Eloquent Ramblings: 3.3.15

The title of this blog contains so much hubris. I am starting again. Sincerest apologies that this is so ugly. With time it will change. For now, writing needs to start. Also, I am sorry for how rigid this writing is. All of my writing muscles have forgotten how it all works. So here I begin with a simple and trite subject. I present an evil corporation. This shall be exceedingly random.

"To the champagne sipping depleted uranium droppers" -Lowkey

Lockheed Martin.

My interest in this topic was ignited by the rapper Lowkey in his song "Hand On Your Gun". At the time I honestly knew nothing about LM, and I still know very little.

To start out LM has a revenue (2014) of $45 billion. For perspective, that number is just $3 billion shy of the 2014 revenue of the Walt Disney Corporation. To continue with giving you the wiki details, LM is an American public company that specializes in aerospace, advanced technology, and defense (as well as information security). The F-35 fighter jet is a very well known product of LM. Also, LM produced necessary components for Operation Dessert Storm, and the Hubble Space Telescope (1990).

It is is important to note the US makes up the bulk of LM's clientele. LM holds contracts from the US for the Air-force, Postal Service, Department of Defense, CIA, FBI, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Census Bureau, NSA, IRS, and The Pentagon.

Here is a list of some of the work LM has done for NASA:
Orion (crew exploration vehicle), Phoenix (lander), Mars Odyssey (robotic orbital spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx (upcoming mission for 2016), and the NASA multipurpose crew vehicle.

Glassdoor is a site that provides reviews of companies and their CEOs by employees. Out of 2700 reviews LM has a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. This is an oddly high rating for a company of this magnitude, although I am not positive that Glassdoor efficiently filters out review bots. However, LM has 112,000 employees worldwide, so these reviews may not properly represent an average experience.

A recent story surfaced about LM. On February 20, 2015 Fortune reported that LM is to pay $62 million in a 401k lawsuit. Over 108,000 employees of LM filed suit in 2006 for mismanagement of their retirement plans. According to the plaintiffs this is the largest case alleging excessive fees in regards to the 401k. The main allegation of the suit is that LM had hidden large fees that were putting strain on the plan participants.

So there are some random facts. Presented with neither structure nor finesse. We have however, established that LM is one of the largest defense contractors in the world and reaps immense profits each year. This can show us the disparity between the annual profits of LM and the treatment of its 112,000 employees.

And now the topic of today. As most of the internet may have noticed there has been some buzz about compact fusion technology. LM has made some vague promotional claims about its progress in this regard. As is often true with the buzz, you can't trust it. I am heavily influenced on this topic by my love of reading Wired.

However it all does seem much like the video games Force Unleashed and Destiny, lots of hype and not a lot of return. Perhaps LM will eventually succeed and provide a level of energy efficiency never seen before, and perhaps Bungie will follow through on their promise to not making a repurposed Halo. In the near future? I'm not hopeful. Eventually? It could happen.

I hope that if you have read this far, you now know how very boring this blog will be to read and you will move on with your life. I am ever so counter-cultural. I really am. Truly. Tune in next time for something completely unrelated. Exciting I know.

Be it agent orange or bathtub cleaner there is a profit to be had

Incendiary bombs cull people crops and culture

Till there is little left but fad

The assembly line needs

No matter what it costs
Haute couture
Blackbird
MULE