Author: Duane Norman

Originally Posted at Free Market Shooter

The designation/callsign “Air Force One” has been around since around the time of WWII, with FDR being the first president to fly while in office. Since 1943, with only a couple exceptions, the Air Force has been flying custom versions of Boeing commercial airliners for the presidential flight mission. Most recently replaced in 1990, the president currently flies in a modified 747 with the military designation “VC-25”; two copies were produced for a cost of $325 million apiece, and the callsign “Air Force One” is only used when the president is onboard.

Even though it is still extremely advanced, Air Force One is due for a replacement. Currently, the operating cost for each VC-25 is $210,877 per hour; an extremely high figure, likely because of the dated nature and high maintenance costs of both the airframe and the avionics suite.

However, with a total program cost estimated to be around $4 billion dollars, Boeing is clearly gouging the taxpayer. The newest derivative of Air Force One will end up being over six times as expensive as the last one, which was built on the same airframe. I guess Boeing just thought the higher price tag was going to slip through the cracks of a bloated DoD budget?

Continue reading “Trump Is Correct – Boeing Is Gouging The Taxpayer On The New Air Force One”

Originally Posted at Free Market Shooter, and GotNews.com

Note: This story was written on request by GotNews.com, and was originally posted there.  Please feel free to share the story, and check out GotNews.com and see their excellent work for yourself. 

You should already know the top reason that General David Petraeus should be disqualified for the position of Secretary of State.

While problems in his marriage and his infidelities aren’t relevant to the role, and shouldn’t eliminate him from consideration for the job, the fact that his pillow talk with his mistress involved him unlawfully sharing classified information is demonstrative of someone who has serious errors in judgment.

Continue reading “Why David Petraeus Must Not Be America’s Next Secretary Of State”

Guest Post by Gary Potter

Note:  This is a guest contribution.  Please share your thoughts with the author, Gary Potter, in the comments. 

It’s a fair assumption that more or less everyone on the planet knows who Donald Trump is.  It’s an equally fair assumption, as derived from the rise of the “alt-right” media, that many even know why Donald Trump is.  Those that don’t – lately you can catch them in places like Portland or behind a desk at the New York Times – are suffering a very real existential crisis with regards to this question; they certainly know who Trump is, and there seems to be too much evidence from too many sources to continue the pretense he will not become the President of the United States in 2017.

But why?

Continue reading “Censorship By The Press”

Guest Post by Duane Norman

The NY Times released several articles and tweets, and even a letter from its publisher and executive editor, pledging to “report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor”.  Given the fact that profit and revenue continue to decline at the paper, prompting yet another round of layoffs, the NY Times at least gave the outward appearance of accepting the new reality of news.  The internet has given birth to a slew of alternative media outlets that are able to easily expose errors and bias in MSM reporting, and their rise has directly contributed to the decline of MSM outlets and their ad revenues.  In the wake of Trump’s win, it almost felt as if Mainstream Media recognized that it needed to change to survive. 

Continue reading “Mainstream Media Continues To Demonstrate Why It Is Obsolete”