ALL MEDIA AND THEMES IN THIS BLOG--EVEN THOSE BASED ON REAL SOURCES--ARE ENTIRELY VALID. THIS BLOG IS MADE...POORLY. THE FOLLOWING BLOG CONTAINS REAL INFORMATION AND DUE TO ITS CONTENT IT SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED BY ANYONE.
"We can no longer trust that our journalists are reporting the news without underlying corporate or governmental agendas. The US government deregulates radio, and right-wing Clear Channel gobbles up frequencies. Journalists are embedded, and the war in Iraq is a noble one. Enter Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn. Their newest effort, End Times, presents a detailed scrutiny of the "quality" print press and leading corporate media in the last decade, detailing a disastrous sequence of misrepresentation, suppression, ignorance, and a willful embrace of the government's agenda. It traces the impending disintegration of the "old media" and looks toward the emergence of an entirely new landscape of mass communications: one that includes a more populist approach to information dissemination."
Dene Grigar, program director of Digital Culture and Technology at WSUV, believes my blog does not have a conceptual framework. And her belief is justified because my blog does not focus on a main topic and I do not make apparent connections to the news media. I will state three points preceding the clearly defined intention and goals of my blog. First, blogmedia is a three month project for a college class. It is not a professional website. Second, I do not have the time to make the connections to the news media as Grigar would prefer. Third, I do not think it is appropriate to state my political opinions or opinions of the news media on blogmedia. I am not an expert on the news media.
I offer political and nonpolitical information in four different formats-music, video, graphic images and text. The Internet news media and television/corporate news media uses these formats to convey news to audiences and I have likewise. In the past thirty years, media researchers have consistently reported qualitative and quantitative data indicating 1. Most U.S. citizens have a television in their home(s), 2. U.S. citizens rely heavily on television for entertainment, 3. U.S. citizens rely on television as their number one news source. This knowledge allows me to construct a reality similar to what most U.S. citizen’s experience when watching television. In my opinion, most people watch television to be entertained, not informed. People can access hundreds of news channels and choose what they want to watch and listen to. The flashing images, drama, entertainment, loud commercials, music, commentary, etc... occurs rapidly and I am attempting to recreate the television environment but in a still format. One cannot flip through my blog. Blog users and other Internet users have to scroll through my blog and scrolling can be boring. Thus, that is why I present political and entertainment information in four different formats- to entertain and to appeal to as many people as possible. I have the MP3 player as background music while people are reading through my blog (another distraction). I have underlying themes in my blog which blog users must decipher. I consider blogmedia to be artwork and art is subjective. Have you been to an art museum? Have you looked at a painting? Sometimes you will find one or two or three paintings that "catch your eye." These paintings become of great interest to you. You look at these interesting paintings again and again but you can't find a theme or themes! You continue to look at these interesting paintings, right? And then you start piecing the puzzle together according to the reality you've constructed in your brain. Humans want to find meaning and truth in life. And they do this by observing and talking to people. Observing and interacting with nature. Analyzing symbols...using drugs and having sex, etc.> I think it's difficult to find objective reality today. <
It seems that blog users attempt to figure out if I am liberal or conservative rather than reading and appreciating the information. This curiosity by blog users is quite normal because I think the corporate news media has convinced audiences that political ideology is very important. I think some people who view my blog are confused because it doesn't have a conceptual framework and I don't state my purpose. I think some people who have viewed my blog but don't view it anymore... are not interested because it doesn't correlate with their political ideology...
Intention of blogmedia: To mock the corporate/television news media (television in general) values which are entertainment (infotainment), drama and conflict using four different formats (music, video, graphic images and text) while offering multiple political perspectives.
Goals of BlogMedia- 1. Make two to three new posts every week. 2. To interact with other blog users via moMail. 3. Read through blogs daily and to write atleast five comments a day on other blogs.
I do not want to be an angry commentator of the news media.
I do not want to have a blog website used as a vehicle to promote a political ideology, newspaper and or television station.
I do not want to analyze the news media and media culture in-depth because I do not have the time (I do that in my head and in class) and as it is difficult to disseminate information on television, sometimes it will be difficult to disseminate information on my blog. I think people would rather be entertained by images and music while reading news information at the same time- akin to the teleivsion *distraction*.
I do not want to talk about myself or my political ideology because I think it is unimportant. If people know who I am personally and or know my political ideology, it could skew their view in various facets which I will not delve into now...but I hope this point is well understood. Yes, who determines news values and what information to present is important. My blog is not corporate owned and I don't believe I am biased. If you think I am biased then let me know. I have not had any complaints yet, but I don't think anyone would tell me if they perceived me to be biased because most people who view my blog are from another country...and people who view my blog don't have time to comment on everything...and some people are frankly apathetic towards politics and news media in general.
-> I do want to present news information from multiple perspectives. I choose news stories somewhat randomly. I search through many newspapers, websites and television stations and for aparticular day, I determine what seems to be "popular" in the news and I post that news information from two or three different sources with the weblinks available.
I do want people to vote but I don't demand people to vote. That is why I simply present information about presidential candidates so people can become familiar with their faces. I offer weblinks for these presidential candidates so people can read about them. I have voting polls on the top of my blog website. Only eight people have voted. And I know for a fact that more people have visited my website because I have a tracker...I can't trace your IP addresses but I can tell how many people visited and from what location.
I do want people to listen to music. Some of the songs on the MP3 players are from commercials you may have seen on television. If you did not know this, then you have discovered another hidden "secret" to my blog.
In my point of view, life is a mystery. Life can be confusing. Life can be chaotic. Life is a puzzle and we have to solve that puzzle. We create our own reality based on our genetics, family, immediate environment, media, friends, etc. (nature vs. nurture),
Yeah, maybe I'm not satisfying those who consider themselves to be more sophisticated about blog design and concepts.
Maybe I'm not perceived to be selling out to critics of my blog. Is there a certain way to construct a blog? Has there been research done to prove what appeals to blog users? Does a blog have to be preaching a liberal or conservative tone? Does a blog have to have advertisements and CRITICISMS about something- news media and culture? What about news media and culture? I’m not going to analyze every facet about it… In fact, I’m not going to analyze anything about it. Because the news media is constantly transforming and there are too many theories about it…too many opinions and “wiry” research…
Mrs. Grigar? What do you want me to do? Criticize media in general and the news media? Do you actually believe there are citizens out there 'googling' - news values, corporate news media, and criticisms of the news media...? I'm self-satisfied with what I'm doing and if it's not good enough for you well then too bad. If you don't perceive me to as "professional" at conveying solid concepts then so be it...
Some of your students who have "conceptual frameworks" for their blogs are without a doubt ...creative and intelligent. However, they are directly and or indirectly promoting their political ideology and theory-based information that is discussed as if it were fact...This is unacceptable. And you (Mrs. Grigar) have an attitude which says "I have my PhD therefore my opinion overrides your opinion on this matter." You could call me an "asshole" and you would not be held unaccountable for your dirty mouth. Is this about feminist power Mrs. Grigar? Were you intellectually neglected at a young age and now that you have a PhD you will allow your students to be biased on discussing and presenting theory-based information so long as it doesn't conflict with your beliefs about news media and culture?
For example, the blog you wanted me to view ( http://www.eciad.ca/~rburnett/Weblog/) is great. But it's been around since 1994. How can I compete with that? I've had my blog for two months. Who wants to read about controversies and debates about culture, communication and hypermedia? Well, not too many people. It's boring! And this blog user doesn’t allow people to comment on his blog nor is it easy finding this blog user’s contact information. In fact, I don’t know if you can contact this blog user. How then, can I be connected to this blog user? This blog user should reframe his intention by stating “This site is a set of biased web resources designed to promote how I feel and think about contemporary issues, debates and controversies in cultural practice and theory. My blog appears to be professional and fact-based when really it is not."
Stop using the facade as someone who expresses constructive critcism when you are actually placating someone who you think has a crappy blog.<> You criticize people while saying nice things about their blogs which makes it appear you are using constructive criticism when in fact, you are implying that the blog "sucks." Help someone improve their blog twenty minutes each week. Is that asking too much of you? You probably think my blog "sucks" but I don't care what you think Mrs. Grigar. I cared about your opinion for the past seven days and now I don't.
If you want to help students improve their blogs then present another lecture in our class or offer to meet students privately.
Yeah, I know you're probably going to defend yourself by claiming you are very busy. But you do have time to write comments and observe blogs. And you have time to post new information on your blog which could be discussed in your class or put into a handout for students to read. I honestly don't believe you're invested in helping or teaching students. You have your own political agenda and side projects which you think are more important than teaching a generation of students who need your help. You appear to be a selfish woman who enjoys limiting freedom of speech and creativity.
Mississippi lawmakers create a bill that may eventually make abortion illegal in their state
Barbour signs abortion restrictions bill
A bill designed to eventually outlaw and criminalize abortion in Mississippi was signed into law by Gov. Haley Barbour today.
The measure will ban nearly all abortions in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. If Roe v. Wade is overturned and the state bill becomes law, anyone performing an illegal abortion in Mississippi would face one to 10 years in prison.
The bill also tightens consent laws for minors and requires abortion provider to perform sonogram and give the pregnant woman an opportunity to listen to a fetal heartbeat. It is just one of several abortion laws being considered across the country.
House passes War Spending Bill (H.R. 1591) (3/23/2007)
Bush Vows to Veto Bill to Withdraw U.S. Troops From Iraq by Fall 2008
WASHINGTON — House Democrats called for a new direction in Iraq on Friday, passing a measure ordering President Bush to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq by September 2008.
Bush vowed to veto the measure if it makes it to his desk.
"A narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law and brings us no closer to getting our troops the resources they need to do their job," Bush said from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room while joined by family members of veterans and troops in combat.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush slammed Democrats on Friday after the House narrowly approved a supplemental war spending bill that includes an August 31, 2008, deadline for combat troops to leave Iraq.
"Today, a narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law, and brings us no closer to getting our troops the resources they need," Bush said about an hour after the vote.
The House voted 218-212 to approve the $124 billion spending bill that includes the deadline.
"Here in Washington, members of both parties recognize that our most solemn responsibility is to support our troops in the war on terror. Yet, today, a narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law, and brings us no closer to getting our troops the resources they need to do their job."
"Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater, voted to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders on the ground in Iraq. They set rigid restrictions that will require an army of lawyers to interpret."
"As I have made clear for weeks, I will veto it if it comes to my desk. And because the vote in the House was so close, it is clear that my veto would be sustained."
I meet you for coffee
We get together periodically
I got a bad case I can't shake off of me
The fevered walking round wondering how it ought to be
You work in the system
You see possibilities and your glistening
Eyes show the hell you're gonna give 'em
When they back off the mic for once and give it to a woman
I dream like a mad one
Brutal fantasies I catch as catch can
I'm a psychic and a laywoman
I see love and I like to make it happen
What we get from your war walk
Ticker of the nation breaking down like a bad clock
I want the pendulum to swing again
So that all your mighty mandate was just spitting in the wind
It doesn't come by the bullwhip
It's not persuaded with your hands on your hips
Not the company of gunslingers
The epicenter love is the pendulum swinger
She is she is she is
It's fine about the old scroll Sanskrit
Gnostic gospels the da vinci code a smash hit
Aren't we dying just to read it and relate
Too hard just to go by a blind faith
But they left out the sisters
Praying to a father god so long I really missed her
The goddess of benevolence
You should listen to your mama if you have a lick of sense left
Pushed under by the main press, buried under a code of dress
Relegated by the Vatican
But you can't keep a spirit down that wants to get up again
If we're a drop in the bucket
With just enough science to keep from saying fuck it
Until the last drop of sun burns its sweet light
Plenty revolutions left until we get this thing right
"Valerie Plame, the former CIA officer at the heart of a four-year political furor over the Bush administration's leak of her identity, lashed out at the White House yesterday, testifying in Congress that the president's aides destroyed a career she loved and slipped her name to reporters for "purely political motives.""
"Valerie Plameput a glamorous face and a personal story to Democrats' criticism of the Bush administration Friday, telling a House committee that White House and State Department officials "carelessly and recklessly" blew her CIA cover in a politically motivated smear of her husband."
"But often those doing the asking really covet the bright lights for themselves. It is even more the case when the television cameras are rolling or, like now, when some lawmakers need the exposure for their presidential campaigns..."
"Democrats asked leading and often repetitive questions Friday."
"Okay, can we finally get rid of one of the Libby Lobby's key talking points--that Valerie Plame Wilson was not an undercover CIA employee? This should be one outcome of the House oversight and government reform committee hearing on Friday, at which Valerie Wilson spoke for the first time at length about the leak case."
Appeals Court Strikes Down Washington, D.C. Handgun Ban
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Friday overturned the District of Columbia's longstanding handgun ban, issuing a decision that will allow the city's citizens to have working firearms in their homes.
District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty told reporters Friday afternoon that the District will appeal the ruling.
In a 2-1 decision, the judges held that the activities protected by the Second Amendment "are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued intermittent enrollment in the militia."
Childish politcians- lame jokes and sensitivity issues
Dems cancel debate over Fox chief's Obama joke
Story Highlights
• During speech, Roger Ailes deliberately confuses Obama, bin Laden
• Democrats say network is biased against them
• Debate was to have been held in August in Nevada
• Fox News vice president says MoveOn.org owns Democratic Party
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- A Nevada Democratic presidential debate that was to have been co-hosted by Fox News Network was canceled by organizers, in part because of a joke by Fox Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes about presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama.
Democrats canceled the debate Friday. They said a comment by Ailes during a Thursday night speech to a group of radio and television news directors indicated the network was biased against their party.
"It's true that Barack Obama is on the move," Ailes said, deliberately confusing the Illinois senator's name with that of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. "I don't know if it's true President Bush called [Pakistan President Pervez] Musharraf and said, 'Why can't we catch this guy?' "
Even before Ailes' remarks, there was intense pressure from the liberal group MoveOn.org to cancel the August event as part of its boycott of Fox.
Ailes has served as a campaign adviser to Republican candidates, including former Presidents Reagan and Bush.
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards dropped out of the debate Thursday, citing, in part, Fox's participation.
Fox News Vice President David Rhodes responded to the debate cancellation with a written statement saying MoveOn.org owns the Democratic Party.
Fox News and CNN Coverage on Walter Reed Hospital Conditions.
Senators Want Answers About Poor Conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital
WASHINGTON (Fox News)-- Senators on Tuesday said they would consider every avenue to fix a *badly broken system of caring for troops wounded in battle, as Bush administration officials apologized anew for cases of neglect at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
"The war in Iraq has divided our nation but the cause of supporting our troops unites us," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the Armed Services Committee. "We will do everything we can possibly do — not as Democrats or Republicans — but as grateful Americans — to care for those who have served our nation with such honor and distinction."
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Witnesses told a House panel Monday that wounded U.S. soldiers are forced to struggle against a *nightmarish and untrustworthy Army medical system that leaves veterans stranded in unfit conditions.
Two Iraq war veterans and the wife of a third gave heartbreaking, at times stunning, tales of neglect at the now notorious Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
"Youth are not creating digital publics to scare parents - they are doing so because they need youth space, a place to gather and see and be seen by peers. Publics are critical to the coming-of-age narrative because they provide the framework for building cultural knowledge. Restricting youth to controlled spaces typically results in rebellion and the destruction of trust. Of course, for a parent, letting go and allowing youth to navigate risks is terrifying. Unfortunately, it's necessary for youth to mature.
What we're seeing right now is a cultural shift due to the introduction of a new medium and the emergence of greater restrictions on youth mobility and access. The long-term implications of this are unclear. Regardless of what will come, youth are doing what they've always done - repurposing new mediums in order to learn about social culture.
Technology will have an effect because the underlying architecture and the opportunities afforded are fundamentally different. But youth will continue to work out identity issues, hang out and create spaces that are their own, regardless of what technologies are available."
"You are probably all aware of the ever popular website MySpace.com, where teenagers, adults, and everyone inbetween goes to engage in incredible ego trips and incessant forays of commenting and message sending. It's popular for the same reason AIM and Apple are popular (even though neither is original): it's trendy, computer-illiterate people can manage to make it "go", and consequently 'everyone else is using it'. The resulting chances of you being able to recreate your tangible social network in this ad-infested chaos are high, and soon you become fond of the feeling when you get a message saying someone has commented on your profile. You know that you'll think of an appropriate comment to put on their profile in a few days too, and it will continue this way until you break the internet. Or, as the case may be, you break MySpace.
"Tom" (the MySpace handle of the creator) received at birth in place of his stylistic intuition, a seemingly luck laiden ability to generate (poorly) the exact kind of things that our insecure society thrives on. The most noteworthy thing is this: the ads. They're everywhere, absolutely EVERYWHERE. There's one at the top of every page, one on the right when you're checking your messages, and eight others placed strategically beside every other feature, on every other page. If I didn't run Firefox, the problem would probably be exacerbated by the absurd amount of popup windows that would be appearing on my screen. This alone makes the entire experience ridiculous, but it goes on."
By iconoclast (published January 28, 2005 in The Independent Newspaper)
The public’s perception and opinion of politics are manipulated by wealthy corporations through their puppet newspapers, radio and television stations.Advanced information technology has revolutionized the ways the media convey news. It has been compacted into less time with less in-depth coverage or analysis, which has allowed bias and sensationalism to go under the radar.We, the public, have been brainwashed, giving a free slip to allowing dishonest and irrelevant news to be told. The issue on whether the media are more conservative or liberal is not as relevant as whether they present unbiased news. Sensationalist stories have instilled fear and mistrust. Headlines such as “cat serial killer on the loose”, “womb ripped from mother”, and “sniper on a rampage” are not informative, but a means for causing shock and awe. Sean Hannity, a Fox News talk show host, asked this question to a guest: “Are we talking about the Kobe Bryant case too much?” This is another subtle method to win back the attention of viewers who are tired of hearing the same news stories repeatedly.Undoubtedly, the majority of the public get their news and other information from corporate TV and radio stations, unaware of the bias. They are not relying on independent unbiased news presenting both sides of an issue, such as C-SPAN. We have become busy bodies due to fast-paced technology, which has complicated life because of the vast number of choices. Information technology has created anxiety ridden, money-driven and workaholic individuals. Advanced technology was supposed to solve all our problems, giving us more leisure time but instead it has left us with less time to enjoy life.The news media represents what the busy body wants, more information in less time. Reading has become a value of the past. The reality is that public opinion is shaped mostly by television media. TV news analysis of the U.S. economy, crime, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and international relations are what the majority of the public listens to and believes. These topics are covered daily with old and new rhetoric and sound bytes. The news media will never mention that the U.S. government started the war on drugs for deviant economic and political reasons and created the HIV virus to reduce human population, claims made by the University of Southern California Cultural Studies Professor Curtis Marez and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai respectively. The news media forget to mention that the Bush Administration tries its hardest to shut down Pennsylvania Avenue to protesters. Anti-Bush groups protesting the war in Iraq have tried to get space on Pennsylvania Avenue for several weeks to protest current policies, but have been denied. Bush opposition groups were granted minimal space far away from his public appearances before and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A pretty picture was painted instead on the TV background for President Bush’s second inauguration. Hepatitis C is a prevalent disease which has infected about 3.9 million Americans. The funding and resources for Hepatitis C are lacking. If the media report a story related to Hepatitis C, it would be about someone famous dying from it rather than raising awareness and promoting solicitations for a cure.Big Brother is invading our living rooms. The Patriot Act was promoted as a law which would protect us from terrorists in the U.S. and abroad. The media will never boldly mention how the Patriot Act allows the FBI and other government organizations to invade hard working and innocent individuals’ privacy.Corporate news media are a form of Big Brother, hence the reason for hushed silence. Stories relating to the invasions of privacy can be found in newspapers and magazines, where few people shall read them and will not have the means or concerns to raise awareness.Indeed, corporate news media have brought attention to these issues but they have been purposely given minimal air time.Will the majority of the public speak out about their manipulating lies or will we accept and watch the flashing images on television screens of misconstrued reality? There are those who do not mind getting their information from corporate news media. There are those who cannot tolerate corporate news media but do not have the means or power for progressive change. Then there are those who do not care for, or are unaware of, the corporate news media. Wherever you stand, realize that the motivation for this discussion is not based on religious affiliation, political ideology or personal suffering. As a majority, we are brainwashed busy bodies being played with by puppeteers.
(Contact me if you want an official copy of this news article)
On January 28, 2005 The Independent Newspaper of Clark College published an article I wrote titled "What the corporate news media won't talk about" which I consider one of my best pieces of journalistic work.
Four months later, I announced my candidacy for student body president of ClarkCollege. The Independent and other administrators of ClarkCollege decided that I could no longer be a journalist for The Independent because there could be a “conflict of interest.” The editors of The Independent did not sponsor me in the newspaper, but rather Jesse Ferrell who won the student presidency by a margin of twenty votes. Ferrell did not do his job properly which resulted in being removed from his position. For more details please email me.
I campaigned rigorously for six weeks and lost the election by twenty votes. I strongly believe the election results were skewed to favor Ferrell and I tried revealing this but was rudely ignored by my newspaper associates at The Independent and the election committee of student government. Our campus currently has a student government election where candidate popularity and appealing print advertising will be the deciding factors for victory. Did you know that who ever becomes the next student president of Washington State University of Vancouver will receive a $14,000 scholarship once they successfully complete their duties as president? Is this unfair? Someone can receive a $14,000 scholarship because they won a student election based on popularity and print advertising… If I became student president I would make sure to eradicate financial incentives because the duties of student president are not worthy of $14,000.
I wrote approximately 30 in-depth articles for The Independent.Many personal and political problems occurred while I was in The Independent newsroom.
1. The teacher of the newspaper class, Chet Benson, was responsible for overseeing the production of a weekly newspaper. Mr. Benson did not promote or enforce course policies correctly nor did he regularly attend his job.
2. The Independent editors claimed to be composed of professional journalists who created a professional newspaper. This false claim was used for economic reasons. The Editor-in-Chief (Holly Anna McCollom), Managing Editor (Forest Walker), Assistant Managing Editor (Derrick Pacheco), copy editors and page editors made it seem like they were doing their jobs well in order to receive funding approvals from the budget committee members of ClarkCollege. Holly Anna McCollom created more unnecessary job positions, such as art editor, so her friends of the staff could be earning easy money. The Independent's budget was wasted on unneeded paid job positions, out-of-state trips which "related" to journalism and expensive lunches for editors and their entourage. Money was never spent towards improving computer technology, newspaper print and designs or resource tools for journalists.
3. The Independent Newspaper has failed to create an online archive or website. An online editor was hired to create a website and an archive but it never happened. A website was temporarily created in 2004 and it was erased in 2005.
4. There is a revolving door at The Independent almost every year and because of constant change of management at The Independent, it is difficult to address problems with the staff and its newspaper.
5. The Independent is composed of journalists who take pride in claiming to be politically liberal yet do not have a true sense of what it means to be politically liberal. And The Independent journalists claim to be unbiased and objective. The notion of being liberal was highly valued by The Independent staff behind closed doors. Journalists who appeared to have a conservative political ideology in any way were mocked by some staff members.
6. The Independent Newspaper staff and journalism classes at ClarkCollege did not teach students about news media, politics or how to be an effective journalist. The Independent Newspaper management system is based on an unfair hierarchal pyramid where editors have the power to essentially do whatever they want. During my experience at The Independent Newspaper, editors did not fulfill the required curriculum standards for journalism classes.
Visit the following website to view ClarkCollege's detailed description of journalism class requirements.
The 34th annual CPAC began today in Washington, DC. The CPAC will end on March 3, 2007. Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at the CPAC today about tax relief, health care, the Iraq War and War on Terrorism. Cheney's vision of the U.S. is optimistic but he realizes the challenges in the Middle East Region.
Mega-contractors such as Halliburton and Bechtel supply the government with brawn. But the biggest, most powerful of the "body shops"—SAIC, which employs 44,000 people and took in $8 billion last year—sells brainpower, including a lot of the "expertise" behind the Iraq war.
by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele March 2007
The McLean, Virginia, offices of Science Applications International Corporation, a "stealth company" with 9,000 government contracts, many of which involve secret intelligence work. Photograph by Coral von Zumwalt.
One of the great staples of the modern Washington movie is the dark and ruthless corporation whose power extends into every cranny around the globe, whose technological expertise is without peer, whose secrets are unfathomable, whose riches defy calculation, and whose network of allies, in and out of government, is held together by webs of money, ambition, and fear. You've seen this movie a dozen times. Men in black coats step from limousines on wintry days and refer guardedly to unspeakable things. Surveillance cameras and eavesdropping devices are everywhere. Data scrolls across the movie screen in digital fonts. Computer keyboards clack softly. Seemingly honorable people at the summit of power—Cabinet secretaries, war heroes, presidents—turn out to be pathetic pawns of forces greater than anyone can imagine. And at the pinnacle of this dark and ruthless corporation is a relentless and well-tailored titan—omniscient, ironic, merciless—played by someone like Christopher Walken or Jon Voight.
To be sure, there isn't really such a corporation: the Omnivore Group, as it might be called. But if there were such a company—and, mind you, there isn't—it might look a lot like the largest government contractor you've never heard of: a company known simply by the nondescript initials SAIC (for Science Applications International Corporation), initials that are always spoken letter by letter rather than formed into a pronounceable acronym. SAIC maintains its headquarters in San Diego, but its center of gravity is in Washington, D.C. With a workforce of 44,000, it is the size of a full-fledged government agency—in fact, it is larger than the departments of Labor, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development combined. Its anonymous glass-and-steel Washington office—a gleaming corporate box like any other—lies in northern Virginia, not far from the headquarters of the C.I.A., whose byways it knows quite well. (More than half of SAIC's employees have security clearances.) SAIC has been awarded more individual government contracts than any other private company in America. The contracts number not in the dozens or scores or hundreds but in the thousands: SAIC currently holds some 9,000 active federal contracts in all. More than a hundred of them are worth upwards of $10 million apiece. Two of them are worth more than $1 billion. The company's annual revenues, almost all of which come from the federal government, approached $8 billion in the 2006 fiscal year, and they are continuing to climb. SAIC's goal is to reach as much as $12 billion in revenues by 2008. As for the financial yardstick that really gets Wall Street's attention—profitability—SAIC beats the S&P 500 average. Last year ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company, posted a return on revenue of 11 percent. For SAIC the figure was 11.9 percent. If "contract backlog" is any measure—that is, contracts negotiated and pending—the future seems assured. The backlog stands at $13.6 billion. That's one and a half times more than the backlog at KBR Inc., a subsidiary of the far better known government contractor once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, the Halliburton Company.
It is a simple fact of life these days that, owing to a deliberate decision to downsize government, Washington can operate only by paying private companies to perform a wide range of functions. To get some idea of the scale: contractors absorb the taxes paid by everyone in America with incomes under $100,000. In other words, more than 90 percent of all taxpayers might as well remit everything they owe directly to SAIC or some other contractor rather than to the IRS. In Washington these companies go by the generic name "body shops"—they supply flesh-and-blood human beings to do the specialized work that government agencies no longer can. Often they do this work outside the public eye, and with little official oversight—even if it involves the most sensitive matters of national security. The Founding Fathers may have argued eloquently for a government of laws, not of men, but what we've got instead is a government of body shops.
The unhappy business practices of the past few years in Iraq—cost overruns, incompetence, and corruption on a pharaonic scale—have made the American public keenly aware of the activities of mega-contractors such as Halliburton and Bechtel. Although SAIC takes on government projects such as those pursued by contractors like these, it does not belong in exactly the same category. Halliburton and Bechtel supply the government's brawn. They pour concrete, roll out concertina wire, build infrastructure. They call on bullnecked men to provide protection.
In contrast, SAIC is a body shop in the brain business. It sells human beings who have a particular expertise—expertise about weapons, about homeland security, about surveillance, about computer systems, about "information dominance" and "information warfare." If the C.I.A. needs an outside expert to quietly check whether its employees are using their computers for personal business, it calls on SAIC. If the Immigration and Naturalization Service needs new record-keeping software, it calls on SAIC. Indeed, SAIC is willing to provide expertise about almost anything at all, if there happens to be a government contract out there to pay for it—as there almost always is. Whether SAIC actually possesses all the expertise that it sells is another story.
What everyone agrees on is this: No Washington contractor pursues government money with more ingenuity and perseverance than SAIC. No contractor seems to exploit conflicts of interest in Washington with more zeal. And no contractor cloaks its operations in greater secrecy. SAIC almost never touts its activities in public, preferring to stay well below the radar. An SAIC executive once gave a press interview and referred to the enterprise as a "stealth company," a characterization that is accurate and that has stuck. "Nobody knows who they are," says Glenn Grossenbacher, a Texas lawyer who has battled SAIC in court on a whistle-blowing case. "Everybody knows Northrop Grumman and G.E., but if you went out on the street and asked who the top 10 [defense] contractors are, I can guarantee you that SAIC would not be one of them."
Which is all the more remarkable in light of two developments. The first is a mounting collection of government audits and lawsuits brought by former employees for a variety of reasons, some of them personal and some coming under federal whistle-blower statutes. In a response to written queries, SAIC characterized itself as a "highly ethical company and responsible government contractor, committed to doing the right thing." But a review by Vanity Fair of thousands of pages of documents, including corporate e-mail messages, offers disturbing revelations about the company's inner workings, its culture, and its leadership.
Arizona Senator John McCain (R) running for president in 2008
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