Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Anyone have any profound thoughts
Date:	7/31/2017 12:00:00 PM

about getting rid of Priebus and installing the General as Chief of Staff?  Hopefully he can bring some order snd discipline to the WH staff.  Hopefully he won't do something to tick off the new enfant terrible - the new Communications Director, and end up fired.  You know these staff shake ups usually come at the 1 year mark, or at midterm. 

And what do you think about the show of force to NK over the weekend?  And for whom was China's military "show of force" - us or the North Koreans. 

I hope we respond to Russia's demand that we remove 755 diplomatic people from their country, by expelling some more of theirs.  Should we let it go or do some more housecleaning of Russians in this country?

Name:	Buteye -	Reply
Subject:	Anyone have any profound thoughts
Date:	7/31/2017 11:15:19 PM (updated 7/31/2017 11:16:51 PM)

Why in the world do we need 755 diplomats in Russia? Sounds a lot like a big boondoggle to me. At an estimated $500 thousand dollars per diplomat, that is about $350 million dollars. What are the benefits that we taxpayers are expected to receive from this expenditure? It looks more like long term vacations to me. What qualifications does one have to have to get on this bandwagon?

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Anyone have any profound thoughts
Date:	8/1/2017 1:09:16 AM

Foreign Service Officers, intelligence officers , people who provide visas and stamp passports.  I suspect all of them are not "diplomatic" staff but do a lot of other things that we don't like to talk about.  We probably have a number of different buildings.  Techinically, anyone in country works for the Ambassador, no matter what their function are referred to as diplomatic staff. 

It does seem like a large number, because if they are ousting 755, how many do we have there in total?

Name:	Buteye -	Reply
Subject:	Anyone have any profound thoughts
Date:	8/1/2017 2:06:36 AM

If our government can continue to function with Russia without these 755 "diplomats", that might indicate the "real" importance of these positions. I think if there was "ever" a way to determine the "true" needs that our government should provide, we could work diligently on "balancing" the budget. In this regard, I seldom see a family where even the "youngest" of the children don't have a cell phone in their hand. I would think that the money spent on their cell phones would be enough to afford some form of health care insurance. "Priorities" play a big role in how people "allocate" their income.

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Anyone have any profound thoughts
Date:	8/1/2017 5:32:33 PM (updated 8/1/2017 5:33:02 PM)

"Of the 1,279 people who worked at the embassy in 2013, according to a 2013 inspector general report, 934 were locally hired."

Most will be Russian citizens who are released. Maybe, Putin can come to the US and clean up the swamp by getting rid of excess Government employees.