Saturday Is Old Radio Day: Dimension X - "Report on the Barnhouse Effect"

1950's SciFi radio was so good.

Here's a little show based on a Kurt Vonnegut short story as part of the Dimension X series - which promised

"Adventures in time and space... told in future tense..."

On Midrats 15 Nov 2015 - Episode 306: Author Claude Berube on his next book: Syren's Song

Please join us at 5 pm EST on 15 November 2015 for Midrats Episode 306: Author Claude Berube on his next book: Syren's Song

This Sunday for the full hour our guest will be author Claude Berube to discuss his second Connor Stark novel, Syren's Song. From the Amazon page,

"Syren's Song is the second novel featuring Connor Stark, and it promises to be just as engaging as The Aden Effect. This geopolitical thriller begins when the Sri Lankan navy is unexpectedly attacked by a resurgent and separatist Tamil Tiger organization. The government issues a letter of marque to former U.S. Navy officer Connor Stark, now the head of the private security company Highland Maritime Defense. Stark and his eclectic compatriots accept the challenge only to learn that the Sea Tigers who crippled the Sri Lankan navy are no ordinary terrorists."

We will also discuss the craft of writing, how emerging real world events can influence the writing of fiction, and as we usually do with Claude, perhaps some other interestiing topics that crop up in the course of our conversation.

Join us live or pick the show up later by clicking here. Or you can also catch the show later on our iTunes page here (though the episode number might be different because ...?)

Friday Fun Film: Learning to Fly the Hellcat

I think things are more complicated today.

Thanks

To all who have served our country, thanks.

UPDATE: Here's U.S. Army training video featuring some tactics against tunnels.




So, a special salute to the "tunnel rats" on this Veterans Day 2015:

During the Vietnam War "tunnel rat" became a more or less official specialty for volunteer infantrymen, primarily from the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Their motto was the Latin phrase "Non Gratum Anus Rodentum"—"not worth a rat's ass". Since the 1940s, during the war against the French colonial forces, the Viet Cong had created an extensive underground system of complexes. By the 1960s, there were underground hospitals, training grounds, storage facilities, headquarters and more. The Viet Cong, who were crack forces highly skilled at guerrilla warfare, might stay underground for several months at a time. The tunnels were their territory.

Whenever troops would uncover a tunnel, tunnel rats were sent in to kill any hiding enemy soldiers and to plant explosives to destroy the tunnels. A tunnel rat was equipped with only a standard issue .45 caliber pistol, a bayonet and a flashlight, although most tunnel rats were allowed to choose another pistol with which to arm themselves. The tunnels were very dangerous, with numerous booby traps and enemies lying in wait.
***
Tunnel rats were generally, but not exclusively, men of smaller stature (5'6" and under) in order to fit in the narrow tunnels. Mangold and Penycate claimed that the tunnel rats were almost exclusively White or Hispanic soldiers and that the majority of American Latinos were Puerto Rican or Mexican American. Such tactics came to prominence following their successful application in January 1966 during a combined US–Australian action against the Củ Chi tunnels in Bình Dương Province, known as Operation Crimp.

Brave men.

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 5 October - 4 November 2015

ONI's unclassified Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report covering 5 October - 4 November 2015:

TThe Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) message provides info on piracy threats to, and criminal action against, merchant vessels worldwide in the last 30 days. This report is produced primarily to inform merchant mariners and naval forces.

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 5 October - 4 November 2015

Didn't make the report yet, but there is an interesting story out of Somlia, "Four Iranian hostages freed in Somalia". Interesting because the rescue was done by a Somali force:

Four Iranian fishermen have been freed in Somalia after security forces rescued them from a pirate gang, security officials said on Thursday.

Local elder Mohamed Moalim Abdirahman said the men appeared "healthy" despite their ordeal, but that the pirate gang still held as many as nine other hostages, all believed to be from Iran.

"Security forces rescued four Iranians who have been held hostage by pirates," said Abdirahman Mohamed, a security official in central Somalia's Galgadud region.

"Two of the kidnapers were arrested during the raid on a house where they held the victims," Mohamed added.

Not to be too cynical, but I wonder who forgot to pay their "hostage tax."

"IRINSJamaran" by Aspahbod 

By the way, when last heard from the Iranian Navy was still "foiling" pirate attacks "somewhere on the high seas." As seen in the above WTS Report, no other nation has reported major pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden or nearby. Here's the Iranian - uh - "story" from 27 Oct 15:

Iran’s Navy chief Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says the country's naval forces have successfully thwarted a pirate attack on an Iranian oil tanker in high seas.

Sayyari added that pirates in seven boats were attempting to seize the Iranian oil tanker Tuesday morning but they were overpowered after Iran's domestically-manufactured Jamaran destroyer was called in and opened heavy fire on the pirates.

The assailants were then forced to flee, the commander said.

He noted that the 36th fleet of the Iranian Navy, comprising Jamaran destroyer and the Bushehr logistic vessel, is currently on a mission in high seas to provide security for merchant vessels and to display the Islamic Republic’s might.

Wow.

On Midrats 8 Nov 2015 - Episode 305: "Fall Free For All"

Please join us on Sunday, 8 Nov 2015 at 5pm EST (U.S.) for Midrats
Episode 305: Fall Free For All

It is that time of the year ... time for a Fall Free For All on Midrats.

No guests, no agenda, open phones, open topics, open mic.

Join Sal from "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "Eaglespeak" for a full hour as we dive in to the national security topics of the day with a maritime bent - or whatever topics break above the background noise.

This is your chance by calling in or by throwing it out in the live chat room, to bring up the topic you wish we would cover, or to just play stump the chump.

Join us live or pick the show up later by clicking here. Or, if you prefer, you can find the show later at our iTunes page here.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: Jack Benny "Money Ain't Everything" (1936)

Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, and Eddie Anderson (Rochester)

Ah, The Jack Benny Show:

The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.

Here's sample show from the fourth year of his radio show:

Friday Fun Films: "The Wise Little Hen" a/k/a the "The Little Red Hen" and "I, Pencil"

Everyone one wants to share in the profits of hard work, just not in the hard work itself.


Now, if the pig and Donald Duck had something of value to exchange (perhaps even their labor) with the Wise Hen, then a free economic exchange might have resulted. Lord knows she tried to get them involved. Instead, they probably headed off to the government complaining about how the hen was unfairly advantaged and should be taxed on her "excess profits."

As long as we are on economics, here's a video of "I, Pencil"



If you want to read "I, Pencil" the link is here.

Or Milton Friedman does his version:



Yep, world peace.

Oh, and those open lines of commerce, including those sea lines of communication.

Disaster Prep Wednesday: Preparing for Winter

As the calendar rolls over to November, and with The Old Farmer's Almanac predicting colder weather than usual in some areas (see also here), it seems like a good idea to think about getting ready for bad winter weather. Of course, like any old sailor, I am in favor of having a good checklist to help me get ready, and also like other old sailors, I like to steal borrow a checklist from someone else to save me having to work too hard.

So, here's a checklist from the Center for Disease Control found here

Preparedness Checklists for Winter Weather

Sure, some of things may not apply in your area of the country, but that's the nice thing about a checklist, you can modify it to meet your circumstances. On the other hand, some of the items are universal to any disaster - like having a family communications plan, adequate water and food, and planning for ways to keep warm.

Start now and avoid the rush.

A Random Thought on the South China Sea Artificial Islands

Sure, U.S. Navy Freedom of Navigation jaunts are fun and exciting - see the pre-first FONOP message from Admiral Swift, PACFLT, in this Navy Times piece by David Larter, "Navy will challenge Chinese territorial claims in South China Sea":

"It's my sense that some nations view freedom of the seas as up for grabs, as something that can be taken down and redefined by domestic law or by reinterpreting international law," Swift said, according to a report by Reuters. "Some nations continue to impose superfluous warnings and restrictions on freedom of the seas in their exclusive economic zones and claim territorial water rights that are inconsistent with (the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). This trend is particularly egregious in contested waters."

The U.S. Navy says it will be back, US navy warns it will repeat South China Sea operations

The US will continue to conduct “routine” operations in the South China Sea, the head of the US Pacific Command told a Chinese audience on Tuesday, even as he called for closer ties between the American and Chinese militaries.

Admiral Harry Harris said US naval operations near territory claimed by China were not “a threat to any nation” but were designed to defend freedom of navigation in international waters.

So,

Well, it occurs to me that there are several ways to play this game. One opening move would be to assist the Republic of Philippines (RP) to build up its airfields on the South China Sea - on Palawan (Antonio Bautista Air Base (9000 foot runway - looks like it could be expanded), the current dirt field on Busuanga (yellow pin) and, of course, Clark International Airport (formerly Clark AFB).

Might be nice for the RP to get some old P-3s and some new aircraft, including some that might be nice workhorse types like the Air Tractor 802u:

Air Tractor Photo

The Air Tractor® AT-802U is an economical single engine turboprop aircraft designed for surveillance, precision strike, and rugged dirt strip utility missions. The AT-802U combines an 8,000-lb. (3,629 kg) payload and 10-hour ISR mission capability with the flexibility and responsiveness of a manned weapon system – for a fraction of the cost of unmanned aerial vehicle systems.

» Real-time eye in the sky for ground troop support
» Integrated fire control system
» Training-focused force support
» Small logistics footprint

Hmmm. Dirt strips. Hmmm. Perhaps some support aircraft that are short field capable. Hmmm.

Of course, all these upgrades will help with humanitarian issues, like typhoon recovery ops and maritime patrols to assist with search and rescue ops in the South China Sea. You know, just like the Chinese assert their artificial islands serve such a purpose. See here:

As The Diplomat reported earlier this month, China has cited a variety of reasons to undertake its “maintenance and construction work” on these island facilities. Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign minister, noted in early April that the activities (in the Spratlys at least) had the following goals:

[O]ptimizing their functions, improving the living and working conditions of personnel stationed there, better safeguarding territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, as well as better performing China’s international responsibility and obligation in maritime search and rescue, disaster prevention and mitigation, marine science and research, meteorological observation, environmental protection, navigation safety, fishery production service and other areas.

Of course, the RP already has islands along the South China Sea, so building new ones is not really necessary. On the other hand, perhaps they could use some AID money to help "fix up" some the islands in their territorial waters. Maybe add a nice helicopter base...

In any event, if we are going to sit down to play, we better be prepared to go all the way. As in the "Chicago Way,"

Malone: You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I'm saying is, what are you prepared to do?

Ness: Anything within the law.

Malone: And *then* what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way. Because they're not gonna give up the fight, until one of you is dead.

Ness: I want to get Capone! I don't know how to do it.

Malone: You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way! And that's how you get Capone. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I'm offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?

First you have to admit you are in a long game against a very patient player.

More Navy Needed for European Waters says EuroCom Boss

Stars and Stripes report European Command Chief Seeks Stronger Navy Presence in Europe:

U.S. European Command boss Gen. Philip Breedlove is pressing the Pentagon for more Navy and intelligence gathering assets in Europe, where a Russian buildup in the Mediterranean and Black Sea represents a growing security challenge.
"There is a requirement for more," Breedlove said at a Pentagon news briefing Friday. "And again, the processes for how we allocate those forces are going on in this building right now and that is part of the reason I am home, to advocate for what I think is an increased need to address the Russian navy."
With Russia's intervention in Ukraine last year, unrest along ally Turkey's southern border with Syria and concerns about a more active Russian navy in the eastern Mediterranean, security challenges are coming from multiple fronts for EUCOM and the U.S.-led NATO alliance.
"Europe isn't what it was 19 months ago or even six months ago," Breedlove said.

No, it isn't.

We need a bigger Navy. The cupboard is getting pretty thin. It's big world and you need lots of ships to cover it.

272 "deployable battle force ships", no matter how capable, means choices of what areas not to cover are being made. Thus, no U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Gulf.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: "Lights Out" - "The Cat Wife" with Boris Karloff

Lights Out:

Lights Out is an American old-time radio program devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural.

Created by Wyllis Cooper and then taken over by Arch Oboler, versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television. Lights Out was one of the earliest radio horror programs, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum.

Here's an episode from the Oboler period, featuring Boris Karloff as the voice of man with an interesting domestic problem:



Happy Halloween!

Friday Fun Film: Navigation by Lighthouses: "Night Piloting" 1943

Visual navigation can be very interesting, despite the rather muted tone of this training film.



Yes, the Coast Guard still publishes light lists. See here.

UPDATE: You can download a copy of HO Pub 9, "The American Practical Navigator" here:

The American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, was billed as the "epitome of navigation" by its original author, Nathaniel Bowditch. The text has evolved with the advances in navigation practices since that first issue and continues to serve as a valuable reference for marine navigation in the modern day.

The publication describes in detail the principles and factors of navigation, including piloting, electronic navigation, celestial navigation, mathematics, safety, oceanography and meterology. It also contains various tables used in typical navigational calculations and solutions, including the formulas used to derive the tabular data. Many of these solutions can also be found using the on-line calculators located in the Nautical Calculators section of this Web site.

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 28 September - 28 October 2015

U.S. Navy provides info to the world on threats to the sea lines of communication.

Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 28 September - 28 October 2015

Disaster Prep Wednesday: Asteroids and Tsunamis

Yes, there are real world disasters aplenty, but sometimes it is good to take a step back and look at the more remote events. One of these, popular in movies from the late 1990's was the threat from asteroids smacking us and causing the "end of the world as we know it" (see here).

Behind these movies there is some truth. Things from outer space have collided with the earth. Under current theories, the fact that dinosaurs no long roam the earth is perhaps the result of one such collision or perhaps not.

WHat about the question "If an asteroid hits the earth could man survive?"

According to this article, from the NYTimes,"Did an Asteroid Impact Cause an Ancient Tsunami?", the answer might be - "Yes, under the right circumstances. In fact our ancestors may have already survived at least one such incident."

A large asteroid or comet, the kind that could kill a quarter of the world’s population, smashed into the Indian Ocean 4,800 years ago, producing a tsunami at least 600 feet high, about 13 times as big as the one that inundated Indonesia nearly two years ago. The wave carried the huge deposits of sediment to land.

Most astronomers doubt that any large comets or asteroids have crashed into the Earth in the last 10,000 years. But the self-described “band of misfits” that make up the two-year-old Holocene Impact Working Group say that astronomers simply have not known how or where to look for evidence of such impacts along the world’s shorelines and in the deep ocean.

Scientists in the working group say the evidence for such impacts during the last 10,000 years, known as the Holocene epoch, is strong enough to overturn current estimates of how often the Earth suffers a violent impact on the order of a 10-megaton explosion. Instead of once in 500,000 to one million years, as astronomers now calculate, catastrophic impacts could happen every 1,000 years.

So, 4800 years ago? Humankind certainly around (see here) and is still around, so it should be clear that humans can survive asteroid strikes and the tsunamis they can cause, if in fact the theory of the event described in the NYTimes piece proves to be correct.

On the other hand, big tsunamis ("megatsunamis") - whatever their cause- suggests that one good form of disaster prep is to move away from that lovely beach front property.

Now you have been warned. Or, as the U.K. Express put it Scientists predict MEGA-TSUNAMI twice the size of Big Ben to wipe out entire CITIES: A MEGA-TSUNAMI of biblical proportions presents a real threat to humanity today, scientists have warned.


UPDATE: On the other hand, a mega tsunami might just solve the issues involving the artificial islands in the South China Sea.

Illegal Immigration Quote of the Day

Victor Davis Hanson in "Progressive Elites vs. Western Civilization" at National Review Online

Only in the West does a migrant fault his host for insufficient hospitality while exempting his homeland, which drove him out.

However, it's not just the migrant - here's a sad tale from The Daily Tar Heel of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Noncitizen students face federal, local financial aid shortage:

Even though Islas has lived in North Carolina since she was 6 years old, she has had to pay $50,000 a year to attend UNC as an out-of-state student without the help of federal money. Eric Johnson, spokesperson for the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, said his office can only help pay for undocumented students when they find nonrestricted private money. “As you know, we are very limited on what we are doing because of the politics around this and because (undocumented students) are treated as out-of-state students who are not eligible for state or federal aid,” Johnson said.

Politics? How about a violation of the law? If I were to start occupying the office of Mr. Johnson because I like it better than mine, I'm sure that I would find police officers ready to help me depart that location and find myself relocated in . . . jail. Yes, her parents brought her to the U.S. - illegally. So, as far as I can tell, she has been treated just like any other foreign student who chose to attend UNC. Which seems fair enough. But:

“I was just concerned about being treated differently,” she said. “Even now, I’m a senior, and I’m applying for jobs. I hate bringing that up because I want them to see me for who I am, not my documentation status.”

Really? Does she know it is illegal to hire "undocumented workers?" I sure she is a nice person, but . . . documentation means something.

In any event, some of this discussion of accepting the rules of the place you move to reminds of a bumper sticker I use to see in Texas as a response to the migration from the Rust Belt:

"We don't care how you did it up North."

Perhaps those suffering from an invasion of Californians have similar slogan.

Read the VDH piece here. Newspeak is also alluded to. I mean "non-citizen students?" Really?

Good read "The Real Power of ISIS"

From Scott Atran at The Daily Beast, a good read, on "The Real Power of ISIS"

This is, fundamentally, a war of ideas that the West has virtually no idea how to wage, and that is a major reason anti-ISIS policies have been such abysmal failures.

Inspiring young men to causes bigger than themselves is an old, old story. With lots of unhappy endings.

And, to quote T.R. Fehrenbach again, from his writing about the Korean War in This Kind of War:

“In July, 1950, one news commentator rather plaintively remarked that warfare had not changed so much, after all. For some reason, ground troops still seemed to be necessary, in spite of the atom bomb. And oddly and unfortunately, to this gentleman, man still seemed to be an important ingredient in battle. Troops were still getting killed, in pain and fury and dust and filth. What happened to the widely-heralded pushbutton warfare where skilled, immaculate technicians who never suffered the misery and ignominy of basic training blew each other to kingdom come like gentlemen?
In this unconsciously plaintive cry lies the buried a great deal of the truth why the United States was almost defeated.
Nothing had happened to pushbutton warfare; its emergence was at hand. Horrible weapons that could destroy every city on Earth were at hand—at too many hands. But, pushbutton warfare meant Armageddon, and Armageddon, hopefully, will never be an end of national policy.
Americans in 1950 rediscovered something that since Hiroshima they had forgotten: you may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, pulverize it and wipe it clean of life—but if you desire to defend it, protect it and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground, the way the Roman legions did, by putting your young men in the mud. ”

Yep, our young men with their ideals against their young men with theirs.

For most, if not all, the marbles.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: "Sherlock Holmes" with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce

A great pair of actors in a classic show from the pen of Sir Arthur Canon Doyle. Sherlock Holmes in "The Speckled Band"

On Midrats 25 Oct 2015 - Episode 303: China, the Pivot, and the WESTPAC Challenge - With James Kraska

Please join us at 5pm Eastern on 25 Oct 2105 for Midrats Episode 303: China, the Pivot, and the WESTPAC Challenge - With James Kraska

As 2015 starts its final act, where is China heading?

From her Great Wall of Sand in the South China Sea, to economic stress, and her increasingly nervous neighbors, where does the USA and her allies need to adjust to China’s expanding footprint globally, and where do they need to stand firm?

Our guest for the full hour to discuss this and more will be James Kraska.

Dr. James Kraska is Professor in the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law, where he previously served as Howard S. Levie Chair in International Law from 2008-13. During 2013-14, he was a Mary Derrickson McCurdy Visiting Scholar at Duke University, where he taught international law of the sea. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Oceans Law and Policy at the University of Virginia School of Law, Guest Investigator at the Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and a Senior Associate at the Naval War College's Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups.

He developed the first course on maritime security law at the Naval War College, which he also taught at The Hague Academy of International Law and University of Maine School of Law. Commander Kraska served as legal adviser to joint and naval task force commanders in the Asia-Pacific, two tours in Japan and in four Pentagon major staff assignments, including as oceans law and policy adviser as well as chief of international treaty negotiations, both on the Joint Staff.

Kraska earned a J.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington, Maurer School of Law and J.S.D. and LL.M. from University of Virginia School of Law; he also completed a master’s degree at the School of Politics and Economics, Claremont Graduate School. In 2010, Kraska was selected for the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement by the Navy League of the United States.

Join us live if you can, or pick the show up later by clicking here. You can also find the show later on our iTunes page here

Friday Fun Film: "Ready on Arrival" (1966)

The U.S. Navy's floating airbases and their aircraft provide a force projection that is "Ready on Arrival" -



The carriers were - and are - there.

What happens after that?

That depends on the the political leadership.

UPDATE: Of course, you have to have enough carriers. See As USS Theodore Roosevelt exits, US has no carriers in Persian Gulf from the Stars and Stripes.