Slashdot Mirror

Did I miss anything?

I believe that there is a problem with overheating. The combination of the armor, and poor insulation, and openings in the vehicles spell problems. Remember that the turrent is open, and there's usually someone manning it; this person rarely complains about the heat.

I didn't think that the AC would be much of a problem on the engines they use, but apparently they are.

Specifications: http://www.army.mil/fact_files_site/hmmwv/

Perhaps it has to do with the engine's low horse power output? 160 at 3600 RPM, while an AC unit capable of properly cooling it would require ~8kW, or roughly 10 HP worth?

Dunno, that's from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_conditioning . I know jack-taco about vehicles.

I also suspect that the heavier configurations with the AC going full-blast are probably out of spec in extremely hot climates; the vehicle has a lot of heat to dispose of, especially when running at weight capacity, and at high speed, and using water-cooled suits probably results in far more efficent cooling.

More thoughts: http://www.amgeneral.com/vehicles_hmmwv_models_a2_ components.php

Horsepower (@3,400 RPM): 160HP (120 KW)

8 kW, that's 6% of the optimal power output. This probably has a LOT to do with being a low HP high torque diesel engine. Anything they can do to get more efficiency out of the AC is a good thing.

Now, lets think about real-world power:
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1158825/posts
Just as important as the suspension is the Humvee's lack of muscle. Most of our Humvees here are M998A1s, sporting the GMC 6.2 Diesel engine. This is a diesel boosting an astounding 150 horsepower at 3,600 rpm. Of course, the normal operating range of the Humvee engine is between 1,500 to 2,300 rpm. Without looking at the engine's power curve, I'd suggest that would put the Humvee's usable horsepower somewhere around 90 horsepower.

10 hp, out of 90 hp? That's crippling.

There are no UN Resolutions explicitly authorizing either US or NATO military action in the former Yugoslovia as there were with the recent Iraq War (key phrase "serious consequences" - diplo-doubletalk for WAR)

23 Sept. 1998: UN Security Council Resolution 1199 does not authorize military action ... the Iraq War phrase "serious consequences" is missing

24 Mar. 1999: The Kosovo air war begins.

Three-months elapse

10 Jun. 1999: After NATO's unilateral not authorized by the UN attack of Serbia, the UN kinda gets around to authorizing what has already happened as things are winding down dead UN link ... alternate link

20 Jun. 1999: The Kosovo air war ends

FICTION - "We are *done* in Kosovo." Visit the US Army Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo *today* as in like *not* done

TRUTH - "We have had no combat fatalities in Kosovo. We are done and the war is over. Service people have died, but not because of enemy combatants and insurgents"

Having never deployed any ground troops to the combat zone there were no US combat deaths.

partial FICTION - "Clinton never lied to the American people, and never relied on cooked up intelligence to sell the war. We went in to stop genocide and get rid of the bad guy. We did just that."

If "Bush Lied" on Iraq then so did these characters, Clinton included. Rather funny to see what Clinton & Co said about Iraq & Saddam. Reads identical to what Bush2 was saying.

I will not dwell upon the domestic aspects of Clinton lying or otherwise although "[Clinton] admitted that he had made false statements under oath [lying] about his relationship with the former White House intern [in the context of a sexual harassment lawsuit] and surrendered his law license for five years" CBS News

Ok, as far as I know, I was the only one who brought up the battletech connection when the military intorduced the Stryker which I though looked familiar. I think it's obvious that someone in the pentagon has spent more than one late night checking off armor boxes. In order to convince everyone, though, I guess we'll just have to wait for the final proof to walk off the assembly line.

I wonder if he's also a member of the Military Affiliate Radio System, a liaison organization between the US military and Hams? (You in the back, that's M-A-R-S...)

I hate it when someone is too lazy to do simple research. But to bolster my "lost credibility" :-), I did a few quick searches. A bit of time with Google will turn up many more:

* Japanese peace feelers (note: doesn't mention feelers sent via the Dutch and others)

* Shelling Japanese coast unopposed: I didn't hit the right search keywords to coax a reference out of Google -- ran into too many results about specific ships; you'll have to dig this one up.

* Estimated casualties: a quick look turns up the Wikipedia giving several figures, including Adm. Leahy's estimate of 268k. I didn't bother to find the War Dept's estimate.

* Leslie Groves quote: summary including quote

Info from the DoJ

Info from the DoD

It has become quite apparent that you are more interested in winning an argument than you are on educating yourself with the facts. You have provided nothing but claims of what you have heard. I no longer have the time to waste on this.

Parent makes a great point. I got into computers because I found out I could make my own maps in Doom back in the nineties. A few years ago I fell into a job doing Geographic Information Systems work and now I make maps for a living! ;) Seriously, it's a fun job, you get to do some coding regularly and do field work as well. Great IT job.

I wish people would stop stereotyping all people from Alabama as redneck, uneducated, slackjaw hicks. I am a male in my mid-20s, a democrat, have a college degree in both computer science and mathematics from the University of Alabama (currently #104 of the 1400 in the most widely referenced list. I live in Huntsville, a city of more than 160,000 residents speaking over 100 languages, home of Redstone Arsenal, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and the 2nd largest research park in the United States (4th in the world). I work for NASA at MSFC making an upper-middleclass living, live in the suburb of Providence and drive an Audi, not a tractor. I don't follow any type of sports, run FreeBSD on one of the many computers at home, listen to music on my iPod while getting my MMORPG fix via EDGE on my widescreen Powerbook while drinking overpriced coffee.

Are there people in the state that fit your stereotypical remarks? You bet. Can you honestly say that there are no people in your state that you are embarassed by? Of course you can't. So the next time you make your uninformed, stereotypical remarks - remember the nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

Man, it scares me when a research website has a topic as shown:
"Research & Analysis Programs - Lethality "

http://www.arl.army.mil/main/Main/default.cfm?Acti on=18&Page=67

The US forces do not use Willy Pete to burn people, it is an ineffective use of a tool.

RFID tags tested submerged in water, OK.

OK, these are large, active transponder mechanisms 8 3/4 x 2 3/4 x 15/16. about the size of an industrial flourescent ballast.

http://www.eis.army.mil/AIT/Contracts/rfid/rfid_6h .asp

Finally! I've been waiting fourty years for a sequel to "The Story About Ping"!!!!!

Ah yes, because the government is soooo good at defending against counterfeiters and unauthorized money.

Enjoy your freedom (when the U.S. Army starts quoting Trotsky, be afraid. Very afraid.)

by all means, don't let the facts get in your way either:
http://www.army.mil/fcs/articles/

http://www.uniteddefense.com/pr/pr_20050414b.htm

http://www.jointrobotics.com/history/MP89.pdf

So yeah, it seems utterly clear that the DOD has no plans to incorporate technologies for ground navigation into assault vehicles.

A quick googling shows:304 thousand troops overseas in over 120 countries worldwide as of 2004. That's enough by itself, but there are other niche's that this fits: travellers, people with jobs that have a lot of waiting (night clerk, security guard, etc), etc.

As for using my laptop to play an in-flight movie: My desktop-replacement doesn't fit comfortably in the space I get in coach (and god help me if the seat in front of me reclines!), the laptop eats batteries too quickly to last thru a 2 or 3 flight day, travelling with kids forces me to choose between their shows and my needs for the laptop, etc.

To be honest, if the PSP had user-burnable UMD's, I'd use that as my portable video box in a heartbeat, and for my kids when they're with me... small, multifunctional, and gorgeous. Too bad Sony hasn't realized that memory sticks are too damn expensive to use for accumulating a personal video library.

You have to actually carry out field tests. Generally this means you develop a simulated agent that is less dangerous than the real thing, calibrate it against the live agent in a sealed chamber**, and then conduct full-scale field trials with the simulant.

Cities were unwittingly used as laboratories to test aerosolization and dispersal methods; Aspergillus fumigatus, B. subtilis var. globigii, and Serratia marcescens were used as simulants and released during experiments in New York City, San Francisco, and other sites. Concerns regarding potential public health hazards of simulant studies were raised after an outbreak of nosocomial S. marcescens (formerly Chromobacterium prodigiosum) urinary tract infections at Stanford University Hospital between September 1950 and February 1951, following covert experiments using S. marcescens as a simulant in San Francisco. A report from the Centers for Disease Control completed in 1977 found no association between reported morbidity and mortality from pneumonia and influenza and local simulant experiments.

A series of field tests took place under the auspices of the Biological Laboratories from 1943 to the mid-1960s:

• In one such test, travelers at Washington National Airport were subjected to a harmless bacterium. Traps were placed throughout the facility to capture the bacterium as it flowed in the air. Laboratory personnel, dressed as travelers carrying brief cases, walked the corridors and without detection sprayed the bacterium into the atmosphere.
• In the New York Subway, a light bulb filled with the same harmless bacterium was dropped on the tracks. The organism spread throughout the system within 20 minutes. Traps and monitoring devices showed the amount of organism--if it were one of the predictable, dangerous organisms, could have killed thousands of persons. No one was injured or became ill as a result of the test.
• In San Francisco, a U.S. Navy ship, equipped with spray devices operated by Fort Detrick personnel, sprayed serratia marcescens, a non-pathogenic microorganism that is easily detected, while the ship plied the San Francisco Bay. It spread more than 30 miles to monitoring stations.
• A jet aircraft equipped with spray devices, flew a course near Victoria, Texas, and the harmless particles were monitored in the Florida Keys.

In March 1968, 6,400 sheep were found dead after grazing in south Skull Valley, an area just outside Dugway's boundaries. When examined, the sheep were found to have been poisoned by a deadly nerve agent called VX.

Considering the small amount of people involved with peacefull research of anthrax,...

...and the legitemate amount of the agent needed for same, the purchase and deployment of these amounts is rather suspicious.

(**For some mysterious reason the government-licensed test facilities want a big pile of money before they play with sarin gas or anthrax. And you generally don't get your equipment back afterwards, since it is now covered with a thin layer of Nasty Death.)

And anyway, anthrax production equipment is not even slightly suspicious. Commercial companies already make bioreactors to grow almost any microorganism you care to name, including bacillus thuringiensis, a very close relative of the anthrax organism b. anthracis. In fact, b. anthracis, b. thuringiensis, and the common soil bacterium b. cereus*** have been called strains of a single species.

(***B. thuringiensis is used commercially as a biowarfare agent against insects. It's basically anthrax for bugs. B. cereus is ubiquitous and can cause food poisoning.)

While I'll be the first to admit that the US operates covertly no too many situations to count, or at least does not publically announce everything, it is always difficult to have a big-picture understanding of something if you are either not looking for the truth (but only what you want to see) or you do not have access to the other pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to understand what the real picture is.

Within the last year, the Army has reinstated the Anthrax inoculation policy and has re-started their efforts in getting all troops their vaccines. This issue is near and dear to my heart as I'm in the Army and that vaccine is particually painful (not to mention tests that have variable evidence of short term memory loss).

Dugway Proving Ground seems a logical place for these types of biological defense activities to be undertaken. We'll need plenty of vaccines to take care of all the Soldiers and probably Airman, Saliors, and Marines too. I'm not saying that this is definitvly the answer, but it is at least consistant with other Army reporting.

While I'll be the first to admit that the US operates covertly no too many situations to count, or at least does not publically announce everything, it is always difficult to have a big-picture understanding of something if you are either not looking for the truth (but only what you want to see) or you do not have access to the other pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to understand what the real picture is.

Within the last year, the Army has reinstated the Anthrax inoculation policy and has re-started their efforts in getting all troops their vaccines. This issue is near and dear to my heart as I'm in the Army and that vaccine is particually painful (not to mention tests that have variable evidence of short term memory loss).

Dugway Proving Ground seems a logical place for these types of biological defense activities to be undertaken. We'll need plenty of vaccines to take care of all the Soldiers and probably Airman, Saliors, and Marines too. I'm not saying that this is definitvly the answer, but it is at least consistant with other Army reporting.

There are a few in use currently in Iraq. There is the Talon which can fire many different weapons (M249, .50 cal, M4A1, M24, etc). They are very accurate, more accurate than any soldier. Every EOD team seems to have one of these which they use to detonate IEDs.

UAVs are everywhere and are common place in almost all operations. There is the Predator, which when armed with the hellfire missile system can be very leathal and the little Raven which can be utilized at the squad level. The new Viper Strike bombs, which are starting to be depoyed on UAVs, are very usefull in urban situations where you need to take out the enemy without harming innocents in say, the next room. This is a big development because the "insurgents" like to take shelter in mosques, schools, and hospitals, etc. The new Hardstop bombs help in this situation as well (but I do not think they are carried by UAVs). Anyways, here is an exellent video/story which mixes captured enemy video with the video from the UAV which nails them. I love UAVs.

don't think the army's that interested in completely automated systems?

http://www.army.mil/fcs/

Additionally, National Guard and Army troops, who would normally be called in to assist in major emergencies, were not available at this time, being elsewhere engaged.

Well, if you read this article you'll notice that there were 124,000 National Guardsmen in the states directly in Katrina's path. 3,600 were on duty in Louisiana at the time Katrina struck. So please, hold off on the mantra about there not being enough troops here in the US because they are all in Iraq. They aren't.

Maybe you can blame the US Army Corps of Engineers for the media and everyone else talking about broken levees. After all, they are the experts. Regardless of whether the canal walls structurally failed or were simply topped by surge + waves, the end result was massive failure of the entire levee in those locations. Being pedantic in this case is pointless since a broken canal wall leads to a broken levee leads to a flooded city.

Maybe you can blame the US Army Corps of Engineers for the media and everyone else talking about broken levees. After all, they are the experts. Regardless of whether the canal walls structurally failed or were simply topped by surge + waves, the end result was massive failure of the entire levee in those locations. Being pedantic in this case is pointless since a broken canal wall leads to a broken levee leads to a flooded city.

That's a lie. The levees were designed to withstand a category 3 hurricane. City officials fully recognized that this was insufficient, and the levees were/are in the process of being upgraded to withstand the full force of a category 5 hurricane. Unfortunately, however, given the enormous size of the levees, this is not an overnight process. There are several years remaining until the scheduled completion of the upgrades.

There was no plan to upgrade the levees to withstand a category 5 hurricane, or even a category 4 hurricane. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, the plans that were in progress were designed to protect against the surge from a storm "equivalent to a fast-moving Category 3 hurricane".

Well, since the weapons system that would eventually be called PATRIOT was first sucessfully test fired against a drone target at White Sands in 1975 I wouldn't say that the technology was non-existant! The technology might not have been fully matured, but I would guess that research was well under way.

For a history of PATRIOT see this page.

How about the Sturgis, a "440-foot-long World War II Liberty ship that the Army converted into a floating 45-megawatt nuclear power plant."

More about Unique Reactors

Do I have to cut and paste the entire Posse Comitatus Act here? Yes, they can be deployed should Congress authorize it. However, we have a military organization whose purpose is to act in these situations. Since they are not federal troops, the above mentioned law doesn't apply to them. They just were not deployed in time in this particular incident.

"The appropriate response to the flooding city would have been to rapidly air lift everyone to a few staging grounds where mass transit can move them out of the effected area as rapidly as possible."

Exactly. That is what the state/local governments were supposed to do, they just failed.

"To do this effectively you declare Martial law and commandeer any civilian transport's necessary to expedite this process as much as possible."

Once again, no, that is not what martial law is. You are confusing things. The state and local officials can declare a state of emergency (and in this case the mayor did, though the state claims only they had that authority thus it was invalid), but that is not the same as martial law as defined by US law.

You are correct - and additional investigation indicates that at a minimum the article I referenced didn't present the ACE position - which is pretty much exactly what you suppose. At first I wondered the same thing you did, but since a reporter failing to mention such an obvious and documented reason (even if just to refute it) would have been such irresponsible reporting, I incorrectly assumed that it wasn't the case.

The ACE claim is that the new larger locks will decrease the waits for barges and support vessels with deeper drafts. I've now got no idea who is right on this, but certainly the reporter didn't do a good job. The project appears to be quite unpopular among some local residents and some environmentalists but I've not determine why. Anyway, the ACE position is here.

The Feds can NOT just send in the National Guard. It has to be asked for by the states governor.

People keep saying this but it is blatantly false. The president can deploy the National Guard at will.

Source

In addition, the President of the United States can activate the National Guard to participate in Federal missions.

It was not even in Bush power to evacuate New Orleans. It was not in his power to call up the National Guard.

This website disagrees with you.

And I quote:
In addition, the President of the United States can activate the National Guard to participate in Federal missions.

the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection project was funded by the Bush administration at levels far below those requested by the Army Corp of Engineers.

Specifically the Lake Ponchatrain Levee was finished some time ago, and 2005 funding was irrelevent.

I said the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection project, which was "designed to protect residents between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River levee from surges in Lake Pontchartrain", i.e. exactly this occurance. It wasn't done:

Work in the Chalmette area includes an additional levee lift and miscellaneous floodwall cappings. Work in Orleans Parish is about 90% complete, with the major remaining construction being the parallel protection along London Avenue and Orleans Avenue canals. That work is scheduled to be completed by 2009. The remaining work in Jefferson Parish consists of at least two more lakefront levee enlargements and construction of a floodproofed bridge at Hammond Highway over the 17th Street Canal. That work is scheduled to be completed by 2010. The work in St. Charles Parish is only about 60% complete, and there is not yet a closed system. A closed system could be achieved by 2005 if Federal and non-Federal funding levels can support that effort. Overall project completion is scheduled for 2015.

Our desire for freedom created a car culture. The ability to travel where you like is a significant element of freedom.

It's amazing the irrational response you get from many Americans where you mention that a car culture may have some negative effects. Bam - suddenly I'm a freedom hater.

Our car culture was created by a huge federal road-building plan, which directly reduced freedom for many people via eminent domain, as well as indirectly for all of us via increased taxation. It's supported by brutal and stupid foreign policy which works in favor of cheap oil over freedom.

Building more roads always reduces traffic congestion.

No, it doesn't. Build more roads to the exurbs and people move out there, lengthening their daily commute and filling them up.

It is fitting that you should say that cause Bill Gates is quite an accomplished Go player. Anyone who wants to understand how Go is used as a strategy particularly how that strategy influences strategic thought should read this paper.

If we have a problem with a low levee along the Snohomish River, we budget for it and fix it ourselves.

Looks like there is plenty of federal involvement to me.

The Snohomish River flood control plan listed as a USDA project with a $2.7 million dollar FEDERAL budget? And there are documents describing dredging operations by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/ct/ebs/Solicitations /W912DW-05-B-0002%5CSpecifications/05B0002.PDF
http://www.wa.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/RDT/RDT-proj ects/sno-flood.html

Is the military, incl the Army National Guard, getting smaller? Yes it is.
Is it getting smaller, because of planned reductions, or is it getting smaller because they can't retain/recruit people. It is the former.
Is the rate of end strength reduction faster or slower? If you had paid attention to the massive drawdowns in the mid-late 90's, you'd know this answer. No, it's not faster.

For instance, for the Air Guard, FY 2004:
" He [Chief Master Sgt. Richard Smith, the Air National Guard's command chief master sergeant] said retention was a key in fiscal year 2004 with more than 91.3 percent of ANG members reenlisting when their commitment was up. That exceeded the retention goal of 88 percent.
"We met our end strength by overachieving our retention goal," he said. "But that means we didn't meet our recruiting goal"

Over 90% reenlistment is good in anyones book. Why is recruitment down? Primarily, because active duty members getting out are not then joining the Guard in the same numbers as they did before. And this is the same in the Army Guard.

Overall, the USAF is stlll getting smaller. Planned end strength reductions. They are letting people out early, in some career fields.

The parent is making the incorrect assusmption that the military can't recruit and retain people, and is 'shrinking faster' than before because of that. That is simply false. Is it harder? Maybe.

Logistics, management and coordination would be a nightmare.

um, the National Guard is an organization designed with logistics, management and coordination in mind. National Guard units get deployed all over the world in fact. They are mobile and I'd say they likely have a very good idea of what units have the required training, as that would be critical tactical information.

no clear high level chain of command. (I'm pretty sure theres no General of the National Guard.)

The National Guard is part of the Army. They probably have the most structured chain of command in the world. You are right about not having a general though, he's just a Lt. General (Lieutenant General Clyde A. Vaughn

I can understand how you may be under that misconception, however Guard units are designed to be anywhere in the world within a matter of hours. Sorry if I sound like a know it all, but this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart...
Check out a bit about our history in conflicts here: http://www.1800goguard.com/whatistheguard/whatis_h istory.html
Try moving thousands of people, from a branch that was never designed to be mobile far beyond state borders Read a bit about our federal mission, if interested, here: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/protecting_our_w orld.asp
then figure out which state national guards have experience/training with water rescue then coordinate the efforts of all of those remaining with no clear high level chain of command. This would take about 5 minutes. The Army is not inept, as is the common misconception. The commanders know exactly who is trained to do what...
As far as leadership:
(I'm pretty sure theres no General of the National Guard.)
see this link for structure: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/organization/
Director of the Army National Guard, Lieutenant General Clyde A. Vaughn
Brigadier General Frank J. Grass Deputy Director of the Army National Guard, Brigadier General Frank J. Grass
Colonel Matthew L. Murphy Chief of Staff of the Army National Guard, Colonel Matthew L. Murphy
Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Army National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer Five Poyas Haynes
Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Gipe Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Gipe
http://www.arng.army.mil/Leaders/

I can understand how you may be under that misconception, however Guard units are designed to be anywhere in the world within a matter of hours. Sorry if I sound like a know it all, but this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart...
Check out a bit about our history in conflicts here: http://www.1800goguard.com/whatistheguard/whatis_h istory.html
Try moving thousands of people, from a branch that was never designed to be mobile far beyond state borders Read a bit about our federal mission, if interested, here: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/protecting_our_w orld.asp
then figure out which state national guards have experience/training with water rescue then coordinate the efforts of all of those remaining with no clear high level chain of command. This would take about 5 minutes. The Army is not inept, as is the common misconception. The commanders know exactly who is trained to do what...
As far as leadership:
(I'm pretty sure theres no General of the National Guard.)
see this link for structure: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/organization/
Director of the Army National Guard, Lieutenant General Clyde A. Vaughn
Brigadier General Frank J. Grass Deputy Director of the Army National Guard, Brigadier General Frank J. Grass
Colonel Matthew L. Murphy Chief of Staff of the Army National Guard, Colonel Matthew L. Murphy
Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Army National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer Five Poyas Haynes
Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Gipe Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Gipe
http://www.arng.army.mil/Leaders/

I can understand how you may be under that misconception, however Guard units are designed to be anywhere in the world within a matter of hours. Sorry if I sound like a know it all, but this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart...
Check out a bit about our history in conflicts here: http://www.1800goguard.com/whatistheguard/whatis_h istory.html
Try moving thousands of people, from a branch that was never designed to be mobile far beyond state borders Read a bit about our federal mission, if interested, here: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/protecting_our_w orld.asp
then figure out which state national guards have experience/training with water rescue then coordinate the efforts of all of those remaining with no clear high level chain of command. This would take about 5 minutes. The Army is not inept, as is the common misconception. The commanders know exactly who is trained to do what...
As far as leadership:
(I'm pretty sure theres no General of the National Guard.)
see this link for structure: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/organization/
Director of the Army National Guard, Lieutenant General Clyde A. Vaughn
Brigadier General Frank J. Grass Deputy Director of the Army National Guard, Brigadier General Frank J. Grass
Colonel Matthew L. Murphy Chief of Staff of the Army National Guard, Colonel Matthew L. Murphy
Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Army National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer Five Poyas Haynes
Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Gipe Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Gipe
http://www.arng.army.mil/Leaders/

There are some things that can be done to reduce the impact of hurricanes like this. The biggest one is to restore the delta and the wet lands. The messing with the Mississippi caused a lot of this damage.

The US Corps of Engineers actually has a very good track record of preventing flood damage, preventing approximately $208 billion in damages between 1990 and 2000. Sometimes, these things just happen. The area north of Vicksburg flooded in 1997 due to heavy rains, even with the levees. Iowa had what seemed like 40 days and 40 nights of rain in 1993 and flooded everything. The levees are a necessity to keep these things from happening more often.

Here's an example of the levees in action in 1997: http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/oldpubs/apr 97/story2.htm

Think about the damage that waters 12 feet above flood stages would have caused without the levees. The Mississippi (state) delta had water creeping into people's houses in 1997, but they would have been completely underwater otherwise.

It's like Amdahl's Law. We build the levees to remove the common case (annual displacement of tens of thousands and the persistent destruction of property) and resign ourselves to the rare worst-case scenario (category 5 hurricane impacting New Orleans once in recorded history, displacing 1.3 million) because that is how we achieve maximum benefit. Like you said, we can't just abandon these cities.

By living in a disaster-prone area, be it New Orleans, Los Angeles, or Tokyo, you are making the decision that the risk is acceptable to you. However, here's guessing that they rebuild the levees to withstand a category 5. ...and for the sake of all those whose homes are teetering on the brink of destruction, here's hoping that the 3,000 lb. giant sandbags work.

There are some things that can be done to reduce the impact of hurricanes like this. The biggest one is to restore the delta and the wet lands. The messing with the Mississippi caused a lot of this damage.

The US Corps of Engineers actually has a very good track record of preventing flood damage, preventing approximately $208 billion in damages between 1990 and 2000. Sometimes, these things just happen. The area north of Vicksburg flooded in 1997 due to heavy rains, even with the levees. Iowa had what seemed like 40 days and 40 nights of rain in 1993 and flooded everything. The levees are a necessity to keep these things from happening more often.

Here's an example of the levees in action in 1997: http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/oldpubs/apr 97/story2.htm

Think about the damage that waters 12 feet above flood stages would have caused without the levees. The Mississippi (state) delta had water creeping into people's houses in 1997, but they would have been completely underwater otherwise.

It's like Amdahl's Law. We build the levees to remove the common case (annual displacement of tens of thousands and the persistent destruction of property) and resign ourselves to the rare worst-case scenario (category 5 hurricane impacting New Orleans once in recorded history, displacing 1.3 million) because that is how we achieve maximum benefit. Like you said, we can't just abandon these cities.

By living in a disaster-prone area, be it New Orleans, Los Angeles, or Tokyo, you are making the decision that the risk is acceptable to you. However, here's guessing that they rebuild the levees to withstand a category 5. ...and for the sake of all those whose homes are teetering on the brink of destruction, here's hoping that the 3,000 lb. giant sandbags work.

In St Louis county they reinforced the Monarch Levee and built a 2 mile long stripmall (at the time it was the world's longest stripmall). Yeah St Louis!

The Army Corps of Engineers is working on better flood detection and protection, and anyone with expertise in this area could contact them and lend a hand.

The Army Corps of Engineers is working on better flood detection and protection, and anyone with expertise in this area could contact them and lend a hand.

I think China might qualify. China has been the hungry dragon for a long, long time. The U.S. will inevitably block some of its goals, and war within the next 50 years is likely.

1. Issue 1: Taiwan. The U.S. has supported the rights of Taiwan to de facto order its affairs. PRC has insisted on a one-China policy. When the time is right, the PRC will try to back its policy with force.
2. Energy. China's self-interest includes becoming a developing nation. Its citizens are just as interested in driving cars over there as soccer moms are interested in driving SUVs over here. The oil has to come from somewhere, and demand will surely ... no, has already ... driven the price of gas up; almost doubled it, in fact.
3. Korea. China has an uneasy relationship with North Korea, but it appears to be treating it as a kind of buffer state. If NK actually gets deliverable nukes (which is only a decade out or less), it will force a crisis.
4. Southeast Asia. That part of the world has cooled considerably in the last 30 years, but China still has trading interests there. In fact, it appears to be regrouping its strategy towards diplomatic influence.
5. South and Central America. For reasons that are unclear, China has made significant inroads into South and Central America: the purchase of the Panama Canal, and sweetheart deals with Venezuela.

Having a .mil address only proves one of two things:

1. The person is in the military
2. The person knows somebody in the military

It does nothing to prove that you actually have a security clearance. Nor does it prove that you know how to secure a computer to DoD specs. Speaking personally, I'm in the military and hold a security clearance. I've even used a "secret" computer system, but I don't have a clue what the DoD specs for secure computers are.

I know where Belgium is!
Ya just have to follow all the old German tank tracks!

On a more serious, note, remember Bastogne?

How many times do we have to free an area from vermin before people are grateful?

Not all Americans support Bush.
Heck, not all Americans are even from the US.

Who wins in skydiving? That's easy, anyone who walks away from a landing and is able to jump again.

You make a point to specify that recreational skydiving is not sport and I could do the same with almost any other activity. When I skydive, mountain bike, paddle or even shoot pool, I do not keep score. I enjoy those activities as recreation, yet there are countless others who do compete in each. My original post was mostly tongue-in-cheek humor, but there are many forms of competition in skydiving:

http://www.uspa.org/competition/
The USPA Constitution binds USPA "to sanction skydiving competitions, to document officially all national and world skydiving records set by citizens of the U.S., and to select and train the United States Parachute Team for world competition."

http://www.fai.org/ - (covers all forms of air sports. Who knew flying a plane could be a sport?) FAI is the world air sports federation, founded in 1905. It is a non-governmental and non-profit making international organisation with the basic aim of furthering aeronautical and astronautical activities worldwide.

http://www.fai.org/parachuting/
IPC, the International Parachuting Commission of FAI. FAI's parachuting activities, in particular World Records and International Competitions, are conducted under the direction of the IPC.

http://www.tradoc.army.mil/pao/TNSarchives/Novembe r04/111604.htm
The U.S. Army Parachute Team, "Golden Knights," style-and-accuracy teams swept the 2004 National Skydiving Competition in Perris, Calif., last month, winning two team medals and 10 individual medals.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page .cgi?ID=58
Formation Skydiving has two different areas: recreational skydiving, also known as fun jumping, and the competitive arena.

http://www.skyleague.com/pages/images/nslTV/
Videos of formation skydiving competitions.

http://www.ground-rush.com/wind.htm
Partial global list of recreational wind tunnel locations - for those curious about what skydiving feels like, without the safety risks of jumping out of a plane and landing under parachute. The experience is in fact close to that of freefall but, the restrictive nature of a tunnel takes away the best part of skydiving - almost unrestricted flight. The visual experience of a tunnel sucks in comparison as well.

However, an order such as "click this link and fill out the form there with your personal information" may be stupid and/or dangerous, and still remain lawful. On the gripping hand, these officer candidates should also be trained to verify the source of questionable orders, and call superiors attention to clarify doubtful points. (EG: "Is this really Colonel Blake? Is it really appropriate for us to fill out confidential information on a non-secure website form?)

See this nice piece from the US Army's on-line Combined Arms Research Library; look especially for the part on "Phase of Communication".