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This is Terminal 3 at O'Hare Airport, as seen around noon today:
I've been through this terminal dozens of times. I know it by heart. And every time I've walked through it, it's been lined with the Flags of the World. Here's a photo I took of the exact same concourse about a month and a half ago:
Seriously, what the **** is going on here? I'm honestly really weirded out by this.
That's a whole lot of stupidity.
I got a good chuckle from "Maybe they will acknowledge that home grown terrorism is a problem."
Followed immediately by, "The Republicans seem to forget there are more independents and democrats with guns than there are right wing nut jobs."
Was kind of hoping that Trump might say something dumb about gun control so that I could sell my AR for three times what it's worth.
I bought a bushmaster AR-15 used in like 2007 for about $650. I resold it in 2012 for over $1800. You can walk into any sporting good store now and buy it for $650. It was a good part of my down payment money for my house.
real news making themselves the focus of the story again:
Zucker tried to claim that CNN is just doing their job, stating:
This is what happens when you try to delegitimize an institution that is doing its job.
And I think it is shameful on the part of the administration and other politicians to cause a frenzy against something that is guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States. And it does disservice to this country and its position in the world and … allows for a heightened sense of rhetoric against journalists and media organizations. And it is unconscionable and dangerous and they should know better.
Zucker apparently whined to The Huffington Post and told them that people should take their complaints about the administration seriously…
CNN President Jeff Zucker said Thursday that the “the amount of rhetoric and threats” that his network’s journalists receive daily “is much more serious than I think anybody would realize.”
However, experts have said that exterior insulation created a chimney effect, meaning the fire easily and rapidly spread upwards. The exterior insulation, also known as cladding, was added to the exterior of the tower in 2015 as part of a $12.8 million retrofit.
Matt Wrack, who heads the Fire Brigades Union, told The Telegraph he had “never seen a fire that has engulfed an entire building like this in a career of more than 30 years.”
...
“There has been an emerging body of evidence surrounding some of the materials being used and now we have an appalling demonstration of what can happen,” he continued.
According to The Telegraph, cladding “is used as an insulation to make buildings more sustainable to meet green energy requirements.”
Around 30,000 buildings in the UK have had similar cladding put on their exteriors to comply with the country’s green energy mandates.
At the cost of being safe, Grenfell Tower became more energy efficient.
Prime Minister Theresa May has called for a full investigation into the tragedy. Others want all cladded buildings to be inspected for fire hazards.
The situation, however, was already foreseen by residents of the tower.
Experts and residents had warned about the fire risks for years, yet they were always ignored. Grenfell Action Group (GAG), wrote a blog post in November 2016 that “only a catastrophic event” would bring attention to the issues of the building.
“It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders,” the post reads.
“It is our conviction that a serious fire in a tower block or similar high-density residential property is the most likely reason that those who wield power at the KCTMO will be found out and brought to justice!”
As early as 2013, a man named Francis O’Connor, a member of GAG, asked councillors and the landlord of the Tower, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organization (KCTMO), to address the Tower’s fire hazards.
A leaked letter shows that officials at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea did, in fact, respond to O’Connor, but not to help them and address the fire issues that could have prevented the deaths of many people. Instead, they threatened O’Connor with a lawyer.
“I am instructed that you previously posted blogs that have in general been critical of everything that takes place at Lancaster West in relation to the Kensington Academy Leisure Centre and investment on the estate,” wrote Solicitor Vimal Sarna in July 2013.
The letter then instructs GAG to delete the blog. Luckily, the group did not oblige the request.
ABC has admitted to altering documents from one of the largest baggage handling services in Australia, Aerocare.
While defending its current affairs program ‘7.30,’ ABC – as The Australian reports – admitted to altering documents for “illustrative” purposes in its report of the firm’s workplace and safety practices.
ABC also admitted that the investigation breached its editorial standards for accuracy a number of times during its March 20 report alleging mistreatment of Aerocare employees.
Trump Selects McGruff The Crime Dog As FBI Director
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Finally selecting James Comey’s replacement as head of the department, President Donald Trump named McGruff the Crime Dog as FBI Director Wednesday morning.
The large, cuddly, anthropomorphic canine detective was announced as Comey’s replacement at a White House press conference.
“McGruff is a real nasty dog—just the kind of guy we need to help drain the swamp in Washington,” Trump told reporters. “Plus, he’s a big stuffed animal, so he won’t be investigating any of my alleged ties to Russia.”
“He’ll be taking a bite out of crime, believe me. The biggest bites around. I take big bites too. The best, really,” Trump added.
Taking his place behind the microphone, McGruff gave a short speech, saying, “All crime needs is a chance. Don’t give it a chance,” before President Trump gave him a pat on the head and mouthed, “That’s a good boy.”
I tell you some days it's hard to sort through the "real" or "fake" news...
It's easy. If a nominee for a cabinet position or executive-level administrator would not look out of place at Midwest FurFest, then it's probably fake news.
In other real news:
The Pentagon Has Dropped So Many Bombs On ISIS We’re Literally Running Out By JARED KELLER on May 1, 2017
Lt. Col. George Watkins, the 34th Fighter Squadron commander, drops a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb from an F-35A Lightning II at the Utah Test and Training Range on Feb. 25, 2016.
The United States military’s bomb shortage is bad and getting worse.
As a result of the multinational bombing campaign against the militants in Iraq and Syria, existing arsenals of smart bombs and other munitions are shrinking rapidly, forcing weapons manufacturers to scramble to expand production to meet rising demand from both U.S. and international militaries.
“We are short on things like Small Diameter Bombs,” U.S. Pacific Command Commander Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. “These are not exciting kinds of weapons … but they are absolutely critical to what we are trying to do, not only in North Korea but also in fights in the Middle East.”
This has been a problem for the Pentagon for more than a year. The U.S. conducted more than 9,000 airstrikes and dropped more than 65,000 bombs on ISIS targets as part of Operation Inherent Resolve between mid-2014 and the end of 2016, according to U.S. Central Command statistics — about $1.3 billion in bombs and missiles at the time. That pace led the White House to request $1.8 billion last year for some 45,000 new smart bombs as part of the Pentagon’s 2017 budget.
After news broke of that new munitions request in February 2016, Adm. Harris made a similar plea to the Senate Armed Service Committee to increase the Pentagon’s stockpile of precision-guided bombs.
“Critical munitions shortfalls are a top priority and concern,” he stated in his 2016 testimony. “Munitions are a major component of combat readiness. USPACOM forces need improvements in munitions technologies, production, and pre-positioning, but fiscal pressure places this at risk.”
The Small Diameter Bombs that Harris mentioned last week were originally produced for the Air Force by Boeing, as Defense One notes. As recently as this past March, both the Navy and Air Force had asked the weapons manufacturer to increase production bomb kits for use against ISIS targets abroad. The company plans on ramping up production from 1,000 units annually to 5,000 in 2018 and, potentially, some 8,000 bombs in 2019 — and on top of its plans to expand production of Joint Direct Air Munitions.
“We’re ramping significantly across the portfolio, not just with JDAM,” said Boeing direct attack munitions chief Cindy Gruensfelder told Military.com in March. “But with JDAM, we’re currently on a path by July of this year to ramp to 150 weapons a day [rate] or over 36,500 [tail kits] per year — that is two full shifts at our facility.”
It not just Boeing working to meet rising demand — and not just for the Small Diameter Bombs that Harris explicitly cited in his hearing last week. From Defense One:
In particular, U.S. and allies are burning through their stocks of Lockheed’s Hellfire missile, the signature weapon of Predator and Reaper drones. Helicopters and fixed-wing planes also carry the versatile laser-guided weapon.
“It requires a little bit of investment on our part to expand the factories, but the demand is there and we’re keeping up with it [and] we’re staying ahead of it,” [Lockheed vice president for tactical missiles Frank] St. John said.
It also requires Pentagon funding. Last June, the U.S. Army gave Lockheed $18 million to boost Hellfire production from 500 to 650 missiles per month. St. John said the company has added tools, test equipment, and floor space to its Hellfire production line.
Lockheed has also “quadrupled our production capacity” at the Archbald, Pennsylvania, factory to meet demand from the U.S. and its allies for Paveway II laser-guided bombs.
The increase in production by companies like Boeing and Lockheed can’t come soon enough. According to analysis by Air Force Times, the Air Force has ratcheted up its bombing campaign since President Donald Trump took office in late January, with some 10,918 munitions deployed against ISIS in the first three months of the year — a 62% increase over the number of bombs dropped over the same time period in 2015.
But if the Trump administration wants to make good on the president’s campaign promise to “bomb the hell out of ISIS,” it will need to ramp up bomb-kit production over the next several years. Otherwise, it’s MOABs all the way down.
“We are short on things like Small Diameter Bombs,” U.S. Pacific Command Commander Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. “These are not exciting kinds of weapons … but they are absolutely critical to what we are trying to do, not only in North Korea but also in fights in the Middle East.”
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