My Daily Kona

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Turf war crap again........

Army, Air Force continue duel over light cargo aircraft

By Philip Ewing Friday, January 13th, 2012 3:13 pm
Posted in Air, Land

The chiefs of staff of the Army and Air Force are negotiating another agreement about light cargo aircraft — again, reports AvWeek’s Amy Butler.
The saga of the two services’ battle over which one would get to operate small cargo aircraft in support of ground troops downrange has become like something out of Nordic lore, with so many chapters and twists and turns it’s tough to keep straight. Butler gave the history:

If this all sounds familiar, it is. Recall that USAF Gen. T. Michael Moseley’s coming out speech as the top Air Force officer at the AFA symposium in the fall of 2005. He took that opportunity to announce that the Air Force was pursuing a new light cargo aircraft procurement. This proclamation was made oddly as the Army was in the midst of setting up its future cargo aircraft program, which was crafted to replace old Sherpas and provide more immediate access to commanders for cargo support. Moseley’s push, along with his similar move to take over the Army’s burgeoning UAV force at the time, was seen as an abrupt roles-and-missions grab by the Air Force in the midst of two major wars. In the case of the cargo aircraft role, the Air Force won.

The blue suiters wound up cutting the Army’s onetime goal for 125 new small cargo aircraft to 38 C-27J Spartans, Butler writes, while the Army’s old C-23 Sherpas are still flying after all. And get this:

[T]he kicker for the Army is that the Air Force is said to be considering an early termination of the C-27J program to funnel money to other urgent service priorities.

That would mean the Air National Guard could wind up with 21 airplanes, a cutback so steep that Italian defense giant Finmeccanica scrapped plans to put a final assembly facility in Florida; instead its Alenia division is just building all the airplanes at home, Butler writes.

And with all this water under the bridge, the basic issue here remains:

[T]he question today as the Army and Air Force both attempt to normalize their fleets after surging for war support for a decade is: What is the right number of small cargo lifters for the direct support role? And, who should lead this role?
Army officials have long argued that an Army officer must lead this mission to ensure that Army commanders’ needs are the priority; they fear that the Air Force will de-emphasize Army unit requirements against the more strategic priorities of regional cargo movements of larger amounts of goods. The Air Force, however, has long countered that it best knows how to provide airborne logistics support across a fleet of aircraft, including C-27J, C-130 and the C-17.

“De-emphasis” sounds like exactly what has happened here. By the time these two services get their act together, the war in Afghanistan may be over.

The Gunfighter

A young cowboy sitting in a saloon one Saturday night recognized an elderly man standing at the bar who, in his day, had been the fastest gun in the West.

The cowboy took a place next to the old-timer, bought him a drink and told him of his great ambition to be a great shot...

‘Could you give me some tips?' he asked.

The old man said, 'Well, for one thing, you're wearing your gun too high - tie the holster a little lower down on your leg.'

'Will that make me a better gunfighter?'

'Sure will '

the young man did as he was told, stood up, whipped out his .44 and shot the bow tie off the piano player.

'That's terrific!' said the cowboy. 'Got any more tips?'

'Yep,' said the old man. 'Cut a notch out of your holster where the hammer hits it - that’ll give you a smoother draw'

'Will that make me a better gunfighter?' asked the young man.

'You bet it will,' said the old-timer.

The young man took out his knife, cut the notch, stood up, drew his gun in a blur, and then shot a cufflink off the piano player.

'Wow!' exclaimed the cowboy 'I'm learnin' somethin' here. Got any more tips?'

The old man pointed to a large can in a corner of the saloon. 'See that axle grease over there? Coat your gun with it.'

The young man smeared some of the grease on the barrel of his gun.

'No,' said the old-timer, 'I mean smear it all over the gun, handle and all..'

'Will that make me a better gunfighter?' asked the young man..

'No,' said the old-timer, 'but when Wyatt Earp gets done playing the piano, he's gonna shove that gun up your ass, and it won't hurt as much.

Webstrike

I will be dormant on Wednesday,

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Check your rental car statement

I do a lot of traveling, it is a benefit of my job. I normally decline the supplimental insurance when I rent a car. I have USAA a very good insurance company. The only time I take "their" insurance is when I am at a resort or party place..like Las Vegas. The idea of some drunk careening into my rental while it is parked at the hotel gives me pause. I also screen the receipt and pay attention to damages. I got this PSA from Old NFO
Hope he don't mind

PSA...

Got this at work, and it's worth a look if you travel for either business or pleasure...

We have been seeing incidents with rental car companies that appear questionable to us and I wanted to give you a heads-up on some of the issues that travelers have been dealing with.

Some travelers have been charged for damages that may or may not have occurred while the car was in their possession. Dings, cracks, flat tires, fender damage etc. You may want to pay a little extra attention when the car is inspected prior to signing anything.

Also, one of the rental companies has stated that they offer other options to the traveler at check-in. You might select a car that is presented to you which is actually an upgrade. One term that is used is 'Intermediate', which is equivalent to the rental agency's 'Mid-sized' cars. Other terms used by the rental companies are 'Standard and Full', both of which are upgrades.

We have also had incidents of travelers declining the insurances, but they have been added to the bill anyway. You may see it listed as PAE / ESP / SLI CHG.

Personal Accidents and Effects - PAE

Emergency Sickness Plan -ESP

Supplemental Liability Insurance - SLI

With this in mind, take an extra minute at the counter to check the estimated charges to ensure that you are not being overcharged.

I am sending this out to all since this information may be helpful both for professional as well as private travel.

Cop or Soldier

Cop or Soldier? » Online quiz software

I got this from Irish.

Kinda scary, I consider myself knowledgable and I had a hard time with this.

"Violence never solves anything......."

I got this from JPFO

They are a hardcore 2nd amendment organization. I remember my history, when I visited the camps at Dachau, the way people were treated. That the state was able to put people into a cattlecar and send them to a camp and they had no means to defend themselves and were at the total mercy of the tyranny that was Hitler's Germany. Here in America they cannot do that until they disarm us first.

One of the more insidiously deceptive lines of the socialist-liberal agenda is the banal phrase: "Violence doesn’t solve anything." How much retrospection is required to understand that Hitler wasn’t stopped by peace marches, negotiations, or "conflict resolution" sessions? It is a horrible, disgusting task, but evil acts, whatever shape they take, must eventually be countered by a superior, violent force.
The liberal doesn’t seem to understand that the threat of counter violence is perhaps the most effective preventative of actual physical conflict. Liberal pacifists in modern times mocked the phrase "peace through strength" as though the pragmatism contained within such an idea were rooted in some atavistic, macho, testosterone-poisoned psychosis that had been propagated by alpha males throughout history.
Can’t the liberal understand that bad people are prevented from committing evil acts by their fear of punishment? Perhaps at a childhood level, the threat of adult disapproval or the disapproval of one’s schoolyard peers keeps the behavior of the youngster in some kind of conformity to morality. But it doesn’t take long for the criminally-minded teenager to realize that he really doesn’t care what other people think. Crime pays. Evil is profitable. Bullying works. Unless, that is, you are harshly confronted with the realization that your malicious behavior will be rewarded by a beating, a bullet, or a prison cell.
A peaceful, free society, of which America (even with its flaws) is the most outstanding example in all of recorded history, is preserved by the willingness of its people, either singly or as a group, to commit decisive acts of righteous violence to counter evil activity.
Hebrew scholars agree that one of the Ten Commandments has been mistranslated. "Thou shalt not kill" is more accurately translated from the ancient Hebrew as "Thou shalt not murder." The punishment for murder in ancient Israelite communities was stoning. Murderers were killed by the citizens. They were executed. And stoning was the most effective way to spread the responsibility for the execution through the mass of individuals who were willing to pay the price for living in a peaceful, moral society. Because of its face-to-face horror, the compassionate individual would, one might imagine, actually cast the first stone …to make sure it knocked the murderer immediately unconscious, in much the same way the ethical hunter or fisherman puts his quarry out of its misery as quickly as possible. The ancient Hebrews forced personal responsibility on each individual via the group act of stoning.
It comes down to individual responsibility. It comes down to the individual being willing to act with righteous force when confronted by certain criminal behaviors. How many of your would idly stand by and watch a man torture a helpless pup? You would first yell at him to stop. If he continued, you might grab at him or throw yourself between him and the bleeding, cringing animal. What if he slaps you aside and continues his barbarity? You look around and see a two-by-four on the ground. How many of you would not take that two-by-four to the man with a clear conscience? Sorry, there are no cell phones around. You can’t call the cops or the Humane Society. You have to act now! What do you do? Are you really going to stand by and watch the travesty, all the time telling yourself that "violence doesn’t solve anything"?
If you would club the animal torturer with a two-by-four, how much quicker should you come to the defense of a human victim? I grew up in the Marxist-Socialist, namby-pamby Bay Area, and I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard some pompous person tell me "I could never kill anyone!" I even said it a few times myself during my naive teens and 20s. It felt so good to utter that unctuous homily. But I don’t feel that way anymore.
I would kill another human being. I would do it to save my own life or the life of an innocent victim. The act would probably make me physically ill. I might have to live with it in my mind for the rest of my life, but I pray I would have the courage, yes, courage, to stop consummate evil with whatever means became necessary.
And it is for this reason that I am a fervent advocate of the right of the law-abiding and sane individual to possess and carry a firearm. The right to self-defense is not only a right guaranteed to us by the Constitution, it is a duty, a command of "Nature and Nature’s G-d" (to quote Jefferson) that each of us must confront if we are to preserve freedom and moral civilization in our communities and nation.
Modern-day "gun control" is not something invented in America by Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Adolph Hitler used firearms and ammunition registration to create the paper trails that facilitated the eventual confiscation of the firearms of his opponents in Nazi Germany. America’s Gun Control Act of 1968 bears such an amazing resemblance to the Nazi German law that every school child should be made aware of the similarity. Or perhaps we should all think about a very simple fact: slaves can’t own guns.
Perhaps the world isn’t the way we wish it would be. We all might wish that evil men could be persuaded from their vile behavior with bleeding heart entreaties, a kiss on the cheek, or proper toilet training. But it ain’t that way, folks, Pacifism is a sickness, an actual moral perversity, and dangerous when its effects spread to anyone else beside the pacifist. You may choose to walk to the cattle car, but damn you if you let your children be led up the ramp. You must never allow any group or government to steal your right to exercise armed lethal force in a just situation.
One of the greatest instructors in the defensive use of firearms used to say to his graduating classes: "May you never have to use what you have learned here." And in that spirit I would like to see an American citizenry that is armed to the teeth and as skilled in the use of pistols and rifles as we are in the driving of automobiles. Am I insane? Somehow, looking at the tragic lessons of history, I don’t think s

Monday, January 16, 2012

George Washington...The first 3% er

How to speak Democrat...

I saw this on my occasional forays into Facebook.

Guess I am dumb....

Nothing like Newsweek showing that they are carrying the water, drinking the koolaid and being a shill for the DNC and Obungler. What happened to objectivity when doing a news article? Then the lamestream media wonders why they are losing readership and influance to internet news and bloggers? I guess when you insult your readers intelligence on a regular basis, they get tired of it and leave. Maybe you can appeal to Obungler or George Soros for a bailout?

H/T to Irish

.045%

I have noticed that there is a disconnect between the populace and the military, this is a dangerous position. In the past the Military would draw their support from the populace, the military would draw their sons and daughters from this group. But it has changed, we have a populace that is insulated from the decisions that are made by the politicians regarding the military. We have people that don't know what it is like to serve and they were raised to be self centered and it is all about them( the OWS crowd). To serve used to be a badge of honor from those that have done their time and got out. Now we have people that look at us like we are something that they stepped on with their shoes. I am seeing now what happened to the post 9-11 military as the same as what happened to the military after Vietnam. The veterans are despised and insulted.   We are creating a new generation of people that have no positive feelings for the Military and the Veterans that have served. Once a military loses the connection with the American people, the danger of tyranny is possible. In the past to have the military go up against the American people was remote at best. Now we are having a military that is developing a "bunker mentality" or the "US vs Them". It will be easier for the military to turn on its civilian leadership or worse the American People. This is what the founding fathers feared about having a large standing Military. With this new defence act signed by Obungler, giving the United States Military rights to operate on American soil against the same citizens that we in the Military swore an oath to protect will cause great problems for the military and the society at large.
     I still espouse the "Starship Trooper" theory from Robert Heinlein, that only a citizen can vote, and only way to be a citizen is to have served. If a person is willing to put the safety of his/her country before him/herself, that person will do what is in the best interest of the country, not in the best interest of themselves.

    A Veteran is a person that wrote a blank check to the United States for payment including life if necessary.
         There is Honor in that.

From a General:

Thank you to the 0.45%
I remember the day I found out I got into West Point.

My mom actually showed up in the hallway of my high school and waited for me to get out of class. She was bawling her eyes out and apologizing that she had opened up my admission letter. She wasn't crying because it had been her dream for me to go there. She was crying because she knew how hard I'd worked to get in, how much I wanted to attend, and how much I wanted to be an infantry officer. I was going to get that opportunity.

That same day two of my teachers took me aside and essentially told me the following: Nick, you're a smart guy. You don't have to join the military. You should go to college, instead.

I could easily write a tome defending West Point and the military as I did that day, explaining that USMA is an elite institution, that separate from that it is actually statistically much harder to enlist in the military than it is to get admitted to college, that serving the nation is a challenge that all able-bodied men should at least consider for a host of reasons, but I won't.

What I will say is that when a 16 year-old kid is being told that attending West Point is going to be bad for his future then there is a dangerous disconnect in America, and entirely too many Americans have no idea what kind of burdens our military is bearing.

In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years.

In Vietnam, 4.3% served in 12 years.

Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror.

These are unbelievable statistics.

Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the burden and it is only getting worse. Our troops were sent to war in Iraq by a Congress consisting of 10% veterans with only one person having a child in the military.

Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds were not sold. Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the goodness of their hearts.

The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation. You.

You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You've lost relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart from kids you'll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even professional athletes don't understand.

Then you come home to a nation that doesn't understand.
They don't understand suffering.
They don't understand sacrifice.
They don't understand that bad people exist.

They look at you like you're a machine – like something is wrong with you. *
*You are the misguided one – not them.

When you get out, you sit in the college classrooms with political science teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan because YOU WERE THERE and can't understand the macro issues they gathered from books, with your bias.

You watch TV shows where every vet has PTSD and the violent strain at that. Your Congress is debating your benefits, your retirement, and your pay, while they ask you to do more.

But the amazing thing about you is that you all know this. You know your country will never pay back what you've given up.

You know that the populace at large will never truly understand or appreciate what you have done for them.

Hell, you know that in some circles, you will be thought as less than normal for having worn the uniform. But you do it anyway. You do what the greatest men and women of this country have done since 1775 – YOU SERVED. Just that decision alone makes you part of an elite group.

Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.*

*AMEN!*

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Unhappy Muslims

UNHAPPY MUSLIMS !

Whoever thought this out is nothing less than genius

The Muslims are not happy!
They're not happy in Gaza .

They're not happy in Egypt .

They're not happy in Libya .

They're not happy in Morocco .

They're not happy in Iran .

They're not happy in Iraq .

They're not happy in Yemen .

They're not happy in Afghanistan .

They're not happy in Pakistan .

They're not happy in Syria .
They're not happy in Lebanon .

So, where are they happy?
They're happy in Australia .

They're happy in England .

They're happy in France .

They're happy in Italy .

They're happy in Germany .

They're happy in Sweden .

They're happy in the USA .

They're happy in Canada .

They're happy in Norway .

They're happy in every country that is not Muslim.
And who do they blame?
Not Islam.

Not their leadership.

Not themselves.

THEY BLAME THE COUNTRIES THEY ARE HAPPY IN!

AND THEY WANT TO CHANGE THEM TO BE LIKE THE COUNTRY

THEY CAME FROM WHERE THEY WERE UNHAPPY.
Excuse me, but

How dumb can you get?

Get Prepared

GET PREPARED
This morning the Muslim Brotherhood warned the United States that if
the United States continued meddling in Egypt , Libya , and other
potential hot spots in the middle east, they to cut off America's
supply of 7-11 and Motel 6 managers.
... If this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will
be next, followed by Dell, AT&T and AOL customer service reps.
Finally, if all else fails, they have threatened not to send us any
more presidents either.
It's gonna get ugly, people.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Fernsehturm Berlin

When I went to Berlin for the first time in 1987, I drove the Helmstedt Berlin Autobahn with Check Point Alpha to Check Point Bravo. We used "flag orders" that basically had a picture of the American Flag with our names on it in both English, French and Russian. It gave us travel rights to Berlin through the corridor. We had to stop at 2 Soviet Checkpoints on the autobahn and unless you "donated" a porn magazine to the Russians behind a wall, you waited exactly 45 minutes for them to stamp your flag orders( I framed one of mine) so you can proceed to the next check point. You also had an opportunity to give the guard some money for a soviet military badge or something.( I have a couple laying around). After you got to West Berlin it was a 24 hour party. I had an opportunity to go to East Berlin through the Famous Checkpoint Charlie.
there were Other Berlin Border Crossings but we couldn't use them by the status of forces agreement and the 4 powers occupation of Berlin. Berlin still was considered an "occupied" city outside the purview of West Germany and it was run by the Garrison commander of Berlin.

We were not told to acknowledge the East German Guards since we considered East Germany not the "real" Germany...That was West Germany for us. The Soviets had the same attitude toward the West Germans. Once we crossed over to East Berlin, it was dour compared to West Berlin. We saw scaffolding everywhere so it looked like it was under construction but I still saw the bullet holes in the walls where Marshall Zhukov 1st Bellerussian front crashed into the city in what the locals called Gotterdammerung. or the End of the battle in the east

One of the sights of East Berlin was the Fernsehturm

This is called the "Popes Revenge"
When the sun shines on the Fernsehturm's tiled stainless steel dome, the reflection usually appears in the form of a crucifix. This effect was neither predicted nor desired by the planners. Berliners immediately named the luminous cross Rache des Papstes, or "Pope's Revenge". For the same reasons, the structure was also called "St. Walter" (from Walter Ulbricht).
U.S. President Ronald Reagan mentioned this phenomenon in his "Tear down this wall" speech on 12 June 1987:^[3]

"Years ago, before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexanderplatz. Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw: treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere, that sphere that towers over all Berlin, the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed."

The Fernsehturm (German for "television tower") is a television tower in the city centre of Berlin, Germany. Close to Alexanderplatz and part of the World Federation of Great Towers (WFGT), the tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) administration who intended it as a symbol of Berlin, which it remains today, as it is easily visible throughout the central and some suburban districts of Berlin. The Fernsehturm is the tallest structure in Germany.

In 1964, Walter Ulbricht, leader of the Socialist Unity Party which governed East Germany, decided to allow the construction of a television tower on Alexanderplatz, modelled on the Fernsehturm Stuttgart. IT was intended as a show of the GDR's strength, while its location is thought to have been deliberately chosen so that it would impose on views of West Berlin's Reichstag building (when viewed from the front). The architecture traces back to an idea from Hermann Henselmann, and Jörg Streitparth. Walter Herzog and Herbert Aust later also took part in the planning. Construction began on 4 August 1965. After four years of construction, the Fernsehturm began test broadcasts on 3 October 1969, and it was officially inaugurated four days later on the GDR's National Day. It is among the best known sights in Berlin, and has around a million visitors every year.

Construction of the tower had initially begun at a site in southeast Berlin's Müggelberg. However, the project was stopped because such a tall tower in that location would have obstructed aircraft entering and leaving from the nearby Schönefeld International Airport

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Army continues upgrading M1 Tanks

I remembered seeing the M1 for the first time on a training area on Hohenfels in Germany. Anybody that has been in Germany has been to Honenfels or Graf or Wildflicken. We have seen the M1 Tanks and they are impressive. I am glad to see the Army upgrading the M1. Every time in the past, we would go into battle unprepared. We learned the lessons of the Kasserine Pass where a bunch of American tanks had their asses handed to them by superior German tanks or at the outbreak of the Korean war with Task Force Smith where the American Shermans had problems with the North Korean T34/76 and T34/85 and the IS-2(Josef Stalin) Heavy Tank
      The M1's saw their baptism of fire in the first Gulf war and devastated their Iraqi counterparts. The T-55/62 and the T72M were no match for the M1's. No matter what other weapon system is deployed, nothing kills a tank like another tank. In my opinion if we had our own armor rather than relying on the pakastani's or indians during the Battle of Mogadishu we would have been better served.
     The M1 has built a fearsome reputation since its initial deployment to the first Gulf War, in the past we always had the inferior tank at the start of any war, with the M1 we finally had a tank that was state of the art.
     With the Chinese stirring up problems, the possibility of us facing off against a heavy division of the opponents is possible. Upgraded Strykers cannot face off tanks.

The Army won’t be sized for big-time wars anymore. American units are going to begin coming home from Europe. There’s a food fight in the works over what roles and missions, including heavy units, sluice down into the Guard and Reserves.
But all that stuff is tomorrow or beyond. Today, the Army is making hay while the sun shines — it’s going forward with its plan to continue improving its flaship M1 Abrams main battle tank.
On Friday, General Dynamics Land Systems announced it had received a $60 million contract to continue work upgrading the Army’s M1A1-variant Abrams tanks to the M1A2 Systems Enhancement Package (SEP) V2 configuration — the king of the jungle. Here’s how GD described them in its announcement:

The most technologically advanced digital tank, the M1A2 SEP V2 includes improved color displays, day and night thermal sights, commander remote operated weapon station (CROWS II), a Thermal Management System (TMS) and a tank-infantry phone. The M1A2 SEP V2 maximizes the fighting ability of the tank on today’s battlefield while preparing the platform for tomorrow’s challenges. The original order was made under a multi-year contract awarded in February 2008, which authorized the upgrade of 435 M1A1 tanks that have been in the Army’s inventory for more than 20 years. General Dynamics is continuing the conversion of the tanks in the Army’s active component to the M1A2 SEP V2 configuration.

The question about where those tanks will ultimately end up could become one of DoD’s central questions over the coming year. Everybody loves big, heavy, old-fashioned, rolling-thunder units, ripping up the mud with their treads and shooting the hell out of their targets downrange, but they could start to seem pretty expensive in the austerity Army. There’s a school of thought, broached at last year’s Association of the United States Army trade show and elsewhere, that the Army should move many or most of its active tank units into the Guard and Reserves.
In keeping with the new doctrine of “reversibility,” transferring heavy brigades to the reserve component is the best compromise under the circumstances, advocates might say. If the United States needs to go fight another major land war — which Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey seems to think is quite possible — it will be able to call up heavy units just in case. They won’t be ready as quickly as they might be today, but at least they’d be there. (Besides, what’re the odds of a big force-on-force armor engagement anytime soon in the 21st century?)
On the other hand, although “reversibility” is the new DoD-level buzzword, the Army-level buzzword has long been “balance.” Dialing back some active brigades to zero is exactly the kind of thing Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno and Dempsey, during his brief stint as chief, both warned about. The Army has got to be able to keep its ability to do everything, they argue — with a lower end strength, maybe, but at least in proportion to the rest of the service.
The answers aren’t at all clear, but with hundreds of billions in reduced budget growth hanging over its head, the Army may not have much longer before it must start deciding.

My attitude on the Election

This explains my attitude about the Election process

got it from here

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Staffing cost for the First Lady

I got this off 19th ward politics. If it seems that I am piling on FLOTUS, I am. Traditionally the first lady is considered "Off limit" on the political arena and the first ladies refrain from "dabbling" in politics. But there have been 2 exceptions First was Hillary Clinton, when there was the "Co-President" thing with Bill. Now we have Michelle stumping for her husband on the campaign trail. Now if she wants to help her husband, that us understandable. But once that line is crossed, she becomes fair game as is her husband. I have commented that in this day and age, when cost is a factor and many people are making do with less, they are living the highlife on the tax payers. When we have debt that is now equal to our GDP, we have a spending problem. What we have is people living the hollywood lifestyle on our dime. Now if the uber-rich can afford this, that is fine, I want more people to be rich. but The Obunglers use our money to live the style of the uber-rich.

Report says Michelle Obama has has more personal aides than all other first lady's combined!

Total Personal Staff members for other first ladies paid by Taxpayers Mamie Eisenhower 0, Jackie Kennedy 1, Rosaline Carter 1, Barbara Bush 1, Hilary Clinton, 3 and Laura Bush, 1.

And for Michele Obama? 22

Michele Obama's personal staff:

1… $172,200 – Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff) 2… $140,000 – Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady) 3… $113,000 – Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary for Mrs. Obama) 4… $102,000 – Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady) 5….$100,000 – Winter, Melissa E. (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady) 6……$90,000 – Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady) 7……$84,000 – Lel yveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady) 8……$75,000 – Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady) 9……$70,000 – Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady) 10….$65,000 – Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary) 11….$64,000 – Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary) 12….$62,000 – Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady) 13….$60,000 – Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady) 14….$57,500 – Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady) 15….$52,500 – Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady) 16….$50,000 – Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady) 17….$45,000 – Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady) 18….$43,000 – Tubman, Samanth a (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office) 19….$40,000 – Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady) 20….$36,000 – Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary) 21….$35,000 – Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant) 22….$35,000 – Jackson, Deilia A.. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady) (total = $1,591,200 in annual salaries)..

There has NEVER been anyone in the White House at any time who has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life. One might wonder why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense.

Michelle Obama Listed Daughters As “Senior Staffers” on African "vacation"

Michelle Obama Listed Daughters As “Senior Staffers” on African "vacation"

Can you believe this ?

Michelle Obama Listed Daughters As “Senior Staffers” To Justify Expensive African Vacation And Safari • October 5, 2011 The most accountable administration evah:

Judicial Watch said the U.S. Air Force provided a C-32 – a Boeing 757 modified by the military for the purpose of flying big-wigs around the world – to fly the First Lady and her entourage to and from Africa , at a cost of $424,142. Another $928.44 was listed as the cost of providing 192 meals for the 21 people who made the trip The Obama daughters were listed on the manifest as “senior staff.” “This trip was as much an opportunity for the Obama family to go on a safari as it was a trip to conduct government business,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “This junket wasted tax dollars and the resources of our overextended military. No wonder we had to sue to pry loose this information.” I missed this story yesterday, but it’s worthy of our attention. The nation is suffering with the economy sputtering, the national debt soaring and Obama’s economic rescue policies not only failing but actively making things worse.

Meanwhile, the First Lady justifies an expensive trip to Africa to take a vacation and safari with her daughters by saying it’s “official business” and even going so far as to list her children as “staffers.” The level of arrogance and dishonesty on display here is nothing short of shocking. But, er, “hope for change” and “yes we can..

Obungler pays off another political connection

Just when you think you've heard it all, and Obama could not do anything worse - read on

"Any president whose actions so consistently refute his own words must have deep contempt for the intelligence of the American public."

The obama administration told U.S. owned Hawker Beechcraft earlier this week they are being excluded from bidding on the US Air Force contract for a light attack aircraft. That leaves Brazilian owned Embraer as the likely recipient of the lucrative deal. I found this one hard to believe so I did a little research. It was tough because this was completely ignored by the main stream media. The information is out there on several conservative sites. Please see the two articles linked below.

This is a double slap in the face of the United States . At a time when jobs, the economy, and security are the most critical priorities for our country, the Obama administration decides to send a defense contract to a foreign owned company.

This has to be the stupidest thing this administration has done to date. This is not just a dumb decision, it is a perfect example of why this president is such a poor leader. He talks about wanting jobs. He says we need to force companies to repatriate billions of dollars that Americans keep overseas. He wants to raise taxes so he can spend billions on stimulus that does nothing to stimulate anything.

And when it’s time to act, he sends our tax dollars overseas at the expense of American jobs and income for an American company. This is nothing more than a Chicago-style political pay back; but this time it is at the expense of our national security.

How much more damage will obama be allowed to do in the next 14 months? One of the lead stories in the media this week blasted congress for insider trading. If this contract goes to Embraer it will be a huge pay off to another George Soros company.

When will the 4^th estate do it’s constitutionally protected job and expose the real obama to the American people?

Article from REDSTATE Posted by Ben Howe Monday, November 21st at 6:00AM EST:

Obama Administration Sends Weapons Contract to Foreign Company with Ties to Iran

Article from WORLDPRESS By Gary P Jackson| NOVEMBER 22, 2011 · 4:17 PM

Hawker-Beechcraft Denied Big Air Force Contract in Favor of Brazilian Company With Soros Connections

Article from A Time For Choosing · Just another WordPress.com

http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/23/2112778/hawker-requests-gao-review-of.html

We can no longer depend on the media to pass on any news that might be construed as negative towards the democrats.

Please pass these articles to your friends to insure they get the information lacking from so much of today’s liberal press

Monday, January 9, 2012

Extravagant party at the White House.

I also read this off Drudge report. This don't surprise me, the Obunglers have been living extravagantly since they arrived at the white house. I remember the criticism that Nancy Reagan got from the democrats when she tried to change some stuff in the whitehouse. Now the Obunglers do all this stuff and I hear silence from the lamestream media and the same democraps.

The White House is pushing back against claims from a new tell-all book that staff kept an extravagant, Hollywood-created Halloween Party under wraps due to fear it would create imaging problems.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Sunday the event, which was decorated by Tim Burton and featured Johnny Depp in his Mad Hatter role from Burton's acclaimed "Alice in Wonderland," was held for local children from the Washington D.C.-area and for hundreds of military families.