Some in Congress object to new soccer field at Guantanamo

[unhappycamper]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/03/04/140778/some-in-congress-object-to-new.html

Some in Congress object to new soccer field at Guantanamo
By Carol Rosenberg | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sunday, March 4, 2012

Some members of Congress are questioning the wisdom of the Pentagon's spending $744,000 on a soccer field to keep captives busy outside a $39 million penitentiary-style building at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars for crying out loud?" Rep. Gus Bilirakas, R-Fla., said in a television interview. "Our deficit this year is $1.2 trillion and we're spending this kind of money on terrorists?"

Prison camp commanders unveiled the 28,000-square-foot soccer field during a visit last week by reporters to cover a Pakistani man's guilty plea to war crimes. Commanders called it part of the cost of doing business at the remote outpost and keeping captives diverted at the detention center.

The yard opens in April after contractors install latrines and goals.



unhappycamper comment: Gitmo costs the United States around $800 grand per detainee per year.

In other related news,




Detroit Bus Service Is Cut At Nighttime, While Private Contractor Is In Line For Bonus
Posted: 03/02/12 04:34 PM ET | Updated: 03/02/12 08:27 PM ET

Detroit's beleaguered bus riders already have little love for the Motor City's transit system. Now service is about to get worse.

Beginning Saturday, some Detroit bus routes will stop running as early as 8 p.m. and service will be halted between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. The changes will leave about 3,200 of the 110,000 to 120,000 people who ride Detroit’s buses every day without nighttime transportation and likely cost some their jobs, say public transit advocates. Meanwhile, the private companies who run Detroit's transit system are in line for large bonuses if cost-cutting measures succeed.

Facing an ever-tightening budget noose, Detroit officials are trying to stave off a fiscal takeover by the state. When the bus service cuts go into effect on Saturday, the city's transit system will save $11 million and help Detroit move toward more reliable service during peak hours when buses are most in demand, said Chris Brown, Detroit's chief operating officer, who oversees transit operations.

Officials insist that the changes will affect the smallest number of riders possible. These riders might be the transit system's neediest users, though.

[HopeHoops]

1. Gotta watch out for those terrorist soccer balls.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. Why don't we just close Gitmo?

Then this wouldn't even be an issue. Just an idea.