Trump is clear on collusion with Russia, interference in an investigation is another matter though.

via Newsmax

Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats told associates in March that President Donald Trump asked him to get FBI Director Jim Comey to lay off his probe of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, The Washington Post reported.

The request reportedly came March 22, just days after Coats' Senate confirmation.

According to the Post, Coats attended a White House briefing with several other officials from government agencies. As the meeting wrapped up, Trump asked everyone to leave except Coats and CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

Once alone, Trump complained about Comey's handling of the investigation into Flynn's possible role in the FBI probe into Russian meddling in the presidential election.

Coats talked about the issue with associates and decided it would not be proper to act, according to sources who talked to the Post.

Coats is set to testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, one day before Comey talks to the same panel.

Trump let his insecurities get the better of him.  There was no there there when it came to his campaign colluding with the Russians.  The Dems and the Media and Establishment Republicans beat on that drum in the hope of stalling his agenda (and it appears they succeeded).  There was no thought of getting him out of office.  This was a chess move to clear the way for the next presidential election.  They were working to make sure that he was a one term president.

But back on task.

Have you watched the news conferences and sessions held by the Senate Intel Committee?   Check this out via Free Beacon.

 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she had seen no evidence of collusion between President Donald Trump's associates and Russia during the 2016 campaign.
CNN host Wolf Blitzer recalled Feinstein previously saying she hadn't seen any evidence of collusion and asked her on Thursday: "Has anything changed since we spoke last?"

"No it hasn't," Feinstein responded on Blitzer's show "Situation Room."

Feinstein touted newly-named special counsel Robert Mueller as "sophisticated." Blitzer responded by continuing to press her on whether she saw any evidence of collusion.

"I just want to be precise Senator… All the access you've had to very sensitive information. So far, you've not seen any evidence of collusion. Is that right?" he asked.

"Well, evidence that would establish that there's collusion," Feinstein said before citing "rumors" and "newspaper stories" apparently suggesting collusion.

So all the chest thumping from the liberal side and all the breathless talk by the news media speculating that Comey has found ties between Trump and the Russians is completely false.

The problem is that Trump went "full retard".  He was frantic to get someone to tell the world that he didn't collude with the Russians.

But interfering with an investigation?  He might be in a jam.  Will he get impeached?  I don't think so.  The investigation continued so obviously no one felt compelled to stop working.  But this looks awful.

The end result will probably be that Trump's agenda is wrecked for the next two years.  He'll have to depend on his agency heads to push his agenda.

BAE/Iveco & SAIC/ST Kinetics in the ACV competition

via USNI News.

 The Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle is on track for testing this year and a down-select and contract award a year from now, the Program Executive Officer for Land Systems told lawmakers and reporters today.

The ACV 1.1 test schedule had to be pushed back three months due to a contract award protest filed by General Dynamics Land Systems in December 2015, after the Marine Corps awarded its two engineering and manufacturing development contracts to BAE Systems and SAIC. But since the test schedule was revised, PEO Land Systems John Garner said the two competitors have been delivering vehicles and conducting multiple types of tests at facilities across the country.

“Both contractors are delivering, it is a competitive environment. One of them is ahead on the delivery schedule, is meeting all criteria and is ahead on testing, and by the end of this week we will have 13 vehicles from one of them, we currently have 12 already,” Garner said during a hearing at the Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee. USNI News understands he was referring to BAE Systems when discussing the company that has delivered 12 vehicles.

“The other one, we’re accepting four vehicles today. … We already had two, so we’ll have six. By the end of next week it will be 15 from one and it will be 12 from the other, and that’s enough to fully support the test schedule and maintain the critical milestones, the Milestone C about this time next year.”

Garner told reporters after the hearing that testing is currently taking place at two locations now: blast tests and other assorted assessments at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, and mission-focused testing at Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch in California. The vehicles will also undergo soft soil testing in Mississippi and various other test events around the country, in about five locations total, he said.

An ACV operational assessment will take place early next year, Garner told reporters, with a Milestone C declaration made around June 2018 and a low-rate initial production contract awarded to one of the two bidders around the same time.

First.  Oh My God!  They're gonna be testing in Mississippi?  If anyone knows when that will happen and where then PLEASE let me know!  That's right around the corner and I'd LOVE to get there to take pics!

Second.  If you've been keeping up with ACV news then you know that BAE/Iveco are ahead of schedule in delivering their vehicle.  I'm really kinda surprised that ST Kinetics/SAIC are lagging.

Knowing ST Kinetics they probably went over their vehicles with a fine tooth comb and then got behind a bit when they probably did a last minute design change right before delivery.  It's just speculation but I seriously get the impression that ST Kinetics is on the verge of being "anal" when it comes to their gear...and I know from talking to enough people that they really want this contract bad.

I still think its going too slow.  Still believe we should have a bigger buy but its going forward.

99th Anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood

Corbyn could win the election on Thurs according to one analyst. The terrorist might have swung UK's election...

via National Interest.

We are bored of reacting to terror, but not quite apathetic. At the subterranean or subconscious level, a great rage is bubbling, one that might manifest in a strange result in Thursday’s general election. This election, it was originally thought, would revolve around Brexit. Not so. It appears that the spate of terrorist attacks in the past three months have dramatically altered the terrain on which this election will take place. Indeed, it is also sending out shock waves in the United States, where Donald Trump issued several tweets in response, including the contention that “we must stop being politically correct,” which appears to be, at least rhetorically, similar turf to that which Theresa May is staking out as she refers explicitly to the “evil ideology of Islamist extremism.” She noted, “We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are.”

Then this.

 But lots of people feel insecure now, and even though everybody has to thank the first responders for their bravery in combating the threats we face—the British police did perform well last night, killing three terrorists in eight minutes—resentment towards the state is brewing. Our civil liberties have been greatly eroded to keep us safe, yet still we are not safe. Now May is talking about clamping down on the Internet, a move that is sure to engender a fresh round of controversy, not least on the Internet itself, as social media lashes itself into a frenzy.

The majority might think Jeremy Corbyn is a hopeless lefty wimp, but it’s been a strange election, and, a year on from Brexit, the British people are perhaps in the mood again for summer madness.

Story here. 

The author is spot on when he says that a rage is building over these terror attacks.  He's got his finger on the mood of the people when he says in the article that the politicians are repeating themselves (and the new media too) with the sloganeering and talking points that they come up with after these attacks.

"We will live our lives".

"We won't let the terrorists win"

We hear stuff like that and more after each and every terror attack.  The news media and politicians are once again behind the power curve.  They're going by what their associates are saying and missing what the common man and woman on the street is thinking.

This isn't normal.

They are changing the way that people live.

As things stand right now the terrorists are winning.

Prime Minister May better be careful.  This election has the hallmark of being an upset in the making.  She might have been too smart by half.

Don’t Save Anything for the Swim Back...a story from "The Art of Manliness" Blog!

via The Art of Manliness Blog.

In the excellent and under-appreciated film Gattaca, biotechnology and advanced eugenics have divided the “not-so-distant” future into two groups: the “valid” and the “in-valid.”

The valids are those whose embryonic genes were pruned and manipulated to allow for their birth as genetically superior children, destined to bring to fruition their parents’ best hereditary traits.

The in-valids are those who were conceived naturally, by parents who played a game of genetic roulette. More likely to carry “flawed” DNA and more susceptible to genetic disorders and weaknesses, in-valids are barred from society’s important professions and consigned to menial work.

Vincent Freeman is an in-valid. With genes that indicate a high probability of several disorders and an estimated life span of 30.2 years, he works as a janitor while secretly dreaming of becoming an astronaut, a vocation from which he is disqualified.

Vincent’s brother, Anton, is a valid, and their sibling rivalry is heightened by their genetic divide.

Growing up, Vincent and Anton challenge each other to games of “chicken,” in which they both swim out into the ocean as far as they dare; the first one to turn back is the loser.

Vincent always loses, until one day he shocks Anton by outdistancing him. Anton, who cannot keep up, almost drowns, and has to be saved by his genetically inferior brother.

Years later, after an insatiably ambitious Vincent uses subterfuge to join the space program and earn a place, through merit, on a mission to Saturn, the brothers have a rematch. Once more the underdog bests his fraternal rival, who again must be rescued from drowning.

Astonished at this turning of the tables, Anton asks, “How are you doing this Vincent? How have you done any of this?”

To which his brother replies:

“You wanna know how I did it? This is how I did it Anton.

I never saved anything for the swim back.”

To be the storm you can't save anything for the swim back...max effort, everyday, no days off! 

Top 5 Criminal Organizations on Earth

Below are the top 5 criminal organizations as compiled by Wiselwisel Tumblr Page. Images and captions are from his site.

Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)
It is an organization with between 30,000 and 50,000 members . It began in Los Angeles with the purpose of protecting the emigrants from El Salvador who were escaping from the mistreatment and contempt of Mexicans, Argentines, African Americans or Americans. Its members are characterized by having a large number of tattoos, to demonstrate their membership and to express their loyalty and love to the Mara, and each of them has a meaning. The activities they carry out are related to the sale of drugs, extortion, sale of weapons, kidnapping, theft and murders on demand. Their rites to be members are very violent and do not differentiate between men and women; One of them is to endure a beating by all the members who get to last 13 seconds or should enter the neighborhoods of a rival gang and kill one of its members. It is estimated that their estate is about $ 1 trillion a year from robberies, robbery, extortion and threats.

Sinaloa Cartel 
The Sinaloa Cartel is the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere . Its great success is due to the fact that it has members of the federal police and the army in favor of bribes. It is led by Joaquin Guzman Loera alias "El Chapo" who was arrested in 2014 but escaped in July of this year by a tunnel. The activities in which this organization stands out are related to the trafficking and sale of drugs, trafficking and trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, prostitution, theft of gasoline, money laundering and arms trafficking. It is estimated that its patrimony surpasses the 3.5 trillion dollars, profits of the drug trafficking, leaving "El Chapo" among the men richest of the world according to the magazine "Forbes". 

Yamaguchi-Gumi
Yamaguchi-Gumi, named in honor of its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi, is one of the largest yakuza groups in Japan. It is led by Kenichi Shinoda and has 20,400 active members and 18,600 associate members in 2007. Its main activities are the trafficking of arms, murders, bank fraud, assassins, extortion, drug trafficking, infiltration in government agencies among others. This clan has large amounts of income a year, the result of its crimes, which is estimated at 15 trillion dollars a year. 

'Ndrangheta (Calabreses)
It is a criminal organization of Italy established in Calabria, and is the most powerful criminal element of this country since the 1990s. This organization is headed by Pasquale Condello dubbed "Il supremo". The only way to be part of this organization is to have a blood tie with them, they have a total of between 4,000 and 5,000 members, since there are about a hundred of these families. Its main activities are drug trafficking, commercial enterprises, public contracts, prostitution, extortion, usury and arms trafficking. All this gives you an annual income of 35-40 billion euros. 

The Bratva (Russian Mafia)
It was founded in Russia after the fall of the former Soviet Union The chief of chiefs is Semyon Mogilevich nicknamed "The Don Brainy" because of his vision for business. Its income is about 70 trillion dollars a year, money obtained by extortion, arms trafficking, fraud, computer crime, trafficking in people, illegal trade in oil, prostitution, drug trafficking among others. 

A couple of things...I don't know how accurate this list is but I was fascinated by it because I hadn't heard of 3 of them.  Next, Google Translate had a tough time with it but read between the lines on the captions on each photo.

Some wiseguy (pun intended) will chime in that govt A, B, or C is more corrupt than these groups.  We're not going there...

British PM in serious trouble. Terror attacks, cutting police, allowing unvetted refugees and even being aware of Saudi/Qatar support of ISIS...

Two years since WikiLeaks publication of #SaudiCables the dictatorship's central role in terrorism is mainstream https://t.co/u4gpxokFRG pic.twitter.com/LmhQa75Bwi

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 6, 2017

Things are looking bad for the British PM.  She's being accused of not doing enough to prevent the rash of terror attacks, cutting upwards of 20,000 police from the British force, allowing unvetted refugees into her country and being aware of Saudi/Qatar support of ISIS.

Considering their style of govt could she have opened the door for a "no confidence" vote which would require her to step down?  Could the bold move of holding an election turn into an albatross around her neck?

Not only is the USMC unfunded priority biased toward aviation but they hid additional wing projects under the ground tag!

I've talked about how the Marine Corps has been biasing its budget toward aviation for the past decade or more.  A congressman asked about it at a recent budget hearing and many readers have wondered about it too.

Well all those complaints MUST HAVE gotten up to HQMC.  Why do I say that? Because in the Marine Corps unfunded priorities list they had the audacity to hide several wing programs inside the ground component budget list. Check this out via USNI News.

ITEMS (GROUND) FY18 ($M)

1 MARSOC Long Endurance Small UAS UUNS $16.60
2 155mm HE Training Round $17.00
3 60mm Full Range Practice Round $11.00
4 81mm Full Range Practice Round $14.50
5 G/ATOR System Acceleration $122.406 G/ATOR Comm Equipment Group Shelter $4.507 Instrumented Tactical Engagement Simulation (ITESS-II), Force on Force          Training Sys.$8.90
8 Night Optics (INOD Block III) for Sniper Rifle $20.20
9 Full Spectrum Cyber Operations - Deployable Mission Support Systems             (DMSS)$7.10
10 Facilities Sustainment (80%) $44.90
11 Tactical Surveillance Countermeasure (TSCM) Suites, CI and HUMINT               Equipment Program (CIHEP)$10.10
12 P210 - F-35 Simulator Facility, MCAS Miramar, Calif. $47.6013 P977 - Combat Vehicle Warehouse, MCLB Albany, Ga. $43.30
14 P1458 - 2nd Radio BN Complex, Phase 2, MCB Lejeune, N.C. $64.30
15 P542 - TBS Fire Station Building 533 Repalcement, MCB Quantico, Va. $23.70
16 P877 - Mokapu Gate Entry Control AT/FP Compliance, MCB Kaneohe Bay,         Hawai$26.50
         USMC GROUND TOTAL $482.60 (NOTE:  Highlighted portions are done by SNAFU! Blog)

Yeah.  That's how bad things are.  An F-35 Simulator Facility is hid in the USMC's Ground portion of the budget?  The G/ATOR Radar system components are also hid here?

Kinda makes ya wonder doesn't it.  I didn't go over the actual budget just over this unfunded priorities list and it makes me wonder now.

One other thing.  Is this how they're hiding some of the cost of the F-35?  I'm not sure but it means going over the USAF, USN and USMC budgets with a fine tooth comb.  I don't really know if I want to take that on but it might be worth a shot.

My last shot across the bow is this.  Want to know the difference in the "wish list" between ground and air?  The Marine Corps listed the aviation wish list as being 2.36 Billion.  For ground it was 482 Million.  Think about that and wonder about funding priorities.

Did you hear about Australia's terror incident?

via Reuters.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday police were treating a deadly siege in the southern city of Melbourne as an "act of terrorism" after a claim by the Islamic State group that one of its fighters was the gunman responsible.

Police shot dead gunman Yacqub Khayre on Monday after he held a woman hostage inside an apartment building in Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city.

Police confirmed on Tuesday that Khayre, who was acquitted of a plot to attack a Sydney army base in 2009, had shot a man dead in the foyer of the building.

"This terrorist attack by a known criminal, a man who was only recently released on parole, is a shocking, cowardly crime," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in the capital, Canberra.

"It is a terrorist attack and it underlines the need for us to be constantly vigilant, never to be deterred, always defiant, in the face of Islamist terrorism," he said.

Victoria state Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said police were still investigating after Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq news agency.

"We're aware of them having claimed responsibility, but then they always tend to jump up and claim responsibility every time something happens so we note that that has happened," he said.

Amaq said the attack was launched because of Australia's membership in a U.S.-led coalition fighting against the militant Islamist group in Syria and Iraq.

Police were also investigating a telephone call made to the newsroom of Australian TV broadcaster Seven Network during the siege. Seven reported that a male caller said the attack was related to Islamic State.

Ashton said Khayre, an 29-year-old Australian of Somali heritage, had a long criminal history and was on parole at the time of the attack.

He did not specify the charges related to Khayre's parole. Khayre was acquitted of a plot to attack Sydney's Holsworthy Barracks in 2009. Three other men were convicted.

Yeah.

None of my Australian readers whispered a thing about this I had to find it during a check of "worldwide news" on the Reuters website.

Interesting isn't it?  I wonder though.  Why are the Aussies so closed mouth about this?

Open Comment Post. June 6, 2017

Where you at with the 10K Crunch Challenge?

You doing the 10K crunch challenge?  No?  Then this ain't for you.  Go to the next blog post.

You are?  Way to go hardcore!  Stay the course.  It ain't even hard yet, but if
you're having a little difficulty then stick to it.  Your only competitor is yourself and this is the first of many steps toward letting out that beast that lurks inside the souls of all men.

Fitness is done for many reasons...to attract the opposite sex...to maintain or exceed a performance goal...to feel good...as a type of antidepressant...whatever the case stick to it.

This post isn't about anything but encouraging the one or two people that picked up the challenge to hang tough.  It's a challenge but one that is for you and about you.

Spanish Army CH-47 Airborne Op (pics)...