A screen-shot of a Clovis News-Journal article...
My comment at the site:
I'm glad to see the Child Development Center got top billing over the beddown of the Osprey. You've got your priorities right. (/sarcasm)In other news... we were out at Cannon Airplane Patch yesterday just after the CV-22 landed and I got my first look at the aircraft, albeit from a significant distance (my invitation to the ceremony musta got lost in the mail). It's a lot smaller in real-life than I thought it would be... about two-thirds the size of a C-130. For some reason I thought it and the 130 were the same sized aircraft but they are not. Oh well, most things are smaller in real-life. Just ask any woman you know.
Still and even, thanks for the coverage. On both counts.
Here's a better pic of the CV-22 from the CAFB web site:
And I cut that down to half-size (click for larger, of course).
I would have thought it was closer to the same size, too. (No comment about the relativity of size!;-p )
ReplyDeleteMy first thought? -- why the hell did the basae have to wait for Stimulus money to build a daycare/pre-school? I guess the funding had to be "hidden" so those of small minds wouldn't think the funding would bolster the "bloated" military budget.
Egad on both counts.
That bit about Stimulus money didn't escape me either, Moogie. I thought long and hard (well, for a minute or two) about mentioning that in my comment at the CNJ site, but decided discretion was the better part o' valor... mostly coz I don't comment there often and didn't want to start a political pissing contest, and because "it's For The CHILDREN!" ;-)
ReplyDeleteOkay, daycare is another rant in my book, but I won't go there.
ReplyDeleteThe Osprey is pretty awesome - much more so than the daycare stuff.
ReplyDeleteOh well, most things are smaller in real-life. Just ask any woman you know.
ReplyDeleteAMEN.
;0)
Wanna close up view of the osprey? It buzzes my house by the Melrose bombing range (that's in FLOYD'S fire district) nearly daily! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteHere's anpother head-scratcher -- an Arizona Congresswoman would like GEN Petraeus to explain why they're not using hydro and solar power in Afghanistan to reduce energy consumption and cost. He's almost dumbfounded at first.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2010/06/congresskook-ga.html
E - freakin' - gad.
Saw an Osprey on the deck of an aircraft carrier (not quite that large but I don't know what else to call it) as we docked in FLA after a cruise. Mighty powerful to see something like that up close and personal, since the carrier was next to the cruise ship. And since our cabin was on a deck higher than the deck of the carrier - oh my. Quite a sight at 6:30am.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna play Devil's Advocate here. As the story reads, one would conclude that the Clovis paper had probably done many stories about the mission coming to Cannon previously.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure that their regular readers knew that the Osprey deal was going to happen, and I am ASSuMEing that it has been covered well by the fine folks at the News-Journal for a good while...not a big surprise to spring on the readers.
The do place the day care story beneath the headline as an "also." The building of a new facility for the chirrens of Airmen will likely come as good news to the influx of young folks with younguns...who already know that they are there because of the CV-22.
Just sayin'...
Now, to step away from devil's advocate, the "stimulus bill" thing puzzles me, too. Of course the whole darn thing was so convoluted, and confusing...there could have been a good bit of it set aside for contractors working on military projects that had been put on hold. Who knows, with these clowns we've got running the circus?
Bwahahahahaha! WV: hemoroi
Ooooops! Misspelled "they." (left out the "y") Now, that's bad when you misspell "they."
ReplyDeleteLou: I think I know where you're comin' from, re: daycare.
ReplyDeleteKC: I'm sorry to hear that. ;-) You've been hangin' out (heh) in the wrong circles... but I contradict myself, don't I?
Jenny: You are blessed! The "sound o' freedom," and all that.
Moogie: re: that "green" shit. It's worse than you think. I've been tempted to post a lil bit of the stuff I get from the Air Force Ass'n on that subject but have held my virtual tongue. So far. USAF's senior leadership is in the damned tank here.
Kris: Cool! You, too, were blessed.
Andy: You can be Satan's Lawyer all ya want but the fact remains this was poor journalism. Yes, there was a SUB-heading about the Child Development Center, emphasis on "sub." And yeah, High Plains residents... those that pay attention... were aware the Ospreys were coming. But this was all about a ceremony to mark the occasion of the first Osprey at Cannon and should have been written as such. Time was when USAF's mission was "to fly and to fight," not to build daycare centers. So sayeth the cranky ol' sarge.
As for the stimulus bits... I have a feeling this MIGHT have been part of Levin's $2.8 billion in earmarks for milcon. But I could be wrong.
Buck, didn't I read something a couple of years ago about trouble with Ospreys? And if I'm right did they get that glitch worked out?
ReplyDeleteBuck, Heh! Just more evidence that one should not listen to the devil. Cranky old Sergeants might sometimes be confused for him, but there do be a difference. ;)
ReplyDeleteDan: You could have read a LOT about the Osprey over the past 20 years, the vast majority of which was negative. It's been a long, long time since there was an aircraft this troubled in its development and deployment cycle. The Marines and the Air Force have deployed 'em to the two AORs in the last year or so and the issues seem to have been resolved. Still and even, both the program and the aircraft itself still have MANY outspoken critics.
ReplyDelete