Seriously, the orgy of late, mismanaged, and over budget is beginning to rival the clusterf$#@ that is the space shuttle.
Author: Matthew G. Saroff
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.
Maddow’s Numbers Pretty Good
No Banks Failed This Week Yet
No new entries on the FDIC: Failed Bank List, at not when I posted this.
Economics Update
Well, I guess that the lead story has to be Lehman Brothers, which appears to be collapsing Bear Stearns style, and looking for government funding of it’s eventual sale, Bear Stearns style, so negotions with potential buyers continue apace.
The Fed and the Treasury Department appear to be seriously twisting arms to make the deal go through, though they claim that there will be “no federal money” involved.
Seriously, all we are doing here is socializing losses. Nationalize the lot of them, throw out upper management, and go after their bonuses, otherwise, we will see more of the same.
Of course the fact that WaMu just had its ratings cut….again…Means that Paulson may have two things on his “to do” list this weekend.
There are already rumors that Washington Mutual is on the auction block.
In the real economy, the one that the rest of us live in, news ain’t great. The weekly job claims fell, but the 4 week moving average and the continuing claims, continue to rise.
Additionally, retail sales fell again in August, showing a continued weakening in the economy, as does the large gain in business inventory.
Real estate is looking worse and worse too, with foreclosures continuing to increase.
This has driven the dollar down, because it points toward the Fed cutting rates.
In energy, oil is continuing on a downward trend, because of hurricane Ike, selling briefly below $100/bbl (!), though the fact that it’s heading toward refineries is driving gasoline up.
I would note that this is actually normal market behavior. Knock out refineries, and the demand for oil decreases, and the price drops, but the demand for gasoline remains the same, so prices increase.
BTW, I’m not sure what is going on in insurance, but it is clear that American International Group is getting absolutely hammered, and when the subject of the short selling is the largest insurer in the world, something is whack.
Russian Sending Nuclear Capable Bombers to Venezuela for “Training”
The Tu-160 Blackjack, the Russian AF’s crown jewel, just two of them.
There are consequences for dick swinging, and I expect to see an increased Russian military presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela, as a result of the meaningless assertions of machismo by Bush and His Evil Minions&trade.
But They Still Get the Golden Parachutes
It appears that Fannie Mae’s Daniel Mudd and Freddie Mac’s Richard Syron will both get severance packages in excess of $5 million.
The little guys, and the tax payers, eat sh%$, and the Harvard MBA types walk away with millions.
To quote Bruce Cockburn, “If I had a rocket launcher, some son of a bitch would die.”
There Appears to be a Deal in Zimbabwe
The full details are not yet available
The real question here is to what degree is the ZANU-PF’s iron grip of the state security apparatus relaxed, and my guess would be, “not much”.
The Black Sea Follies
Not surprisingly, we have Cheney visiting the region before slinking off to an undisclosed location, and he is very clear on the fact that he wants a new cold war for political advantage, NATO membership for Georgia and the Ukraine, and pretty much anyone else, if only because it pisses off the Russians. (see here, here, and here)
Of course, the Ukraine’s coalition government appears to be on the verge of collapse, and while Ukrainian President Yushchenko is still going for NATO membership, while PM Yulia Tymoshenko* is more cautious, and less viscerally anti-Russian (and anti-ethnic Russians in the Ukraine) than the president.
It also appears that while the Ukranians are interested in EU membership, support NATO membership is somewhat more tepid.
Even with that, there is no unanimity within the EU over Ukraine’s membership.
I’m not sure if this is because of concerns with Russia, because the Ukraine is really not ready in terms of things like transparency, or because the EU is already suffering from massive growing pains and transfer payments from it’s breakneck expansion of the past few years.
Meanwhile, NATO appears to be taking a leading role in the rebuilding of the Georgian military, with NATO networking with NATO radars and their early warning system.
Meanwhile, we have a pretty good rundown of Georgian misstatements and flat out lies about the war, and that Georgia had been planning its invasion of South Ossetia for many months, as evidenced by this story from April regarding the radars being moved into the conflict areas.
What is clear is that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was hoping to draw NATO into his war, which is a pretty good reason not to even begin considering EU or NATO membership for Georgia until it is clear that the firebrand politician has left the stage; he was engaging in nuclear chicken by proxy.
In any case it appears that the Russians are deescalating, with a promise to withdraw all troops from Georgia proper.
*Why, oh why can’t news happen in places where the names are easy to spell?