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Author: TriSec    Date: 04/25/2017 09:51:36

Good Morning.

Ready for war? The Trump Administration continues to take swings at the North Korean Hornet's Nest - eventually they'll connect, and then all bets are off after that.



WASHINGTON — It may not be “far more powerful than the aircraft carrier” — as President Trump said in a recent interview, but a well-armed U.S. submarine has arrived in Korea.

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine Michigan pulled in to the South Korean port of Busan Tuesday for what the U.S. Navy called a "routine visit."

"During the visit sailors will experience the culture and history of the ROK [Republic of Korea], as well as foster outstanding relations between the U.S. Navy, ROK military and the local Busan community," the U.S. Navy said in a press release.

But the arrival of the Michigan is a significant addition to U.S. naval forces gathering in the Sea of Japan and elsewhere off the Korean Peninsula in response to rising tensions in the area due to a series of ballistic missile tests carried out by North Korea. The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its strike group, now accompanied by two Japanese destroyers, also is expected to reach the area in a day or so.

The Michigan may have been what Trump was referring to April 11 when, in an interview with the Fox Business Network, he described US forces heading for the region.

“We are sending an armada, very powerful,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo. “We have submarines, very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier. That I can tell you.”

The Michigan is one of four missile and special operations submarines converted from Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, designated SSGN. While they no longer carry ballistic missiles, the SSGNs carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and other weapons and gear in the former ballistic missile tubes.


But that's not all. We've been glaring at Eastern Europe and their Soviet Masters for decades - even though the geography has changed, I'd have to state that the geopolitics hasn't changed that much. So naturally we're poking at the Russian Bear these days, too. But to quote a naive farm boy from a long time ago and a galaxy far, far, away..."What a piece of junk!"


WASHINGTON — U.S. Air Force F-35s will reportedly arrive in Estonia on Tuesday, putting the service’s newest jet fighter even closer to Russia’s doorstep, according to an Estonian media report.

An undisclosed number of F-35As are heading to Ämari Air Base in Estonia, and, after landing on Tuesday, will be in the country for “several weeks” to conduct training flights with aircraft from the U.S. and allied militaries, the Estonian public broadcaster ERR stated in a report Monday.

A spokesman for the Air Force declined to confirm the deployment to Defense News, stating that any information on the F-35s' movements will be available only after they have landed.

The Air Force’s version of the joint strike fighter is in the throes of its first international training deployment. Eight F-35As from the active-duty 34th Fighter Squadron and Reserve 466th Fighter Squadron have deployed from Hill Air Force Base in Utah to RAF Lakenheath since April 15.

The F-35’s trip to Europe is being conducted under the auspices of the European Reassurance Initiative — the Defense Department’s buzzword for a series of exercises and training opportunities with NATO allies meant to signal strength to Russia and improve interoperability.


But of course, this is just Bread and Circuses to deflect attention from the rapidly-looming Government Shutdown. Current funding runs out at midnight on Friday. In this adversarial environment, we've been playing brinkmanship for as long as I can remember, so it's probable that something will happen during the day on Friday. But given the anti-government stance of the current administration, who knows? Maybe they'll let the whole works collapse this time around. There is a simplistic list of what this means for you. But remember, veterans are affected too. This handy guide dates back to 2013, but I'd presume the impact wouldn't be too different when it happens again.


At IAVA we’ve heard from a number of veterans concerned about the impact of a possible government shutdown. The following information is based on the latest guidance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We will update as new information becomes available.

The federal government has officially shut down, leaving just enough resources to cover the essential services of the government. While veterans may be more protected than other constituencies, a government shutdown does not bode well for top priorities within the veterans’ community.


Hell of a way to run a country, isn't it?

 
 

51 comments (Latest Comment: 04/25/2017 21:06:55 by Will in Chicago)
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Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 12:47:38
Good morning!

I saw this posted last night:



Lord, I miss him.


Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 12:57:54
Mornin guys...

I wanna ask you guys a real serious question, cuz after certain events yesterday I'm quickly approaching a certain tipping point.

What are your opinions on a sustained non-violent protest in DC, on the scale of the Arab Spring in Egypt?

Comment by wickedpam on 04/25/2017 13:05:57
Morning

Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 13:12:47
This is really good.






Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 13:14:58
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin guys...

I wanna ask you guys a real serious question, cuz after certain events yesterday I'm quickly approaching a certain tipping point.

What are your opinions on a sustained non-violent protest in DC, on the scale of the Arab Spring in Egypt?
. Hmmm, every day? or like what we are seeing on weekends in DC?


Comment by velveeta jones on 04/25/2017 13:16:13
Well I was online shopping for a battery operated lawn mower, but now I'm looking at bomb shelters.


Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 13:18:53
This is promising --- If we can hold them we might get this seat!

Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 13:19:17
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin guys...

I wanna ask you guys a real serious question, cuz after certain events yesterday I'm quickly approaching a certain tipping point.

What are your opinions on a sustained non-violent protest in DC, on the scale of the Arab Spring in Egypt?
. Hmmm, every day? or like what we are seeing on weekends in DC?

Every day, every hour. We don't leave until the Congress gets the fucking hint.

Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 13:19:35


Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 13:23:21
Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 13:26:22
I approve of this!
https://bucket.bluegartr.com/2753f46cccc31db7e68ad5097152f9ce.jpg


Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 13:27:50
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin guys...

I wanna ask you guys a real serious question, cuz after certain events yesterday I'm quickly approaching a certain tipping point.

What are your opinions on a sustained non-violent protest in DC, on the scale of the Arab Spring in Egypt?
. Hmmm, every day? or like what we are seeing on weekends in DC?

Every day, every hour. We don't leave until the Congress gets the fucking hint.


Are you a part of a local Indivisible group?

Comment by wickedpam on 04/25/2017 13:31:01
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin guys...

I wanna ask you guys a real serious question, cuz after certain events yesterday I'm quickly approaching a certain tipping point.

What are your opinions on a sustained non-violent protest in DC, on the scale of the Arab Spring in Egypt?
. Hmmm, every day? or like what we are seeing on weekends in DC?

Every day, every hour. We don't leave until the Congress gets the fucking hint.


Hmm, I know there had been a sustained protest that last years but it was only 1 person.

DC and Park police are pretty tolerant a lot of the time but not sure how this would go over. There was Occupy DC and a long time ago wasn't Hooverville forcefully removed?

Comment by wickedpam on 04/25/2017 13:31:59
Quote by Raine:
This is promising --- If we can hold them we might get this seat!


How nice would that be?! And a giant FU to tRump!

Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 13:36:36
Quote by Raine:
They are hated.
.










Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 13:41:09
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin guys...

I wanna ask you guys a real serious question, cuz after certain events yesterday I'm quickly approaching a certain tipping point.

What are your opinions on a sustained non-violent protest in DC, on the scale of the Arab Spring in Egypt?
. Hmmm, every day? or like what we are seeing on weekends in DC?

Every day, every hour. We don't leave until the Congress gets the fucking hint.


Hmm, I know there had been a sustained protest that last years but it was only 1 person.

DC and Park police are pretty tolerant a lot of the time but not sure how this would go over. There was Occupy DC and a long time ago wasn't Hooverville forcefully removed?


I honestly don't have any doubt on the idea that NPS/Capitol Police would try to disperse a group like that. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Trump summoned the National Guard. If an action like this were to happen everyone involved would need to know & accept beforehand that retaliation would be coming, and resolve to not back down or fight back.


Hmm no I haven't. Thanks for the tip I'll check 'em out!

Comment by Mondobubba on 04/25/2017 13:44:22
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Raine:
They are hated.
.










If you haven't seen John Oliver's segment on Ivanka and Jared it is worth a watch.



Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 13:50:16
What time do the House Intel Committee hearings start today? I don't see them on C-Span's schedule..

Comment by Will in Chicago on 04/25/2017 14:18:50
Good morning, bloggers!!!

A thought occurred to me that I have seen behavior much like that of King Jong Un and Donald Trump -- when I subbed a few times for kindergarten teachers.

I have to wonder if this dysfunctional era is a prelude to something worse, much like the incompetent Congress of the 1850s lead into the Civil War.

Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 14:31:35
Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 14:33:22
Quote by Scoopster:
What time do the House Intel Committee hearings start today? I don't see them on C-Span's schedule..

They are not televised today. here is the schedule

Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 14:34:05

he poking sticks at CAnada -- great. JUST GREAT.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 04/25/2017 14:37:54
Quote by Raine:

he poking sticks at CAnada -- great. JUST GREAT.


I suspect that a few years of Trumponomics will bring us back to where we were in the fall of 2008 -- if not worse. If we have a new Democratic administration come inauguration day in 2021, that president will have a lot of damage to undo.

Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 14:43:23
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
What time do the House Intel Committee hearings start today? I don't see them on C-Span's schedule..

They are not televised today. here is the schedule

Was actually looking for the House cuz I thought the first day of the hearing would be today. I saw the Senate one a lil while ago - glad that they're finally getting that one going since it seemed like Sen. Burr was stonewalling.

Looks like the House committee's first day is May 2nd. Tho that's the closed meeting w/ Comey & Rogers. Yates, Clapper & Brennan come later.

Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 14:46:44
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
What time do the House Intel Committee hearings start today? I don't see them on C-Span's schedule..

They are not televised today. here is the schedule

Was actually looking for the House cuz I thought the first day of the hearing would be today. I saw the Senate one a lil while ago - glad that they're finally getting that one going since it seemed like Sen. Burr was stonewalling.

Looks like the House committee's first day is May 2nd. Tho that's the closed meeting w/ Comey & Rogers. Yates, Clapper & Brennan come later.

Oh, sorry about that -- I thought I was at the house calendar.

May 8 is Sally Yates.

Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 14:49:10
May 8th is my mom's birthday too!

Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 14:55:22
Time to get a subpeona:






Comment by Will in Chicago on 04/25/2017 15:01:35



Trump has essentially governed by executive order. On Thom Hartmann's show yesterday, he mentioned that half of the 16 or so bills passed by Congress were about renaming post offices and similarly minor matters. I expect a lot of court challenges.

Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 15:05:32
Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 15:05:47
Quote by Raine:
Time to get a subpeona:







Here is the video:




Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 15:08:28
Google announces new tweaks to its search engine algorithms to filter out fake news

I'm quite interested in this, both because I want to see how well it works and how it might affect other search results (since the company I work for kinda lives & dies by Google).

Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 15:27:34
...........................................................

Guys, please talk me down. I'm literally shaking as I read this shit.




Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 15:39:37



Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 15:41:27
Quote by Scoopster:
...........................................................

Guys, please talk me down. I'm literally shaking as I read this shit.





Testing. Just hold that thought.

It's all I got.

Comment by Mondobubba on 04/25/2017 15:41:55
Quote by Scoopster:
...........................................................

Guys, please talk me down. I'm literally shaking as I read this shit.





Scoop, chill. I'm sure this was on the books before Cheetolini became POTUS. The do need to test them from time to time. Routine. Remember I studied this shit in school.

Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 15:43:56
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Scoopster:
...........................................................

Guys, please talk me down. I'm literally shaking as I read this shit.



Scoop, chill. I'm sure this was on the books before Cheetolini became POTUS. The do need to test them from time to time. Routine. Remember I studied this shit in school.

* takes a couple long deep breaths *

..........

....

Okay..



Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 15:47:28
Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 17:06:37
They do this often.




Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 17:07:06

I knew the day would come, but it is still sad.

Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 17:35:50
Quote by Raine:





Comment by Mondobubba on 04/25/2017 18:10:01
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Scoopster:
...........................................................

Guys, please talk me down. I'm literally shaking as I read this shit.



Scoop, chill. I'm sure this was on the books before Cheetolini became POTUS. The do need to test them from time to time. Routine. Remember I studied this shit in school.

* takes a couple long deep breaths *

..........

....

Okay..




When you test a missile, it takes a long time set up. There is fuck tonne of prep, Since they aren't shooting it at a real target (ie Smolensk) they fire it in a launch window for the maximum results. Plus a lot of really cool kind of rocket scientist stuff.

Comment by Raine on 04/25/2017 18:33:06
Well, This was brought to my attention.

Pure propaganda -- paid by taxpayers.

Comment by Mondobubba on 04/25/2017 18:46:46
Quote by Raine:
Well, This was brought to my attention.

Pure propaganda -- paid by taxpayers.


So, where is is the 500,000 new jobs number coming from? His first full month on the job was February there were 219,000 jobs created in March, 98,000. That 317,000, Sunny Jim. Oh, are you trying to count the 235K from January? Well, let's pro-rate that shall we? You took office on 1/20 so we will start with 1/21. Based for the last 10 days of January there were 75,800 jobs created. That total is 392,800, which is 78.5% of 500K. Survey says....




Comment by Mondobubba on 04/25/2017 18:49:37
BTW, that was about 2 minutes of googling and 5 minutes of typing and finding lying sack of crap on Youtube.

Comment by Scoopster on 04/25/2017 19:01:41
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
Well, This was brought to my attention.

Pure propaganda -- paid by taxpayers.


So, where is is the 500,000 new jobs number coming from? His first full month on the job was February there were 219,000 jobs created in March, 98,000. That 317,000, Sunny Jim. Oh, are you trying to count the 235K from January? Well, let's pro-rate that shall we? You took office on 1/20 so we will start with 1/21. Based for the last 10 days of January there were 75,800 jobs created. That total is 392,800, which is 78.5% of 500K. Survey says....

He didn't actually start implementing anything policy-wise that could possibly affect the economy until the 23rd (in fact he made a big deal about saying he wouldn't be working until Monday), so you actually have to pro-rate that figure even more.

Of course, I wouldn't count his first month in office at all, because that would all be the result of existing policy in place from Obama. So to be safe pro-rate to February 23.

Comment by Mondobubba on 04/25/2017 19:14:12
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
Well, This was brought to my attention.

Pure propaganda -- paid by taxpayers.


So, where is is the 500,000 new jobs number coming from? His first full month on the job was February there were 219,000 jobs created in March, 98,000. That 317,000, Sunny Jim. Oh, are you trying to count the 235K from January? Well, let's pro-rate that shall we? You took office on 1/20 so we will start with 1/21. Based for the last 10 days of January there were 75,800 jobs created. That total is 392,800, which is 78.5% of 500K. Survey says....

He didn't actually start implementing anything policy-wise that could possibly affect the economy until the next Monday, so you actually have to pro-rate that figure even more.

Of course, I wouldn't count his first month in office at all, because that would all be the result of existing policy in place from Obama. So to be safe pro-rate to February 23.


Technically speaking (again college), Shit Gibbon doesn't have any effect on the economy until October 1, 2017. What they will be passing is a continuing resolution on spending, not an actual budget. Yeah, Shit Gibbon wants to add money in the resolution for the fucking god damn wall, which tells me he doesn't understand the Federal budget process. Shocking I know that the POTUS doesn't understand how the formal budget process works.

Comment by Mondobubba on 04/25/2017 20:05:05
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