The Antarctic Corporate State

Are politicaly active staffers being blacklisted at U.S. bases in Antarctica? Some anonymous Antarctic workers have assembled an incredibly detailed website arguing that they are. The site also lists what must be every charge of misconduct ever made against Raytheon, the primary contractor for the U.S. Antarctic Program. And it includes photographs of demonstrations down under -- way down under -- which can be pretty surreal.

Comments

[ed]

That's odd. My stapler is where it always is but my tape measure vanished five days ago.

[ed]

Hmmm, I like that mnemonic a few spaces above. I hearby change my name to "@".

[@]

Heh heh, I'm where it's @.

[Kevin Carson]

Overlord,

Don't you think your instinctive sympathy for "the employer" is misplaced, when the employer is a corporate welfare queen? Raytheon isn't exactly John Galt.

[rvman]

How is Antarctic oceanography different from the normal kind? Other than the fact that Antarctica is a continent, and so would be studied by geologists? Is there a separate Asian Oceanography, or Australian? I can see "Arctic" Oceanography, but even then, what's the difference, other than temperature? For that matter, what distinguishes "Arctic" from "Antarctic" oceanography, again other than the lack of an ocean?

[@]

Antarctica has penguins, Arctica has polar bears.

[joe]

What!?! Next you'll be telling me dinosaurs didn't eat cavemen.

[Dan]

the employer is a corporate welfare queen

Welfare is when you take money in exchange for not doing jack shit. The term doesn't apply here.

Welfare queens produce nothing; Raytheon produces needed goods and services, albeit much less effectively than if it was purely private.

So it's not a welfare queen; it's a postal worker. 🙂

[Madog]

Odd, I'm always finding strange staplers on my desk....

[Jason Ligon]

"So it's not a welfare queen; it's a postal worker. :)"

Dan walks a fine, fine line ...

[Russ]

Dan,

The question of "needed goods and services" is entirely fictitious if the market doesn't define those needs.

Just because the government tells us we "need" a base on the moon, doesn't make it so.

It's even worse when Archer Daniels Midland tells Congress to tell us that we "need" more ethanol to run our cars.

[Dan]

The question of "needed goods and services" is entirely fictitious if the market doesn't define those needs.

The market is defining the needs. The government is a buyer; the private sector develops goods and services to meet its needs.

Yes, the government is spending other people's money. But -- to draw a parallel -- if I rob you at gunpoint and then spend the money on hookers, beer, and New Wave CDs, that doesn't mean I'm not a market participant, nor does it mean that my "needs" aren't actualy my needs. It just means I'm putting my needs ahead of the needs of the people who's money I'm spending.

[rst]

Free Mumia? Christ.

"I shot him...no, I didn't shoot him...yeah, I shot him, but it was in self defense...no, I didn't shoot him, there was another shooter and I was an innocent bystander..."

And people get on Bush's ass.

[Kevin Carson]

The Free Mumia! stuff gets on my nerves, too. I'm actually *on* the antiwar left, and I'm really tired of "Free Mumia!" and "vegan potluck from FoodNotBombs" being turned into twin shibboleths of the movement.

It's a great way to ghettoize yourself from most people.

[keith]

Maybe we can free Mumia to Antarctica?

[Overlord]

Most of these protesters probably are scientists with doctorate degrees, so I'll try to keep this simple.
If you don't like the why your employer is treating you - quit and find another job!

[Keith]

Yes, but if your PhD is in antarctic oceanography, you don't have a lot of constructive employment options. Leaving aside the question of "should the NSF should be doing business in antarctica", I have no problem with the agents of science riding on Raytheon's ass for the purpose of making McMurdo operations more productive, efficient, or desirable to employees where cost-effective.

That all said, there's little advancement of science to be made in photographing yourself with a mumia poster at the gate.

[R. C. Dean]

Yes, but if your PhD is in antarctic oceanography, you don't have a lot of constructive employment options.

Really? I'm shocked to hear that. I was thinking of going back to school for one. I've always wanted to move to the Southwestern US, and I was thinking it would be covered up in jobs for antarctic oceanographers.

[speedwell]

R.C. Dean. friend, don't laugh... I work for a Texas-based international company that makes downhole components for oil wells, and I'm sure if someone decided next week they needed an offshore rig somewhere close to the South Pole, we would have to bring an Antarctic oceanographer to Houston for training. heh.

[Milton]

And Raytheon made us stop using Swingline staplers and made us use the Boston staplers even though the Boston staplers bind up more. And that bastard Lumbergh made me move my cubicle and then he took my stapler. I'll set the building on fire.

[speedwell]

Someone keeps taking my stapler, too. It must be a Big Business conspiracy.

[.]

Did I miss something? Isn't the background check waiver pretty standard? Or have I always worked for Draconia organizations.

[das]

If these guys are trying to be anonymous, I hope that the WHOIS info is bogus.

Registrant Name:Ron MonroeRegistrant Organization:Antarctic StormRegistrant Street1:Box 1380Registrant City:WinnipegRegistrant State/Province:MBRegistrant Postal Code:R3C4K2Registrant Country:CARegistrant Phone:[phone]

[Voyager]

Life imitates art -- this is so completely Robert Heinlein's _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_.

In this case, it would be _The Antarctic is a Harsh Mistress_ -- except that luckily they can only throw cyber-rocks at us.

[Topdogchad]

"Raytheon isn't exactly John Galt."

Who is John Galt?.....Sorry, couldn't resist