Deepwater
Cryptome, a site dedicated to legally publishing documents that might not please the powers that be, was giving notice by their ISP that they were being closed down, without any explanation.
The guy who runs the site speculates that it might have to do with their publication of documents relating to Deepwater, a large project to modernize the US Coast Guard.
As usual, attempts to gag people have the opposite effect. I hadn't heard of Deepwater before, though its trials and tribulations have been in the press, and there have been congressional hearings on the matter. Reportedly 60 minutes will soon be bringing the issue to a larger slice of the general public.
There are three main problems with Deepwater as revealed by Michael DeKort:
The security problems are covered in depth by James Atkinson, who also testified before Congress. Though more complex than boats that fall apart in six foot seas, this stuff is far more dangerous, and shows even more clearly how deeply the corruption has penetrated.
We have to assume now that this type of corruption is widespread throughout the Defense industry. If this is SOP for Lockheed-Martin then they are doing it on other projects. Billions are being stolen, useless or inferior equipment is being supplied to the armed forces, but it takes many months or years to bring one egregious example to the notice of the press and Congress.
I suppose this is normal when you have gangsters at the highest level of government, but it's still shocking to me how pervasive it is in a relatively short amount of time. If nothing else, these people are industrious!
The guy who runs the site speculates that it might have to do with their publication of documents relating to Deepwater, a large project to modernize the US Coast Guard.
As usual, attempts to gag people have the opposite effect. I hadn't heard of Deepwater before, though its trials and tribulations have been in the press, and there have been congressional hearings on the matter. Reportedly 60 minutes will soon be bringing the issue to a larger slice of the general public.
There are three main problems with Deepwater as revealed by Michael DeKort:
- 110 foot USCG boats were modified to be 123 feet long. After the modifications, the boats are not seaworthy, eight boats have been modified and all 8 have been decommissioned.
- Radios were installed that cannot resist the elements (i.e. rainfall).
- Communications cabling was used that is not shielded, and thus vulnerable to interception. Also, the cabling was not 'low-smoke' and presents a fire hazard.
The security problems are covered in depth by James Atkinson, who also testified before Congress. Though more complex than boats that fall apart in six foot seas, this stuff is far more dangerous, and shows even more clearly how deeply the corruption has penetrated.
We have to assume now that this type of corruption is widespread throughout the Defense industry. If this is SOP for Lockheed-Martin then they are doing it on other projects. Billions are being stolen, useless or inferior equipment is being supplied to the armed forces, but it takes many months or years to bring one egregious example to the notice of the press and Congress.
I suppose this is normal when you have gangsters at the highest level of government, but it's still shocking to me how pervasive it is in a relatively short amount of time. If nothing else, these people are industrious!
posted by Dick Durata at 12:01 PM
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