Today's Featured Music: Grace: Jim Brickman radio

Today's Featured Music: Grace: Jim Brickman radio
5.30.2011
Listen now!

If you'd like to view this music to some very powerful photos please click below and mute the slideshow.
youtube.com/atkinsp22




Source;

http://www.bit.ly/jimbrickman
http://grooveshark.com/#/user/atkinsp/8842490/music?src=5


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

A Season of Passion (Box Set) [Box Set]

A Season of Passion (Box Set) [Box Set]
© 2004 St. Clair Entertainment Group Inc.

Anton Bruckner (Composer), Gregorian Chant (Composer), Franz [Vienna] Schubert (Composer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Georges Bizet (Composer), Charles Gounod (Composer), George Frederick Handel (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Giovanni Pergolesi (Composer), Anonymous (Composer), John Stainer (Composer), Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer), Johann Hermann Schein (Composer), Serge Baudo (Conductor), Claudio Abbado (Conductor), Rome RAI Orchestra (Orchestra), The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra Chorus (Orchestra), Luciano Pavarotti (Performer) | Format: Audio CD


Listen to samples

Luciano Pavarotti Biography

Pavarotti's popularity was arguably bigger than that of any other living tenor in the world. His 1993 live performance in the New York's Central Park was attended by 500,000 fans while millions watched it on television. Pavarotti was blessed with a voice of a rare range, beauty and clarity, which was best during the 60s, 70s and 80s. In 1966 he became the first opera tenor to hit all nine "high C's" with his full voice in the aria 'Quel destin' in 'La Fille du Regiment' (aka The Daughter of the Regiment) and was nicknamed "King of the High C's" in rave reviews.

Luciano Pavarotti was known for his humanitarian work. He was the founder and the host of the 'Pavarotti & Friends' annual charity concerts and related activities. There he sang with international stars of all styles to raise funds for several worthy UN causes. Pavarotti sang with Bono and U2 in the 1995 song Miss Sarajevo and raised $1,500,000 in his charity project.
In March 2004 Pavarotti gave his last performance in an opera as the painter Mario Cavaradossi in Giacomo Puccini's 'Tosca' at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Legendary tenor passed away on September 6, 2007, at home in Modena, Italy, where he was surrounded by his family.

This biography was provided by the artist or their representative.


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

General Dynamics Land Systems Australia Awarded Contract to Deliver Through Life Support for ASLAV, M1A1 and M88A2 Fleets

General Dynamics Land Systems Australia Awarded Contract to Deliver Through Life Support for ASLAV, M1A1 and M88A2 Fleets
27 May 2011

General Dynamics Land Systems-Australia (GDLS-A), a business unit of General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada in London, Ontario,

received a five year, AU$44.8m Through Life Support contract today. The contract also includes a one year phase-in period.
The Through Life Support services will deliver enhanced fleet availability of the Army’s ASLAV wheeled armoured fighting vehicles,

M1A1 Abrams tanks, and M88A2 Heavy Recovery vehicles. Ongoing spare parts, repairs, maintenance and engineering tasks will be

ordered as required through this integrated support contract. It also provides the opportunity for stronger relationships with the

Commonwealth and local industry.
The contract will change the mechanisms and business processes between the Commonwealth and General Dynamics in Australia to

improve efficiency, reduce costs and promote value. The contract also includes the implementation of a performance management

framework for the services, which contributes toward the Commonwealth Strategic Reform Program (SRP). This provides the basis for

awarding up to 15, one-year contract extensions based on performance. The low risk Through Life Support solution is founded on local

and experienced capability; leveraging the full range of original equipment manufacturer engineering, technical support network and

product service centres.
Gary Stewart, Managing Director of General Dynamics Land Systems - Australia, said the performance-based contract provides an

adaptable framework to ensure sustainable, dependable and high quality service delivery.
“We have leveraged our extensive experience in implementing and executing performance-based support contracts for other

customers, which has enabled us to incorporate attributes such as cost transparency, continuous improvement and application of lean

initiatives,” Stewart said. “Our service delivery model is flexible, enabling effective change and ongoing service delivery in response to the

Commonwealth’s constantly changing operational and support environments.”
Stewart added that the contract enables the repair, maintenance and upgrade of combat vehicle fleets to remain a strategic industry

capability within Australia.
“The long range focus of this program also presents the opportunity for Australian industry to participate in General Dynamics’ global

supply chain,” Stewart said. “We look forward to engaging with Australian companies as part of our design, manufacturing and

sustainment transfer initiatives for this contract and other programs.”
More information about the company is available at www.gdlsaustralia.com.
(Source: PRNewswire, General Dynamics Land Systems-Australia (GDLS-A),)


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

U.S. House Passes Defense Bill as White House Threatens Veto

U.S. House Passes Defense Bill as White House Threatens Veto
27 May 2011

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $690 billion defense bill even as the Obama administration is threatening a veto over

lawmakers’ support of a plan by General Electric Co. (GE) and Rolls-Royce Group Plc (RR/) to self-fund the development of a

secondary engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The House voted 322-96 to pass the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill, which sets spending targets and military policy. The bill

authorizes $553 billion for the Department of Defense’s base budget and $119 billion for overseas operations including the wars in Iraq

and Afghanistan. It also authorizes $18 billion for the Department of Energy’s atomic weapons programs.
The bill would require the secretary of defense to allow continued development and testing of the secondary engine for Lockheed

Martin Corp. (LMT)’s F-35 jet if it is self-funded and would not incur any cost to the federal government.
The Defense Department last month terminated the second engine program, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates says is unneeded

and wasteful spending. Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTX) of Hartford, Connecticut, is the primary engine

supplier for Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jet.
“If the final bill presented to the president includes funding or a legislative direction to continue an extra engine program, the

President’s senior advisers would recommend a veto,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement today.
$100 Million Self-Funding
GE, of Fairfield, Connecticut, and U.K.-based Rolls Royce said that they are willing to self-fund development of the alternative engine

for the rest of this year and next year. That would cost more than $100 million, GE Aviation spokesman Rick Kennedy said. The

company’s goal is to compete with Hartford- based Pratt & Whitney starting in 2016, Kennedy said.
The House bill is the first step in a several-months-long process to approve Pentagon policy and spending for the fiscal year starting

Oct. 1. The House and Senate will have to negotiate the final defense authorization bill to be sent to President Barack Obama for his

signature.
As part of the bill, the House approved adding $272 million to the Pentagon’s requested $181.3 million for Abrams battle tank

production, to help General Dynamics Corp. (GD) avert an Army plan to temporarily shut down the plant.
Lawmakers are also mandating that the Pentagon hold a competition for the Air Force’s new bomber propulsion system, instead of

having the airplane’s maker choose the subcontractor.
Future Bomber
The U.S. Air Force is requesting $3.7 billion in its five- year budget for research and development of a new class of long- range strike

systems that may include a bomber, missiles and drones. The Air Force budget request for fiscal 2012 includes $197 million to begin

developing a bomber.
The new bomber design would be the first in almost three decades, since Northrop Grumman’s B-2 was designed. Lockheed Martin

and Boeing Co. (BA), based in Chicago, said in 2008 that they would form a partnership to compete against Los Angeles-based

Northrop.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget also opposed the requirement for the bomber-engine competition in a

statement of administration policy issued on Tuesday.
“The prime contractor’s design concepts may differ so widely that it would be impractical to have a separate engine competition and

then insert the winning engine into the winning airframe,” it said. “Mandating such development would likely result in increased cost and

risk.”
War Debated
Both Republicans and Democrats tried to use the defense authorization bill to force the Obama administration to speed up the troop

withdrawal from Afghanistan. Measures introduced by Representatives Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and Walter Jones,

Republican of North Carolina, as well as one introduced Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Democrat Peter Welch of Vermont

failed.
“If you get a decent vote it’s wind at the president’s back that come July when he makes his announcement” about the future of

Afghan deployment “that he can do more than just offer a token drawdown, that it’s actually a meaningful drawdown in terms of our

troops,” McGovern told reporters yesterday. His amendment failed by a vote of 204 to 215.
Apart from the engine issues, the defense authorization bill has also triggered White House veto threats over provisions that challenge

administration policies regarding nuclear weapons and military detainees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roxana Tiron in Washington at rtiron@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

(Source: Bloomberg)


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Pentagon calls for 3-year shutdown of Abrams production by General Dynamics

Pentagon calls for 3-year shutdown of Abrams production by General Dynamics
25 May 2011

It seems like old times. Old times — but not good times.
Once again, defense contractor General Dynamics and dozens of area industrial suppliers are trying to convince Congress not to pull

the plug on the U.S. Army’s Abrams tank program. At a town hall meeting on Friday held at a Roseville factory, the suppliers pleaded

with U.S. Rep. Sander Levin to convince more members of Congress that a three-year shutdown proposed by the Pentagon would be

disastrous.
“Sure, this affects all of us in this room. But what about that poor grunt who needs a part for his tank in Afghanistan?” said Bob

Easterbrook, who served on an Army tank crew during the Cold War and now serves as president of East-Lind Heat Treat Inc. in

Madison Heights.
General Dynamics Land Systems, headquartered in Sterling Heights and the main contractor on the tank program, has warned that a

halt in production will jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs at more than 560 businesses across the country. Michigan would be affected

far more than any other state.
In Michigan, the move to idle the program from 2013-17 could affect jobs at more than 200 Michigan defense industry suppliers. The

cost-cutting plan sparked Levin to initiate a campaign that led to a bipartisan letter of protest from 136 House members to Army

Secretary John McHugh.
The manufacturers on hand for the town hall meeting said that a lengthy pause would cause such a permanent loss of workers and

skills — essentially a Michigan brain drain — that an extraordinarily difficult re-start would be required in the future. In the interim, the

Army could face problems supplying replacement parts for tanks deployed overseas in combat areas.
“Even if somehow all of the same people at all of these companies are still here three years from now, and they had some parts to get

started three years from now, they would have to have all of those parts recertified (by the Pentagon),” said Mark Roualet, president of

GD Land Systems.
Levin, a Royal Oak Democrat who represents most of Macomb County, told the business people on hand to write letters to Congress

explaining the “symmetry” that is involved among suppliers. Also, present pertinent information, he said, such as the astounding statistic

presented to Levin on Friday that the Abrams tank has more than 12,000 parts.
Easterbrook’s small firm relies upon business that is related — directly or indirectly — to tank production as it struggles with a work

force that has dropped from 36 employees 2½ years ago to 26 now. But he said he is currently unable to quantify the importance of the

tank program to his firm because some of the work done by the steel-treating company is conducted as a subcontractor, with the finished

material shipped to GD contractors. (Source: Macomb Daily)


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

White House Objects To House Panel's Proposed MEADS Cut, Abrams Boost

White House Objects To House Panel's Proposed MEADS Cut, Abrams Boost
25 May 2011

The White House today protested language in the House Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2012 defense authorization bill that

would slash $150 million from the Medium Extended Air Defense System and provide $425 million to keep the Abrams tank production

line humming beyond FY-12.
Cutting the tri-national MEADS program could “trigger a unilateral withdrawal” from the memorandum of understanding with

Germany and Italy, according to a statement of administration policy issued by the Office of Management and Budget.
House lawmakers sought to avoid just such a scenario in their version of the bill, passed by the defense panel earlier this month. The

legislation cuts $150 million from MEADS based on the presumption that Defense Department leaders would be successful in convincing

German and Italian leaders to follow the U.S. lead to quit the program after FY-13. In that case, the argument goes, the termination costs

would be roughly a third of the approximately $800 million Washington would pay in the event of a unilateral termination.
House and Senate lawmakers critical of MEADS have said the program should be cut because it is no longer slated for fielding

anyway. But any immediate cuts would go against DOD plans to finalize development over the next two-and-a-half years, at a cost of

$800 million. At that time, the thinking in the Office of the Secretary Defense goes, MEADS technologies are fully developed and can be

applied elsewhere.
In their statement, White House officials noted the diplomatic sensitivities surrounding the program, arguing a $150 million reduction

“could call into question DOD's ability to honor its financial commitments in other binding cooperative MOUs, leading to negative

consequences for other current and future international cooperative programs.”
The Obama administration also opposes $452 million added by the House panel to the defense bill for work on Abrams and Bradley

vehicles. The money would help keep the vehicles' production lines open between FY-13 and FY-16, committee lawmakers have

argued. The Army wants to save money by mothballing the Abrams plant during that time.
Lawmakers who inserted the funds argue the production lines should be kept humming with additional upgrades to ensure qualified

workers are on hand in FY-16, when Army tank work is slated to pick up again. Army officials have said the upgrades are unnecessary

because the Abrams fleet is already well modernized. (Source: Inside Defense)


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Local Suppliers Fight For Abrams Tank Program

Local Suppliers Fight For Abrams Tank Program
24 May 2011

Macomb County business owners attended a town hall meeting, Friday, hoping to keep the M1 Abrams tank production program alive.
Reporting from the event hosted by RCO Engineering, WWJ’s Pat Sweeting said representatives from one business after another stepped forward to explain how a proposed four-year government shutdown of the program would, in some cases, wipe out a large portion of their revenue.
Dan Olsen, who owns Bay Electronics in Roseville, said his business would be devastated if General Dynamics lost this program.
“Half of my employees are on the Abrams program. And, if it shut down, I would lose all my employees… So, it’s very important that it keeps running,” he said, adding that the Abrams tank program accounts for 40 percent of his business.
Olsen said Bay Electronics has been working on the Abrams tank since the early days of the program.
U.S. Congressman Sander Levin said legislation that would keep the Abrams tank program in operation at General Dynamics will come up for discussion within the next few weeks.
Levin said it’s important for U.S. lawmakers, going into that discussion, to know exactly what’s at stake should they okay a proposal to mothball the program.
For example, he said it could be costly to restart it.
“Absolutely, and the people who came here, the suppliers, made it clear: you cannot just stop and the restart without losing a lot,” Levin said.
Levin said Michigan would then face the loss of skilled personnel, who would be forced to look for jobs out-of-state. (Source: detroit.cbslocal.com)


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

McHugh Stands by Abrams Shutdown Plan, Wants To Work with Industry

McHugh Stands by Abrams Shutdown Plan, Wants To Work with Industry
24 May 2011

Army Secretary John McHugh told a panel of Senate appropriators last week that the service remained committed to its strategy to shut

down Abrams tank production for three years beginning in 2013, but wanted to work with contractors to preserve the defense industrial

base while a tank plant in Lima, OH, was "mothballed."
"The decision on the future production of the tank was simply made on the business case," he said at a May 18 Senate Appropriations

defense subcommittee hearing. "The cost of shutting down and mothballing the plant, including the cost of rebuilding the employee base,

was far more economically sensible than maintaining the minimum production necessary through the period until we begin to develop a

follow-on for the Abrams platform."
In the face of objections from Abrams contractor General Dynamics Land Systems and many lawmakers, the Army is arguing that

shutting the tank line down for three years and restarting it again would cost only $800 million, as opposed to the $1.3 billion GDLS has

proposed to keep it operating at a minimum level. The service is revisiting its figures, however, and has tapped the Institute for Defense

Analyses for a study that will deliver interim results in July and be completed in December (Inside the Army, May 2, p1). The Army

claims that the money being saved will be put back into the tank during a broader modernization effort set to begin in 2016.
But GDLS claims the Army is wrong to assume it will be able to "buy back" expert employees who will not wait three years to find work.
McHugh told the Senate committee he understood the concerns and is open to finding a solution that would stimulate the base. "Those

are legitimate concerns and we share them," he said. "We are looking very carefully and working with [the Defense Department] . . . to

see what, if anything, we can do that can help preserve that expert force. These are not folks that you just find on the street. They have a

developed expertise. We recognize it; we value it. They have contributed, as many of our contractors have over the years, in incredibly

important ways, and we want to do the right thing by them as well. But also . . . we've got to make some hard decisions."
A GDLS spokeswoman said company executives were headed to Washington this week to discuss the issue with lawmakers and

Pentagon officials.
McHugh recently received a letter from nearly 140 lawmakers requesting that he reconsider the Army's approach. Officials from GDLS

claim that Abrams tank production impacts 48 states.
The House Armed Services Committee also included a measure in its version of the fiscal year 2012 defense authorization bill that would

insert an additional $172 million into the program to keep production going. The Army is also scheduled to shutter Bradley Fighting

Vehicle production for three years beginning in 2013, but the committee injected funding to prevent that as well (ITA, May 9, p1). --

Tony Bertuca

Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Regional manufacturers win work from Army agencies totaling more than $220 million

Regional manufacturers win work from Army agencies totaling more than $220 million
23 May 2011

Manufacturers and construction companies tied to Southeast Michigan won more than $220 million in new contract awards from agencies

of the U.S. Army this week for work to be completed over the next two years.
Walbridge Overaa, a Detroit-based joint venture of Walbridge Aldinger Co. and Richmond, Calif., general contractor C. Overaa &

Co., prevailed over 13 other bidders for a $22.8 million fixed-price contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Under the contract,

Walbridge Overaa will design and build an Army Reserve Center in Concord, Calif., by March 2013.
Walbridge reported that the joint venture already is performing design-build work at Moffett Federal Airfield near Sunnyvale, Calif.

That project encompasses a 186,500-square-foot Armed Forces Reserve Center, a Regional Readiness Support Command building, a

fitness center and a 67,000-square-foot vehicle maintenance and training building.
Walbridge Aldinger received $131.3 million in new contract awards in fiscal 2010, making it the third-largest defense contracting

company by contract value in metro Detroit, according to the Federal Procurement Data System.
Sterling Heights-based General Dynamics Land Systems received a $34 million fixed-fee contract from U.S. Army Contracting

Command at the Tacom Life Cycle Management Command in Warren, allowing for system technical support on the Abrams battle tank

program. Work under the single-source award is to be completed at the company headquarters by December.
The Army is contemplating a three-year hiatus in the Abrams program starting in 2013, in a move that could save the service $1.3

billion. But General Dynamics Land Systems and its suppliers will visit with members of Michigan’s congressional delegation in the coming

weeks to try to save the program.
AM General LLC, the Indiana-based maker of the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle, won a $164.4 million fixed-price

contract with Tacom in Warren for vehicle sales to Afghanistan and Jordan under the federal Foreign Military Sales program. AM

General has an engineering and product development center in Livonia.
Under that contract, work will be completed on 763 Humvees by Jan. 31, 2012. (Source: Crain’s Detroit Business)


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Businesses to Levin: Fight for our tanks

Businesses to Levin: Fight for our tanks
23 May 2011

Once again, defense contractor General Dynamics and dozens of area industrial suppliers are trying to convince Congress not to pull the plug on the U.S. Army’s Abrams tank program. At a town hall meeting on Friday held at a Roseville factory, the suppliers pleaded with U.S. Rep. Sander Levin to convince more members of Congress that a three-year shutdown proposed by the Pentagon would be disastrous.
“Sure, this affects all of us in this room. But what about that poor grunt who needs a part for his tank in Afghanistan?” said Bob Easterbrook, who served on an Army tank crew during the Cold War and now serves as president of East-Lind Heat Treat Inc. in Madison Heights.
General Dynamics Land Systems, headquartered in Sterling Heights and the main contractor on the tank program, has warned that a halt in production will jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs at more than 560 businesses across the country. Michigan would be affected far more than any other state.
In Michigan, the move to idle the program from 2013-17 could affect jobs at more than 200 Michigan defense industry suppliers. The cost-cutting plan sparked Levin to initiate a campaign that led to a bipartisan letter of protest from 136 House members to Army Secretary John McHugh.
The manufacturers on hand for the town hall meeting said that a lengthy pause would cause such a permanent loss of workers and skills — essentially a Michigan brain drain — that an extraordinarily difficult re-start would be required in the future. In the interim, the Army could face problems supplying replacement parts for tanks deployed overseas in combat areas. (Source: Macomb Daily)


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Abrams Line Pause Scheme Based On Business Case, Army Says

Abrams Line Pause Scheme Based On Business Case, Army Says
19 May 2011

The Army's plan for a four-year shutdown of its main battle tank production line is based on a careful risk analysis, top service officials said yesterday in response to questions from Senators.
Temporarily shutting down the General Dynamics [GD] Land Systems (GDLS) tank plant where the M1 Abrams tank is built is a plan based on a "clear business case," Army Secretary John McHugh said yesterday during a hearing of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. McHugh said the Abrams fleet is "the most modern" of the Army's current major equipment and that its acquisition objective has been met for the time being.
"The cost of shutting down and mothballing the plant, including the cost of rebuilding the employee base, was far more economically sensible than maintaining the minimum production necessary through the period until we begin to develop a follow-on to the Abrams platform," he said.
"The decision on the future production of the tank was simply made on the business case," he added. "The business case was clear."
Members of the House of Representatives earlier this month sent a letter to McHugh urging the continuation of the Abrams production line based in Lima, Ohio. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), along with nearly a third of the House membership, is challenging the ArmyÂ’s plan.
The letter, initiated by Levin and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), warns McHugh that the pause "could end up costing more in the long run and result in lost capacity and readiness." They question the Army's risk analysis. (Source: Defense Daily)


GD To Relocate European Land Systems Head Office To Spain - General Dynamics [GD] yesterday said that it will relocate the headquarters of its European Land Systems business to Madrid from Vienna.
"The move reflects the significant concentration of current programs that we are executing for the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces of Spain, as well as the future opportunities that we believe exist for General Dynamics and the government of Spain to work together," Jay Johnson, GD's chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
GD's land systems business in Europe has four operating units in Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland where the various units design and build wheeled, tracked and amphibious vehicles, amphibious bridge systems, armaments and munitions.
In Madrid the European Land Systems headquarters will be collocated with the headquarters and research and development center of its operating unit there, Santa Barbara Sistemas. The facility will support about 240 employees. (Source: Defense Daily)


Source;

http://bit.ly/jgBmky


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Magician Heath Delaney

Heath Delaney has been mystifying audiences with his magic in the Pacific Northwest since 1995. He specializes in edgy, extremely visual close up magic where audience members are often part of his show. Children and adults alike will be astounded by his personable style and genuine impromptu feel that will make any occasion a magical experience.

Turn an adult or children’s birthday party, company picnic, family reunion, business party, trade show or even a wedding into a lasting memorable occasion. Heath has a way of bringing your guests together in his illusions and leaving them mesmerized and talking about your event for days, even months to come.

Heath is a wandering magician and requires no stage, special props or elaborate set ups. He mingles through the crowd and performs 3-5 minute demonstrations for small groups. This style of magic, referred to as "street magic," is absolutely perfect for venues where a stage is often unavailable and there are large groups of people gathered together.

If a stage performance is what you seek, Heath can definitey accomodate you! His stage performance is a mixture of magic, mentalism and comedy where he demonstrates his sometimes eerie ability to read the minds of his audience! This is unlike any magic show you've likely witnessed before. It is gripping, engaging and will challenge what you believe you know about the senses. The performance can be tailored for time, but generally lasts for 30 - 45 minutes. It’s designed for a close-up, intimate environment, such as a lounge, parlor, or other area where Heath can move freely through a seated audience.

Heath also performs strolling magic at restaurants and night hot spots. Your business becomes his stage as your patrons are brought into the moment where anything seems possible. If you are a manager and are hosting a social or singles mixer, consider making the night really “magical.” Heath’s magic creates a common thread for conversation, enabling guests to meet one another more easily. Heath brings people together as he brings them into his illusions.

Heath is based in Puyallup, Washington, but will happily travel to events outside of the area. You’ll find him affordable and flexible. If you’re an individual, a business owner, a corporate or professional events planner, Heath looks forward to making arrangements with you.


SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS –Adultor children’s birthday parties, wedding receptions, graduations, retirement parties, annual BBQ’s, bridal / baby showers, anniversaries, or any other celebration you can imagine is more entertaining with a touch of magic.


HOLIDAY PARTIES –
Make your holiday party one to remember as your entire family gets involved in the show. Imagine a Halloween party where your guests become ‘witnesses’ to the unexplained!


COMPANY FUNCTIONS OR EMPLOYEE FAMILY NIGHT –

Have Heath perform his strolling magic at your function to encourage employees to socialize with each other.

RESTAURANTS and NIGHT “HOT SPOTS” –
Change up your “entertainment menu” by offering something different than your competition. Guests are more likely to return if the food AND the entertainment is done well. Heath often uses couples in his illusions, which will create a common thread for conversation at social mixers and singles events. This allows people to meet one another more easily.

TRADE SHOWS –
Let your visitors take a break from business…and reality…by having a strolling magician. It’s fun, entertaining and uplifting. People are more likely to conduct more business when they are in a great mood!

Have questions or comments? Go to the "Request and Comments" page to submit them. We would love to hear from you and will try to respond within 24 hours. You may also call us directly at 253-320-6122.

Quote;

The Unbelief of the Jews
22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one." 31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" 33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods' ? 35 If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came--and the Scripture cannot be broken-- 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? 37 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. 40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed 41 and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus. - John 10 (New International Version)

Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Fondest Memories Club

Fondest Memories Club
fondest.webs.com
May 21, 2011

Welcome to our fondest memories club. Here's how it works?

Simply dial the phone number listed below and leave us a brief message about your fondest memory in your life long journey.

What if a week or two later you remember something else you'd like to share? No problem!

There's no limit on how many times you can call and leave a voice message which in turn will get posted to this site.

Simply tell us your first name and last name but only if you wish and begin your life long story telling.

Dial this number 253.987.6261 to begin. Once your message is received please allow one week for it to get posted.

What a great way to share your fondest memories with your children, a family member or friends.

Let's have some fun but just remember that your story will be posted in the public domain so be careful if you discuss a particular person or place.

That's it... let's begin on this brand new site that was just created today.

Of course, there will also be a favorites area listed too.


Have a great day,

Philip Atkins
Webmaster

Fondest Memories Club
fondest.webs.com/apps/blog/
253.987.6261
Tacoma, Washington


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

SKYDEX Technologies Signs Agreement With General Dynamics For Decking Material

SKYDEX Technologies Signs Agreement With General Dynamics For Decking Material
May 18, 2011

SKYDEX Technologies Inc. yesterday said it has signed a multi-million dollar agreement with General Dynamics [GD] Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for its Convoy Deck, a patented blast-mitigating vehicle decking material, for 200 Stryker Double V-Hull (DVH) vehicles deploying to Afghanistan.
The SKYDEX Convoy Deck has already been installed in thousands of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the Buffalo and Cougar, produced by Force Protection Inc . [FRPT] and Oshkosh [OSK] M-ATV, the company said in a statement.
Last year, GDLS-C ordered SKYDEX's blast-mitigating decking for 550 of its Stryker vehicles now in service in Afghanistan.
"At SKYDEX, we are all about saving war fighters' lives and protecting things that matter," said President and CEO Mike Buchen. "Our first and last thought every day is about protecting those in harm's way. IED blasts cause the great majority of casualties in Afghanistan and our decking significantly improves the survivability for the occupants. We are proud to be working with GDLS-C to dramatically improve survivability for American troops in combat." (Source: Defense Daily)


Source;

http://bit.ly/k1HMTq


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Congressional Letter on Abrams Tank Program

Congressional Letter on Abrams Tank Program
06:14 GMT, May 17, 2011

Members of the House of Representatives have sent a letter to the U.S. Army Secretary urging the continuation of the Abrams main battle tank production line. Representative Sander Levin (D-Mich.), along with nearly a third of the entire U.S. House membership, is battling an Army plan to halt production of the Abrams tank. The program is run by General Dynamics Land Systems based in Sterling Heights and has been considered a cornerstone of Michigan's defense industrial base for 30 years. The Pentagon has proposed halting tank production in 2013 and restarting tank production in 2017. Levin and Republican Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama spearheaded a letter signed by 135 other members that cautions Army Secretary John McHugh that halting production "could end up costing more in the long run and result in lost capacity and readiness." They urged continuation of the program - at least on a limited basis - during the intervening period. The Army plan would result in the first break in tank production since 1941.
"The cost of shutdown and restart of Abrams tank production appears to be more than the cost of continued limited production," the letter said. "Instead of reconstituting this vital manufacturing capability at a higher cost, it would seem prudent to invest these select resources in continued Abrams production." As an alternative to shutting down the tank upgrade program completely, the lawmakers suggest continuing limited production of M1A2 SEP tanks at 70 per year. "The tank industrial base is not a light switch that can just be switched on and off at will," Rep. Levin said. "Everyone needs to understand that it will take time and money to get this capability back if we let it go." Over the last two years, a total of 224 Michigan suppliers and subcontractors were involved in the tank upgrade program and received a total of $187 million in Abrams work. "Allowing the Abrams production capability to decay will inhibit the nation's ability to maintain the most modern fighting force in the world and to support the combat vehicle programs of our international allies," said Pete Keating of General Dynamics, adding that a halt in production will jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs that support the Army's future tank program and more than 560 businesses across the country.
Congressional supporters of the tank upgrade program hope that their letter to Secretary McHugh also receives attention from their colleagues in the House of Representatives. Ultimately, Congress will make the decision as to whether the tank refit program will be continued.
The House Armed Services Committee, during its markup of the 2012 Defense Authorization bill, added $425 million to continue the production line for the M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles. (Source: Defense Professionals)


Source;

http://bit.ly/kEVTwh


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Mid-South lawmakers rally to keep Abrams tank rolling

Mid-South lawmakers rally to keep Abrams tank rolling
18 May 2011

The U.S. Army would like to save $1.3 billion by suspending production of the Abrams tank for up to four years, but 137 members of Congress, including all four from Mississippi, have asked the Army secretary to reconsider the decision.
The lawmakers assert that the decision to stop tank production for the first time since 1941 would affect the U.S. industrial base and “could end up costing more in the long run and result in lost capacity and readiness.” They also suggest it could have an impact on the “war-fighting capabilities of our Army and continued availability of critical resources for our troops.”
They urged Army Secretary John McHugh to consider producing 70 tanks a year from 2013 to 2017 when the next generation of the tank will be ready to go on the government-owned assembly line near Lima, Ohio.
The huge defense contractor General Dynamics Land Systems and its subcontractors are lobbying Congress to keep the production line going.
An Army study in 2008 found a three- to four-year shutdown of the plant followed by a restart would cost about $800 million but producing 70 tanks a year between 2012 and 2015 would cost about $2.1 billion. The savings of $1.3 billion persuaded the Army to recommend suspending production.
Among those signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Alan Nunnelee, Steven Palazzo and Gregg Harper, all R-Miss., and Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., as well as Mike Ross, D-Ark. No representatives from Tennessee signed the letter. (Source: The Commercial Appeal)


Source;

http://bit.ly/l3jYAt


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Marino says he supports tank work in Archbald

Marino says he supports tank work in Archbald
18 May 2011

U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-10, Lycoming Twp., said he supports continuation of work on tanks at a General Dynamics Land System Division plant.
The congressman toured the General Dynamics Archbald plant Tuesday and met with plant and union officials, along with the men and women who work on the production of the Stryker and the Abrams Main Battle tank.
The workers at the company's Eynon plant have been working to prevent the Army from suspending upgrades to the M1A2 Abrams tank. A letter to Congress from Secretary of the Army John McHugh stated that the cost of shutting down and restarting the Abrams tank production would cost more than the cost of continued limited production. The letter proposed to continue limited production of M1A2 tanks at 70 per year until the next generation of Abrams begins fielding.
"New equipment and blending of two operations will result in newer, better and stronger equipment," said Mr. Marino. "We need a strong defense, and we have a country to run and they depend on us. Its a department we need to keep funding."
Letters were sent and questions were asked by employees about their jobs. "We can't forget about the support of the staff and the sincerity of the employees, I feel good out here on the floor as I did while in Afghanistan," Mr. Marino said.
"You witness the passion and pride of employees," said Ken Klinkel, president of Local 1193 of the United States Auto Workers. "We are working for the government and do our best to do what we do."
Mr. Marino spoke about how this operation is crucial to the U.S. and how he spent time with troops in Afghanistan on the training fields.
"I asked them their feelings about going home and if they had everything they need," Rep. Marino said. "They told me we have a mission to complete here and the equipment is first rate."
"Building critical tank components is important," said Frank Fata, manager of the General Dynamics plant in Eynon. "We have a ton of pride for specialized workforce."
Mr. Marino spoke about how the company is based on a team effort and that he could take back to Washington, D.C., the fact that they are doing the right thing to keep funding for what we need.
"Heightened sense of security defense will always be a priority, regardless of what we do, these people will keep trying to attack us. Our mission is to preserve this country," he said. (Source: thetimes-tribune.com)


Source;

http://bit.ly/jRNaMg


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Interview With Harold Camping

Interview With Harold Camping
For More Information Click Here

After viewing this video, click here for Judgment Day Facts that will help you better understand why Harold Camping's prediction is wrong and what the Bible really has to say about the second coming.





For more information about Jesus' coming and the end of the world, click here to watch an incredible video presentation called "Final Events of Bible Prophecy."

For More Information Click Here


URL;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRDg8Fo4k_U&feature=player_embedded


Source;

http://bit.ly/lY8ah4


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Financial Times

Financial Times
May 21, 2011

Research and insight into market matters.

• Eight reasons China could be on the verge of its own "Great Depression"
  The country now shares some striking similarities to 1920s America... bit.ly/mzZy95
  
  
• Twenty unbelievable facts about the U.S. housing crisis
  Unless you have been under a rock for the past five years, you already know we're experiencing the worst real estate crisis the U.S. has ever seen..." bit.ly/kYJciN
  
  
• Sam Zell: The falling dollar is a "vote of no confidence" in the U.S. gov't
  "It all comes down to how much longer everybody is going to be willing to take a depreciating currency..." bit.ly/kfSLsz
  
  
• The euro crisis is spiraling out of control
  "No matter how you label it, Greece is going to default." bit.ly/micuTj
  
  
• Pimco's El-Erian: "Financial repression" coming to the U.S. soon
  Government-created inflation will cause most Americans to lose money... bit.ly/iqyYya
  

Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Chef Natasha's Chicken Noodle Soup

Chef Natasha
May 18, 2011

Back in the kitchen again with a great chicken noodle soup made from scratch. Most things that Tash makes is from scratch of course and this time it's flavored just right.

King Oscar's Motel & bar offers a lot of great soups but they can't beat this one and I'd consider that my greatest compliment.


Click on the soup bowl in order to view larger photos.

It's definately worth crowing about. ;o)

Send me an email if you'd like to see what's in the special sauce.





Source;

http://bit.ly/j2Wv8H


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Great Wolf Lodge Water Park Grand Mound, Washington

http://www.greatwolf.com/grandmound/waterpark
Call: (877) 407-6297



Visit Great Wolf Lodge Water Park Grand Mound conveniently located in Centralia Washington between Portland and Seattle providing a full-service, Year-Round Family resort and water park. Featuring indoor and outdoor water parks totaling 6 waterslides and 3 pools. Great Wolf Lodge, Grand Mound, WA has 398 all-suite guest rooms including 9 suite configurations. Adults and kids can enjoy the Northern Lights Arcade with over 100 games. In the Cub Club children's craft and activity room, kids can have hands-on fun lead by our "Ambassador of Fun". Guests can enjoy the themed family restaurants, in addition to Starbucks and Pizza Hut. Mom can indulge at Elements -- an Aveda Concept Spa, while dad works out at Iron Horse Fitness Center.

For more information visit:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | Flickr

Join The Wolf Pack Today! Sign-up for our mailing list to receive special event information, promotions and other details for your Great Wolf Lodge location. Visit: here.

20500 Old Highway 99 Southwest Centralia, WA 98531
(877) 407-6297


We spent three days at the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park and it still wasn't enough time to explore all of the great fun.
Lt. Col. Mitchell Bell


Source;

http://bit.ly/iKerwO


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Army Releases 'Black Box' RFI To Measure Blast Events In Strykers

Army Releases 'Black Box' RFI To Measure Blast Events In Strykers
17 May 2011

The Army is seeking to acquire data recorders, or "black boxes," to measure the impact of blast forces inside combat vehicles after they've triggered landmines or improvised explosive devices, according to a recent government solicitation.
The Army's program executive office for ground combat systems released a request for information for the off-the-shelf black boxes on April 20 and asked for responses by May 4.
"The primary purpose of the black box is to measure the blast and acceleration forces inside the driver's and troop compartments during an event," states the RFI. The "black box must be capable of measuring, recording and storing vehicle motions and its characteristics when the vehicle is exposed to kinetic energy, blast overpressures, shock, ballistic and impact events."
The service's plan is to integrate, test, field and install the black boxes on a number of Stryker vehicles some time within the next four months, the RFI states.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said last week that the service lacked an understanding of vehicle protection in relation to brain injuries incurred by soldiers riding in armored platforms that hit roadside bombs.
"With the majority of our injuries and concussions, there is no contact injury -- it is the pure force of the blast on the head," he told defense reporters May 12 at a breakfast in Washington DC. "That is what we don't fully understand. We need to understand that so we can understand the total range of protection offered by our vehicles."
The Army's testing community needs the boxes because it must adjust to evaluate vehicle safety and brain injury, Chiarelli said.
"The testers come in and they lay out for me, 'OK, given the size of this particular explosion, this is the damage we can see done to the occupants inside the vehicle.' Everything they show me is . . . broken arms, broken legs, missing limbs at different amounts of explosive power," he said. "I look at them and I say, 'Guys, that's 11 percent of my problem -- [most] of my problem is post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries. How many folks inside that vehicle receive a concussion?'"
Chiarelli, who was recently presented with the Army's Hero of Medicine Award for his work with soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress, said he wanted the black box data to potentially inform the creation of a new safety standard by which military vehicles could be evaluated.
"I want us to figure out a way to collect data on explosions [from] inside the vehicle so we have some kind of baseline so we can understand the effects of blast injuries," he said. (Source: Inside the Army)


Source;

http://bit.ly/m8vVyF


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Israel Snags 50% Offsets on Heavy APC Deal

Israel Snags 50% Offsets on Heavy APC Deal
17 May 2011

Local firms here stand to win $150 million in subcontract awards from General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) initial $300 million Namer (Tiger) armored personnel carrier (APC) production deal with Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
Government and industry sources here said GDLS, Sterling Heights, Mich., has pledged industrial cooperation, or offsets, amounting to nearly 50 percent of the MoD’s initial production award of more than $300 million. Orders to local firms will be spread over the eight years of the MoD-GDLS contract, with GDLS commitments slated to increase at similar rates if MoD exercises follow-on production options.
In the initial phases of the U.S.­based production program, GDLS will produce hulls and kit sets for the first couple hundred Namers, a heavy APC based on Israel’s Merkava Mk4 main battle tank. U.S.-based production work will take place in GDLS’ plant in Lima, Ohio, and integration and final as­sembly in Israel.
Ultimately, government and industry sources said, the GDLS-MoD partnership could extend to global sales of Namer structures or entire vehicles, subject to additional approval and negotiated royalties and offsets from Tel Aviv.
“The agreement allows for the integration of Israeli products and technologies in weapon systems manufactured by GDLS, including their two largest programs in production today: the M1A2 Abrams and the Stryker,” said Avner Raz, president of Elul Tamarynd, the firm’s local representative.
“Right now, the industrial participation commitment stands at about 50 percent of the whole deal, and if the quantity of the Namer will increase — as every­body expects it to — their commitments will increase accordingly,” said Raz.
Raz is a longtime Israeli industry executive who recently joined Elul after serving as chairman of Israel Military Industries, a key supplier to the Merkava tank and Namer APC program.
In a May 10 interview, Raz noted that a few Israeli firms already have received small orders, and that working teams are in place to coordinate contracting procedures, harmonize standards and prepare smaller firms to compete with GDLS’ vast cadre of subcontractors and suppliers worldwide. “Obviously, Israeli companies will have to compete with those who have been subtler suppliers to GDLS for many years. So we at Elul have established a special team to bridge gaps that invariably will arise when small local firms have to learn how to adapt them­selves to a large global company like GDLS,” Raz said. (Source: Defense News)


Source;

http://bit.ly/jEMa8G


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

First Order of Double-V Hull Strykers Headed To Afghanistan By Air, Sea

First Order of Double-V Hull Strykers Headed To Afghanistan By Air, Sea
17 May 2011

Forces fighting in Afghanistan will soon receive the first order of Stryker Double-V Hull vehicles, which the Army rapidly developed to protect the soldiers against buried roadside bombs.
By June, there will be 150 Stryker DVHs in Afghanistan, with an additional 300 to be delivered in the following months, according to the Stryker program office, which celebrated the vehicle's 10th anniversary last week. While the Stryker began its life as an interim fighting vehicle the absence of a new platform in its class has made it central to the Army's warfighting strategy.
The Army, working with contractor General Dynamics Land Systems, first moved on the DVH program in January 2010 in response to an operational needs statement from Afghanistan requesting that Strykers receive increased protection. Much like the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, the DVH was tested and produced simultaneously under orders from the Defense Department.
Officials from the Army and DOD have since lauded the development of the DVH. Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation, told Congress on March 9 that the Stryker is as protected as a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle and should be fielded (Inside the Army, March 14, p1).
"With regard to the Stryker double V-shaped hull, we have been doing a robust test program -- both live-fire and operational -- of that vehicle to support deployment in June 2011," he said at the time. "The preliminary results of that live-fire testing are very positive. It indicates that the Stryker Double-V Hull provides substantially increased protection to crew relative to the existing flat-bottom Strykers, as they're called, that are deployed in the theater."
The double-v hull solution is also being considered under a materiel development decision for a broader Stryker modernization program. (Source: Inside the Army)


Source;

http://bit.ly/lf3ECr


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Defense jobs at risk in tank cuts: Contractors lobby to preserve funding for Abrams program

Defense jobs at risk in tank cuts: Contractors lobby to preserve funding for Abrams program
17 May 2011

General Dynamics Land Systems and its Michigan suppliers could weather the suspension of a mainstay tank program under assault in Congress -- but not without casualties among Southeast Michigan's labor force.
A proposed three-year gap in federal funding for the M1 Abrams tank production would mean a drop of more than $500 million in current revenue from the U.S. Army Tacom Life Cycle Management Command in Warren by 2013, and hundreds of lost jobs in Michigan for the defense contractor and its local suppliers.
But even as they lobby next week to save the Abrams, General Dynamics and its suppliers are weighing contingency plans, such as ramping up foreign military sales and becoming competitive bidders on future vehicle programs.
Tacom awarded more than $535 million last year under contracts for upgrades and refits, or for systems technical support on the Abrams. The current fiscal year budget includes another $521 million.
That makes the program one of Tacom's 12 largest by contract funding and its second-largest contract with Sterling Heights-based GDLS, although a portion of that funding was already set to expire in 2012.
Only the Stryker, an eight-wheeled armored transport vehicle, is a larger GDLS contract with more than $1.4 billion in annual Tacom spending. The ground vehicles subsidiary of Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics Corp. has averaged around $5 billion in annual revenue in recent years.
The company and U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, both estimated last week that the tank upgrade program supplied about 225 Michigan suppliers and subcontractors with more than $187 million in work during the past two years. (Source: Crain’s Detroit Business)


Source;

http://bit.ly/jFrPCn


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

BAE Systems wins big US Army ammo plant contract

BAE Systems wins big US Army ammo plant contract
May 13 (Reuters)

Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.L) said on Friday it had won a 10-year, $850 million contract to operate and maintain the U.S. Army's Radford ammunition plant in Virginia, the only domestic producer of a key material used in explosives and propellants.
BAE beat out long-time incumbent Alliant Techsystems (ATK.N) to win the contract, which also includes three 5-year options that could extend the award through 2036 and add significant new revenues, the company said.
Radford Army Ammunition Plant is a 6,900-acre government-owned, contractor-operated facility first built during World War Two that employs more than 850 people.
The facility, which sits on two sites straddling Virginia's New River, is the only domestic producer of nitrocellulose, the feedstock for explosives and propellants used by the military, police officers, hunters and other recreational shooters.
ATK had managed the facility since 1995.
BAE already operates the U.S. Army's Holston ammunition plant in Kingsport, Tennessee, under an Army contract awarded in 1998 that runs through 2023.
The contract win comes at an important time for BAE, which announced last month that it was laying off 600 workers at its Sealy, Texas plant, after losing a big Army truck contract.
The company managing the plant is allowed to sell ammunition to the private sector, as long as the U.S. military gets the bomb, bullet and mortar materials its forces need. By allowing commercial sales, the government is able to pay a lower price for what it buys from the plant operator.
BAE is one of the major subcontractors to Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) on the $382 billion F-35 fighter program. (Source: Reuters)


Source;

http://bit.ly/iT2qn9


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

U.S. House Panel Creates Fund to Finance Projects

U.S. House Panel Creates Fund to Finance Projects
13 May 2011


As they marked up next year's defense authorization bill, members of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee moved hundreds of millions of dollars out of the "Mission Force Enhancement Transfer Fund" and put it toward new and existing programs in the defense budget.
But what is the Mission Force Enhancement Transfer Fund and why does it have so much extra cash to go around? Does the Mission Force, whatever that is, no longer need enhancing?
The unfamiliar funding source was created by the House Armed Services Committee, whose leadership is under a strict no-earmarks ban mandated by House Republican leadership. The ban forbids members from directing money toward specific projects in their districts. However, under the ban, House members may put forward district-neutral policy proposals but they have to identify offsets within the budget for each of these spending increases.
The Mission Force Enhancement Transfer Fund serves as the pot of money that members can use to offset their legislative adds.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., created this authority "so the Department of Defense will have significant resources to address long-standing capability gaps as identified by the committee's oversight and the Department of Defense's own Quadrennial Defense Review," McKeon spokesman Josh Holly said.
When marking up the defense authorization bill, the committee began by finding efficiencies and making cuts across the Pentagon's 2012 budget request. The committee used most of these savings for what it considers higher priority programs, for example, an extra $100 million for missile defense and $425 million to keep open production lines for the Army's Abrams tanks and the Bradley fighting vehicles. It also used the money to fund the service's unfunded requirements lists. (Source: Defense News)


Source;

http://bit.ly/jrjQKa


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

US House panel OKs $690 bln in 2012 military spending

US House panel OKs $690 bln in 2012 military spending
13 May 2011


A bill that would provide $690 billion for the U.S. military complex in fiscal 2012, including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee.
The legislation would authorize $553 billion for the Defense Department's base budget, the same amount sought by President Barack Obama in the request he sent to Congress in February.
The bill also includes $119 billion for "overseas contingency operations" such as Iraq and Afghanistan plus $18 billion for the Energy Department's military-related nuclear activities, Chairman Howard McKeon said in a statement on Thursday.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to take up its version of the National Defense Authorization Act next month. The two versions must be passed by the full House and Senate and any differences must be ironed out before being sent to Obama for his signature into law.
Congress provided $668.6 billion for the U.S. military complex in fiscal 2011, which ends on Sept. 30, down from the $709 billion requested by Obama.
The House bill for 2012 added $425 million aimed at continuing the production line for the Army's M1 Abrams tanks, a General Dynamics Corp program, and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles, made by BAE Systems Plc.
The plan currently advocated by the Army would result in the first break in tank production since 1941, lasting one to three years. (Source: Reuters)


Source;

http://bit.ly/iDfN8V


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

General Dynamics Lobbies for $1.4 Billion to Avert Tank Cutback

General Dynamics Lobbies for $1.4 Billion to Avert Tank Cutback
May 13, 2011


General Dynamics Corp. and about 200 of its suppliers will gather in Washington to lobby lawmakers to add almost $1.4 billion to the budget for upgrading Abrams tanks and to override the Army’s plan to save money by suspending the program.
If the Army’s proposal to shut down work at the Lima, Ohio- based tank plant between 2013 and 2015 is carried out, suppliers like Continental, Ohio-based Verhoff Machine and Welding Inc. will have to dismiss workers. Of the company’s 100 employees, 75 work on the tank components such as seats and heavy armor, according to President Ed Verhoff. The company reported sales of $15 million last year, and Verhoff anticipates he may have to cut as many as 60 jobs.
“We are looking for other sources of revenue but, with the economy the way it is, it is pretty difficult,” he said.
The Army’s 2012 budget, which seeks at least $5 billion for all its ground vehicles, proposes to suspend the ongoing upgrade of older tanks to an enhanced Abrams M1A2 model while it assesses its future tank modernization strategy.
General Dynamics, based in Falls Church, Virginia, already has had a setback after Defense Secretary Robert Gates this year proposed canceling its $15.5 billion Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program for the Marine Corps.
General Dynamics and its suppliers plan to use their annual meeting with lawmakers May 23-24 to try to reverse the Army’s decision on Abrams production. It would cost almost $1.4 billion over the next four years to continue buy 70 tank upgrades a year. Keeping the plant open would be less expensive than restarting after an almost three-year hiatus, the companies plan to argue.
Working the Hill
General Dynamics has been building the enhanced tanks since 2004. The most modern versions of the Abrams include digital terrain maps and command and communications systems, as well as composite armor. Under the current plans, the Army will have 1,547 of these tanks.
The suppliers plan to meet with politicians from their state delegations, including lawmakers such as Republican Representative Pete Sessions of Texas and Michigan Democratic Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. As part of the “Abrams Supplier Days,” the contractors also meet with Defense Department officials.
“We hope they agree that it’s in the best interest of our national defense and Army” to keep the Abrams program going, Bruce Barron, chief executive officer of Barron Industries, in Oxford, Michigan said in a phone interview. He and other suppliers plan to tell lawmakers that once their manufacturing operations are shut or idled, “it’s not easy to turn it back on and it’s costly.” (Source: Bloomberg)


Source;

http://bit.ly/mcoPsI


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Defense cuts mean tough strategic choices: Robert Gates

Defense cuts mean tough strategic choices: Robert Gates
13 May 2011


U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday his main goal before stepping down next month is to focus attention on strategic choices facing the nation as it flattens military spending to help curb the growing national debt.
He spoke hours after the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee authorized $690 billion for the U.S. military complex in fiscal 2012, including $119 billion to fund the war in Afghanistan and transition in Iraq.
The sum cleared by the committee for the year starting October 1 represented a small increase from the current fiscal year. It is projected to be a high-water mark as the wars wind down along with a post-September 11 military spending surge.
Gates told Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, that the issue involved tradeoffs between acceptable risks and defense capabilities that could be sacrificed.
"I am determined that we will not repeat what we did in the 1970s and 1990s, which is across-the-board cuts that end up hollowing out the force," he said.
Gates is to step down on June 30. While he did not offer specific recommendations on the military's future structure, he said he hoped to throw light on the choices at hand for President Barack Obama and other decision-makers, including his nominated successor as defense secretary, CIA director Leon Panetta.
"If you want to change the size of the budget in a dramatic way, what risk are you prepared to take in terms of future threats to the country?" Gates asked.
"How do you manage that risk as a part of a process of cutting the budget?" he added. "This is what I call strategy, not math. Right now the process is just the reverse. Everybody's doing math and not strategy."
Gates' warning followed several months of political brinkmanship over the fiscal 2011 federal budget, which ultimately funded the military complex at $668.6 billion compared to the $709 billion requested by Obama.
Pentagon leaders have cautioned against cutting too much too quickly, because rebuilding military capabilities in the future will be even more expensive.
On Wednesday, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn sounded a similar theme at an investors' conference in New York, stressing the need to pare back to essential missions while maintaining a healthy defense industrial base.
The House bill for 2012 added $425 million aimed at continuing the production line for the Army's M1 Abrams tanks, a General Dynamics Corp program, and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles, made by BAE Systems Plc. (Source: CNBC.com)


Source;

http://bit.ly/kqtIiH


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Congress defends Abrams tanks in face of Pentagon proposal to end production in Sterling Heights

Congress defends Abrams tanks in face of Pentagon proposal to end production in Sterling Heights
13 May 2011

The Army's modernization plan for combat vehicles calls for a halt in U.S. tank production for the first time since 1941. A military budget bill currently before Congress would end production from 2013 to 2017 while improvements in the nation's primary battle tank are designed.
The House members, led by Levin, a Democrat whose district includes the tank-production facilities of General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, called on McHugh to continue a minimal schedule of 72 new tanks per year — the current M1A2 SEP version — during that transition period.
"The tank industrial base is not a light switch that can just be switched on and off at will," said Levin, a Royal Oak Democrat who represents most of Macomb County. "Everyone needs to understand that it will take time and money to get this capability back if we let it go."
After the tank plant in Warren closed two decades ago, General Dynamics' specialty became upgrading tanks from the M1A1 category to the more advanced M1A2.
The tank retrofit program has been viewed as a cornerstone of Michigan's defense industrial base for 30 years.
The program run by General Dynamics has engaged with 224 Michigan suppliers and subcontractors who received a total of $187 million in Abrams work.
Though the final assembly of the tanks is handled at the General Dynamics plant in Lima, Ohio, Michigan has far more at stake in the Pentagon decision than any other state.
The potential production shutdown comes just as Macomb County officials are trying to attract new companies to Macomb by portraying the county as the defense capital of the Midwest. Two-thirds of the defense contracts landed by Michigan firms are based in Macomb County.
"Allowing the Abrams production capability to decay will inhibit the nation's ability to maintain the most modern fighting force in the world and to support the combat vehicle programs of our international allies," said spokesman Pete Keating of General Dynamics, adding that a halt in production will jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs that support the Army's future tank program and more than 560 businesses across the country. (Source: Daily Tribune)


Source;

http://bit.ly/kmUV3Z


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Task Force optimistic on tank future

Task Force optimistic on tank future
13 May 2011


A new defense spending bill and bipartisan support from the Legislature has local leaders optimistic about the future of the Lima tank industry.
Members of Task Force L.I.M.A. met Thursday to discuss the latest efforts to preserve work at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center. When the group met last month, members faced a tide of political will that appeared headed toward shuttering the plant's Abrams Tank program for three years and completely doing away with the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, an amphibious craft once considered an important piece of the plant's future.
That tide appears to have changed.
In the past 30 days, a bipartisan congressional response rose up against the Department of Defense's plans to slice the programs in a wider effort to trim the federal budget. A powerful congressman visited the plant and returned to Washington to insert $272 million into the budget for the Abrams. Another $12 million was authorized to allow for final testing on the EFV. And most importantly, leaders appear to be getting the message that closing the plant would cost more than keeping it in action.
“There's actually been pretty good news from the last 30 days,” said Lima Mayor David Berger, chairman of the task force. “I think we made great progress this past month, not just in words, but in actions formalized on the Hill.” (Source: www.limaohio.com)


Source;

http://bit.ly/mt3dCd


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Army Plan to Halt US Tank Production Draws Fire in Congress

Army Plan to Halt US Tank Production Draws Fire in Congress
12 May 2011


The Army's M1 Abrams tank has careened across battlefields in U.S. combat operations since 1980.
But now the 75-ton, American-made icon is at the center of the federal budget debate, with the Pentagon calling for production to halt and Congress determined to say no.
The Army says taxpayers could save $1.3 billion in the defense spending bill for fiscal year 2012 if lawmakers agreed to temporarily shutter the nation's only tank production facility in Lima, Ohio, for at least three years, starting in 2013.
The closure would be the first cessation of U.S. tank production since World War II.
"We've got a very fit and complete fleet that we'll have at this time. And that's what has caused us to stop buying something that we no longer need," Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, the Army's deputy chief of staff, told a Senate committee last month.
But a bipartisan group of lawmakers, under pressure from the tank's producer, General Dynamics Land Systems, says the military has it all wrong.
One hundred thirty-seven House members argued Friday in a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh that the proposal would dangerously harm the country's "industrial base," forcing highly-skilled workers to go elsewhere and adding unnecessary re-training and certification costs to the taxpayers' tab.
"Our industrial base cannot be turned on and off like a light switch," said Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee and co-signed the letter.
General Dynamics has told lawmakers that closing and reopening the plant four years later would cost $300,000 more than continuing limited production over the same period. (Source: ABC News)


Source;

http://bit.ly/kigHVe


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

HASC saves tanks, keeps F-35Bs

HASC saves tanks, keeps F-35Bs
12 May 2011


The House Armed Services Committee voted on Wednesday to add $425 million to next year’s budget so the Army can keep open its production of M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles, on the theory that keeping the line going will ultimately be cheaper than idling for three years, as the Army now plans. “These production lines can’t be turned on and off like a light switch,” said Maryland Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, the Republican chairman of the HASC’s air and land forces subcommittee.
The proposed three-year shutdown would force contractor General Dynamics to lay off too many skilled workers, and could force its small suppliers out of business, opponents say, which would raise the price tag on everything when the Army wanted to resume production. The Army’s current plans call for idling its tank factory from 2013 to 2016, then beginning a major recapitalization program for the M1 fleet. Bartlett’s measure would provide funding to keep the line “warm.”
The full committee on Wednesday also rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat, that would have cut next year’s planned buy of F-35B Lightning IIs from six to four, and used the savings of about $380 million to fund Navy operations and maintenance and equipment for the National Guard. Cooper presented his measure as a good compromise — the Marines would still get their jets, other worthy recipients would get a shot in the arm, and it “would send a message … that we need to get this program back on track.” (Source: DoDbuzz.com)


Source;

http://bit.ly/jfxE5n


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Tacoma car crash

I-5 crash in Tacoma
Monday, May 2, 2011

Crash occured in the South bound lanes of I-5 at the
38th. st. on ramp.

Click on the photo to see a larger image.


Click on the photo to see a larger image.

more...


Source;

http://bit.ly/kvITZb


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

Destroyer named for SEAL is christened

Destroyer named for SEAL is christened
10 May 2011


The mother of a Navy SEAL killed in a firefight in Afghanistan christened a warship bearing her son’s name on Saturday, as the leader of the nation’s special forces said those who died that day would be comforted to know that the al-Qaida leader who caused the war in Afghanistan was killed by the U.S. military.
Maureen Murphy, mother of Lt. Michael Murphy, said “Happy birthday, baby” during remarks from the podium minutes before smashing a bottle of Champagne against the bow of the Navy destroyer on what would’ve been her son’s 35th birthday.
The Navy lieutenant and Medal of Honor recipient led a four-member SEAL team against overwhelming odds in a gun battle in eastern Afghanistan.
Killed along with Murphy on June 28, 2005, were two members of his team, as well as 16 rescuers — eight Navy SEALs and eight members of the Army’s elite Night Stalkers — after their helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.
“If these brave men are watching today, they must be extremely proud of — and somewhat comforted by — the reports that the man who started the war in which they died was himself killed when their brothers — Navy SEALs and Army Night Stalkers — assaulted his compound,” said Adm. Eric Olson, leader of the Special Operations Command and a former SEAL instructor.
Security was beefed up for Saturday’s event, which came less than a week after Osama bin Laden was shot to death in Pakistan.

Outside, about two dozen peace demonstrators held signs and banners, and made speeches, but there were no arrests, Bath police said.
Joining the 3,000 spectators at General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works were more than a dozen SEALs from Murphy’s Hawaii-based unit, as well as family members of four of the fallen SEALs and a contingent of 22 firefighters from New York City. (Source: Navy Times)


Source;

http://bit.ly/lvweke


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

House Panel: Cap FY-12 Stryker Buy At 100 Unless Army Says Why It Needs More

House Panel: Cap FY-12 Stryker Buy At 100 Unless Army Says Why It Needs More
9 May 2011


A House panel proposed legislation this week that would block the Army from buying more than the 100 Stryker vehicles the service seeks to procure in fiscal year 2012 unless service leaders explain why they might need more.
The House Armed Services tactical aircraft and land forces subcommittee, in its version of the Pentagon's fiscal year 2012 authorization bill, includes a provision that sources say is not designed to punish the Stryker program but to put the Army on a shorter leash as it obligates funds provided by Congress for the General Dynamics-built combat vehicle.
The Army, which has not committed to a long-term procurement strategy for the eight-wheeled, four-by-four armored fighting vehicle, has frequently adjusted its Stryker acquisition plans over the years -- “sometimes based on realistic needs, sometimes based on the fact they have no idea what they're doing,” said a source familiar with the program.
A government source said the structure of the contracts in place for procuring Stryker allows the Army to both acquire new vehicles and to upgrade others using funds from the same account, unlike many other programs for which two separate funding lines are established.
The Army's Stryker set-up -- when paired with regular funding boosts from the appropriations committees -- has given the Army unusual flexibility, and Congress reduced oversight, over the program, these sources say.
Last year, the program was sitting on more than $800 million in unobligated balances, funds that have accumulated because of regular changes in the service's procurement plans, according to a government source.
“This is a message from the Hill that 'You'd better tell us what you're doing,'” said the source familiar with the program.
The proposed legislation says the Pentagon may build more than 100 Stryker vehicles in FY-12 only if the Army secretary provides lawmakers a waiver that includes a certification from the service acquisition executive that “there are validated needs” for more.
In addition, the acquisition executive must certify that “all Stryker combat vehicles required to fully equip the nine Stryker brigades and to meet other validated requirements regarding the vehicle have been procured or placed on contract for procurement.” (Source: Inside Defense)


Source;

http://bit.ly/lNE9zp


Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.

House Members Call For Preservation of Abrams Industrial Base

House Members Call For Preservation of Abrams Industrial Base
09 May 2011


More than 130 members of the House wrote to Army Secretary John McHugh May 6 calling for the “prudent” continuation of Abrams tank production to preserve the industrial base.
Members said it would cost more to shut down, and then restart the production line than to move to limited production--which would also preserve the workforce producing the vehicles.
Meanwhile, House Armed Services Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) said the Fiscal Year ‘12 defense-authorization bill adds funding to the Pentagon budget request to prevent a temporary shutdown of the Abrams tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicle production lines (Defense Daily, May 6). “This is a no-brainer,” he said.
Members wrote McHugh: “We believe it prudent to continue limited production of M1A2 SEP tanks at 70 per year in order to bridge the production gap until the next generation of Abrams begins fielding.”
Those who actually work on the Abrams line are another concern, as are those companies that supply the component parts.
“The end of Abrams production would shut down the unique national asset that is the U.S. tank industrial base even with the expectation that later in the decade the same industrial base will be required to produce modernized Abram tanks and/or the Ground Combat Vehicle,” members wrote.
The mix of House Democrats and Republicans expressed specific concern that the Army plans to stop tank production for the first time since 1941 with other production gaps occurring during the fiscal year 2014-2016 on other “important” combat vehicles, such as the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the Stryker Vehicles. (Source: Defense Daily)


Source;

http://bit.ly/lwb5KD



Copyright 2011 Atkins & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.