get sent alerts on hidden posts with the TOS violation box checked. They take your comments into account when evaluating whether or not to revoke posting privileges for a member.
Your comments could be important to cause the admins or MIRT to see things from a different angle than they might otherwise and, as a result, allow a member to continue to have posting privileges because that member may have simply inelegantly stated a post but is still a good DU member. Conversely, your comments might help confirm their suspicions that the member is a troll, racist, misogynist, bigot, spammer, or other type of member who should have their posting privileges revoked.
Finally, your comments serve to inform the alerter and the member whose post was alerted on about how other DU members perceive their alerts and posts. This is true for all posts including ones that don't have the TOS box checked. So it serves as a means to help educate other members and to guide newer members on what is considered appropriate at DU.
Laughter is the Best Medicine. An old but true thing. I Loved It in Reader's Digest
Recently I interviewed for a job. My very good friend who did everything up to and including jumping up and down on the hiring manager's desk to get me the interview was outside the conference room during my interview. He'd been outside the conference room during other candidates interviews for the same position as well.
When I left the room and as he escorted me out of the building I told him I thought the interview went well. He mentioned he had heard laughter in the room so he was hopeful for me.
I really hadn't thought of it but looking back I did make some comments that elicited laughter from the interview team. I'm not a comedian, I just made comments anyone in my industry would find amusing.
So, in addition to the fact I'm completely qualified for the position and have performed the required duties for the job in the past I had that extra plus. I was able to relate to the interview team and make them laugh.
I was able to make them laugh because I don't take myself too seriously. I can make fun of myself and not feel I've denigrated myself.
Kind of one of those great qualities I love about people here on DU.
ON EDIT: I start the new job on March 4th.
Do Phone Number "Area Codes" Actually Matter Anymore?
I was exchanging e-mail, not phone messages oddly enough given my post's topic, with a friend of mine who I knew in Miami when I lived there. Now he lives in Dallas but retains his old 305 area-code phone number. One of my friends moved from Oregon to another state and still retains his 503 area-code number. I have a 503 number and if I moved I'd keep it because so many people have that number in their contacts lists and it's a perfectly good number so I see no reason to try to start remembering a new one.
So my random thoughts and ramblings right now are that area codes are not area codes anymore. We just have 10-digit numbers that identify us no matter where we are. Especially if that number is tied to a cell phone.
I Bet that's putting some tin-foil hats on more than a few people. Does anyone have a "666" area code? That'd be really fun to have just to tweak some people. 
Please Take the Time to Make Comments When You're on a Jury
I know it takes time to make comments when you volunteer to serve on a jury and you've already given of your time by participating on a jury. Thank you for that.
What people may not realize is that taking time to comment on your thoughts for why you voted to Hide or Leave a post is very helpful to people upstream of that jury service. The admins and the MIRT team get sent alerts on hidden posts with the TOS violation box checked. They take your comments into account when evaluating whether or not to revoke posting privileges for a member.
Your comments could be important to cause the admins or MIRT to see things from a different angle than they might otherwise. As a result, that might help admins or MIRT decide not to revoke posting privileges when a member may simply have inelegantly stated a post but is still a good DU member otherwise. Conversely, your comments might help confirm their suspicions that the member is a troll, racist, misogynist, bigot, spammer, or other type of member who should have their posting privileges revoked.
Finally, your comments serve to inform the alerter and the member whose post was alerted on about how other DU members perceive their alerts and posts. This is true for all posts including ones that don't have the TOS box checked. So it serves as a means to help educate other members and to guide newer members on what is considered appropriate at DU.
Cheers! Keep on reading and posting!
New Task for All DUer's and Friends. Let's Saddle Rubio w/ Nickname H20 Rubio
Let's start using this everywhere we post to get it to take hold? Maybe we can help keep him out of even the 2016 GOP Primaries from embarrassment. Wouldn't that be fun?
Profile Information
Name: DaveGender: Male
Hometown: Gallatin, TN
Home country: USA
Current location: Portland, OR
Member since: Mon Nov 6, 2006, 03:59 PM
Number of posts: 5,756
