Report: F-35 Cracks in Tests, Isn’t Reliable

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What the hell has happened to us? It’s taking longer to rediscover manned space flight than it took to go from Gemini suborbital to the moon. Not just one but both of our new fighter planes seem to be crap. The replacement for the SR71 will be out by maybe 2025. Did we ever resolve new refueling tankers? Oh, and our nuclear forces have misplaced parts, flown warheads by accident and got caught cheating on readiness tests.

When did we become the Keystone cops superpower?

The U.S. Defense Department’s newest and most advanced fighter jet has cracked during testing and isn’t yet reliable for combat operations, the Pentagon’s top weapons tester said in new report.

The entire F-35 fleet was grounded last February after a crack was discovered in a turbine blade of an F-35A. While the order was subsequently lifted, more cracks have been discovered in other areas and variants of the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made plane, according to the latest annual report by J. Michael Gilmore, director of Operational Test and Evaluation.

Durability testing of the F-35A, the Air Force’s version of the plane designed to take off and land on conventional runways, and the F-35B, the Marine Corps’ model that can take off like a plane and land like a helicopter, revealed “significant findings” of cracking in engine mounts, fuselage stiffeners, and bulkhead and wing flanges, according to the document. A bulkhead actually severed at one point, it states.

“All of these discoveries will require mitigation plans and may include redesigning parts and additional weight,” Gilmore wrote in the report.

More: Report: F-35 Cracks in Tests, Isn’t Reliable

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185 comments
1 BusyMonster  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 12:37:17pm

Yet another example of how broken our MICC is. We paid these asswipes BILLIONS for these planes, and we’re getting the quality of a fucking third world automaker out of them.

And there’s no kind of quality of plane that is tolerated to have cracks like this right after it is made. There’s no excuse for this period. It’s not like a fucking car fender — one of these failures could kill a lot of people, endanger the whatever national priority it is they are protecting, and waste further billions. Fuck me, I’m so sick of hearing about this kind of crap.

If we had a real accountable system for doing this, Lockheed’s executives would all be crawling on the street with tin cup right now, begging for a handout. Unbelievable. It is time to make someone responsible for this kind of shit.

2 William Barnett-Lewis  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 1:12:30pm

No real surprise. This aircraft needs to be scrapped. Reopen the F16, F18 & A10 lines instead.

3 Political Atheist  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 1:31:22pm

….

Updated to above

4 Charles Johnson  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 1:42:18pm

What an embarrassment. And it’s a huge problem for other countries as well that committed to this aircraft.

5 Charles Johnson  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:08:19pm

Promoted because it’s an important story.

6 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:09:24pm

Family values

7 Pie-onist Overlord  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:09:41pm

And how much did this cost the taxpayers? While wingnuts are seething over FLOTUS gown.

8 Kragar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:10:17pm

I remember when the Osprey was being tested and were falling out of the sky at least once a week. We actually got the call at our base to go and seize the servers at the Air Wing for federal investigators to come grab.

This kind of bullshit doesn’t surprise me at all.

Its not about defense. Its about fat contracts bank rolling politicians.

9 Dr. Matt  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:11:07pm

Bring back the F14 and EA6. I miss those pigs.

10 Dr. Matt  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:13:55pm

A comment from the URL above:

hibeam * 2 weeks ago
Big government is always a nightmare of stupidity and incompetence. Always. Its a rule. Accept it. Deal with it. Keep big government out of every area possible. Defense is one of the few areas where they have to take the lead. Health Care? Hell no

The fucking stupidity is so painful.

11 Political Atheist  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:15:14pm

Paging Secretary Hagel- Your work is cut out for you. May I offer you the loan of a big sharp budget axe?

12 Testy Toad T  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:16:23pm

re: #1 BusyMonster

And there’s no kind of quality of plane that is tolerated to have cracks like this right after it is made. There’s no excuse for this period. It’s not like a fucking car fender — one of these failures could kill a lot of people, endanger the whatever national priority it is they are protecting, and waste further billions. Fuck me, I’m so sick of hearing about this kind of crap.

Of course there’s an excuse for this. The F-35 is pushing the engineering envelope in a lot of ways, trying to do things that we’ve never done before. The turbine blades are cracking because we’re using more advanced materials and more advanced processes, because we want to run the turbines hotter, because that’s more efficient, so we can carry less fuel to do a mission, which (in this particular case) can make something like a VTOL fighter worthwhile.

Was this a good idea? Well, no, on the balance it clearly was not. Should the whole fucking program be cancelled? Probably. It’s a procurement clusterfuck.

The Eurofighter has been a clownshow of hilarity. The Indians’ Rafale fighters are ballooning hilariously in cost. The Russians have been dragging their feet on a F-22 equivalent for a decade. We all remember the Iranian fighter experience.

Doing modern engineering is hard. Your 787 burns a shit-ton less fuel than a 707. Your automobile releases a tiny fraction of the smog-spawning pollutants of its equivalents of yesteryear. The downside of this is that we really screw things up sometimes.

There’s a lot of opportunity for insightful reflection on F-35, and on a dozen other procurement boondoggles. And it all gets drowned the fuck out when people start bashing drums about OH MY GOD THIS IS AN OUTRAGE HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN THIS IS TOTALLY 100% UNACCEPTABLE. Yes. Great. You’re unhappy. I’m unhappy too. Shall we have a productive conversation, or shall we complain together.

As an engineer, this sort of thought-free take (and its attendant implication that everyone at Lockheed-Martin is incompetent, unethical, or both) offends me.

13 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:16:25pm

re: #9 Dr. Matt

Bring back the F14 and EA6. I miss those pigs.

Bring back the Voodoo.

14 GlutenFreeJesus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:16:27pm

They got their $ already. Screw everyone else.

NOW, can we call for cuts in the military budget?

15 EPR-radar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:16:38pm

re: #10 Dr. Matt

The first part of that quoted stupidity is just begging for a re-write:

“US wingnuts are always a nightmare of stupidity and incompetence. Always. Its a rule. Accept it. Deal with it. Keep wingnuts out of every area possible.”

16 lawhawk  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:17:13pm

re: #4 Charles Johnson

What an embarrassment. And it’s a huge problem for other countries as well that committed to this aircraft.

Hangar queens. That’s what these planes are likely to become.

All while planes that can get ugly and aren’t as glamorous trudge on.

I’m talking about the B-52, A-10, and even the F-18s. They aren’t as glamorous as their successors (and the A-10 doesn’t have one), but they’re reliable, cost effective - and in the case of the B-52, outlasted several successors (the B-1, F-117, and likely the B-2).

17 Kragar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:17:13pm

You know, if 1/5 of my total budget was spent on something, I’d like to think I’m getting something that actually works.

18 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:18:09pm

It would be interesting to get a list of contractor names, parts made or assembled, where they’re located, and cost, for starters.

Anyone who thinks LM makes those planes from plans to finished product are behind the times.

19 wrenchwench  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:21:45pm

re: #8 Kragar

Its not about defense. Its about fat contracts bank rolling politicians.

There it is.

20 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:24:05pm

This is what happens when you build watches instead of combat aircraft. The JSF competition was only done by two remaining combat aircraft manufacturers: Boeing and Lockheed.

Lockheed was never really a good company for this task. They built great recon aircraft such as the U-2 and the SR-71 but there last attempt before the F-22 (which is another watch) was the failed F-104 which was essentially built as a one-way interceptor to shoot down Soviet bombers during the Cold War. The F-104 was a good training platform for the X-15. Lockheed was and is also a good builder of transport aircraft.

Boeing is not known for ever building any native combat aircraft. They do build great transports, airliners and bombers. What else happened was the demise of the great builders of combat aircraft:

• McDonnell-Douglas
• General Dynamics
• Grumman
• Republic
• Northrop

The days of manned combat aircraft however are numbered. The F-35 may very well be the last gasp of traditional manned fighter aircraft.

21 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:25:06pm

re: #16 lawhawk

Hangar queens. That’s what these planes are likely to become.

All while planes that can get ugly and aren’t as glamorous trudge on.

I’m talking about the B-52, A-10, and even the F-18s. They aren’t as glamorous as their successors (and the A-10 doesn’t have one), but they’re reliable, cost effective - and in the case of the B-52, outlasted several successors (the B-1, F-117, and likely the B-2).

Hell, while the buzzard is still crawling towards operational service, those countries who didn’t get conned into signing contracts without an operational bird having flown are buying F-15s, F-16s, F-18s, or looking elsewhere. That’s not counting the host of countries who’ve said “Fuck it” and just started their own development programs for 5th gen fighters.

Meanwhile the Israelis insisted on plug-and-play capability so they could put their own electronic warfare gear and jammers into the F-35Is they’re procuring, because they’ve already done the math and decided that (surprise, surprise) the F-35’s stealth will be rendered obsolete by the advancement of technology in 5-10 years. The expected lifetime of the F-35? 30-40 years.

22 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:25:25pm

re: #13 b_sharp

Bring back the Voodoo.

Canadians. //

23 lawhawk  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:26:55pm

Oh, and it’s not like the F-22 is doing much better. The F-35 was supposed to have export variants, including for Israel. With all these problems, watch those countries with vested interests consider less expensive alternatives, or hold back on their purchases. That’ll drive up the costs even further.

And that gets to the bottom line. Who’s going to pay for the problems. It should be borne by Lockheed Martin, because they’re the ones who engineered this and made the performance promises. If they’ve got to add weight, it’s going to cut into the performance aspects, and reduce the capabilities that made the plane attractive in the first place.

But I’m fully expecting the taxpayers to eat this cost. Because that’s what’ll happen.

The report is unsparing:

Overall suitability performance continues to be immature, and relies heavily on contractor support and workarounds unacceptable for combat operations. Aircraft availability and measures of reliability and maintainability are all below program target values for the current stage of development.

• The program is now at significant risk of failing to mature the Verification Simulation (VSim) and failing to adequately verify and validate that it will faithfully represent the performance of the F-35 in the mission scenarios for which the simulation is to be used in operational testing.

In plain English? The contractor is using band aids to get the plane in the air, and it can’t fulfill the mission requirements. And that’s putting the most positive spin on it.

24 Kragar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:28:16pm

Yeah, we sure have been needing a lot of stealth capable airplanes while fighting enemies whose idea of a guided weapon is a truck packed with C-4.

25 Bear  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:28:32pm

Lockheed had a good plane in the P-38.

26 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:28:34pm

re: #22 Gus

Canadians. //

I could have asked for the Avro Arrow to be brought back.

27 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:29:42pm

re: #26 b_sharp

I could have asked for the Avro Arrow to be brought back.

Youtube Video

28 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:29:54pm

I’m a little partial to the Piper Cub. Not much of a fighter plane, but I’m not much into fighting.

29 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:31:39pm

re: #27 Gus

[Embedded content]

I was flying the one on the left.

30 William Barnett-Lewis  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:31:47pm

re: #12 Testy Toad T

I can’t hold too much against the engineers trying to make a bad concept work. Sometimes they succeed and a marginal thing like the Osprey becomes usable.

That said, you can’t always fix something that was a bad idea in the first place. The idea of a single aircraft that can be all things to all users has always been a bad idea and this iteration of that mistake is no different than any of the ones that have preceded it. It is and will always be a failure. Even if one working version is eventually forced into service (FB-111, for example) it does not mean that the program was a success or that we haven’t wasted billions better spent on new air frames for aircraft models (emphasis on the plural) that can actually do the jobs required.

31 EPR-radar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:31:56pm

re: #24 Kragar

Yeah, we sure have been needing a lot of stealth capable airplanes while fighting enemies whose idea of a guided weapon is a truck packed with C-4.

Realistically, major US military procurements are driven much more by the thinking of the day on what WWIII will look like than on requirements for counterinsurgency operations.

32 Lidane  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:32:09pm

re: #14 GlutenFreeJesus

NOW, can we call for cuts in the military budget?

Every dollar in defense cuts is a sign you’re a filthy traitor that hates America.

Why do you hate America?

///////////////////////////

33 Testy Toad T  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:32:16pm

re: #30 William Barnett-Lewis

100% agreed.

34 lawhawk  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:33:11pm

re: #24 Kragar

What I never could figure out was why the DoD went and needed not one, but two separate stealth fighter projects - the F-22 and the F-35.

And both programs have been a mess.

The F-22 had issues with the oxygen systems for the pilots. Not a good thing when the air handling system makes the pilot pass out from lack of oxygen.

35 Political Atheist  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:33:47pm

re: #24 Kragar

Well okay but how do we have two air forces? One for third world fights and another for first world? If these new planes were on spec and on budget this would not even be a question.

36 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:33:59pm

re: #20 Gus

This is what happens when you build watches instead of combat aircraft. The JSF competition was only done by two remaining combat aircraft manufacturers: Boeing and Lockheed.

Lockheed was never really a good company for this task. They built great recon aircraft such as the U-2 and the SR-71 but there last attempt before the F-22 (which is another watch) was the failed F-104 which was essentially built as a one-way interceptor to shoot down Soviet bombers during the Cold War. The F-104 was a good training platform for the X-15. Lockheed was and is also a good builder of transport aircraft.

Boeing is not known for ever building any native combat aircraft. They do build great transports, airliners and bombers. What else happened was the demise of the great builders of combat aircraft:

• McDonald-Douglas
• Grumman
• Republic
• Northrop

The days of manned combat aircraft however are numbered. The F-35 may very well be the last gasp of traditional manned fighter aircraft.

Lockheed’s built some great fighters, or at least ones that made their mark on history, in the P-38 Lightning and P/F-80 Shooting Star. And while the F-104 was the “Missile With A Man Bailing Out Of It,” it was designed by Kelly Johnson according to what fighter pilots thought they wanted in the 50s: Pure speed and climbing ability. And they weren’t the only company that made the mistake in that time period that speed was all that was going to matter.

If anything, stealth as a selling point today is just as much of a fool’s gamble as speed was a generation ago. Hell, if it hadn’t been for Robert McNamara approaching the defense budget with the same cost-cutting that gave us the Pinto, the Air Force would have probably replaced their F-15s with Mach 3+ capable F-12s, which was the fighter variant of the SR-71 Blackbird.

37 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:35:47pm

McDonnell-Douglas was the best. Boeing took over but they did not make MD.

38 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:36:54pm

Submarine Spitfire.

39 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:36:56pm

Lockheed ended up with those USAF bus drivers from MAC while building the C-5 and the C-141.

40 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:37:23pm

re: #38 b_sharp

Submarine Spitfire.

Ah. The little known underwater Spitfire. :D

41 Kragar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:37:28pm

Realistically has very little to do with our current defense procurements

42 wrenchwench  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:38:24pm

re: #37 Gus

McDonald McDonnell-Douglas was the best. Boeing took over but they did not make MD.

FTFY.

I don’t know anything about aircraft, but I grew up in So. Cal.

43 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:39:00pm

Isn’t the F-35 a step back from the F-22 as far as performance is concerned?

44 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:39:29pm

re: #42 wrenchwench

FTFY.

I don’t know anything about aircraft, but I grew up in So. Cal.

Oops. Derp. Hey, nobody’s perfect.

45 TedStriker  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:39:35pm

re: #8 Kragar

I remember when the Osprey was being tested and were falling out of the sky at least once a week. We actually got the call at our base to go and seize the servers at the Air Wing for federal investigators to come grab.

This kind of bullshit doesn’t surprise me at all.

Its not about defense. Its about fat contracts bank rolling politicians.

Legal graft, for the politicians and for the contractors.

Quid pro quo, baby…

46 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:39:55pm

re: #40 Gus

Ah. The little known underwater Spitfire. :D

Needed something to fight all those Cod.

47 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:40:18pm

Welcome to McDonald’s may I take your order.

48 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:40:18pm

re: #34 lawhawk

What I never could figure out was why the DoD went and needed not one, but two separate stealth fighter projects - the F-22 and the F-35.

And both programs have been a mess.

The F-22 had issues with the oxygen systems for the pilots. Not a good thing when the air handling system makes the pilot pass out from lack of oxygen.

The see-saw arms race that defined much of the Cold War. The Soviets were building Su-27s and MiG-29s to counter the F-15 and F-16, so the Air Force insisted that it needed to replace both with next generation fighters to keep its edge. And in classic DoD fashion, the Navy and Marines were working on their own projects, eggheads in D.C. ran the numbers and realized that not every service could get the birds they wanted in the numbers they wanted, so Air Force got priority and the other two got told to make do or eat shit.

49 lawhawk  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:40:43pm

So, this is the score in New Jersey. I’m in the area with at least a foot+ of snow. And we’re supposed to get another 4-8 overnight. Woo!

nj.com

50 wrenchwench  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:40:51pm

re: #47 Gus

Welcome to McDonald’s may I take your order.

Would you like flies with that?

51 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:40:55pm

re: #43 b_sharp

Isn’t the F-35 a step back from the F-22 as far as performance is concerned?

Yep.

52 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:41:11pm

Lockheed Martin Inflates F-35 Jobs Claims, Nonprofit Says

bloomberg.com

“Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has “greatly exaggerated” the number of U.S. jobs generated by the F-35 fighter jet, the Pentagon’s costliest weapons program, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group.

(snip)

“The report also compiles the state and international breadth of the F-35 contractor base, listing domestic and overseas companies. It says that Italy, Australia and Turkey, three of the top international partners buying the aircraft, have 31, 27 and 10 companies, respectively, working on the F-35, according to the report.

“It also tallies campaign contributions to key lawmakers from Lockheed Martin and its top subcontractors during the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 election cycles. About $1.7 million has been contributed to F-35 Caucus members, according to the report. “

53 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:41:15pm

re: #50 wrenchwench

Would you like flies with that?

Flench flies please.

54 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:41:58pm

re: #52 Justanotherhuman

Lockheed Martin Inflates F-35 Jobs Claims, Nonprofit Says

bloomberg.com

“Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has “greatly exaggerated” the number of U.S. jobs generated by the F-35 fighter jet, the Pentagon’s costliest weapons program, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group.

(snip)

“The report also compiles the state and international breadth of the F-35 contractor base, listing domestic and overseas companies. It says that Italy, Australia and Turkey, three of the top international partners buying the aircraft, have 31, 27 and 10 companies, respectively, working on the F-35, according to the report.

“It also tallies campaign contributions to key lawmakers from Lockheed Martin and its top subcontractors during the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 election cycles. About $1.7 million has been contributed to F-35 Caucus members, according to the report. “

55 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:43:14pm

re: #53 Gus

Flench flies please.

That’ll be $23,000,000. Don’t forget your free toy.

56 Political Atheist  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:43:37pm

From Lockheed glorious days

Youtube Video

57 EPR-radar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:44:12pm

re: #30 William Barnett-Lewis

I can’t hold too much against the engineers trying to make a bad concept work. Sometimes they succeed and a marginal thing like the Osprey becomes usable.

That said, you can’t always fix something that was a bad idea in the first place. The idea of a single aircraft that can be all things to all users has always been a bad idea and this iteration of that mistake is no different than any of the ones that have preceded it. It is and will always be a failure. Even if one working version is eventually forced into service (FB-111, for example) it does not mean that the program was a success or that we haven’t wasted billions better spent on new air frames for aircraft models (emphasis on the plural) that can actually do the jobs required.

The usual pattern in things like this is that senior management at the contractors massages the results from engineering in order to make the bid more attractive during the proposal phase. If the resulting contract turns out to be impossible to perform on, that’s not their problem any more.

58 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:44:21pm

re: #55 darthstar

That’ll be $23,000,000. Don’t forget your free toy.

Is that all? I’ll take 100 please.

59 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:44:36pm

They won’t cancel the F-35.

60 BusyMonster  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:44:37pm

re: #12 Testy Toad T

Of course there’s an excuse for this. The F-35 is pushing the engineering envelope in a lot of ways, trying to do things that we’ve never done before..

Yea, they’re supposed to sort all that out before we the taxpayer buy them. I don’t give a ripe shit about the engineering problems. I am not funding someone’s pet notions with a production line of fucking experiments. I don’t find your a’m an engineer posture all that compelling either, because as I stated, I don’t give a shit about that. It is not a problem I should have to be concerned about. I’m past fed up with the amazing amount of give and let live we’re supposed to treat this area with and this isn’t the first time I’ve heard a sack of lame excuses for why my fantastic amount of taxpayer dollars is sunk in a ridiculous military boondoggle. Someone needs to get their ass fired for this kind of stupidity. When disasters like this happen to say, the space program, we all wring our hands and cut funding because it’s too much of a waste. When the MIC fucks up, we are just supposed to eat shit and bear it. That works for you, fine. It is not working for me, and I’m going to be a dick about it because that is my prerogative. It is, after all, my money too.

61 dog philosopher  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:45:36pm

of wingnuts and mainstream-americaness

Gallup Poll. Feb. 6-9, 2014. N=1,018 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 4.

“Next, we’d like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of these people — or if you have never heard of them. How about Russian president Vladimir Putin?”

Favorable 19%
Unfavorable 63%
When’s The Game On? 11%
Fish 7%

oh, i see. the poll specifies “adults”

62 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:46:11pm

re: #59 Gus

They won’t cancel the F-35.

Of course not, Lockheed made sure to subcontract the hell out of it, so that at least one company in every single state has a vested interest in seeing the program through to completion.

63 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:46:25pm

Canada is supposed to buy 65 F-35s. We’ve been told if we back out it will cost us $10,000,000,000.42

64 Varek Raith  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:46:29pm

Well shit.

65 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:50:47pm

Meanwhile, in Venezuela.

66 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:51:30pm

Bullshit story for retail consumption. Everything is hunky-dory, doncha know.

UK F-35 order seen next month, U.S. orders seen down: sources

reuters.com

67 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:52:27pm

TEDTalks finally getting some heat.


Heh. Took a while. I saw through them years ago.

68 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:54:46pm
69 lawhawk  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:55:25pm

re: #65 Gus

Picture of the soldier pointing a gun at the photographer isn’t from Venezuela. And it appears to be from 2011.

70 Lidane  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:55:30pm

Apologies for the early OT, but this happened:

71 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:56:40pm


72 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:56:50pm

re: #69 lawhawk

Picture of the soldier pointing a gun at the photographer isn’t from Venezuela. And it appears to be from 2011.

[Embedded content]

Thanks. Thought about checking that one.

73 wrenchwench  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:56:53pm

re: #67 Gus

TEDTalks finally getting some heat.

[Embedded content]


Heh. Took a while. I saw through them years ago.

Paged here. I read that, and have been reading spin-offs off and on all day.

74 lawhawk  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:57:02pm

re: #70 Lidane

Bit Bit Bit… Bytes!

Yeah, Bitcoin was supposed to be super secure and not able to be hacked, and the transactions were secure.

Except that they’re not.

75 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:57:33pm

re: #69 lawhawk

Picture of the soldier pointing a gun at the photographer isn’t from Venezuela. And it appears to be from 2011.

[Embedded content]

Not to mention the soldier is slightly to the left of the photographer, who is not in line with the barrel…clearly he’s focused on something behind the photographer.

76 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:57:44pm

No, absolutely not. This “mother” who valued her boyfriend above her children, should never get custody of them again. She allowed this kind of shit to go on for years.

Former pediatrician convicted of waterboarding

bigstory.ap.org

GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) — A Delaware jury convicted a pediatrician Thursday of waterboarding his companion’s daughter by holding the child’s head under a faucet.

(snip)

“Prosecutor Melanie Withers portrayed Melvin Morse as a brutal and domineering “lord and master” of his household, abusing the girl for years while her mother acquiesced in silence. Pauline Morse said she chose to ignore the abuse, saying she was afraid of “undermining” Melvin Morse. She also testified that she did not have a close relationship with the girl for several years that encompassed the waterboarding, and that she did not pay her much attention.

“The girl and her younger sister remain in foster care but are allowed supervised visits with Pauline Morse. Pauline Morse said she hoped her cooperation with prosecutors will bolster her chances of being reunited with her daughters.”

77 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:58:48pm

re: #70 Lidane

Apologies for the early OT, but this happened:

[Embedded content]

That bitcoin looks like a really good investment. I’m going to buy a whole bunch of it!

78 lawhawk  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 2:59:14pm

re: #72 Gus

Yeah, that one stood out as being odd. And it actually dates to 2009 from security drill in Indonesia.

gettyimages.com

79 kirkspencer  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:00:17pm

re: #75 darthstar

Not to mention the soldier is slightly to the left of the photographer, who is not in line with the barrel…clearly he’s focused on something behind the photographer.

Actually, my bet is it’s “would you please pose?” Might have been tied to a local situation, may have been a photographer seeing a golden opportunity for stock photos.

80 Romantic Heretic  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:00:17pm

re: #20 Gus

The days of manned combat aircraft however are numbered. The F-35 may very well be the last gasp of traditional manned fighter aircraft.

Agreed. You don’t have to be ultra-modern to get a RPV in the air. If it flies, can carry a reasonable amount of ordnance and the control links are secure it can serve a purpose. Plus you won’t be risking the most costly and hard to replace part of the aircraft; the pilot.

Another thing, in my opinion, is the whole multi-role aircraft idea. A plane should be a fighter, bomber or ground support. Not all three at once. It adds huge expense to an aircraft.

81 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:00:19pm

LGF - fact checker extraordinaire.

82 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:00:53pm

re: #73 wrenchwench

Paged here. I read that, and have been reading spin-offs off and on all day.

I always thought TEDTalks was a bunch of pretentious bullshit.

83 Charles Johnson  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:01:41pm

re: #69 lawhawk

Picture of the soldier pointing a gun at the photographer isn’t from Venezuela. And it appears to be from 2011.

[Embedded content]

Just did a quick Google Image search and found it on pages going back to 2010.

84 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:01:57pm

re: #70 Lidane

Apologies for the early OT, but this happened:

[Embedded content]

re: #74 lawhawk

Bit Bit Bit… Bytes!

Yeah, Bitcoin was supposed to be super secure and not able to be hacked, and the transactions were secure.

Except that they’re not.

There’s a great diary on bitcoin on dKos from the other day. One person’s experience with 0.05 bitcoins (about $40) and how long it took for them to redeem it for an Amazon gift card at one of the exchanges.

85 Charles Johnson  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:02:27pm

re: #78 lawhawk

Yeah, that one stood out as being odd. And it actually dates to 2009 from security drill in Indonesia.

gettyimages.com

Yep, that’s the original.

86 Killgore Trout  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:03:05pm

re: #67 Gus

TEDTalks finally getting some heat.

[Embedded content]


Heh. Took a while. I saw through them years ago.

Joe Rogan did a podcast interviewing some dude about Ted talks. They had a whole cult-like thing going on. It’s a shame, at one time those talks were really interesting and thoughtful. It’s very rare for semi-serious thinking to get popular traction like they had a few years ago. It’s a bummer they couldn’t make something out of it.

87 Charles Johnson  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:04:00pm

I always wonder why people circulate photos they have to know are fake. Just to get attention, I guess.

88 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:05:23pm

re: #87 Charles Johnson

I always wonder why people circulate photos they have to know are fake. Just to get attention, I guess.

This one’s not fake. They posed together.

89 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:06:14pm

Heh.

90 EPR-radar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:06:48pm

re: #88 darthstar

And all three are black, gay, atheist, fascist, communist Kenyan anti-colonials. ///

91 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:13:52pm

Obama killed the thread.

Thanks Obama!

92 Romantic Heretic  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:20:51pm

re: #54 Targetpractice

I’ve been brainstorming a book about the Second American Civil War. It will be similar to the Spanish Civil War as the main character is a member of a ‘volunteer brigade’. Unlike most of them he is actually a soldier.

One of the little ha-has I’ll be putting in is that Canada and Mexico become quite wealthy in spare parts sales because most U.S. weapons are not manufactured in a single place.

Engines are made in Detroit, which is on one side of the line. Electronics in Dallas which is on the other. So Canada buys engines and sells them to Mexico at cost. Mexico sells engines to the side with electronics at a huge markup. They then buy electronics cheap and reverse the process. Sort of a Quadrangle Trade.

Eventually that ended when both sides ran out of gold. After three years of war both America’s money wasn’t worth a lot.

In case you’re wondering the same people win the next American Civil War as won the Yugoslavian Civil War.

Nobody.

93 allegro  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:21:02pm

re: #89 Targetpractice

Heh.

[Embedded content]

It just makes me feel so very secure to see that all these self proclaimed responsible gun owners are so, yanno, responsible. Makes me get all choked up.

94 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:23:25pm

re: #93 allegro

It just makes me feel so very secure to see that all these self proclaimed responsible gun owners are so, yanno, responsible. Makes me get all choked up.

“An armed society is a polite society,” my ass.

95 dog philosopher  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:23:54pm

re: #92 Romantic Heretic

In case you’re wondering the same people win the next American Civil War as won the Yugoslavian Civil War.

Nobody.

nobody in the former united states, anyway…

96 Romantic Heretic  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:24:30pm

re: #71 Targetpractice

It couldn’t happen to a more deserving little shit.

97 The Ghost of a Flea  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:24:50pm

re: #94 Targetpractice

“An armed society is a polite society,” my ass.

An armed society is a polite society because occasional honor killings.

I spent time as a kid in the tribal regions of Pakistan. Very polite.

98 Eventual Carrion  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:26:09pm

re: #70 Lidane

Apologies for the early OT, but this happened:

[Embedded content]

I think the James gang did this bank robbery. Anyone know the whereabouts of Joe Walsh at the time of the heist?

99 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:29:34pm

Has anyone been following the “loud music” trial of Michael Dunn in FL?

Rev Al has been covering it and it appears Dunn is trying to use the “stand your ground” defense and lying his ass off on the stand, saying they had a weapon, etc. Even his girlfriend at the time said he never once mentioned that those kids had any kind of weapon after she came out of the store and even the rest of the night or the next day.

Michael Dunn and Fiancée Rhonda Rouer Do Not Sing the Same Song

allthingscrimeblog.com

All Dunn really had to do was control his temper and drive off in his car. Instead, he chose to shoot up a car full of teenagers he didn’t like.

100 Snarknado!  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:31:50pm

re: #99 Justanotherhuman

I have, a bit. It’s hard to imagine any jury could acquit him, but … Florida.

101 Killgore Trout  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:35:08pm

Unleash the lobbyists!
Comcast readies for Washington war

I think it’ll probably get approved. Either way I think we’re going to have to undo all this at some point. Monopolies don’t have a good historical track record.

102 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:35:26pm

re: #100 Snarknado!

I have, a bit. It’s hard to imagine any jury could acquit him, but … Florida.

The “Dude, look at me, I’m white!” defense is a pretty strong one in Florida, but I don’t think it’ll work in this case.

Or, if you prefer, put a fork in him, he’s Dunn.

103 Varek Raith  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:35:54pm

re: #101 Killgore Trout

Screw comcast.

104 Backwoods_Sleuth  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:35:55pm

re: #92 Romantic Heretic

Which side has the vampires?

105 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:37:07pm

re: #104 Backwoods_Sleuth

Which side has the vampires?

The dark side.

106 Dr Lizardo  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:38:00pm

re: #105 b_sharp

The dark side.

I thought the Dark Side had cookies.

107 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:38:19pm

re: #102 darthstar

The “Dude, look at me, I’m white!” defense is a pretty strong one in Florida, but I don’t think it’ll work in this case.

Or, if you prefer, put a fork in him, he’s Dunn.

Well, I suppose it depends on how racist the jury is and whether or not they want to convict a clean-cut software engineer who invokes “stand your ground” against a carful of teen “thugs” playing “rap crap” (as he described it Tues).

Also, I wonder if the engagement is still on? : )

108 The Ghost of a Flea  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:38:37pm

re: #99 Justanotherhuman

Has anyone been following the “loud music” trial of Michael Dunn in FL?

Rev Al has been covering it and it appears Dunn is trying to use the “stand your ground” defense and lying his ass off on the stand, saying they had a weapon, etc. Even his girlfriend at the time said he never once mentioned that those kids had any kind of weapon after she came out of the store and even the rest of the night or the next day.

Michael Dunn and Fiancée Rhonda Rouer Do Not Sing the Same Song

allthingscrimeblog.com

All Dunn really had to do was control his temper and drive off in his car. Instead, he chose to shoot up a car full of teenagers he didn’t like.

Dunn has a fantastic forensically impossible story about how he was defending himself.

Or a Lee Harvey Oswald magic bullet that shot Davis as he approached Dunn’s car, but then teleported into the back of the Davis’ car.

But never fear, George Zimmerman’s white supremacist buddy will whitesplain why its all copacetic.

109 Good Morning  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:43:10pm

You might throw the Boeing 787 Dreamliner into the discussion just for the hell of it. Airbus is starting production of their A350 XWB this year. So if Boeing doesn’t work out it’s reliability problems and A350 performs to spec there will be another aviation fiasco to add to your list. Of course the A350 may have ‘teething’ troubles too.

IMO For 12 years the American national cause was the global war on terror and all that sucked huge amounts of resources into ridiculous projects.

Sukhoi seems to have begun delivery of their Superjet 100 without incident.

Sukhoi PAK FA military jet also seems to be on schedule.

Embraer also seems to be doing fine.

American avionics specialist kills himself in a spectacular way.
en.wikipedia.org

So US aviation seems to be in trouble.

110 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:43:35pm

re: #107 Justanotherhuman

Well, I suppose it depends on how racist the jury is and whether or not they want to convict a clean-cut software engineer who invokes “stand your ground” against a carful of teen “thugs” playing “rap crap” (as he described it Tues).

Also, I wonder if the engagement is still on? : )

Things going against Dunn.
1. Less media attention than the Zimmerman trial.
2. Zimmerman verdict is still pretty fresh in Floridians’ minds and Zimmerman has been making an ass of himself in public - a lot. Celebrity boxing being the latest thing that makes people think, WTF?
3. Dunn was an asshole under oath. He shouldn’t have taken the stand. Letting your bigotry show like that doesn’t work well with a jury who, while some may individually sympathize with him, don’t want others knowing they’re that racist.

111 EPR-radar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:44:07pm

re: #108 The Ghost of a Flea

Given recent events in FL, at what point does the FL SYG law apply to black people who preemptively blow away old white gun fondlers as an imminent threat?

112 Backwoods_Sleuth  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:44:52pm

The President is trolling on the twitterz…

113 Backwoods_Sleuth  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:46:38pm

uh oh…

114 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:47:17pm

re: #111 EPR-radar

Given recent events in FL, at what point does the FL SYG law apply to black people who preemptively blow away old white gun fondlers as an imminent threat?

When you ask that question, you’re missing the entire point of SYG.

115 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:47:53pm

ROFLMAO!

116 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:48:09pm

re: #112 Backwoods_Sleuth

The President is trolling on the twitterz…

[Embedded content]

Ah ha, thank you Mr. President, for reminding us!

Nice Valentine from Netflix. : )

117 EPR-radar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:50:32pm

re: #114 Justanotherhuman

When you ask that question, you’re missing the entire point of SYG.

I know. I like to be subversive like that.

Of course, SYG in practice does seem to usually work out to be an updated form of lynching with different ritual observances.

118 Backwoods_Sleuth  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:56:37pm

however:

119 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:57:09pm

re: #118 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

Corvette welfare!

120 Mentis Fugit  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 3:59:24pm

re: #113 Backwoods_Sleuth

uh oh…

[Embedded content]

“measles” - yeah. More like “green flu”, amiright?

Start tying those shoelaces together people.

121 Backwoods_Sleuth  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:03:17pm
122 EPR-radar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:04:16pm

re: #121 Backwoods_Sleuth

That is truly hilarious.

123 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:07:35pm
124 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:08:06pm

re: #121 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

125 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:08:35pm
126 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:10:04pm

(⊙.⊙(☉_☉)⊙.⊙)

127 klys  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:13:55pm

re: #125 Gus

[Embedded content]

Pfft, nothing could possibly go wrong. Everyone knows that contractors are the absolute best way to handle national security issues.

/////

128 Lidane  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:18:09pm

*sigh*

And here I thought Girl Scouts taught me how to be ruthless at selling cookies door-to-door and gave me a circle of friends to do stuff with. Who knew?

129 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:18:52pm
130 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:20:43pm

re: #128 Lidane

*sigh*

[Embedded content]

And here I thought Girl Scouts taught me how to be ruthless at selling cookies door-to-door and gave me a circle of friends to do stuff with. Who knew?

Wuuuuuuuuuut?

131 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:25:45pm

re: #128 Lidane

*sigh*

[Embedded content]

And here I thought Girl Scouts taught me how to be ruthless at selling cookies door-to-door and gave me a circle of friends to do stuff with. Who knew?

You seriously want to buy these cookies! Wouldn’t want anything to happen to your little doggie.

132 allegro  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:26:08pm

re: #128 Lidane

*sigh*

[Embedded content]

And here I thought Girl Scouts taught me how to be ruthless at selling cookies door-to-door and gave me a circle of friends to do stuff with. Who knew?

OMG that’s even worse! A coven of lesbian witches!

133 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:29:02pm
134 Eventual Carrion  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:30:16pm

Beware of Girl Scouts. They are evil.

135 sagehen  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:32:24pm

re: #128 Lidane

*sigh*

[Embedded content]

And here I thought Girl Scouts taught me how to be ruthless at selling cookies door-to-door and gave me a circle of friends to do stuff with. Who knew?

The world champion Girl Scout cookie seller used to live in my building (500 units in this building, in a complex of 8 buildings, in an upscale neighborhood. She just rotated through the eight mailrooms, got the doormen to hand out flyers…)

136 Backwoods_Sleuth  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:37:59pm
137 darthstar  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:39:20pm
138 William of Orange  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:40:19pm

ERMAHGERD!!!

Well, you’re not the only ones who fell for the snake oil salesmen at the Pentagon. My government (for those who don’t know me; that’s the Dutch) has also ordered these F-35 planes, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter. For now we only have the “Strike” part since we think they’ll never see combat… The price for each example we get has risen to over $65.000.000…. each!

I live close to the Leeuwarden Airbase in the Northern part of the Netherlands so these things coming here as the successor to the F-16 Fighting Falcon is quite personal. I have to live with the noise these beasts make… To date two test planes have been delivered but they only fly in America for now.

Ever seen the Tom Hanks movie “Money pit”?

139 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:42:17pm
140 William of Orange  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:43:07pm

re: #133 Gus

[Embedded content]

A bit of winter would be welcome over here. We have perpetual autumn.

141 Killgore Trout  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:46:19pm

re: #129 Gus

[Embedded content]

…because Dennis Rodman was unavailable.

142 The Ghost of a Flea  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:52:42pm

re: #139 Gus

…on a website called “Secrets of the Fed.”

143 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:54:47pm

re: #142 The Ghost of a Flea

…on a website called “Secrets of the Fed.”

144 Idle Drifter  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 4:59:01pm

The Marine Corps didn’t need a stealthy attack fighter to support Marines on the ground. It needed a bird with long legs, good payload, VSTOL, and survivability versus AAA and enemy fighters. While the enemy fighter is almost a thing of the past as I doubt we’ll fight another country with an air force. Let’s just say I remember our painful lessons about not equipping aircraft with guns.

I remember the AV-8Bs and the F-18s back in the Corps. They were not the best of aircraft for their missions. The Navy got the bird they needed all along with the Super Hornet. The AV-8B is a light attack bird with a huge IR cross section as it’s design puts the turbine in the middle of the aircraft. It too had problems with cracks in the turbine blades. This is nothing new to any turbine aircraft. SSDD. It’s going to happen that’s why we inspect everything to make sure it works. Not pencil whip it. It also was a pain in the ass to work on. You had to take to the wings completely off to replace the engine. Very time consuming and stress inducing process. Especially, if someone dropped a tool into the engine well.

I actually got to watch both Boeing’s and Lockheed’s aircraft go through their paces in the deserts of Yuma, AZ. It was awesome to see them fly. Hell, it was awesome to see the F-5 Tiger IIs in the aggressor squadron fly. Did we get the birds we wanted? I don’t know. All I know is I want to the best aircraft in the air supporting our guys on the ground.

145 Chrysicat  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:03:17pm

re: #2 William Barnett-Lewis

That’d be a great idea if it weren’t for the whole ‘they’re sitting ducks to a good radar’ argument. The main reason we tried to push the F-22 and F-35 in in the first place is that they’re semi-stealthy, and the enemy’s planes will be semi-stealthy soon, too.

As for building 30-year-old designs, can we? Or is it another case like the F-14 (still the finest non-stealthy air-superiority craft ever built) where we’ve stupidly destroyed the dies and can’t ever build a new one?

Not to mention that the lack of a STOVL F-35 isn’t just screwing us, it’s screwing plenty of our allies who don’t have angled-deck aircraft carriers.

146 blueraven  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:04:24pm

re: #141 Killgore Trout

…because Dennis Rodman was unavailable.

That really sounds like a typical wingnut response.

147 Pie-onist Overlord  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:04:34pm

Here is the Cherry Cheesecake Pie for Valentine’s Day!

148 Idle Drifter  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:04:36pm

re: #109 Good Morning

The wikipage also gave grid coordinates.

149 prairiefire  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:05:39pm

Happy Almost Valentine’s Day! Even you cranky old foggies, you know who you are!

150 Pie-onist Overlord  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:05:39pm

I actually wanted to bake it in a heart-shaped pan, but the store I went to didn’t have one.

151 PhillyPretzel  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:08:24pm

re: #150 Pie-onist Overlord

I just found this set of instructions. ehow.com

152 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:12:12pm

re: #145 Chrysicat

That’d be a great idea if it weren’t for the whole ‘they’re sitting ducks to a good radar’ argument. The main reason we tried to push the F-22 and F-35 in in the first place is that they’re semi-stealthy, and the enemy’s planes will be semi-stealthy soon, too.

As for building 30-year-old designs, can we? Or is it another case like the F-14 (still the finest non-stealthy air-superiority craft ever built) where we’ve stupidly destroyed the dies and can’t ever build a new one?

Not to mention that the lack of a STOVL F-35 isn’t just screwing us, it’s screwing plenty of our allies who don’t have angled-deck aircraft carriers.

First, like I noted above, the F-35’s stealth is only good for another 5-10 years, after which technology is expected to have advanced to the point where cutting-edge radar will have little difficulty picking it up. To give an idea, the F-117 today would be possible to pick up with the radars available to most 1st world nations and some of their client states. It wouldn’t be a strong return, but it would be enough to know something was there and respond.

Second, there are F-15 and F-16s rolling off the lines today, since they still have plenty of room for improvement and are cheaper than next generation birds. The way the DoD handled the F-14 can be laid largely at the feet of Dick Cheney, who acted in the mold of McNamara of ordering the dies and tooling destroyed to prevent future orders for more Tomcats, simply because the price quoted was higher than what he was willing to spend to upgrade the fleet.

And third, the F-35 is coming in three variant, with the B model serving as a STOVL fighter for the Marines. And yes, our allies who operate smaller carriers are on the ordering list for that bird to replace their Harriers.

153 Lidane  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:15:22pm

The one thing that could possibly make curling interesting for me:


The boyfriend is consumed by curling. We’ve had it on TV for days and he is apparently a fan now. Send help. Or booze.

154 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:16:27pm

re: #147 Pie-onist Overlord

Here is the Cherry Cheesecake Pie for Valentine’s Day!
[Embedded image]

You evil, evil woman.

155 b_sharp  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:17:32pm

re: #153 Lidane

The one thing that could possibly make curling interesting for me:

[Embedded content]


The boyfriend is consumed by curling. We’ve had it on TV for days and he is apparently a fan now. Send help. Or booze.

Hurry, hurry hard!

156 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:25:04pm

re: #154 b_sharp

You evil, evil woman.

Youtube Video

157 Targetpractice  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:27:50pm

re: #147 Pie-onist Overlord

Here is the Cherry Cheesecake Pie for Valentine’s Day!
[Embedded image]

158 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:27:58pm
159 The Ghost of a Flea  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:33:46pm

I don’t have a valentine.

I do have a bottle of pisco.

Best wishes to everybody.

Good Night.
.

160 Charles Johnson  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:43:59pm
161 Lancelot Link  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:48:55pm

re: #139 Gus

Ah, UKIP, the British equivalent to the Tea Party.

162 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:49:30pm
163 PhillyPretzel  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:50:58pm

re: #162 Gus

RIP Mr Waite. Wasn’t he a minister?

164 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:51:57pm

re: #163 PhillyPretzel

RIP Mr Waite. Wasn’t he a minister?

Looks like it.

Ralph Waite, a prolific television actor who played John Walton, Sr. - Papa Walton - on the CBS series “The Waltons,” has died. He was 85.

Waite died around 2 p.m. Thursday, his church confirmed to TheWrap.

165 PhillyPretzel  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:52:39pm

re: #164 Gus

I thought so.

166 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:53:30pm

re: #165 PhillyPretzel

I thought so.

Every Thursday night. The Waltons.

Good night pa.

167 Pie-onist Overlord  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:54:39pm

Was that show about the Walmart Waltons?

168 Gus  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:55:03pm

Ralph Waite

Personal life

Waite, the oldest of five children, was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Esther (née Mitchell) and Ralph H. Waite, a construction engineer.[2] Before becoming an actor, Waite, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1946 to 1948, graduated from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and briefly was a social worker. He earned a master’s degree from Yale University Divinity School and was a Presbyterian minister and religious editor at Harper & Row in New York City before deciding on a career in acting.[3]

He is a former member of the Peninsula Players summer theater program during the 1963 season.[4]

Ralph Waite has married three times; two of his marriages ended in divorce. He had three daughters from his first marriage. One of his daughters died when she was nine years old from leukemia. His stepson, Liam Waite, is also an actor.

After fifty years being away from organized religion, Waite returned in 2010 and became an active member of Spirit of the Desert Presbyterian Fellowship in Palm Desert, California.[3]

Political involvement

Waite ran unsuccessfully for Congress in California as a Democrat three times: in 1990 he challenged veteran GOP incumbent Al McCandless in the Riverside County-based 37th district, losing by five percentage points. In 1998 he ran in the special election for the then-Palm Springs-based 44th district left vacant by the death of incumbent Sonny Bono.[5] He was defeated in that election by Mary Bono, Sonny’s widow, and lost to her again that November.

On October 21, 1991, Waite introduced former California Governor Jerry Brown prior to the latter’s speech announcing his candidacy for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination.[6]

169 TedStriker  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:55:45pm

re: #164 Gus

Looks like it.

Ralph Waite, a prolific television actor who played John Walton, Sr. - Papa Walton - on the CBS series “The Waltons,” has died. He was 85.

Waite died around 2 p.m. Thursday, >his church confirmed to TheWrap.

Waite was doing film and TV work pretty much until he died, playing Seeley Booth’s grandfather on Bones for a few episodes in seasons 4-6 and also in another recurring role in Days of Our Lives until recently, from what I’ve seen.

170 PhillyPretzel  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:56:22pm

re: #167 Pie-onist Overlord

en.wikipedia.org

171 Pie-onist Overlord  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:58:06pm

re: #170 PhillyPretzel

en.wikipedia.org

I never watched it, but for some reason I thought it was about the Walmart family.

172 TedStriker  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:58:57pm

re: #171 Pie-onist Overlord

I never watched it, but for some reason I thought it was about the Walmart family.

*gasp*

You are shitting me…

173 Romantic Heretic  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 5:59:30pm

re: #128 Lidane

*sigh*

[Embedded content]

And here I thought Girl Scouts taught me how to be ruthless at selling cookies door-to-door and gave me a circle of friends to do stuff with. Who knew?

This line stood out for me.

“Are you man (or woman) enough to say ‘no’ to a child?” Jane Chastain wrote in her Wednesday World Net Daily column. “That’s what you will be up against if you join - and you should - the boycott against Girl Scout cookies begun by Pro-Life WacoPro-Life Whacko and now joined by countless pro-life and pro-family organizations.”

The bolded is what I saw gat first reading and I thought, “How appropriate.”

174 Killgore Trout  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 6:02:07pm

Venezuela Violence Puts Focus on Militant ‘Colectivo’ Groups

The colectivos emerged during the rule of the late Hugo Chavez as the self-appointed guardians of his leftist policies.

From running security in their communities to drumming up support for government anti-poverty efforts, they function as an informal extension of the Socialist Party, frequently blurring the lines between partisan activism and community service.

They are a key part of government’s electoral “machinery”, and they can move voters at the last minute to help sway close races and are sometimes tarred by critics as poll station thugs who intimidate opponents.

The colectivos point to their bookshops, study groups, summer camps for children, and coffee mornings for pensioners as genuine services to their communities. They frequent government marches and rallies to keep opposition meddlers away.

175 jonhendry  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 6:10:13pm

re: #20 Gus

What else happened was the demise of the great builders of combat aircraft:

• McDonnell-Douglas
• General Dynamics
• Grumman
• Republic
• Northrop

Not so much demise in some cases, more their being swallowed up in mergers and acquisitions without the government stepping in to maintain a healthy market. As a result, the government faces a duopoly, and no real options.

If one megacompany shafts the government, you can’t deny them contracts as punishment without handing the other company a monopoly. You can’t deny both of them contracts, because of requirements to buy from American companies.

176 Chrysicat  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 6:12:33pm

re: #139 Gus

[Embedded content]

177 jonhendry  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 6:27:30pm

re: #110 darthstar

Things going for Dunn: Florida.

The fact they haven’t returned a verdict yet worries me.

178 lawhawk  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 6:52:48pm

re: #133 Gus

We just went from winter to summer - thunderstorm rolled through, but we’re right back into fall and winter - it’s sleeting and starting to switch back over to snow.

179 chadu  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 7:30:29pm

re: #12 Testy Toad T

*slow clap*

180 wheat-dogghazi  Thu, Feb 13, 2014 9:04:43pm

re: #70 Lidane

This report places the theft at 4474 Bitcoins, worth $2.7 million. There are suspicions that the Silk Road 2 operators are the thieves, and the allegations of being hacked are a smokescreen. deepdotweb.com

Silk Road moderators were carefully scrubbing reddit threads of warnings about a possible heist over the last several days. Observers were noticing strange behavior at the site.

181 funky chicken  Fri, Feb 14, 2014 10:12:42am

The Air Force has been hurting for money since the days of the constant no fly zone surveilance of Iraq. Clinton and Gore wanted to reinvent government (slash costs) so no new aircraft design projects were approved then. One of Al Gore’s big “achievements” during government reinvention was slashing of the government agency that did background checks for top secret security clearances, which led to privatization and the founding of USIS, the wonderful firm that did these spectacular investigations:

nbcnews.com

Clinton and Gore also slashed funding for the FDA and USDA (continuing a trend begun under Reagan, of course) … 1996 people started dying of E coli in ground beef.

George W Bush sent Clinton’s military into two wars (Hillary was right about that) and thought giving millionaires tax breaks was more important than investing in military hardware. The F-22 was cancelled even though that line produced planes that my husband’s fighter pilot friends love.

Those KC-135 tankers from the Vietnam conflict are still in heavy use, and their replacement has become a grim joke among the AF pilot community. Our guys still fly a similar vintage AWAC aircraft while the Japanese, Austrailians, and South Koreans have new fleets based upon 737s and 767s.

My husband is finally disgusted enough by the whole thing that he’s retiring. I just wish he had wised up 15 years ago.

182 funky chicken  Fri, Feb 14, 2014 10:20:45am
A top executive at the company that performed the most recent background check of former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden resigned after he was barred by the U.S. government last week from overseeing federal business that is now the focus of a fraud investigation.

The surprise departure of Johnny Tharp, who served as president of the investigations services division at US Investigations Services LLC, raised new questions about the company’s efforts to overhaul its management team amid allegations by the U.S. Justice Department that former officials systematically submitted flawed background investigations for years to secure taxpayer-funded bonuses.

…
At Tuesday’s hearing, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D., N.Y.), asked federal officials why USIS was allowed to continue carrying out background checks after being accused of defrauding the government. “They’ve created a national-security threat and I would call that very serious,” she said during the House Oversight Committee hearing. “Does anyone think that USIS has been a responsible bidder in any way, shape or form?”

USIS is the focus of criminal and civil investigations of its role as the biggest contractor carrying out background checks of people working in classified government settings. The Justice Department has accused former USIS officials of submitting more than 660,000 flawed background checks between 2008 and 2012.

online.wsj.com

183 funky chicken  Fri, Feb 14, 2014 10:26:10am

Sorry, nbcnews link appears bad. For history of USIS, the wikipedia page is really good:

en.wikipedia.org

Founded in 1996 after OPM investigative work was privatized as part of Al Gore’s campaign to reinvent government. Did the Snowden and Navy Yard Shooter “investigations.” Now in serious hot water for doing 600,000 fraudulent investigations from 2008 to 2012.

Tell me again about how privatization is such a great thing.

online.wsj.com

184 funky chicken  Fri, Feb 14, 2014 12:20:19pm

re: #30 William Barnett-Lewis

I can’t hold too much against the engineers trying to make a bad concept work. Sometimes they succeed and a marginal thing like the Osprey becomes usable.

That said, you can’t always fix something that was a bad idea in the first place. The idea of a single aircraft that can be all things to all users has always been a bad idea and this iteration of that mistake is no different than any of the ones that have preceded it. It is and will always be a failure. Even if one working version is eventually forced into service (FB-111, for example) it does not mean that the program was a success or that we haven’t wasted billions better spent on new air frames for aircraft models (emphasis on the plural) that can actually do the jobs required.

QFT

The F/A-18 is a great plane. The F-15s are starting to suffer from the years of over-use and under-rest, and the F-22 was more likely to be an effective replacement for that plane than this “one size fits all!” solution. And all this R&D money could have gone to replacing ancient tankers, AWACs, and JSTARs. Oh well.

185 Death Panel Truck  Sat, Feb 15, 2014 12:49:02pm

There were no suborbital flights in Gemini. The first two Mercury launches (MR3 and MR4) were the only two manned suborbital flights.


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