by
United States Marine Field McConnell
Plum City Online - (AbelDanger.net)
March 20, 2016
1. Abel Danger (AD) alleges that Trump Shuttle Inc. used scabbed-up unions in the Boeing supply chain to launch a death-pool service in 1988 where high rollers could bet on the times of death of Boeing passengers and pilots while Trump's scabs destroyed evidence of murder for hire.
2. AD claims that Trump Shuttle's bankers led by Citibank, hired Serco's 8(a) companies to pimp children to Five Eyes' cabinet officials and extort the development of the mission-critical FADEC software needed to support long-range death-pool services with modified Boeing aircraft.
3. AD alleges that Trump's friend Mark Burnett, the ex-UK paratrooper producer of the Combat Missions reality show, procured FADEC Covert Personnel Locator Systems (CPLS) to spot fix the crashes of a Boeing Chinook helicopter on the Mull of Kintyre on June 2, 1994 and another Boeing Chinook (Extortion 17) in Wardak Province Afghanistan on August 6, 2011.
4. United States Marine Field McConnell (http://www.abeldanger.net/2010/01/field-mcconnell-bio.html) invites FBI Director James Comey, an ex-director of Serco's dirty banker HSBC, to investigate Trump scabbed-up death pools, Serco's 8(a) pimps and a FADEC HQ in Chicago.
Combat Missions trailer
Valiant veterans: A Chinook drops off British troops in Afghanistan
Copy of SERCO GROUP PLC: List of Subsidiaries AND [Loan Shark] Shareholders!
(Mobile Playback Version)
[Serco's] Defense Ammunition Center
Serco... Would you like to know more?
"The 1994 Scotland RAF Chinook crash occurred on 2 June 1994 at about 18:00 hours when a Royal Air Force (RAF) Chinook helicopter (serial number ZD576, callsign F4J40) crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland, killing all twenty-five passengers and four crew on board. Among the passengers were almost all the United Kingdom's senior Northern Ireland intelligence experts. It was the RAF's worst peacetime disaster.
An RAF board of inquiry in 1995 ruled that it was impossible to establish the exact cause of the crash. This ruling was subsequently overturned by two senior reviewing officers who said the pilots were guilty of gross negligence for flying too fast and too low in thick fog. This finding proved to be controversial, especially in light of irregularities and technical issues surrounding the then-new Chinook HC.2 variant which were uncovered. A Parliamentary inquiry conducted in 2001 found the previous verdict of gross negligence on the part of the crew to be 'unjustified'. In 2011, an independent review of the crash cleared the crew of negligence."
"Technical 'smoking gun'
Kennedy's investigations reveal one further crucial detail that has been denied or obfuscated by RAF officials and the British government in all inquiries so far into the crash. And it is this technical "smoking gun" that points up the malicious aspect of what happened on the Mull of Kintyre and how it could have been perpetrated.
The avionics expert has obtained confirmation that Chinook ZD576 was equipped with a landing device known as a Covert Personnel Locator System. Officially, this is denied, but trusted RAF contacts have unofficially confirmed to him that ZD576 was fitted out with the system on that journey. “All the movements of the helicopter as it was approaching the Mull point to the fact that the crew were coming in for a landing or a near landing and that they were using a CPLS to achieve this. I predicted the use of the CPLS from their movements at the Mull. That has now been confirmed to me by RAF sources. This revelation of a CPLS onboard Chinook ZD576 is grounds enough for another inquiry to be opened," he says.
The CPLS, explains Kennedy, is a precision guidance system that is intrinsically reliable. It is often used by American and British military helicopters to pinpoint special forces who are trapped behind enemy lines. The system’s various manufacturers describe it as being used for "an all-weather approach to assault zones, landing zones and drop zones".
What makes the CPLS particularly useful is that it operates by a portable handset on the ground that sends an Ultra High Frequency radio signal to the receiver onboard the helicopter. Basically, the operator on the ground guides the helicopter to the landing zone and because the helicopter crew are following a unique signal there is little need for the pilots to have external visibility. They are relying on the ground operator to bring them safely to the LZ."
"A fault in the system
Inquiries into the Chinook crash were misled by the Ministry of Defence
Richard Norton-Taylor
Tuesday 20 June 2000
The Guardian
A highly unusual meeting will take place this morning in Whitehall. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a former Tory defence secretary, will urge Geoff Hoon, present holder of the post, to overturn a verdict on the cause of one of the RAF's most hotly disputed accidents.
It is extremely rare for a former cabinet minister publicly to challenge a decision taken during his own term of office. Rifkind's initiative reflects deeply held views shared by a growing number of MPs from all parties, and others with inside knowledge, about an issue which despite the MoD's best efforts will not go away.
On June 2 1994, an RAF Chinook helicopter carrying some of Britain's most experienced intelligence officers in Northern Ireland crashed into the Mull of Kintyre. All 29 on board died, including both pilots. A Scottish fatal accident inquiry concluded that it was impossible to pinpoint the blame. A subsequent RAF board of inquiry concluded that "the most probable cause" was that the crew selected an "inappropriate ROC [rate of climb] to safely overfly the Mull. However, it also said there were "many potential causes of the accident" and it was "unable to determine a definite cause".
Two air marshals - Sir William Wratten and Sir John Day, the senior officer responsible for RAF Chinooks - took it upon themselves to overrule the inquiries' verdicts. They accused the two pilots - Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cook, sufficiently skilled to have been cleared for special forces operations - of "gross negligence" by breaking flying rules in bad weather.
Such a verdict requires an extremely high burden of proof, higher than that used in criminal courts for murder. RAF rules in force at the time, but since abandoned, stated that "only in cases in which there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever should deceased aircrew be found negligent".
In a newspaper last weekend, Wratten justified his verdict by insisting that the pilots had failed to exercise skill and judgment by flying into bad weather too low and too fast. Yet he also conceded that since the Chinook was not equipped with a black box or cockpit voice recorder "there is inevitably a degree of speculation as to the precise detail of the events prior to impact". Why the pilots "elected to ignore the safe options open to them... we shall never know". This hardly meets the demanding test laid down by the RAF rules which then existed.
A mountain of evidence has emerged since the crash which makes a mockery of the verdict or, as Rifkind, not known for overstatement, put it yesterday, points to "massive uncertainty". Documents obtained by Computer Weekly magazine and seen by the Guardian show that the MoD has repeatedly misled both the official inquiries and the Commons.
Much of the evidence concerns the Chinook's software system called Fadec, short for Full Authority Digital Electronic Control. Last week Scotland's senior law officer, the lord advocate, Colin Boyd QC, said that new information about faults in the Chinook's Fadec software "may be thought to reinforce" the inconclusive findings of the fatal accident inquiry. He conceded that it "invites speculation as to another possible cause for the crash".
In 1997, the MoD told Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, that the RAF inquiry "found no evidence of structural or technical malfunction". What the board of inquiry actually concluded was that "distraction by a technical malfunction could have been a contributory factor in the accident". The MoD's own air accident investigation branch reinforced the point, telling the inquiry that the Chinook's "pre-impact serviceability could not be positively verified" - in other words, there was no forensic evidence.
The inquiry was also told that shortly before the Mull crash, Chinook pilots were confronted with "unforeseen malfunctions ... of a flight critical nature [which] have mainly been associated with the engine control system Fadec. They have resulted in undemanded engine shutdown, engine run up ...."
The MoD subsequently told the Commons defence committee that Boeing, manufacturer of the Chinook, "did not consider the Fadec to be flight safety critical". Yet in evidence in the US, where it was suing the manufacturer of the Fadec system, Textron Lycoming, in relation to an earlier accident, the MoD stated: "The software was truly criticial in maintaining safe flight".
[Supplier Diversity Program Textron Systems Supplier Diversity Program is committed to providing subcontracting opportunities for all classes of small businesses including small disadvantaged, women-owned, HUBZone, veteran, service disabled veteran-owned, minority institutions, and historically black colleges and universities. Textron Systems continues to be committed to a diverse supply base that reflects our company values, customer commitment, and involvement in the community in which we serve.]
Defence ministers told MPs in 1998 that the MoD sued the US company because of negligence in "testing procedures" and not, they insisted, because of "a failure of the software". Yet three years earlier, the MoD told the US authorities that the accident at issue - involving an MoD Chinook in 1989 - was caused by an engine overrun "to an unprecedented and violent overspeed" during testing. It blamed the problem on the Fadec system's "faulty design".
Neither the Scottish fatal accident inquiry nor the RAF board of inquiry were told that at the time of the Mull of Kintyre crash that the MoD was suing Textron Lycoming over failings in the Fadec system.
The Aeroplane and Armament Research Establishment at Boscombe Down, the MoD's own airworthiness assessors, grounded non-operational Chinooks a day before the crash on the Mull because of concerns about the Fadec system. Four days after the crash, on June 6 1994, Wratten drafted an angry memo to one of his senior colleagues complaining about Boscombe Down's decision to stop Chinook flying trials for the second time that year.
After making it clear that Boscombe's decision would be overruled, Wratten added that Boscombe's attitude "does nothing to engender aircrew confidence in the aircraft".
Earlier this year a report by fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society concluded that the verdict of pilot negligence was not sustainable in the light of evidence pointing to other problems which could have caused the crash on the Mull. Wratten and Day were so infuriated by the report that they resigned from the society.
The misleading goes on. Last week John Spellar, the armed forces minister, told the Liberal Democrat MP, Thomas Brake, that the Chinook Mark 2 - of the kind that crashed on the Mull - had a "complete set of flight reference cards in June 1994". These, he said, contained all the normal and emergency operating drills in force at the time, including what to do in the event of a possible Fadec malfunction.
His answer directly contradicts evidence given by RAF officers to the inquiries. The RAF inquiry was told that the Chinook flight reference cards were based on earlier models of the helicopter which were not fitted with Fadec, according to a transcript seen by the Guardian. A Chinook pilot told the Scottish fatal accident inquiry that the cards in force in June 1994 "were actually held to be so incorrect as to be contributory to the number of engine malfunctions being observed".
Against this background, it is scarcely surprising that Rifkind will today ask Hoon either to set aside the verdict on the Mull crash or set up an independent inquiry. "If the government is not careful, this is going to be a cause celebre," Menzies Campbell said yesterday. richard.norton-taylor@guardian.co.uk"
"Trump Shuttle, Inc., doing business as Trump Airlines, was an airline owned by Donald Trump from 1989 to 1992.[1][2] The landing rights and some of the physical assets necessary to operate the shuttle flights were originally part of Eastern Air Lines and known as the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle. It operated hourly flights on Boeing 727 aircraft from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., then known as Washington National Airport. Trump Airlines also had regularly scheduled flights between LaGuardia and Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida.
History[edit]
As the financial outlook for Eastern Air Lines became more pessimistic in the late 1980s, the carrier began to sell its routes and aircraft. It organized its profitable Northeastern air shuttle operation into a separate company headed by Bruce Nobles with the intent of selling it to raise cash. On October 5, 1988, amidst a prolonged threatened mechanics' strike action, Donald Trump arranged to purchase the shuttle. In June 1989 the deal was completed, financed through a $380 million loan from a syndicate of 22 banks. The new airline began service as Trump Shuttle on June 23. It's IATA designator code, TB, has since been assigned to Jetairfly.
Trump pushed to make the new shuttle a luxury service and a marketing vehicle for the Trump name. Its aircraft were newly painted in white livery and the interiors redecorated with such features as maple wood veneer, chrome seat belt latches, and gold colored lavatory fixtures. The airline also was a leader in the adoption of advanced technologies; it introduced some of the first passenger self-service check-in kiosks in coordination with Kinetics at its LaGuardia base and partnered with LapStop, a startup firm which rented laptop computers to passengers.
Trump's previous experience with airlines was operating a scheduled helicopter service to Atlantic City, New Jersey. Trump was to expand this service to include helicopters from Manhattan to LaGuardia Airport and offer scheduled helicopter service between New York and the Hamptons. The airline operated three 24 seat Sikorsky S-61 and two Boeing 234 Commercial Chinook helicopters for a brief period.[3] The airline also maintained and operated a single Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma as an executive transport.[4]
Almost from its inception, the company encountered financial problems. The Shuttle's core passengers chose it for its convenience, not its costly luxury features, and during the prolonged labor strike at Eastern Shuttle many defected to the competing Pan Am Shuttle or to Amtrak's Metroliner service. In late 1989 the U.S. Northeast entered an economic recession which depressed demand, while the August 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait caused jet fuel prices to double.
Trump Shuttle never turned a profit. The high debt load incurred in the company's formation unnerved Trump's creditors as his other high profile, highly leveraged interests failed. In September 1990 the loans were defaulted and ownership of the airline passed to its creditor banks, led by Citicorp. With airline share prices depressed by the recession and anticipation of the Gulf War, they were unable to sell the operation at a desired price despite lengthy negotiations first with Northwest Airlines, then American Airlines and US Air Group.
The banks finally negotiated a complex marketing arrangement in which US Air Group would assume 40% ownership and agree to manage the operation for ten years, including fares, financial record keeping, advertising, promotions, aircraft maintenance, and labor relations. The same agreement gave USAir an option to purchase the entire shuttle operation on or after October 10, 1996 with an exclusive right to do so until April 10, 1997. On April 7, 1992 Trump Shuttle ceased to exist when it was merged into a new corporation, Shuttle, Inc., which began operating as the USAir Shuttle on April 12, 1992.
US Airways subsequently purchased the remainder of Shuttle, Inc. on November 19, 1997, and the service subsequently operated under the name US Airways Shuttle. Shuttle, Inc. remained as a subsidiary of US Air Group until July 1, 2000, when it was merged into US Airways. In October 2015, US Airways merged with American Airlines, at which point the shuttle became the American Airlines Shuttle.
The demise of the shuttle almost meant a demise of Trump's scheduled helicopter service to Atlantic City and the Hamptons.[citation needed] However, he was to continue to operate a private service for highrollers. Trump's involvement in airlines was evoked frequently in the television show The Apprentice."
"Cameron aide arrested over allegations relating to child abuse images
Patrick Rock resigned as deputy head of Downing Street's policy last month on day before arrest
Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent
Tuesday 4 March 2014 00.05 GMT
Last modified on Wednesday 13 January 201620.17 GMT
A senior aide to David Cameron resigned from Downing Street last month the day before being arrested on allegations relating to child abuse images.
Patrick Rock, who was involved in drawing up the government's policy for the large internet firms on online pornography filters, resigned after No 10 was alerted to the allegations.
Rock was arrested at his west London flat the next morning. Officers from the National Crime Agency subsequently examined computers and offices used in Downing Street by Rock, the deputy director of No 10's policy unit, according to the Daily Mail, which disclosed news of his arrest.”
"Jenkins writes:
Is Jimmy Savile and the BBC the biggest story on Earth? Apparently so. Today the British media placed it above ... the implosion of Lebanonand above the birth of the world's largest oil company. Savile was bigger than killer drones in Lincolnshire... bigger than the sensational Birmingham terrorism trial.
The Savile story is about elite pedophile rings and the security services blackmailing top people.
How do you persuade Congress to vote for a war that will hurt the USA but benefit certain arms dealers, drugs gangs and people on Wall Street?
Blackmail the members of Congress."
"Serco Receives "Supplier of the Year” from Boeing for Enterprise Architecture Expertise
Serco Inc. has been recognized as Supplier of the Year by The Boeing Company in the Technology category for its state-of-the-practice Enterprise Architecture solutions.
…Serco's Enterprise Architecture Center of Excellence is based in Colorado Springs, CO. The team provides a variety of services in support of Boeing's business units as well as research and development efforts. Serco's architecture employs object-oriented (OO)/Unified Modeling Language (UML) to define, design and satisfy defense agencies' mission-critical requirements, including Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I). This approach improves system developer’s understanding of operational requirements and how best to integrate enterprise operations and systems for the optimal fulfillment of C4I and other operational needs.
About Serco Inc.: Serco Inc. is a leading provider of professional, technology, and management services focused on the federal government. We advise, design, integrate, and deliver solutions that transform how clients achieve their missions.
Our customer-first approach, robust portfolio of services, and global experience enable us to respond with solutions that achieve outcomes with value. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Serco Inc. has approximately 11,000 employees, annual revenue of $1.5 billion, and is ranked in the Top 30 of the largest Federal Prime Contractors by Washington Technology.
Serco Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Serco Group plc, a $6.6 billion international business that helps transform government and public services around the world. More information about Serco Inc. can be found at http://www.serco-na.com."
"27 years old: the Chinook from the Falklands STILL serving in Helmand
By PETER ALMOND
UPDATED: 20:58 GMT, 18 July 2009
It is an RAF legend - children scramble around a copy of it at the RAF Museum in Hendon, and Baroness Thatcher has been photographed with it.
But Bravo November, a remarkable Chinook helicopter which first saw service in the Falklands, is still going strong on the battlefields of Afghanistan.
The 18-year-old soldiers boarding it in Helmand know only from a small brass plaque inside that this helicopter is a nearly decade older than they are - and it's still not ready for retirement.
Bravo November - named after BN, its original identification tail number - is probably the most remarkable RAF aircraft of the last 30 years.
It won its first Distinguished Flying Cross for pilot Squadron Leader Dick Langworthy in May 1982, when it was only two months out of its packing crate at RAF Odiham, Hampshire.
It won its second DFC for pilot Sqn Ldr Steve Carr on the opening night of the Iraq War in 2003, and its third for pilot Flight Lieutenant Craig Wilson in Afghanistan in 2006.
Now officially known as ZA718, Bravo November still holds a world record for carrying the largest number of troops in a single flight.
'Bravo November is a hugely significant aeroplane to the RAF,' said retired Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns when he opened an exhibition honouring it at the RAF Museum on the 25th anniversary of the Falklands war.
'The RAF almost never singles out individual aircraft for tribute. But Bravo November is exceptional.'
But is its survival just down to luck? Certainly it seems to have been lucky in the Falklands.
It was away on a flight test when an Argentine Exocet missile sank its transport ship, the Atlantic Conveyor, along with all four of the other Chinooks on board.
Bravo November went almost immediately into action after the first British troops landed on the Falklands, initially carrying 105mm guns to support SAS troops on Mount Kent who were under fire from Argentine artillery.
On a later mission it ran into a snowstorm on its way back to San Carlos Water. The crew's night-vision goggles failed and the helicopter crashed into the sea at 100 knots. Water poured over its cockpit and the two engines started to 'flame out'. But luck was with pilot Dick Langworthy and his co-pilot Andy Lawless. Their controls had been set to climb, and with the twin rotors flailing, the helicopter leapt into the air like a cork from a bottle.
Slightly damaged, and without spare parts or adequate lubricants, Bravo November managed to hold together for another vital two weeks, delivering troops and supplies wherever they were needed.
At one point Bravo November rushed into battle with 81 troops jammed inside. It was twice the normal maximum load - a feat that to this day stands as a record for a troop-carrying helicopter anywhere in the world.
By the time the Argentines surrendered, Bravo November had flown for 109 hours and carried 1,500 troops, 95 casualties, 550 prisoners of war and 550 tons of cargo.
It also served in Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Germany and Kurdistan.
At the start of the first Gulf War in 2003, Bravo November took the first Royal Marines on to the Al-Faw peninsula to seize vital oil-pumping facilities. Any one of the five Chinooks on that first British attack could have led the way.
But either by luck, coincidence or the scheming of RAF engineers, the lead commander, Sqn Ldr Steve Carr, found himself flying Bravo November.
Three years later, on the night of June 11, 2006, Flt Lt Craig Wilson was captain of Bravo November in Helmand when he was ordered to recover a casualty at a landing site.
Even though he had done little night flying in the country, he flew at 150ft, made a precision landing and recovered the casualty.
A few hours later he was back on another evacuation mission, although this time he was forced to delay his landing while an Apache gunship suppressed enemy fire.
After this, despite having been on duty for 22 hours, Flt Lt Wilson volunteered to deliver reinforcements to threatened troops. He brought back two wounded soldiers, saving their lives. His actions earned him the DFC - Bravo November's third.
Curiously - or out of concern for ending Bravo November's 'luck' - no mention of this award was made at the Falklands 25th anniversary the next year.
And today, after many months of deep maintenance back in England, Bravo November is back in Afghanistan quietly doing its job - several times narrowly dodging Taliban bullets and rocket-propelled grenades.
'It just always seems to be there when you need it,' said Wing Commander Andy Naismith, former commanding officer of Bravo November's 18 Squadron. 'It never lets us down.'"
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1200604/27-years-old-Chinook-Falklands-STILL-serving-Helmand.html#ixzz43P6HSoTz
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"Combat Missions is a one-hour-long reality TV show produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by former Survivor castaway Rudy Boesch that aired from January to April in 2002 on the USA Network. It pits four teams of highly experienced military and police operatives against each other in physical challenges and "mission" scenarios. Each team has a call sign and corresponding color. The four teams are Alpha (Red), Bravo (Blue), Charlie (Yellow) and Delta (Green). The team members were past and present members of SWAT, the United States Army Special Forces, the Navy SEALs, Marine Recon, the CIA Special Operations Group, the Delta Force, and the U.S. Army Rangers. The mission scenarios has each team face off against the opposing "Shadow force" (not another team) using MILES gear in real-life combat situations. The show was not picked up for a second season. Scott Helvenston, one of the contestants from the Delta team went on to work for Blackwater USA in Iraq after the show and was killed in action on March 31, 2004."
"Mark Burnett was born on 17 July 1960 in London, the only child of Archie and Jean Burnett, both Ford Motors factory workers,[5] and was raised in Dagenham, Essex. His father was a Roman Catholic and his mother was a Presbyterian, although it is not known in which denomination he was raised.[6] Aged 17, he enlisted in the British Army, and became a Section Commander in the Parachute Regiment. From 1978–82 he served with the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment in C Company and saw action during the Falklands War.[5] He has been a naturalized United States citizen since 1990, according to some reports.[citation needed]
Early career[edit]
In October 1982, Burnett decided to emigrate to the United States, where he met up with a friend, Nick Hill, who had emigrated from the UK several years earlier and was working as a nanny and chauffeur. Hill knew of an open position for a live-in nanny position with the Jaeger family in affluent Beverly Hills. Despite having no experience as a nanny, Burnett went on the interview. The Jaegers, realizing the advantage of having a nanny and security at the same time, hired him. After a year of working for the Jaegers, he moved on to another family in the beach city of Malibu, also in California, taking care of two boys for $250 a week. He was eventually given a position in the insurance office owned by Burt, the father of the two boys. Two years later, he decided to rent a portion of a fence at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, and sell T-shirts for $18 each during weekends. Realizing he made more money selling T-shirts, he left his insurance job.[7] In 1991, Burnett, along with four others, joined a French adventure competition called the Raid Gauloises. After competing, Burnett saw a business opportunity in holding similar competitions. He purchased the format rights and brought a similar competition, Eco-Challenge, to America. Eco-Challenge launched Burnett's career as a television producer.[5]"
"Before Donald Trump made great reality TV, before his campaign to make American reality great, he never watched any of the shows.
He didn't like the whole idea of reality TV. “That’s for the bottom feeders of society," Trump told friends.
Then, in 2002, "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett came to see him at Trump Tower. Burnett, a former T-shirt salesman on Venice Beach, had achieved stratospheric ratings with a show based in exotic spots such as the Australian outback and the Polynesian islands. But he had little kids at home, and he was desperate to do a show in a U.S. city. Burnett's road home, he realized, was through Trump. Above: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a November campaign stop in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (Charles Ommanney/The Washington Post)
"The Apprentice" would star Trump as judge, jury and executioner in a weekly winnowing of young go-getters vying to run one of his businesses. Trump's agent told him it was a terrible idea — business shows never work on TV, he said.
Trump disagreed. Indeed, he fired the agent shortly thereafter. "If I would have listened to him," Trump told The Washington Post, "I wouldn't have done the show.”
THE DECIDERS
Nothing reveals more about politicians than the decisions they make — why they chose to do something, how they made it happen, what came of it. In the days before the first votes are cast in Iowa and New Hampshire, The Washington Post is exploring one key choice by each leading presidential candidate and explain the insight it offers into the way he or she might operate in the White House.
Not halfway into that first, hour-long meeting with Burnett, Trump made up his mind. He sensed that “The Apprentice” had enormous potential to introduce him to a broader audience, and especially to younger people.
"My jet's going to be in every episode," he told Jim Dowd, then NBC's publicity director and now head of a PR firm, Dowd Ink. "Even if it doesn’t get ratings, it's still going to be great for my brand."
Burnett walked out of the meeting with a handshake deal. Trump secured not only a starring role on a show made by TV’s hottest producer but also a 50 percent ownership stake in “The Apprentice.”
The man who now seeks to be commander in chief had consulted no one, done no research. He liked the idea. He bought it.
It was a classic Trump moment, an example of the gut-instinct decision-making that he proudly touts in nearly every campaign speech. Buy a show. Build a wall. Pull out of a debate. Make America great again. "It's very easy," Trump promises.
What was harder was the decision to run for president, which Trump had talked about for decades. He didn't run for president because of "The Apprentice," but according to the show's executives and producers, without "The Apprentice" there would be no candidacy."
"Loan Improvement Jan 31, 2001 SBA modernizes to help feed its growing programs
BY PATRICIA DAUKANTAS | GCN STAFF
Under a five-year plan for overhauling its information technology systems, the Small Business Administration recently acquired new software for financial and other administrative tasks. .. In the first phase of the modernization, the agency has upgraded systems for managing its extensive portfolio of guaranteed loans, chief operating officer Kristine Marcy [Field McConnell's sister] said. SBA processed its first electronic loan last November through its Sacramento, Calif., office and plans to add more private lenders during fiscal 2001. .. Marcy said. Banks had been asking SBA to make faster decisions on loan guarantees. The agency decided to aim for a [onion router] turnaround time of one hour. In the second phase of modernization, SBA is revamping its financial, human resources, procurement and travel systems with Web-enabled Oracle Corp. applications. .. The second-phase integrator, SRA International Inc. of Arlington, Va., has subcontracted with a number of small firms for things such as training and data conversion [Note Serco protégé Base One opened a document conversion center in the Bronx in 2006, presumably to deal with Obama's passport problems]. .. In the final phase of the modernization, SBA will upgrade the computers in its 8(a) Business Development Program, which assists small businesses in competing for government contracts, Marcy said. The agency wants to be able to improve its tracking of clients' successes and failures [through to liquidation by the SBA's preferred lenders and sureties such as HSBC and Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America - note merged with Citigroup and John Deutch's CIA friends!]."
"Preparing the 8(a) application package
You do not need to pay anyone to prepare your 8(a) application. SBA designed the application forms so the applicant can complete the application. However, a consultant can assist in completing the application. Please be advised that no one can guarantee that an application for 8(a) program participation will be approved. The application process is intended to assure that each applicant receives a fair, unbiased review, free from favoritism and influence. Any irregularities in the application review process should be immediately referred to the SBA Inspector General.
Definition of Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals Socially disadvantaged individuals are those who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identities as members of groups without regard to their individual qualities. The social disadvantage must stem from circumstances beyond their control.
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the following individuals are presumed to be socially disadvantaged: Black Americans; Hispanic Americans (persons with origins from Latin America, South America, Portugal and Spain);
Native Americans (American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians);
Asian Pacific Americans (persons with origins from Japan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, Samoa, Guam, U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands [Republic of Palau], Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Laos, Cambodia [Kampuchea], Taiwan, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Macao, Hong Kong, Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, or Nauru);
Subcontinent Asian Americans (persons with origins from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives Islands or Nepal);
And members of other groups designated from time to time by the SBA.
In addition, an individual who is not a member of one of the above-named groups may apply for 8(a) certification. However, the applicant must establish social disadvantage on the basis of clear and convincing evidence.
Economically disadvantaged individuals are socially disadvantaged individuals whose ability to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities, as compared to others in the same or similar line of business and competitive market area who are not socially disadvantaged. For purposes of program entry, an individual whose personal net worth (excluding the equity in their personal residence and business) exceeds $250,000 will not be considered economically disadvantaged.
Woman-Owned Businesses
A woman-owned business may be recognized as a "socially disadvantaged firm" if the owner is a member of one of the groups for which social disadvantage is presumed. If the woman is not a member of one of the groups for which social disadvantage is presumed, she must establish her individual disadvantage on the basis of clear and convincing evidence that she has suffered discriminatory treatment because of her gender and that this treatment has impeded her entry into or advancement in the business world. SBA will consider any pertinent evidence but will give particular attention to evidence of discriminatory practices suffered in the areas of education, employment and the business world."
"Time called on Serco's NPL contract
By Gill Plimmer
Serco, the FTSE 100 outsourcing company, has lost its contract to run the National Physical Laboratory – which built the first atomic clock – after the government said it would seek academic partners to take over the centre instead.
The laboratory has been managed by Serco on a profit-share basis since 1994. But David Willetts, science minister, has decided that the government can "encourage greater interaction with businesses" by ending the contract in March 2014, when the company's 17-year tenure comes to an end.
The decision highlights the vulnerability of some of the government's biggest suppliers to political change. Although the coalition is widely accepted to be engaged in the biggest wave of outsourcing since the 1980s, contracts can be pulled at the last minute, even once companies have spent significant amounts on the bidding process.
Kean Marden, analyst at Jefferies, said there were still UK government contracts worth £3.5bn in revenues in the pipeline, as advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union. But this is down from the £4bn of bidding opportunities it found in May. The decrease takes account of a surprise decision last month to cancel a programme to outsource nine prisons each year to the private sector and instead keep the running of custodial services in-house.
It also includes a scaling back of the private sector's involvement in police services after Surrey Police Authority pulled out of discussions with G4S in the wake of the company's failure to provide 12,000 security staff it had promised for the London Olympics. The National Physics Laboratory still has a role in setting UK time, with radio signals based on its clocks used to set everything from the pips on the radio to the rail network. An apple tree grown from a cutting of Newton's famous tree is still growing at its site in Teddington, London.
Serco said it was disappointed by the decision and pointed to a 30 per cent reduction in overhead costs over the life of its deal, as well as a doubling of scientific citations as well as third party revenues.
"We have managed NPL for the last 17 years and we are very proud that during that time it has flourished, both scientifically and commercially," Serco said. The company has won £5.6bn of contracts so far this year.
Mr Willetts said there were significant "opportunities which would be difficult to realise under an extension of the current contract". He said the change would reflect the government's aim to strengthen "both fundamental research and engagement with business" at the centre.
"I consider that the partners should have a clear, long-term stake in the ownership and operation of the National Physical Laboratory which would not be possible under the current arrangements which, of necessity, must be time-limited," Mr Willetts said. "A partnership with an academic institution would also allow for the formation of a dedicated applied science postgraduate institute.""
"Serco announces office carbon reduction initiative
International outsourcing business Serco has announced it is to introduce new software aimed at helping its offices cut back on carbon emissions.
Under the new initiative, the company's offices in 35 countries will make use of the newly-launched Acco2unt software from Greenstone Carbon Management.
This new technology will be used to help office managers measure, store and report levels of carbon emissions, thereby making it easier to carry out green audits and assess where cuts can be made.
In addition, it is intended that the data compiled through the use of the software will also enable Serco to draw up [carbon-capping death-pool onion-router] benchmarks for its operations across the globe.
Announcing the development, Tim Davis, head of assurance reporting at Serco, said: "The complex nature of Serco's business operations demanded an easy to use enterprise carbon accounting tool that would help us aggregate, measure and manage carbon emissions – quickly, accurately and cost-effectively."
This comes as the Federation of Small Businesses has joined forces with the Prince's Mayday Network to help UK companies cut their carbon emissions."
"Serco do a bunch more that didn't even make our story: As well as thanking God for his success, CEO Chris Hyman is a Pentecostal Christian who has released a gospel album in America and fasts every Tuesday. Amazingly, he was also in the World Trade Centre on 9/11, on the 47th floor addressing shareholders [such as Wells Fargo with an insured interest in the leveraged lease on the WTC Twin Towers]. Serco run navy patrol boats for the ADF, as well as search and salvage operations through their partnership with P&O which form Defence Maritime Services. Serco run two Australian jails already, Acacia in WA and Borallon in Queensland. They’re one of the biggest companies In the UK for running electronic tagging of offenders under house arrest or parole."
Yours sincerely,
Field McConnell, United States Naval Academy, 1971; Forensic Economist; 30 year airline and 22 year military pilot; 23,000 hours of safety; Tel: 715 307 8222
David Hawkins Tel: 604 542-0891 Forensic Economist; former leader of oil-well blow-out teams; now sponsors Grand Juries in CSI Crime and Safety Investigation
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