Dunno. We don't trust the Iranians. We know they want the bomb, badly. They have spent a lot of money and time getting as far as they have. The bomb would make the Iranian regime safe against regime change. Even the boldest American future leadership would shrink from invading Iran if the Iranians threatened to nuke Jerusalem. Real people (the kind with brains) have to figure that the Iranians will keep driving for a bomb no matter what kind of deal they sign with Obama.
So why is Obama so set on a deal? Especially a bad deal. Even if the deal holds together for the next two years, it will ruin Obama's historical reputation for ever, if the Iranians produce a nuke right after Obama leaves the presidency. Obama ought to know this, although sometimes you have to wonder about him.
The only way to keep the Iranians from the bomb is to remove all those centrifuges, along with all the uranium in the country. Anything less is foolishness. We ought to keep the sanctions on, ratchet them up tighter, until the Iranians turn over the centrifuges. And we ought to destabilize their regime thru propaganda, aiding internal dissidents, assassination, and other dirty tricks.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Beware the malware spreading flashdrive
Flashdrives, very convenient, very big, and deadly. It was flashdrives that spread the Stuxnet virus into Iranian secure nuclear enrichment network. Flashdrives with the virus were scattered in the parking lot. Sharp eyed employees spotted them, picked them up, and took them into work. Once the flashdrive was inserted into a computer, Stuxnet was sucked off the drive and started up.
Why does this work? Blame Micro$oft. Way back, about Win 95 time, the microsofties put "Autorun" into Windows. It's still there. Back in Win 95 days, before flashdrives, Autorun would scan every CD inserted in the CD drive and attempt to run program disks (say a new copy of Office) or to play music disks. Automatically, hands off. It was possible to turn off Autorun, but the turn off wasn't reliable, Autorun would come back to life at unexpected times.
Now that we have flashdrives, Autorun attempts to run any program it finds on the flash drive. For that matter it still tries to run CD's, and floppy disks.
So, inserting a flashdrive in your computer can open it up to hackers, to use in bot nets, to launch Distributed Denial of Service attacks, to read all your email and suck up all your passwords. And post any embarrassing photos they may find on your hard drive. If I was running a secure network, I would use a pair of diagonal cutters to snip off all the USB ports on all the secured machines.
Why does this work? Blame Micro$oft. Way back, about Win 95 time, the microsofties put "Autorun" into Windows. It's still there. Back in Win 95 days, before flashdrives, Autorun would scan every CD inserted in the CD drive and attempt to run program disks (say a new copy of Office) or to play music disks. Automatically, hands off. It was possible to turn off Autorun, but the turn off wasn't reliable, Autorun would come back to life at unexpected times.
Now that we have flashdrives, Autorun attempts to run any program it finds on the flash drive. For that matter it still tries to run CD's, and floppy disks.
So, inserting a flashdrive in your computer can open it up to hackers, to use in bot nets, to launch Distributed Denial of Service attacks, to read all your email and suck up all your passwords. And post any embarrassing photos they may find on your hard drive. If I was running a secure network, I would use a pair of diagonal cutters to snip off all the USB ports on all the secured machines.
Friday, March 6, 2015
Does anyone vote in Ferguson?
Eric Holder's justice dept just released an ugly report on Ferguson. It says that the mostly white police force and criminal justice system spent their time shaking down black residents via parking tickets, speeding tickets, and pot busts. It sounded really bad.
Question: where are the black voters in Ferguson? Surely, with a bit of leadership, they could get out the vote, and elect a black mayor, city council, or selectmen, depending upon what kind of city government Ferguson has.
I haven't heard a word on the msm, not even Fox, about who runs Ferguson, and why the substantial black population (for all I know a majority) has not been able to shape up Ferguson city government via the ballot box.
Question: where are the black voters in Ferguson? Surely, with a bit of leadership, they could get out the vote, and elect a black mayor, city council, or selectmen, depending upon what kind of city government Ferguson has.
I haven't heard a word on the msm, not even Fox, about who runs Ferguson, and why the substantial black population (for all I know a majority) has not been able to shape up Ferguson city government via the ballot box.
Bashing Barbie
The TV was hard at it this morning, claiming that Barbie's really thin waistline, generous bust, and super long legs was setting a bad example to girls, leading to eating disorders and worse. Perhaps. Was I gonna bitch about Barbie, I'd bitch about the feet. Barbie's won't stand up. Which reduces their play value a lot. Girls cannot stand Barbie up and pose her, and act out adventures with them. At our house, some 30 odd Barbies, all without a stitch of clothing on, spent their lives packed in a basket. Occasionally they got pulled out and played with, but not much.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Rock Cornish Game Hens
It's a mini chicken. Very tasty, gives that roasted stuffed chicken taste in a smaller package. A hungry teenager will be able to scarf down a whole game hen. Older adults will be satisfied with a half a game hen. I stuff them with supermarket stuffing mix jazzed up with a bit of sliced apple, some grapes (in season) or raisins (out of season), the game hen liver, and some chopped onion. Rinse them with water, and rub them down, inside and out, with lemon, or orange, and oil. Olive is good, plain old veggie oil is fine. Then stuff them. Roast at 350 for an hour, maybe an hour and ten. Baste with pan juice or oil every so often. Game hens are too small to get a cooking thermometer into so I rely on the old fashioned fork test. The breast should feel cooked to the fork and juices should run out. Skin should have browned. When in doubt, give 'em a little more time in the oven.
I make gravy from scratch. When the bird goes in, I put the neck and gizzard and heart in water and bring it to a boil. Add a bit of Bell's Poultry Seasoning, and simmer until the game hens are done. Then pick the meat from the neckbones with a couple of forks, and chop the gizzard and heart up fine. When the game hen[s] are done, take them out of the roasting pan, put them on plate and let them rest a few minutes before carving them. To the roasting pan, add some flour to the pan juices, as much as the juices will soak up. Then add the broth from cooking the neck and gizzard. And the neck meat and gizzard. Put the roasting pan on the stove, medium heat and stir until the gravy thickens. Taste and season as necessary. Go easy on the salt. Thyme is good, Bell's Poultry Seasoning is good, some pepper.
To do it right, you ought to have a veggie, peas, broccoli, squash, green beans. With the stuffing you don't really need a starch.
Next day you can do a chicken soup. Put all the chicken (game hen) bones and left overs in a pot with a lot of water. Add a bay leaf, and some chopped onion. Boil and then reduce to a simmer. Give it four hours or so. Then turn off the heat, let it cool enough to touch, and separate the bones from the broth. Fingers work for this, it's a little messy, but you can do it. Pitch the bones, put the meat back in the pot. Add some veggies, peas, carrots, corn, anything you like. Add some rice. Reheat and cook long enough to get the rice soft and the veggies cooked.
I got three nice meals out of a single game hen this way.
I make gravy from scratch. When the bird goes in, I put the neck and gizzard and heart in water and bring it to a boil. Add a bit of Bell's Poultry Seasoning, and simmer until the game hens are done. Then pick the meat from the neckbones with a couple of forks, and chop the gizzard and heart up fine. When the game hen[s] are done, take them out of the roasting pan, put them on plate and let them rest a few minutes before carving them. To the roasting pan, add some flour to the pan juices, as much as the juices will soak up. Then add the broth from cooking the neck and gizzard. And the neck meat and gizzard. Put the roasting pan on the stove, medium heat and stir until the gravy thickens. Taste and season as necessary. Go easy on the salt. Thyme is good, Bell's Poultry Seasoning is good, some pepper.
To do it right, you ought to have a veggie, peas, broccoli, squash, green beans. With the stuffing you don't really need a starch.
Next day you can do a chicken soup. Put all the chicken (game hen) bones and left overs in a pot with a lot of water. Add a bay leaf, and some chopped onion. Boil and then reduce to a simmer. Give it four hours or so. Then turn off the heat, let it cool enough to touch, and separate the bones from the broth. Fingers work for this, it's a little messy, but you can do it. Pitch the bones, put the meat back in the pot. Add some veggies, peas, carrots, corn, anything you like. Add some rice. Reheat and cook long enough to get the rice soft and the veggies cooked.
I got three nice meals out of a single game hen this way.
Hillary takes flak
Hillary, while secretary of state, did all her email on her own email server, located in her house. She didn't use a work email (@StateDept.gov?) at all. She probably figured doing it that way was more secure, State has been repeatedly hacked, and State IT people can snoop all emails and leak any that they pleased. She wanted a secure email, and it looks like she got it.
Thinking about it, I had, and used, my work email for work stuff, and my home email for personal stuff, chatting with friends and the like. I always figured the work email was insecure, and took pains to never put anything in email that I wouldn't post on a downtown bulletin board. Like if we ever got sued, the lawyers would subpoena every email in the company, and use anything in them in court. So, never bad mouth anyone, you might need to do business with them sometime. Never discuss future plans, technological secrets, sales, pay, political infighting at the company, stick to selling the company product.
The TV is admitting that Hillary had left State before the more draconian laws about doing government business on government email were passed.
I'm not a Hillary fan, but on this email business, I understand her.
Thinking about it, I had, and used, my work email for work stuff, and my home email for personal stuff, chatting with friends and the like. I always figured the work email was insecure, and took pains to never put anything in email that I wouldn't post on a downtown bulletin board. Like if we ever got sued, the lawyers would subpoena every email in the company, and use anything in them in court. So, never bad mouth anyone, you might need to do business with them sometime. Never discuss future plans, technological secrets, sales, pay, political infighting at the company, stick to selling the company product.
The TV is admitting that Hillary had left State before the more draconian laws about doing government business on government email were passed.
I'm not a Hillary fan, but on this email business, I understand her.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
With weapons grade fissionables anyone can build a bomb.
There are two fissionable isotopes practical for nuclear weapons, Uranium 235 and Plutonium 239. U235 is found in nature, but it's scarce and very difficult to concentrate. Only seven tenths of one percent of natural uranium is the readily fissionable isotope U235, the rest is relatively inert U238. Plutonium, with a half life of only 24 thousand years, is not found in nature. Any plutonium present when earth was created, 4.5 billion years ago has decayed to lead by now. Plutonium can be made from Uranium in a nuclear reactor.
To make a uranium fission bomb, you have to concentrate the fissionable U235 up from the 0.7% found in nature to 90% or so. That is hard to do. Chemistry won't help, because U238 and U235 are both Uranium and any chemical process will effect both isotopes alike. Chemistry won't separate them.
Concentration of U235 relies upon physical processes that work on the slight difference in mass. The Iranians are using centrifuges. They react the Uranium with fluorine creating uranium hexafluoride gas. The gaseous Uranium is fed into the centrifuge and the very high G forces of the centrifuge cause the heavier U238 to sink to outside and the lighter U235 to rise to the center, where it is skimmed off. A single pass thru a centrifuge will raise the concentration of U235 a small amount. To achieve weapons grade, 90%, you make many passes thru the same apparatus. It takes a lot of centrifuges to get enough 90% U235 for a bomb. The Iranians have 6800 on line and 19000 a building.
A bomb is merely a "critical mass" of U235. The exact value of critical mass used to be a top secret, but nowadays it is probably 25 kilograms or so, call it 55 pounds or more. Create a chunk of U235 of critical mass and you have a nuclear explosion, right then and there.
To produce a nuclear explosion at the target, rather than in the factory, make two sub critical masses, keep them separate until the bomb is on target, then slam them together, hard, creating a critical mass and a nuclear explosion. Standard design puts one sub critical mass in a gun, and fires it at the other sub critical mass. This was the design of "Little Boy", the bomb used on Hiroshima. They worked out the design of "Little Boy" in the 1940's with nothing but slide rules and Munroematic adding machines. They were sufficiently confident of the design that they didn't waste any U235 on a test shot in Nevada. "Little Boy" was shipped to the Marianas and dropped on Hiroshima.
In short, once you have enough weapons grade fissionables, say 55 pounds of 90% U235, you have a bomb. Just takes a little ordinary work with machine tools and it's ready to go.
Which means, as long as the Iranians have 6800 or maybe 19000 centrifuges, they can produce a working fission bomb in a matter of weeks.
The Obama team, negotiating with the Iranians, is willing to let the Iranian keep all their centrifuges.
To make a uranium fission bomb, you have to concentrate the fissionable U235 up from the 0.7% found in nature to 90% or so. That is hard to do. Chemistry won't help, because U238 and U235 are both Uranium and any chemical process will effect both isotopes alike. Chemistry won't separate them.
Concentration of U235 relies upon physical processes that work on the slight difference in mass. The Iranians are using centrifuges. They react the Uranium with fluorine creating uranium hexafluoride gas. The gaseous Uranium is fed into the centrifuge and the very high G forces of the centrifuge cause the heavier U238 to sink to outside and the lighter U235 to rise to the center, where it is skimmed off. A single pass thru a centrifuge will raise the concentration of U235 a small amount. To achieve weapons grade, 90%, you make many passes thru the same apparatus. It takes a lot of centrifuges to get enough 90% U235 for a bomb. The Iranians have 6800 on line and 19000 a building.
A bomb is merely a "critical mass" of U235. The exact value of critical mass used to be a top secret, but nowadays it is probably 25 kilograms or so, call it 55 pounds or more. Create a chunk of U235 of critical mass and you have a nuclear explosion, right then and there.
To produce a nuclear explosion at the target, rather than in the factory, make two sub critical masses, keep them separate until the bomb is on target, then slam them together, hard, creating a critical mass and a nuclear explosion. Standard design puts one sub critical mass in a gun, and fires it at the other sub critical mass. This was the design of "Little Boy", the bomb used on Hiroshima. They worked out the design of "Little Boy" in the 1940's with nothing but slide rules and Munroematic adding machines. They were sufficiently confident of the design that they didn't waste any U235 on a test shot in Nevada. "Little Boy" was shipped to the Marianas and dropped on Hiroshima.
In short, once you have enough weapons grade fissionables, say 55 pounds of 90% U235, you have a bomb. Just takes a little ordinary work with machine tools and it's ready to go.
Which means, as long as the Iranians have 6800 or maybe 19000 centrifuges, they can produce a working fission bomb in a matter of weeks.
The Obama team, negotiating with the Iranians, is willing to let the Iranian keep all their centrifuges.
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