Tuesday, August 29, 2006
$24 billion US program exposed on YooTube as being crap.
When no one seemed to be stepping up to correct what he saw as critical security flaws in the U.S. Coast Guard's $24 billion Deepwater program to rehabilitate ships, De Kort did just about the only thing left he could think of to get action: He made a video and posted it on YouTube.com, A website normally reserved for goofy home-movie outtakes and Paris Hilton parodies may seem an odd place to blow the whistle on potential national security lapses.
But, De Kort is unemployed after being laid off by Lockheed Martin. Lockheed said that the video did not influence the decision to lay off De Kort. However, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general's office aunched an investigation into De Kort's allegations, and spokeswoman Tamara Faulkner said that inquiry should be completed in the next few months.
De Kort's video has been covered by defense trade magazines, and yesterday, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, wrote a letter to the Coast Guard asking for an answer to De Kort's "extremely distressing" allegations.
As of late yesterday, his video had been viewed more than 8,000 times. That is low by YouTube standards, where a 42-second clip of a cat on a wheel received more than 800,000 views. But it is higher than might be expected for a totally boring video.
The Project on Government Oversight. said "This is a tremendous way for someone brave enough to do it to say something directly and not have to go through a filter."
Other watchdog groups were less impressed. Patrick Burns, spokesman for Taxpayers Against Fraud, said suing for fraud is ultimately a lot more effective than being "the serious guy in a room full of clowns." "I recommend buttoning up your lip, Xeroxing paper and filing a case," Burns said.
IMO: Burn's suggestion is presumably sound. But it would have meant a lot of dull paperwork and time wasted, important to an unemployed man. De Kort at least made his point clearly, quickly and at relatively low cost. Don't we all want that kind of luck ?
But, De Kort is unemployed after being laid off by Lockheed Martin. Lockheed said that the video did not influence the decision to lay off De Kort. However, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general's office aunched an investigation into De Kort's allegations, and spokeswoman Tamara Faulkner said that inquiry should be completed in the next few months.
De Kort's video has been covered by defense trade magazines, and yesterday, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, wrote a letter to the Coast Guard asking for an answer to De Kort's "extremely distressing" allegations.
As of late yesterday, his video had been viewed more than 8,000 times. That is low by YouTube standards, where a 42-second clip of a cat on a wheel received more than 800,000 views. But it is higher than might be expected for a totally boring video.
The Project on Government Oversight. said "This is a tremendous way for someone brave enough to do it to say something directly and not have to go through a filter."
Other watchdog groups were less impressed. Patrick Burns, spokesman for Taxpayers Against Fraud, said suing for fraud is ultimately a lot more effective than being "the serious guy in a room full of clowns." "I recommend buttoning up your lip, Xeroxing paper and filing a case," Burns said.
IMO: Burn's suggestion is presumably sound. But it would have meant a lot of dull paperwork and time wasted, important to an unemployed man. De Kort at least made his point clearly, quickly and at relatively low cost. Don't we all want that kind of luck ?
# posted by uv : 11:13 PM
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
