EagleSpeak

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: Our Miss Brooks "Boynton the Bird" (1956)

Um - homogenized curling cream? Huh.

Friday Film on Saturday: WWII Oil Pipelines "Big Inch and Little Big Inch"

Saturday, February 22, 2020

On Midrats 22 February 2020 - Episode 529: Russia's 2020, with Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg

Please join us at 5pm EST on 22 February 2020 for Midrats Episode 529: Russia's 2020, with Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg:

As Russia's navy starts to transition away from the last of her legacy ships, to her approaching endgame in Syria, join us for the full hour to investigate the latest developments with Russia's national security posture, including the domestic power politics and relationships with its near abroad that influences the same.

Our guest returning again to Midrats will be Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg.

Dmitry Gorenburg is an expert on security issues in the former Soviet Union, Russian military reform, Russian foreign policy, and ethnic politics and identity. His recent research topics include decision-making processes in the senior Russian leadership, Russian naval strategy in the Pacific and the Black Sea, and Russian maritime defense doctrine.

Gorenburg is author of "Nationalism for the Masses: Minority Ethnic Mobilization in the Russian Federation" (Cambridge University Press, 2003), and has been published in journals such as World Politics and Post-Soviet Affairs. In addition to his role at CNA, he currently serves as editor of Problems of Post-Communism and is an Associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. From 2009 to 2016, he edited the journal Russian Politics and Law.

Gorenburg previously served as Executive Director of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). He received a B.A. in international relations from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. He blogs on issues related to the Russian military at Russian Military Reform. He is a native Russian speaker.

If you can't catch the show live and you use Apple Podcasts, you can pick up the episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by clicking the button at the main show page - or you can just click here. Or on Spreaker. The show also is reportedly on Spotify.

Friday, February 21, 2020

Election Reminder TANSTAAFL

A reposting from a couple of years ago here in which a reminder of "There ain't no such thing as as a free lunch" (TANSTAAFL) as a warning of the efforts of "democratic socialists" to claim power over your lives. What are you willing to pay of sacrifice for "free stuff."

Just how far out are some members of the "Democratic Socialists of America?"

Some clues in the National Public Radio piece What You Need To Know About The Democratic Socialists Of America

Here's how one socialist sums up his beliefs:

"I think we just need to realize that the end goal is, ultimately, like social control of the means of production," said Joe Cernelli, a founding member of that West Virginia DSA chapter. "You know we don't just want to improve capitalism, we will ultimately want to get rid of it."

That's not just his idea; the DSA views capitalism as an oppressive system — "We see it as fundamentally undemocratic," as DSA National Director Maria Svart put it. Here's how she sums up what the group wants:

"When it comes right down to it, we believe people need to be able to live a dignified life. I mean, there are certain things that should not be left up to the market," she said.

Removing some parts of the economy from the forces of the free market, for example. In other words, socialism.

In the DSA's ideal economy, some sectors — like health care and utilities — would be government-controlled. Other businesses would be worker-owned, as Svart explains it.

"Let's say you were negotiating at a bargaining table with workers in a bakery, and the workers said, 'Look, we want more than a quarter of the bread; we want half of the bread, or we want two-thirds of the bread,' " she said. "The socialist would say, 'Actually, we want the bakery. We want to control it all, for all of our benefit.' "
Oh. Management by committee? Or by the whole? Are some workers going to be more equal than others in order to direct the effort of the bakery? Will there be meetings to discuss what products will be produced - a ban on unhealthy things like cakes and doughnuts and an increase in non-GMO, gluten free products? What happens if the consumers reject the bakery products? Can the workers dump "free-riders" - non-productive "owners?" Or will they demand other bakeries conform to their product list?

I've got to hand to these people - they truly believe that humans can be perfected by this approach and "if only" "real socialism" were applied then everything would be wonderful. That "true belief" relies on a total lack of historical knowledge and a whole lot of magical thinking.

Then there's the need to get rid of that messy U. S. Constitution thing:

It's easy to focus on the "socialist" part here, but the word "democratic" is also a part of the group's name, and members often stress that part of their ideology. They say putting workers in charge of businesses, for example, necessarily makes those businesses more democratic.

But beyond that, the group advocates for some pretty revolutionary changes to democracy, like abolishing the Senate. The DSA calls it "extremely unrepresentative" for the way it gives both tiny and huge states alike two senators each — the group would like to replace it with a more representative body.
And, of course, money is never a problem for these folks - they'll just raise taxes on the "wealthy" and on "corporations" to pay for their pipe dreams. Of course, those "corporations" have employees who are free to purchase stock in their companies or other companies, thus becoming "worker-owners" - who will be hurt by the confiscation of the income generated by their work and the work of their fellow workers.

Well, as many of us know, this sort of thinking has not worked well in other places.

What Exactly is a Socialist Economy?:

In a capitalist economy, the market determines prices through the laws of supply and demand. For example, when demand for coffee increases, a profit-seeking business will boost prices to increase its profit. If at the same time, society’s appetite for tea diminishes, growers will face lower prices, and aggregate production will decline. In the long run, some suppliers may even exit the business. Because consumers and suppliers negotiate a new “market-clearing price” for these goods, the quantity produced more or less matches the public’s needs.

Under a true socialist system, it’s the government’s role to determine output and pricing levels. The challenge is synchronizing these decisions with the needs of consumers. Socialist economists such as Oskar Lange have argued that, by responding to inventory levels, central planners can avoid major production inefficiencies. So when stores experience a surplus of tea, it signals the need to cut prices, and vice versa.

One of the critiques of socialism is that, even if government officials can adjust prices, the lack of competition between different producers reduces the incentive to do so. Opponents also suggest that public control of production necessarily creates an unwieldy, inefficient bureaucracy. The same central planning committee could, in theory, be in charge of pricing thousands of products, making it extremely difficult to react to market cues promptly.

Furthermore, the concentration of power within government can create an environment where political motivations override the basic needs of the people. Indeed, at the same time the Soviet Union was diverting vast resources to build up its military capability, its residents often had trouble attaining a variety of goods, including food, soap, and even television sets.
Political motivations? When the government controls work, housing, and medical care it can control behavior by selectively denying access to such things to disfavored groups as happened in the former Yugoslavia, as set out in David Rieff's Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West (p87)

. . . But most people still expected to work in the same place for life, and had grown accustomed to looking to the workplace for all kinds of accompanying benefits. Being fired meant losing a great deal more than a paycheck . . . what were indispensable were the health insurance and other state benefits that were immediately revoked when a person was fired.

People were even made insecure in their lodgings . . . In Serbia proper, people's fear of being fired . . . and losing a flat owned by that enterprise was one of the ways the Milosevic regime compelled consent. Better support the regime than be out in the street homeless. In Banja Luka, this legacy of the Titoist period provided the Serb authorities with the next move in the process of ethnically cleansing the urban non-Serbian population. The firing itself was only the beginning. For once when someone's dismissal had been made known officially, the next step was for a letter to be sent demanding that the person vacate the apartment in which he or she had been living.

Thus, to be deprived of a job was almost to stop being citizen, to be forcibly be moved from the status of non-Serb to the status of non-person in only a couple of official decrees.
Far-fetched in the U.S.? Noticed any people losing their jobs because of current or even lost past transgressions of the whatever today's standard of politically correct behavior is?

In case you haven't gotten the message, the DSA is all about power. The power to take control of your life and the lives of all Americans and subvert them to the will of a small group of people who have the firm belief that they know what is best for all of us - despite what we may believe.

If you've paid attention to the Democrat Party debates, the whole premise is about the right of the state to control your lives, from cradle to grave.

Some of those who think "free college" is a great idea haven't the smarts to think ahead to the point that the state eventually will decide what must be studied. Think that's an exaggeration? You can go to any local school district today and see that federal government funding has determined what major parts of the approved curriculum are and failure to comply will result in loss of federal funding.

As set out here:

....Department of Education does not directly oversee the nation’s 100,000 public schools. States have some oversight, but individual municipalities, are, in most cases, the legal entities responsible for running schools and for providing the large majority of funding through local tax dollars.

Still, the federal government uses a complex system of funding mechanisms, policy directives, and the soft but considerable power of the presidential bully pulpit to shape what, how, and where students learn.

Friday Film: "Broken Arrow" Nuclear Weapon Safety (1962)

An Air Force film, but important for the Navy, too, given the subject matter.

Perhaps related to an incident involving a B-52 flying out of Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC, in 1961. See here:

The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an accident that occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina, on 23 January 1961. A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3–4-megaton Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process.[2] The pilot in command, Walter Scott Tulloch, ordered the crew to eject at 9,000 feet (2,700 m). Five crewmen successfully ejected or bailed out of the aircraft and landed safely, another ejected, but did not survive the landing, and two died in the crash.[3] Information declassified in 2013 showed that one of the bombs came very close to detonating.[4]

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: Fibber McGee and Molly - "Valentine Candy" (1942)

Friday, February 14, 2020

Friday Film Valentines Day Edition: "How Do You Know It's Love" (1950)

Answering the age old question in 1950's Coronet Educational Film style:

Sunday, February 09, 2020

On Midrats 9 February 2020 - Episode 527: Pre-Valentine's Day Melee

Please join us at 5pm EST on 9 February 2020 for Midrats Episode 527: Pre-Valentine's Day Melee

Come join EagleOne and CDR Salamander for an hour of all the things maritime and national security that broke above the ambient noise the last couple of weeks.

From the national security implications of the latest disease out break in China to our Navy's ongoing challenge of finding out what she wants to be, and how she wants to get there.

Open topic, open phones - so if there is a topic you would like us to address, join the chatroom, give us a call, or drop us an email or DM on twitter.

Saturday, February 08, 2020

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: Rogues Gallery "The Corpse Didn't Kill" (1946)

Dick Powell moved from a sappy sweet singing idol to doing "tough guy" roles, usually with a little humor.

Friday, February 07, 2020

Friday Film: U.S. Navy Aircraft Ground Rescue Procedures for the A-7E (1971)

Knowing the right way to rescue pilots from crashed or troubled aircraft on the ground is important for air station flight line crash crews. In this 1971 film an A-7 is used as an example.

There is also a pilot's significant other with big hair, short skirt, and a nice Triumph Spitfire.

Not sure why this film was marked "For Official Use Only", but see here. Also see here:

For Official Use Only (FOUO) is a document designation, not a classification. This designation is used by Department of Defense and a number of other federal agencies to identify information or material which, although unclassified, may not be appropriate for public release.

There is no national policy governing use of the For Official Use Only designation. DoD Directive 5400.7 defines For Official Use Only information as "unclassified information that may be exempt from mandatory release to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)." The policy is implemented by DoD Regulation 5400.7-R and 5200.1-R.

Saturday, February 01, 2020

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - Well Sort of. "What it was was football" (1953)

A blast from the past in honor of some event this weekend that seems to be getting bigger than a real holiday.

First put up on this blog in 2017, it features a distinguished alumnus of that school found in "The Southern Part of Heaven."

The artist seems to be George Woodbridge who used to do lots of work for Mad magazine.

Friday, January 31, 2020

Friday Film: "How to Fly Helldiver"

More about this aircraft.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

High Cost of Gulf of Guinea Piracy and Related Corruption

Pointed out here:

In 2018, the United Nations (UN) Security Council disclosed that Nigeria was losing

approximately $1.5 billion a month due to piracy, armed robbery at sea, smuggling and fuel supply fraud. According to the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre figures, the GoG accounted for 29 incidents in the first quarter of 2018, more than 40% of the global total. Of the 114 seafarers captured worldwide that year, all but one was within Nigerian waters, the report also noted. “The absence of an effective maritime governance system, in particular, hampers freedom of movement in the region, disrupts trade and economic growth, and facilitates environmental crimes,” Ambassador Michele J. Sison, the United States’ Deputy Representative to the UN, said at the time. She identified ineffective governance structures, weak rule of law, precarious legal frameworks and inadequate naval, coast guard, and maritime law enforcement as reasons for the challenge.

Last September, the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, confirmed that Nigeria loses billions of dollars annually to this menace. He also said: “The maritime domain has been under threat by piracy, sea robbery, illicit trafficking, illegal unreported and unregulated fishing and marine pollution. Now we have emerging security threats within the Nigerian maritime domain that stem largely from non-military causes such as socio-economic agitations and a large army of unemployed and under-employed youths in the coastal communities, whose activities manifest through attacks on shipping.”

It is therefore no surprise that the IMB has characterised Nigerian waters as “one of the most dangerous shipping routes in the world.” Between October 2019 and last week, there were eleven recorded attacks on the Nigerian waters and this may not even reflect the complete picture. On 23rd September 2019, a 244-metre product tanker, named ELKA ATHINA, carrying the flag of Greece was attacked in the Lagos area. Pirates actually boarded the vessel in a cargo-stealing attempt. Similarly, on 5th October 2019, a 182-metre produce tanker named UACC MIDIF, carrying the flag of Marshall Islands, was attacked by pirates in another cargo-stealing attempt. In a more daring attack on 6th October 2019, eight-armed men in two wooden boats attacked a 195-metre vessel named USMA around the Lagos port.

On 3rd December 2019, a vessel named NAVE CONSTELLATION, carrying the flag of Hong Kong was attacked at Bonny, Rivers State by pirates who hijacked the 330-metre crude oil tanker and kidnapped the 19 crew members. On 15th December 2019, a 140-metre product tanker named DUKE, was attacked. No fewer than 20 crew members were abducted. A week later, on 24th December 2019, an attempt was made on a 274-metre long vessel named ISTANBUL. Carrying the flag of Malta, the vessel reportedly conducted evasive maneuverers causing the attack to fail. Another failed attempt was made four days later on 28th December 2019 on an LNG tanker carrying a Bermuda flag. The 288-metre long LNG tanker named KNG LOKOJA was attacked at a location described as ‘joint regime of Nigeria and Sao Tome’.

The attempted hijack on 30th December 2019 at the same location of VINALINES MIGHTY and in Bonny, a 200 metre bulk carrier named DROGBA, carrying the flag of Singapore, were foiled because security personnel on board the two vessels fought back. But in one of the most violent attacks on the second day of this year, four crew members were kidnapped and four armed guards killed on an 84-metre vessel named AMBIKA, carrying the Nigerian flag. Another 155-metre vessel named MSC GRACE, carrying a Panama flag was also attacked on 21st January 2020 by armed pirates. The attack was foiled by 13 armed personnel on a speed boat who opened fire.

Incidentally, six of the vessels involved in these attacks were classified as “suspicious” which means they could have in fact been carrying stolen crude. Yet, the loss to our economy and the danger this poses to our national security are enormous. When I sought the opinion of the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Mele Kyari, on the implications of heightened piracy in the GoG, he minced no words: “It means increase in the premium on risk cover, delays in accepting Nigerian crude oil cargoes in the international market, adverse impact on the market pricing of Nigerian crude related to cargo delivery uncertainty and overall adverse impact on the revenues to the federation account.”

I understand Kyari’s point. The Lloyds market association of the United Kingdom has classified GoG as a war risk area resulting in insurance costs estimated to be triple that of other areas in the world. Vessels are now compelled to insure their crew and mobilize their own armed security guards to accompany every voyage. The same high cost of insurance applies for ships and cargoes. These costs are quite naturally transferred to consumers. A report by ‘Oceans Beyond Piracy’ that analysed the cost of this crime estimated that between 50 and 60 seafarers were kidnapped in the last quarter of last year in Nigeria alone and about N600 million was paid as ransom to secure their freedom.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director General, Dr Dakuku Peterside, who expressed his concerns about the growing challenge said Nigeria has to do more. “We must pay greater attention to the Gulf of Guinea not only because our economy depends on it but also because of its implications for our national security given the quantum of illicit arms that flow through the region,” Peterside told me on Tuesday. He added that the Nigerian Navy has, at various times, “embarked on special operations to tackle piracy and criminality on waterways and the cost of these special operations is enormous. NIMASA is spending USD195 million to buy more assets plus logistics in terms of retraining of our military forces to fight piracy. These are funds that would have been applied to social services.”

The other costs of piracy and criminality on our waterways include stifling of regional trade and food price inflation since deep sea fishing has almost been taken over completely by the Chinese whose vessels are heavily fortified, security wise. Just recently, two key London based shipping associations were about to issue a statement warning their vessels not to venture into Nigerian waters but for the intervention of NIMASA under the Deep Blue project. But I understand that the international shipping community is watching to see what the Nigerian authorities will do to tackle the menace before taking a final decision that could deeply hurt our economy.

Well, so far the answer has been not enough has been done by Nigeria which would seem to have the money and the population to develop a useful coast guard and navy.

But there's more. As reported by The Manila Times West African ‘pirates’ are revolutionary rebels, says freed Filipino seafarers:

ABDUCTORS, who spread fear and terror in West African waters and are responsible for the rising cases of kidnapping in Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, among others, are mostly ex-militant members of a group who steal crude oil from tanker ships and sell it to buyers on the black market.

In an exclusive interview by The Manila Times, the two freed Filipino seafarers said most of their abductors were former high-ranking officials of the Nigerian military who broke away from the government.
***
“We learned that the abductors are former high ranking officials of the Nigerian military.They alienated themselves from the government and turned to kidnap for ransom schemes,” said “Chris,” a deck rating who flew back safely to the Philippines last January 24 after their release on January 21 at the Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

They said the groups target ships and abduct its crew in exchange for a big amount of money to sustain its operations.

“Most of them were addicts and maybe involved also in drug trafficking, aside from kidnapping. I saw one of them smoking bricks of marijuana for several days in the camp where we were held for 22 days, which they called ‘No Man’s Land,’ according to “John,” a native of Iloilo province.

They claimed that these rebels are targeting ship owners and pressuring them to directly buy fuel products from them, which they smuggle somewhere in Nigeria, and not to acquire from the government.

“That was part of their rebellious act, to paralyze the operation of the oil-rich production of Nigeria and buy fuel products directly from them,” the seafarers said.

Well, that doesn't sound good. If true, the prospects for the Nigeria, already troubled by

corruption don't look good:

Corruption is the single greatest obstacle preventing Nigeria from achieving its enormous potential. It drains billions of dollars a year from the country’s economy, stymies development, and weakens the social contract between the government and its people. Nigerians view their country as one of the world’s most corrupt and struggle daily to cope with the effects.
******

Corruption is rife across the country’s economic sectors: petroleum, trade, industrial, agricultural, infrastructure, power sector, banking, and environmental. Together, these forms of corruption erase billions of dollars from Nigeria’s bottom line and prevent it from realizing its great human and economic potential.

In Nigeria’s security sectors, defense sector and police corruption are destabilizing and compounding security challenges in conflict hotspots like the Lake Chad Basin, the Middle Belt, and the Niger Delta. Corruption in the judiciary and within anticorruption agencies undermines the country’s already anemic accountability mechanisms, thereby fueling corruption across the spectrum.

It certainly has created some dangerous waters - and increased costs of sea-going trade in the area both in lives and dollars.

Pay attention to that part about the "rebels" using attacks to "pressure" them into buying hijacked oil. There's a lot at play here.

You might also note the reference to the Chinese fishing fleet and its effect on food prices in the area. This was previously discussed in Gulf of Guinea Piracy and Illegal Fishing: Expensive Crimes for the Neighborhood:

The document titled, “Fisheries Crime Activities in West Africa Coastal Region,” showed that Nigeria spends about $800 million (N324 billion) to import fish to bridge the supply gap.

According to the document, Nigeria in 2018 imported fish worth $71 million, $56 million, $43 million and $174 million from Iceland, Russia, Norway and Netherlands respectively.

The document also showed that West Africa remains a global hotspot for illegal fishing with estimated losses of $2.9 billion.

The document further revealed that over 450 Chinese vessels fish illegally in Nigeria and the coast of West Africa, adding that, “a survey carried out by the West Africa Task Force showed that over 37 per cent of all fish caught in West Africa are caught illegally with China, Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, France and Thailand being the main countries responsible.

For the Navy from DARPA: The Angler Program

Hmmm. Which military service would be most interested in the features of this project highlighted below?

DARPA announces DARPA’s Angler Program Awards Contracts to Advance Autonomous Underwater Systems

DARPA has awarded six contracts for work on the Angler program, which aims to

DARPA artist conception

pioneer the next generation of autonomous underwater robotic systems capable of physical intervention in the deep ocean environment. This class of future unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) must overcome reliance on GPS and human intervention to support infrastructure establishment, maintenance, and resilience over the vastness of the ocean. The Angler program seeks to merge breakthroughs in terrestrial and space robotics, as well as underwater sensing, to develop autonomous robotic solutions capable of navigating and surveying ocean depths, and physically manipulating human-made objects of interest.
***
The Angler program envisions numerous benefits, including:

Establishing functionality for long-duration mission navigation and autonomy deprived of GPS and surface-based communication;

Providing a first-of-its-kind long-distance undersea manipulation platform capable of fully autonomous operation; and

Advancing perception systems to enable grasping underwater objects in degraded undersea environments.

The program is targeting three phases of development, culminating with a fully integrated prototype completing an underwater mission in a dynamic, open ocean environment.

Why, yes, the U.S. Navy, of course! Lots of missions covered in that list of benefits, aren't there?

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Gremlins Program Completes First Flight Test for X-61A Vehicle

DARPA reports Gremlins Program Completes First Flight Test for X-61A Vehicle

DARPA's Gremlins program has completed the first flight test of its X-61A vehicle. The

test in late November at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah included one captive-carry mission aboard a C-130A and an airborne launch and free flight lasting just over an hour-and-a-half.

The goal for this third phase of the Gremlins program is completion of a full-scale technology demonstration series featuring the air recovery of multiple, low-cost, reusable unmanned aerial systems (UASs), or “Gremlins.” Safety, reliability, and affordability are the key objectives for the system, which would launch groups of UASs from multiple types of military aircraft while out of range from adversary defenses. Once Gremlins complete their mission, the transport aircraft would retrieve them in the air and carry them home, where ground crews would prepare them for their next use within 24 hours.

The team met all objectives of the test in November, including gathering data on operation and performance, air and ground-based command and control systems, and flight termination. A parachute anomaly occurred in a recovery sequence that is specific to the test series and not part of the operational plan. The incident resulted in the loss of the test vehicle, one of five in the program. Four vehicles remain operational and available for the test series, which will continue in 2020.

"The vehicle performed well, giving us confidence we are on the right path and can expect success in our follow-on efforts," said Scott Wierzbanowski, the program manager for Gremlins in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office. "We got a closer look at vehicle performance for launch, rate capture, engine start, and transition to free flight. We had simulated the performance on the ground, and have now fully tested them in the air. We also demonstrated a variety of vehicle maneuvers that helped validate our aerodynamic data."

What is the Gremlin Program?

Now do a ship launched version. Perhaps from an unmanned surface vessel or (gasp!) a submersible/semi-submersible.