Archive for August, 2008
Linkzookery returns after a two-week hiatus due to technical issues and editorial laziness. A couple of older items are included.
Iraq Poised to Revive Oil Contract With China
So when are we, like, going to start stealing their oil and stuff?
Hangin’ Up The Flight Suit
Pinch is retiring from the reserves after 24 years in the service. Apparently, he finally gave up hope that the Tomcat would be back…
The Death of 1989
The vast, frightening fallout of Russia’s invasion of Georgia
Spy Sat Sharpshooter Apparently Now On The Front Lines
Leak? Or intentional leak?
New film by “Spirited Away” director wows Japan
“Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” appears to be a Little Mermaid-type story. I am a fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s work, particularly Kiki’s Delivery Service and Spirited Away. And Howl’s Moving Castle.
Boeing Wins Contract for Truck-Mounted Defense Laser
Boeing will complete the design for the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD), then build and test it on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck.
Indians’ Hands Tied in U.S. Wargame
To protect the secrets of their top-of-the-line Russian-designed Su-30MKI fighters
French Vow to Keep Fighting in ‘Besieged’ Afghanistan
No word yet whether Sarkozy still plans to add 700 more troops to his country’s 2,500-strong contingent.
Grabbing guns in Georgia
By the truckload.
U.S. Warships Run the Gauntlet with Georgia Aid
Three American ships plus some friends via the Black Sea to deliver more aid to Georgia.
Sea unearths secret Nazi bunkers that lay hidden for more than 50 years
Abandoned after the surrender and then buried by sand until now.
Battle over oil-rich city threatens to derail Iraqi elections
Ongoing issue is, well, ongoing nowhere.
Vampire bats kill 38 Warao tribespeople in Venezuela
Rabies.
Zombie Playground
Pic: 4 [5] kids making a last stand.
Poor Planning Doomed Russian Warplanes
Apparently, the Rooskies didn’t target Georgian AA at the start.
Turning roads into solar collectors
They started with the assumption that asphalt gets frakking hot when the sun shines on it. I’ve actually wondered about this before. I wish I had blogged it so I could prove it.
A beacon of hope for unwanted lighthouses
Murdoc’s guess is that the romance of living in a lighthouse would fade by day three or four.
Top 5 Olympic Opening Ceremony Moments China Wants You To Forget
Plus I’ve been told they put something in the swimming pool water to make people swim faster.
Carnival of Homeschooling
There’s More to School Than Textbooks!
Everything You Need to Know About USB 3.0, Plus First Spliced Cable Photos
4.8Gbps
Gunzookery
More links at GunPundit.com.
Signs of pullback by Russian forces in Georgia
IGOETI, Georgia – Russian forces appeared to begin fulfilling a promise Friday to pull back from positions deep inside Georgia.
No Russian forces could be seen Friday afternoon in and around Igoeti, which had been their closest position to Georgia’s capital Tbilisi. A Russian armored column also was seen moving away from a base in western Georgia and a Georgian official said that forces were leaving the key central city of Gori.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and other officials have said Russian forces would pull back to Moscow-backed separatist regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as surrounding security zones, by day’s end Friday.
Russian troops appeared to be continuing to dig in near the port city of Poti.
I was going to post about this last night but didn’t get to it. Then today, out of the blue, I get an email from a friend in France wondering how things are going. So I dug up a picture taken today and here ya go:
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, center left, arrives to meet with French soldiers from the 8th regiment of paratroopers, survivors of the Taliban's ambush of Ouzbine, in Warehouse camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday August 20, 2008.
Though a lot of American are pretty critical of the French when it comes to international affairs and the war, let’s not forget that we are, after all, on the same side. There are going to be many more days in Afghanistan like the day that left ten French troops dead, and the more friends and allies we have, the better.
So, in the spirit of friendship with my buddy the frog, let’s all just get along for a while.
From an American perspective, Sarkozy’s election is a mostly positive development. From a French perspective, the election of anyone besides Bush this fall will probably be seen as a positive development.
I guess I had missed the fact that the Humvees the Rooskies were parading for the cameras, along with blindfolded Georgian prisoners, belonged to us. Jay Tea:
Those Humvees were in Georgia for recent joint military exercises, and were packed up and on the docks in Georgia for return to the US. The Russian soldiers have stolen United States Army weapons and are now being held deep in Russian-held territory.
Last time I checked, that sort of thing is an act of war. On the grand scale of things, it’s a minor act of war, but nonetheless it demonstrates Russia’s attitude towards the US — “we’ll do what we want, and you won’t do anything about it.” That even includes seizing our weapons — which were NOT being used, but merely happened to be present at a dock.
It could be, of course, that the troops didn’t realize what they were doing. But I guess the Russians owe us replacement cost for those vehicles.
I’m guessing the Bushmaster carbines belonged to the Georgian military, though. Does anyone know for sure?
Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, said his country was “very disappointed” that Russia had not withdrawn its troops from Georgia, as agreed in the cease-fire he helped negotiate.
Shocking.
Then we have:
Russia rejects UN call to pull out of Georgia and also US says Russia is beginning pullout from Georgia.
We’ll see.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) release:
Northrop Grumman has completed the center fuselage for the first U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II, a carrier variant designated CF-1.
Full release here.
Megan McArdle: China is proving that American companies will throw freedom of speech out the window if the price is right.
Recall this:
Via Instapundit.
UPDATE: Five American bloggers detained by China
Five American blogger-activists and a foreign artist have been detained in Beijing as the government intensifies a crackdown on pro-Tibetan protests in the home stretch of the Olympics, rights groups said on Wednesday.
Wasn’t it supposed to, say, explode, or something?
Wreckage said to be a Russian SS-21 missile on a Georgian military police vehicle.
It’s the guys at Military Photos who IDed it as an SS-21. More pics below.
Read the rest of this entry »
Patriot Missile Battery On Watch
Bush-McCain Policies Towards Russia Only Promise A Dangerous Arms Race
Paul Hooson, writing at Wizbang Blue:
The decision by President Bush to send 10 Patriot missiles and about 100 U.S. soldiers to Poland is a dangerous escalation of the rapidly worsening relations with Russia since their military actions in Georgia.
Again with the “defensive weapons are sooooo threatening” line of reasoning. Hooson argues that since 10 Patriot missiles can’t defend Poland against “a Russian warhead force of 5518 warheads and more than 1,100 total missile launchers” it’s provocative. However, Hooson is toally misreading the situation. We aren’t sending “10 Patriot missiles” to defend Poland against thousands of Russian nuclear warheads, we’re sending Patriot missile batteries to Poland for air defense in exchange for the right to, in the future, base 10 interceptors for protection against rogue-type states like Iran.
Now why, oh, why would someone like Poland feel the need for some top-notch air defense.
Could it be, oh, I don’t know….Geeeeoooorgia?
It was Russian air superiority which allowed their forces to move easily into South Ossetia and on into Georgia. Not that Geogia could have stood for long against Russia, but what stands they did make were hampered and withdrawals chaotic with a lot of heavy equipment left behind. It comes as a surprise to no one that owning the air makes it much easier to control the situation on the surface.
Russia may have re-established itself as the heaviest hitter on the block last week, but they probalby also convinced a lot of their neighbors to beef up the anti-air capability.
Honestly, who could blame them?
Not all add-on armor is created equal:
Pakistani soldiers patrol during the curfew in the restive Swat valley, Pakistan, 18 August 2008. More than 120 people, including 14 law enforcers and two dozen civilians, have so far died in the skirmishes between Pakistani security forces and pro-Taliban militants. Tensions rose in the scenic valley, located about 300km north-west of Islamabad, when the military launched a crackdown on the supporters of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah after he began a campaign to impose Taliban rule in Swat
Could do the trick against an RPG, though. Murdoc’s guess is that there’s no money in the budget for an active protection system this fiscal year.
From MP.
UPDATE: Now that I think about it, that thin corrugated steel (or whatever it is) isn’t going to set off the warhead, is it? Better hope that that trash stuffed in there keeps it from hitting the hull armor.
