Crazy Times

 

EdB, I need this for my house.

 

Bullet Points:

** In 2006, DP World was forced to sell five US  port terminals following an anti-Arab backlash that linked the UAE to the Sept. 11 attacks. (The furor prompted a Daily Show segment, possibly the first and last time a ports operator was featured on a comedy show). The company is still eyeing opportunities. “We haven’t given up on US ports,” bin Sulayem told the Wall Street Journal, noting a shift in the political climate.

** How optimistic are you (Elsa asks)?

** MSN reported, “China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank in the spring, a major setback for one of the country’s priority weapons programs, U.S. officials said. “The episode, which Chinese authorities scrambled to cover up and hasn’t previously been disclosed, occurred at a shipyard near Wuhan in late May or early June.”

** Prepare yourself.

** (h/t Claudio) North Korean Intelligence Activities are outlined along with cultural aspects of the Hermit Kingdom and the challenges they face as a repressive and closed society with an exceptionally warped worldview.

** NBC reported, “1 in 3 teens can’t get tampons or pads during their periods, study finds.” If schools stocked them in the girls’ powder room instead of the boys’ john, the girls would have them.

** The New York Post reported, “Nancy Pelosi’s husband sold more than $500,000 worth of Visa stock — just weeks before DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit.” He has a good excuse. He needed money to pay her wine tab this month.

** Hezbollah is now unburdened by what has been….-Sexton

 

Do you know all those things you always wanted to do?

You should do them!

 

Leaks

A new report confirms that NASA managers responsible for operating the space station are seriously concerned about a small Russian part of the station, essentially a tunnel that connects a larger module to a docking port, which is leaking.

Russian and US officials have known that this small PrK module, which lies between a Progress spacecraft airlock and the Zvezda module, has been leaking since September 2019. A new report, published Thursday by NASA’s inspector general, provides details not previously released by the space agency that underline the severity of the problem.

For example, in February of this year, NASA identified an increase in the leak rate from less than 1 pound of atmosphere a day to 2.4 pounds a day, and in April, this rate increased to 3.7 pounds a day. Despite years of investigation, neither Russian nor US officials have identified the underlying cause of the leak.

“Although the root cause of the leak remains unknown, both agencies have narrowed their focus to internal and external welds,” the report, signed by Deputy Inspector General George A. Scott, states.

To mitigate the risk, keep the hatch on the Zvezda module open, which will close the PrK tunnel. Eventually, if the leak worsens further, this hatch might need to be closed permanently, reducing the number of Russian docking ports on the space station from four to three.

In other Russian space news, Russia has stopped supplying launch vehicle engines to the US. (Reuters) On its face, one would say, “So what?” But wait, much of the US space industry relies on the Russian RD-180. The Atlas V rocket has carried out dozens of launches to deploy U.S. national security spacecraft — including military, spy, and GPS satellites — and commercial launches. The Atlas V was the preferred vehicle for the Defense Department for nearly two decades, along with ULA’s Delta IV rockets. The RD-180 has a design that U.S. rocket engine makers have been unable to replicate. This includes a unique metal mixture for the walls of its combustion chamber that keeps it from cracking during the pressure of the launch.

Blue Origin-built BE-4 engines are not launch-ready yet, leaving SpaceX as essentially the only game in town. SpaceX received three missions from Space Systems Command. The company plans to use its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, both of which are powered by the Merlin family of kerosene and liquid oxygen engines, during the first stage of launch.

The SpaceX Falcon family stands out because it recovers the first stage of the rocket—including the Merlin engines—for reuse. Russian RD-180 engines cannot be used in a second launch. Launching with SpaceX reduces costs because SpaceX can reuse both vehicles and engines several times.

 

What will Happen to the Terrorism Franchise Now?

Hassan Nasrallah has been blown up. He’s moved on to the unfortunate 72 Virgins who must serve him in the land of milk and honey, eternally.

(Times) Iran found in Nasrallah a valuable tool for expanding its influence in the Middle East. Since 1979, to pursue its goal of becoming the Middle East’s regional leader, Iran has established a franchise of armed groups in Arab countries, including Iraq, Yemen, and Syria, of which Hezbollah is the oldest and most robust.

[Snip]

For Iran, Nasrallah’s personification of hope, strength, and military credibility became immensely useful for rallying its proxies in the Middle East.

Iran summoned Hezbollah to mentor and help train members of other groups. … Beirut became a hub where the leaders of Iran’s proxies gathered, and Hezbollah would release photos of them meeting Nasrallah.

[Snip]

Although Hezbollah will not collapse with the killing of Nasrallah, the fact that Israel managed to get him exposes the extent of the group’s current vulnerability to its longstanding enemy.

It is a huge blow to Hezbollah’s morale and undermines its standing among its allies as a group with robust security. With Nasrallah’s killing, the invincibility of Hezbollah is a façade. This sparks a tectonic shift in Iran’s relationships in the Middle East.

Iran-backed groups all over the region will see in Nasrallah’s elimination and Hezbollah’s weakening a genuine concern about their security. If Israel can bring Iran’s most powerful asset in the Middle East to its knees, then smaller, newer groups in Iran’s network are potentially easier to undermine.

And though Iran managed to maintain its regional influence despite the assassination of Soleimani, that assassination was a one-off event.

The killing of Nasrallah is part of a broader Israeli campaign to neutralize Hezbollah, potentially marking the beginning of the end for Iran’s regional influence in the Middle East.”

 

Identify the Aircraft

Disclaimer – It’s difficult to find ‘new’ aircraft or armor that haven’t been tested here. I can only hope that I have some new photos from different angles.  Depending on the eye of the beholder, some are more challenging than others.

1

Yes, we know what this is, but which model is it?

 

2

 

3

 

4

 

5

 

6

 

Identify the (Masked) Television Series

A

No lantern is needed.

 

B

The Fox, so cunning and free…

 

C

(unmasked)

For extra points, name the paper mache dinosaur/god

 

Identify the Classic Film (two photos)

D

When your head says one thing and your whole life says another, your head always loses.

Nobody wore a Fez in this film

(spoiler – if you didn’t get it right off.)

 

 

End