Showing posts with label Pentagon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pentagon. Show all posts

Monday, February 6, 2017

Do Not Be Deceived



February 6, 2017

Do Not Be Deceived

Two stories caught my attention this morning.

Both are the result of deception, intentional? or unintentional?

First is this from the Brits;

Exposed: How world leaders were duped into investing billions over manipulated global warming data 

The Mail on Sunday today reveals astonishing evidence that the organisation that is the world’s leading source of climate data rushed to publish a landmark paper that exaggerated global warming and was timed to influence the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.
A high-level whistleblower has told this newspaper that America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) breached its own rules on scientific integrity when it published the sensational but flawed report, aimed at making the maximum possible impact on world leaders including Barack Obama and David Cameron at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015.
The report claimed that the ‘pause’ or ‘slowdown’ in global warming in the period since 1998 – revealed by UN scientists in 2013 – never existed, and that world temperatures had been rising faster than scientists expected. Launched by NOAA with a public relations fanfare, it was splashed across the world’s media, and cited repeatedly by politicians and policy makers.
But the whistleblower, Dr John Bates, a top NOAA scientist with an impeccable reputation, has shown The Mail on Sunday irrefutable evidence that the paper was based on misleading, ‘unverified’ data.
For More click here


You do understand this right?

All the hand wringing, protests, legislation and social pressure caused by manipulated data.

Deception

Lies

Manipulation

Nice way to start the week eh?

Next lets look at the one place where we NEED honesty, the Pentagon.

The U.S. military's stats on deadly airstrikes are wrong. Thousands have gone unreported

The American military has failed to publicly disclose potentially thousands of lethal airstrikes conducted over several years in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, a Military Times investigation has revealed. The enormous data gap raises serious doubts about transparency in reported progress against the Islamic State, al-Qaida and the Taliban, and calls into question the accuracy of other Defense Department disclosures documenting everything from costs to casualty counts.

In 2016 alone, U.S. combat aircraft conducted at least 456 airstrikes in Afghanistan that were not recorded as part of an open-source database maintained by the U.S. Air Force, information relied on by Congress, American allies, military analysts, academic researchers, the media and independent watchdog groups to assess each war's expense, manpower requirements and human toll. Those airstrikes were carried out by attack helicopters and armed drones operated by the
U.S. Army, metrics quietly excluded from otherwise comprehensive monthly summaries, published online for years, detailing American military activity in all three theaters.

Most alarming is the prospect this data has been incomplete since the war on terrorism began in October 2001. If that is the case, it would fundamentally undermine confidence in much of what the Pentagon has disclosed about its prosecution of these wars, prompt critics to call into question whether the military sought to mislead the American public, and cast doubt on the competency with which other vital data collection is being performed and publicized. Those other key metrics include American combat casualties, taxpayer expense and the military’s overall progress in degrading enemy capabilities.

To read more click here

Now, I am a fan of our military, I am also a Viet Nam era vet.
There is NO REASON for the Pentagon to do something like this, NONE.

You shoot at someone, it needs to be on the record. I can understand a few misses...but THOUSANDS?

Again, its deception.

Now, I'd like to share something with you.

Late in Jesus' ministry, as He was with His disciples in Jerusalem. The disciples were astonished at the size and scope of the buildings and specifically the Temple.

It was truly a magnificent sight. No different than a first time tourist in New York City in awe over the sky scrapers or in Washington DC marveling at the marble government buildings.

The disciples said to Jesus, this is recorded in Matthew 25

"24 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

So the Lord is saying that all the building that they see will be destroyed, and dismantled. Obviously the disciples were blown away at His statement,

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Naturally the next question is "When?" and "What are the signs of the End Of The Age?"

The End Of The Age...when it all winds down, or ramps up depending on your point of view...and here is Jesus first and crucial statement.
And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.

Understand?
Deception, lies, manipulation, aversion, confusion...

The prophet Isaiah said 750 or so years before Jesus. Is 5:21

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!


Deception

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Shalom
Jerry
 

ttptarytimesclick herene place where we NEED honesty, the Pentagon.

Friday, December 23, 2016

I Get IT...Do You?



December 23, 2016


I Get It...Do You?

In the car business we would call it "scratching the record."

What that means is that if we had a customer who would get set on one thing or another in the purchasing of a vehicle, we would use SOMETHING to shake things up...or  to 'scratch the record.'

For those of us who actually used vinyl albums, you know that if you bump the turntable or mess with the cartridge arm, that would make a scratching noise that would get your mind off of your current fixation and move your attention to another area.

President Trump is scratching the record.

Look at his Cabinet picks.

Look at his tweets.

The President is trying...and succeeding I might add, to shake things up in Washington DC, the Media and most importantly, the world.

We have a President that is confident, and knows he will take A LOT of flak for not 'being one of the good ole boys.' However, he does what he feels is the right thing to do.

The thought here is that if you shake things up, then you have a better chance to put them back together the way you want.

Brilliant and the world doesn't get it.


Donald Trump’s Tweet Sets Up Jet Dogfight

President-elect suggests a Boeing plane could be used as substitute for Lockheed’s F-35 combat jet

 



Doug Cameron and
Damian Paletta
 
Updated Dec. 22, 2016 7:09 p.m. ET

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday continued his pressure on the defense sector by suggesting he could use a Boeing Co. plane as a substitute for the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 combat jet. 

“Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F/A-18 Super Hornet!” he said in a tweet, referring to a Boeing plane that has long been used by the Navy and some overseas allies.

The Pentagon plans to acquire more than 2,400 of the F-35 jets to replace much of its combat fleet in what is by far its costliest program, and Mr. Trump has singled it out for criticism after a legacy of delays and design problems.

It is unusual for a president or a president-elect to publicly negotiate government procurement spending on weapons programs. Mr. Trump’s approach of negotiating via Twitter has shaken defense contractors and the complex defense bidding and procurement process. He has said he sees it as his job to try to save taxpayers money, but defense experts have said he is tackling a process that can’t be orchestrated in 140-character social media posts.

Daniel Gordon, who worked on government procurement issues for the Government Accountability Office for 17 years before becoming President Barack Obama’s administrator for federal procurement policy, said Mr. Trump cannot award government contracts without going through the formal competition and bidding process.

“The government would be violating the law to award a contract to Boeing without a competition [bidding process] unless they go through exceptions to the normal legal requirements for competition,” Mr. Gordon said, adding that this process would likely not qualify for any of the exceptions.

Pentagon officials have long said the two planes served very different roles, with the F-35 providing more radar-evading features and serving as an airborne command post. Variants of the F/A-18 are used as attack jets and to provide electronic countermeasures to protect U.S. forces.
Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the military head of the F-35 program, said this week that the capabilities of the F-35 couldn’t be diluted.

Lockheed shares fell 2% in after-hours trade, with Boeing up around 0.7%. The F-35 accounts for more than 20% of Lockheed’s annual sales. Mr. Trump met the chief executives of both companies on Wednesday.

The two jets have faced off to win contracts for overseas governments, with the F-35 prevailing in most of them.

However, Canada last month said it would order the Boeing jets after the government dropped plans launched by the previous administration to buy the F-35. The Lockheed plane will still be considered in a future contest to acquire more jets.

Boeing has long pressed the Navy to buy more F/A-18s.

“We have committed to working with the president-elect and his administration to provide the best capability, deliverability and affordability across all Boeing products and services to meet our national security needs,” the company said in a statement.

Boeing declined to comment on whether Mr. Trump had raised his request about the F/A-18 at his Wednesday meeting with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg.

Lockheed Martin declined to comment and Pentagon officials didn’t immediately respond to a request

The F-35 entered service with the Marine Corp. in 2015 and with the Air Force earlier this year.
The Pentagon said the average cost of the model used by the Air Force has fallen to $102 million, though some budget watchdogs said this excludes some expenses such as fixing past design problems. Defense analysts estimate the F/A-18 costs $70 million to $80 million. 

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com and Damian Paletta at damian.paletta@wsj.com
 

So now, the President tweets that the costs for the F35 are out of control, which they are. He is also aware that the F35 has some serious detractors, that the plane is slow, cant carry a decent weapons load and has limited fuel range...

So President Trump tweets that he is asking Boeing to give a cost breakdown of the F/A-18 Super Hornet versus the F35 Lightning.

The MSM goes bonkers.

Again the same people start slathering over Trumps inability to get along so to speak.
What they don't understand is that President Trump isn't out to get along. He could care less about getting along. He is interested in winning.

The President took Boeing to the woodshed in a tweet about Air Force One the other day, remember that?



 
Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!







He tweeted that a new Air Force One program will cost 4 billion dollars, Too much, he said and to cancel the deal.

Then this happened;

 After meeting with Trump, Boeing CEO says Air Force One won't cost $4 billion


Cancel the order!" Donald Trump, the incoming president of the United States, tweeted ominously about a contract with Boeing to build Air Force One, the state-of-the-art airplanes he and future presidents rely on.

It took a matter of hours for Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg to get on the phone with the president-elect and smooth things over.

On Wednesday, two weeks after the kerfuffle, he made his way south to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate to meet face to face.

Trump had slapped a $4 billion price tag on the program to build two more of the next generation of planes and he had pronounced it a waste.

Analysts said that while the Air Force had budgeted $2.7 billion for the Air Force One program, the costs would likely grow to about $4 billion after the planes were actually manufactured. The planes are expected to be operational by the mid-2020s.

The tweet shook the political and defense contracting worlds, as Trump challenged the aviation giant and threatened to pull a contract responsible for hundreds of American jobs.

But after his meeting with Trump on Wednesday, Muilenburg faced the media, hat in hand, so to speak.

"We're all focused on the same thing here, we're going to make sure that we give our warfighters the best capability in the world and that we do it in a way that is affordable for our taxpayers," Muilenburg said. "And his business head set around that is excellent. It was a terrific conversation. Got a lot of respect for him. He's a good man. And he's doing the right thing.

As for that $4 billion price tag, Muilenburg promised taxpayers would get a break - though by the time the contract is finished and the planes are flying, Trump is not likely to be still in office.

"We're going to get it done for less than that, and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens," he said. "And I was able to give the president-elect my personal commitment on behalf of the Boeing Company."



He scratched Boeing's record...and Boeing responded.

Lockheed Martin should take notice, as should Huntington Ingalls, who is building the extremely expensive and ridiculously delayed aircraft carrier Gerald R Ford.

To the Defense Industrial Complex...the days of screwing everyone over because you can...are numbered.

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Shalom
Jerry