Move over, Eros. Developers announced plans Friday to open a multimillion dollar sexual "theme park" near London's Piccadilly Circus, home to the much-photographed statue of the Greek god of love. Backers say the London Academy of Sex and Relationships, due to open next spring, will not be a sleazy sex museum, but an educational multimedia attraction that will teach visitors to become better lovers and provide valuable information about disease and sexual problems.
Alex Rayner, a spokesman for the project, said it was "committed to avoiding the sleazy image that the sex industry usually conjures. Titillation is not the goal. It's meant to be educational. It's meant to be informative."
Scientists have taught dolphins to combine both rhythm and vocalisations to produce music, resulting in an extremely high-pitched, short version of the Batman theme song.
The findings, outlined in two studies, are the first time that nonhuman mammals have demonstrated they can recognise rhythms and reproduce them vocally.
"Humans are sensitive to rhythms embedded in sequences of sounds, but we typically consider this skill to be part of processing for language and music, cognitive domains that we consider to be uniquely human," says Professor Heidi Harley, lead author of both studies.
"Clearly, aspects of those domains are available to other species."
The studies will be presented at the joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and NOISE-CON 2005, which runs from 17 to 21 October in Minneapolis.
Learning to sing
Harley, who is associate professor of social sciences at the New College of Florida in Sarasota, says that both studies tested dolphins at Disney's Epcot Center in Florida.
The researchers first had an adult male bottlenose dolphin position itself in front of an underwater sound projector, called a hydrophone, that produced six different 14 kiloherz, 4 second rhythms.
The dolphin was rewarded for performing a certain behaviour to each rhythm. For example, when rhythm 1 played, it waved its pectoral fin and when rhythm 2 played, it tossed a ball.
The various rhythms were played at different frequencies and tempos to ensure the dolphin was recognising rhythms instead of just frequencies or sound durations.
Another adult male was trained to produce similar rhythms using a pneumatic switch, essentially a small, air-filled ball connected to a computer that then generated sounds whenever the dolphin pressed the switch.
"The dolphin was reinforced for producing a specific rhythm to a specific object," says Harley.
"For example, when we presented him with a Batman doll, he received a fish for producing a specific rhythm, in this case, a short sound and then a long one."
"If you recall the original Batman TV series musical intro you'll probably remember the way they sang 'Bat-maaaaaaaan'," she adds.
The dolphin spontaneously vocalised to the rhythms, so the researchers started to reward the male with fish whenever it matched its 'singing' to the rhythms.
By the end of the studies, the scientists could show an object, such as the Batman doll, which represented a certain rhythm-vocalisation combo to the dolphin, and it would create the correct sounds both vocally and using the switch.
Batmaaaaaaan
Gordon Bauer, associate professor of psychology at the New College of Florida who did not work on the studies, says, "This is the first report, to my knowledge, of a nonhuman mammal's ability to discriminate rhythmic patterns."
But Bauer doubts that dolphins realise they are producing what people consider 'music'.
"I think music is a human construct," he says. "I doubt that it has pertinence to animals, although the elements of music, such as pitch, time, timbre, rhythm, etc, may be incorporated into animal communication."
Harley agrees, and hopes the everyday vocalisations of dolphins will be analysed in terms of their rhythmic content.
In the near future, she and her team are planning to test the dolphins on their ability to recognise recordings of their own rhythms by having them associate their own sound creations with identifying objects similar to the Batman doll.
#4
I bet they sing this as they cruise the blown up levees of New Orleans hunting, killing and eating poor black folks! It's the white man's barbarism!
Posted by: Louis Farrahkan ||
10/07/2005 12:28 Comments ||
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#5
Yes, but can they dance?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/07/2005 12:43 Comments ||
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#6
Wow, RB is slow. I read this on my number-one news source days ago (Dave Barry's blog).
Stressed frogs that smell like cashew nuts or curry, and a 76-year-long laboratory experiment, have earned Australian scientists Ig Nobel prizes this year.
The 2005 Ig Nobel Prizes, which honour "achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think", have just been presented by a team of Nobel laureates at a US gala ceremony at Harvard University.
Associate Professor Mike Tyler's team from the University of Adelaide, wins the Ig Nobel biology prize for its work on frog smells.
Tyler says each frog has a characteristic odour when stressed.
"Most of the tree frogs have odours which resemble either peanuts or cashew nuts," he says. "It's very sweet."
He says another group of frogs have a distinct curry smell.
"In fact one is a sweet Bombay curry," he says. "And there's another one which is more like one of the north Indian chilli-laden curries."
Tyler and team have also found about 20 frogs that smell like cut grass and then "there are some rancid ones".
The researchers aren't sure what all the smells mean but have found out that some of the chemicals behind them are responsible for killing mosquitoes.
They also found that some chemicals stop pigeons pooping on parapets and are already used as a bird repellent in London, Paris and New York.
Watching paint dry
Professor John Mainstone and the late Professor Thomas Parnell of the University of Queensland in Brisbane win the Ig Nobel physics prize.
Mainstone says in 1927 Parnell started what has now become the longest ever running laboratory experiment, involving ultra-slow moving drops of black tar or pitch falling from a funnel.
The experiment is designed to show that pitch, which can be smashed with a hammer like a brittle solid, will actually flow like a fluid, if you leave it for long enough.
There have only been eight drops since the experiment began, and scientists expect to wait about a decade between drops, says Mainstone, who took over custodianship of the experiment when Parnell died. Seems almost as exciting as my life...
"So far nobody has actually observed when the moment at which the drop parts company with the rest of the pitch in the funnel," he says.
"In the year 2000 we thought we had it covered by having the thing under video surveillance," he says. "But unfortunately that new piece of technology failed at the crucial time."
Mainstone admits that some might think his job is worse than watching grass grow or paint try but he is proud to note the experiment is featured in text books.
And he says he is still collecting useful data on the viscosity of pitch, which is about 100 billion times greater than water.
The webcam is working again so you can view the pitch drop experiment live. Just don't hold your breath because the next drop is not expected before 2011.
Other prizes
The Ig Nobel medicine prize went to the US inventor of 'neuticles', artificial dog testicles, available in three sizes and three degrees of firmness.
The chemistry prize was awarded to two US researchers who explored whether people swim faster in syrup or water.
A Japanese researcher won the nutrition prize for photographing and analysing every meal he ate over 34 years.
While two German-based researchers won the fluid dynamics prize for calculating the pressure that builds up inside a penguin when it defecates.
#2
All the wacky antics of the IgNobel Prize guys simply can't hold a candle to the zany hijinks of the folks handing out the Nobel Peace Prize. I'll take smelly frogs over El Baradei any day. And by smelly frogs, I do not mean J. Chirac!
A BRAZILIAN court will consider a psychic's claim that the US Government owes him a $US25 million ($32 million) reward for information he says he provided on the hiding place of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Brazil's second-highest court, the Superior Court of Justice, decided today the Brazilian justice system could rule on the matter and told a court in the psychic's home state of Minas Gerais to judge the case.
The lower court had earlier told Jucelino Nobrega da Luz it could not take up his claim and it would have to be judged in the US, but the higher tribunal ruled otherwise.
"The Minas Gerais court will work with the claim," a spokesman for the Superior Court of Justice said.
"Jucelino da Luz alleges that the US armed forces only found Saddam based on his letters that provided his exact location, the very hole where he was hiding in Iraq. So he filed a court case to claim the reward."
The US Government offered the reward for Saddam in July 2003 after the US-led forces occupied the country. He was captured in December of the same year.
The court said Mr da Luz sent letters to the US Government from September 2001, describing Saddam's future hiding place â a tiny cellar at a farmhouse near Tikrit. He never received a reply.
"His lawyers attest that the author has an uncommon gift of having visions of things that will come to pass. ... Via dreams, he sees situations, facts that will happen in the future," a court statement said.
In case the court upholds the claim, it will be sent via diplomatic channels to the US State Department.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/07/2005 8:34 Comments ||
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"His lawyers attest that the author has an uncommon gift of having visions of things that will come to pass. ... Via dreams, he sees situations, facts that will happen in the future," a court statement said.
If that's the case, Jucelino, how come you can't see the big doughhut you're gonna get from the US government? Some psychic you are.
Michael Howard bowed out as leader of Britain's main opposition Conservatives yesterday, warning his would-be successors there was a hard road ahead if the party was to return to government. In what he vowed would be his final party conference speech, Howard told delegates in Blackpool, northwest England, to "go for it" in their attempt to turf Prime Minister Tony Blair's New Labour Party out of office.
Former home secretary (interior minister) Howard will hand in his resignation on Friday, firing the starting gun for the contest proper to replace him. But the five rivals for his job have already spent the conference slugging it out for support among colleagues, with the favourite, former army tough guy David Davis, seemingly losing ground. Howard was elected unopposed as the Conservatives' leader in 2003. He was thought to be the only person with the authority to unite them after bitter infighting, which eventually ousted the floundering Iain Duncan Smith from the job. Davis, veteran heavyweight Kenneth Clarke, young moderniser David Cameron, right-winger Liam Fox and party grandee Malcolm Rifkind pitched their leadership bids during the four-day seaside conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/07/2005 00:00 ||
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From East Asia Intel, subscription req'd. ExxonMobil announced production had begun October 1 from the Chayvo oil and gas field on the island of Sakhalin. At $12.8 billion, ExxonMobil's is the largest single foreign investment in Russia. The company has committed to developing three more fields over 40 years. Output is expected to rise to 250,000 bpd of oil by the end of 2006 with a pipeline linking the island to an export terminal at Dekastri for international shipments.
Gas from the field â starting at about 1.7 million cubic meters per day and later rising to 7.1 million cubic meters â will first be sold only to the Khabarovsk region bordering China. But Exxon is talking with China about a pipeline that could take up to five years to complete. Earlier Exxon had hoped to sell gas to Japan. But negotiations broke down over a pipeline that would have to go through the disputed four islands the Soviets grabbed from Tokyo at the end of World War II and at a high cost compared to Japanâs growing LPG imports.
Meanwhile, another consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell has presented its Russian government partners with a modified 2006 budget for its Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project reflecting an enormous cost overrun. Shell announced in July that development costs would double to $20 billion. It has also run into opposition from environmentalists because of the presence of whales and other wildlife near offshore drilling sites. This is a big project. Russia will get some righteous royalties from this. Too bad that the money will not be used for the benefit of all. [/cynical thoughts]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/07/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
The Russians took the southern half of Sakahlin island from the Japan at the end of WW2. Its unclear whether the oil/gas is in the previously Japanese part of the island.
From East Asia Intel, subscription req'd.
The Peopleâs Liberation Army is seeking to create a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapon, a Pentagon report on Chinaâs military said. The report said China âmight consider using HEMP as an unconventional attack, believing the United States and other nations would not interpret it as a use of force and as crossing the nuclear threshold.â That could be a mistake. Trying to blind our electronics could be seen as an act of war. How would such a weapon system be powered to create widespread havoc without using a nuclear weapon as a trigger?
EMP weapons simulate the electronic shock wave produced by a nuclear blast. They produce short bursts of intense energy that can disrupt electronic devices, such as computers and weapons systems.
Yep, that would be an act of nuclear war allright -- even if they managed to generate an EMP using a non-nuclear source, how would we know the difference, and know in time to stop a nuclear response, even assuming that we'd be inclined to hold back, which we wouldn't.
China also could use such weapons in an attack on Taiwan. âHEMP causes a substantial change in the ionization of the upper atmosphere, including the ionosphere and magnetosphere,â the report said. âThese effects likely would result in the degradation of important war fighting capabilities, such as key communication links, radar transmissions and the full spectrum of electro-optic sensors," the report said. "Additional effects could include severe disruptions to civil electric/power and transportation. These effects cannot easily be localized to Taiwan and would likely affect the Mainland, Japan, the Philippines and commercial shipping and air routes in the region.â Two could also play the game of one.
Meanwhile, South Koreaâs military is planning to develop EMP weapons by 2016. The disclosure was included in a report to the South Korean parliament by a state-run defense institute known as the Agency for Defense Development. The report said EMP weapons have been under development since the mid-1980s. The first test firing of a device is set for 2008. And where are they going to test that prototype?
Not over the Norks -- they don't have anything electronic, so you'd never know if it worked or not.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/07/2005 00:00 ||
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Chicoms developing high altitude EMP weapon
Credit helping hand, Clinton, Sandy Burgler, Hughes Electronics Corp., and Loral Space & Communications Ltd sold gave them.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/07/2005 0:35 Comments ||
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I think this is an early clarification by the United States.
A surprise attack without operational electronic technology would be a major blow. There should always has to be a balance with the dependancy on technology and good old fashion fighting.
#3
The non-nuclear EMP weapons I've read about in the open literature have a rather short range. In contrast a high altitude nuclear blast has EMP effects over a wide area.
It's not just electronics that's vulnerable, but the electrical power system as well. Some critical military systems are hardened against HEMP, but it is expensive. It might take 30 years to harden the civilian infrastructure, but we need to start doing it. (Like that will ever happen.)
Posted by: jolly roger ||
10/07/2005 7:09 Comments ||
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Things we can assume are rad hardened against EMP: strategic missiles and payloads, command and control centers at the strategic level and reaching down into some of the lower echelons.
Big mistake to think that use of EMP would go unpunished.
#5
Big mistake to think that use of EMP would go unpunished.
Why? The use of anthrax wasn't punished.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/07/2005 7:45 Comments ||
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#6
..Rememeber that EMP is a function of burst strength and altitude - if it's just one weapon, it's gonna be a doozy, if it's anything more than one there will have to be a bunch of 'em, and there will be no mistaking what that is coming at us.
Keep in mind also that this nation's policy - Launch Under Attack - has never changed. The PRC can build all the EMP weapons it wants, but if they detonate over empty silos, it's not much good. Not to mention EMP weapons are not much good against Trident FBM boats - ONE of which can send the PRC back to the approximate tech level of the Ming Dynasty.
Let 'em think they have some magic bullet.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/07/2005 7:59 Comments ||
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#7
An EMP strike on this country would be devastating. Most, if not all electronic equipment would be destroyed. That means all computers, all radios, all bank records, all atms, all medical records stored on computers and all vehicles built after electronic fuel injection would stop working. Life as we know it would ground to a halt. Think about New Orleans on a country wide scale. What really lead to the break down there was a lose of communication. How would that be on a national level?
Our electronic infrastructure would be gone. How would we even move food and supplies from the country side into the cities?
I think they seriously looked at this in the 80s. I think I remember reading an article about it in popular science entitled the Chaos Factor.
Matt
Posted by: matt ||
10/07/2005 10:36 Comments ||
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#8
The big vulnerability is the civilian infrastructure and the non-battlefield infrastructure for the military. We have a long way to go before we are EMP-hardened on these.
#9
That matt was not me (he's much smarter), but the comment about communications breakdowns in New Orleans was spot on. I hope to live the rest of my life without hearing the phrase "All circuits are busy" again.
Posted by: Matt ||
10/07/2005 14:50 Comments ||
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#10
The Chineese are not thinking that maybe they can strike Tiawan and possibly even part of Japan with such a weapon (we would think such a common balistic weapon strike scud type no nuke tip just conventional) but a launch to the West coast or even Hawia the missle would be detected early on and seen as a nuke (they wouldnt waste thier few Intercontinental missles on a non-accurate conventional strike on a air or naval base on the west coast or hawia), well before the EMP was in range. Counter missles would be inbound before it got mid-course. Exept maybe in the case we have another "peace-love-and-happiness" pres like Clinton who I doubt would retaliate against a full blown nuke strike on the homeland. He would need to investigate to confirm guilt first then of course ask the UN for authorization then make a limited non-over aggresive counter strike and then cry feeling the pain of the world crap. I would hope in that case some general at the underground bunker, would wisk his as8 into and just lock him in the room Then do what has to be done.
EFL: Rep. Tom DeLay said District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who is prosecuting him for trying to involve corporate money in Texas politics, has taken such contributions himself. "It's real interesting he has this crusade against corporate funds. He took corporate funds, and he's taken union funds, for his own re-election. That's against the law," Mr. DeLay told The Washington Times yesterday.
A review of Mr. Earle's campaign-finance filings in Texas shows that he has received contributions from the AFL-CIO, including a $250 donation on Aug. 29, 2000. He also has received contributions listed on the disclosure forms only as coming from the name of an incorporated entity, often a law firm. Mr. Earle has said repeatedly that state law bars corporate and union contributions. Attempts to reach Mr. Earle yesterday for comment, including a phone message left on his assistant's voice mail detailing Mr. DeLay's charge, were unsuccessful.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/07/2005 10:46 ||
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What are the chances this'll be reported by the MSM..
A spokesman for ex-president Clinton attacked a new book by former FBI director Louis Freeh that's sharply critical of Clinton's handling of the war on terrorism, calling Freeh "a man who's desperate to clear his name." "This is clearly a total work of fiction by a man who's desperate to clear his name and sell books," Jay Carson told the Washington Post, noting that the former New Jersey judge contributed nearly $20,000 to Republicans, including President Bush, in the last campaign. "It's unfortunate he'd stoop to this level in his attempt to rewrite history," Carson said.
You mean as opposed to Bill and Hillary's books?
Freeh's book, "My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror," offers a scorching account of Clinton's mishandling of the Khobar Towers bombing investigation.
The former top G-man is set to appear on CBS "60 Minutes" to detail his scathing revelations, including a claim that Clinton hit up Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah for a donation to his presidential library after signaling he wouldn't press him on the Khobar probe. "The former president declined to respond to this charge," CBS News reports on its web site. The Clinton camp told the Washington Post that "60 Minutes" would not accept any surrogate to rebut Freeh on camera once the former president declined to be interviewed.
Hummm, 60 Minutes turning on Bill?
Daniel Benjamin, a former Clinton counterterrorism official, said Freeh is "factually wrong." Clinton "pushed the crown prince quite hard," and eventually won Saudi cooperation that led to indictments in the case.
They indicted and executed a few people who may or may not of had anything to do with the Kobar bombing.
"Freeh has been clearly discredited by the 9/11 commission and the congressional joint inquiry," Benjamin insisted.
But Freeh may have witnesses who can back his story - including former President Bush. In a 2003 op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, Freeh wrote that he turned to Bush 41 for help with the Khobar probe after Clinton refused. "After months of inaction, I finally turned to the former President Bush, who immediately interceded with [Saudi] Crown Prince Abdullah on the FBI's behalf," Freeh revealed. "Mr. Bush personally asked the Saudis to let the FBI do one-on-one interviews of the detained Khobar bombers. The Saudis immediately acceded," he explained. "This was the investigative breakthrough for which we had been waiting for several years."
Which lead to....what, exactly?
Freeh blamed Clinton's personal scandals for distracting both the White House and the FBI as the terrorist threat grew.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/07/2005 10:22 ||
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Now there is an interesting pair-Bill "BJ" Clinton who argues over the meaning of "is" and Louis Freeh-"former" director of the FBI.
#5
Could Mr. Benjamin give me the difference between "factually wrong" and plain old "wrong"? Could "factually" be some Clintonian semantic thing you throw in there to cover your ass? Maybe it means like "not"?
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/07/2005 15:29 Comments ||
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#13
By now I would think most people realize Billy Tsunami is a liar and a crook. But until he learns the unwritten policy about criticizing a sitting president, I say give em both barrels.
(Figuratively of course)
#14
1. Deny the charge
2. Assasinate perceived accuser's character
3. Change the subject
4. Get private investigator to dig up dirt and reinforce #2.
5. Use the FBI and IRS to hassle the accuser. Whoops! Not an option since 2000.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/07/2005 19:57 Comments ||
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Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Thursday that Thailandâs candidate to become the next UN secretary general has support from 109 General Assembly members, but still lacks backing on the Security Council. Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai had been publicly campaigning to replace Kofi Annan, whose term ends next year.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/07/2005 00:00 ||
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The UN International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant of arrest for LRA chief Joseph Kony, a senior UN official said in Nairobi over the weekend.
UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari said the warrant of arrest was written on Tuesday but had not been publicised by the ICC, a unit of the UN, until now. "We believe he (Kony) is in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but we cannot say as to whether the UN forces can apprehend him," Gambari revealed when asked whether UN forces were in pursuit of Kony.
Brilliant, just brilliant. They have no idea if they can apprehend the guy, but they'll indict him. Useless, grandstanding UN -- but I repeat myself.
The warrant for Kony, wanted for atrocities committed in northern Uganda, comes as Uganda appealed for help to bring rebels based in the Congo to book. "The ICC has issued a warrant for the arrest of Ugandan rebel leader but it has not been publicised. The issue here is where to locate Kony and the capacity of the UN to apprehend him," Gambari said.
a) they don't know b) they don't know how.
Kony's crimes include torture and mutilation, abduction, sexual violence, forced recruitment and the killing of people the LRA considers are supporters of President Yoweri Museveni.
The ICC assumed the jurisdiction to investigate serious war crimes in northern Uganda last year after Museveni referred the matter to the court. On Thursday, Museveni said the Congolese government and the UN mission there known as MONUC must, in two months, disarm the LRA rebels who recently crossed into eastern Congo or else the UPDF would do so. "If the international community does not come in to do it, we shall go there," he told reporters in Kampala.
Seeing as you're so successful in military operations and all ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/07/2005 00:11 ||
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On Thursday, Museveni said the Congolese government and the UN mission there known as MONUC must, in two months, disarm the LRA rebels who recently crossed into eastern Congo or else the UPDF would do so.
I can do a visual of Kofi and Jr. in black ops.
Posted by: Black D0G ||
10/07/2005 0:42 Comments ||
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So where do we put the ICC wanted posters? In the Post Office, Wal-Mart? Do we get a reward for turning him in? What does it pay in---Euros, dubloons, stock options? Hey, I wanna know!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/07/2005 20:00 Comments ||
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NEW DELHI - Washington is not pressuring India to buy US fighter jets to replace its ageing fleet and aircraft manufacturers around the world will be asked for sale proposals, Indiaâs air force chief said on Thursday.
The Indian Air Force plans to buy 126 multi-role fighters for an estimated $9 billion to modernise a fleet that consists mostly of vintage Russian MiGs, in one of the biggest global military aircraft purchases in recent times. While New Delhi has shortlisted the French Mirage 2000, the Russian MiG-29, Swedenâs JAS 39 Gripen and the American F-16 for the deal, Washington has also offered to sell Boeingâs F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Representatives of the US aircraft makers and senior US defence officials have already made several presentations to Indian officials this year. âThere has never been any pressure on the Indian armed forces to buy anything,â Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi told a news conference. âIf the Indian air force chief, whoever it might be when these aircraft are finally bought, if he does not want that aeroplane he will not get it. Full stop,â Tyagi said.
Some defence experts say growing warmth between India and the United States and a far-reaching defence pact signed between the two countries in June could pressure New Delhi to choose the American planes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/07/2005 00:03 ||
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The MIG-29 with an updated Radar suite and the F-16/18 are excellent choices. The Mirage 2000 is an older plane with a fair track record and I have no idea what the Gripen could do, although I have seen some good press about it. Depends on the electronics suite I guess.
#3
...The Gripen is a superbly maneuverable little ship - a worthy successor to the Draken and the Viggen. However, its cost is a problem - the Swedes, as is their tradition, developed every ounce of that ship on their own - and since it has had a (natch) longer than expected development period, it's gonna cost some serious money - no matter what, more expensive than the F-35 by some distance.
And one thing I'm surprised nobody in the IAF considered was yanking out the Soviet electronics in the MiG-29, and rewiring it with up-to-date US systems and installing Slammer and Sidewinder. A bird with those capabilities would give the best fighter drivers in the world fits, not to mention the exploding heads it would cause in Pakistan and Beijing.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/07/2005 8:39 Comments ||
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The Mig29 with American avionics would result in a plane who is still shorter legged than its most of its (western designed) opponents and, who like usual in Soviet jets is much more maintenance intensive than western planes and thus can make less sorties a day. Scenario go like this: Mig 29s and F15s/F16s fight, each side returns to base for refuelling, F15S/F16s return and catch the Mig29s still on the ground.
West Germany got some of them after unification. The pilots loved them but they were still phased out: Mig 29 is great for air combat but not so great for war (ie making sorties day after day).
#8
I could be wrong on this, but I thought the MiG-29 was an interceptor (like the -25) and built for the PVO, not an all-round air superiority fighter for the VVS, like the -27 and -31?
#9
The MIG-29 is a intercepter/dogfighter. It has short little legs and is designed to defend local airspace/airbases. The SU-27 is the air support for long range strikes (long range for the soviets, considered short to medium range for NATO). The 29 had the first targeting tied to the pilot's helmet so he could lock on to a target by looking at it. With US radar, targeting and missiles the MIG-29 is a very dangerous, manuverable fighter. With Russian gear, it is above average since it does not have a powerful radar for radar guided weapons and relies heavily on heat guided missiles.
...To overcome this problem the nursery spider has devised a strategy of offering his thumbnail-sized mate a love-token, such as a dead insect. But after presenting the gift the male immediately feigns death and collapses at her feet.
And as she becomes preoccupied with sinking her jaws into the insect treat, the male revives, creeps under her and begins copulating... Okay, so it's about spiders. But a lot of us guys know what it's like on the dating scene.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday acquitted three people charged in an honour killing case. The accused â Israr, Rehman Zada and Suleman â had allegedly killed Akhtar Gul, a resident of Batkhila in Swat, on the suspicion that the latter had an affair with one of his sisters-in-law. The Swat zila qazi sentenced the accused to life imprisonments and also fined each of them Rs 50,000. The accused then filed a petition with the PHC against the conviction.n. The petitioner's counsel told the court that there was no eyewitness in the case and that the police had made numerous errors in the case investigations. The PHC bench, consisting of justices Tariq Pervez Khan and Qaim Jan Khan, upturned the petitioners' conviction after hearing arguments of both the counsels and issued their acquittal orders.
I guess the witnesses are all dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/07/2005 00:00 ||
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Something's not right here. Aren't they supposed to kill the sister-in-law?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Michael Howard bowed out as leader of Britain's main opposition Conservatives yesterday, warning his would-be successors there was a hard road ahead if the party was to return to government. In what he vowed would be his final party conference speech, Howard told delegates in Blackpool, northwest England, to "go for it" in their attempt to turf Prime Minister Tony Blair's New Labour Party out of office. 
ExxonMobil announced production had begun October 1 from the Chayvo oil and gas field on the island of Sakhalin. At $12.8 billion, ExxonMobil's is the largest single foreign investment in Russia. The company has committed to developing three more fields over 40 years. Output is expected to rise to 250,000 bpd of oil by the end of 2006 with a pipeline linking the island to an export terminal at Dekastri for international shipments. 
