December 9, 1942. Major General Alexander Patch, US Army, commander of the Americal Division, assumed command of all army and marine forces on Guadalcanal, replacing Marine General Vandegrift. Admiral Halsey remained in overall command of the South Pacific Area from his flagship at Noumea.
By February, 1943, Patch had expelled all Japanese from the island.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Robots And Jobs
Paul Krugman has finally figured out that computerization and robotization (if there is such a word) might create a problem for jobs.
I'm glad he has decided this is a problem that merits study. I suggested this in a comment a couple of years ago to one of his blog posts. This is the first time he seems to take the idea seriously.
I'm not sure that at the present time fiscal efforts to expand the economy won't work. It also seems worthwhile to encourage manufacturing to return from foreign exile. The fact that Apple intends to bring some manufacturing back to these shores may be a harbinger of good tidings. But not all that good, since most associated manufacturing is highly automated.
Jobs may consist largely of servicing robots. I mentioned this a couple of years ago, and suggested this may no longer be just a theme for science fiction.
http://mile181.blogspot.com/2011/02/robotics-and-economics.html
I'm glad he has decided this is a problem that merits study. I suggested this in a comment a couple of years ago to one of his blog posts. This is the first time he seems to take the idea seriously.
I'm not sure that at the present time fiscal efforts to expand the economy won't work. It also seems worthwhile to encourage manufacturing to return from foreign exile. The fact that Apple intends to bring some manufacturing back to these shores may be a harbinger of good tidings. But not all that good, since most associated manufacturing is highly automated.
Jobs may consist largely of servicing robots. I mentioned this a couple of years ago, and suggested this may no longer be just a theme for science fiction.
http://mile181.blogspot.com/2011/02/robotics-and-economics.html
Friday, December 7, 2012
Seventy Years Ago: First Year Of The Pacific War
The war had been going on for a year. It was mostly a naval war.
If the war were scored like a game of checkers, you would conclude that Japan was ahead. But Japan had made no significant advances since the early weeks. Repeated attempts to take control of Papua New Guinea had failed. Japan was hanging on to Buna, Salamaua and Lae on the northern coast by their fingernails.
Japanese soldiers on Guadalcanal had been unable to expel US Marines. The Japanese navy was unable to supply troops with food, much less with ammunition.
But fierce battles at sea had been costly to both sides. The score in ships sunk:
Warship losses in the First Year of the Pacific War.
If the war were scored like a game of checkers, you would conclude that Japan was ahead. But Japan had made no significant advances since the early weeks. Repeated attempts to take control of Papua New Guinea had failed. Japan was hanging on to Buna, Salamaua and Lae on the northern coast by their fingernails.
Japanese soldiers on Guadalcanal had been unable to expel US Marines. The Japanese navy was unable to supply troops with food, much less with ammunition.
But fierce battles at sea had been costly to both sides. The score in ships sunk:
Warship losses in the First Year of the Pacific War.
| U.S. | Allies | Japanese | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battleships | 2 | 2 RN | 2 |
| Fleet Carriers | 4 | - | 4 |
| Light Carriers | - | 1 RN | 2 |
| Heavy Cruisers | 5 | 3 RN , 1 Aus | 4 |
| Light Cruisers | 2 | 2 Dutch, 1 Aus | 2 |
| Destroyers | 23 | 8 Dutch, 7+3 RN. 2+2 Aus | 26 |
| Submarines | 7 | 5 Dutch | 21 |
Seventy Years Ago: 27th Air Depot Group Leaves Brisbane
Ten weeks after arriving in Australia, the 27th Air Depot Group has loaded up and shipped out from Brisbane. Destination: Port Moresby, New Guinea. The voyage will take six days.
The equipment they brought with them, designed to rebuild airplanes, was supplemented with all kinds of heavy equipment. Who would operate the equipment? The soldiers. My dad, M/Sgt J. Cox, was recruited to operate a bulldozer. He had operated road graders, bulldozers and other heavy equipment since he was a teenager. He would bulldoze landing strips, areas to pitch tents, build hangars, warehouses, aircraft taxiways, for example.
The soldiers had to build their own hangars, barracks, mess halls and other structures. But there was no lumber. Not to worry. There were plenty of logs in the jungle and the ships carried a complete sawmill. Among the aircraft mechanics, welders, electronic technicians and other specialists, there were soldiers who had operated sawmills.
Some of the 900-odd men were carried by truck for miles into a desolate area covered by fibrous waist-high Kunai grass laden with mosquitoes. Their camp was in a valley nicknemed "death valley" between two existing airfields.
It was mid-January before they began major construction. In the meantime the soldiers had only their barracks bags and field packs. Other supplies and equipment had to be brought from the ships and uncrated before field kitchens and tents could be set up. Forty percent of the soldiers spent their first weeks on site building the depot.
Among the wooden boxes were some marked "tools" and "aircraft parts;" "Attention M/Sgt Cox." When opened, they proved to contain sturdy cots, mosquito nets and air mattresses for greater comfort in the jungle.
In the Navy, we call it "forehandedness."
The equipment they brought with them, designed to rebuild airplanes, was supplemented with all kinds of heavy equipment. Who would operate the equipment? The soldiers. My dad, M/Sgt J. Cox, was recruited to operate a bulldozer. He had operated road graders, bulldozers and other heavy equipment since he was a teenager. He would bulldoze landing strips, areas to pitch tents, build hangars, warehouses, aircraft taxiways, for example.
The soldiers had to build their own hangars, barracks, mess halls and other structures. But there was no lumber. Not to worry. There were plenty of logs in the jungle and the ships carried a complete sawmill. Among the aircraft mechanics, welders, electronic technicians and other specialists, there were soldiers who had operated sawmills.
Some of the 900-odd men were carried by truck for miles into a desolate area covered by fibrous waist-high Kunai grass laden with mosquitoes. Their camp was in a valley nicknemed "death valley" between two existing airfields.
It was mid-January before they began major construction. In the meantime the soldiers had only their barracks bags and field packs. Other supplies and equipment had to be brought from the ships and uncrated before field kitchens and tents could be set up. Forty percent of the soldiers spent their first weeks on site building the depot.
Among the wooden boxes were some marked "tools" and "aircraft parts;" "Attention M/Sgt Cox." When opened, they proved to contain sturdy cots, mosquito nets and air mattresses for greater comfort in the jungle.
In the Navy, we call it "forehandedness."
Post Election Poll: "Republicans Not Handling Election Results Well"
Public Policy Polling (PPP), a Raleigh, NC polling firm, reports results of a national post-election poll.
PPP summarizes that Republicans are taking the outcome hard and also declining in numbers.
Nearly half believe ACORN stole the 2012 election for Obama. (ACORN ceased to exist in 2010.) 55% of Romney voters believe Democrats committed voter fraud and 25% want their state to secede from the Union because Obama was reelected.
The PPP summary has a link to a printable pdf file of the complete poll. PPP conducts its polls with robocalls and does not contact cell phone numbers.
PPP summarizes that Republicans are taking the outcome hard and also declining in numbers.
Nearly half believe ACORN stole the 2012 election for Obama. (ACORN ceased to exist in 2010.) 55% of Romney voters believe Democrats committed voter fraud and 25% want their state to secede from the Union because Obama was reelected.
The PPP summary has a link to a printable pdf file of the complete poll. PPP conducts its polls with robocalls and does not contact cell phone numbers.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Fourteenth Amendment And The Fiscal Cliff
The fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified in July, 1868. Section 1 was aimed at preventing former slave states from enforcing "black laws" that sought to return former slaves to a condition very similar to slavery. Section 2 provided a possible sanction against states that prevented former slaves from voting. Section 3 prohibited former officials who had sworn to uphold the US Constitution and subsequently took part in the rebellion from holding public office.
The most interesting provision is Section 4 that "the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned." It also provided that neither the United States nor any state could pay any debt incurred in support of the rebellion. That referred to a fairly large number of Confederate bonds purchased by British and French investors during the Civil War.
The obvious concern of the "public debt" provision was that states of the former Confederacy might be able to prevent the United States from repaying debt that had financed Union conduct of the war, thus paralyzing the government. We now have a similar possibility if Republicans in the House of Representatives refuse to authorize an increase in the debt limit.
Some argue that the debt limit itself violates Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, though that has never been adjudicated. Will Republicans push the country to the brink once again? Stand by.
For what it's worth, I find the argument persuasive that Congressional refusal to increase the debt limit to allow the Treasury to pay obligations already authorized by law would violate the Fourteenth Amendment.
Amendment XIV
The most interesting provision is Section 4 that "the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned." It also provided that neither the United States nor any state could pay any debt incurred in support of the rebellion. That referred to a fairly large number of Confederate bonds purchased by British and French investors during the Civil War.
The obvious concern of the "public debt" provision was that states of the former Confederacy might be able to prevent the United States from repaying debt that had financed Union conduct of the war, thus paralyzing the government. We now have a similar possibility if Republicans in the House of Representatives refuse to authorize an increase in the debt limit.
Some argue that the debt limit itself violates Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, though that has never been adjudicated. Will Republicans push the country to the brink once again? Stand by.
For what it's worth, I find the argument persuasive that Congressional refusal to increase the debt limit to allow the Treasury to pay obligations already authorized by law would violate the Fourteenth Amendment.
14th Amendment
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Public Trust Lands: Public Trust Waters
A good op-ed article in yesterday's New York Times addresses the problem of building up and developing our shorelines in the context of the shore as a public trust. How this is handled varies from state to state, even though the public trust doctrine was brought here from England as a feature of common law.
Interestingly enough, the article holds up Texas as a favorable example of a state that protects the public trust shoreline very effectively. Who knew? Texans know.
The New York Times piece stimulated economist Matthew Kahn, who specializes in Environmental and Urban economic issues, to post his thoughts here on what economists refer to as the "tragedy of the commons." Professor Kahn contends that the large scale of the destruction by Hurricane Sandy reflects the privatization of the shoreline and consequent destruction by owners of natural environments defenses.
Another way to put it is that we have privatized the benefits of living along shore, but socialized the risk. How this works has been revealed anew as "gated communities" in and around New York City, whose "private streets" have been damaged now want the city and the state to help them with repair, even while they wish to continue excluding the public from their developments.
We see a similar development along the North Carolina shore, especially the outer banks. Waterfront property owners naturally want the government (taxpayers) to pay to restore facilities (roads, bridges, houses, piers, groins, etc) damaged by hurricanes. And, by the way, to prevent the outer banks from moving.
Lewis Carroll in his poem The Walrus and The Carpenter described the task facing those who live along the shore:
The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be grand!"
"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.
Interestingly enough, the article holds up Texas as a favorable example of a state that protects the public trust shoreline very effectively. Who knew? Texans know.
The New York Times piece stimulated economist Matthew Kahn, who specializes in Environmental and Urban economic issues, to post his thoughts here on what economists refer to as the "tragedy of the commons." Professor Kahn contends that the large scale of the destruction by Hurricane Sandy reflects the privatization of the shoreline and consequent destruction by owners of natural environments defenses.
Another way to put it is that we have privatized the benefits of living along shore, but socialized the risk. How this works has been revealed anew as "gated communities" in and around New York City, whose "private streets" have been damaged now want the city and the state to help them with repair, even while they wish to continue excluding the public from their developments.
We see a similar development along the North Carolina shore, especially the outer banks. Waterfront property owners naturally want the government (taxpayers) to pay to restore facilities (roads, bridges, houses, piers, groins, etc) damaged by hurricanes. And, by the way, to prevent the outer banks from moving.
Lewis Carroll in his poem The Walrus and The Carpenter described the task facing those who live along the shore:
The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be grand!"
"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.
Dave Brubeck: December 6, 1920 - December 5, 20012
Americans asked to name great Swiss-Americans might (if they hail from North Carolina) remember Cristophe de Graffenreid, founder of New Bern.
They would probably not think of Dave Brubeck, whose father was of Swiss heritage.
What a giant of the world of jazz! Dave Brubeck enriched the lives of all jazz lovers.
RIP.
They would probably not think of Dave Brubeck, whose father was of Swiss heritage.
What a giant of the world of jazz! Dave Brubeck enriched the lives of all jazz lovers.
RIP.
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