What Do I Know?

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Harold and Maude - The First Time Is Still Memorable - UPDATED

NOTE: I've updated this post and wouldn't normally leave this one up, but since there are several comments already, I'll leave it. There's a lot more information about the history of the film in the update.

Sometime in 1972* we went to the movies. I don't remember what we went to see, but we were unsatisfied when it was over. Back then they still had double features. So we stayed for the second feature, which we knew absolutely nothing about.

At the end we looked at each other and I think I asked, "Are we sick? Why were we laughing so hard?" And other people in the theater, which wasn't very crowded, weren't responding as we were. So we invited a friend and went back the next night with him to see if he was as 'sick' as we were in thinking this was so hysterically funny.

Seeing a great movie without knowing anything about it before you go is one of the great joys of watching movies. The same thing happened when I saw The Graduate. I was in Bangkok and just wanted to get out of the heat and went to see this movie I'd never heard of. A common feature between the two is the great music.

Anyway, the Bear Tooth is showing Harold and Maude Monday at 5:30 and 7:45. It's a great chance to see it on a big screen with other people. I don't know how it will hold up over all these years, but if you haven't seen it and you like surprises, irreverence, love, and Cat Stevens, you should go.

And if you know nothing about this movie - DON'T READ ANYTHING BEFORE YOU GO. JUST GO. If someone tries to tell you about it, close your ears and leave.

Meanwhile Cyrano's is doing a stage version. [There's a spoiler in their announcement so don't read it if you haven't seen it.] Not sure how this would translate. Harold and Maude as a movie was perfect. Not sure anyone could improve on it.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Clutter Wars - New Carpet In

J has wanted a new carpet downstairs for years. It didn't bother me at all. I thought it worked. But recently she ordered a new 'green' carpet and then painted the key room it's going in and it was due to arrive in Anchorage about when I got back. (J stayed in LA a few more days and is due in tonight.) Well, it got here earlier and there were two phone messages. So when I called them, yes, it was possible to do it the next day, so yesterday they came and put it in. I delayed this post so she wouldn't see the post before she saw the actual carpet. I'm sure she won't have access to the internet before she gets home any more - and she wouldn't be looking here probably anyway.

Someone could ask why this is in the Clutter War category. It would be a good question. Minimally, we had to clear the floor in the room and hallway and I'm hoping not everything will go back. In fact the sofa bed has been marked for disposal already. We'll see.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

"Only The Shooter Is To Blame" v "He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands."

"Only The Shooter Is To Blame" is the title to a letter to the editor in today's Anchorage Daily News. Editors write the titles, but the letter writer does say:

The shootings in Tucson, Ariz., were the actions of one man and one man alone. Not because of Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck or any other conservative voice or anybody who wants stricter gun laws, or, better yet, no guns at all. And anyone who uses the murder of a 9-year- old girl* to make their point needs to re-evaluate their life.

There's been a clear defensiveness by some to deny any possible link between the level of confrontational rhetoric they've been using and violent acts such as the Arizona shooting.

Within hours of the shooting, every news report I heard included a right wing spokesperson strongly proclaiming there was no link between their confrontational rhetoric and the violence. (I'd note that some left-wing rhetoric has gotten pretty testy too.)

The defensiveness of the right wing on this issue is understandable, because they lay blame on people they attack all the time. And they knew immediately that they were vulnerable and had to immediately change the focus from themselves to others. In this case, anyone who might link the violence to them.

After all, here's what Sarah Palin said on her Facebook page on November 29, 2010:

Assange is not a “journalist,” any more than the “editor” of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a “journalist.” He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. (emphasis mine.)

Aside from the off-the-wall link between Assange and al Qaeda and the insinuation-laden 'operative', I would just say that Assange didn't tell anyone to do anything. He merely passed on verbatim what US and other government officials said. And we have no stories about anyone doing any violence because of the official documents published by Wikileaks.

So, if Palin thinks that Assange has blood on his hands - that publishing official government documents makes him responsible for potential violence by others - she has to believe that her cross hairs map and other provocative rhetoric means she too has blood on her hands - the real (not potential) blood of six dead and 13 wounded.

But Palin never admits mistakes. Instead, she deflects attention to her words by attacking her critics and claiming her own victimhood. "Don't retreat, reload" could be translated as don't admit mistakes, but renew the attack.

"Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn," she said in the video released on her Facebook page. "That is reprehensible." [BBC report]

Here she is, using inflammatory (dare I say reprehensible?) language to change the subject and to blame someone else, the media, for inciting hatred. Classic Palin. (Don't even try to suggest to her that what the media say doesn't matter, because people are responsible for their own hate. )

Now, let's be clear. I'm NOT blaming Palin for the shooting.

The census says 308 million people live in the US. I don't know how many of them listened to what could be called inflammatory right wing rhetoric, but there are 3,146,418 registered voters in Arizona, and we know that 3,146,417 of them did NOT go out and shoot a politician because of talk radio or Palin ads. Maybe all of them, since I don't even know whether Loughner is a registered voter.

There are different types of relationships. Here are a couple of points on the continuum:

Direct cause and effect - Politician A says "We need to get rid of this politician" and listener B hearing this, gets his gun and shoots the politician.
Influence - No specific factor is the cause by itself, all factors collectively play a role. Television and video game violence, family relationships, mental health problems, availability of guns, difficulties at school all seem to have been factors. If you took one away, would it still have happened? If that one existed without any of the others would it have happened?
No link at all - The politicians may be talking rough, but the shooter has never heard them and didn't even know Giffords was a politician when he shot her.

Then there's the related, but different concept of 'blame.'

Even if someone's words cause another to do something bad, that doesn't necessarily make the speaker even partially responsible. But it might - depending on what was said under what conditions. Telling a woman to steal $10,000 for you or you'll kill her daughter is different from telling someone how to shoot a gun and then the person goes out and kills someone.

So, I'm not blaming Palin or Beck or anyone but the shooter for the shootings. But a lot of things did influence what he did, but we don't know enough at this point to know which ones were more important. If the shooter tells us that he was inspired by a particular website or speech to do the shooting, would that change anyone's minds?

Let's look at this a different way:

Kids in China grow up to speak Chinese. Italian kids learn to speak Italian.

Indonesian kids tend to grow up to be Muslims. Mexican kids tend to grow up to be Christians of some sort.

What's my point? People do lots of things they don't individually choose to do, but because of the influences of their families, their communities, their cultures.

Individuals do things because they see and hear things and develop skills and use tools available in their environments. 308 million Americans were NOT influenced to go out and shoot a politician after listening to the rhetoric of people like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. Palin and Beck's rhetoric did not cause Jared Loughner to be mentally ill or violent. Though their anti-government, anti-tax rhetoric may have played a role in Arizona's cutting back mental health funding. But even at the old spending levels, Loughner may not have gotten care that would have prevented this.

But the anti-government rhetoric with metaphors involving guns and targets MAY have steered Loughner to take out his personal frustrations on a Democratic politician instead of a community college class or his family. Or nobody at all.

If the national conversations were more focused on issues than on people; if people with different views were treated as well-intended but mistaken instead of as evil, un-American enemies, then maybe the shooter would not have shot anyone. And maybe he would have.

But for someone like Palin who is quick to blame others - such as saying Assange has blood on his hands - to deflect attention to her actions by blaming journalists for a blood libel (has anyone counted how many times she uses the word 'blood'?) against her seems totally disingenuous and calculated. But I can't know what's inside her head. Part of me believes that she doesn't see the inconsistency, that logic is not one of her faults. But the rest of us can compare what she says about her friends and her perceived enemies, even when they do the same thing, and we can see those inconsistencies. As we can and should do with all politicians.

*As an aside, I'd point out that people used the abduction and murder of nine year old Amber Hagerman to make their point that there needed to be a better way to get police to react to missing children reports. Because they did, we now have AMBER Alerts. Again, consistency matters, not whether we agree or not on a particular point.

Now Why Would I Want To Do This?

I guess the glass-half-full view of this is that it is pretty straightforward. I'm posting it so readers who aren't also bloggers see what kinds of offers we get:

Hey there,

We have been reading the articles on your website <http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/> and are very impressed with the
quality of your information. [These things always say how great your blog is without anything that is directly related to the blog. Here at least they stuck in the url.]

We have a team of copywriters who specialise in writing articles on various topics and would like to write an original article for you to use on your website – this article will not be used anywhere else on the Internet. [Possible translation: We're an advertising company and are looking for cheap web presence. The articles are about travel and driving trips with links to travel insurance or or lube.

In exchange all we ask is that we can have one or two links within the body of the article back to one of our sites. You can view a sample of the quality of our articles at

http://www.insu4less.com.au/blog/

http://www.lubebile.com.au/blog/ [I've left the links out and changed the urls, I really don't want to encourage them]

If you are interested in having us write an article for your website please just let me know and we would be more than happy to have one written for you within two weeks.

Kind regards,
Patria

This post is to remind you that I only put in links because they're relevant to the post and/ I find them useful and/or interesting. If I do post something someone asked me to post, I'll let you know. If I were to accept some sort of kickback (I never have) I'd let you know. But not all bloggers are like that and people like this are trying to take advantage of them. And you.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Seatac Free Wifi

The sky was blue, the sun was warm, I biked back down to the beach to say good bye. And now I'm in Seatac (Seattle Tacoma airport) waiting to go on to Anchorage. Last time I tried to get wifi in Seatac you had to pay for it. But I'd heard that there was now free wifi in Seatac, and there is.

I try to post about the availability in different airports (now that I think about it, I didn't even try in LA), but remember that things change and check the date.

They also don't have very many television sets in here so you can sit and relax without the news blasting out at you. Anchorage Airport - are you listening? Turn down those tv's. Better yet, get rid of them.

Who owns an airline ticket — you or the airline?

That's a question LA Times writer David Lazarus asks in an article today:

That's the intriguing question Santa Monica resident Peter Szabo faced during the holidays when he attempted to use just half of a $435 round-trip ticket that he'd purchased three months earlier from US Airways.

The carrier said Szabo, 32, would need to pay hundreds of dollars more to make just a single leg of the journey.

"Basically, they wanted me to pay an additional $350 to use only half of what I already owned," Szabo told me. "I can't think of another scenario in another industry that would compare. If I buy two tickets to the symphony or a Clippers game but only use one, I don't incur an extra charge."

It's one I've wondered about for a long time. Any other ticket you buy - whether it's for a movie, a sports event, a play, a train - you can give to someone else to use or even sell if you can't use it.

But you're stuck with airline tickets. Any changes you want to make, add an extra fee and possible even another fare. To a certain extent, they could argue that they price tickets to encourage people to buy early, but you could buy early and then find out the fare went down. And they used to sell bulk tickets to travel agents at lower rates and they could then resell them. (I don't know if they still do that now that they've tried to cut out travel agents.)

The LA Times article goes through the craziness of the airline ticket policies and is worth reading.

Meanwhile, it reminds me that we really need an effective organization that represents the needs of airline travelers. I'm sure a good one would get lots of members. Some organizations that represent airline passengers:

Flyers Rights - An organization that, according to its website, was founded in 2006 by Hanni to get the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights passed. The website looks good and has interesting information, but also has gaps - not all pages have tabs to get back to other pages. Travel Weekly published a critical article about Flyers Rights, but Travel Weekly is a travel industry website, so they have a vested interest in not having strong consumer groups.

The Association for Airline Passenger Rights began in 2008.

The purpose of the AAPR shall be to educate policymakers on travel-related information important to airline passengers, improve accessibility for passengers with disabilities and protect the consumer rights and responsibilities of airline passengers. Prior to AAPR, every aspect of the airline industry was represented in Washington, DC except for the people who pay the bills - airline passengers! The airlines, pilots, flight attendants, service crews, and air traffic controllers are all represented, and now AAPR will level the playing field by representing the interests of airline passengers.

The US Department of Transportation has a list of publications for airline passengers online.

The Airline Travelers' Association website is sparse and isn't accepting new members, so I wasn't even going to mention it, until I found this blog post that even questions whether it really represents passengers or airlines.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Pier Review

I've been going by Venice Pier at the end of Washington Blvd. on the bike while I've been here and today I decided to get off the bike and walk to the end of the pier.

Beachcalifornia.com has a brief description of the pier and some pictures. Here's the beginning:

"Venice Pier, the 1310 foot wonder thatt's [sic] survived storms, weathering and a few earthquakes during its current lifespan (built in 1997), was reopened in 2006 after yet another devastating blow had closed it due to structural concerns."

Watching a wave break to the north of the pier.

Two officials walking on the pier.

Although it was cloudy, it was very clear below the clouds. Here's Catalina from the pier.

Looking south toward Marina del Rey.

Out to the end of the pier.

Ocean foam from the pier.

Looking back at Venice Beach from the pier.

Here's from 360Cities (which gives an embed code and permission for non-commercial sites to use it)

Venice Beach Pier in Los Angeles [UPDATE: Pier Review 2, about a year later, has some amazing big surf from above shots.]

UPDATE: Here's Pier Review 2 with some big waves. And more waves from Venice Pier with my better camera. And finally Rafael catching a great white shark from the end of Venice Pier.

Your Turn At The Getty - You Figure Out The Story

I've already posted what I don't like about the Getty Museum in LA. I also said people should take advantage of what's good there. I'm going to post some of the objects I saw at the museum and let you interpret what story is. Or even try to figure out what the title might be.

I know most of you aren't going to do that. It's too much trouble to take a few minutes and look into the picture and imagine what is happening. I'll put the museum description up below. (I like being able to write 'up below.')

This one is an interesting story.


E

There's an interesting characteristic about the teapot.

Do I really need to tell you which is which? I think you can figure it out. You can double click any of these to see it larger.

Monday, January 10, 2011

What Does a Wiki Leaks Cable Look Like? Here's One About DynCorp Providing Boys for Sex

I've had plenty of other things to do besides look up wikileaks cables, but someone sent me an article about a wikileaks cable that said that an American firm DynCorp, which has contracts in Afghanistan, funded a party in which young boys danced and were auctioned off to the highest bidder for sex. This is sort of activity, apparently called bacha bazi is allegedly practiced by a small minority of Pashtuns. There were articles about this practice last spring, but the Wikileaks cable is supposed to suggest (I say this because I can't - without help - totally get this from the cable) that American tax dollars, through contract funding to DynCorp, has supported this custom which goes counter to not only Western values, but also, Muslim values as well. As you'll see, if you slog through all this, DynCorp has had a spotty record with sex slaves before.

I can't find any mainstream media that have published information on this. I did find a blog post at the Houston Press.

The Afghanistan cable (dated June 24, 2009) discusses a meeting between Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar and US assistant ambassador Joseph Mussomeli. Prime among Atmar's concerns was a party partially thrown by DynCorp for Afghan police recruits in Kunduz Province.

Many of DynCorp's employees are ex-Green Berets and veterans of other elite units, and the company was commissioned by the US government to provide training for the Afghani police. According to most reports, over 95 percent of its $2 billion annual revenue comes from US taxpayers.

And in Kunduz province, according to the leaked cable, that money was flowing to drug dealers and pimps. Pimps of children, to be more precise. (The exact type of drug was never specified.

Since this is Afghanistan, you probably already knew this wasn't a kegger. Instead, this DynCorp soiree was a bacha bazi ("boy-play") party, much like the ones uncovered earlier this year by Frontline. . . [they have the video on the blog]

So, I looked up the Wikileaks post with the cable. See if you can get all that from the cable.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 001651

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/A, INL, EUR/RPM
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR WOOD
OSD FOR FLOURNOY
CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICENT
KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A

EO 12958 DECL: 06/23/2019
TAGS PREL, PGOV, MARR, MASS, AF
SUBJECT: 06/23/09 MEETING, ASSISTANT AMB MUSSOMELI AND MOI
MINISTER ATMAR: KUNDUZ DYNCORP PROBLEM, TRANSPORT FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES AND
OTHER TOPICS
REF: KABUL 1480

Classified By: POLMIL COUNSELOR ROBERT CLARKE FOR REASONS* 1.4 (B) AND ( D)

¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Assistant Ambassador Mussomeli discussed a range of issues with Minister of Interior (MoI) Hanif Atmar on June 23. On the Kunduz Regional Training Center (RTC) DynCorp event of April 11 (reftel), Atmar reiterated his insistence that the U.S. try to quash any news article on the incident or circulation of a video connected with it. He continued to predict that publicity would “endanger lives.” He disclosed that he has arrested two Afghan police and nine other Afghans as part of an MoI investigation into Afghans who facilitated this crime of “purchasing a service from a child.” He pressed for CSTC-A to be given full control over the police training program, including contractors. Mussomeli counseled that an overreaction by the Afghan goverment (GIRoA) would only increase chances for the greater publicity the MoI is trying to forestall.

¶2. (C) On armored vehicles and air transport for presidential candidates, Atmar
pitched strongly to have the GIRoA decide which candidates were under threat and to retain control of allocation of these assets. He agreed with the principle of a level playing field for candidates but argued that “direct support by foreigners”
demonstrated a lack of confidence in GIRoA. If GIRoA failed to be fair, international assets and plans in reserve could be used. On another elections-related issue, Atmar claimed that two Helmand would-be provincial candidates (and key Karzai supporters) disqualified under DIAG rules had actually possessed weapons as part of a GIRoA contract to provide security for contractors.

¶3. (C) Atmar also was enthusiastic about working out arrangements with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) in RC-South to partner with the Afghan Border Police (ABP) on training and joint operations to extend GIRoA governance south. He is considering giving BG Melham, a highly regarded Afghan officer, responsibility for ABP in Nimruz and Helmand provinces. END SUMMARY. KUNDUZ RTC DYNCORP UPDATE

¶4. (C) On June 23, Assistant Ambassador Mussomeli met with MOI Minister Hanif Atmar on a number of issues, beginning with the April 11 Kunduz RTC DynCorp investigation. Amb Mussomeli opened that the incident deeply upset us and we took strong steps in response. An investigation is on-going, disciplinary actions were taken against DynCorp leaders in Afghanistan, we are also aware of proposals for new procedures, such as stationing a military officer at RTCs, that have been introduced for consideration. (Note: Placing military officers to oversee contractor operations at RTCs is not legally possible under the currentDynCorp contract.) Beyond remedial actions taken, we still hope the matter will not be blown out of proportion, an outcome which would not be good for either the U.S. or Afghanistan. A widely-anticipated newspaper article on the Kunduz scandal has not appeared but, if there is too much noise that may prompt the journalist to publish.

¶5. (C) Atmar said he insisted the journalist be told that publication would endanger lives. His request was that the U.S. quash the article and release of the video. Amb Mussomeli responded that going to the journalist would give her the sense that there is a more terrible story to report. Atmar then disclosed the arrest of two Afghan National Police (ANP) and nine other Afghans (including RTC language assistants) as part of an MoI investigation into Afghan “facilitators” of the event. The crime he was pursuing was “purchasing a service from a child,” which in Afghanistan is illegal under both Sharia law and the civil code, and against the ANP Code of Conduct for police officers who might be involved. He said he would use the civil code and that, in this case, the institution of the ANP will be protected, but he worried about the image of foreign mentors. Atmar said that President Karzai had told him that his (Atmar’s) “prestige” was in play in management of the Kunduz DynCorp matter and another recent event in which Blackwater contractors mistakenly killed several Afghan citizens. The President had asked him “Where is the justice?”

¶6. (C) Atmar said there was a larger issue to consider. He
KABUL 00001651 002 OF 003
understood that within DynCorp there were many “wonderful” people working hard, and he was keen to see proper action taken to protect them; but, these contractor companies do not have many friends. He was aware that many questions about them go to SRAP Holbrooke and, in Afghanistan, there is increasing public skepticism about contractors. On the other hand, the conduct of the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) is disciplined. Looking at these facts, he said, he wanted CSTC-A in charge. He wanted the ANP to become a model security institution just like the Afghan National Army (ANA) and National Directorate for Security (NDS), and
the contractors were not producing what was desired. He suggested that the U.S.
establish and independent commission to review the mentor situation, an idea he said Ambassador Eikenberry had first raised. Atmar added that he also wanted tighter control over Afghan employees. He was convinced that the Kunduz incident, and other events where mentors had obtained drugs, could not have happened without Afghan participation.

*Here is a list of reasons for classification which I've found, though whenever one deals with laws and regulations, one must always be careful not to jump to conclusions. The reasons cited above are 1.4 B and D.

(3) Reason for classification. The original classification
authority shall identify the reason(s) for the decision to classify.
The original classification authority shall include, at a minimum, a
brief reference to the pertinent classification category(ies), or the
number 1.4 plus the letter(s) that corresponds to that classification
category in section 1.4 of the Order.

;(i) These categories, as they appear in the Order, are as follows:
(A) Military plans, weapons systems, or operations;
(B) Foreign government information;
(C) Intelligence activities (including special activities), intelligence sources or methods, or cryptology;
(D) Foreign relations or foreign activities of the United States, including confidential sources;
(E) Scientific, technological, or economic matters relating to the national security, which includes defense against transnational terrorism;
(F) United States Government programs for safeguarding nuclear materials or facilities;
(G) Vulnerabilities or capabilities of systems, installations, infrastructures, projects, plans, or protection services relating to the national security, which includes defense against transnational terrorism; or
(H) Weapons of mass destruction.

According to DynCorp's website:

DynCorp International is a global government services provider in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives, delivering support solutions for defense, diplomacy, and international development.

We provide expertly conceived and professionally executed services to meet the complex demands of today’s world. We have broad international expertise and over 60 years of experience working in remote, dangerous and austere environments. We integrate our many competencies to provide solutions that fit each customer and situation, and bring a culture of compliance, accountability, and relentless performance to each program and task.

DynCorp's website also says they have a very good ethics program:

DynCorp International is committed to providing our employees with a safe and productive workplace. As our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct provides, the following principles guide our daily behavior:

We adhere scrupulously to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and fairness when engaged in any activity concerning the Company and its relationships with customers, suppliers, and the general public.

We comply with the spirit and letter of all applicable laws and regulations.

We deliver the highest quality service to our customers.

We compete vigorously in the marketplace and avoid business dealings that violate antitrust laws, conflict of interest principles, or procurement integrity guidelines.

We offer equal employment opportunities.

To help us comply with these principles, we have selected EthicsPoint to provide a confidential method to hear your suggestions and concerns. The Senior Leadership Team and the Company’s Directors value and encourage your input. Moreover, if you are aware of a violation of the Code of Ethics and Business Conduct or of any of DI’s policies, you must report your concerns.
EthicsPoint will report all information it receives to the Company on confidential basis. You can submit claims anonymously if you wish. We will review every submission received, investigate all complaints, and, where appropriate, implement corrective action. You have our guarantee that your comments will be heard and addressed.

And who is EthicsPoint? EthicsPoint's website says:

Hotline Service
Confidential Employee Whistleblower Hotline Services
Fostering a business culture of integrity and compliance and protecting your reputation requires offering your employees, partners, customers, suppliers, shareholders and other stakeholders a way to report conduct that may be in violation with your stated code of conduct. As the first company to offer integrated telephony and web-based anonymous hotline reporting services, EthicsPoint provides individuals at all levels with the tools and information necessary to receive, investigate and report and analyze all identified issues.
The EthicsPoint Hotline solution has been designed to enable your employees and other stakeholders to easily and confidentially report any issue or instance of misconduct. While some organizations perceive whistleblower hotlines to simply address incidents of major financial malfeasance, the flexibility of the EthicsPoint system enables you to capture any risk to your business, including:

Accounting irregularities

Theft

Conflict of interest

Foreign corrupt practices

And more…

Discrimination

Harassment

Wage/Hour violations

Insider trading

Data breaches

Financial fraud

Unsafe working conditions

Substance abuse

So, what does supplying underage boys for sex violate? Harassment? Unsafe working conditions? Foreign corrupt practices? Did someone call their hotline about this?

Wikipedia says this isn't the first time DynCorp employees provided sex slaves:

According to whistleblower Ben Johnston, a former aircraft mechanic who worked for the company in Bosnia, DynCorp employees and supervisors engaged in sex with 12 to 15 year old children, and sold them to each other as slaves.^[18] Ben Johnston ended up fired, forcing him into protective custody. According to Johnston, none of the girls were from Bosnia itself, but were kidnapped by DynCorp employees from Russia, Romania and other places.
On June 2, 2000, members of the 48th Military Police Detachment conducted a sting on the DynCorp hangar at Comanche Base Camp, one of two U.S. bases in Bosnia, and all DynCorp personnel were detained for questioning. CID spent several weeks working the investigation and the results appear to support Johnston's allegations. For example, according to DynCorp employee Kevin Werner's sworn statement to CID, "during my last six months I have come to know a man we call 'Debeli,' which is Bosnian for fat boy. He is the operator of a nightclub by the name of Harley's that offers prostitution. Women are sold hourly, nightly or permanently."^[19]
Johnston is not the only DynCorp employee to blow the whistle and sue the billion-dollar government contractor. Kathryn Bolkovac, a U.N. International Police Force monitor hired by the U.S. company on another U.N.-related contract, has filed a lawsuit in Great Britain against DynCorp for wrongful termination. DynCorp had a $15 million contract to hire and train police officers for duty in Bosnia at the time she reported such officers were paying for prostitutes and participating in sex-trafficking. Many of these were forced to resign under suspicion of illegal activity, but none have been prosecuted, as they also enjoy immunity from prosecution in Bosnia. Bolkovac is portrayed by Rachel Weisz in the 2010 film The Whistleblower.
DynCorp has admitted it fired five employees for similar illegal activities prior to Johnston's charges.^[20] In the summer of 2005, the United States Defense department drafted a proposal to prohibit defense contractor involvement in human trafficking for forced prostitution and labor. Several defense contractors, among others DynCorp, stalled the establishment of a final proposal that would formally prohibit defense contractor involvement in these activities.^[21]

You can see how one thing leads to another. We have a corporation that is getting, apparently, significant funding from the US government to train Afghans and they use some of this money to facilitate pedophiles in Afghanistan. So, who are their Board of Directors?

Wikipedia goes on to report DynCorp problems in Iraq as well.

In February 2007 federal auditors cited DynCorp for wasting millions on projects, including building an unapproved, Olympic-sized swimming pool at the behest of Iraqi police officials.^[24]
On October 11, 2007, a DynCorp security guard in a US State Department convoy killed a taxi driver in Baghdad. According to several witnesses, the taxi did not pose a threat to the security of the convoy.^[25]
A US government audit report of October 2007 revealed that $1.3 billion was spent on a contract with DynCorp for training Iraqi police. The auditors stated that the program was mismanaged to such an extent that they were unable to determine how the money was spent.^[26]

President Eisenhower warned the nation about the industrial-military complex. How did this company continue to get contracts? Before we start dismantling social security and other programs that assist Americans maintain a reasonable life, we should be looking at all the corporations who are getting billions of US taxpayer dollars in what appear to be pretty unaccountable programs.

There are so many different directions one could go. Here are the DynCorp board of directors. How much are these people making and to whom are they accountable? And how does this newly revealed scandal impact any of them? Not much I'd bet.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Steven F. Gaffney (Chairman). Mr. Gaffney joined DynCorp International as chairman of the board of directors in July 2010, and was named chief executive officer and president in August 2010. Mr. Gaffney joined DI from IAP Worldwide Services, Inc., where he served as CEO. Mr. Gaffney has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the defense industry. Previously he served as senior vice president of ITT Corporation and president of ITT Defense Electronics and Services. Early in his career, Mr. Gaffney led business segments at Litton Industries, AlliedSignal and Smith Industries. He earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Champion and Green Belt.

William L. Ballhaus (Vice Chairman). Mr. Ballhaus joined Cerberus in August 2010. Previously, he was president and chief executive officer and a director of DynCorp International since May 2008. From 2003 to 2008, he was president of BAE Systems Inc.’s Network Systems, National Security Solutions and Mission Solutions businesses. Prior to that, he served in senior executive roles at Hughes and The Boeing Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Davis and master’s and doctorate degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University, as well as a master’s degree in business administration from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. He currently serves on the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation Board of Directors and the UCLA Anderson School Board of Visitors, and is the vice chairman and a director of DynCorp International. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow of the British American Project.

General Michael Hagee (USMC Ret.). General Hagee is president and chief executive officer of the Admiral Nimitz Foundation in Fredericksburg, Texas, is a member of several corporate boards of directors and is an independent consultant to corporate executives and business leaders. General Hagee serves as a member of the U.S. Department of Defense Science Board and the National Security Advisory Council for the Center for U.S. Global Engagement and U.S. Global Leadership Campaign. General Hagee served more than 38 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, finishing his active duty career as the 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corps and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he holds masters’ degrees in electrical engineering and national security studies.

Brett Ingersoll. Mr. Ingersoll has served as senior managing director and co-head of private equity at Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. since 2003. In addition to serving as a member of DI’s board of directors, Mr. Ingersoll is also a member of the boards of directors of ACE Aviation Holdings, AerCap Holdings N.V. and Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp. Mr. Ingersoll received his BA in Economics from Brigham Young University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

General John Tilelli (USA Ret.). General Tilelli is currently chairman and chief executive officer of Cypress International, Inc. General Tilelli served two combat tours in Vietnam, commanded the 1st Cavalry Division during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and served four times in Germany. He served as the vice chief of staff of the Army, and concluded his active duty career as Commander in Chief of the United Nations Command, Republic of Korea / U.S. Combined Forces / U.S. Forces Korea. He was then appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of the USO Worldwide Operations. General Tilelli graduated from Pennsylvania Military College, now Widener University, with a degree in economics and was commissioned as an Armor Officer. He earned a master’s degree in administration from Lehigh University and graduated from the Army War College. He was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by Widener University and the University of Maryland.

You can see that bloggers and reporters in main stream media have a lot of work to do. But I think a lot of this will require subpoena powers to get to the bottom of it.

There's a lot here. I don't even pretend to know what it all means, whether this is the tip of the iceberg or just a few bad apples. But we should have competent people following up on things like this so we know for sure. To me, it suggests there's a lot of people with too much money and too much unaccountable power. And the US government is giving it to them. That means - for Americans reading this - you and me, since the Government Is Us.