The first line jet fighters (F22 and F35) cost $50-80 million a piece, and cost $35000 per flying hour. They are fast, loaded with fancy avionics and expensive missiles, and need long paved runways.
For ground attack missions, something simpler and cheaper with modest performance can do the job. Some recon, some close air support bombing, some strafing, and some training. Modest performance might be 500 knots top speed, 100 knots landing speed, propeller driven, 700-800 horsepower turbine engine. With some really sharp bargaining, you might be able to buy such a plane for $1 million apiece. If the enemy doesn't have an air force, or a squadron or two of our high performance fighters takes care of enemy fighter opposition, such a modest performance (approximately the performance of a good WWII fighter) aircraft could be very effective.
There are a number of American allied countries that have security problems, that a little air power might solve, who could afford some $1 million warplanes, but could never afford high performance high cost jet fighters. If USAF were to demonstrate the effectiveness of light weight fighters, they would be encouraged to try some. "If the Americans are flying them, they must be OK."
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Oscar Nominations for Best Picture 2018
They nominated nine movies. Five of them I never heard of before. Fine publicity work there. Two of em (Dunkirk and Darkest Hour) I have seen, in theater, and they are not bad. I had actually heard of another two (The Post and Shape of Water). I cannot imagine ever going to see either them.
Perhaps there is a connection between mediocre to miserable Oscars and the worst year for box office receipts?
Perhaps there is a connection between mediocre to miserable Oscars and the worst year for box office receipts?
Monday, January 22, 2018
Darkest Hour 2017
Good Flick. Gary Oldham plays Winston Churchill and plays him well. Churchill was the key allied leader in WWII. The movie shows Churchill rallying the British rank and file, silencing the appeasers, launching Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk). This is a crucial period in WWII. England was the only important European power that Hitler never conquered. Had England crumped, Hitler and his Nazis would have owned Europe, pretty much forever. The movie ends with Churchill giving his "fight them on the beaches, fight them on the landing grounds. We shall never surrender." speech in Parliament. Far as I can tell, the movie follows the real history of the time. The real history is so dramatic that nobody can imagine a way to make things more dramatic.
I liked this movie better than Dunkirk. We watch one key protagonist (Churchill) leading his country to fight against the Nazis. Dunkirk was more into battle field views of anonymous British soldiers.
Costumes and sets were excellent. Sets were ingeniously lit with the brightest light centered on the important actors in the scene. Most scenes were the famous smoke filled rooms, the air blue with tobacco smoke. Lots of very fancy period bric a brac every where, on desks, bureaus, and whatever.
I saw the movie at the Lincoln NH theater on a Sunday night. Crowd was light. In fact there was only one other person, aside from myself in the theater.
I liked this movie better than Dunkirk. We watch one key protagonist (Churchill) leading his country to fight against the Nazis. Dunkirk was more into battle field views of anonymous British soldiers.
Costumes and sets were excellent. Sets were ingeniously lit with the brightest light centered on the important actors in the scene. Most scenes were the famous smoke filled rooms, the air blue with tobacco smoke. Lots of very fancy period bric a brac every where, on desks, bureaus, and whatever.
I saw the movie at the Lincoln NH theater on a Sunday night. Crowd was light. In fact there was only one other person, aside from myself in the theater.
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Coffee, making thereof
Your coffee is good when you can enjoy it black. If you have to do the cream and sugar thing, it means your coffee is coming out bitter.
Step 1 in making good coffee is a clean coffee maker. Brewing coffee releases all sorts of oils and fragrances which stick the the coffee maker innards. After time ( a few hours) the oils turn rancid and make the next pot taste bitter. You need a coffee maker that is easy to clean, inside and out. The French press is good, it comes completely apart and you can get inside it with a wash rag or a sponge. The Silex vacuum coffee makers are good, all glass, easily cleaned. Percolators are bad, the inside of that perk tube is just plain uncleanable.
Step 2 is good coffee. Shop around, try a can of the expensive stuff. Try some cans of the supermarket brand cheap stuff. Keep some notes so you can remember what you like. Up here, Surefine 100% Columbian $4.50 a can makes very good coffee, as good or better than some $10 a can coffee from Dunkin, Green Mountain and others .
I don't do the grind it from beans thing. I buy ground coffee and keep it in the fridge after opening it. Works for me.
Put in one heaping tablespoon of coffee for each cup of water. Give the coffee at least four minutes to brew. Try a little salt with the coffee. Sometimes salt improves the coffee, the US Navy swears by it, sometimes not so much.
Step 1 in making good coffee is a clean coffee maker. Brewing coffee releases all sorts of oils and fragrances which stick the the coffee maker innards. After time ( a few hours) the oils turn rancid and make the next pot taste bitter. You need a coffee maker that is easy to clean, inside and out. The French press is good, it comes completely apart and you can get inside it with a wash rag or a sponge. The Silex vacuum coffee makers are good, all glass, easily cleaned. Percolators are bad, the inside of that perk tube is just plain uncleanable.
Step 2 is good coffee. Shop around, try a can of the expensive stuff. Try some cans of the supermarket brand cheap stuff. Keep some notes so you can remember what you like. Up here, Surefine 100% Columbian $4.50 a can makes very good coffee, as good or better than some $10 a can coffee from Dunkin, Green Mountain and others .
I don't do the grind it from beans thing. I buy ground coffee and keep it in the fridge after opening it. Works for me.
Put in one heaping tablespoon of coffee for each cup of water. Give the coffee at least four minutes to brew. Try a little salt with the coffee. Sometimes salt improves the coffee, the US Navy swears by it, sometimes not so much.
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Who will buy Greek bonds?
Nobody in their right mind. The Greeks have racked up debts equivalent to several years of Greek GNP. They are still spending more than they take in with taxes. No way are they going to be able to pay off what they owe right now, let along pay off any future borrowings. All sensible people know that lending more money to Greece is like pouring the money down a drain. The Greeks just don't have, and never will have, the ability to pay it back.
For some reason, unclear to me, the EU (Germany mostly) has been giving the Greeks bailout money to keep them from outright default on their debts. Why the EU feels this generous is a mystery, but they do. And, for some years, the EU has run a Greek supervision operation that tries to tell the Greek government what to do to balance their budget. The Greeks hate this. They have been rioting in the streets of Athens to show their displeasure. But the EU has been saying, "Do it our way, or no more bailout money."
And just last week, the EU began talking about getting out of the Greek supervision business in August and letting the Greeks do their own thing. Not discussed was whether the bailout money would continue after August.
Greeks don't have their own currency, they are on the Euro. Greeks cannot print their own Euros like they used to do when they were using their own drachmas years ago. Now the Greek government has to borrow money when expenses exceed tax revenue, which they do, every year. And what sensible person would loan the Greek government a dime? Fortunately for the Greeks there are plenty of sucker banks who will buy anything, no matter that the borrower will never be able to repay.
It will be a good sideshow to see what happens to the Greeks after August. Bring popcorn.
For some reason, unclear to me, the EU (Germany mostly) has been giving the Greeks bailout money to keep them from outright default on their debts. Why the EU feels this generous is a mystery, but they do. And, for some years, the EU has run a Greek supervision operation that tries to tell the Greek government what to do to balance their budget. The Greeks hate this. They have been rioting in the streets of Athens to show their displeasure. But the EU has been saying, "Do it our way, or no more bailout money."
And just last week, the EU began talking about getting out of the Greek supervision business in August and letting the Greeks do their own thing. Not discussed was whether the bailout money would continue after August.
Greeks don't have their own currency, they are on the Euro. Greeks cannot print their own Euros like they used to do when they were using their own drachmas years ago. Now the Greek government has to borrow money when expenses exceed tax revenue, which they do, every year. And what sensible person would loan the Greek government a dime? Fortunately for the Greeks there are plenty of sucker banks who will buy anything, no matter that the borrower will never be able to repay.
It will be a good sideshow to see what happens to the Greeks after August. Bring popcorn.
Looks like the Congresscritters blew it.
They were unable to pass a budget or a continuing resolution to fund the Federal government. Republicans and Democrats are on the tube, blaming each other for the shutdown. Neither side is explaining what great issue is being served by this impasse. They probably don't know themselves. After all they are Congresscritters, none too bright. The MSM is busy blaming the Republicans, as usual. We shall see if any voters believe the MSM any more.
I suppose the shutdown will continue until the pain becomes too acute and Congresscritters agree to fund the government again. The pain is largely felt by servicemen who won't get paid. And snivel servants declared "non-essential" who don't get paid either. I feel for the servicemen, they don't get paid much and just paying the bills each month is tough. I don't care that much for the snivel servants, they can go out and find honest jobs in the private sector.
As far as I am concerned, the Post Office will continue to deliver my mail and my Wall St Journal, and my Social Security electronic funds transfer (checks are obsolete) will continue to happen. At least that's what they are saying on TV. I am not entitled to an income tax refund, so the IRS can stay laid off forever far as I am concerned.
I hear that the Congresscritters will continue to get paid, which is a scandal, they ought to be the first to have their pay stopped.
I suppose the shutdown will continue until the pain becomes too acute and Congresscritters agree to fund the government again. The pain is largely felt by servicemen who won't get paid. And snivel servants declared "non-essential" who don't get paid either. I feel for the servicemen, they don't get paid much and just paying the bills each month is tough. I don't care that much for the snivel servants, they can go out and find honest jobs in the private sector.
As far as I am concerned, the Post Office will continue to deliver my mail and my Wall St Journal, and my Social Security electronic funds transfer (checks are obsolete) will continue to happen. At least that's what they are saying on TV. I am not entitled to an income tax refund, so the IRS can stay laid off forever far as I am concerned.
I hear that the Congresscritters will continue to get paid, which is a scandal, they ought to be the first to have their pay stopped.
Friday, January 19, 2018
Conquer the World with Soft Power
We used to be good at that. American soft power crumbled the fearsome Soviet Union. We never had to use our substantial hard power against the Soviets, in general a good thing. Instead Hollywood movies, blue jeans, hot rods and drag racing, rock and roll, major league baseball, a booming economy where the streets were paved with gold, Voice of America and the BBC, and democracy, convinced the average Russian-in-the-street that America was way cooler than Russia. This finally lead to the overthrow of the Soviet government in the late 1980's. The Russian people, who had stood shoulder to shoulder against the Nazis under Stalin, just lost faith in Communism and wanted a government and economy like the Americans enjoyed.
Now we have Islamic terrorism to confront. If soft power worked against the Soviets, a very tough opponent, it ought to work against the Islamics. Some of the soft power that stood us in such good stead in the 50's and 60's is looking dated now. Hollywood has almost forgotten how to make a good flick. Detroit is bankrupt and the Detroit auto industry is building boring little econoboxes rather than 409 Impalas and GTO's. Pop music lacks any one of the stature of Elvis or the Beatles, short wave radio is mostly gone, replaced by the Internet.
We do have some soft power stuff going for us. Apple and Iphones, Facebook and Google. The world still sees our streets as paved with gold, that's why so many of them want to move to the US. But the Islamic terrorists put up a show so strong as to recruit lone wolf terrorists with just Internet contact. We need to do something about that. Some movies making fun of them, or some horror flicks starring Islamic crazies in place of the usual monsters. We could get pop music back on track by returning control of the industry to real music people, like it was in the 1950's, rather the the current crop of clueless suits who persist in featuring wimpy boy bands. To replace VOA and BBC we could build up a respected international web site centered on real news (if there is a journalist left alive who could run such a site). Jim Lehrer hasn't been on air for quite a few years.
Now we have Islamic terrorism to confront. If soft power worked against the Soviets, a very tough opponent, it ought to work against the Islamics. Some of the soft power that stood us in such good stead in the 50's and 60's is looking dated now. Hollywood has almost forgotten how to make a good flick. Detroit is bankrupt and the Detroit auto industry is building boring little econoboxes rather than 409 Impalas and GTO's. Pop music lacks any one of the stature of Elvis or the Beatles, short wave radio is mostly gone, replaced by the Internet.
We do have some soft power stuff going for us. Apple and Iphones, Facebook and Google. The world still sees our streets as paved with gold, that's why so many of them want to move to the US. But the Islamic terrorists put up a show so strong as to recruit lone wolf terrorists with just Internet contact. We need to do something about that. Some movies making fun of them, or some horror flicks starring Islamic crazies in place of the usual monsters. We could get pop music back on track by returning control of the industry to real music people, like it was in the 1950's, rather the the current crop of clueless suits who persist in featuring wimpy boy bands. To replace VOA and BBC we could build up a respected international web site centered on real news (if there is a journalist left alive who could run such a site). Jim Lehrer hasn't been on air for quite a few years.
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