The State Department is abandoning the Chinese-owned NYC Waldorf Astoria as its base of operations for US diplomats and staff during the UN General Assembly. The Department didn’t explain why, but China’s recent hack of OPM personnel records probably emphasized that the Chinese cannot be trusted to respect the privacy of US personnel while at the hotel…
It was not immediately clear whether the Waldorf residence of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations would be moved to another location. The State Department has leased an apartment for the ambassador on the 42nd floor of the hotel’s Waldorf Towers for more than 50 years.

Roll Drums…

Art doesn’t know any better. What Art knows comes from the brains and hands of defectors, warriors, or tacticians. People who wrote books, for him to read, but didn’t transfer their judgment skills over. How could they, it’s only a book.

So Art can’t tell the difference between Russian disinformation and defector information. That needs an extra layer to judge the information in books and in people.

It was deliberate in 2009. HRC’s sabotage of the body armor in Iraq, was also deliberate, for political gain at the expense of military lives.

It can’t even seem to put in place the most basic of security in such a delicate and sensitive area. If it can’t do that, what else can it not do?

With the King v. Burwell decision looming on the horizon, which will decide if a poorly written law is to be enforced as written or as claimed to be intended, this OPM fiasco would shine a light on government incompetence and then trickle down to the incompetence of government run 404Care. Can’t be making dots for the LIVs to connect. Better for the Fainting Couch Media to ignore the OPM ramifications, just as they are ignoring the King v. Burwell ramifications. Then the media can put on their shocked face when they finally do report on such stories.

http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/Carlton_Skinner.asp

“U.S.S. Sea Cloud, IX-99,
Racial Integration for Naval Efficiency

…The proposal had to be and was based solely on military and naval effectiveness. This was because, first, that was the origin of the idea; second, because I was sure that it was the only legitimate basis for considering a plan for racial integration of the armed forces during wartime…”

There was a purpose for integrating the military and naval forces (which Wilson and the progressive left never should have segregated). Blacks could clearly do the job. They had done the job. When Wilson and his fellow Democrats, racists all, during or shortly after WWI closed the Navy off to blacks except for rates like Messman or Steward, there were still Torpedomen and Gunner’s mates in the enlisted ranks when WWII broke out.

Also what broke out were race riots. Black sailors wanted to go to sea but there were only so many opportunities for Stewards and Messmen. White sailors resented the fact they had back to back war patrols at sea while black sailors got all the shore assignments.

What people forget is that the military didn’t integrate to empower blacks. There was actually a requirement for it. But we’ve dropped that standard, and are now doing all kinds of stupid stuff because of our collective amnesia. No one asks, as CDR Skinner did, will this be better for the service or worse?

It’s just not a consideration. To ask the question is to end your career. Yes, the military and naval forces successfully integrated racially. But why that is? That’s lost. It can’t be duplicated in other areas, so it’s forced upon the services.

http://www.casematepublishing.com/dlc/9781935149361/America's%20First%20Clash%20with%20Iran-Ch01.pdf

“At a range of 32-1/2 nautical miles, the Iraqi fighter began flying directly toward the Stark, rapidly closing the distance between them. No one in the Stark’s CIC seemed to notice that the Iraqi jet was now headed straight at them. At 9:07 P.M., the pilot of the Mirage fired one of his Exocet missiles at a blip on his radar screen. The missile was launched at a range of 22 nautical miles and would take some two minutes
to reach its target. The Stark was running with its navigation lights blazing, completely unaware that an Exocet was now streaking toward it at 550 miles per hour.

…About a minute after firing its first missile, the Mirage fired another Exocet at the Stark. The second missile was launched at a range of 15 nautical miles. At about the same time, the Stark finally broadcast a warning on the Military Air Distress Frequency”

It’s a grim read; I won’t quote anymore, but after the CO/XO screwed up those sailors went through hell saving their ship. And damage control is hard, heavy work. And by heavy I mean hauling pumps and generators up and down ladders into smoke filled spaces so hot the soles of your boots melt. When I last heard (20 years ago) 90% of the women in boot camp could not handle the damage control equipment.

Either they stopped collecting/publicizing such data, or the damage control equipment has been “shamed” into being less sexist. I’m betting on the former rather than the latter.

The bottom line is I don’t think the Russians need a magic EW bullet to destroy us. Obama is just as good. And you’ll never convince me the guy who promised Vlad that he could be more flexible after his final election isn’t doing all this on purpose.

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2015/06/diversity-thursday.html

“Here, sadly, is the the VCNO, who is starting to behave in a manner that only validates her critics. Behold!

‘We celebrate the idea that women and men should share the burden of citizenship on the battlefield as well as have equal rights to vote, to run for public office, to shape the direction and laws of our countries. We are afforded the opportunity to make our visions happen and our voices heard with matched enthusiasm. We are granted uniform expectations. Equality and civic engagement are germane to our role and entitlement as citizens.

However, equality and gender integration are areas where numbers and percentages matter. Sheer numbers of women can mean all the difference between a culture of acceptance or an environment of prejudice. The magnitude and impact of what you can “make happen” becomes mightily constrained if your voice is lost because it is the sole feminine sound in the office, in the government or in leadership.

Once you attain a certain size of cohort, you reach a point where challenges diminish. Some refer to this threshold of presence as critical mass. Once you reach this level, issues like tokenism and stereotypes, that are filters for communication and understanding, start to fall away. There are enough women to build shared and common experiences with men…'”

She’s talking quotas, folks. For SEALs. And while parroting this leftist idiocy she’s preaching the exact opposite of reality. Attaining her “certain size of cohort” will be a disaster. Just look at the recent failure of a single woman to pass the Marine IOC or the Army Ranger course. So now the leftists are preparing the battlefield for their assault on standards across the board.

The SEALs ain’t gonna have it. No more than the regular sailors are going to put up with this.

So I believe Artfldgr’s story to the extent that 27 sailors stated they want to leave active duty. And I suspect many more from the Donald Cook secretly hope to do the same.

And I assert all this destruction, from troop morale to the OPM heist, is the deliberate action of the Obama administration. There is no incompetence here.