Year: 2007

Opposed Piston Engine to Enter Test

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It’s an interesting technology, and they are putting two of these engines in an FMTV truck. (Full disclosure, in 1992-1993, I worked at Stewart and Stevenson, Tactical Vehicle Systems on the FMTV trucks.)

If you look at the picture (below) it appears complex, but there are no valves, just ports (look closely at the bottom of the cylinder.), so all in all, it’s likely no more complex than a conventional engine.

It also has a high power to weight and power to displacement ratio because it is a two stroke, though this leads me to wonder about pollution levels, as two stroke engines are typically more polluting (GM’s locomotive division, EMD dumped it’s very reliable and mature two stroke diesels about a decade ago for this reason), which may put a stake through the heart of this concept.

Jerry Falwell Ally Dies in Bizarre Auto Asphyxia Event

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It appears that Gary Aldridge graduated from Liberty University and later worked for the late Jerry Falwell.

From the Coroner’s Report:

EVIDENCE OF INJURY
The decedent is clothed in a diving wet suit, a face mask which has a single vent for breathing, a rubberized head mask having an opening for the mouth and eyes, a second rubberized suit with suspenders, rubberized male underwear, hands and feet have diving gloves and slippers. There are numerous straps and cords restraining the decedent. There is a leather belt about the midriff. There is a series of ligatures extending from the hands to the feet. The hands are bound behind the back. The feet are tied to the hands. There are nylon ligatures holding these in place with leather straps about the wrists and ankles. There are plastic cords also tied about the hands and feet with a single plastic cord extending up to the head and surrounding the lower neck. There is a dildo in the anus covered with a condom.

Fowl Foul play is not suspected.

The Grim Future of Real Estate?

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Here is a story that we will see repeatedly over the next few years, entire neighborhoods blighted by foreclosures.

In this case, you have half million dollar homes that people have simply walked away from, and police have to patrol in order to prevent squatters. There are swimming pools that have moved from assets to West Nile and Malaria infested health risks.

We are going to see a lot of this, and a lot of people trapped in their homes because the entire neighborhood is illiquid, because no one wants to live there at any price.

Pleasant picture this.

Luckily, I live in an old neighborhood, built in the 1960s, so we won’t see as many exotic mortgages, and hence foreclosures.

So Now the Right Wing is Going After a Twelve Year old Boy and His Family

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This is outrageous, and people should be outraged, about what these people are doing to 12 year old Graeme Frost and his family. They are being stalked and threatened with violence simply because he went on the air and told how his life was saved by S-Chip in response to Bush’s radio address..

That being said, there are people out there who do outrage better than I do. Heck, they just plain write better than I do, people like Ezra Klein, Lower Manhattanite of the Group News Blog, Jim Henley, Tbogg, John Amato of C&L, and pretty much anyone else on the internet.

Instead, I want to look at causes, and precedents, and I founc a very old one, Maenadic rites, the charismatic worship of Dionysus, where “The mysteries of Dionysus inspired the women to ecstatic frenzy; they indulged in copious amounts of violence, bloodletting, sexual activity, self-intoxication, and mutilation.”

There were no drugs. A large group of women woud get together in the woods, and begin to pray, and chant, and laugh, and sing, and slowly, as a group, they would work themselves into a frenzy, and then they would then typically find some animal or animals, and rip them to pieces and eat them raw.

There were no drugs, nothing but music, dancing, group hysteria, and catharsis.

Once they were finished, they would look at themselves, and see their bodies covered in blood, and they would be relieved, but they would also be ashamed. It provided release, as ancient Greek women lived very secluded and regimented lives, and needed release, and it created shame, which kept them in line.

It was central to how the Greeks controlled their women, and the Romans, with a far more emancipated role for women, eventually prohibited the worship of Dionysus by more than about a dozen women at a time, because they neither needed nor wanted this form of bondage for their women.

The right wing has created its own Maenads, and it is not a pretty site.

In fact, it is their model for the United States, and its citizens for the future.

What Happened in Syria?

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The New York Times is reporting that Dick Cheney, and his merry band of lunatics is maintaining that the DPRK was shipping nuclear technology to Syria, and Condi Rice and the State Department are maintaining there there is no conclusive evidence on which to act.

It’s clear that Israel felt that there was some sort of threat, but they are not talking. That being said, if there is a faceoff between those who are completely batsh$# insane and always wrong and those who are sometimes insane, and usually wrong, I’ll go with the latter.

Syria has no background in nuclear weapons technology, but I could see them getting improved chem/bio warheads from the DPRK, as they do have active programs there, at least on the chem side.

The Problem With Hillary

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For once, Maureen Dowd gets it right. Her thesis is that Hillary Clinton is too focused about her being a woman, and so she will vote for anything bellicose to show that she has the balls to be presieent.

…….

When Hillary voted to let W. use force in Iraq, she didn’t even read the intelligence estimate. She wasn’t trying to do the right thing. She was trying to do the opportunistic thing. She felt she could not run for president, as a woman, if she played the peacenik.

By throwing in with Joe Lieberman and the conservative hawks on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard issue, she once more overcompensated in a cynical way. She’d like to paint Obama as the weak reed who wants to cozy up to dictators, while she’s the one who will play tough. It was odd, given her success in the debates conveying the sense that she is the manliest candidate among the Democrats, that she felt the need to man-up on Iran.

But maybe she knows that Rudy will hurl thunderbolts at her, as he did in the debate yesterday, suggesting that she doesn’t have the guts to use a military option to stop Iran from going nuclear.

Voters seem more concerned with Hillary’s political expediency — which the vote underscored — than with her ability to be manly.

Her camp seems to think her vote was a safe one because W. and Cheney do not have the time or support to bomb Iran, and that Bob Gates can stop it. But she may be underestimating W. and Cheney. She should be at least as paranoid about that pair as she was about an Iowa Democrat.

She nailed it.

Bush and His Evil Minions&trade Are Conceiling Documents and Testimony from the Utah Mind Disaster

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Here.

The question is, why? The owner of the mine, Robert E. Murray is a politically connected Republican, and it probably serves his purposes for there not to be disclosure.

Additionally, the release of information leading to more regulation of the mine industry that might result from disclosure is not something that either the mining industry, or the Bush administration wants.

Once Again, The Regular Army Screws the National Guard

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Over 1100 members of the Minnesota National Guard were deployed to Iraq for 22 months.

Their orders had them deployed for 229 days, more than any other unit. However, if they had been deployed for 730 days, they would have gotten more than three times the educational benefits under the new GI Bill.

This is about two tings, the Bush Admin and the Pentagon wanting to run the war on the cheap, and the general disdain that the regular army has for the guard and reserves.

It’s penny wise and pound foolish. Their retention rate on these soldiers will be a lot less than it would have been.

What Dan Said

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In this case, Dan Fleshler, when he says that the Jewish Neocons are dead wrong, not disloyal.

I would add terminally stupid, and that they have actually done significant damage to Israel’s negotiating position and security because of their idiocy in Iraq.

I could see at the start of the invasion that this would end badly for Israel, with pressures coming for a quick settlement in the hope that a vain hope that it will calm things down in Iraq.

These folks honestly believed that they would create something like Norway by invading. It just goes to show you that, as the Japanese say, “baka ni tsukeru kusuri wanai”*.

*There is no medicine for stupidity.

Amusing Classified ad:

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Read the very last line, it’s very amusing.

Nissan Skyline GTR R34 VSpec Super Car T reg 1999 – 420BHP MINT! + Many Extra’s – see specs”

This Car is also available at £26K Inc VAT without the T9 GTR Number Plate.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R (This one is a ScanSpecII one of only 4 In The World) made many more exotic rivals look a bit silly.

What is Scan Spec II – This is a upgrade/branding dirivative of VSpecII – Scan Spec where our Boss Mr. Shelley Raja has “souped” up / “Overclocked” the cars to his own spec in partnership with RB Motorsport, and, like our Overclocked PC’s is a Scan Company association.

Our Scan Spec II cars now include 3 R34’s, 2 R33’s, 2 Mitsubishi EVO 9’s, Scan also sells performance car parts did you know! Our sister Company is www.priracing.com

Here is a Supercar that could seat four in comfort, was blessed with a large boot and good reliability, yet could still lap the Nurburgring quicker than a Lamborghini Diablo.

Four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering are just part of the equation.

The R34 GT-R V-Spec (ScanSpecII) modified to approx 420BHp. Stage 1

http://www.scancom.co.uk/product.php/2131/1011/80134434f063c4d1130e48180e4f4775

Ckick above to see the Ferrari Beater

Car Specifications.

• Colour Bayside Blue
• Stage 1 Upgraded to approx 420BHp by RB Motorsport
• Nissan Skyline BNC R34 VspecII – Still considered by many to be the worlds best Overall Super Car –
Twin Turbo – 180+ MPh.
• 4 Wheel Drive – 4 Wheel Steering
• 1 of 80 UK cars (also only 1 of 9 nismo uk press
cars original no plate T9 GTR worth over £3900)
Its the one in all the Video’s – One of the Most famous!
• 69,000 miles
• Mint condition one of the best kept Skylines R34’s in UK
• Inside also mint
• Full PIAA Xenon Lights All Round (£1200)
• Alpine stereo with ipod connector
• Clifford concept auto start alarm
• Full history with Middlehurst and RB Motorsport (Rod Bell – Mr. Skyline)
• New tyers put on Febuary 2006
• New sports exhaust fitted oct 2006 by Rod Bell Motorsport
• Twin HKS sports induction kit, Engine overhauled and ECU Re-Mapped only by Rod Bell Motorsport
• Full leather trip with red piping UK Spec Original
• Full details of parts & work available if required (£7200)
• Fully Serviced every Six Months & Oil Changed every 3000 miles Serviced By Rod Bell (RB Motorsport) Exclusively
• Never Raced or used on a track

Notice to Potential Buyers: Strictly No test Pilots please. If you are under 25 – please check your insurance cost before you go further.

Notice to all Scan Staff – Not Available on Loan File for Evaluation or Testing in Technical Dept!!

Reason for Selling: Purchased without proper consent from the wife. Apparently “do whatever the F**K you want” does not mean what I thought.

Consider this an open thread.

Chrysler Workers are on Strike

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45,000 members of the UAW at Chrysler went on strike today.

As I’ve said earlier, given that there already was a model for a contract as a result of the one signed with GM, this means that either the circumstances (far fewer retirees at Chrysler) or the culture (Cerberus is a private equity firm, and perhaps they are looking at pumping and dumping) that is driving this.

My guess is that Cerberus is not an auto firm, and are not interested in being one. They want to resell Chrysler at a later time, and are pushing hard for concessions so that they can generate a quick sale or go public and reap the rewards.

Russia Working on New Carrier Killers

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It’s interesting that Russia is dusting off a 30 year old missile design (the 3M-25 Meteorit, pics are at the end, the first picture is a testbed) that was canceled 30 years ago.

Part of this, when justaposed with the hypersonic testbed, is to show Russian capabilities, but I believe that there is a more direct market that they are addressing, a missile that can credibly threaten a US Carrier Battle Group, particularly the Carrier itself.

With a weight of over 10 tons, and speed and altitude in excess of mach 3 and 20,000 meters, even a few of these, if launched, could inflict serious damage on any ship out there.

Given technological advances, and the fact that a 4000km range would not be needed for attacking carrier battle groups off a country’s shores, I could see a derivative coming in at less than 5 tons.

Russia Rekindles High-speed Cruise Weapons Interest (Paid Subscription Required)
Aviation Week & Space Technology
10/08/2007, page 60

Douglas Barrie
London

Printed headline: Speed Metal

Russia dusted off and declassified an almost 30-year-old missile design for display—the 3M-25 Meteorit supersonic strategic cruise missile—at the recent Moscow air show (MAKS). But why present a program canceled in the early 1990s?

NPO Mashinostroenia’s Meteorit (Meteorite) program had been intended to develop a “universal” cruise missile for air, surface and submarine launch. The turbojet-powered weapon would cruise at 75,000 ft. beyond Mach 3.

…

On display as well at MAKS was a mock-up of the Central Aero-hydrodynamics Institute’s (TsAGI) GLL-AP-02 hypersonic “flying testbed” (shown). This is a notional Mach 6 air vehicle, to fly at 70,000 ft., powered by a Central Institute of Aviation Motors scramjet. TsAGI is looking at potential weapon applications of hypersonic air vehicles.

Here are the pics of the Meteorit


Free Trade: The Best Weapon Against the “Free Traders”

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Dean Baker makes the point that the free trade evangelists would not be so supportive of free trade if their necks were on the line. (I should note that I made a similar point about press outsourcing to India in Pasadena California).

I am already a member of a profession abused by immigration policies (H1B and L1 visas), so Baker’s point that protected professions should be opened up to competition makes sense to me:

The big winners in this story are the workers who manage to keep themselves protected from international competition. As a result of recent trade and immigration policy, these highly paid professionals can buy low cost furniture, cars, and clothes. They can also have their homes renovated and their gardens maintained at low prices. They can even get cheap nannies for their kids.

But the key to the success of these highly paid workers is maintaining their own protection from international competition. There are long list of professional and immigration barriers that protect doctors, lawyers, and even economists and journalists from the same sort of international competition faced by textile workers and dishwashers.

In addition to the professional and licensing barriers that impose obstacles to foreign professionals working in the United States, there are also immigration barriers. These barriers prohibit a Wal-Mart Hospital or Wal-Mart University from hiring the lowest cost qualified foreign professionals from anywhere in the world, in the same way that Wal-Mart buys the cheapest clothes and toys from any country in the world.

The way to fix this problem is simple: we create transparent licensing requirements for the licensed professions that can be met by students training anywhere in the world. (Let them have test sites in their own country—administered by U.S. certified testers, of course.) We then remove any comparable pay requirements for these professions. The rule is free trade, just like with steel and clothes. If a Chinese doctor is willing to work in the U.S. for $50,000 a year or an Indian journalist is willing to work for $30,000, then they can be hired at these wages as easily as Wal-Mart buys cheap toys from China.

Word Up! Particularly the journalists and economists.

Update on Michigan: Kucinich Out Too

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I tend that someone at the DNC *cough*Howard Dean*cough* got this organized so that it was a win situation to stay in.

This also means that Chris Dodd and Hillary Clinton will be the only ones on the ballot, and I would expect Dodd to break 25%, just on the number of folks who don’t want to pull the lever for Clinton in the primary.

Hillary is now in a bad position. If she ignores Michigan, Dodd might score a “stunner”, and if she devotes resources there, it’s going to diffuse her efforts elsewhere.

Let’s also say that not being on the ballot in Michigan is the right thing to do. The folks in the Michigan state house just got owned.

Kucinich withdraws from Michigan Democratic primary ballot

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Tuesday, October 9, 2007

DOVER, NH – The Kucinich for President campaign announced this afternoon that it has filed an affidavit with the Michigan Secretary of State’s office officially requesting that the name of Ohio Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich be withdrawn from the Michigan Democratic primary ballot.

The sworn statement requesting withdrawal was submitted via fax by Kucinich National Campaign Manager Mike Klein shortly before today’s 4 p.m. deadline.

At the same time, the Kucinich campaign issued the following statement on behalf of the candidate, who is campaigning in Arizona today:

“We signed a public pledge recently, promising to stand with New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, and the DNC-approved ‘early window’, and the action we are taking today protects New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary status, and Nevada’s early caucus.”

The statement continued: “We support the grassroots nature of the New Hampshire, small-state primary, and we support the diversity efforts that Chairman Dean and the DNC instituted last year, when they added Nevada and South Carolina to the window in January 2008. We are obviously committed to New Hampshire’s historic role.”

Klein, who recently moved to Dover, NH to run the national Kucinich campaign, added, “We will continue to adhere to the DNC-approved primary schedule.”

Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Biden Take Names off of Michigan Primary Ballot

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This is big. This is not a “nudge, nudge, wink, wink, we’re not campaigning here” thing. They have pulled their names from the ballot.

These candidates, particularly Obama and Edwards, have just made the Michigan primary irrelevant.

Hillary is still in there, but now she is competing against herself there, and all she can do is lose. My guess is that either Kucinich or Gravel will break double digits, which will likely be perceived as a loss for Clinton.

Personally, I’d like to see Dodd do well, he’s my favorite of the lower tier candidates.

The delegates won’t matter. It’s who wins the “real” primaries in this front loaded system that count, because the process is even more front loaded than it was in 2004, and it was done in a month.

This is a good move for the party and for the primaries.