I loved the television series Connections. Narrated by science historian James Burke, this BBC series took an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, demonstrating how various discoveries, scientific achievements, and historical world events built off one another in an interconnected way to bring about particular aspects of modern technology. Burke's impeccable narration and dry humor, the historical reenactments, intricate working models, and location shots were inspiring.
Burke also produced and narrated The Day the Universe Changed, a BBC documentary television series originally broadcast in 1985.The series' primary focus is on the effect of advances in science and technology on western philosophy. To illustrate this idea, James Burke tells the various stories of important scientific discoveries and technological advances and how they fundamentally altered how western civilization perceives the world. The series runs in roughly chronological order, from around the beginning of the Middle Ages to the present.
Both series are available on DVD. But, to borrow from Arlo Guthrie, but that’s not what I came to tell you about. Came to talk about incompetence.
What set me off today (and yesterday, and for the past 7 years or so) is the revelation of yet another billion-dollar fiasco by shrubs cronies. The specific crony du jour is Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary of Commerce, who testified before congress this week that the mismanagement and incompetence in his department will
increase the cost of the 2010 census between $2.2 billion and $3 billion
And that’s just the increase. He estimates the actual cost (yea, sure) of the 2010 census to be between $13.7 billion and $14.5 billion. Of course, he also estimatedthe cost of the Help Desk function for the census at $39,000, but that cost has now ballooned to $2.17 million, so you can draw your own conclusions.
The Houston Chronicle reports
But interviews, congressional testimony and government reports describe an agency that was unprepared to manage a $600 million contract for the handheld computers that will be vital. Census officials are being blamed for a poor job spelling out technical requirements to the contractor, Florida-based Harris Corp.
The computers proved too complex for some temporary workers who tried to use them in a test last year in North Carolina. Also, the computers were not initially programmed to transmit the large amounts of data necessary.
"This is a management problem. It's an organizational problem," Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrezsaid in testimony this month before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
Census Director Steven Murdock acknowledged Tuesday that "communication problems" between census officials and Harris Corp. have resulted in "serious issues." But, he added, "My pledge is that we are going to have a complete and accurate census."
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, (D-N.Y) calls it "a statistical Katrina on the part of the administration." And anyone who has had to deal with government statistics recently will understand what that means. There has been an inordinant amount of revision in statistics. Changes in the categories of data collected have made it difficult to impossible to compare statistics across years in many categories.
So why does this remind me of Connections? Because I decided to do a little research on Carlos Gutierrez and the Harris Corp. Although I did leave a trail of breadcrumbs, it was still nearly impossible to find my way out of the maze of interconnections. But it did confirm my suspicions that this is not as much a case of incompetence as one of crony capitalism.
Here’s a refresher course on crony capitalism, courtesy of Paul Krugman:
Four years ago, as Asia struggled with an economic crisis, many observers blamed "crony capitalism." Wealthy businessmen in Asia didn't bother to tell investors the truth about their assets, their liabilities or their profits; the aura of invincibility that came from their political connections was enough. Only when a financial crisis came along did people take a hard look at their businesses, which promptly collapsed.
Does this sound familiar?
Well yes, Paul, it does sound familiar. Tragically, that was written in 2002. The situation is in many ways worse today. One reason is that the Department of Commerce oversees much more than just the census. It is responsible for:
- Bureau of Industry and Security
- Economics and Statistics Admin
- Bureau of Census
- Bureau of Economic Analysis
- Economic Development Administration
- International Trade Admin
- Minority Business Development Agency
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- National Technical Information Service
- National Telecommunications and Information Admin
- Patent and Trademark office
And at the top of this heap is the man referred to by Cubano blogs from the far-right (KillCastro) to the far-left (Cuba Journal) as El gusano. (HINT: If you don’t know what gusano means – the little shrivled thing in the bottom of a bottle of mescal is a gusano rojo.) Given that he arrived here with his family when their extensive holdings were expropriationated following the Cuban Revolution, that should be a cause for concern. Rather than being widely hailed as one who has brought pride to the Cuban community, he is widely derided in that community.
Then it occurred to me, Harris Corp. is a Florida-based conglomerate. Wonder how someone from Miami, like Gutierrez, might be connected. Let’s see if you can figure it out:
The Commerce Department is in charge of selling broadcast spectrum and forcing the conversion of broadcast television to digital. The Harris Corporation provides workflow solutions for broadcasters
As broadcasters upgrade to digital and high definition standards, Harris remains the unprecedented leader in total content delivery solutions. From transmission hardware to traffic and billing software, Harris provides the broadest range of expertise and end-to-end technology integration.
Their choice for the census contract was probably predicated on their sterling record, given that
In 2002, Harris was selected for an eight-year, $210 million program to integrate the Census Bureau's Master Address File (MAF) and Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) databases as part of the Accuracy Improvement Project (MAF/TIGER AIP).
Wonder how that's going. Good thing they are so successful at getting Commerce Dept. contracts, given that the company's four operating divisions serve markets for government communications, RF communications, broadcast communications, and microwave communications
Commerce is also in charge of the IT side of government. They are in charge of facilitating the transition of the technical coordination of the management functions related to the Internet domain name and addressing system (DNS) to the private sector, but also the more mundane operations of computer systems, like those the White House uses for email. And Harris Corp can help there, too:
Harris Information Technology Services provides mission support IT services to a vast array of Government customers including the Air Force, FAA, Navy, Department of Justice, Department of Customs and as a teammate to other prime contractors. Harris IT Services also is a trusted provider of vital information technology services and enterprise solutions to government agencies including NIH, DOS, USPS, DOI, and DOL.
There’s more – lots more. But I’m feeling a little queasy, so I will have to come back to this another day. But one last note about the ever-busy El gusano: Today, he spoke to the National Association of Manufacturers, discussing how businesses can take advantage of the tax incentives in the President’s economic stimulus package and the importance of passing the free trade agreement with Colombia.
At least cocaine would be cheap and plentiful. Looks like shrub hasn’t forgotten his roots.
And, now on to the roots of Top Comments. If you read a comment that you find informative, insightful, or just incredibly funny, send a link, along with your dKos handle, to:
Top comments at gmail dot com
Tonight’s comments:
From Firecrow
In Delaware Dem's diary about First diaries he reposted his first diary. All two sentences. LOL
Johhnny Gentle Famous Crooner had this to say as a reply.
From Willb48
donnamarie provides a profound look at the reality of power.
From Progressive Witness
Right in the middle of the pie fight that erupted around magatte's mordant satire here, highprinciples puts us all to shame with Thought Police and High Principles.
From srkp23
gloryous posts some must-see, cheer-inducing photos in deepfish's WYFP,
Crusty Old Fart Rant tonight.
From Dump Terry McAuliffe
GOTV broke the snark-o-meter with his comment about Kossacks' reticence to take elected Democrats to task in clammyc’s If Obama wins, will you take him to task?
From bubbanomics
Every good straight man deserves a good funny man. The foil sets up the comic well in this pairin.:
I'm still wiping the coffee off my monitor, and my nose still hurts, too.
From me
emacd clearly understands the negtive impact watching has on critical thinking skills.
Eternal Hope debuts the new Republican '08 campaign logo in Buhdydharma's Republicanism At Its Finest.
Ohiodem1 documents how theFourth Estate has become the 5th column.
Tonight’s Top Mojo, courtesy of BeninSC:
Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments (top 22 tonight of each plus ties):
1 Will they bring their Health Care System, too? by Jimdotz - 156
2 No worries by Shaun Appleby - 96
3 Take Obama to task? by GOTV - 95
4 Oh, here's a nice one by neonplaq - 91
5 Holy Smokes! by nodakfarmboy - 89
6 all part of the bigger Republican war on the by ca democrat - 85
7 And persistence! by Sedi - 79
8 A fellow farm boy from the tall grass prairie by Student Guy - 71
9 pardon me, 4 spaming this up by red 83 - 61
10 Seriously, I don't think we'll have any problem by GOTV - 61
11 It;s more than wink & nod by MAORCA - 59
12 I didn't believe a word of her by mjd in florida - 58
13 I laughed my ASS off when he said that!!! by AntonBursch - 57
14 I Was There! by keenekarl - 57
15 Hey Now! by nodakfarmboy - 55
16 Rather rude. by Delaware Dem - 53
17 "speak truth to power" by teacherken - 53
18 Thanks to you all by nodakfarmboy - 52
19 They are all fish stories by Cato come back - 52
20 I am so happy I moved to Florida by smash artist - 50
21 The point is why tell a rumor you heard when by hungrycoyote - 50
22 I wish that report pointed out that the original by hungrycoyote - 49
23 I, for one, welcome our Canadian Bacon Overlords! by PhillyGal - 47
24 It's things like this by beltane - 47
25 Secrfetions, microbes, protozoa....eeeeeewwww.... by xxdr zombiexx - 46
26 And I'm happy to be old enough by Mlle Orignalmale - 46
27 One of the goals of the Republicans for by blue jersey mom - 46
28 Quoting Al a bit more by barath - 45
29 I'm on day 6 w/o smoking, by burrow owl - 45
30 My snark meter just pegged out. by Jimdotz - 43
31 The lobbyists are maxed out by FishOutofWater - 43
32 yes... CA was getting a quite by Wide Awake in NJ - 43
33 Goddamn, I love this country. by LarsThorwald - 43
Top Mojo - everything included:
1 Tipped off by by Zwoof - 482
2 Tips for change... by nodakfarmboy - 465
3 Tips for honesty. by hungrycoyote - 393
4 Tips for Footnotes & Math Skills by howardpark - 349
5 Tips! by OrangeClouds115 - 320
6 Tips for Obama! by young montana voter - 309
7 tip jar by danger durden - 290
8 I am not a Unit, I am a Human Being by buhdydharma - 212
9 because, you know by clammyc - 202
10 offered for your kind consideration by teacherken - 162
11 Will they bring their Health Care System, too? by Jimdotz - 156
12 Tips and That by The Partisan Against The Clock - 149
13 Tips for an Obama win in PA! by speck tater - 139
14 omg by louisev - 118
15 Tips by JedReport - 106
16 Until they release a hard number everything by Shane Hensinger - 102
17 Tips? by deepfish - 100
18 No worries by Shaun Appleby - 96
19 Take Obama to task? by GOTV - 95
20 Tip jar, PLEASE READ DIARY CAREFULLY before HR. by magatte - 92
21 Oh, here's a nice one by neonplaq - 91
22 Holy Smokes! by nodakfarmboy - 89
23 Good morning gardeners! by Frankenoid - 86
24 all part of the bigger Republican war on the by ca democrat - 85
25 And persistence! by Sedi - 79
26 Tip if you enjoyed the link as much as I did by taricha - 79
27 Actually by Upper West - 78
28 March 22, 2007 letter from Obama to: by evdebs - 73
29 A fellow farm boy from the tall grass prairie by Student Guy - 71
30 Tip Jar by mamabigdog - 68