| Thursday,
November 13, 2003
Open with a warning:
Dr. Pournelle:
The Network Associates sites are having problems....which means that
nobody is getting their regular Wednesday virus updates. It seems to be just
the nai.com sites (www.nai.com and ftp.nai.com ); this site
http://www.networkassociates.com/us/downloads/updates/ will work
to get your updates manually.
I'd hope they are aware of it .... but thought your readers should know.
But we are all smart enough to never open up attachments, right?
Rick Hellewell, Security Dweeb, security@digitalchoke.com
You have
been warned
Subject: Bob Walker on Chinese
Space Program
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030528-092308-4284r.htm
The Chinese moon program appears to be a go whether we
get back in the game or not. Space dominance is a 21st-century challenge we
dare not refuse.
Rich
I just hope the Administration understands this.
The Air Force doesn't. They are too dominated by fighter pilots. The Navy
doesn't. It's busy doing something but it isn't looking at space. The Army
is frozen out.
A new Service? but not NASA, anything but NASA.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/59/1
One can make the argument that NASA has had a
compelling vision only once in its 45-year history, and that vision was born
of desperation.
Rich
Well they had von Braun, and General Phillips.
Of course you may do it yourself:
Richard Nakka is a senior project engineer in the
aerospace division of Bombardier, and has a massive interest in amateur
rocketry. As such, he constructs and launches rockets on a regular basis. He
builds everything himself: mixes his own fuel formulations, designs and
constructs his own motors, fabricates his own electronics... everything. And
he details everything on his web site. Tons of information: photographs, how
tos, mathematics, graphs, its all here. The site is huge: hundreds of pages,
all documented with the meticulous precision you would expect of a senior
engineer.
If you ever felt a pressing need to build a very
serious rocket of your very own, this is a decent place to start.
http://www.nakka-rocketry.net/index.html
or his alternate site (same site, to be used in case
the first one is down)
http://www.members.aol.com/ricnakk/index.html
Charlie Worton
Thanks.
Dr Pournelle,
Interplanetary parking ticket
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-03zzw.html
It had to happen. And $20 per century isn't so bad.
Jim Mangles
Heh
=================================
Reasons of State:
White House Fights POWs for Iraq Fund NY Times via SL
Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11102003/nation_w/109797.asp
Scott
But you do not see the big picture.
Dear Jerry:
Jessica Lynch is a very well grounded young woman with
a lot of heart and a lot of integrity. That really came across in the 90
minute Diane Sawyer interview on ABC, less so with Katie Couric, who seemed
to be working from someone else's notes this morning. Lynch has debunked all
of the stories originally put out about her and defines herself as a
survivor, not a hero. The book, actually written by Rick Bragg, who left the
NY Times recently under a cloud, is dedicated to the eleven soldiers who
died in the ambush.
So the question is, who put out the BS about her in
the first place? I have a hard time believing that this was something
official from the Army command, but I could be easily persuaded that some
civilian twit political appointee in the DOD thought it was a good idea at
the time and tried to manage the news. One of the issues is why the Spec Ops
guys who rescued Lynch carried along their own cameras? One possible answer
is that a video satellite link may now be S.O.P. for such operations. It
risks a repeat of the "eye of God" syndrome where as many as four
helicopters circled over a battlefield, each with a nervous commander from
the chain of command radioing down "advice". On the other hand, if you
simply observe, you have a very good way to analyze and improve operational
art. Lynch said she didn't really care about this. They got her out and that
was enough for her.
Lynch has gaps in her memory. I have no doubt that she
will suffer the pangs of PTSD for the rest of her life as well. Everyone
realizes that there is something unfair about her getting the brass ring
that leaves her with a half million dollar payday, but also that its not her
fault. She's a cute blonde and we live in a lowest-common-denominator
culture. She mentioned that she is using some of the money to set up a
foundation for military children.
The media remaining in Iraq are beginning to have
problems with low level officers who disregard the regulations for dealing
with them. One or two have been shot after being mistaken for the enemy.
Again, this is a cultural problem. I'd be willing to bet that this problem
happens most often with the Guard and Reserve units. Not up to speed on all
the regulations at any time. When I was running a Public Information Office
in the Army, I had a lot of problems with people who wanted to ignore the
regulations because they didn't understand them, or didn't agree with them.
It's far from a perfect system in the best of times. These are not those. Of
course, if everyone hadn't bailed out of the "Embed" program six months ago
when they start it was all over, the soldiers would know who they were, and
with a few notable exceptions (Hello, Geraldo!) would not shoot at them.
So, we were seriously misled about Pfc. Lynch. Not her
fault and certainly not her doing and I doubt that anyone will own up to it.
I am encouraged, however, that the media, which jumped on the story a little
too eagerly, stuck around to make the necessary corrections. Like I said, I
smell a civilian behind it all. The US Military is a lot smarter than to try
and pull something as raw as this.
In fact the media seem to be back in their old
barracuda mode; a story on NBC tonight revealed that 94% of the Guard and
Reserve soldiers serving overseas (not just Iraq) are having serious
problems getting properly paid. Yet further evidence that someone still
thinks the military can be run like a business corporation.
Sincerely, Francis Hamit
There will be more problems. I am working on
Competent Empire, to go in my book on Republic and Empire that I guess I'll
be doing for TOR.
On just what happened:
Jessica Lynch "propaganda"
Jerry
People are still arguing about Jessica Lynch, saying
the government lied about her actions in combat. The best explanation I have
seen is that another blonde person did the things she initially got credit
for. See this link:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2003/July/12/LNspotb.htm
Ed
And I expect you are right.
Greg Cochran says:
I think today's CIA report on Iraq is interesting.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/11/11/sprj.irq.cia/ Gloomy.
The CIA now has lots of people in Iraq ( finally) and they don't like what
they're seeing. According to other accounts I have read, Bremer agrees with
their evaluation. He's evidently quite pessimistic and according to some
accounts has asked to be allowed to resign. I guess he too has been
bamboozled by the press, which is busily filtering out the good news in
Iraq. The council we appointed has problems: they can't agree on anything,
which I suppose shows they really are representative of Iraq. Few of them
show up for council meetings: about a third. Almost all are are exiles and
have families and business interests elsewhere. And who wouldn't avoid Iraq?
Only one has been assassinated, but there was a close call yesterday - _we_
shot up one member's car, but he's OK and his driver is only wounded. And of
course we managed to accidentally kill the guy we appointed to head the big
Shiite suburb of Baghdad (pop 2 million) yesterday. Personally think we
should to let our enemies eliminate our friends in Iraq; they'll get them
soon enough, there's no point in rushing the process.
Then there are all those exploding Italians in . Car
bomber got 16 or so this morning in Nasiriyah.
As for the upshot of the surprise trip home by Bremer,
it looks as if the generals are going to get to try their solutions. First
step is blowing up the houses of people thought to be involved in attacks on
US forces. Now that didn't work in the West Bank and I sincerely doubt if it
will in this case. I think we're aren't prepared to be rough enough to do
the job - nor would it be worthwhile in any event. Too much TV coverage, too
many Geneva conventions signed, etc. So that will fail, and then we''ll try
something else: I'm guessing a big punishing raid on Syria (probably an air
raid, not an occupation) and of course that won't help a bit.
This is all happening about as I expected. I don't
think it's going to get better. In predicting outcomes, one must take into
account the talents of our leadership: anyone dumb enough to get us into
this is dumb enough to screw it up further.
Gregory Cochran
As you say, the tactics have not worked in Israel:
why would they work here? "Let me win your hearts and minds, or I'll burn
your goddam village down!"
========
Hi!
Um, sorry to rain on your parade, but 4 of 170+
nominations blocked is NOT a record
to complain about.
Also, unfortunately, the Republicans are just reaping
the whirlwind they sowed. During the Clinton years, the Republicans
frequently pulled the same stunt, as well as putting a 'hold' on a judicial
nominee (Senator Hatch began vigorously enfocing the 'blue slip' policy,
requiring BOTH senators from a state to return their blue slips before the
nomination could move forward) and effectively 'pocket-veto'-ing the
nominee. This was a favorite tactic of Sen. Helms, who used it to prevent
action on all African-American nominees of the Clinton administration to the
Fourth Circuit.
The same Republicans who blocked judicial nominees are
now crying great crocodile tears about the shortage of filled judicial
benches. If the need was so critical, why weren't more of Clinton's
appointees approved?
Check the record on this, and I believe you'll be
surprised, and even more disgusted at the behavior of Senators from both
sides of the aisle: the 'Dim'-'Crass' and (as I've heard them called) the 'Repugs'.
I assume this last refers to repugnance.
Best Regards from an Admiring Reader,
Doug Hayden
p.s. I ran across this quote, and will assume it's
accurate because those who oppose it would find it too easy to check:
"Overall, although not a single Clinton-nominated
appeals judge was voted down by the Senate, blue slip and related delays and
blockades meant that the Senate approved only 61% of President Clinton's
appellate court nominees, compared with 87% of those nominated by President
Reagan. In 1999-2000, 19 out of 32 Clinton appeals court nominees — roughly
60% — were blocked from receiving a vote"
Based on this method, President G. W. Bush has had 168
of 172 nominees confirmed, or about 97.7%.
Here's the link if you want to read it and decide for
yourself:
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=7611 . The
material I quoted is at the bottom of the page following the first 'NEXT'
link.
The current status of blue slips in the current Senate
is available from
http://www.usdoj.gov/olp/blueslips.htm
Best,
Douglas Thomas Hayden
I never said the tactic wasn't used by all sides
and for a long time. Even Jefferson: what do you think Marbury was suing
Madison over? (Although that involved delivery of a commission not a
hearing.)
It is still a misuse of privilege which ought to be
reserved for important situations, not to build a concurrent majority out of
blocks like mad femiminsts. You know that things are bad when Sharpton
starts telling them to shut up and vote and have done with it.
And it's not 4 of 170.
Finally, beginning with lines like "rain on your
parade" is a pretty good way to get me to skip a letter. There are just so
many I get, and while I try to read some of all of my mail, I don't read
every word of every letter.
==============
On War Games
I agree, steel panthers is still tops
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Lair/1509/
I tried to track down the author.... he was supposed
to be at IGN games, but no response. The groups are drying up and running it
under XP is sometimes a problem, but I did by not doing the sound
installation.
Mike
Why is no one writing such games for future war?
===================
From Joanne Dow
From Popular Science via CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/11/12/
hln.wired.pop.science.best/index.html:
"Kantra also liked the Discovery Kids Ultimate Labs
DNA Explorer, which turns budding scientists loose with a realistic genetics
setup. It retails for less than $100, and it can extract real DNA from
fruits or vegetables. Call it Chemistry Set 2.0. "Kantra also liked the
Discovery Kids Ultimate Labs DNA Explorer, which turns budding scientists
loose with a realistic genetics setup. It retails for less than $100, and it
can extract real DNA from fruits or vegetables. Call it Chemistry Set 2.0."
Ah er how many years before a kiddie DNA experiment
kit produces the killer virus that wipes out humanity?
{O.O}
Or the old William Tenn classic story, Child's
Play...
=================
Extraordinary delusions and the Madness of DMCA:
Caught by the Act Digital Copyright Law Ensnaring
Businesses, Individuals Over Fair Use
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/
wp-dyn/A28280-2003Nov11?language=printer
Lexmark alleged that the company illegally copied some
of the code used by computer chips in Lexmark cartridges to enable the
remanufactured cartridges to work. The chips monitor the level of toner and
tell users when it is running low. More important, they make the cartridges
compatible with the printer -- if the two do not execute an electronic
"secret handshake" activated by the chip, the copier will not work.
By figuring out how to emulate that handshake, Static
Control circumvented Lexmark's ability to protect its copyrighted works,
Lexmark's attorneys argued. In February, Lexmark won an injunction that
stopped Static Control from making its chips.
Rich
Indeed. Stark raving mad.
====================
What Does Microsoft know and when do they know it?
(I'm coming from yet another student account tonight.)
You might find this interesting.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=
http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/
articles/q314/8/28.asp&NoWebContent=1
(Don't blame me. That's the URL Microsoft used to
display it. I just cut it from the browser.)
[And don't blame me for not bothering to make it
usable.]
A couple of selected quotes:
"When Windows XP is installed, a machine SID is
configured to contain a statistically unique 96-bit number. The machine SID
prefixes the SIDs of user accounts and group accounts that are created on
the computer. The machine SID is concatenated with the relative ID (RID) of
the account to create the account's unique identifier."
"Because the SID identifies both the computer or
domain and the user, unique SIDs are essential to maintain support for
current and future programs."
So, the machine is UNIQUELY identified within the
known universe, and each user and/or group account on that machine is
UNIQUELY identified in the known universe. They don't say it, but somehow I
have a feeling that files created/modified by those user and/or group
accounts will also carry those SIDs, so the creator/"owner"/whatever of each
and every file in the known universe will be UNIQUELY identified in the
known universe.
For some reason, this makes me just a little bit
nervous.
--John R. Strohm
=============================
On the War In Viet Nam:
Dr.Pournelle
You recently published a letter from Francis Hamit
condemning the hubris of the neocons and citing Vietnam as an example of
where such hubris leads.
I dispute his contention of what happened in Vietnam
and take an entirely different lesson from that sad bit of history.
We did not lose the war in Vietnam because of anything
that we did or did not do in that country. We lost the war because Richard
Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandals and the McGovern wing
of the Democratic Party took over both houses of Congress with substantial
majorities. One of their first acts was to cut off all aid to South Vietnam.
Since the South Vietnamese military had been trained in the logistics
intensive American style of war fighting, their defeat by the communist
forces who continued to be supplied by China and the Warsaw Pact was not too
surprising.
The parallel between Iraq and Vietnam is that if
Howard Dean is somehow elected President next November, you can expect to
see video of desperate Iraqis who trusted the United States besieging the
American Embassy in a futile attempt to get out of the country.
Mark Kelly Deer Park, TX
Well, I don't disagree except that we did not lose
the war in Viet Nam. We accomplished what we needed, which was a long
campaign of materiel attrition as part of the Seventy Years War. In 1972 we
demonstrated that at small cost we could hold South Viet Nam forever, and
bleed the North and their Russian allies white as we did.
The Democrats threw away a victory. We weren't
defeated, we simply came home when the Democrats decided that having won it
wasn't worth defending the Gooks with American blood and treasure. If that
sounds harsh, I am sorry, but it's what happened. We had won. The border was
stabilized in the sense that it took a large army to cross it and ARVN with
U.S. supplies and air support could destroy any such large army. Every time
and to the last man.
Indeed, the last phase of Viet Nam was a bit like
what happened in Afghanistan, except that no one noticed and the Democrats
in Congress either didn't care or didn't want the country to know.
The situation in Iraq has some similarities except
there is no Seventy Years War, and no great power with 26,000 atom bombs
aimed at us that we must defeat with an indirect approach and a strategy of
attrition.
=============================
U.S. Troops More Hostile With Reporters
With casualties mounting in Iraq, jumpy U.S. soldiers
are becoming more aggressive in their treatment of journalists covering
the conflict.
Media people have been
detained, news equipment has been confiscated and some journalists have
suffered verbal and physical abuse while trying to report on events.
"But
if
we
find we
have left our bones
to bleach in these
desert sands for nothing, beware the fury of
the legions..." (Centurion in a letter home from North Africa, 3rd Century)
It may have begun...
Kim Smith
=Indeed. I do not think so, but it is well to be
wary.
========================
And this just in:
Dear Dr. Pournelle,
I read your reader's comment on Steel Panthers. Matrix
Games has published a much-improved Windows version of the game:
http://www.matrixgames.com/default.asp?URL=http%
3A//www.matrixgames.com/support/downloads-sp.asp
Game mechanics, unit stats and combat results are much
more realistically done than they were in the old SSI version. The game can
be downloaded for free, they make money from selling so-called mega campains
for the game.
By the way, Empire Deluxe has also been published in
an improved version:
http://killerbeesoftware.com/kbsgames/ednew/
The "Empire Deluxe Internet Edition" offers bigger
maps (up to 254 * 254 squares and up to 32,000 cities) and improved menus
that help to control large numbers of units. Mark Kincaid at Killerbee
Software is currently working on the "Empire Deluce Enhanced Editon" which
is going to have maps of unlimited size and many new features and units.
Regards,
Ralf Goergens
Thanks. Looked at Empire Deluxe and I was willing
to buy it, but they seem to want to know more about me than I care to say
and have no provision for me to just send them the money by Paypals and get
the game. I will probably do it, but I weary of filling out forms...
Be warned the complete Panthers game download is
BIG
I have downloaded Panthers and bought Empire Deluxe. We'll see.
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