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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> John Clark <johnkclark@gmail.com> <br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>></span></span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'> </span><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>We don't know what the naval engineers are doing.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>…But we do know what a</span></b><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>n</span></b></span><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> 80 year old</span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> senile <span class=gmaildefault>C</span>ommander <span class=gmaildefault>I</span>n <span class=gmaildefault>C</span>hief who loves having his name on <span class=gmaildefault>big </span>things<span class=gmaildefault> </span>has ordered his naval engineers to design</span></b><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>,</span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> <span class=gmaildefault>and we know what sort of ship the idiot wants the congress to pay for. </span></span></b><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>John K Clark<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Ah OK, so now I understand why you posted that stuff. You have the notion that the way major weapon systems come into being is POTUS orders naval engineers to design them. That isn’t how that process works at all. POTUS has very little to do with what gets built. Systems take a long time. POTUS is here and gone. Weapons systems like ships take far too long for POTUS to be in the design/procurement loop. The military guys do that job.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Fun aside on battleships: back in the olden days, the king ordered battleships and did generally write up the specifications. The Vasa was ordered by Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, in 1626. Specifications were changed construction after the initial keel had already begun. The king ordered more cannons and a lot of decorations. Result: the ship was top heavy and capsized on its maiden voyage. Result: ships aren’t built (or even designed) based on a king’s orders, nor POTUS whims. The military guys do that job.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></blockquote></div></div></div></body></html>