I hate
 

But then who could Penske race? or marry?

Spanky, rev up those lobbying engines
 

• US May Delay Missile Warning Satellite To Trim Budget
  
  Dow Jones
  August 29, 2006
  By Rebecca Christie
  
  WASHINGTON--The U.S. Air Force may delay a new Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) missile warning satellite because of new pressure to trim the Pentagon budget, according to people familiar with the matter.
  
  The $10 billion Space-Based Infrared System, or SBIRS, program is considered a prime target as the Pentagon assembles its budget proposal for fiscal year 2008. To make more room for fighters and tankers, the service may postpone purchase of a third big satellite.
  
  Each SBIRS satellite will cover about a third of the earth's surface. As a result, any new delays will postpone when the new system can take over from older missile warning satellites. This would increase the risk of a coverage gap as the existing system ages.
  
  Air Force officials aren't eager to take on that risk. But because the service needs to cut costs somewhere, a SBIRS delay is on the table, according to government and industry sources.
  
  Even though Congress has not yet approved Pentagon funds for fiscal 2007, which starts Oct. 1, federal agencies are already hard at work developing a 2008 budget plan for consideration next year. The White House's budget office typically finalizes details for the next fiscal year by December.
  
  The Air Force cannot comment on when the Defense Department will make a decision on how to proceed with SBIRS in fiscal year 2008, Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Regina Winchester said.
  
  New Delays Driven By Budget, Not More Tech Challenges The proposed delay is largely budget-driven, in contrast to the SBIRS program's past travails. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, the program has encountered a string of cost and schedule troubles that led one general to call it a "poster child" for bad management.
  
  In addition to the missile warning mission, the SBIRS satellites also will have sensors to track moving targets and perform a range of other duties for intelligence analysts and battlefield commanders. As a result, the SBIRS satellites have been much more complicated and technically challenging than expected.
  
  Last December, the Pentagon announced a broad overhaul to get the program back on track. Chief Defense Department weapons buyer Ken Krieg said the Air Force should buy the first two big satellites and then decide in 2008 whether to buy the third spacecraft or pursue an alternative.
  
  A third satellite under the existing program is the most likely course because as fiscal year 2008 takes shape, the Alternative Infrared Satellite System program is still in its infancy. The Air Force program office says bids for a system definition contract are due Sept. 8, with awards expected by November.
  
  In contrast, the main SBIRS program appears to be making solid progress. On Tuesday, Lockheed Martin said the first big SBIRS satellite has successfully completed an extensive test phase, known as spacecraft functional testing.
  
  "The team executed a highly disciplined and successful test and the results give us high confidence that the spacecraft will meet all performance requirements," said Mark Crowley, Lockheed Martin's SBIRS vice president, in a press release.
  
  The first big SBIRS satellite is slated for launch in late 2008. Work on the second satellite is underway; it is scheduled for launch in late 2009 and Lockheed Martin says the satellite is on track to meet that goal.
  
  These big satellites form the heart of the SBIRS constellation. They will circle the earth in geosynchronous orbit, looking for missile launches and other threats. The SBIRS program also includes a ground system and two polar-orbiting satellites that will piggyback on a classified satellite system; these modules already have been delivered.
  
  If the Air Force delays the third big SBIRS satellite, it might shave about $320 million from its fiscal year 2008 plans and postpone about $1.3 billion in near-term follow-on funding, said defense analyst Jim McAleese of McAleese and Associates, a Washington-area government contracting law firm. Citing budget documents from last year's deliberations, he said the baseline SBIRS research funding comes to about $700 million that would probably continue.
  
  "The war on terror has significantly changed this administration's focus on space. The levels of space funding growth that we initially anticipated at the beginning of Donald Rumsfeld's tenure are not achievable," McAleese said.

I think that last paragraph is kinda interesting, from an academic perspective, but this Seems like it might Threaten star Wars.

A is for effort, S is for Spanky.
 

Self-Employed Fluffer. A wackadoo, but a great board name.

I hate
 

It's like the Borg or something

I hate
 

Bjorn?!? I think he was swedish not swarthy.....or are you making Wonk's point?

More logic from the Social Conservatives..
 

Now here is some twisted Logic. These guys are just too much

From our friends at CRI:

“Plan B” Drug Will Hide Evidence of Sexual Abuse

Just last week we reported on comments from President Bush indicating his support for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Chairman Eschenbach’s plans to give the abortion drug, “Plan B,” over-the- counter status. These comments brought dismay to pro-life citizens across America.

On Thursday, after Capitol Update had been written, the FDA officially approved over-the-counter use of Plan B.

“Although the new FDA rule will permit women 18- years-old and older to obtain the Plan B abortifacient without a prescription, there is no possible way to ensure that adults do not buy this drug for minors and administer it to a young girls without their parents’ consent,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute. “It will only be a matter of time before older men, who have sexually abused young girls, give their victims Plan B to hide the evidence.”

“The approval of Plan B was a sad day for victims of sexual abuse and for unborn children.”

It gets better....
 

E-Bay Bans Homeschool Textbooks

Unfortunately it appears that eBay has sided with the education establishment and against homeschoolers. According to its website, “multiple organizations and publishers have voiced their concern” that eBay permits teaching manuals and teacher’s texts, including those used by homeschoolers, to be sold through its website.

In response to these complaints, eBay enacted a new policy banning homeschool teachers’ texts from its auctions. Many homeschoolers were notified of this new policy only when their listings were deleted from eBay’s website.

"They told me that it fell under their heading of 'illegal, dangerous, offensive, or potentially infringing,'" said one homeschooler. "What are they thinking? I have a mess of curriculum here that I can't sell, and needing money from it to buy curriculum for the new school year."

Although eBay defends its policy stating that teacher’s textbooks contain “special answer keys, exams, teaching tips, and guides” that should not be available to the public, it is clear that the homeschool community has been, and will continue to be, discriminated against as a result of the policy.

"As a homeschooler I believe this directly discriminates against me since I have used eBay numerous times to both buy and sell homeschool curricula. As a budget conscious homeschooling mother I like to buy used materials as often as possible. This means buying the teacher's materials used on eBay and purchasing new workbooks directly from the publisher or distributor," said another homeschooler.

“The public school establishment has opposed homeschool freedom from the very beginning,” said Karen England of Capitol Resource Institute. “As homeschooling has grown throughout the years, the opposition has only become more intense.”

“We urge eBay to reconsider its discriminatory policy and permit homeschool parents to again be able to order teaching texts through its website.”

:violin:

More logic from the Social Conservatives..
 

We can only protect young victims of sexual abuse by forcing them to carry pregnancies that result from such abuse to full term.

More logic from the Social Conservatives..
 

If you lived in a congressional district where one of these nutbags was the GOP nominee, would you vote for a moderate Democrat instead?

Serious question: Paging Penske and Ty
 

OK Ty and Penske. You guys are the wine experts. How were the Zinfandel people able to get this bill through both the State Senate and the Assembly. This means that producers of Zinfandel are much more powerful than the producers of Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot etc. does it not? Are the Zinfandel people powerful because of all the, god forbid, White Zinfandel that is produced?

What is this all about?


Governor Protects Chardonnay

On the same day he signed into law SB 1441, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill (SB 1235- Migden) that would have made Zinfandel the official state wine.

The Governor decided that it was acceptable to prefer special rights for sexual behavior over fundamental Constitutional rights, but it was not acceptable to prefer one wine over another. This is how the Governor chooses to use his veto power. Instead of protecting religious freedoms from targeted legislation, Governor Schwarzenegger protected Chardonnay and Cabernet. In his veto message, the Governor wrote that, "It would be a shame” to recognize only one wine. What is truly shameful is that Governor Schwarzenegger abdicated his executive responsibility by deciding freedom of religion is not worth protecting. Governor Schwarzenegger, we cannot raise a toast.

:violin:

More logic from the Social Conservatives..
 

The most important vote a legislater makes is their vote for majority leader (or in this case speaker). I could never vote for someone that would want Nancy Pelosi as speaker, no matter how heinous they are. That is why they need to be taken out in the primary.

More logic from the Social Conservatives..
 

You'll have an easier time finding the white buffalo than a moderate Dem.

Serious question: Paging Penske and Ty
 

Beats me with a stick.

But they couldn't close the deal!

They drink white zin north of California, but in California it's used to clean machine parts.

More logic from the Social Conservatives..
 

To wit, "yes." That's what I thought, but I wanted to be sure.

Serious question: Paging Penske and Ty
 

Conan the Barbarian also effectively signed California up for Kyoto, just as every other country is tossing it on the trash heap.

Idiot.