Looks like we have graduated from the days of $5,000 hammers, to the decade of $1 billion dollar software fiasco's... In this recent piece by Reuters Scot Paltrow, he uncovers billions of dollars being thrown away by the Pentagon for worthless software that has failed to even be implemented. It's now much clearer to me why the ACA (Obamacare) websites couldn't function when they were implemented...  Does anyone else wonder where they learned their tricks from ? ?

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part3

Another recent Reuters piece entitled:

China wants more party bosses reprimanded for ignoring graft

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sally Huang; Editing by Robert Birsel)

http://news.yahoo.com/china-wants-more-party-bosses-reprimanded-ignoring-graft-052708253.html

You will find this: 'Regional governments and other departments will have lists drawn up clearly outlining who is responsible for what, he said, as the government targets an old problem of its orders being largely ignored at the local level. ' (emphasis added)

This is particularly interesting. Primarily because for nearly five thousand years and untold number of dynasties and emperors, this has always been a problem in China. And it appears not much has changed...

Abe visits shrine for World War 2 war criminals.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/26/us-japan-shrine-abe-idUSBRE9BP00Q20131226

I just don't understand this behavior. Does anyone (ANYONE) think that Angela Merkel would visit a shrine for Adolf Hitler? Yet we (US) continue to support this kind of activity.... Now... I don't get it...

and finally this week:

For all those out there that are set against the ACA (ObamaCare), instead of just regurgitating the Faux Noise and party of 'No' position, try this on for size as a viable alternative. I know that it would take time to get this accomplished, but this op-ed piece in Reuters by John H. Cochrane, makes sense.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304866904579265932490593594

The president said the leaked information had given some countries which have worse records on human rights, privacy protection and freedom of dissent than the United States the leeway to disparage U.S. policies. "That's a pretty distorted view of what's going on out there," he said.

Seems to me that if one didn't engage in activities that hinder human rights, privacy protection and freedom of dissent, that one wouldn't be seen with a distorted view....

No one argues that we could or should 'unilaterally disarm'... Spying on people, and foreign governments is as the president has said, 'something that every government does'... I actually do not have a problem with that. I'm sure that even the German government spies on the US government when it can, just as the US spies on the German government. But that kind of spying is NOT done in the name of 'looking for terrorists'... That kind of spying is normal run of the mill spying – 'something that every government does'....

However, the secret courts, the secret prosecutions and the secret warrants are not about this kind of spying. This is about trying to discover and head off a terrorist attack on Americans and or American interests, particularly inside the United States. THIS is the War on Terror.

However, when the government uses a 'secret court' to issue a 'secret warrant' that blankets millions and millions and millions of phone calls made by innocent American citizens, and captures millions and millions and millions of emails from innocent American citizens, this is decidedly NOT the 'War on Terror'... This is a war on the Constitution of the United States and the American people as a whole, and is hardly a badge of honor to hang your hat on....

And calling these activities 'legal' is just plain funny. If a nation passes a law making it 'legal' to send Jews to the gas chamber, does that then justify the actions of Nazi Germany? Legality does not confer legitimacy.

We accuse China of human rights violations because they maintain labor camps for people who want to harm to 'their government'... Yet we maintain Guantanamo for the very same reason.

You cannot claim the 'moral high ground' unless you're standing on it.

I am resetting this blog once again....

I tried this before, and it didn't work out... Primarily because I'm lazy. Or at least laid-back, and maybe just a little too laid-back. But I would like to give this another shot. I don't know if it will work out, or if I can keep it up, but I can't see letting this blog sit around doing nothing. I mean in my mind, my brain tells me I have a lot of stuff up there that needs to come out. But I have difficulty getting those things executed to paper...

So I decided to give it another shot.... If it doesn't work this time, I'll just call it quits, and delete the whole damn thing.

If there are any readers, which I doubt there are at this point, I hope you understand.

Expect something here soon....