Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Comment on Mike McNally, Pajamas Media »
Blow to UK Conservatives: Liam Fox Resigns
Pajamas Media » Blow to UK Conservatives: Liam Fox Resigns
Close but no cigar. Edmund Burke was born in Dublin in Ireland, which strictly speaking was a separate kingdom under the Crown until 1801. However JeffP did not make the mistake of saying that Burke was born in the UK. He did not even really claim that Burke was born in Great Britain. So you are tilting at a straw dog. Burke was a very British politician and was born a British subject in the British Isles. Would you dismiss the comment if he had been born on the Island of Man or in the Channel Islands or in Scotland before the Act of Union? Certainly it is a sad day for the legacy of Edmund Burke. The wiki does note that Ptolemy referred to a "Little Britain" that meant the island of Hibernia or Ireland but the term Little Britain otherwise refers to the peninsula of Brittany in France.
Will Fox now abandon politics? Will he come out of the closet and become a darling of the Left? Will he become a pro-American version of Enoch Powell, an isolated curmudgeon beloved by his constituency?
Close but no cigar. Edmund Burke was born in Dublin in Ireland, which strictly speaking was a separate kingdom under the Crown until 1801. However JeffP did not make the mistake of saying that Burke was born in the UK. He did not even really claim that Burke was born in Great Britain. So you are tilting at a straw dog. Burke was a very British politician and was born a British subject in the British Isles. Would you dismiss the comment if he had been born on the Island of Man or in the Channel Islands or in Scotland before the Act of Union? Certainly it is a sad day for the legacy of Edmund Burke. The wiki does note that Ptolemy referred to a "Little Britain" that meant the island of Hibernia or Ireland but the term Little Britain otherwise refers to the peninsula of Brittany in France.
Will Fox now abandon politics? Will he come out of the closet and become a darling of the Left? Will he become a pro-American version of Enoch Powell, an isolated curmudgeon beloved by his constituency?
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Real New York
Today I walked through Central Park and saw people from all backgrounds enjoying themselves in perfect freedom under an American flag.
Also watching was a friendly and most unintimidating police officer of South Asian origin on a motor-scooter. As I said to him more people should see this because this here in Central Park is the real New York, not the alien mob in Zuccotti Park.
A beautiful Autumn day on The Mall. Locals and tourists all at their best.
Also watching was a friendly and most unintimidating police officer of South Asian origin on a motor-scooter. As I said to him more people should see this because this here in Central Park is the real New York, not the alien mob in Zuccotti Park.A beautiful Autumn day on The Mall. Locals and tourists all at their best.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Comment on Defense Tech:
"Early Retirement for a Nimitz Carrier?"
Early Retirement for a Nimitz Carrier? | Defense Tech
People who persist in claiming that we need fewer CVNs because the Cold War is over have no knowledge of what the US military does or the nature of the threats we face. The far messier world we live in now demands more US Navy presence and fast reactions in more places than we had to worry about 30 years ago. Under current conditions we need 12 to 15 Carrier Battle Groups (CVBGs) and 6 to 9 LHD/LHA based Amphibious Ready Groups (they keep changing the names). We also need guns, real guns bigger than 5", and the new amphibs have only a 30mm pop gun. The Marines deserve better. Remember that most people live within range of modern naval gunfire. Iraq and Afghanistan are aberrations in that regard.
We do need to strengthen our ties with Australia and India, as well as Japan Korea Taiwan Vietnam and The Philippines. Wonderful as the Nimitz class is it is the wrong ship for their needs. What they need are two things. First they need conventional submarines. We should build 3 dozen Air Independent Propulsion silent boats and sell half of them to those threatened by the rise of China. We should also help Israel to double her submarine fleet. The Dutch and Germans have good designs as do the Swedes.
Second we should help the Australians gain an Air Force that can patrol and control the vast ocean space that surrounds them and react to a possible thrust by China through the South China Sea. The best way to do that would be to give them the old B-52s that are being chopped up in conformance with the SALT Treaty, a treaty with a country that no longer exists. Those 50-55 year old planes if reengined would still be good for another 30 years. They are incredible aircraft and if teamed with AWACS and long range radars in lighter than air craft could dominate the region and prevent major conflicts for decades. Note, I know all but around a dozen of the B-52Gs are gone now but the principle applies.
The idea of transferring the old Nimitz class CVNs to the UK and/or France as the Fords come online is not completely without merit but is unlikely to happen. They are old, expensive to maintain, and European financial, labor and political interests would probably prefer spending almost the same money not building new ships of their own to buying ours.
Right now we are looking at a US Navy smaller than it has been since 1916. Even the best ships can only be in one place at a time, and the new LCS that ate the budget is nobody's idea of the best ship. The Royal Navy, like the other components of the UK MoD, is essentially out of business. They are now a Coast Guard. The Argentinians can have the Falklands any time they like. The combined firepower of the European Union proved unable to crush Libya.
People who persist in claiming that we need fewer CVNs because the Cold War is over have no knowledge of what the US military does or the nature of the threats we face. The far messier world we live in now demands more US Navy presence and fast reactions in more places than we had to worry about 30 years ago. Under current conditions we need 12 to 15 Carrier Battle Groups (CVBGs) and 6 to 9 LHD/LHA based Amphibious Ready Groups (they keep changing the names). We also need guns, real guns bigger than 5", and the new amphibs have only a 30mm pop gun. The Marines deserve better. Remember that most people live within range of modern naval gunfire. Iraq and Afghanistan are aberrations in that regard.
We do need to strengthen our ties with Australia and India, as well as Japan Korea Taiwan Vietnam and The Philippines. Wonderful as the Nimitz class is it is the wrong ship for their needs. What they need are two things. First they need conventional submarines. We should build 3 dozen Air Independent Propulsion silent boats and sell half of them to those threatened by the rise of China. We should also help Israel to double her submarine fleet. The Dutch and Germans have good designs as do the Swedes.
Second we should help the Australians gain an Air Force that can patrol and control the vast ocean space that surrounds them and react to a possible thrust by China through the South China Sea. The best way to do that would be to give them the old B-52s that are being chopped up in conformance with the SALT Treaty, a treaty with a country that no longer exists. Those 50-55 year old planes if reengined would still be good for another 30 years. They are incredible aircraft and if teamed with AWACS and long range radars in lighter than air craft could dominate the region and prevent major conflicts for decades. Note, I know all but around a dozen of the B-52Gs are gone now but the principle applies.
The idea of transferring the old Nimitz class CVNs to the UK and/or France as the Fords come online is not completely without merit but is unlikely to happen. They are old, expensive to maintain, and European financial, labor and political interests would probably prefer spending almost the same money not building new ships of their own to buying ours.
Right now we are looking at a US Navy smaller than it has been since 1916. Even the best ships can only be in one place at a time, and the new LCS that ate the budget is nobody's idea of the best ship. The Royal Navy, like the other components of the UK MoD, is essentially out of business. They are now a Coast Guard. The Argentinians can have the Falklands any time they like. The combined firepower of the European Union proved unable to crush Libya.
Monday, October 03, 2011
Comment on Donald Douglas at Theo Spark:
Topless Protesters at SlutWalk in New York City
Theo Spark: Topless Protesters at SlutWalk in New York City
The Socialists and "gender equality advocates" are issue parasites, but there is an issue. Unfortunately for the Left it is counter to their desires. The problem is the coarsening of society under the influence of the Left and the importation of 3rd World misogyny into Western cities. The growth of Islamic enclaves has accompanied the increase of rapes in many cities. No one is harmed by Theo's totty.
To bad for the SlutWalk protestors that they got knocked off the news by the mass convergence of the dimwitted at Occupy Wall Street.
The Socialists and "gender equality advocates" are issue parasites, but there is an issue. Unfortunately for the Left it is counter to their desires. The problem is the coarsening of society under the influence of the Left and the importation of 3rd World misogyny into Western cities. The growth of Islamic enclaves has accompanied the increase of rapes in many cities. No one is harmed by Theo's totty.
To bad for the SlutWalk protestors that they got knocked off the news by the mass convergence of the dimwitted at Occupy Wall Street.
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