Gates orders cuts in Pentagon bureaucracy
Posted in News, Tech on August 10th, 2010 by admin – Comments Off
Facing growing pressure to cut military spending, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Monday ordered the closing of a major Pentagon headquarters, restrictions on the use of contractors and reductions in the number of generals and admirals.
The belt-tightening moves were aimed at eliminating duplication and reducing overhead, Gates said at a Pentagon news conference.
Safety systems were bypassed, rig worker says
Posted in News, Politics, Tech, economy, what on July 24th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffKey safety systems were bypassed or disabled on the doomed Deepwater Horizon drilling rig — some for months or years — a top technician on the vessel testified Friday, as offshore cleanup crews hurried toward port ahead of a tropical storm system.
In testimony in the third round of investigative hearings in Louisiana, a rig technician described an operation in which alarm systems and safety devices were turned off, computers didn’t work and maintenance was long overdue.
“The rig was in very bad condition,” said Mike Williams, a chief electronics technician who worked for rig owner Transocean Ltd. aboard the Deepwater Horizon.
Critic’s Notebook: The devil in Don Draper
Posted in Entertainment, News, economy, what on July 23rd, 2010 by admin – Comments Off
“What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he’s around? Nobody is going to be taken in if he has a long, red, pointy tail. … He will look attractive and he will be nice and helpful and he will get a job where he influences a great God-fearing nation and he will never do an evil thing … he will just bit by little bit lower standards where they are important. Just coax along flash over substance. … And he’ll get all the great women.”
— Aaron Altman ( Albert Brooks) in “Broadcast News”
The fourth-season premiere of AMC’s “Mad Men” opens Sunday with a voice asking: “Who is Don Draper?”
Senate passes sweeping financial overhaul legislation
Posted in Health, News, Politics, economy on July 16th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffNearly two years after a financial crisis triggered the worst recession since the Great Depression, the Senate approved bold and controversial legislation aimed at preventing a repeat — and set the stage for a showdown over the issue in this fall’s midterm elections.
The 60-39 vote Thursday was a major victory for President Obama and Democratic leaders and marked the second landmark overhaul — the first was healthcare reform — that the administration has pushed through Congress this year.
Suspect’s arrest is a milestone for the community and the police
Posted in Celeb, Crime, News, what on July 11th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffThe news conference called last week by the mayor, the police chief and other officials at the new Los Angeles Police Department headquarters was meant to celebrate the capture of a suspect in a decades-long series of murders in South Los Angeles.
But in a far more subtle way, the proceedings also served as a slap-down to the notion of the moment — that government is bloated and unresponsive, unworthy of support and unable to produce success in the quick time frames expected by its citizenry.
Here government, by way of its foot soldiers the detectives and crime lab workers, had worked. Not necessarily quickly and not always impeccably. Still, elected officials had taken risky stances. Employees being mocked by candidates as overpaid and sumptuously pensioned had worked together to break the case open. A police department and a community that regarded each other with animosity a generation ago stood side by side, exchanging praise.
Microsoft makes a new push into cellphone operating systems
Posted in News, Tech, Video, what on July 7th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffMicrosoft is the undisputed king of operating systems — except for the ones you hold in your hand.
The company, whose Windows software dominates on desktops and laptops, has been also developing systems for mobile phones for more than a decade.
But its Windows Mobile operating system is not a big hit with consumers. As of the first quarter of this year, it had only about 10% of the nation’s smart-phone market, according to the research firm NPD Group. It lagged behind Research in Motion (BlackBerry phones), Android (from Google, used in a variety of models) and iOS (Apple’s iPhone).
Microsoft’s piece of the pie is not only small, but it has been shrinking. In 2008, it had 30% of the smart-phone market.
Live: Elena Kagan Senate confirmation hearing
Posted in News on June 30th, 2010 by admin – Comments Off9:35 a.m. EDT
Day Three of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings is now underway, with the Supreme Court nominee facing a friendly round of questioning from the remaining members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — all junior Democrats.
As Jim Oliphant reports Wednesday morning, the proceedings included a feisty exchange with the panel’s leading Republican, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, over access to the Harvard Law campus for military recruiters during Kagan’s time as dean. Sessions accused Kagan of acting “without legal authority” to bar recruiters from the school’s Office of Career Services, saying she treated the armed forces as “second class.” Kagan said she was simply following the law.
Live: Elena Kagan Senate confirmation hearing
Posted in News on June 30th, 2010 by admin – Comments Off9:35 a.m. EDT
Day Three of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings is now underway, with the Supreme Court nominee facing a friendly round of questioning from the remaining members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — all junior Democrats.
As Jim Oliphant reports Wednesday morning, the proceedings included a feisty exchange with the panel’s leading Republican, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, over access to the Harvard Law campus for military recruiters during Kagan’s time as dean. Sessions accused Kagan of acting “without legal authority” to bar recruiters from the school’s Office of Career Services, saying she treated the armed forces as “second class.” Kagan said she was simply following the law.
A rapid-fire chain of events led to Gen. McChrystal’s downfall
Posted in News, Politics, what on June 24th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffGen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s team knew it had a problem on its hands last Thursday, when fact checkers for Rolling Stone magazine sent in questions for an upcoming cover story.
Did the Afghanistan commander’s inner circle really refer to itself as “Team America”? read one question that landed on the desk of McChrystal’s press aide, Duncan Boothby.
It was hardly the most explosive revelation in the piece, but it served as an early warning that McChrystal’s decision to allow generous access might have backfired.
Top general in Afghan war apologizes for profile, is summoned home
Posted in News, Video, what on June 22nd, 2010 by admin – Comments OffThe top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has been summoned to Washington to explain his controversial comments about colleagues in a recent interview, Obama administration officials said Tuesday.
The officials say Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who has issued an apology for his comments, has been ordered to attend the monthly White House meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan in person Wednesday rather than over a secure video teleconference, so he can discuss his comments with President Barack Obama and top Pentagon officials.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in discussing the general’s schedule.
