The F35 Fighter has a helmut resembling a cyborg.

They've also discovered major issues with its software, which Air Force Maj. Gen. Christopher Bogdan has called "the gorilla in the room." (click here)

Ya think? So, what I question in regard to postponing the confirmation of Senator Hagel, is why? The planes have a hanger in Texas and was pushed through by Robert Gates. But, the real corruption might be discovered and it would seem as though some Senators might be left as men without a country.

Of course, Senator Ted Cruz is bringing really interesting attention to himself by demanding obstruction of the confirmation of Senator Hagel. Ted Cruz is the newly elected Senator from Texas. I'll be darn the very state where all that money is spent.

The advanced helmet is supposed to let pilots see data from all the plane's sensors, effectively allowing the pilot to look right through the floor of the plane and all around it. But it has big problems with night vision, delays in displaying data, jitter under certain conditions. More recently, pilots have notices a green glow at the visor's edges and problems with alignment.

Former Lockheed vice president Ann Elise Sauer (click here) was hired by Sen. John McCain in February as the top Republican staffer on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The revolving door swings regularly in Washington, but the size of the compensation package Sauer received from Lockheed when she left the company is notable. A financial disclosure form shows the defense giant gave Sauer $1.6 million in compensation around the time she took a buyout in January 2011....

...There is no law barring lobbyists from entering public service on Capitol Hill. But Ben Freeman, national security investigator at the Project on Government Oversight who wrote about Sauer Thursday, says that the presence of a former Lockheed executive in a key position overseeing the company is cause for concern.

"Some of the biggest issues in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee right now deal directly with Lockheed Martin programs," Freeman says. "These are big-dollar programs that are going through some troubles and need some oversight."

One example is Lockheed's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which has been plagued by cost overruns and other problems.

Brian Rogers, a spokesman for McCain, said in a statement that the senator made an "unsolicited offer of employment" to Sauer and that she accepted the offer "on a stop-gap, temporary one-year basis."

"When Ms. Sauer accepted Senator McCain's offer to lead his Armed Services Committee staff, she did so at her own financial detriment, as she was required to liquidate all remaining Lockheed stock and options in compliance with Senate Ethics Committee guidelines," Rogers said....

Senator John McCain has fought for the F35 Fighter is a very unique way. Very unique.

Oh, perhaps I didn't mention Lockheed Martin, the company with the nice commercial that ends with the little girl playing the piano, is the one with the F35 project.

In late 2011, McCain co-authored a letter to Secretary Panetta along with Carl Levin stating he was outraged at the cost overruns, HOWEVER, to remove funding from other military spending to cover the cost overruns was even more outrageous.

So, basically, McCain was politicking by stating he was outraged about the overruns, but, didn't see any other program could be cut to cover the overruns, HOWEVER, the F35 fighter was vital to the future of the USA. So, while this jet was costing the American taxpayers why too much it had to be paid for, but, he proposed an interesting condition to the additional spending.

What McCain stated was the committees responsible for funding the project needed to chase all the problems down and minimize the cost themselves. An audit for wasteful spending. THEN, the ultimate scrutiny would come when the vote for the monies was open to the Senate floor and the American people's interest would be served in demonstration of the scrutiny.

John McCain was 'setting up the nation' to realize the importance of the fighter to the USA future while putting forth a GOOD SHOW to justify the spending for the overruns. After all, Americans don't want to die because they don't have the state of the art spending they need to stay alive.

Rather than trashing the F35 program for the piece of cyber garbage it is, McCain and now it would seem Cruz wants to authorize more spending on the project and NOT cut any Sequester Funds applied to the USA military.

The best option for Senators McCain and Cruz is to confirm Senator Hagel without delay so he can act to make the CORRECT cuts before the Sequester hits on March 1st. They need to tell Secretary Hagel to move the F35 off the schedule of EXPLORATION since it has failed over and over and to redirect the nation's needs for new fighters from existing technology. I suppose if Lochkeed Martin wants to build the jets from existing technology they should be considered when COMPETITIVE bids are submitted. After they finish their piano lessons that is.

McCain and Cruz need to end their Power Trip about the F35 Fighter and start to actually facilitate the national security and defense of the USA.

And there is that CONFLICT of interest with Ann Elise Sauer that needs to come to a completion as well. Conflict of interest should NEVER exist in the national defense of the USA. NEVER. Sold stocks or not sold stocks. Maybe if Lockheed Martin didn't have to shell out all those stock funds to Ms. Sauer the cost overruns would never exist in the first place.

Senator Rubio is working from a naive knowledge base.

He is questioning Mr. Brennan from a faux premise. 

THE USA IS NOT OMNIPOTENT in its global authority. Sovereign nations do not have to cooperate at all with USA intelligence needs or a need to interrogate or to prosecute. 

The most obvious example is Russia. It does not recognize extradition. There are nations that will not extradite due to the USA death penalty. 

The USA relies on allies and cooperation to obtain intelligence to formulate policy. Having an autonomous ability to carry out any whim of the USA is called war.

There is also no justification for Gitmo based in the 'idea' the USA has a holding cell attached with interrogation and torture for every person in the world they want to question.

A case has to be built to ASK other nations for cooperation. Our interrogation of foreign citizens is based in FACTS, not myth and not ideas. It is based in facts and if the USA cannot obtain the facts it has no right to ask anything.

There needs to be enormous policy changes ! Why not leak secret information and call it a paycheck!

She has conversations with Mr. Brennan due to her status of previous service to the government?

I want an investigation how much influence of a job has on the information these individuals share with their employers.

This is outrageous!

I am not saying Mr. Brennan was acting outside what his duties are, but, I do believe there is information to Murdoch and his media circus that should not exist.

I want an investigation!

I believe the USA is compromised by willing zealots. They are looking for an unfair advantage over others. That is called POWER. No more!










I don't care if Rupert Murdoch is happy or not. This is outrageous and nothing more than opportunists to make their wealth more secure. How much research to they actually do at the local university library for their opinions. They sincerely just get on the phone and EXPLOIT the former relationship with the USA.

It is outrageous and Mr. Brennan should never have had to be put in a position to indulge what amounts to nothing more than MEDIA BRATS!

These people RECENTLY served this country. They have current information. This is nonsense and it compromises and TAKES UP THE TIME of at least one valuable USA federal employee. We never paid Mr. Brennan to play footsie with Murdoch!

These are enormous ethical issues. Enormous. Washington, DC is filthy with corruption.

CODEPINK Flashmobs Union Station (click title to entry - thank you) - Code Pink is organized and effective; by numbers alone.

I congratulate them. They have been around for awhile now. "We are ready for a people world." 

Pussy Riot is not about hating religion, it is about freedom of expression. It is about breaking the 'code of behavior' demanded by the Russian government of their citizens. People want self-expression, and; YES; in opposition of the actions of their own government.

Today, Code Pink was very successful in disrupting a Senate hearing and making clear there is sincere opposition to deaths caused by the USA.

MOSCOW | Thu Feb 7, 2013 12:11pm EST

...Convicted for "hooliganism (click here) motivated by religious hatred", Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina are almost halfway through two-year terms. Yekaterina Samutsevich was released on appeal with a suspended sentence.

Lawyer Pavel Chikov said Russia had violated their right to freedom of speech, a fair trial and liberty. They were also treated in an inhumane way in custody by being deprived of sleep and enough food on days when they attended court, he added.

Pussy Riot's "punk prayer", which came at the height of the largest wave of protests yet against Putin's 13-year rule over Russia, was a political one and it was wrongly qualified as being aimed at inciting religious strife, Chikov said....

Ms. Ashley Judd is ready for prime time. She has been a REAL PEOPLE advocate for a long time.

Rove is attempting to define Ms. Judd. She grew up in Tennessee.

I am not surprised, in a public appearance, she would state, "Home in Tennessee." Does Rover ever stop to realize why he lost every seat he sought to effect in 2012? I and every other Judd fan knows she was born in Tennessee. What is the point, Rove? She is confused. I don't think so, but, Rove might be.

Ashley Judd was 15 years old (click here) when her mother Naomi and sister Wynnona signed a record deal as The Judds. As their music career took off, Ashley attended school, then turned to acting. After a recurring role on TV drama Sisters,...

She is quite used to the spot light and using fame to help others. I hope she considers a run for office. She will be well received. She is smart girl.

She doesn't rely on rhetoric or political bias to move the best interest of Kentuckians foward! I am confident she loves our President as much as the rest of us. I think she is awesome.

A word of wisdom to Governor Chris Christi.

He was born September 6, 1962, That makes him 50 years old, right? He is that age group where gut cancers are a worry. Skinny or fat, same thing. Anyone in that age group should be eating more roughage in their diet.

My best instinct tells me he should consider eating more salads with his meals. He should find a salad dressing he likes and eat more salads. Be careful though. The salad dressings can be high in calories and fat. I like balsamic vinaigrette. There are some great vinaigrettes out there, including raspberry. I love raspberry.

But, walking about 30 minutes a day on a treadmill is a great way to help the gut out, too. So, that is my advise. He needs to decide if it is good advise for his life, but, things slow down as we age and that is the problem with gut cancers.

I congratulate the President. I think the Congressmen and Congresswomen will provide some resonance about the program.

...Obama (click here) directed the Justice Department to provide access to the secret document to members of the Senate and House intelligence committees, an administration official said Wednesday. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the Senate committee's chairman, said the legal opinion would be provided to her committee by Thursday morning....

I doubt oversight will change anything. It is a good idea by the President, but, Congress are cowards. They won't seek to balance citizen constitutional rights against national security. And forget Republicans on this; ie: warrantless wire taps, detentions, torture, etc.

I think the best outcome here has to include a crystal clear definition as to what 'intelligence gathering' comprises. Does voyeurism of elected officials include intelligence? Is that considered a national security threat? Do we need a J. Edgar Hoover drone? There is progress that can be pursued.

There is a cop killer cop? There better be a manhunt. Three cops are three too many.

He is a reservist? Where was he deployed and who from the military knows this man. There has to be someone from his military past that has knowledge of his haunts. He popped his cork. I mean, a manifesto? Who knows what is next, another McVeigh?

Christopher Jordan Dorner, (on left in picture) a former LA policeman and Navy Reservist who murdered two people so far is running loose in the LA area. He’s issued a lunatic manifesto “To America” that rants and raves trying to scare people with his military experience. From the manifesto;

I will conduct DA operations (click here) to destroy, exploit and seize designated targets. If unsuccessful or unable to meet objectives in these initial small scale offensive actions, I will reassess my BDA and re-attack until objectives are met. I have nothing to lose. My personal casualty means nothing. Just alike AAF’s, ACM’s, and AIF’s, you can not prevail against an enemy combatant who has no fear of death. An enemy who embraces death is a lose, lose situation for their enemy combatants.
[...]
Hopefully you analyst have done your homework. You are aware that I have always been the top shot, highest score, an expert in rifle qualifications in every unit I’ve been in. I will utilize every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordnance, and survival training I’ve been given.

February 7, 2013 |  6:21 am

A manhunt (click here) involving multiple law enforcement agencies was underway early Thursday after three police officers were shot -- one fatally -- in Riverside County. Authorities believe that the suspect is a former Los Angeles police officer already wanted in connection with two Orange County slayings.

The suspect, Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, wrote an online manifesto threatening to harm police officials and their families, authorities said, and he is considered "armed and extremely dangerous."

The California Highway Patrol issued a "blue alert" for nine Southern California counties. Officials said Dorner is believed to be driving a 2005 blue or gray Nissan Titan, with California license plate 8D83987 or 7X09131. Police said they believe he may be switching between the two license plates. Dorner is described as a black male, 33 years old, 6 feet tall, weighing 270 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. His last known address is in La Palma....

A drone was deployed, that doesn't mean military assets were a potential to follow

The Heritage Foundation is the flame thrower of the Right Wing. They are stating there was real time information. That is not necessarily the case. 

Because the military was gathering information with an unarmed drone does not equate to action against an unexpected attack. Benghazi was believed to be a benign location in Libya. No one expected a militia to show up to kill at will. An action after the fact Egypt's violence at the USA Embassy was taking place.

The idea there could have been an organized attack of jets out of Italy to somehow intervene is not realistic. It would have amounted to American assets killing unidentified people and quite possibly citizens. The intelligence was not good and the unarmed drone flight was the beginning of the gathering of intelligence.

...Meanwhile, (click here) White House and Defense Department meetings and briefings went on and on in Washington, and no one took action. Yet overseas, AFRICOM immediately dispatched an unarmed drone to survey the scene in Benghazi, which provided the Obama Administration with real-time information on the attack....

Why is it the Heritage Foundation has such a poor attitude about a Democratic Administration and a blind eye to a Republican one?