Double Singularity Blog

My computer hasn't been working this month - hence the sudden drop in posts. Having a problem with the power cord on my laptop - this is the fourth time I have had to get a new cord.

Anyway, have to get to work. I hope the computer still works when I get home...

Edit - I would also like to note that I received 3551 spam emails in the same period....sigh...

Today, I became a Ridiculously Frequent Flier. How does one pass from mere frequent flier to "ridiculously" frequent flier, you might ask? I was passing through the security checkpoint, when the woman who was running the metal detector looked up at me in a strange way. I passed her my boarding pass, which she immediately inspected. She looked back up at me:

Security Woman: Fagan ... I thought you looked familiar, and now I know I recognize your name. You pass through here all the time, right?!

Mitt Romney came under fire for saying he "saw" his father march with Martin Luther King, Jr. Romney's father never marched with MLK. Romney responded:

I'm an English literature major," he insisted at one point. "When we say I saw the Patriots win the World Series, it doesn't necessarily mean you were there."

I'm fairly certain that the Patriots have never played in the World Series.

"The new Web site for China's National Bureau of Corruption Prevention crashed Dec. 18 as people logged on en masse to complain about corruption among officials, Shanghai Daily reported Dec. 19. The large number of visitors rendered the site inaccessible the afternoon of Dec. 18, Beijing Youth Daily reported. By 4 p.m. local time Dec. 19, people had posted 22 pages of messages on the site's guestbook."

- Stratfor

"I'm wondering why you didn't mention non-religious people in your speech yesterday, number one, and also what you meant by 'freedom requires religion'?" asked a reporter.

An important point--but Romney deflected. "I'm paraphrasing something that's been said both by John Adams and George Washington," he said. "Which is that, in their view, for a nation like ours to be great and to thrive... that our Constitution was written for a people of faith and religion. It's a very extraordinary element and foundation for our nation. I believe that's the case."

Unsatisfied, another reporter pounced. "Do you think an atheist or non-believer or non-spiritual person can't therefore be a free person?" he asked.

"Of course not," Romney responded. "That's not what I said."

"But you said 'freedom requires religion'?"

"I'm talking about the nation," Romney snapped.

- Newsweek

The doorbell rings. A strikingly beautiful woman is standing outside, soliciting membership for an environmental organization. When I walk back into the living room, Ben has arrived from the kitchen and just gotten a glimpse of the woman.

Ben: Whatever she's selling, did you buy three?

NASA may be putting the F-16XL, a delta wing prototype of the F-16 Falcon, back into operational service. The aircraft would be used to study sonic booms.

Heads, you do it.
Tails, you go home.

Yet another mention of an overseas group trying to preserve a ship, HMS Whimbrel. This was an escort ship from WW2, and was sold to Egypt after the war. A group is now trying to bring her back to Liverpool for use as a museum. Check it out.

I haven't really posted about anything that involves me directly in a while, I suppose. I'm in a pretty good mood right now, so I suppose that now is as good a time as any =)

Working on getting the apartment all set for Christmas, as well as trying to get everyone's presents done. Add to that, the submarine is going into maintenance season, so I am trying to get myself all set to do all kinds of work underwater. Soon I will be adding all kinds of photos to the albums on the site, but I can't get my computer to log into the admin so that I can add more than five at a time.

Two things turned tonight awesome. First, I was going to Home Depot to pick up some supplies for the apartment and various projects that I am working on, and the shopping cart kid about creamed himself on the site of the Camaro. He came running up and immediately asked "Is that an '86?" Close enough. I talked to him for a few minutes and showed him the car, and that about made his day. And people thinking that my Camaro is awesome always makes me happy.

On my way home, I heard the Jimmy Eat World single "Big Casino" again. I had heard it a while back when 105.9 played it on a "look for this album in a few months" deal. I forgot how much I like Jimmy Eat World. Also, checking out the lyrics, I think it is safe to say that this song hits a chord:

I'm the one who gets away
I'm a New Jersey success story
And they'll say, "Lord give me the chance to shake that hand."

By now I am sure that most of you have heard about the guy who tried to get near Queen Mary 2 with an un-powered replica of Bushnell's Turtle. I'm not gonna spend time repeating what has been covered quite well elsewhere.

What I am going to rant about, however, is how stupid the guy must be. Honestly, in this day and age, what makes you think that this was a good idea and not lead to an arrest? Since the "artist" - and I use the term begrudgingly - notified the press beforehand and has a history of run-ins with the law, I believe that this guy wanted to get in trouble. I don't know the guy, so I may have questionable ground to judge him, but I think

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Those of you with awesome memories may remember a short blurb I wrote on the possibility of a new stealth bomber. Jane's has written that USAF Chief of Staff General Michael Moseley has spoken about possible requirements for the design of the aircraft. The Air Force is interested in a flexible design - similar to the F-35 in that a basic design can be configured for a variety of missions. The airframe must also feature open architecture, similar to the Virginia class submarines, that could incorporate technologies not yet developed. Chief concerns about a flexible design revolve around the possibility that the initial design would be manned, but that the design could be easily redesigned as a UAV. If you've been paying attention, that is two new bombers being discussed - a manned B-3 and the unmanned B-3B.

I have posted before about the Russian fifth generation fighter currently in development. An article on Jane's website is now reporting that India has made a deal with the Russians to jointly develop and fund the new fighter. While the Russians seem to have more money going their way these days, the extra capital is sure to help them quite a bit.

India and Russia have been developing quite a relationship lately, as the Indians are buying a Russian carrier and have been buying quite a few MIGs as well.

In other regional news, Taiwan has decided to purchase the AH-64D Apache Longbow instead of the AH-1Z Cobra. This of course leads itself into an interesting argument that has nothing to do with Asian politics. Which is a better purchase?

There are many different theories on this. Yes, there are people with nothing better to do than argue which current US attack helicopter is better. I just wish I could get paid for it. Anyway, many argue that the AH-64 has a better future ahead of it, and is better because it is newer (in terms of design). It is significantly more expensive than the Cobra, however. On a similar cash outlay, one would be able to purchase more Cobras. However, the Cobra was developed initially during Vietnam, from the UH-1 Huey, which is even older. As such, many believe that the Cobra platform is long in the tooth. The Marines cast their vote with the Cobra and have developed the type into the Sea Cobra, deciding not to fund a more expensive program for the Sea Apache. I think that while the basic Cobra airframe design may be old, but probably lends itself better to future modifications. Look at the Sherman tank - while it was developed and used in the Second World War, the Israeli's recognized it's versatility and used it (in a very modified form) to good effect during the Six Days War in the 1960s.

Recently, the story of a Chinese Song class submarine surfacing after approaching the carrier Kitty Hawk made the rounds of news online - again. Different forums across the net went crazy again, until people realized that this was an old news story. The important thing is this: the submarine surfaced and was still a ways out from the carrier. For those who may not know this, submarines are not supposed to surface near their enemy. Regardless, it shows that the Chinese are getting some balls.

Then there is the incident with the former Soviet aircraft carrier Varag. It is a long story, best covered on wikipedia (especially as I don't feel like retyping it), but when the PLAN commissions a carrier named for the admiral that took Taiwan, you kind of have to wonder. The repairs that the ship is receiving as well as the sale of Su-33 fighter bombers to China leads one to believe that there will be an operational carrier in China's future.

The Chinese are also working on a new class of SSBN as well.