Defense Tech: Secretary Gates and the F-22 Raptor

Defense Tech: Secretary Gates and the F-22 Raptor

I was outside smoking a cigarette when an F-22 and an F-16 flew overhead and began maneuvering. I've never seen anything like it, in video or video games. My jaw dropped and several times I thought the F-22 would fall out of the sky. They were both low and at one point I thought the F-22 was going to flatspin and crash on HWY 58. I'm assuming it was the thrust vectoring nozzles, but that kind of Immelman was possible on the old powerhouse rotaries and the modern Immelman looks nothing like the 180 degree mid-air turn this thing did.

I worried the entire time because we just lost an F-22 out here and a seasoned experienced test pilot. But my jaw was on the ground the entire time.

I have a new respect for the F-22, doing moves I can't do in videogame unreality.

Kalroy

HelloQuizzy.com: Bass

Your result for The If You Were A Beer Test...

Bass

(67% dark & bitter, 33% working class, 100% genuine)

So the deal with this test is that each taker, based on his or her scores, is assigned a beer that fits their personality (Corona, Bud Select, and so on), and along with the personality description, there's a poster or an ad for that beer. As you can imagine, most of the images feature booty models, sports cars, or, maybe even more depressing, retro kitsch.


It's a testament to Bass Ale, and therefore to YOU, that when I went to look for ads for Bass, all I found was this. An ad from 1937. Bass is legit, and if your scores are true, so are you. I tip my glass to that.


Personality-wise, you have refined tastes (after all, Bass is kind of expensive), but you know how to savor what you get. Your personality isn't exactly bubbly, but you're well-liked by your close circle of friends. Your sense of humor is rather dark, but that's just another way to say sophisticated, right? Cheers.

Take The If You Were A Beer Test at HelloQuizzy

On a Budget

WTF I want to be rich enough for this dinner budget.

Spaghetti Meal With Twist And On The Cheap, Add Lamb To The Mix! Chef Amanda Freitag Tries To Prep Family-Friendly Dinner On "Shoestring" Budget Of $35 - CBS News

RAGING PLUMBERS Wave Plungers At Obama Outside Rally

Gateway Pundit: RAGING PLUMBERS Wave Plungers At Obama Outside Rally

What about Joe the Welder? Or Ed the Welder? Or Kalroy the Welder?

I'm feeling left out.

Kalroy

Instapundit.com -

Instapundit.com -: "SO WHICH WILL TURN OUT TO BE A BIGGER DEAL IN THE LONG TERM? China's first space walk, or SpaceX's successful commercial launch test? I'm guessing number two, but I'm happy for both of 'em."

Sorta the same thing. After all, in China commercial is government, or government waiting to happen. Then again, with the bank bailout here in the U.S. it seems that the same applies to our large banking industry.

Kalroy

BakersfieldCondors.com - News & Releases

BakersfieldCondors.com - News & Releases

This cracks me the heck up. Also, if his numbers are accurate I didn't realize Kern put out that much oil. I knew that they were the "county" that produced more than any other county, I just didn't realize that they produced THAT much.

Kalroy

Zombie Test

Your result for Zombie, Zombie Food, or Zombie Survivor Test...

The Survivor

You are a warrior, a survivor.

You are well prepared and knowledgable and will no doubt live a long and happy zombie-free life. You might want to think about setting up a zombie survival group in your area, an anti-undead militia. But please, for everyone's sake keep it low-key. We don't want the government to think we are on to their scheme so take your band and keep moving.

Take Zombie, Zombie Food, or Zombie Survivor Test at HelloQuizzy

CDR Salamander: What clown did this weld?

CDR Salamander: What clown did this weld?

The Air Force adopted the Navy's job classification training regime under the name of Rivet Work Force. This killed craftsmanship and quality. The Navy has vastly different needs and different limitations of space. The Air Force thought they could join crafts that had an average four year apprenticeship (one of which was already a triple craft) and force train them to journeyman level in less than two years.

It worked okay on the machinist side, but the welder/heat treater/electroplater side failed miserably. Staffs and Techs whose welds can pass certification (submitting the best cert of fifty cert attempts each) but whose welding ability would never have gotten them signed off as proficient in the past. Heat treaters who couldn't tell you what regulations they are supposed to follow or how to repair their own equipment (let alone re-brick an oven).

Allowing this has translated over to the contractor side, because QA has never been exposed to real craftsmanship and come from a pool of workers who have never operated at that level. For instance QA at Edwards AFB couldn't tell you how critical proper brushplating of high strength steel is, let alone what regulations cover plating. Heck, they don't know what the welding pubs or heat treating pubs are, and the military who were once here didn't seem to know any of that with only a single exception (who had been an instructor at heat treating school).

Also hiring standards are lax as people try to fill positions on manpower rosters, rather than fill positions with skilled technicians. I understand that you could go a year plus trying to fill a welding position, while waiting for an applicant who has the necessary skills, want's to live in the desert, and loves the craft enough that they would work for the pay just to work on the cool stuff (I took a 20K cut to work here). Still, you should make the wait and get competent craftsman who don't need a couple of years of training to actually be capable of working without supervision or technical help.

Kalroy

Update: Comment left on the site by I and I.

The level of skill in the welding industry, in general, has gone down over the years. Partly due to advances in technology that allow better results with less ability and skill, and partly because the pay is really not that great, and partly because "good enough" and "get 'er done" have replaced "high quality" and "get 'er done right."

On the government side (military and civillian) this is entirely the government's fault because of their incredibly lax QA, and it's seeming enthusiasm for not enforcing compliance of the standards it requires on paper.

On the contractor side this is all over the map, and depends entirely on what contractors feel they can get away with.

Usually it takes a massive monetary loss, or a loss of life (usually more than a couple) for the government to step up on this. Worse, the government tends to blame the contractors lack of compliance (and they are to blame for part of this) without ever recognizing that the government's own lack of QA oversight and willingness to enforce standards is root of the problem.

Kalroy

Wireless Power Transmission Becoming Viable? - Ozymandias

Wireless Power Transmission Becoming Viable? - Ozymandias
Seems like this will eventually be valid technology. In a few decades. Not the amount of power transmission, but a 25% loss is monstrously huge, even in such small amounts. Granted, that's assuming that our current electrical generating capacity doesn't increase greatly with the addition of coal and nuclear power plants to a level where such losses and waste is more than acceptable. But today, where the only new options seem to be creating wind and solar capacity where 35 square miles adds less than a quarter the generating capacity of a conventional power plant at a fraction of the cost efficiency, it is an important consideration.

Kalroy

Armed and Dangerous � Blog Archive � A Brief History of Firearms Policy Fraud

Armed and Dangerous � Blog Archive � A Brief History of Firearms Policy Fraud

Lays the smackdown on the anti-civil-rights folks.

Dark Knight Shift: Why Batman Could Exist--But Not for Long: Scientific American

Dark Knight Shift: Why Batman Could Exist--But Not for Long: Scientific American

Wicked awesome for Batman fans. Though I think the assumption that Batman is out ever night, night after night, is supported by the comics and such a real Batman wouldn't be able to do that. I think a real Batman would have a schedule more along the lines of military special forces. Out for a couple of nights, rest for a day or more, and then back out. Though he would need periods of extended vacation every so often just to be able to keep up that pace.

Still, pretty cool interview.

Kalroy

The Corner on National Review Online

The Corner on National Review Online

Gamasutra - Opinion: No More Excuses On PC Piracy

Gamasutra - Opinion: No More Excuses On PC Piracy

Good read.


Kalroy

Oilers' Lowe fires back at Ducks' Burke - Fisking Lowe

Oilers' Lowe fires back at Ducks' Burke - Sports Rumors - NHL - Yahoo! Sports

"Where do I begin?," started Lowe. "He's a moron, first of all."

Well, that's an opinion certainly.

"He's an underachieving wanna-be in terms of success in the NHL."

Again, that's an opinion and is based solely on how one defines success. If riding on the coattails of greatness to six Stanley Cups is your definition, than Burke is a total wannabe.

If earning an LL.B and MBA from Harvard, being hired as Vice-President in charge of discipline for the NHL, being credited for re-viving the ailing Canucks, increasing their attendance, and making them a competitor again, and if building a Stanley Cup contender in one-fifth the time it took Lowe are more along your line of a definition, than Lowe is mistaken.

"He won a Stanley Cup? Great. I've won six Stanley Cups, you want to count rings? Who cares, it's just a little pathetic that he carries on."

Let me point out that all six rings were won as a player. Five with the oilers during their heyday. Now it is without a doubt that I say Lowe contributed to getting those five rings, but I'm pretty sure Gretzky, Kurri, Coffey, Anderson, Fuhr, and Messier had a lot more to do with that, considering that Lowe's points never broke fifty, and from '85 through '92 they only rose above 26 once. As team captain in the '91-'92 season Lowe scored 10 points and was traded to the Rangers.

Incidentally, the cup that Lowe won with the Rangers was also won with the help of ex-Oilers Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Craig MacTavish, and Glenn Anderson.
Where Lowe's cup aspirations have faltered have been behind the bench. No cup in ten years behind the bench (not unheard of, and not uncommon). One year as assistant coach, one year as coach (they made it through the first round and were eliminated in the second), and now eight years as GM.

"This guy is an absolute media junkie and I guess he's achieving what he wants because he gets his name in the headlines."

Really? Because Brian Burke doesn't make any headlines in Anaheim, and neither do the ducks. Despite being more community oriented than any other major team in Southern California. Despite having made the playoffs pretty consistently, despite having won a cup, and despite bringing hockey to California in a way that the Sharks and the Kings were unable to accomplish.

"Lastly, he's in a pathetic hockey market where they can't get on any page of the newspaper let alone the front page of the sports, so any of this stuff carries on."

See above regarding media headlines. Now, despite this horrible media deficiency, which is shared by more than a couple American teams, the Ducks have consistently sold out home games, and have carried on their community good works.

Brian Burke has faults, but for all that he's regularly regarded as a class act who is both passionate about the game, and about people. He's gone beyond simply being a team general manager and worked with the NHL, as other GMs have, to improve the NHL and the game of hockey.

With all this, I gotta wonder who the real moron is.

Kalroy