Archive for November, 2009
Palin angered by ‘sexist’ Newsweek cover
Though Murdoc thinks this is just another example of how shallow and entertainment-driven the news media has become, I wonder if Newsweek’s attempt to marginalize Palin with this (if that was their intent) doesn’t net her MORE fans in the end.
When I saw the headline my initial thought was “If she doesn’t want pictures like that, why’d she pose for them?” But then I saw the photo, and immediately realized it was from the Runner’s World story on her last year.
For the record, Murdoc would be lukewarm toward Palin as a presidential candidate if she threw her hat into the ring today. I think she’s got a lot to prove. But I’m also not buying the idea that she’s hurting the GOP. At least not hurting the GOP any more than the GOP hurts itself already.
Batteries that harvest energy from the nuclear decay of isotopes can produce very low levels of current and last for decades without needing to be replaced. A new version of the batteries, called betavoltaics, is being developed by an Ithaca, NY-based company and tested by Lockheed Martin. The batteries could potentially power electrical circuits that protect military planes and missiles from tampering by destroying information stored in the systems, or by sending out a warning signal to a military center. The batteries are expected to last for 25 years.
The anti-tamper systems are to prevent someone who gets their hands on equipment from being able to determine its inner workings to defeat or reverse-engineer it.
Battery technology is a major roadblock, and not only for the military.
Of course, if the military suddenly had batteries that were ten times as powerful and one-tenth the size of current batteries, it wouldn’t be “Gee, look how much less our troops have to carry.” It would be, “Gee, I can carry all this new gear now plus four extra mags.”
Via Instapundit.
An Iraqi tank crew member loads a .50 caliber machine gun during a live fire training exercise with an M1 Abrams tank, in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 14.
A few more at DVIDS.
Report: Lax leadership led to Hormuz collision
An informal atmosphere — along with crew complacency, a “weak” command and inferior submariner skills — are named as contributors to the March 20 collision between the attack submarine Hartford and the amphibious transport dock New Orleans in the Strait of Hormuz.
And according to a heavily redacted 102-page Judge Advocate General Manual investigation obtained by Navy Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, what turned into a major embarrassment for the submarine fleet was entirely “avoidable.”
No blame lies with the crew of the USS New Orleans according to the report.
Ford family celebrates beginning of aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford construction
The 38th president’s daughter, Susan Ford Bales, declared the keel “truly and fairly laid” at an authentication ceremony attended by congressmen, dignitaries and shipworkers at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s shipyard.
Bales, the ship’s sponsor, on Friday added her initials in chalk on a metal plate, which was welded to the 900-ton keel — the building block upon which the carrier will rise.
Susan Ford Bales, daughter of former President Gerald R. Ford and ship's sponsor of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), writes her initials onto a metal plate during the keel laying and authentication ceremony. Gerald R. Ford is the newest class of aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kevin S. O'Brien/Released)
Robert Bowker welds the initials of Susan Ford Bales into the keel of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) during a keel laying and authentication ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Newport News. Gerald R. Ford is the newest class of aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kevin S. O'Brien/Released)
Ford served aboard USS Monterey (CVL-26) during World War 2 and was nearly washed overboard during Typhoon Cobra. As I wrote in that post, Murdoc doesn’t really believe that ‘Ford’ is a good choice for the name of an aircraft carrier, particularly a lead ship. But I guess it could have been worse.
Here’s a video from WOOD-TV:
The ship is scheduled to enter service in 2015.
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft flies a combat mission June 17, 2009, over Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Robertson/Released)
Noticed this tidbit in Afghanistan airstrikes highest since July 2008:
Over Iraq, the use of bombs continues to be rare. AFCent reported only two bombs were dropped in 742 sorties in October.
Two bombs in a month.
After the elections in 2006, Nancy Pelosi said this about Iraq:
We cannot continue down this catastrophic path. And so we say to the president, ‘Mr. President, we need a new direction in Iraq. Let us work together to find a solution to the war in Iraq.’
In 2005 she said the war in Afghanistan “is over”:
“I assume that the war in Afghanistan is over, or is the contention that you have that it continues?” she said to a reporter.
A few moments later, she said: “This isn’t about the duration of the war. The war in Afghanistan is over.”
The war that was “over” more than four years ago sees the most bombs dropped, 647, in the past 15 months and the war on the “catastrophic path”, the one where she fought tooth and nail to surrender or at least prevent the “surge”, saw two.
Let’s just keep that in mind as this crowd decides what to do in Afghanistan.
UPDATE: Meanwhile, Instapundit publishes this observation from a reader:
The towers fell in New York on 9/11/01, Kabul fell to American led forces on 11/14/01. That’s 65 days.
President Obama’s hand-picked replacement commander in Afghanistan, GEN McChrystal, delivered his Afghanistan war plans to President Obama on 8/30/09, and President Obama hasn’t acted on his General’s recommendations as of today, 11/11/09. That’s 73 days, and waiting.
Potential 767 and 777-based platforms make up the “7A7 family of tankers.”
Americans owe an awful lot to our veterans. So do others around the world. Thank a couple today. Murdoc will be.
Meanwhile, a little graphic I came up with a couple years back continues to get a lot of attention, bringing in tons of search engine traffic and clicks from emails. I’m taking it that it’s appreciated, so I’ll post it once again:
A lot of our allies have Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, and maybe other special days today. Though I’m understandably biased, there is no shortage of courage in the veterans of other nations, too.
And on this week of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it’s important to note that the vets who didn’t serve during a shooting war were performing the mission, too.
Thank-you all.
UPDATE: Murdoc’s been remiss about blogging the Valour-IT drive. Got a couple extra bucks? Support our guys who are doing the heavy lifting.
Also, the Smithsonian Channel has a new six-part documentary premiering tonight: Apocalypse: The Second World War
Here’s the trailer:
C-RAM in Action
U.S. Army Awards Northrop Grumman Major C-RAM Systems Integration Delivery Order
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has received a $58 million delivery order to install additional systems and continue maintenance of existing installations for the Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortars (C-RAM) system at forward-operating bases in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Under this delivery order, announced October 9, Northrop Grumman will provide systems engineering, production, deployment and logistics support for the C-RAM system. The delivery order was awarded by the Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Program management and technical direction will come from the Director, Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar Program office, in the Army’s Program Executive Office, Command Control and Communications Tactical.
I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard anything negative about this system. I first posted on it in 2005: R2-D2 vs. Mortar Rounds. And here’s more info on the Block 1B Phalanx.
