Monday, June 25, 2012
More Sea Level Rise
Today's News and Observer reports the latest US Geological Survey report that sea level on the North Carolina coast is rising even faster than earlier predicted. No matter. Those brilliant scientists in the state legislature will pass a law. That'll fix it.
Golden Rule Reaffirmed
This morning, by a five to four vote, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) reaffirmed the Golden Rule - He Who Has the Gold, Rules. In states as well as the federal government. In a Montana case, SCOTUS ruled that the decision in the Citizens United case in 2010 applies to state
campaign finance laws and guarantees corporate and labor union interests
the right to spend freely to advocate for or against candidates for
state and local offices.
Government of the wealthy, by the wealthy and for the wealthy.
Government of the wealthy, by the wealthy and for the wealthy.
Roads And Conveyances
I've been thinking about the ferry toll issue. Why is it so hard for some people to think of a ferry as an integral element of a transportation system, properly funded out of the system budget?
One reason, I believe, is that people have been accustomed to thinking of the road as one thing and a conveyance as another.
But not always. What would have happened to major cities if elevators were viewed as a conveyance rather than a component of the building? And concluded we have to charge for using the conveyance? We would still be walking up stairs and skyscrapers would never have happened.
One reason, I believe, is that people have been accustomed to thinking of the road as one thing and a conveyance as another.
But not always. What would have happened to major cities if elevators were viewed as a conveyance rather than a component of the building? And concluded we have to charge for using the conveyance? We would still be walking up stairs and skyscrapers would never have happened.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
The Golden Rule
He who has the gold, rules.
That's certainly a commonplace, but it seems to be true of politics in River City. We'll see how well it plays out in the next few days.
That's certainly a commonplace, but it seems to be true of politics in River City. We'll see how well it plays out in the next few days.
Friday, June 22, 2012
70 Years Ago: Turning Point
I just finished reading Stanley Johnston's Queen of the Flattops again. The first time was about 65 years ago.
Some thoughts:
The courage and professionalism of the officers and men of USS Lexington and her air group were awesome.
The standard narrative that the US was not prepared for war is wrong. These men and their ships and aircraft were ready for war.
The standard narrative also emphasizes the superiority of the Japanese Zero and their pilots. Not exactly. Japanese pilots were superbly trained aviators. But there weren't enough of them for a prolonged war.
The Zero was faster and more maneuverable than the US Navy's Wildcat fighters in early 1942. But the Wildcat was tougher, and Navy pilots were also well trained. Even early in the war, Japan lost more airplanes and aircrew than we did.
Japanese aircraft carriers weren't quite as good as ours, and their damage control measures weren't as effective.
Lexington probably shouldn't have been lost. She was killed by explosions of gasoline vapors. Better liquid loading practices might have kept the avgas tanks from rupturing and more aggressive ventilation of compartments might have avoided explosive concentrations of vapor.
Yorktown was lost at Midway because of the way the electrical system was set up before battle. The forward and aft main switchboards should have been isolated from each other. The forward board was destroyed by a torpedo hit and the ship lost power. The after emergency diesel generator came on and could have provided power to the ship's pumps, but kept tripping off the line because of shorts in the forward board and electrical distribution system. With electrical power, she could have been saved.
But these were lessons quickly learned. Japanese fire fighting proved incapable of saving their carriers time after time.
The one area of clear Japanese superiority was in their torpedoes. Their Long Lance torpedoes have really never been equaled for speed and range. Not only were our torpedoes unreliable, the Bureau of Ordinance refused to believe there was a problem for nearly two years. That was scandalous.
Our communications intelligence was superb.
By mid-1942, it was apparent that Japan had not been prepared to go to war with the United States.
Some thoughts:
The courage and professionalism of the officers and men of USS Lexington and her air group were awesome.
The standard narrative that the US was not prepared for war is wrong. These men and their ships and aircraft were ready for war.
The standard narrative also emphasizes the superiority of the Japanese Zero and their pilots. Not exactly. Japanese pilots were superbly trained aviators. But there weren't enough of them for a prolonged war.
The Zero was faster and more maneuverable than the US Navy's Wildcat fighters in early 1942. But the Wildcat was tougher, and Navy pilots were also well trained. Even early in the war, Japan lost more airplanes and aircrew than we did.
Japanese aircraft carriers weren't quite as good as ours, and their damage control measures weren't as effective.
Lexington probably shouldn't have been lost. She was killed by explosions of gasoline vapors. Better liquid loading practices might have kept the avgas tanks from rupturing and more aggressive ventilation of compartments might have avoided explosive concentrations of vapor.
Yorktown was lost at Midway because of the way the electrical system was set up before battle. The forward and aft main switchboards should have been isolated from each other. The forward board was destroyed by a torpedo hit and the ship lost power. The after emergency diesel generator came on and could have provided power to the ship's pumps, but kept tripping off the line because of shorts in the forward board and electrical distribution system. With electrical power, she could have been saved.
But these were lessons quickly learned. Japanese fire fighting proved incapable of saving their carriers time after time.
The one area of clear Japanese superiority was in their torpedoes. Their Long Lance torpedoes have really never been equaled for speed and range. Not only were our torpedoes unreliable, the Bureau of Ordinance refused to believe there was a problem for nearly two years. That was scandalous.
Our communications intelligence was superb.
By mid-1942, it was apparent that Japan had not been prepared to go to war with the United States.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
70 Years Ago: Communications Intelligence
Here's a link to the real story about US success with communications intelligence and the Battle of Midway. Also a bit of the story about conflicts between intelligence professionals and operations planners: http://www.centuryinter.net/midway/priceless/
70 Years Ago: Midway; The Rest Of The Story
June 2, 1942, USS Barnett (PA-11), carrying survivors from the sinking of USS Lexington (CV-2) at the Battle of the Coral Sea, entered San Diego Harbor. Among the passengers were Commander Morton Seligman, Lexington's executive officer and a reporter from the Chicago Tribune, Stanley Johnston, who had been aboard Lexington during her actions in the Coral Sea, including the battle. Johnston and Seligman apparently shared a stateroom.
Five days later, and the day after the Commander in Chief, Pacific announced "a momentous US Victory," a story by Johnston appeared in the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers in Washington and New York revealed that the U.S. had foreknowledge of Japanese forces and plans. The headline in the Washington Times Herald: "U.S. KNEW ALL ABOUT JAP FLEET. GUESSED THERE WOULD BE A FEINT AT ONE BASE, REAL ATTACK AT ANOTHER.
Admiral King, Commander in Chief of the US Fleet, was livid. A special prosecutor was appointed. A grand jury convened in Chicago and issued an indictment. The Navy's concern was that the article would be read by the Japanese as proof that their communications were compromised.
On reflection, authorities concluded that holding a trial would reveal even more about our successes with communications intelligence. Within a few weeks, the Japanese made a number of changes to their code and to procedures that made the job of traffic analysis and cryptanalysis of Japanese naval communications more difficult. But not impossible.
Later that year, Stanley Johnston's book, Queen of The Flattops, was published. It gave a very positive account of the professionalism and courage of Lexington's officers and crew and a very positive image of the US Navy.
Five days later, and the day after the Commander in Chief, Pacific announced "a momentous US Victory," a story by Johnston appeared in the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers in Washington and New York revealed that the U.S. had foreknowledge of Japanese forces and plans. The headline in the Washington Times Herald: "U.S. KNEW ALL ABOUT JAP FLEET. GUESSED THERE WOULD BE A FEINT AT ONE BASE, REAL ATTACK AT ANOTHER.
Admiral King, Commander in Chief of the US Fleet, was livid. A special prosecutor was appointed. A grand jury convened in Chicago and issued an indictment. The Navy's concern was that the article would be read by the Japanese as proof that their communications were compromised.
On reflection, authorities concluded that holding a trial would reveal even more about our successes with communications intelligence. Within a few weeks, the Japanese made a number of changes to their code and to procedures that made the job of traffic analysis and cryptanalysis of Japanese naval communications more difficult. But not impossible.
Later that year, Stanley Johnston's book, Queen of The Flattops, was published. It gave a very positive account of the professionalism and courage of Lexington's officers and crew and a very positive image of the US Navy.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Taking Sentences Apart
One of my favorite activities in 4th grade English class was diagramming sentences.
This seems to be a forgotten art, like cursive writing, no longer taught. That's too bad.
Not only does the diagramming of sentences help students understand and perhaps correct the grammar in sentences they speak or write, it can be useful in studying other languages. I discovered this use of diagramming quite by accident in 1961 when I tried to explain to a fellow student of Russian the function of the dative case. After that, I continued to use sentence diagramming to make sure I understood newly encountered structures of the language.
Imagine my pleasure when I came across a post in New York Times Opinionator section extolling the lost art of diagramming. You can read it here. An earlier post on the same subject here gives a bit of the history. This is a purely American invention.
This seems to be a forgotten art, like cursive writing, no longer taught. That's too bad.
Not only does the diagramming of sentences help students understand and perhaps correct the grammar in sentences they speak or write, it can be useful in studying other languages. I discovered this use of diagramming quite by accident in 1961 when I tried to explain to a fellow student of Russian the function of the dative case. After that, I continued to use sentence diagramming to make sure I understood newly encountered structures of the language.
Imagine my pleasure when I came across a post in New York Times Opinionator section extolling the lost art of diagramming. You can read it here. An earlier post on the same subject here gives a bit of the history. This is a purely American invention.
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