A picture is worth a thousand words

A few interesting graphics I've come across recently (click to enlarge):














That's not the tail rotor of a Blackhawk helicopter. Backstory here, from Wired.


Top Oilfields in the US, by proven reserves. From The Oil Drum.



















Growth Spurt. From NSPE Magazine.

Also: Louisiana #45 on Science and Technology Development Index: (PDF Charts).

BONUS: Macondo, 1 Year Later. The Big Picture, Boston Globe. Don't forget to click the images to see the before/after.

UPDATE- 1 more:
From DNV Macondo Report:

Book Review: Skunk Works

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed by Ben R. Rich


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you were to list the most important Aerospace Engineers of the 20th Century, your list would have to include Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. He designed the P-38 Lightning, the P-80, the U-2, the A-12/SR-71 Blackbird, the C-130, among many others.

His right hand man/successor wrote a history of the the Skunk Works, Lockheed's independent wing that develops secret aircraft.

The first third of the book goes through the development of Have Blue & the F-117. The rest of the book backs up and gives

There are a few stories that were told for the first time in this book. For example, they talk about a certain secret desert test facility. They aren't allowed to say its commonly known name, but they mention its in a dry lake bed somewhere North of Las Vegas near a weapon testing range. Hmm, wonder what he's talking about...

One of the surprising aspects was how much respect he has for "the ebil librils" Carter & Clinton and how much he bashes Reagan's administration. One thing that was revealed in the book was when Carter canceled the B-1 (a plane obsolete when it was first authorized, thanks to look-down-shoot-down radar), he was actually taking the money to fund stealth research and constructing the F-117. Reagan bashed Carter over and over and eventually refunded the B-1. It was a flying porkbarrel project from start to finish. He laments the "defense-industry socialism" the military practices. Also, he highlights the ridiculous claims Reagan's science advisors made about Star Wars and the National Space Plane. Ben Rich was constantly mystified at why his favorite president, Reagan, made such bad decisions, while he singles out
William Perry, one of Clinton's SecDef's, as the best SecDef in modern US history.

The SR-71 chapters make for great reading. It was an aircraft that was literally (almost) out of this world. Mach 3.2. 80,000 feet. Not a single aircraft lost to enemy fire, despite the most hazardous assignments in the S military. The plane comes to a really tragic end, though. First, the US government orders all tooling destroyed, to prevent the Soviets from learning its secrets (also preventing another Mach 3 plane from being built for the rest of the 20th Century). The decision to kill the Blackbird was made by Dick Cheney. A few weeks after Cheney killed it, Schwarzkopf asked for it to be reactivated to hunt for Skuds. NASA still had 3 in flying condition and the Skunk Works offered to reinsert surveillance packages and have them shipped to the front lines. The Air Force Brass, who long hated the plane for sucking up chunks of the budget they're rather have for bombers and fighters, nixed the idea. One of them confessed, 'If we crack open the door an inch and it does well, like we know it will, we'll never be rid of the plane!' Forget about protecting the troops...

It's cool to get a real evaluation of US aircraft. Here are some of the planes he talks about:
* F-16: great, but low fuel capacity.
* F-111: Overly complicated. Huge EM emissions made it a magnet for missiles. Only was built because its factory was in LBJ's hometown.
* B-70. Obsolete even in its early years of development. Should have been canceled way earlier than it was.
* B-1. See above.

As interesting as the book was, I was only going to give it three stars, but then I read the last chapter. It's filled with tips on successful project management and his vision of the future (from 1995-ish). It includes lots of drones like the Preadator, bashes the B-2 and F-22 for deliberately spreading out contracts, to the detriment of the budget, to make the planes "cancellation proof" in Congress, and emphasizes the importance of a strong US industrial base. He doesn't talk about machines and facilities when he means industry; he's talking about welders, machinists and engineers.

The Mystery of the Varyag

Looks like I'm finally close to being done moving. It's a pain. I guess moving is punishment for being a materialistic capitalist swine.

Anyway, wanted to finally get back to posting. Looks like a lot of people have cut way back on their posting. Hopefully it will pick back up. Anyway, on to a post I've had in my head for a while.

*******************

The aircraft carrier Varyag is something I've had my eye on for a while. It's a fascinating story that could have been written by Ian Fleming. China acquired a partially constructed hulk of a Soviet aircraft carrier from Ukraine. The purchase price was way above scrap value. The company that purchased the Varyag was headed by a bunch of retired PLA-Navy officers. They wanted to purchase the vessel for a floating casino in Macau, despite the harbor not being deep enough for a ship the size of the Varyag.

The vessel gets purchased, along with the blueprints, but Turkey won't let it through the Dardanelles because it could sink and block the channel. After intensive diplomatic negotiations, Turkey lets it through. Over many months, the ship is towed to the other side of the world. The Varyag is towed past Macau all the way to China. It arrives not at a civilian port, but a PLAN shipyard. The same day it's tied up to the military wharf, the "casino" company went bankrupt and disappeared.

Varyag World has been covering the story for a while. After it arrived, it sat there for a while. China made several other deals for carriers and carrier aircraft. The carriers were purchased (with blueprints) and slowly scrapped to learn as much as possible about carrier construction. China also purchased several sets of carrier landing equipment to start training pilots.

After a while, the shipyard dry docked the vessel, sandblasted, and painted the vessel and started prepping the deck for takeoffs and landings. Then the Varyag just sat there for a while. Just a few weeks ago, though, the Varyag was brought to a new wharf with many large cranes. The deck is covered with equipment. It looks like the Chinese are adding environmental controls and, finally, propulsion.

Other interesting tidbits: Jane's Information Services reports the PLAN has given it the name "Shi Lang," the first Chinese emperor to capture Taiwan. Could the Varyag be the training platform/stopgap for the first native-built aircraft carriers?

There are a lot more little twists and turns, but that hits some of the high notes. More discussion here.

The other thing that makes the whole saga interesting is carriers might now be a obsolete as big gun battleships were on December 6th, 1941. No surface ship can survive long against a sophisticated foe on the modern battlefield. The military historian Sir John Keegan has said since the Falklands War, surface ships are seriously vulnerable to missile attack. Even the deployment of Close-In Weapons Systems, like the Phalanx don't fully counter the threat. They only counter sea-level missiles. Steeply approaching missiles go right over the protective cover. Also, how long does it take to reload the Phalanx under fire? You can bet, unlike the Exocets and the British during the Falklands, future carriers will have more than 5 missiles to worry about. They'll get cut to ribbons. The only thing in carriers' favor is that the two best ways to hunt a submarine are 1- another sub (included in all carrier battle groups), 2- a squadron of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Helicopters (which carriers just happen to carry).

Supposedly, China has been focusing in on building out their submarine force and saying carriers are just for show. Why the sudden change in thinking?

One final China-related note: "Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang" was just published. Ziyang was the head of China that instituted the economic reforms that launched its incredible economic boom that lasts to this day. He was removed for refusing to take a hard line against the Democratic protesters in Tienanmen Square. His memoirs will give a peak into Chinese politics, a very rare thing.

News Buffet - 13 August 2008

Got a few things that have caught my eye lately...

China houses 10 MILLION quake survivors in temporary prefab housing. FEMA could barely handle a hundred thousand or so.

On the military:
The Pentagon as global landlord. Some interesting statistics about the Department of Defense.

The Caleb Campbell Story from Deadspin. Very serious journalism out of Deadspin. Good work.

Greatest Twitter Tweet Ever. No other way to describe it.

On the economy:
Joyous that oil prices have been going down? Don't get too excited yet. A lot of it is due to central banks and the Fed propping up the dollar. A moderate sized intervention has a widespread effect, given how over leveraged most players in the market are.

How the rich think about money. God bless British journalists. They have to do this with ridiculous libel laws. I dare any American journalists to get something like this published.

Some property news:
Section 8 moves to the suburbs.

In New Orleans housing market, Uptown shines while St. Tammany takes a bad hit.

A portrait of the true victim of corruption. From our Karen Gadbois.

Politics:
GOP drops like a stone in voting rolls ...Except in Louisiana. Even Kentucky is smarter than us.

"Principaled conservatism out of Baton Rouge" HA!

On Energy:
The Dark Side of the Toyota Prius. Suck on this smug hippies: you Prius is soaked in the blood of slave laborers!

Great map of the Gulf of Mexico with infrastructure and lease blocks. Be warned, very big PDF file. Unless you work out there, people don't realize how much infrastructure there is offshore.

Chuck Schumer is about the last person you want to listen to when it comes to energy. He wanted to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as, "world oil prices continue their meteoric ascent to nearly $25 per barrel. "

LA Gangs Experiment with Pedal-By Shootings. Reducing your carbon emissions? You know gas prices are getting bad when...

On Evolution:
Tech geek takes on creationist in Kansas. I kicked into his campaign.

Colleges allowed to refuse admissions to students who have creationism in their science classes. Good. Maybe when little Johnny from Mandeville High gets turned down for Columbia, then Louisiana parents might get what Jindal's stealth creationism bill means in the long term to Louisiana. Also, I just realized we have a Louisiana Science Coalition. Anyone a member? How can I sign up?

China's been busy

While everyone on this side of the Pacific is concerned with Bush/the Economy/Briney Spears/Iraq, China has been busy, and not just in preparation for the Olympics.

On the military front:

China has built itself the 2nd largest submarine fleet in the world. Larger than Russia. Including quiet, nuclear powered and even a few boomers [ballistic missile submarines].

Gone out and outfitted a Russian aircraft carrier and named it the Shi Lang (the last Chinese emperor to invade Taiwan). The story of the Varyag is absolutely fascinating. It was bought by a front company while it was being scrapped by Ukrainians. The cover story was it was going to turned into a floating casino in Macao (despite the fact the harbor is too shallow for a deep draft vessel like a carrier). It then had a long, interesting journey across the globe (bypassing Macao) and ending up in China's largest naval shipyard, where it's been refitted and painted PLAN [Chinese navy] gray. Varyag-World has been covering this story in great detail for some time. If you liked reading Blind Man's Bluff, you'll love reading Varyag World. It's still being updated.

China, nervous about US military activity all around them, denies US navy ships shelter during storm.

Chinese interests are seeking to buy 3Com, one of the primary suppliers of US military secured-communications equipment. 3Com is just one of many companies the Chinese are taking an interest in.

On the environmental front:

China has passed the US as the most polluting country in the world.

The Yangtze River dolphin has gone extinct.

Beijing's smog has gotten so bad you can't see across the street. That'll look great on the Olympic broadcasts.

Speaking of the Olympics, athletes are bringing their own food because the Chinese food has so much steroids, the athletes will test positive from eating the chicken.

On the energy front:

China doubling oil tanker fleet. There are now so many oil tankers pulling up to China's coast, there aren't enough places for them to dock.

1 year ago, China became a net importer of coal. In December 2007 it imported 4.3 million tons of coal. The US is the "Saudi Arabia of coal" and 4.3 million tons would be 1/3 of monthly net exports.

China freezes energy prices in an attempt to deal with a severe diesel shortage. China has been subsidizing energy costs to the tune of $15.7 billion for their steel industry alone. Just imagine if Blanco told Krupp, 'we're going to pick up half the bill for your energy.' Krupp would have been here in a heartbeat. Just imagine the sort of unfair competitive advantage that gives Chinese companies...

On the economic front:

Speaking of competitive advantage, how's tortured slave labor for y'a? Up from your bootstraps you fat, lazy, unionized worker!

Major banks rescued by China's sovereign wealth fund. "The idea of China rushing to the rescue of the capitalist world seems so unlikely as to be unbelievable."

China's only going to do so much, though. They are quietly revaluing the yuan. Part of it is an effort to decouple from the US economy. Part of it is to fight inflation in the major cities that's fermenting unrest. Remember, runaway inflation was a factor in the Tienanmen Square protests.

Unlike the author of this what if scenario [Bush refuses to give up power in Jan '09 and Chinese invade], I don't think China's a threat to the US, but we're stupid not to pay attention to them. I think China's economy is going to overheat, pollution will get so bad not even Fox News could content the people, and the 4-2-1 problem will lead to a social security crisis that will put ours to shame will combine to lead China to focus more on internal problems than stepping up to take a leading role in a multi-polar world.

Things I am not allowed to do

Things I am not allowed to do aboard Galactica. Hilarious. 10+ pages long and growing. H/T to First Draft.

That list was based off this one. Based off some of the people I know, nothing on the list is surprising. If you know anyone in the military, there's nothing more dangerous than a bored soldier. They're like bored 4 year olds with high explosives...