Painting With Sheep
This is just too cool… Kinda like coordinating a JS 136 (thems that know, know)
Limited Posting for a Bit
We’re in the land of lotus-eaters this week for a conference supporting the book project we previously mentioned. Busy times with trying to cram three days of stuff into two, so our time, perforce, is limited for posting until we return to Occupied Territory later this week. In the meantime – some quick thoughts: It…
The Problem(s) With Debris – 2009 Edition
A little over two years ago, China conducted the now notorious direct ascent ASAT shot on the Fengyun-1 satellite which was in a polar orbit. We’ve commented extensively at the time and a year hence on the issues raised by this shot. So where do we stand just past the second anniversary? Well, like rabbits,…
How Big is the Internet?
Some interesting end-of-year numbers from www.pingdom.com: Email 1.3 billion – The number of email users worldwide. 210 billion – The number of emails sent per day in 2008. 70% – The percentage of emails that are spam. 53.8 trillion – The number of spam emails sent in 2008 (assuming 70% are spam). Internet users 1,463,632,361…
If Perception is Reality…
… we (Team Navy) are in deep bat guano where public perceptions are concerned: Gallup Military Perceptions 2008 View more presentations or upload your own. See especially slides 17-21 for recruiter’s challenge: Â ” If you were just turning 18 and had to spend two years in the Service, which branch would you prefer to join?”…
IA Blogger
Latest addition to the blogroll is “Spooky In The Sand” – a Hawkeye NFO (and former Steeljaw to boot!) who is presently one of the many Navy IA’s in Iraq with the Army. Swing by to capture culture encounters with the Army and the wry observations and POV afforded by a career of being shot…
USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) Commissioned
11,000 tons gross displacement. 622.5 ft long. 45 aircraft – that was the USS San Jacinto (CVL 30). Sixty-five years ago, on a September morning, a young naval aviator launched his Grumman TBF Avenger from her deck on a mission to strike facilities at Chi Chi Jima. Forty-five years later he was raising his hand,…
Seascapes
Ever wonder what “they” meant when talking about a painted sky? Wonder no more: PERSIAN GULF (Dec. 22, 2008) The guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61) transits through the Persian Gulf. Ramage is deployed as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of…
India Confirms Purchase of P-8I At $2.1B
According to today’s Times of India, on January 1, India’s Defense Ministry’s Joint Secretary and Acquisitions Manager (Maritime Systems) signed a purchase agreement with Boeing’s Integrated Systems and in-country lead for eight P-8I Poseidon’s at a price of $2.1B(US), more than double the previous major US sale to India ($962M for six C-130J in 2007). …
New Year’s Wish
Best wishes for a safe New Year’s eve and a bright, prosperous year to come… And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere ! And gie’s a hand o’ thine ! And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught, For auld lang syne. For auld lang syne, my jo, For auld lang syne, We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness…