Sans Contemplation

This map shows Standard & Poor’s Credit Rating for each country.

• Estonia’s credit rating was raised by Standard & Poor’s Ratings to the second-highest level in eastern Europe on the Baltic country’s strong economic growth and solid public finances. The long-term foreign and local currency bond rating was increased by two notches from A to AA- with a stable outlook(August 9, 2011).
• For the first time ever, the United States of America lost its perfect credit rating as Standard & Poor’s reduced its U.S. long-term debt assessment from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook (August 5, 2011).

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for the stock market indexes, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian S&P/TSX, the Italian S&P/MIB and India’s S&P CNX Nifty. It is one of the Big Three credit rating agencies (Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investor Service and Fitch Ratings).

Standard & Poor’s Ratings:

• AAA: The best quality borrowers, reliable and stable
• AA: Quality borrowers, a bit higher risk than AAA
• A: Economic situation can affect finance
• BBB: Medium class borrowers, which are satisfactory at the moment
• BB: More prone to changes in the economy
• B: Financial situation varies noticeably

Even though I’ll probably pay for this typing for the next several days I had to chime in.  Since the last Piratesweek I produced two short months ago the state of HF pirate radio has changed significantly, and not for the better. I post this more in sorrow than in anger.

Beginning with the further fractionation of the online community with Poet’s new site Radio Cafe and concluding with accusations of betrayal and collusion with the Federal Communications Commission it smells to heaven. Perhaps its the protracted lull in propagation that have the pirates in a foul mood. Sniping at one another when the true enemy is at the gates.  For all intents and purposes the FCC is in a prolonged albeit low priority, national enforcement campaign against HF pirates. Weather, WEAK, Crystal, and whispers of another that wishes to remain anon, all have fallen. After a prolonged lull in enforcement these actions represent a clear and present danger to the HF pirate hobby.

The infection of hatred, mistrust and what appears to be out right warfare between operators is a sad state of affairs. From the witty whispering of Faux, the comedic exaggerations of a perennial presidential candidate and now the outright accusations from a sinking ship, the infighting has moved from beyond vicious. There has been a slow escalation of tit for tat retributions between these fractions which lately has included publishing of pseudonyms as well as real names and locations. This has recently crescendoed to accusations that WBNY intentionally revealed Poet’s location to the FCC and initiated his recent visit.  In my heart of heart I can not believe such things. With such outrageousness I’m surprised I have not been implicated. Sadly, I’m sure this will not be the end of it and I shudder to think where we finally end up. There may have once been something rotten in the state of Denmark, but its the foul stench wafting in from the new world that has the Danes holding their noses nowadays.

All the while the FCC works on and somebody’s else name is now on the top of their pile. They probably have ten or twenty hours of OT allowed every few months allocated to the operation. From their fixed stations they already know approximately where their next target is located. A lucky agent or two will get a few extra hours by driving out to sit a couple evenings waiting for the switch to be flipped. They wont spend much time with field measurements or legal paperwork. Apparently they don’t intend to prosecute, just serve a warning letter. That’s enough for most of us to take ourselves off the air. It also sends a chill throughout the community. Free speech becomes a little less free, creativity in the audio arts is a little more suppressed. But instead of the community banding together to face this threat we have decided to pick this moment to self eviscerate ourselves.

To be or not to be, that is the question.