Free Republic

New subs come with a $36bn price IAN MCPHEDRAN October 30, 2009 12:01am The project will be a boon for South Australia, with the Federal Government saying the 12 next-generation submarines will be built at Osborne regardless of who wins the contract. But a report out today warns that trying to build the new subs in Australia would be fraught with danger and the purchase of smaller, short-range "off-the-shelf" overseas submarines should not be ruled out. The report, from the Government-funded Australian Strategic Policy Institute, predicts the Australian-made subs would cost a "staggering" $3 billion each - three times the...

Defence has admitted the Collins submarines are again a major concern, with the most recent mishap requiring a vessel to limp home after a catastrophic engine breakdown. Head of the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) Dr Stephen Gumley said the Collins submarines had now gone to the top of the list of troublesome projects - a position once occupied by the now cancelled Seasprite helicopter project. Once labelled "dud subs" after a series of problems, the Collins had undergone a protracted remediation program over the past decade which seemed to have overcome all defects. Following the recent engine breakdown, just one...

Engine problems cripple Collins-class submarines THE navy's $6 billion Collins-class submarines face serious operational restrictions after being hit by a run of crippling mechanical problems and troubling maintenance issues. Some senior engineering experts now contend that the Swedish-supplied Hedemora diesel engines may have to be replaced - a major design and engineering job that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to complete. So serious are the problems that the Defence Materiel Organisation has put the Collins boats at the top of its list of "projects of concern" - the key equipment issues troubling Australia's Defence leaders....

Here is video from California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy holding a Town Hall Meeting in Bakersfield where he was asked why the Congress was allowing President Obama to create all the "Czars" he is creating. Just before he answered there were shouts from the audience of "He's a communist!" McCarthy answered the question by saying he did not believe Obama had the right to appoint these "Czars" AND give them powers that encroach on the "Checks and Balances" the Constitution requires. . . . . (Watch Video)

Only one submarine left to defend Australia By Ian McPhedran The Advertiser May 21, 2009 07:18am SUBMARINE woes have hit a new low with just one of six Collins Class craft fit for service. Experts differ on the security risk this poses for the nation, but they agree that having just one boat available to defend the nation is a terrible return on a $10 billion taxpayer investment. With HMAS Waller tied up at the Henderson shipyard south of Perth for urgent battery repairs, the only seaworthy sub is HMAS Farncomb. The other four boats are either out of active...

Kevin Rudd's push for missile supremacy Patrick Walters, National security editor | May 02, 2009 Article from: The Australian THE navy will acquire a formidable arsenal of long-range cruise missiles for its new submarines, destroyers and frigates, able to strike at targets thousands of kilometres from Australia's shores. The new-generation submarines and major surface warships will be fitted with land-attack cruise missiles with ranges of up to 2500km as Australia becomes the first regional defence force to have the potent weapons system. The cruise missiles will give the Government "options to conduct long-range, precision-strike operations against hardened, defended and difficult-to-access...

Crisis as sub crews prepare to abandon ship Cameron Stewart | February 25, 2009 THE navy's submarine fleet is in danger of becoming unsustainable because of a chronic shortfall of qualified sailors, with almost half of all submariners wanting to leave the navy as soon as possible, according to a confidential Defence report. A psychological study of the submarine arm, obtained by The Australian, reveals almost half of all submariners intend to abandon the navy as soon as they can, at a time when it is already so short of crews that it can barely put three of its six...

BUT for a few desperate seconds, it would have been our worst military disaster since the Voyager. The flood aboard the HMAS Dechaineux on February 12, 2003, was the catalyst for the series of submarine safety reforms revealed in The Australian today. The incident remains seared in the minds of the submarine's 55 crew who came within 20 seconds of death. "It changed my life," Able Seaman Geordie Bunting said later. "It is the closest I would like to come to death. "I don't think there was anybody on our boat who wasn't shit-scared that day. Another five seconds and...

IT is the ultimate Christmas gift for the discerning sailor. Just log on to eBay, lodge any bid more than $4.9 million, and the 2000-tonne former Royal Australian Navy submarine, the HMAS Otama, could be yours. The story behind the bizarre firesale of this Cold War warrior, a prized piece of the nation's military heritage, is far from festive. The forced sale of the Otama -- the first RAN submarine offered on eBay -- has broken the heart of the man who dreamed the vessel would one day restore the flagging fortunes of his home town of Hastings on Victoria's...

<p>A founding member of the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois met in New York City tonight with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.</p> <p>Jodie Evans, who co-hosted Obama's first major fundraiser in Hollywood in February 2007 just after Obama announced his candidacy and is a top fundraiser and donor to Obama's campaign, led a delegation of leftist anti-American groups that held a private meeting near the United Nations. The stated purpose of the meeting was to "serve as an opening for diplomatic resolution" to prevent war between Iran and the United States.</p>

Another navy sub forced to dry-dock because of crew shortages Mark Dodd and Matthew Franklin | September 11, 2008 THE Royal Australian Navy is set to move the fourth of its six Collins-class submarines into dry dock because of crew shortages, undermining Kevin Rudd's plans for a massive upgrade in naval resources to counter a military build-up inAsia. Defence analysts warned yesterday that severe skills shortages meant the navy could not crew its existing vessels, let alone new assets proposed by the Prime Minister in a major speech to the Returned and Services League on Tuesday night. Mr Rudd told...

AN Australian submarine - HMAS Waller - has used a new super torpedo - the Mark 48 - to sink an American warship off Hawaii. The HMAS Waller fired the heavyweight Mark 48 torpedo, which the US and Australian navies say is the world's deadliest, during war games this week. Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the torpedo had been jointly developed by Australia and the United States. The firing occurred during the Rim of the Pacific 2008 (RIMPAC 08) exercise, involving multiple navies off the coast of Hawaii. "This controlled exercise resulted in the planned sinking of a retired US...

Australian warship tests new torpedo Jeanette Stephen An Australian warship has successfully test fired a new torpedo designed to track and attack submarines. The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) has successfully test fired the new MU90 Lightweight Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Torpedo from HMAS Toowoomba. The test firing occurred at sea approximately 30 kilometres off Mandurah in Western Australia. “While the MU90 Lightweight Torpedo has been successfully tested in Europe, this Acceptance Test and Evaluation exercise represents the first time an MU90 Lightweight Torpedo has been fired from an Australian warship,” Mr Fitzgibbon said. Mr Fitzgibbon said the exercise was a milestone...

AFTER months of gliding silently underwater, stalking imaginary enemies, submarine commander Matt Buckley decided to give his 45 exhausted crew a treat. He ordered his HMAS Collins submarine to surface off the coast of Tasmania and flipped open the hatch. "We were at the entrance to Port Arthur," Buckley recalls. "It was one of those classic misty mornings and we sailed up to the convict ruins. As we glided through the water about 30 dolphins swam alongside us, it was just an incredible moment." It is moments like these the Royal Australian Navy would love to bottle and hand to...

AN Australian Navy vessel sent to rescue an injured crewman from a Spanish fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean should reach the ship by about midday tomorrow. Search and Rescue Australia based in Perth called on Defence for assistance yesterday after receiving news of the crewman with a badly broken arm. The fishing vessel Illa Gaveira was last positioned about 1400km west of Perth. "After exhausting efforts to have a civilian ship respond to the call for assistance, and finding the vessel is out of range of a rotary wing aircraft, Defence responded," Defence spokesman Andrew Nikolic said. HMAS Warramunga...

Front-line frigates in $1.4bn upgrade bungle IAN McPHEDRAN, DEFENCE WRITER January 01, 2008 11:40pm THE navy's front-line fighting ships cannot defend themselves and are unable to be sent into battle, despite a $1.4 billion upgrade. A navy insider close to the 4000-tonne Adelaide Class Guided Missile Frigates has revealed the ships' complex electronic systems are not working properly. He told The Advertiser that sending the 1970s ships to war would be like sending a VK Commodore to race at Bathurst. Senior officials now admit that the 1997 frigate upgrade project was a "debacle" created by the Howard Government's decision to...

Navy's new lethal subs Cameron Stewart December 26, 2007 AUSTRALIA will build the world's most lethal conventional submarine fleet, capable of carrying long-range cruise missiles and futuristic midget-subs, to combat an expected arms race in the region. New Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has ordered planning to begin on the next generation of submarines to replace the Royal Australian Navy's Collins-class fleet with the aim of gaining "first pass" approval for the design phase from cabinet's National Security Committee in 2011. The 17-year project will be the largest, longest and most expensive defence acquisition since Federation, potentially costing up to $25...

Smells like Asian Nato SUJAN DUTTA Sept. 7: The five-nation Malabar war games are being conducted on rules and procedures compliant with the requirements of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Indian naval and air force officers disclosed in interviews aboard the aircraft carrier today. The Malabar 07-02 war games, now into the fourth day, have raised concerns in Beijing of an emerging “Asian Nato”. But Vice-Admiral William Douglas Crowder, commander of the US Seventh fleet, insisted this was not gunboat diplomacy directed against China but an opportunity to share experiences in a multi-threat scenario. The acceptance by India of the...

Indonesia sub plans no sweat for navy Cameron Stewart and Stephen Fitzpatrick | September 06, 2007 INDONESIA'S plans to buy Russian Kilo-class submarines will notcause Australian navy submariners to break out into a coldsweat. Although the two navies are unlikely ever to find themselves fighting each other, submarine experts say that if they did, Australia's Collins-class submarines would be likely to send the Kilos to the bottom of the ocean. "The Kilos are less technically advanced than the Collins-class, and the Kilo does not match up in either capability or performance," one submariner, who asked not to be named, told...

Navy hopes fly, but aircraft carrier still off radar Nicholas Stuart NOT LONG ago, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson insisted that the old "defence of Australia doctrine" was as dead as the dodo. Soon afterwards, those who had gloated at this statement were suddenly chortling with glee, particularly when they heard which of the two new amphibious ships the navy would be getting. That's because the chosen ship the Spanish design has both a catapult and a ski-jump; and these are both vital requirements if you want to send jet aircraft flying off a ship into the wild blue yonder. By...

THE 66-year search for the wreck of HMAS Sydney is believed to be over. The ship, in which 645 Australians died, is believed to have been found by a group of West Australians using a grappling hook and a camera last weekend. The Sydney sank after a battle with German raider, Kormoran, on November 19, 1941, Fairfax newspapers said. Video film of the find shows tangled wreckage over large, much longer than any other ship known to have sunk nearby.

A BRITISH maritime researcher claims to have solved one of Australia's greatest wartime mysteries by locating the wreck of HMAS Sydney. Timothy Akers also says he has discovered the whereabouts of the German raider Kormoran that sank the Sydney off the coast of Western Australia in November 1941, killing all 645 men on board. And the wrecks of a number of Japanese warships and submarines, also believed to have been involved in the battle, are lying on the ocean floor nearby, Mr Akers claims. However, Mr Akers' claims have been rejected by his former employer – now competitor – and...

'Arms race' leaving our subs all at sea Tom Hyland May 6, 2007 AUSTRALIA'S most lethal, most secret and most expensive spies are black, 78 metres long, 3350-tonne cigar-shaped tubes. Chances are, one of them is currently prowling under the seas north of Australia, playing blind man's buff with foreign ships. Maybe it's loitering, watching offshore from a terrorist training area, or sucking sensitive radio signals out of the atmosphere. Whatever the Collins class submarines are up to, most of what they do is so secret we won't be told for decades. Even now, the silent and highly dangerous Cold...

Higher pay for sailors in subs Patrick Walters, National security editor March 31, 2007 SUBMARINERS could be granted special pay increases as the Government considers new ways of addressing manpower shortages in the navy's underwater fleet. Specialist submarine engineers and technicians are already being offered retention bonuses worth up to $30,000 but the Howard Government is now considering across-the-board pay rises recognising the unique nature of service in the submarine arm. This would mean Australia's submariners would be recognised in a similar fashion to those in other Western navies such as France's, where basic pay rates average 50 per cent...

Spain leads for $7bn navy contract Patrick Walters, National security editor March 01, 2007 SPAIN is poised to win the contest to design the navy's new air warfare destroyers, destined to be the biggest and most advanced warships in its fleet. As the race to win the contract to design the three vessels enters its final weeks, state-owned Spanish naval builder Navantia is heading its US rival on price and delivery time. The $7 billion program will be Australia's second-biggest defence project in the coming decade, after the $14 billion joint strike fighter for the air force. Long regarded as...

Australia faces growing submarine threat 1st March 2007, 9:48 WST Australia faces a growing threat from regional nations equipped with modern submarines, a new study warns. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) says Australia's anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities had lagged behind because regional nations had few submarines and those were of dubious capability. But many regional nations were now acquiring modern submarines and weapons. "The upshot is that Australia will soon face a region that has a much greater capability to conduct submarine operations," ASPI analyst Dr Andrew Davies said in the study. "In a contingency, submarines will be able...

Lack of hands strands navy subs Cameron Stewart February 27, 2007 THE navy's $6 billion submarine fleet is in crisis, with commanders being forced to slash the number of sailing days because there are not enough crew members. The shortage of skilled submariners is the most acute on record, with crew numbers having slumped to just two-thirds of that required to properly operate the six-submarine fleet. The result is that the Collins Class submarines - the navy's most expensive and potent weapon - are often lying idle in the dock. The recruitment crisis has forced the navy to consider another...

New hose lets subs go back to bottom Cameron Stewart February 26, 2007 AUSTRALIA'S submarines could be prowling at deep ocean depths as early as next year, restoring a crucial combat capability lost after a near-catastrophe in 2003. The plan would sharply boost the potency of the navy's six submarines, which have been banned from diving too deep because of safety concerns. The depth restrictions were slapped on the fleet after a massive on-board flood almost sank the HMAS Dechaineux and its 55 crew off the coast of Perth in February 2003. The Dechaineux was only 20 seconds from sinking...

THE navy's ill-fated Seasprite helicopter program is almost certain to be scrapped after a decade of problems, leaving taxpayers with losses of more than $1 billion. The Defence Department has recommended that the contract with US manufacturer Kaman Aerospace Corporation be terminated. And senior government sources say the axe could fall on the project to refurbish the Vietnam-era helicopters as soon as next Wednesday's meeting of federal cabinet's National Security Committee. The Seasprite helicopters have been dogged by software engineering glitches and airworthiness issues, with the project running more than six years behind schedule. The twin-engine SG-2G(A) Super Seasprites, equipped...

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * DISPATCH FROM JERUSALEM: BUSH SPEECH SEEN AS PREPARING FOR WAR WITH IRAN By Joel C. Rosenberg (Jerusalem, Israel) -- "Our best case scenario is for missiles to be hitting us in the next year or two. Either the West goes to war to stop Iran from going nuclear, and Iran fires conventional missiles at us in retaliation, or the West waits too long and Iran launches a nuclear first strike at us. Either way, a terrible war is coming. It cannot be avoided." That's the sobering assessment a...

THE Australian Government has despatched a second warship to stand by near Fiji in case a mass evacuation is necessary following fears of a coup. Announcing the deployment of amphibious support ship, HMAS Kanimbla, from Townsville, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson tonight would not rule out military assistance from Australia if the Fijian Government asks for help. Australia sent the frigate, HMAS Newcastle, to waters near Fiji yesterday. The Government also revised its travel advisory to Fiji tonight, warning Australians to exercise "a high degree of caution" ... because of increased tensions between the Fiji government and military, and the possibility...

TWO Australian naval ships, with troops and helicopters, are heading to international waters outside Fiji while extra police have been offered to South Pacific island nation as threat of a military coup escalates. The amphibious warship, HMAS Kanimbla, with an undisclosed number of fighters, left port this evening in the wake of the HMAS Newcastle, which left sometime earlier. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson last night said the the Australian Government was very concerned about the event, while Foreign Minister Alexander Downer conceded a coup was a "reasonable chance". Dr Nelson called on the Fijian defence chief Frank Bainimarama to respect...

FORENSIC pathologists have removed a bullet from the skull of a skeleton that researchers are now confident was a sailor from the doomed HMAS Sydney. They also believe the remains, exhumed from Christmas Island earlier this month during a navy-led expedition, are not those of Sydney crewman Tom McGowan, whose younger brother Ted was pivotal in getting the search party off the ground. It is now almost certain that the remains are those of the so-called "unknown sailor", a HMAS Sydney crewman who was washed up in a Carley float on Christmas Island in February 1942, almost three months after...

THE remains of the unknown sailor believed to be the sole survivor of Australia's most enduring wartime mystery - the sinking of HMAS Sydney off Western Australia - have been unearthed on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The Defence Department last night confirmed that bones had been discovered in the island's Old European Cemetery by a navy-led team of experts and, once removed, would be taken to Sydney for further forensic tests in an attempt to establish identity. The discovery is yet another piece to a puzzle that has fascinated and frustrated historians for more than half a century....

A NEW South Wales Supreme Court judge will sit in Launceston today to hear the opening of a case in which a Tasmanian man is suing the Federal Government over his part in the Voyager naval disaster. Geoffrey Singline, 63, is suffering cancer and is seeking unspecified damages for anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse, and special damages for economic loss following the disaster, his lawyer, David Forster of Hollows Lawyers said. Eighty-two people died when aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collided with destroyer HMAS Voyager, slicing HMAS Voyager in two and sinking it, during an exercise in NSW waters...

Secret spy missions forced to the surface Brendan Nicholson September 8, 2006 AUSTRALIAN submarines carried out top secret Cold War spying missions on Russia and China that came to an abrupt end when a submarine was forced to surface in view of the foreign fleet after becoming entangled in fishing nets. News of the inglorious end to 14 years of high-risk secret missions in 1992, and the fact that they even occurred, has emerged because the sailors involved want their missions officially designated "warlike operations" Warlike or not, the missions carried out between 1978 and 1992 were certainly dangerous, with...

TOP secret Cold War missions in which Australian submarines spied on Soviet and Chinese warships and bases are set to be revealed as the submariners demand that their service be classified as warlike. Little has been disclosed about the secret missions in which the now superseded Oberon-class submarines sat watching and listening off installations such as Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay, a key Soviet naval base. "Typically we would remain on the horizon about five nautical miles away, submerged at periscope depth, watching and listening. This was cloak and dagger stuff," an unnamed submarine crewmen said in an article in the...

Submarine fleet 'should go nuclear' Katharine Murphy September 5, 2006 AUSTRALIA must consider commissioning a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, a submission to the nuclear taskforce says. The move will be necessary to deal with complex security pressures emerging within the region over the next two decades. The former head of the navy's submarine team, Rear Admiral Peter Briggs, and one of Australia's top national security analysts, Allan Behm, claim the national debate on nuclear energy allows Australia to consider seriously the advantages of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines to replace the Collins class. In a submission to John Howard's nuclear taskforce,...

Evolved Design Unveiled for Australia's Next Generation Air Warfare Destroyer Gibbs & Cox Tue, 8 Aug 2006, 12:43 ADELAIDE, Australia: The first images of the Evolved Design for Australia's Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) project were unveiled by the Minister of Defence Brendan Nelson in Adelaide at the opening of the new AWD Systems Centre. Three-dimensional animated vision has been released showing the advanced capabilities of the Evolved Design, with 360-degree protection for Australian troops against threats of air, underwater or missile attack. A series of detailed images of the Evolved Design from different angles has also been released. The Evolved...

Defence to spend $2b more on choppers Mark Metherell June 19, 2006 AUSTRALIA will buy almost four times as many military helicopters as previously ordered, at an extra cost of $2 billion. The Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson, is expected to announce today that the Australian Defence Force will add 34 of the European MRH-90 multi-role helicopters to the 12 on order. The decision follows protracted problems with helicopters in the Defence Force, highlighted by the Sea King crash in Indonesia last year in which nine Australian military personnel were killed. The crash prompted the disclosure of poor maintenance standards for...

LEGAL action might be launched against US suppliers of Australia's troubled Super Seasprite helicopter now grounded with technical problems, the Government said today. The Australian navy bought 11 of the helicopters from US defence contractor Kaman Aerospace for $1 billion in 1997, but the Seasprites have been plagued by technical problems and have never been fully operational. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said today he had banned the Seasprites from flying because of the latest difficulties, software and technical problems. "I have asked the Department of Defence to consider all options including, if appropriate, legal action against the contractors who have...

HUNDREDS of families and friends are welcoming back the crew of HMAS Parramatta to Sydney after a six-month tour of the Persian Gulf. The Parramatta's 187 personnel were deployed to the Gulf in October last year as part of the Australian Defence Forces' reconstruction efforts in Iraq. During the tour, the Parramatta was responsible for the protection of Iraq's offshore oil platforms from the threat of terrorism and for the implementation of a security plan in the north Persian Gulf. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson greeted the sailors and their families today at the Garden Island naval base. HMAS Parramatta has...

Should the U.S. cut off financial aid to any country that invests in Iran? Yes No Not sure

"We can't be breeding right now," says Les Knight. "It's obvious that the intentional creation of another [human being] by anyone anywhere can't be justified today." Knight is the founder of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, an informal network of people dedicated to phasing out the human race in the interest of the health of the Earth. Knight, whose convictions led him to get a vasectomy in the 1970s, when he was 25, believes that the human race is inherently dangerous to the planet and inevitably creates an unsustainable situation. "As long as there's one breeding couple," he says cheerfully,...

www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org Date: 6/9/2005 6:44:58 AM PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA 12280 West Indian School RoadPMB # 177Litchfield Park, AZ 85340 Phone :877-368-9221URL :http://www.pdamerica.org An organization founded in July 2004 to provide a “philosophical home within the Democratic Party for the progressive community” Co-founded and led mostly by activists from failed 2004 presidential campaign of Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich, a leader of the radical Progressive Caucus in the House of Representatives One co-founder is veteran left radical Tom Hayden Helped install Howard Dean as head of Democratic National Committee Supported by several Hollywood stars, including Ed Asner, “Mr. Grant” of The Mary Tyler Moore Show  ...

U.S. moves to sell Australia SM-2 missiles Tue May 31, 2005 05:59 PM ET WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - The Pentagon notified Congress on Tuesday of a proposed sale to Australia of up to 175 SM-2 Block IIIA surface-to-air defensive missiles built by Raytheon Co. (RTN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , as well as associated equipment. The proposed sale, valued at up to $315 million if all options are exercised, would provide Australia continued anti- aircraft defense capabilities for its Navy, the notice said. Australia already has SM-1 Standard missiles. The Pentagon's Defense Security and Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms...

Code PinkoBy Jean PearceFrontPageMagazine.com | March 26, 2003 Like any other group, Communists come in a lot of shapes, sizes and colors. This time they’re wearing pink, they’re on the nightly news, and more than anything, they want the mothers and grandmothers of America to identify with them. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the leaders of the women’s anti-war group Code Pink got lost on their way to the carpool line. Since October, these hot pink-clad "marching moms" have been spinning the same tale to reporters from coast to coast, the one about how concern for their...

When The New York Times, “Nightline,” and CNN nominate a young blonde for sainthood ahead of the Pope, it’s time for a reality check. Especially when that blonde, Marla Ruzicka’s sole purpose is to legitimize our enemies, cause problems for U.S. troops already in harms way, and morally equivocate dead terrorists with victims of 9/11. Jane Fonda lite—but unfortunately without having been spat upon by right-thinking veterans. The recent death of Ruzicka, an American “activist” in Iraq, elicited an orgy of gush—everywhere from Time Magazine to The Guardian of London to Al-Jazeera. A 28-year-old San Franciscan, Ruzicka was in Iraq...

Otherwise eco-activists will keep the world’s poor impoverished, hungry, and disease-ridden. The litany of alleged offenses follows a script: fragile ecosystems, environmental devastation, irresponsible investment, huge profits, human rights violations, indigenous people imperiled. So do the demands: transparency, accountability, ethics, social responsibility. The tactics are equally familiar. Launch website, issue denunciations. Enlist grade school teachers whose students can write letters to the CEO. Harass the CEO at home. Stage protests at corporate offices. Claim to be stakeholders who must be given a role in all decisions, so that company policies henceforth reflect activist demands. Confrontational? Disingenuous? Of course. Effective? Absolutely....

WASHINGTON -- What are the biggest charity abuses in America? The answers coming from witnesses testifying at a Senate hearing last Tuesday pointed to practices by nonprofit, tax-exempt groups that are technically legal but violate the spirit of private charity. Those answers are wrong. The biggest abuse is nonprofits that deliberately and habitually break the law. The Senate Finance Committee is currently investigating practices of groups that enjoy exemption from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. In the past few years, more and more news stories have detailed the questionable practices of nonprofits, from huge CEO compensation packages...