| Thursday,
January 31, 2008 The
short essay on the generation gap in the military brought in a lot of mail.
RE: The Unpublicized Generation Gap
On the subject above, I am sure your correspondent
feels very much he is an authority on the subject, and I do not dispute
that, nor do I wish to in any way aggravate him. However, having served in
the peace time Navy, which in the late 1970’s and first half of the 1980’s,
was anything but peaceful- at least in the ASW world – I would like to point
out that the viewpoint represented is pretty much only that of the Army. It
is not very representative of the other services; services which have a very
different job to do.
In fact, I wonder if it perhaps represents an unstated
corollary of Pournelle’s Iron Law Of Bureaucracy. *Somebody* has to be there
doing the job, even against the will of the entrenched and purely survival
oriented bureaucracy. In some ways, it is easier by far to jump into a
military job that has a high probability of making you a hero. Nothing wrong
with that, it is one of things that actually motivates our warriors, and the
desire to do something heroic is hard wired into our genetic makeup. But the
guy who spends a twenty year career keeping the peace, perhaps never even
having been put into a “heroic situation”, is, if not a hero, very far from
being a “slacker.” Somebody has to do the job! That isn’t to detract from
the heroism or bravery of anyone currently out there butting their tail on
the line.
And it is truly something that has to be viewed in a
much larger perspective too; the engineer working for Boeing is doing an
important part of defending the nation too; and the good ones are all the
time confronted with situations that challenge them to “keep the faith.” So
is the guy melting down scrap steel in the dead of night and producing tons
of good U.S. steel products. You can pretty much identify the contribution
to our national defense of any profession; some just contribute larger
shares to the pie. The guy taking fire most of all, of course.
I know, balance and reason are not popular ways to
think today. We are told from every media outlet that THIS or THAT or THOSE
PEOPLE or THAT GROUP are *evil* and should not be trusted. That kind of
scare tactic seems to *entertain* the dear peepul more than anyone with a
reasoned or thoughtful analysis. The election process is about to get down
and dirty here; Hillary vs. Obama and McCain vs. Romney. The real fireworks
have not even been unpacked yet. Of that bunch, I suspect you will support
Sen. McCain, and he is a worthy man. He would make a decent President,
depending upon whom he is saddled with as a running mate. Could be good,
could be bad. Hillary is also not the evil person she is often portrayed to
be; smart, political, and of strong character, yes. I do not believe she
would make a bad President either, though the radical right would of course,
break out in a lather and proclaim it the end of the country and every
possible freedom.
Perhaps it is time for the country to take a swing to
the Hillary side, at least for 4 years. The current administration has
overseen the most out of control spending and erosion of personal rights and
liberties since – I don’t’ know when. WWII perhaps? It will take many years
to regain those freedoms, if indeed it is at all possible. And of course,
the other side would abridge our freedoms in other ways, such a not allowing
one to own a firearm or even, apparently, a pollution sensor. :)
The best part of the whole thing is, as you have
stated before, we have a very good way to sweep out government that is not
performing, and we exercise that method every four years. There is little
enough damage anyone can do in 4 years. Certainly nothing that would change
most people’s ideological viewpoints. Of course, I may be overly optimistic
there; there was Wilson good, Marion Berry, and even people like Huey P.
Long who are counter examples to my belief, if at a lower level. :)
Anyways, once again, best wishes, and my prayers, for
your health and well being. I know it is incredibly difficult to face what
may be a serious medical situation, but keep the faith. Find something
joyful in each day and treasure it. Nobody and nothing can take that away
from you!
-Paul
The Navy pretty well does in peace time
what it does in war (albeit no one is actually shooting at them, there are
still storms at sea, and reefs, and sandbars.
Wars do weed out and cull the military
bureaucracy, which is why it has some partial exceptions to the Iron Law --
provided that There Will Be War, which seems a pretty good bet.
==
Dr. Pournelle,
Concerning the letter from "A Serving Officer". There
are other factors involved as to why so many pre-911 service personnel are
getting out. I am sure that there are some who don't want to actually fight.
I personally have not met any, however I have met many examples of 2 other
categories that were not mentioned.
One is Junior Officers who have commanded companies
and know that their life from then on will consist of nothing but staff work
until they manage to get back down to a line unit. Usually that will take a
minimum of 4 years and that will only be as a Battalion S3 and XO. That tour
will only last another 2 years tops. After that, they will never see troops
again unless they are one of the chosen few (less than 2% the last time I
looked) who will command a line battalion. After company command you pretty
much already know if you are in the running for a battalion or not. Many see
this and simply decide that it isn't worth it. Too boring, too arduous,
whatever the case may be. Some of these end up in Private Security. Some try
for the CIA or other aphabet soup agencies. Many just move on to other lines
of work entirely.
The other is what I will call "ideological converts".
They do a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan and decide what they are doing has
little to do with "fighting terror" or that we are doing it the wrong way
and get out. I have met a few of these types in events around Congressman
Paul's campaign. I have also met many in this category who were post 911
enlistees. In my experience, this category crosses that divide. I have met a
few junior and mid-term NCOs like this as well.
A sub-category of this is those who may be luke-warm
ideologically, but for whatever reason decide that what we are doing there
isn't worth spending so much time away from home or getting killed or
maimed. They've done their part and it's time to pass the torch.
To be clear, I do not claim to know the feelings of
the majority. What I say above has just been my experience. It might be
different in the non-combat arms branches or other services. I have also met
people who fit more than one category.
My experience may be unique. I suspect it is not.
Matt Kirchner
I am not as familiar with modern "career
manglement" as I probably should be, but I will bet it's very much subject
to the Iron Law: the people who manipulate other people's lives usually like
doing that. Management of field officer careers from Washington is
guaranteed to be a bad way to do things. Marshal knew better.
If we are going to go back to being a
Republic, we will still require both Legions and garrison troops; if we are
going to become a competent Empire, we will need both and lots more of them.
The temperaments are wrong.
As to command structure, I always thought
that the best system is a variant of the regimental system (brigade system?)
in which good field commanders stay with the troops they will command for
much of their careers, while staff officers rotate in and out. Troops have
little reason to trust a short time commander getting his ticket punched.
In the old days we used to say that if you
didn't trust an officer with troops, you put him in Intelligence (or one or
another garrison administrative branch).
=========
Subject: 360 panorama from an A380 cockpit -
Dr Pournelle
Thanks to Dan S. for the A380 flight deck panorama,
but it has me freaked out.
That's a left-handed side-stick controller for the
left seat! That's typically the seat for the Aircraft Commander. That means
the A/C -- the senior and more experienced pilot -- has to fly with his
non-dominant hand.
Who learns to fly left-handed?
When I flew, I was so determined to keep my right hand
on the stick at all times that I taught myself to write left-handed.
Have cockpits changed that much? Have I been out of
the loop too long?
Respectfully
h lynn keith
==========
Apparently the Chinese are Equal Opportunity Poisoners...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/
world/asia/31pharma.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
"A huge state-owned Chinese pharmaceutical company
that exports to dozens of countries, including the United States, is at the
center of a nationwide drug scandal after nearly 200 Chinese cancer patients
were paralyzed or otherwise harmed last summer by contaminated leukemia
drugs."
"The drug maker, Shanghai Hualian, is the sole
supplier to the United States of the abortion pill, mifepristone, known as
RU-486."
"The United States Food and Drug Administration
declined to answer questions about Shanghai Hualian..."
Charles Brumbelow
=========
Subject: even the left starts to catch wise
Jerry,
Alexander Cockburn, of all people, has figured out
that Anthropogenic Global Warming is more mass hysteria than science, being
cynically used to advance leftist causes that couldn't ever otherwise get
enough votes.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/reviewofbooks_printable/4357/
Henry
Astonishing!
=========
New Ice Ages? Fallen
Angels?
Canadian Agency Reports continued delay in new solar cycle...
I'm waiting to see if this manages to percolate into
the MSM...
http://www.britsattheirbest.com/001645.php
"The Canadian Space Agency’s radio
telescope has been reporting Flux Density Values so low they will mean a
mini ice age if they continue.
Like the number of sunspots, the Flux
Density Values reflect the Sun’s magnetic activity, which affects the
rate at which the Sun radiates energy and warmth. CSA project director
Ken Tapping calls the radio telescope that supplies NASA and the rest of
the world with daily values of the Sun’s magnetic activity a
“stethoscope on the Sun”. In this case, however, it is the “doctor”
whose health is directly affected by the readings.
This is because when the magnetic activity
is low, the Sun is dimmer, and puts out less radiant warmth. If the Sun
goes into dim mode, as it has in the past, the Earth gets much colder.
Tapping, who was originally from Kent, says
that “Typically as you go through the ten or eleven year solar activity
cycle you see the numbers go up or down. The lowest number is 64 or 68.
The numbers 71 or 72 are very low, but they usually start to go up. We
are at the end of a cycle, but the numbers still haven’t gone up. We
have been joking around coffee that we may be seeing the Sun about to
shut down.” (To date Tapping has been far more concerned about global
warming.) "
Richard
Big joke. Of course the
Maunder
Minimum was not a joke. But surely all that man made CO2 will save us?
Stay tuned. If you have a
subscription to Chaos Manor, you won't need to
wait for the Main Stream Media to get it before you find out things. I will
argue, seriously, that my mail page is the best on the Internet, with
important subjects and reminders and hints and tips you won't find
elsewhere...
=========
Subject: D-Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRS9cpOMYv0
A friend of mine sent me this.
How do you re-create Omaha Beach for a low-budget
documentary with 3 actors, 1 camera, 4 days, a Chromakey green screen and
Avid Editing Suite?
-- Recent novels by Michael Z. Williamson available in
bookstores worldwide:
BETTER TO BEG FORGIVENESS..., Nov 2007 from Baen Books
THE WEAPON, Mar 2007 from Baen Books (mass market edition) CONFIRMED KILL,
September 2005 from Avon
http://www.MichaelZWilliamson.com
http://www.SharpPointyThings.com
Custom blades and historical costumes -- "The totalitarian states can do
great things, but there is one thing they cannot do: they cannot give the
factory-worker a rifle and tell him to take it home and keep it in his
bedroom. That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or
labourer's cottage, is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see
that it stays there." --GEORGE ORWELL
This is an astonishing illustration of
what I've been writing about: how technology enables the creative.
============
re: Ethanol from Biomass Hint #1 - when you read about
a new technology that's going to change everything - start looking for
patents.
http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2008/01/gm-aligns-with-coskata-on-cellulosic.html
The author of this blog actually understands the science and the
intellectual property issues.
note published US application 20070275447, based on
filed US application 11/441392, to inventors Randy S. Lewis, Ralph S.
Tanner, and Raymond L. Huhnke which is titled: Indirect or direct
fermentation of biomass to fuel alcohol. Note within the application -->
This invention was made using funds from grants from
the United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research,
Education and Extension Service having grant numbers 2001-34447-10302,
2002-34447-11908, 2003-34447-13162, 2004-34447-14487, and 2005-34447-15711.
The United States government may have certain rights in this invention.
The first claim of the application states:
A biologically pure culture of the microorganism
Clostridium carboxidivorans having all of the identifying characteristics of
ATCC No. BAA-624.
The fifth claim states:
A system for producing ethanol, comprising a vessel in
which a source of CO is combined with Clostridium carboxidivorans; anda
controller which controls conditions in said vessel which permit said
Clostridium carboxidivorans to convert said CO to ethanol.
An IDS was filed on 3 July 2007.
Jim Coffey
I think ADM and politics has more to
do with the popularity of ethanol than patents, but biomass has a potential
to contribute to the energy budget of the US.
I wrote about biomass in A Step Farther
Out quite a long time ago. (Step Farther Out is available to
subscribers through the closed section of
Chaos Manor Reviews).
==========
Scientist: All Blue-Eyed People Are Related
Thursday , January 31, 2008
ADVERTISEMENT If you've got blue eyes,
shake the hand of the nearest person who shares your azure irises: He or
she may be a distant cousin.
Danish researchers have concluded that all
blue-eyed people share a common ancestor, presumably the first man or
woman to sport what must have seemed oddly colored peepers 6,000 to
10,000 years ago.
"Originally, we all had brown eyes,"
Professor Hans Eiberg of the University of Copenhagen said in a press
release. "But a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our
chromosomes resulted in the creation of a 'switch,' which literally
'turned off' the ability to produce brown eyes."
. Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Natural
Science Center.
That "switch" - a simple change from "A,"
or adenine, to "G," or guanine, in the DNA - actually sits next to the
OCA2 gene, which regulates the pigmentation of our eyes, hair and skin.
If the mutation had completely deactivated OCA2, all blue-eyed people
would be albinos.
Eiberg and his team analyzed 155
individuals in a large Danish family, plus several blue-eyed people born
in Turkey and Jordan. All blue-eyed subjects had the mutation, and among
those was very little variation on the genes neighboring it on the
chromosome, indicating that the mutation first arose relatively
recently.
In contrast, most mammals share the
"normal" form of the gene. The six-letter sequence is exactly the same
among mice, horses, cows, rats, dogs, cats, monkeys, chimpanzees and
humans with brown eyes. (No word on what gives Siberian huskies and
Siamese cats blue eyes.)
Eiberg figures the mutation took place on
the northern of the Black Sea, but that's an educated guess, assuming
the first blue-eyed human was one of the proto-Indo-Europeans who
subsequently spread agriculture into western Europe and even later rode
horses into Iran and India.
Does this mean I have married my cousin?
And of course Sable, the Siberian Husky, has blue eyes...
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