as people asked on my blog, how do they get the limos and 20 armored cars there?

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Probably a C-130 or two.

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I'd say a C-141 or C-5 or 2.

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saw the pic manywhere by now, but not a single article citing sources or anything....

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The 30 seconds I spent looking for the original article was also fruitless.

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I spent about five minutes looking on Google before I realized the Reuters logo at the bottom. Checked there, I couldn't even find the graphic.

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This story doesn't include the Reuters graphic, but confirms all the numbers. Doug Conway is apparently an Australian Associated Press writer.

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There's a very good chance he got the information from Reuters, seeing as how there is a pic of Georgie credited to them.

I just find it very strange that this is no where to be found on the Reuters homepage.

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I saw a similar graphic in the local paper a couple of months ago in the leadup to the APEC conference in Sydney. It was comparing Bush's entourage to the New Zealand contingent, which was approximately four people including the Prime Minister.

I'm wondering though, are political aids contagious? Somebody at Reuters needs a spelling aide.

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I saw a similar graphic in the local paper a couple of months ago in the leadup to the APEC conference in Sydney. It was comparing Bush's entourage to the New Zealand contingent, which was approximately four people including the Prime Minister.

Standard entourage for the Queen (of the UK and Commonwealth): up to six special branch cops (so there are two on duty at any time), a couple of PAs, and for transport she rents the first class cabin of a British Airways airliner. Vehicles, when traveling in the UK: two limos and up to four motorcycle outriders.

It's not just George W. Bush: I've seen the mayor of a mid-sized US city drive by with an escort that to European eyes looked like an entire EU head-of-state summit with brass knobs on. American politicians are really fucking weird when it comes to wanting the trappings of pomp and ceremony.

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Then again, I've seen Jerry Brown (when he was mayor of Oakland) riding BART with no entourage whatsoever.

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The mayor of Toronto, Canada's largest city, takes the streetcar to work.

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That guy is seriously abnormality in the world of politics. He is the most progressive and reasonable mayor I've ever seen. In a real non-mocking manner even. I hear he's a nice guy too.

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I wonder what that costs us per day.

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Compare with President Taft's entourage:



Gotta give Taft props for having an entourage that includes the Cream of Wheat guy-- with a knife.

If I organized a Presidential entourage, it would need to include a good jazz band, scantily-clad dancing gals, and Mr. Peanut.

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Good lord, I grew up near towns smaller than that.

Considering how well-armed that group is, I guess it's a blessing they don't use preemptive strikes before they come marching in.

Also, considering that this is an entourage, I'm surprised they aren't led in by fake paparazzi (no film or memory cards in the cameras).

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Minus the chef and cooks, that's 666 in the entourage.

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...four calling birds, three french hens, etc etc.

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beat me to the punch. :)

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Pimp rolls a city deep.

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Ent'rages ain't shit but hoes and tricks.

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To paraphrase Big Papa: "What's beef? Beef is when you roll no less than 600 deep."

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I've often thought that, just using the assorted open-source, public, and declassified data, it would be interesting to compare the travel patterns of every President from F.D.R. onwards. Draw the lines on the U.S. and then the globe. Oh, heck... start with William McKinley. Wrap up the 20th century.

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Would you have a special symbol for one-way trips like McKinley's trip to Buffalo?

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Probably. But that's exactly the scale I'm thinking of: city to city.

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I really don't see how this is much different than any other recent President...but hey, never pass up an opportunity to rag on Bush, right?

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I don't see much ragging above, and certainly none in the original post. It's just informative.

Unless you count "15 sniffer dog teams" a rag. I think it was just pointing out something funny.

Chill.

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while I agree wholeheartedly with elliterati...

Fuck Bush.

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That's a taserin'

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OK, THAT'S a rag. :)

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... and a partridge in a pear tree?

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It's a cute graphic, but I am personally disappointed there are no tiny diagrammatic dogs in the sniffer dog teams...

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this. That graphic designer should be FIRED.

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Revealed: the REAL market for the Airbus A-380!

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There was a rumour that the US considers A380 as Air Force One replacement, which presumably caused a swift exchange of phone calls between DC and Seattle. I wonder if Boeing will suddenly decide that the market does need another superjumbo after all?

Got any source for your Queen Elizabeth entourage figures above? They seem positively Scandinavian compared with President Bush and King Abdullah. I suppose since Brittania was sold for scrap, the travel budget's gone down a bit.

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What does he want with 150 advisors, exactly? It's not like he's going to pay any attention to them.

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...to insulate him from reality.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7068616.stm

Convoy of limousines

[King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia's] visit officially begins on Tuesday when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will greet him in Horse Guards Parade, where he will review a guard of honour before heading for the palace in carriages.

There, during a state banquet, both monarchs will make speeches.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said six planes brought the king and his huge entourage to Heathrow airport.

It took three hours for all the luggage to be unloaded while a convoy of 84 limousines drove the party into London, our correspondent said.

Among them were 23 personal advisors who will stay at Buckingham Palace and more than 400 aides who are spilling out into London hotels, he added.

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go figure...

http://www.amazon.com/House-Bush-Saud-Relationship-Dynasties/dp/074325337X

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