More thanks coming soon…

Meanwhile, the Libyan PM can help assess this:

From: randy.forbes@mail.house.gov
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:44:33 -0400
Subject: Does Defense Manufacturing Matter?

 

Dear Friend –

In 1997, the United Kingdom initiated a program to develop a nuclear attack submarine. But some five to six years into the program, it became clear that neither the prime contractor nor any other British firm had the necessary design and production skills to build the new submarine. Without a domestic ability to produce submarines, the United Kingdom was forced to look abroad in order to complete their project.

Fortunately, the British were able to look to United States and employ one of our shipyards to provide the missing skills and expertise. With American help, the Astute class was completed in February 2010. However, by then the cost for the first three Astute-class submarines had reportedly grown by 90%, and the first of the class was some four years late.

If the U.S. military one day found itself in the same position as the British did with the Astute program, it would have few places to turn for help since no allies currently maintain the breadth and depth of capabilities resident in the U.S. defense industry.

Defense manufacturing is worth protecting. Let’s take a look at this snapshot of defense manufacturing in America:
The Workforce-
Take for example one American shipbuilding company that currently employs 39,000 people:

  • More than 7,500 engineers.
  • More than 1,000 employees with advanced degrees.
  • More than 19 different crafts and trades.
  • Over 700 master shipbuilders (over 40 years experience).

The defense industry employs some of America’s best and brightest:

  • Skilled technicians and designers that have produced our fleet of nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers- a fleet with over 145 million miles safely steamed on nuclear power.
  • Skilled engineers that have designed the most advanced and capable aircraft in the world.

As production jobs and capability decline, the ability to recover these critical skills becomes very expensive or even impossible as highly skilled personnel are forced to pursue other careers.

The Production Lines-
Historically the United States has been able to convert commercial manufacturing to produce defense products during a time of crisis:

  • During, WWII manufacturers of consumer products like toys and arcade games were able to rapidly shift production to military munitions in support of the war effort.
  • Today, U.S. has lower manufacturing capacity and weapons are more specialized than they were 50-plus years ago.
  • We need a strategy to maintain the skills and infrastructure of these production lines.

Shuttering existing lines will diminish or eliminate our capabilities should we need them in a time of crisis.

The Suppliers-
The industrial base is much broader than the top tier, Fortune 500 defense contractors.  The small business suppliers are a vital component that is often overlooked.  Look at just two examples:

  • Since 2004, 1,600 vendors in 42 states have filled orders totaling over $3 billion to build our nation’s aircraft carriers.
  • The Joint Strike Fighter supply chain spans 1,300 companies in 47 states and supports nearly 127,000 direct and indirect U.S. jobs.

According to Pentagon analysis, the defense industrial base provides 3.8 million private sector jobs.  Trillion dollar cuts to nation defense will result in:

Job Losses.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost within the defense industry.  Much of the engineering and technical experience lost will be impossible to recover or rebuild in the future.

Shipyard Closures.
Shuttering of U.S. shipyards, which are the largest manufacturers in Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, and Maine.

Atrophy of innovation.
Looming defense cuts will invariably eliminate entire sectors of the industrial base and lead to less competition.  With far fewer manufactures, remaining companies will lack incentive to come up with new, better, or cheaper solutions for our warfighters.

Inability to rapidly reconstitute critical skills in response to emergent threats.
The ability of the United States soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine to maintain a technological advantage on the battlefield would be in jeopardy.

Few have contemplated a future where the United States, when confronted with a crisis on the scale of Pearl Harbor or 9/11, must predicate its response with “Can we?” rather than “Will we?” Such a way of life is worth protecting.

Yours in Service,

Randy Forbes

for those who served, willingly or unwillingly…

Applebee’s – free meal, Friday, Nov. 11

There will be 7 entrées to choose from. Military ID or proof of service required. Find locations at http://applebees.com/.

 

Chili’s – free meal, Friday, Nov. 11

Dine-in from limited menu only; beverages and gratuity not included. Veterans and active duty military simply show proof of military service. Visit their website to find locations.

 

Golden Corral – Free meal, Monday Nov. 14

If you are a veteran, retired, currently serving, in the National Guard or Reserves, you are invited to participate in Golden Corral’s Military Appreciation Monday dinner. For more information visit http://www.goldencorral.com/military/.

 

Hooters – Free Meal, Friday, Nov. 11.

Choose one of the new specialty items on the Hooter’s menu. Offer valid at participating Hooters only; open to all active duty and military veterans with valid military ID or proof of military service. Drink purchase required. For more information, visit, www.HootersVeteransDay.com

 

Krispy Kreme – Free doughnut Nov 11

Available only at participating Krispy Kreme stores. Offer available to all active-duty, retirees & veterans on Friday November 11th. Be sure to call ahead to verify your local Krispy Kreme is participating

 

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants – free lunch or dinner, Sunday Nov 13, 2011.

Veteran’s Appreciation Event on Sunday, November 13th. Veterans will be able to choose a complimentary lunch or dinner entrée. Be sure to contact your local McCormick & Schmick’s as this is valid at participating restaurants only. Also, Space is limited and reservations are highly recommended. For more information visit: M&S Veterans Appreciation Event.

 

Outback Steakhouse – A week of Free Bloomin’ Onions and Cokes Monday Nov. 7 – Friday Nov. 11.

Outback Steakhouse is offering active duty military and veterans a free Bloomin’ Onion and a Coca-Cola product during the week leading up to Veteran’s Day. For more information, visit, http://outback.com/companyinfo/veteransday.aspx.

 

Subway – Free Six Inch Sub. Nov 11

Select Subway locations offer a FREE six inch sub to military veterans on Veteran’s Day. However, Subway restaurants are franchises, so this offer may not be available everywhere. Please call ahead.

 

Texas Roadhouse – free meal, Friday, Nov. 11.

Offer varies by location; our local Texas Roadhouse is offering a free meal from opening until 4pm. Other locations may vary in offer, hours, or availability. Call ahead to your local restaurant for more information.

 

T.G.I. Friday’s – Buy one get one free Nov 11-14.

At participating locations for anyone with an old or current military ID. November 11-14.

 

Uno Chicago Grill, Friday, Nov. 11.

Uno’s is offering a free entree or individual pizza with a purchase of an entree or pizza of equal or greater value. More info here.

 

Colonial Williamsburg Free Admission.

Colonial Williamsburg offers free weekend-long admission tickets to active-duty military, reservists, retirees, veterans, and their immediate dependents from Friday, Nov. 11 through Sunday, Nov. 13th. The complimentary ticket incudes admission to Colonial Williamsburg exhibition sites, art museums, and most daytime programs, as well as free parking and use of the shuttle bus system. Tickets are only available at on-site ticket sales locations. Tickets are also available to families of deployed servicemembers. Tickets available on the following dates: Nov. 11-13

 

Bed and Breakfast for Vets

B&Bs for Vets has organized over 485 (and counting) participating Bed and Breakfasts and Inns across the US and Canada which will be offering veterans a free night’s stay on November 10th, the night before Veterans Day. For more information visit B&Bs for Vets.

 

Fee Free Day at National Parks

America’s Best Idea ? the national parks ? gets even better with several fee-free days at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees. Visit one of your national parks on Veterans Day, November 11, 2010, and you won’t be charged an entrance fee. And making the fun even more affordable, many national park concessioners are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors with their own special offers

 

Amazon.com – Discount “Veterans Day Honor” MP3 album download. This downloadable album includes 12 songs as performed by the military bands and ensembles of the U.S. Armed Forces. Visit Amazon on Veteran’s Day to download the album.

 

Netflix – One Month Free Trial.

 

Sport Clips – FREE haircut to active-duty military & veterans. Offer only available at select locations. Please call to verify local participation.

 

Tim Hortons – all US locations are offering a free donut to all veterans (check out the Star Spangled donut!).

 

$100 for opening new Chase Freedom VISA.

 

 

The Dol­lar Gen­eral — Vet­er­ans, Ser­vice­mem­bers (Active, Guard, and Reserve), and their imme­di­ate fam­i­lies will receive a 10-percent dis­count with a Vet­er­ans Day coupon. The coupon may be found in store cir­cu­lar ads or by ask­ing a sales asso­ciate.

 

Free car wash for Veterans and active Military on Nov 11

http://graceforvets.org/index.php

 

Free Wedding Gowns for Military  Wives

Starting November 7, retail stores in 25 states will give away a limited number of bridal gowns to qualified military brides for FREE.

The gowns will range from size 4 to 22 and are valued from $500 to $3,000.

Go here to find participating stores’ cities and dates for giveaways.

Veterans can get in free to events–and not just on Veterans Day! Baseball games, concerts, every event you can think of. All tickets are donated then distributed. You can sign up for a free account to get tickets. If you have tickets to an event you aren’t going to use, you can donate them here. Offer through the Veteran Ticket Foundation.

Mr. Slim Weighs In

Toward what or whom do you gravitate?

I, too, don’t want emotion to cloud my judgment but shouldn’t emotion be involved if I’m truly human?

How well do you cover your tracks?

Can you tell which secret projects the Rocket City Rednecks have worked on by watching their skill sets in action on an edited-for-TV show?

Do you have the sensitivity to hear the voices of others synchronised into the one talking in front of you?

Are you a true believer in the pebble-in-the-pond theory of reverse engineering current states of energy?

Do you understand how time travel really works?

Can you detach yourself from everything, including yourself, in order to hear the silent rhythms of the universe?

Is KISS your guiding principle?

It’s nice to keep the self feeling important just enough to know the self is truly unimportant but ego (i.e., the recognition of oneself in the social web) is a vital part of being human so you balance the best you can, tipping the scales in the wrong direction many a time, refining the finetuning of holding the balance as you go along.

Letting go, letting go, letting go – what am I missing this time?  What have I added?  The “I,” of course!

Every subculture deserves its positive, life-affirming attitude [“as long as it doesn’t interfere with mine,” right?] as long as or even if it doesn’t know it is part of a larger set of abutting and intersecting subsets/subcultures.

What happens if we directly bail out the consumer?  Other than the perception (certainly from my point) that the underwater/indebted/bankrupt consumer should not be freed from irresponsible personal financial management (and while we’re at this blame game, that person is just as likely to be an uninformed voter and maybe a bad parent), what is the reality?

If stockbrokers supposedly vetted by respectable financial companies’ HR departments are acting like psychopaths in their trading habits, some of them taking down whole companies or causing CEOs like the one at UBS to quit, meaning that internal company controls are no better there than internal thought patterns/controls of individual consumers, then why are we reluctant to forgive mortgages, credit card debt, etc., of individuals but readily willing to bail out badly managed financial institutes and political entities like Greece?

What is wrong with the balance of power?

The peasantry have little effect on overall purchasing power, that’s why.

This parroting parrot has squawked about the emperour’s new clothes until it’s hoarse but the observation is still true.

We, the people, no longer matter.

We’re back to the days when only the landed gentry had a say in the law of the land.

That’s why I’m thinking about not voting in the 2012 U.S. Presidential election for the first time in my life.

I just can’t see where any of what I say or do as a broke, out-of-work individual fits into a single vote, especially in a political entity (in this case, a state) that’ll most likely vote the way it has recently voted for U.S. Presidents, regardless of which way I’ll cast my vote.

Even in so-called swing states, if I lived there, my vote would still be just one vote, putting in office a person who is just as purple as Bush or Obama, a surfer riding the waves of aggressive military-industrial corporate policies.

Don’t get me wrong.  I personally benefit from aggressive military-industrial corporate policies.

In fact, I’m a strong proponent of the global corporatising that sits over the imaginary structures we call political entities/national governments.

Take this storyline that you can’t tell if it’s real or imaginary – me in charge of the Committee that runs the show.  It’s a lot easier to rule seven billion when they all are connected through the same macrocultural interests.

But there’s a difference between my being able to destroy people, businesses and rockets at the snap of my finger and my being an individual in plain sight, sitting here – or being served a chopped chicken stuffed baked potato by Mary at Gibson’s BBQ – who has to find a simple place in society despite severe social anxiety and situational depression.

And, then, erasing all thoughts of self to live invisibly as just another set of states of energy in this section of the universe that is shifting like a bubble within a bubble or a bouncy ball floating and banging around within a bigger bouncy ball at the five-and-dime store.  A fake snowflake shaken around in a souvenir snow globe by a bored tourist trapped in a gift shoppe after a speedy haute couture “adventure in an exotic foreign land.”

We forget what’s been said before so we can say it again as if we’re the first on the edge of terra incognito.

I do not exist.

And yet, I do.

The paradox is not supposed to resolve itself.

It is.

That’s all that matters.

I write this while sitting on my posteriour and wearing bedroom slippers.

I am.

And yet, I am not.

Imagine the possibilities of the Internet of things in just a few months, let alone years, if every kid on the block had easily-programmable Arduino-like devices to connect their imaginations to the Internet.  What if everyone’s heartbeat rate was available for view in realtime – what kind of rhythmic percussive symphony would it compose on the fly?

The average age of gamers is 37, I read.  There’s more than one mobile phone per person in some parts of the world.  What are you doing with your time?