Suburban Guerrilla is reporting that:
Wow. Live on CNBC, they’re showing the Lehman Brothers employees who were told to come into the office tonight and clean out their desks.
They’ve been told to clean out their desks on a Sunday night?
Oh my God.
Year: 2008
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Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams
Seriously, she is the gift that keeps on giving.
We now have her signature on the budgets when the rape kits were deleted from the budget.
This is not a bug, this is a feature. Police investigations and evidence collection is only for rich people if you are a Republican.
Obama Raised $66 Million in August
When you consider that McCain will be limited to $81.78 million for the rest of the campaign, by virtue of his taking public financing, Obama should have a lead, though less than his numbers implies, as the RNC is outraising the DNC, and McCain is embracing the PACs and 527s.
The Press Notices that Palin is Dick Cheney in Drag
Both the New York Times, and the Washington Post have just come out with articles about Palin detailing personal vendettas, sweetheart deals for friends, and an aggressive pursuit of earmarks.
I’m an eternal optimist, but maybe the bloom is off the media’s rose.
SNL on Palin
Norwegian and Dutch Fighter Competitions, SAAB Ups Gripen Ante
Honestly, I think that both countries have alredy sunk so much money into the JSF, that it’s a lost cause, but you have to admire the dedication of the SAAB sales force.
First, SAAB is offering an “all inclusive” bid, including, “the 85 Gripen NGs, training, spares, simulators and support,” in addition to industrial offsets.
Additionally, they are claiming that the Gripen will will be billions cheaper over the life of the aircraft, which is likely true, as it weighs half as much.
Additionally, with the emphasis on remote austere basing, the Gripen probably wins in a COIN scenario like Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is actually their strongest case, that the US DoD and Lockheed-Martin will be nickel and diming the JSF customers throughout the program, in addition to still not having a hard and fast price or delivery schedule.
We also have some of the PowerPoint slides from L-M and SAAB:
LM Range Chart
SAAB Chart
Which appears to indicate that the Gripen has more range than the JSF, though I think that this is not an apples to apples comparison, as the Gripen is likely carrying external tanks for this.
In the meantime, it appears that reports of the Typhoon reentering the competition were greatly exaggerated, they still see it as a sucker’s game, though Boeing, and US Navy are offering the Super Hoenet with the APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.
One interesting monkey wrench thrown into the JSF’s path is that the Dutch Economics Ministry appears to be trying to extract more money from the Dutch industrial JSF partners, which would serve to raise costs of the aircraft to non-cloggie air forces.
Orion Launcher Design Review Slips
Seriously, the orgy of late, mismanaged, and over budget is beginning to rival the clusterf$#@ that is the space shuttle.
Iran Denies Reports Double Digit SAM Purchases
In this case, the “double digit” refers to the models of missiles SA-10, SA-20, etc,, not the quantities, but the Iranian Foreign Ministry denies this, claiming that they are relying on technologies developed within the nation.
Yeah, right.
Eclipse 500 Certification Cleared by FAA
There have been allegations that the Eclipse 500 was given a pass on issues in the FAA certification process, and an independent review team has just given the cert a clean bill of health.
There have been some issues with the aircraft since certification, trim, flaps, displays, and stall speeds, but there is no evidence that these showed up during the certification process, and were then swept under the rug:
The review came a little more than a month after congressman James Oberstar asked the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General to investigate formal complaints that the aircraft was certified despite objections from FAA pilots and engineers working on the program, an allegation the review team did not find evidence of.
Of course, these problems still need to be addressed on some level, and Eclipse is still hemorrhaging money, so I’m firmly neutral on the future of the aircraft.
AfriCom Budget Slashed
Africa Command (AfricaCom), the newest DoD regiuonal command, just had its budget cut from $390 million to $80 million by the House Appropriations Committee.
Seeing as how no one wants to host it in Africa and it has very little in the way of a mission, this actually makes sense.
Pizza Abominations
Courtesy of the Onion News Network, because these days, I have to tell people what is satire, because it is indistinguishable from reality.
Domino’s Scientists Test Limits Of What Humans Will Eat
“in other news the equivalent of five Americans were killed in Afghanistan today…“
Contract Awarded For Nimitz Sucessor
The Gerald R. Ford, which will succeed the Nimitz Class, and contain such bits of tech as (quoting from article):
a new flight deck with an improved weapon handling system, advanced arresting gear, a newly developed electromagnetic aircraft launch system, new and simplified nuclear propulsion plants and a new electrical power generation system.
One hopes that its progress will be smoother than the Littoral Combat Ship or the DDG-1000 Zumwalt’s, but I doubt it.
US Air Force Looking at Another Way to Be Unhelpful in Afghanistan and Iraq
Because the USAF just canceled the Common Battlefield Airmen Training(CBAT), a program to train airmen for conducting operations outside the airfield perimeter.
We have seen a greater involvement of USAF personnel in ground combat operations, particularly in areas such as EOD, and this will decision is profoundly unhelpful to the needs of the soldier on the ground, but it’s always been the policy of the USAF top be profoundly unhelpful to the needs of the soldier on the ground.
Missile Defense: To Infinity and Beyone!
Well, it appears that the good folks in the ABM program are looking at space based interceptors again, which presents some interesting arms control and proliferation issues.
F-35B Proceeds All Ahead Slow
It’s supposed to execute a short takeofff, be able to reach supersonic speeds, and then execute a vertical landing, but at this point, the production model is moving very slowly toward this goal.
They have now gotten up to about 60kts taxi with everything hanging out.
This aircraft does not fly….It’s just so ugly it repels the ground.
Tanker Fracas Erratta
Well, if Boeing was hoping the cancellation/delay of the tanker competition to give them a chance to deliver products on time and schedule, the continuing problems with deliveries to the Italians, where they have delayed initial deliveries from this year to next year on a program that was supposed to deliver tankers in 2005 ain’t gonna help.
In the world of pork, Airbus has canceled plans to move A330F freighter final production to Alabama, which is to be expected.
Even with the relatively low dollar, the move does not make sense without the DoD contract for tankers.
One thing that sees apparent is the it won’t only be Boeing that will be rejiggering its bid now that it’s been put off, as Airbus is already announcing a 5 ton increase in gross weight for its A300-200, which would doubtless be applied to any new bid on the tanker contract.
Boeing’s Airborne Laser Begins Testing
Well, it appears that the oft delayed Boeing project*, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Boeing 747 airborne laser (ABL) is actually ready to start shooting at some stuff, albeit for very short (under 1 second) duration.
I’m of the camp that believes that the issues involved with chemical lasers, specifically the logistical issues raised by the exotic and toxic chemicals that they need to carry in order to work, mitigate against them finding much use in the battle field, particularly since ganging together solid state lasers seems to be advancing very rapidly now.
*All of their stuff appears to be “oft delayed.”
What’s the Pig Deal?
Not only does the Washington Post editorial board call bull sh&% on the phony furor about the “Lipstick on a Pig” non-scandal, but they have a great title, which I swiped, too.
I Agree with Atrios, when you can’t put it over the WaPo editorial board, you won’t fool a 3 year old.
The Palin Interview: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
I didn’t see it live, I saw it in dribs and drabs over Youtube…..That is one scary politician.
If you were to take the hostility of Dick Cheney, and add in the itchy trigger finger of John McCain, the result would still look like Mahatma Gandhi next to Palin.
Going to war with Russia over Georgia? Is she nuts? (OK, she is nuts, we’ve already established that)
Is she confusing the Black Sea nation and the southern state that is the home of the Crimson Tide?
Biden is going to have her for lunch, even if the moderators are in the tank for her, unless he is concerned about making her cry.
Here’s a hint: you won’t make her cry, but she she may try to rip someone’s throat out with her teeth…Or is that a pitbull….the lipstick confuses me.