A Pound of Thoughts

I’ve just installed "Sideblog", a pretty interesting aside plugin.  Look here in the future for interesting tidbits of information that aren’t necessarily enough for a blog post.  TTFN!

I have heard a lot of people squawking this week about the $35 billion deal that Northrop Grumman won against Boeing.  These certain people are accepting what the MSM are saying about the deal, that a "foreign" country has won the contract and Americans will "lose their jobs".  I must say that this is far from the truth.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is headed in Los Angeles, California.  EADS is headquartered in Paris.  But get this:  Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor.

So what does this mean?  Well, think of a pyramid.  NGC is on top.  EADS is a subcontractor.  And what’s more, here’s a look at all the subcontractors:

• EADS-North America
• General Electric - HQ is in Fairfield, Connecticut
• Honeywell - HQ is in Morristown, New Jersey
• AAR Cargo Systems - HQ is in Wood Dale, Illinois
• Sargent Fletcher - HQ is in El Monte, California
• Knight Aerospace Products - HQ is in San Antonio, Texas
• Parker and Telephonics - HQ is in Irvine, California

As you can see, EADS is the only subcontractor that is not in the United States.  Yet, they are the ones that supposedly "won" the contract.  Uh, nope.  Northrop Grumman won the prime contract.

Now to address the jobs issue:  No one is losing their jobs, and no jobs are moving overseas.  As a matter of fact, the project will be based in Mobile, Alabama, at Brookley Field.  It will create approximately 1,500 to 2,000 direct jobs in the U.S., with another 23,000 indirect jobs being created in the United States.  And here’s the kicker:  The KC-45A tanker program does not transfer any jobs from the United States to France or any other foreign country.

If you want some more disclosure, go here:  Northrop Grumman Sets the Record Straight Concerning the U.S. Air Force KC-45A Misinformation.

Just thought I’d help get the word out about this deal.  And here’s another thing:  I live 30 minutes from Mobile, so the potential positive impact of this deal on my neighborhood is immense.  A lot of people I know could possibly have jobs because of this.  It is a major boost to my local economy.  So the next time someone says that America is outsourcing its defense contracts, you just refer them to this post.  It’s about time some people need to be educated.

Appetizer

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how much do you like your own handwriting?

I’d have to say a 6…I have the "engineer’s writing" - I write in all caps.

Soup

Do you prefer baths or showers?

Showers, definitely.  I can’t stand baths.  I don’t know if it’s the dirty water I’m sitting in or the suction on the back when I lean against the tub.

Salad

What was the last bad movie you watched?

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve been to the theater, and we rent movies through Netflix now, too.  But, it’s a tie between Vanilla Sky or The Eye of the Beholder.

Main Course

Name something you are addicted to and describe how it affects your life.

Coffee…Definitely coffee!   Well, it helps me deal with mornings, but I usually end up with a slight tinge of heartburn.  But it’s worth it!

Dessert

Which instrument is your favorite to listen to?

Okay, now I’m a little biased on this one.  I love listening to the piano and the tenor sax.  I play both of these!

WordCamp, that is.  More specifically, WordCamp Dallas 2008!  It’s being held on March 29 and 30 in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas.  I’ve never been to one of these seminars, but I’m extremely excited about going.   I’m definitely looking forward to meeting and learning from the professionals of the blogging world!

So if you’d like to go, click on the picture on the right and register!  It’s $20 per person for two days.  They’re going to present the latest on the upcoming release of WordPress 2.5, as well as how to promote your blog and increase your traffic.  C’mon, it’ll be fun!

Oh, and I’ll be taking my laptop and camera, so look forward to some posts about WordCamp and Dallas!

MSU will take on the winner of Florida and Alabama.  GO DAWGS!

Not all casualties happen on the field of battle.  Some also occur on the sea.   The Mississippi Gulf Coast lost one of its hometown sailors this past weekend.  His name was George Earl Thompson, Jr.

“The thing I remember most about George was his disposition,” said Pascagoula High School coach and algebra teacher Ricky Merrill. “He was always smiling. George was just one of those students you loved to have in your class. He was always respectful.”

Thompson suffered a fatal head injury this past Saturday while serving aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt during normal shipboard operations off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.  According to Navy officials, the weather turned unexpectedly worse and Petty Officer 3rd Class Thompson was injured.  He was rushed to a local hospital, where he passed away.

Merrill said he always was impressed with Thompson’s impeccable manners to teachers and students alike. “He always said, ‘Yes sir and no sir.’ And you never had to call George down. He was always going to do the right thing. That’s just the way he was.”

My prayers are with his family and friends.  It’s a terrible tragedy to lose someone as young and with a promising career ahead of them.  May God comfort you and keep you.

source:  Sun Herald

Well, it’s over.  Barack Hussein Obama has won Mississippi.  And he won it by a landslide.  60.71%…That’s just unbelievable.

 I really don’t have much to say about this; I’m just flabbergasted.  I really thought it would be a tighter race.  But I will say this:  What do you people see in this guy?  He doesn’t have any executive experience.   He has no foreign policy experience.  Heck, he almost doesn’t have any legislative experience!  Are you really just voting for him because he’s a good communicator and he’s talking “change”??  Geez, people…wake up!!

 Oh well.  I guess the majority of our country wants to pay much higher taxes and to lose the fight against extreme Islamists. 

Go here for the results of the Mississippi Primary.

This came out four days ago, but I caught wind of it last night while reviewing my FeedDemon. It looks like we’ll have some 24 after all!

The producers of the Emmy-winning series are developing a two-hour “prequel” to the upcoming seventh season.

The movie, designed to bridge the two-year gap between Seasons 6 and 7, is targeted to air in the fall, leading to the January return of the real-time drama. On Wednesday, “24″ producers began securing the show’s core cast members for the film.

“24″ was one of the biggest casualties of the writers strike. Three days into the work stoppage, Fox decided against airing a partial season of the serialized drama with the eight episodes produced before and during the first weeks of the strike.

Sadly, though, Joel Surnow will no longer be involved with the show. We ‘24′ Fans will miss him terribly.

The “24″ writing team is back at work, with filming on the remaining episodes of the seventh season slated to begin in April. Missing from the writers room is the series co-creator/executive producer Joel Surnow, who left at the end of the strike. Since the fifth season, “24″ has been run by exec producer Howard Gordon.

I’m extremely excited about this!  All of us fans have been waiting a tremendous amount of time to see Jack in action.  Now, in about six months, we will!

This is something I’d never thought I’d do, but as the Republican candidate is in the bag, I’m calling all Republicans from the great Magnolia State to "crossover".  When you go to the polls on Tuesday, just ignore the Republican ticket.  Vote Democrat.  Vote Hillary Clinton.

All Democrats out there understand this.  This is the only time I will be advocating this.  I never thought I’d be calling for people to vote for Billary, but looking at the candidates the lesser of two evils is definitely her.

So when you go out there on Tuesday, please, please Republicans - vote for Hillary.  We don’t want Obama to be the Democratic candidate.