Exactly what is a "benchmark"?

That sounds like language lifted directly from a corporate training seminar.

Never mind that we starved their kids or bombed them for a dozen years before we invaded them for no reason.

They have to ante up. :sarcasm:

:shrug:

Those red marks across the backs of the legs of people wearing shorts at Disneyland?

where he was sittin' and chillin' before his "jolly good job" speech to the Brits, when the mortar hit. It was described as yucky, stankin', brown stuff by some speaking on condition of anonymity.

I remember it being used in sports but all I can think of right now is sweaty marks left on a locker room bench. LOL, I'm sure that's not it.

It defines what you're looking for in terms of step-wise behavioral outcomes in a process, usually on a calendar, and with rewards or negative consequences depending upon whether the benchmarks are met or not. There are also supposed to be alternatives for if and how well benchmarks are met. "If execution of benchmark A is 50%, B happens. If execution of benchmark A is 70%, C happens. etc."

...in the IWR/AUMF. It's a way for Congress to pretend to take a tough stance against President Signing Statement, who will chuckle as he reads (or is read) their latest feeble effort.

Absolutely nothing and no one matters but Dick Cheney.

I saw somewhere on this board a few months ago that the Bush family has bought major real estate somewhere in South or Central America. You watch, BushCo is going to bug out of here, before Justice is possible.

George W. Bush
We Hate To Bring Up the Nazis, But They Fled To South America, Too

Our paranoid friends over at Bring It On have put together a story that hasn’t exactly made Washington Whispers. It’s real short and real simple:

The Cuban news service reports that George W. Bush has purchased 98,840 acres in Paraguay, near the Bolivian/Brazilian border.

Jenna Bush paid a secret diplomatic visit to Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte and U.S. Ambassador James Cason. There were no press conferences, no public sightings and no official confirmation of her 10-day trip which apparently ended this week.

The Paraguayan Senate voted last summer to “grant U.S. troops immunity from national and International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction.”

Immediately afterwards, 500 heavily armed U.S. troops arrived with various planes, choppers and land vehicles at Mariscal Estigarribia air base, which happens to be at the northern tip of Paraguay near the Bolivian/Brazilian border. More have reportedly arrived since then.
(snip/...)

http://wonkette.com/politics/george-w.-bush/we-hate-to-bring-up-the-nazis-but-they-fled-to-south-america-too-208549.php

Looks like maybe the Bushes believe in Global Warming afterall and they're preparing a compound.

only British and USofA oil corporations the rights to produce/refine their oil and the legislation must provide that the production costs are on top of the corporation profits and both come before the Iraqi interests and profits, that is a benchmark. That is the only benchmark this admin gives a hoot about. When that happens then there will be a decrease in troops and some PR efforts to withdrawal.

There will never be a full withdrawal if that law is signed into effect, there will be US corporate interests there that will need military protection.

And they are not calling it privatization of the oil rights. What they are calling it is oil revenue sharing. However, in the 200 page benchmark report there are only three sentences which vaguely refer to revenue sharing.

The entire 200 page oil benchmark report (exclusive of those three vague revenue sharing sentences) talks about turning the oil industry over to private investors.

you will find that this is essentially what Great Britain did (and why Great Britain and France were always at odds), they colonized the area and had the control of the Iraqi oil for decades, this isn't a first for the people in that region and that is why the terrorists get so pissed off, they are tired of nations/governments coming in and stealing for the people of the region. I wish folks would look into Iraq's history, they would see that this is not a new oil seize, just the shock and awe approach.

BTW, do you have a link to the oil report? I'd like to read that.

at thisishell.net
http://thisishell.net/archives.html



The interview (at the thisishell site) was one of the best which outlined what was in this Iraqi "benchmark" oil revenue sharing scam.

separatists in Iraq and that oil legislation? http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51624



Thank you for the link, I am anxious to read the interview.

Essentially it's a way of measuring how a thing is performing compared to a standard or set expectation. It is a proper use of the word. But if they benchmarked a computer the way they do Iraq, it'd be like having a faulty hard drive and insufficient memory and crowing over just being able to boot the thing up each day.

In what context it is used. Computers, Oil, Corporate, etc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmark

a bench. And that takes a lot of shrubs.

to describe the level of skill/ability we want a student to reach to "pass" a grade level.

Among other things, of course.

The term "benchmark" comes from surveying. Benchmarks are permanent locations of precisely known elevation, in the US certified by the US Geological survey. Surveyors start from one of them in order to measure the elevations of terrain, establish height of hills, etc.

The term has been adopted in computing and other disciplines as establishing a standard to which other things can be compared. If the "benchmark" for, say, a school district's aggregate test scores is known, then one can determine improvement in future years by comparing to that known datum.

Occasionally, when things have changed radically, one decides to establish a new "benchmark" to compare future conditions to. That is why, for example, the USGS established thousands of them all over the country, so surveyors could start from a conveniently-located known point, and not have to go back to Philadelphia or wherever to start every survey. But those additional benchmarks are not achievements, or progress - they are just known points. When DOW Jones adjusts what stocks are in the Industrial average, it does a bunch of math to make the new mix of stock prices still be comparable to previous levels, rather than make a one-time adjustment, which would be establishing a new benchmark. When a currency is adjusted, that is establishing a new benchmark.

Benchmarks are NOT something you "achieve". They are standards. "Milestones" are something you achieve in a journey, and that term is used in project management.

All these dittoheads in business schools and now the bushies and congress are babbling about telling the Iraqis to "achieve benchmarks." What they SHOULD be saying is, ok, so you have x bombings per day, zero cooperation amongst your various factions. Your country sucks. That's the benchmark. Now, we want you to become perfect, an idyllic, loving, peaceful Eden. But we know that will probably be a long, long journey. So we'll establish some milestones, and as you pass them, we'll pat you on the head, say "good doggie," throw you a bone, and run like hell.

I was just getting ready to post words to this effect when I read your post. We think alike.

Regards,

Sam

:)