Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/13/2017 9:06:52 AM

it all started  last August with Putin calling my home phone; then he somehow got my cell # & started calling & sending texts , instructing me how to vote; now he's trying to convince me to vote for Jim Zeigler for the special upcoming Senate seat elelection--have to admit the man is persistent--what's next ? A personal visit ? 

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/13/2017 10:30:20 AM

If Putin makes a personal visit you will probably disappear without a trace.  I would not take that meeting if I were you.

Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/13/2017 5:15:20 PM

im more worried about disappearing if the Clintons find out where i live

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/13/2017 8:13:32 PM

And if you meet with Russians, definitely don't drink any tea. 

I would like someone to explain exactly what the Russians did and how it influenced the election.  Did they plant Fake News? 

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/13/2017 8:50:51 PM

The answer is nothing and they probably didn't.

Name:	lakngulf -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/13/2017 9:00:36 PM

If indeed they are behind the hacking that got DNC, Podesta and HRC info to wikileaks, then Russia is responsible for getting us some truth. I have said it before, it is ashamed that we need leaked info for truth, and get fake news from main stream.

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/13/2017 10:31:59 PM (updated 7/13/2017 10:33:48 PM)

Hey Hodja...which is it...nothing or probably didn't. Looks like you can't decide....maybe there is collusion. Or, maybe there isn't...I 'll just be vague nothing or probably didn't. Be a man which is it.

Name:	Old Diver -	Reply
Subject:	Another Coincidence
Date:	7/14/2017 12:32:24 AM

It seems to be a very dangerous thing to investigate the Clintons, however, I am sure this is just a coincidence.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-peter-smith-death-met-0713-20170713-story.html

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/14/2017 7:24:55 AM

No indecision at all goofball, just commenting on Hound's post.  Is the Alzheimer's acting up?  Oh, wait, you are too old to have that disease.  It is straight up senile dementia.

Name:	phil -	Reply
Subject:	Another Coincidence
Date:	7/14/2017 9:09:23 AM

Death by plastic bag and Oxygen displaced by helium - its amazing how many people who are close to the Clintons, or are digging into their past that wierd things like that happen to.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/14/2017 9:11:59 AM

This is their claim, such as it is.  They believe that Russian bots flooded key districts in Wisconsin, PA, etc. with fake news about Hillary that caused her to lose the supposed blue wall in the upper midwest.  They also claim that the only way these Russian bots would know where to focus their efforts is with guidance from the Trump campaign or one of its data analytics firms.  And of course we also have the whole Wikileaks issue which was supposedly acting as a proxy for the Russians in releasing Podestas, et al emails.

Not ascribing any agreement with their rationale, just sharing.  In my view there are a number of problems with these theories.  First of all, at the time these bots allegedly did their work no one, including the Trump campaign, thought it was possible for them to win those states. Second, the Russians didn't cause Hillary to pretty much ignore these states in the waning months of the campaign while she flooded the zone in California out of fear that Trump might win the popular vote.  Those decisions were stupid on pretty much every front. But that is with the advantage of hindsight and likely seemed like a good idea at the time.  Third, as has already been pointed out the release of the emails may have been humiliating to John Podesta, I have seen no evidence that it changed anyone's vote.

Hillary was a terrible candidate with tons of negative baggage and ran a terrible campaign.  She lost to probably the most easily beatable candidate in a long time.  My view is that Trump would have won regardless of any Russian interference, something by the way they have done in every campaign for a long, long time.  But suddenly now it is a big issue.....surprise, surprise.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Another Coincidence
Date:	7/14/2017 10:07:21 AM

Better way to go than shooting yourself in the back of the head twice and then moving your body to some DC park.

Name:	phil -	Reply
Subject:	Another Coincidence
Date:	7/14/2017 10:32:38 AM (updated 7/14/2017 10:33:02 AM)

one of my favorites

Gareth Williams – Aug. 16, 2010

Gareth Williams, a transatlantic MI6 spy – whose dead body was found naked, padlocked and stuffed in a 32-inch by 19-inch duffel bag that was sitting in his London bathtub – had illegally hacked secret data on Bill Clinton, according to the U.K. Sun.  The news site noted, “[H]is death is still one of Britain’s most mysterious unsolved cases.”

Scotland Yard had announced the death as a suicide, saying he locked himself in the bag.

But his DNA wasn’t found on the lock. There were no palm prints on the edge of his bathtub.

Gareth Williams

According to reports, messages left by Williams on the voicemails of his friends and family were deleted in the days following his death.

“And a rival agent may have also broken into the flat to destroy or remove evidence,” the Sun reported. There were no signs of forced entry into the apartment.

“In 2012, lawyers for his family said he could have been killed by someone who specialized in the ‘dark arts of the secret services,'” the Sun reported.

“The police did not rule out his intelligence work playing a part in his death. They thought he may have been stuffed in the bag by killers who later broke back in to cover their tracks. Investigators also suspect the flat had been ‘steam-cleaned,’ which would explain why no DNA evidence was found.”

No suspects in the case have been arrested.

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/14/2017 2:58:43 PM

I guess Snowflakes are really a bunch of mean SOB.....who play for keeps.

Name:	phil -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/14/2017 3:33:47 PM

never called a Clinton wet team a snowflake - just you.

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/14/2017 4:02:59 PM

You need to do some work rather than be researching and posting while at work. Your lady boss will be pi**ed when she finds out. You don't get paid to be checking the Forum evry 15 minutes. Now, get to work sonny.

Name:	phil -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/14/2017 4:32:16 PM

Best part of salary and having been here almost 20 years.  Got a list of things to be done and as long as they get done I can post all I want.  So go back to fishing old man and do your own research.

And like a a good loser liberal you assume the gender of my boss who likes to refer to you as something solid in and around the butthole.

You need to go back to education camp or up your meds you old fart.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	GOOF-KRAP
Date:	7/14/2017 5:20:12 PM

Someone told me that Phil is a Republican plant in the dimokrap state office......he ain't got a lot to do.....leave him alone, or he'll trash the dimokrap computer system......it's an Atari 64K system!

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/14/2017 7:05:36 PM (updated 7/14/2017 7:11:03 PM)

"Best part of salary and having been here almost 20 years.  Got a list of things to be done and as long as they get done I can post all I want."

After 20 years you should be looking for other things to do and be the boss. Only a female boss would allow you to do your daily list and then post. You would make a good housewife. 

To paraphrase Bum Phillips......"Two kinds of employees ain't worth a damn: One never does what he's told, and one who does nothin' but what he's told." RIP Bum Phillips.

Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/15/2017 9:05:49 AM

If the Russians DID know something on Hillary, why isnt the news media beating down the door to find out what it was vs hours & hours of diatribe about a 'meeting'

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/15/2017 12:28:50 PM

GF, your words just show how long you have been out of the workforce.  Organizations are now task oriented an as long as those tasks are done, employees are free to post or text.  Nowadays, employees blur the lines between work and personal life. 

You must be quite old not to know this.  My guess is late 70's/early 80s.

And btw, there is no shame in working for a woman.  I was the manager  of an organization that 250 male and female employees, and right before that I managed an office of 40, preddominately male, engineers.  Another example of how long you have been out of the workforce.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/15/2017 12:31:17 PM

Because they are afraid of the Clinton's too.  The problem is the 24 hour news cycle - there is nothing to really report, except that a meeting happened and they have to fill the rest of the time with speculation and "analysis". 

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/15/2017 5:09:21 PM

Task oriented and then sit around...sounds like the government. Oh wait, you did work for the government. That's a great way to get ahead.....do the minimum they ask and then post on the Forum. Maybe, the boss needs to expand the tasks. There is nothing immoral or illegal about working a full day. It is called capitalism. 

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/15/2017 7:49:57 PM

GOOF, FOR ONCE WE TOTALLY AGREE.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/15/2017 8:26:28 PM

You really are out of touch.  Employees these days are rewarded for how much they do and how good it is, not whether they spend eight hours a day doing busy work.

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja's Moral of the Story
Date:	7/15/2017 10:19:21 PM

Who is talking about busy work? Do you agree with this?

To paraphrase Bum Phillips......"Two kinds of employees ain't worth a damn: One never does what he's told, and one who does nothin' but what he's told." RIP Bum Phillips.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja,
Date:	7/15/2017 11:01:42 PM

You are obviously talking of employees in the civilian, corporate world.  How can a gubment salary taker be rewarded for doing a "good" job???  Go spend some time at a post office, SS office, VA hospital, or any other Fed facility and then let's talk.  BTW, I think you have indicated that you are retired military or civ serv.......which may impede your judgement.

Name:	Buteye -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story
Date:	7/15/2017 11:09:41 PM (updated 7/15/2017 11:13:19 PM)

Your beloved Democrats certainly don't live up to the standards that you say a loyal employee should be expected to adhere to. They sit on their a$$es complaining about the Russians and downgrading President Trump and could care less about fulfilling the job they were elected to perform(carrying out the will of the people who elected them). As I have said before, if they were being required to complete tasks expected by the American people they would have been "fired" and the "swamp" would have been "drained"  years ago.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    I continue to ask you questions which you never answer. I keep trying to understand why you keep avoiding questions about actions taken by your beloved Obama and Hillary which I think most intelligent people consider to be in the best interest of the United States. Do you support Obama's treaty with Iran on the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons when they preach "Death to America" and burn the American Flag? Since you Democrats are going nuts about Russia, do you agree with the transfer of 20% of America's uranium supply to Russia which it is believed that the Clinton Foundation received millions of dollars in donations and Bill received $500,000 for a speech he gave in Moscow in connection to the uranium "deal"? Why are you and Democrats not in support of investigating Hillary's e-mail scandal which made highly "classified" material available to anyone around the world? These questions are just a couple of the many actions during Obama's eight years that are detrimental to the best interest of the United States.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Do you think your "Democrats" are working a "full" day in support of the best interests of the United States?

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story BUTEYE
Date:	7/15/2017 11:31:46 PM

1 I thought congress investigated the emails. If she is quilty of a crime she should serve time.

2. The Dems are not supporting the repeal of Obamacare. That seems to be the only thing congress is working on.

3. Uranium.   READ THIS Not as simple as you describe.

4. Iran. I support the treaty...I thought Trump was going to get rid of it. It is not perfect but it beats the chit out of the treaty         we have with N Korea. Would you accept the same treaty with N Korea?

Now, you may not agree with the above but keep in mind you are perfect and I am a POS.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Wix
Date:	7/15/2017 11:47:48 PM

Appears you are out of touch as well.  Professional employees are assigned projects, programs and tasks with end dates, so that employees being "busy" 8 hours a day is no longer the standard - but to reassure you, with the reduced workforce, they are definitely busy.  I think you are basing your opinion on a few clerical employees that you are dealing with in the post office, SS, VA. 

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja,
Date:	7/16/2017 12:01:56 AM

Au contraire.  I spent a career in the Air Force, and upon retirement from the AF spent 25 years  as a defense contractor.  Retired from that company and a former Government customer urged me to come back to another company because their support contract team didnt have a clue as to what they were doing.  I guess you could say I am in the third year of my third career, one that will most likely come to an end around November of this year.

My wife has worked a lot in the truly civilian world and has given me a lot of input on that side of things, so while I don't have direct knowledge I tend to believe what she says.

And I can't speak for what goes on in the VA, Social Security, or the Post Office.  Others have painted that picture.  On the "gubment" side of things I will second Hound's posts that the DoD is a different animal than other government agencies.  Is it perfect?  No.  Is it more mission focused than other federal agencies?  From what I have seen on the forum regarding those other agencies and what I know after spending fifty years supporting the DoD, hell yes.  If Social Security fails someone doesn't get a check.  If the Post Office fails someone doesn't get a letter or package.  If the DoD fails, people die.  Thus, failure is not an option.

Some may poopoo what I do now, cyber security for the Defense Health Management Systems, as not that important, but I had the chance to speak briefly with USMC General Joe Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff this past November, and when I described what I am doing he looked me square in the eye and said each one of those medical records represents a human being.  Makes it a little easier to keep the nose to the grindstone and the eye on the prize knowing that the number one General in the entire US military values the work we do.  FWIW, we must be doing something right because the VA has chosen our solution for their implementation of their Electronic Health Record...ah but I digress.

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Hound
Date:	7/16/2017 12:04:27 AM

"Professional employees are assigned projects, programs and tasks with end dates," Are you referring to Government employees or private industry?

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Hound
Date:	7/16/2017 12:21:00 AM

DoD employees regularly work under those conditions.  Can't speak for other branches of the gubment.

BTW, don't mess with Hound's black guard dog.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja,
Date:	7/16/2017 7:51:58 AM

Many "gov contractors" would not exist if the gov employees did their jobs.  One of the most lucrative jobs in the US is to do the work that a gubment employee is hired to do...it's called gubment contractor.  Great career...

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja,
Date:	7/16/2017 9:27:48 AM

Gubment contractors, properly used, save the taxpayers money because they compete for the work and in order to win the contracts must cut overhead and fringe rates well below what it costs the government to employ a civil servant.  Also, if a contractor employee is not performing satisfactorily it is far easier to have that person removed from the contract than it is to fire a civil servant.  On my team of ten cyber security experts no fewer than five individuals have been removed for subpar performance over the past two plus years.

Contractors also offer a pool of specially skilled labor that can be hired for only the period they are needed, thus preventing the government from having to hire full time civil servants to perform duties only required on occasion.  Now if the government "COR", or Contracting Officer's Representative, or "TPOC", or Technical Point of Contact don't properly perform their duties, it opens up the possibility that the contractor might take advantage of the situation.  Does that happen? Unfortunately yes, but not to the extent you might think...once again, from the DoD perspective.  

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Hound
Date:	7/16/2017 12:20:55 PM

Both

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Wix
Date:	7/16/2017 12:39:27 PM

See, you are out of touch again.  Under Clinton/Gore's "reinventing government", government jobs were slashed and necessitated the hiring of contract support to accomplish the mission. The misguided reason was that contractors could be hired for a particular time that skill set was needed and then terminated when that part was done.  This was to save the taxpayers for overhead and benefits.  What they failled to understand is that contractors do not work for less, and they still charge for overhead and benefits.  It was really nothing more than changing of the color of the money spent, rather than the amount of money spent,    Then with the build up of Iraq, a lot of the military who worked in civilian offices, were removed from offices and put back into more traditional assignments to deal with cutbacks in the miliary and the plus ups in troops deployed.

What you don't seem to grasp, is that there isn't a lot of "us" versus "them" between government workers and the contractor support.  My sister has her own company as a support contractor and sits in the same offices with and attends the same meetings with the government people.  It's not because they can't do their jobs, but rather that she provides a skill for a period of time they need that particular skill.  She has worked in the same organization for the past 5 years.

I worked with support contractors for many years and there wasn't any animosity.  The only rub that usually comes is that technically they can't officially represent the government, which is at times inconvenient, because sometimes their piece of the puzzle makes them the most knowledgeable on a given subject. 

I can't speak for the rest of the government and how it works, but in DoD, you have a cooperative environment.  As Hodja points out, in DoD you have a mission and if it fails, people die. 

Name:	lakngulf -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/16/2017 2:01:42 PM (updated 7/16/2017 2:47:08 PM)

I am going to appreciate Hound's and Hodja's perspective on the govt work in their primary organization.  But I am afraid their blinders will cause an overlook of mispent or ill spent funds and lazy workers in DoD.  I know it is just my opinion, but I think a shakeup of all things govt is in order.  So many stories of crazy prices, yes mainly in Dod.  Greta Van Sustren used to have a segment on that, and I trust Greta.  Even Trump has blasted some of the contract spending and lowered some costs.

We need an overhaul of all things govt!   Before people die

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/16/2017 4:55:29 PM

LNG, I do understand how the Gun employee/contractor relationship works.  As a matter of fact, I do believe one of the posters in this thread went from Mil employee to contractor.  I am particularly sensitive to those military who set themselves up with a contractor job BEFORE they retire......quite a gravy train!  I also have family members who have been gubment contractors, so yes, Hound and Hodj, I know only too well how the system works.  BUddy....Buddy....to the detriment of the taxpayer.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/16/2017 6:03:49 PM

So, let me be PERFECTLY clear in regard to the thinly veiled criticism of my retiring from the military and going to work for a defense contractor.  I was in no way associated with the contractor that hired me and the reason I got the job is because the local office manager and I attended a communications course together and worked as associates in a program management office in a later assignment, still on active duty  I took GREAT PAINS to stay in line with Air Force Regulation 30-30, the Conflict of Interest regulation,  to the point that I did NO work for the Air Force for at least five years after and even then it was at best 5% of my time.

 I was hired not for who I knew but for what I had demonstrated I could do while on active duty.  This insinuation that I did something to feather my own nest is way off base.  If you want to continue your unfounded accusation then let's meet in person and TALK about it.  If you continue the lie after that, then it will have to be on your conscience, if you have one.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/16/2017 6:12:19 PM

Sure, go ahead and throw out the baby with the bath water.  I know there are dolts on contractor payrolls just like there are on the government payroll.  The way to get rid of them is to take the time to document their shortcomings and then can them.  But the deck is stacked against such a move in the Government and the contractor role, although to a lesser extent.  So how do you propose to shake up the government.  It is easy to say it needs doing...put your money where your mouth is and give us some WORKABLE proposals to do that.  It is easy to sit back and criticize, not so easy to come up with answers.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja
Date:	7/16/2017 6:21:49 PM

May I suggest that you go back and read my post again, and this time with an objective view point.  I did NOT accuse or insinuate that YOU had set yourself up with a contractor job prior to retirement.  I simply said that it occurs very often.  I know because I have heard several that bragged to the fact....one even managed to turn his job from military to civil service and simply went from uniform to civilian and never changed offices in DoD.  It happens.  You seem very defensive.....don't know why....

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja
Date:	7/16/2017 6:59:06 PM

Only because I worked very hard to NOT be like the person you describe.  Unfortunately that revolving door is not restricted to the Federal Government.  I know of a particular teacher with the Montgomery public school system who did exactly the same thing as the military guy who got his job turned into a contractor slot.  And even in a case like that, in spite of bad "optics" keeping the individual on the job may be in the best interest of the government if he or she had a critically needed skill.  But don't get me wrong, the revolving door is a real problem and unless the Government fundamentally changes the way it does a lot of things it will continue to be a problem.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/16/2017 6:59:27 PM

Yes, it would be very interesting to hear how y'all woulld shake up the government -esp in DOD where people's lives depend civilians, contractors and other military  to support the lives of those in harm's way.  I was the Deputy Director of a small government agency that fell under the UnderSecretary of Policy. My boss worked for him (as it was then), he was a political appointee and he reported to the Secretary of Defense.  I lived with Rumsfeldt and his redo which in the end did nothing but waste taxpayers dollars on a personnel rating system that was ousted the year he left.  Why? Because it created more work with no verifiable improvements in the system or results. 

Before you start tarring and feathering govenment employees for cost overruns and increases in cost of weapons systems, let me explain to you so you can point your anger in the place.  The problem is Congress - becasuse they cant pass budgets, because funding does not remain constant - so that means delivery schedules are extended (which costs more money) or quanities are cut and we have to renegotiate the contract, since the contractor can no longer get economies of scale in the buying of the parts they need to build the stuff.  Surely you have heard of economies of scale - where bigger quantities cost less?  And then the technology is moving so fast, and that requires Engineering Change Orders which cost money.  Congress will also not let programs be cancelled, because that means jobs get lost in their districts and that is not good for reelection.  And sometimes Congress will insist a contract be awarded to a particular company as a "second source", which is unneeded and ends up costing money for equipment that will never be used.  I worked with one program that DoD kept cancelling and Congress kept funding. Once it is in the appropriation, DoD is obligated to go forward whether it agrees with that or not.  I don't have the time or the inclination to write you a book about the DoD acquisition system. 

The weapon systems that are now being bought are extemely complex, cutting edge.  It involves integrating technologies that you can't even imagine.  Now you could argue whether we need these systems or question why we are buying them, but the techology is being developed at a record pace, and if we don't buy it, Defense industry will not be there, when we later need it.  They will have lost their skilled workforce, their designers and in case you haven't noticed, these companies employee a lot of people. 

And finally, on the question of government, miliatry, contractors and the so -called revolving door.  I was at one point the Director of a group of 40 engineers engaged in thee analysis of cutting edge technology and what could be shared with our allies and foreign industry.  Out of that gr0up of 40, I would have about 6 military officers, primarily Air Force.  They all had advanced degrees in aerospace engineering, and a couple were PhDs.  So they work for me for about 3-4 years and then they have completed their military service and are looking for a job.  Any one of them could go to work in aerospace engineering jobs in companies.  But they like what they are doing, and they want to continue serving their countries.  I have vacancies.  So do I hire retired military members that I know, and I know they are throughly competent and throughly familar with our current programs or do I say NO and go out and hire other people who are unknown to me, are not familiar with the programs? 

So we come to Hodja, he got out of the Air Force and went to work for support contracter because he is known to be reliable and is a specialist in an area they need.  Smart organizations hire people that are known to them and have the skills they need.  Sounds smart to me. 

I realize that this is long.  But I thnk these are critical points.  Don't take my or Hodja's views, take what we have said and go out and do some research on your own.  Stop listening to your own echo chamber. 

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Wix
Date:	7/16/2017 7:01:44 PM

Go read my post where I discuss this very thing at the bottom of the post  and then think about it and see if you don't think it's not quite what you think.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja
Date:	7/16/2017 7:19:11 PM

I agree.  Thanks, and that's been my point all along.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/16/2017 7:45:51 PM

The most simple fix to a broken system that you and Hodja defend so fervently, is to reinstate the ability to fire worthless employees w/o all the gubment BS union rules protecting useless slugs.  Since some have mentioned their career experience in gubment, I will mention that after 4 years on active duty (O-3)(couldn't wait to get out), I enjoyed a career in private industry where you either produced or starved.  No protection by gubment, no union, just your own initiative, drive, and intelligence.  Loved every minute of it.

Name:	Buteye -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story BUTEYE
Date:	7/16/2017 8:19:19 PM

Do you think a "treaty" means anything to Iran who wants nothing less than to kill Americans. They could care less about a piece of paper that supposedly keeps them at "bay" for ten years 

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Are you a Democrat?
Date:	7/16/2017 8:49:28 PM (updated 7/16/2017 8:50:16 PM)

You must be a dem or a dem wannabe with your completely failed interpretation of what I said.  Go back and read again so your third grade comprehension level will kick in.

If you were so disillusioned with the system why didn't you stick around and try to fix it?  So you bailed as an O-3...must have been in the Viet Nam era...whoopty fing do, if you lived and breathed and made it through ROTC/OTS/OCS by the end of your mandatory four years you would be an O-3.

More and more I am believing my original hunch has merit and your initials in real life are RMB.

Name:	lakngulf -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/16/2017 8:50:41 PM

We do agree that there are problems, and a lot of the items you itemize led to Greta's reporting of rediculous spending that I am sure took money from needed areas.  My limited government work is miniscule compared to what you did and Hodja continues.  I am not questioning your work.  But I watched the "we must spend it or will lose it in the budget" spending.  Absurd, and I am sure Congress keeps it going.  Am I capable of getting it done?  No.  Should I as Hodja suggests spend my money to get it done. Yes, if he means taxpayer money. 

Don't know about Rumsfeld Plan, but never liked him.  I think it left alone and let loose enough, that djt will find the solution to many of the cost overruns, bad contracts, bad continuous spending that I, and you, mention.

Did not mean to touch a personal nerve, just to point out a thing or two.

And the revolving door thing was not mine, but I can see where it is a problem.  Some State agencies now hire former employees to do things they did before they retired, BECAUSE the current Millenials will not get the job done. 

Name:	lakngulf -	Reply
Subject:	Are you a Democrat?
Date:	7/16/2017 8:52:35 PM

Careful now Hodja.  You didn't eat that many maters (aka Popeye spinach)

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Are you a Democrat?
Date:	7/16/2017 9:12:01 PM

Sorry, but wix takes too many moves out of the GF playbook....and BTW, weren't you a government employee before you retired?

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja..........GEEZ!!!!!
Date:	7/16/2017 9:38:19 PM

So why is it necessary to belittle my service time.  Yes ROTC, accepted Regular Comm, made 0-3 in 24 months, just like everyone else who stayed out of trouble!!  Not bragging, just letting you know I did work in the gubment system, so I speak with experience.  Your need to belittle is mysterious.  If you want to continue to believe I am really GOOF-IDIOT, go right ahead, but I really wonder..........?

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja..........GEEZ!!!!!
Date:	7/16/2017 10:01:27 PM

So four years as a junior officer gives you about a ten percent look at that way the gubment operates, so if you interpret my posts as belittling it is that I believe there is a lot of gubment out there of which you have no real basis to comment.  In the years of my second career I supported at different times DHHS, Treasury, and TSA, as well as NSA, none of which operate like DoD.  

I find it interesting and refreshing that you have abandoned your usual shtick of name calling and asinine posts.  If you really are not RMB you must be his clone, but with reversed polarity.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja..........GEEZ!!!!!
Date:	7/16/2017 10:33:13 PM

And you appear to be very disturbed......

Name:	phil -	Reply
Subject:	Moral of the Story BUTEYE
Date:	7/17/2017 9:23:07 AM (updated 7/17/2017 9:26:39 AM)

treaty has to have congressional approval Obama did not get it with Iran.  So in number 4 you support something that is a lie, just as in #1 Comey investigated the emails not congress - Comey and Lynch liked to refer to it as a "matter" not an actual investigation.  Comey found she violated a lot of laws but could not find the "intent" which is not a requirement for the laws that were broken - just her stupidity or her reckless disregard for security.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/19/world/clinton-approves-a-plan-to-give-aid-to-north-koreans.html?pagewanted=all

http://nypost.com/2016/01/06/you-can-thank-jimmy-carter-and-bill-clinton-for-north-koreas-nukes/

Good reading about North Korea and another dumb D who gave aid to the NORKS and paved the way for them to get nukes.  

Oh bossman said your a bloviating senile idiot.  I love how you are so concerned about me and the company I work for.  I have projects that I work and always bring them in under budget and on time.  I do go over and beyond what is required of me - but I am not hourly and do not have to punch a clock.  

Just like a good D even when told that you are wrong on a simple fact ( gender ) you continue to assume something to fit your world view. Feel free to GFY. 

Name:	phil -	Reply
Subject:	GOOF-KRAP
Date:	7/17/2017 9:27:29 AM

Atari was too complicated - had to swap it with the etch-a-sketch.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Hodja..........GEEZ!!!!!
Date:	7/17/2017 9:54:47 AM

You are a fine one to accuse someone of being disturbed.  I am done with this drivel.  

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/17/2017 1:51:32 PM

Of course there are problems.  I am the first one to say that the situation with it taking 2 years to fire someone is hosed up and does not reflect where recruitment and retention needs to be in this day and age.  As I understand it, the reason it was originally put in place was to keep employees from being fired when the political winds changed and to prevent cronism and nepotism.  But it really ties the hands of a manager or supervisor.  I had such an employee - a 70 year old man, in poor health, who really doing a minimal job but refused to retire.  He was just taking up time and space.  He also happened to be Indian, so he was covered by several protected groups.  Personnel told me that the best that I could hope for is that he would die or decide to retire. 

I have a lot of experience dealing with State Department and Commerce Department and most of it wasn't good.  I had defense contractors call me to ask me if I could persuade the State Department to move on their requiest, becasue they were about to be in default of contact and State would not answer their phones.  And a lot of desk officers go native and come from a place of "lets build an igloo in the desert and see if it melts" frame mind. 

And in the acuisition system, where there is a long period of time developing and then producing something, people tend to forge friendships with defesnse contactor personnel, so maybe their aren't as hard nosed as they should be.  You tend to here about the failures, but you don't hear about the many successes we have in developing and producing and deploying some pretty amazing technology.  But I truly believe that if Congress could pass a budget and we could count on a steady funding stream, some of those problems would go away.  While I would agree that some budgets requests are overly inflated, the prevailing philosphy is ask for the moon and maybe you'll get some stars. 

In the case of spending money so you are not getting cut the next year.  OMB will decrament any money that isn't used out of one year dollars, out of your next years funds.  So perhaps you don't use all of your travel dollars this year, instead of being about to carry your excess into the next year, you lose it and they reduce your budget the next year.  Let me give you a very simple example to make this understandable and why it is the way it is.  Suppose you were givien money to buy a new car this year, but for whatever reason, you didn't - maybe you didn't like the looks of the new model year or you felt like you could actually get another year out of your current car.  Now, at some point, maybe the next year, you still need to buy another car, but the money you would have used last year is taken away from you, leaving you without the money to buy the new car when you need it.  Knowing this, you are going to buy a new car even if you think you can get another year out of the one you have, becasue you know that your money source is not going give it to you next year, since you know that you will not be given the same money next year, because you didn't spend it this year. 

I have no problem with your excess funds being reallocated to something else if I don't spend them, but for heaven's sake don't cut me the next because I didn't spend the money this year.  So hence, organization go on a buying spree, because they know they will not only lose that money, but not be given it the next year. 

Another thing I would like to point out that I didn't know until I was confronted with it.  A good assumption would be that when federal employees are given a raise by Congress, that additional money would be given to cover your additional payroll costs.  But that isn't the case.  If Congress decides to give everyone a raise, then you have to fund it out of the money you have.  So how do you manage that?  You don't fill vacant jobs, you don't buy the new computers that are scheduled to be bought, business trips won't be taken.  So what do you do?  You pad your budget request with additional lines you may or may not use.  You can reallocate money but you can't ask for more, so then you use that additional money for unforeseen expenses (like sending a team of 6 people to some international meeeting set up by the State Department without consultation. 

It is not a simple system.  Just like I suspect Republicans are trying to come up with a new healthcare plan.  It's not as easy as it looks like it should be, and there is always the wild card Congress.

Name:	lakngulf -	Reply
Subject:	Not so fast tumblethunder
Date:	7/17/2017 5:28:57 PM

I agree that it won't be easy but definitely worth working on solutions. Will take some sharp dudes to figure it out!

Name:	Surfaceunits -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/27/2017 2:17:39 PM

In the mid 70s, Vladimir Putin and the Russians began the systematic depopulation of Detroit so that 40 years later Donald J Trump would win Michigan

Name:	Surfaceunits -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/27/2017 2:27:40 PM

During the election, Vladimir Putin and the Russians made sure that for every vote Hillary received in the communistic enclave of Madison, Donald J Trump received more votes in the rest of the state so that he would win Wisconsin.

Name:	Surfaceunits -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/27/2017 2:33:55 PM

the reason the democrats can get more people to a riot than they could get to a Hillary campaign rally is because Vladimir Putin was sitting in the Kremlin using his Macbook Proski to hack Hillary supporters' iPhone and google calendars and changing the dates and locations

Name:	Surfaceunits -	Reply
Subject:	Russia
Date:	7/27/2017 2:38:39 PM

The reason Hillary was stumbling and falling during the campaign is because Vladimir Putin and the Russians spiked her GERITOL(R)(TM). It's all true. It's damn true.