[CNBC] Just revealed SpaceX lawsuit alleges Air Force ‘wrongly awarded’ billions to rocket competitors
KEY POINTS
The full SpaceX complaint alleges that the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center “wrongly awarded” the funds “to a portfolio of three unproven rockets based on unstated metrics.”
The Air Force awarded $2.3 billion in rocket development contracts last year to competitors Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and United Launch Alliance.
SpaceX alleges that the Air Force “determined that SpaceX’s one development launch vehicle,” or Starship, “rendered the entire SpaceX portfolio” as “high risk.”
#1
Jury is out on Blue Origin, though their engine seems to be progressing through development well. Northrop Grumman and ULA have a track record, so I think it's safe to say Vulcan and whatever else they are working on will fly no problem. Whether it's cost effective is totally unknown at this point. I'm pretty sure USAF has been directed by congress to avoid having only one vendor, so that's going to happen, short of a change in congress' thinking on the matter regardless of what Elon Musk would like to see.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2019 9:55 Comments ||
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#2
And I'd ad, the deeply beloved Augustine Commission said Constellation would be late and over budget. Never said it couldn't fly. And it was a Bath House operation, which the lovers should consider.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2019 13:26 Comments ||
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#3
United Launch Alliance has no proven track record of any kind. They are nothing more than a government subsidy program. Blue Origin seems to be progressing nicely, but they are definitely behind Space X by a large distance. Either of them winning contracts instead of Space X is a sign of corruption. No idea what Northrup Grumman has been doing recently, but have they gotten anything to fly yet? If not, they too are far behind Space X (and Blue Origin, for that matter).
#7
The Atlas V is ancient, all current projects are extremely late and overbudget, and you know what? I wouldn't call using imported Russian technology a great idea. So no. No points should be awarded for the Atlas V's existence. Especially since it is too underpowered to be of any actual use in next-gen projects.
#8
Also, 79 launches since it started launching in 2002? Really? That is completely pathetic by itself. Less than 5 a year. That number by itself should be evidence of incompetence.
[Daily Caller] CNN laid off almost all of its health care coverage division Tuesday, in a move the network called a “crazy rumor” less than three weeks ago.
While Dr. Sanjay Gupta is expected to keep his job, most of the rest of the division, based out of Atlanta, were released.
#1
Well, I mean, since AOC and Bill Nye both say "we're all gonna die" in exactly 11 years, 10 months, five days and 47 hours, it seems like sound management.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2019 9:49 Comments ||
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#2
and since all they talk about is impeaching trump, why do they need it anyway.Evidently they are finding out how many ppl are tired of their left wing bullshit and the ratings are hurting badly.
Posted by: chris ||
05/27/2019 9:57 Comments ||
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#3
CNN Lays Off Almost Entire Obamacare Disinformation Division.
[BIZPACREVIEW] With Speaker Nancy Pelosi locking horns with President Donald Trump in a battle that is getting increasingly personal, the Washington Post is out with a timely piece calling the 79-year-old California Democrat a “fashion icon.”
Describing Pelosi as “a recipe for stylish feminine authority with a healthy dose of attitude,” fashion journalist Christina Binkley doesn’t even try to hide her adulation for the Democrat leader.
In the article, Binkley props up Pelosi as a master effortlessly manipulating Trump back in December under the guise of writing about the red wool coat she had on.
“Pelosi also stayed largely mum when her clothes drew attention in December,” she wrote. “As she strode out of the White House looking victorious in a brick-red wool coat and sunglasses, having baited President Trump into taking responsibility for the coming government shutdown, she tipped her sunglasses. Her swagger went viral. So did the coat.”
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Yes, like the wookie's "toned arms, this is Important Stuff™
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2019 9:46 Comments ||
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#2
In my day, the chain of command frowned upon a healthy does of attitude.
#5
Can't wait til "bad girl" lives up to her name and the media has to go into overtime explaining a DUI is a "lifestyle choice" or shoplifting is "alternative shopping,"
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2019 15:49 Comments ||
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#6
In her defense, I have always thought that Nancy P. did dress very nicely; very elegant, understated suits, properly fitted and nicely accessorized - always suitable for the occasion. It's practically the only nice thing I do have to say for her, however. Always did wish that Michelle O. could have taken fashion advice from San Fran Nan, or whoever was her wardrobe adviser/ personal shopper. Fashion-wise, Michelle was a disaster, and no amount of flattery from Vogue and that ilk could make her into anything else.
[MSN] President Trump tried somewhat clumsily last year to revoke the security clearance of the former C.I.A. director who played a role in opening the Russia investigation. He then wanted to release classified documents to prove he was the target of a "witch hunt."
Both attempts petered out, hampered by aides who slow-rolled the president and by Justice Department officials who fought Mr. Trump, warning he was jeopardizing national security.
But this week, Attorney General William P. Barr engineered a new approach. At Mr. Barr’s urging, Mr. Trump granted him new authorities to examine the start of the Russia investigation, demonstrating a new level of sophistication for an old line of attack. Unlike Mr. Trump’s hollow threats and name-calling, Mr. Barr’s examination of how the intelligence community investigated the Trump campaign could offer a more effective blueprint for the president to take aim at his perceived political enemies.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
The White House said a month later that the president was ordering the revocation of Mr. Brennan’s clearance. But the White House never followed through with the complex bureaucratic work it would have taken to strip the clearance, according to a person familiar with the process.
"Complex bureaucratic work".... total nonsense! Brennan's continued access is a clear indication of who is really in charge.
I'd wager the Hildebeest and Kerry still hold clearances.
#8
Just a guess, but I suspect Brennan has been hired (unreported) as a mentor or adviser, by some beltway defense contractor who is holding his clearance.
...Our friends across the aisle tend to fling this word about with joyous abandon when we disagree with them about something. Well, finally one of our own has used it, and - IMHO - actual legal justification. Look carefully at the ones who scream the loudest about this...because I suspect there we shall find the guiltiest consciences.
[FoxNews] Liz Cheney: Strzok-Page texts sound ’like a coup,’ could be ’treason’
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo, said in an interview that aired Sunday that text messages between former FBI investigators Peter Strzok and Lisa Page "sound an awful lot like a coup" and could even be treason.
"I think what is really crucially important to remember here is that you had Strzok and Page who were in charge of launching this investigation and they were saying things like, 'We must stop this president, we need an insurance policy against this president,'" she said on ABC News' "This Week."
"In my view when you have people that are in the highest echelons of the law enforcement of this nation saying things like that, that sounds an awful lot like a coup -- and it could well be treason and I think we need to know more," she said.
Cheney was referring to the anti-Trump texts uncovered last year by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Both Strzok and Page were involved in the FBI’s initial counterintelligence investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates during the 2016 election, and later served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
In an August 2016 text message exchange, they talked about Trump’s chance of being elected president.
"[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!" Page texted Strzok.
"No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it," Strzok responded.
In another text the two talked of an "insurance policy" against the election of then-candidate Trump. Page essentially confirmed in an interview with lawmakers that this referred to the Russia investigation.
She also explained that officials were proceeding with caution, concerned about the implications of the case while not wanting to go at "total breakneck speed" and risk burning sources as they presumed Trump wouldn't be elected anyway.
Horowitz, who was investigating the bureau’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, is now investigating alleged surveillance abuses during the 2016 campaign.
Trump on Thursday issued a memo giving Attorney General William Barr the authority to declassify any documents related to surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016.
"We want to be very transparent, so as you know, I declassified everything," Trump told reporters Friday. "We are exposing everything."
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/27/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Not a Liz Cheney fan, so I wish this message could have come via a different messenger. That said, I doubt that Jesus at His Second Coming saying it would convince those on the other side, so it's a wash. In any case, the message is sound.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2019 10:04 Comments ||
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#2
Left is seriously pushing back on the Treason claims. They know they will be exposed and are starting to fight the firing squad hoping instead of losing their pensions or something that will enable them to live as darlings of the left until the end.
#3
Yes, there is a technical argument against using the T-word (and, given the alleged Hildabeast/DNC collusion with Steele & the Russians, an argument for it as well.) But, as with the Supreme Court justice discussing pr0n, "I know it when I see it."
I just hope that AG Barr will uncover enough evidence to send the coup plotters to a SuperMax for forever and a day.
Isn't that where it was supposed to be? [WSJ] At a gala dinner in February to raise funds for the families of Central Intelligence Agency officers killed in the line of duty, CIA Director Gina Haspel surprised her audience by delving into details of spycraft the agency has used to run agents on the streets of Moscow. But the crowd’s astonishment at the unusual revelation quickly evaporated when the spy chief confided that the material came from a journalist’s book.
After a year atop the CIA, Ms. Haspel is giving away few secrets. With a 35-year career in clandestine operations and a U.S. president who pounces when his spy chiefs contradict him publicly, she and her agency have adopted their lowest public profile in decades.
“She’s gone to ground,” said Mark Lowenthal, a former CIA official and staff director of the House Intelligence Committee. “It’s not going to be any good for her to be out there attracting lightning bolts.”
Interviews with nearly 20 current and former U.S. intelligence officials reveal a portrait of a CIA director who has been warmly received by the workforce she has spent her life among.
The CIA’s first female director since its 1947 founding, she has put in place her own leadership team—which also includes many women—and so far has avoided having President Trump’s political allies embedded in the agency’s senior ranks.
But if Ms. Haspel’s primary mission is overseeing a global spy agency charged with addressing threats ranging from terrorism to climate change, it sometimes seems her second priority is protecting the agency she has devoted her life to from the domestic threat of a toxic U.S. political culture.
“I think that she’s adopting a strategy much like [FBI Director] Chris Wray of keeping a lower profile, avoiding situations where she’s put in the position of publicly contradicting the president,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which oversees the CIA.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2019 00:00 ||
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The CIA’s first female director since its 1947 founding, she has put in place her own leadership team—which also includes many women—and so far has avoided having President Trump’s political allies embedded in the agency’s senior ranks.
#2
I don't understand why they ever came out of the shadows.
The CIA was politicized under Clinton and polluted under Zerobama (I prefer to call him an empty suit as he was just a marionette for the Deep State).
BTW, why does Brennan still have a clearance?
When I had a security clearance in excess of Top Secret (I think that some levels of clearance are classified as I remember), I was reassigned to a unit that did not require such a high-fluting clearance and the oh my God galactic overlord clearance was revoked.
So if that ugly putz with the prayer rug and the COMINTERN membership card is no long DCI, why does he still have a clearance???
#3
Just wondering if you were the subject of a high profile investigation covering actions and behaviors and documentary talk/decisions/operations as the highest level of classified material, could you be questioned without wing able to discuss matters bearing on the issue or research answers without a clearance? As a suspect or material witness would you need the freedom and protections to feel able to participate?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[BIZPACREVIEW] With Speaker Nancy Pelosi locking horns with President Donald Trump in a battle that is getting increasingly personal, the Washington Post is out with a timely piece calling the 79-year-old California Democrat a “fashion icon.”
[WSJ] At a gala dinner in February to raise funds for the families of Central Intelligence Agency officers killed in the line of duty, CIA Director Gina Haspel surprised her audience by delving into details of spycraft the agency has used to run agents on the streets of Moscow. But the crowd’s astonishment at the unusual revelation quickly evaporated when the spy chief confided that the material came from a journalist’s book.
