So you want to be a rapper

But can't find a good rhyme? Well you could always rhyme with the same word, or even the same sentence, but I'm going to show you some other options you may not have considered.

A) Drag out the words so long and hope people forget about the rhyme:

"Cause you'll never get on top off this, so mommy's best advice is to get on top of this
Have you ever had sex with a pharoooOOOoooah?"

B) Make up your own language:

"Waiting on the Pizzle, the Dizzle and the Shizzle
G's to the bizzack, now ladies here we gizzo"

C) Brute force:

"So no matter what been through, no matter what you into
No matter what you see when you look outside your windu"

D) You are just not trying hard enough:

"Opened up your heart 'cause you said I made you feel so comfortable
Used to play back then, now you all grown-up like Rudy Huxtable"

Finally, I would like to remind everyone why Lil Jon is amazing:

Libya air gambit failed

The best possible outcome was that Gaddafi's forces would recoil immediately in the face of Western air supremacy and force a turnover of government.

Unfortunately that's not what happened. So short of miracles, we have two options now: further escalation (we go land) or defeat (of course when we lose, it won't be spun that way).

The general public still has hope that the rebels can go it all the way with Western air support. Can we trust the rebels to win a war? Quite bluntly, no. They have no C2 and they have lawyers and accountants for soldiers. We've spent a decade training the ANA and they still have essentially no capability for directing NATO air on their own, so there is zero chance of that with the Libyans. They'd need SpecOp support at minimum and realistically more like a couple of battalions of marines.

Who would've saw this coming? Quite possibly every milblog network ever. Anyone who actually knew anything about military operations had this kind of mess predicted well before the campaign even began. By all sensible calculations, this war should not have happened.

The public is fickle though. And so is France.

Update 03/29/11: Stavridis testifies that NATO has not ruled out the possibility of ground peacekeeping forces in the future; US Congress is outraged. Shit, since it's a NATO commitment now, is our [Canada's] 3 month withdrawal timeline scrubbed? The US doesn't plan to withdraw any assets from theatre except a 688. Actually, Warthogs and Spookys are giving CAS now, it's like they're not even trying to pretend anymore. An A-10 and P-3 took out 3 Libyan patrol boats. Peculiar. Either we're seeing AirSea Battle concepts permeate in operations or the enemy is just such a piece of 3rd world rubbish that the powers that be decided anything that flies and would lob a 125lb warhead is good enough.

Update 04/02/11: WTF B1-Bs in Libya are they carpet bombing the whole damn place

Crying for you, Canada, I'm crying for you

Why is my best case scenario a government that runs itself in circles just so another worse government doesn't go around punching holes in the ship's hull?

x_x

Food for thought

Why haven't governments around the world been contributing money to Japan (like after Haiti)?

We are, we're backing up their currency behind the scenes.

What does that mean?

It means Japan can print its own damn money.

Two thoughts

America has launched 160 cruise missiles into Libya thus far. Every Tomahawk costs a million and a bit dollars, so when you think about it, it'd actually be cheaper for them to be dropping Ferraris on their enemies. But here's the really nuts part: the US Navy can shoot up to 255 of these every year without affecting their budget because they buy about that much every year anyways just to keep their stocks current. They had just used ~180 million dollars worth of ordinance, triple Great Britain's entire inventory, and it literally has no effect on their budget. Needless to say, I think their defense spending could stand to be cut a bit.

Theoretically NATO allows alliance members to have a very robust C2 capability in coordinating their efforts. Yes, NATO's C2 structure is indeed very good. The problem is that it seems most of the time when they get involved, its member nations have their own ideas about mission scope and are all off doing their own thing simultaneously. And of course America is always doing its own thing. It's like adding another head to the same mess of limbs. Time to reconsider the concept I think.

Fun fact: "Norway grounded its F-16s in Crete simply because it had no idea who was who and why."

Election Blues

As far as I'm concerned, one party is the avatar of evil and the other one is so inept as to lose a popularity contest against an avatar of evil.

There are also some regional flavors too, I guess.

I wonder if Japan is the final evolution of democratic societies: bankrupt, ineffective, childrenless.

What are they supposed to be rescuing people from again?

As you may have heard, Tokyo's elite Hyper Rescue Force has been dispatched for operations.

These are the possibilities that come to mind:
This.
Or this.
Maybe even this.

I sincerely hope this is what Japan has been up to.

Cacti are pretty easy to take care of

"Hey, I just bought a cactus, how often do you water yours?"
"Never! I thought you watered them!"

They look like they're doing well to me... <_<

Update: "Overwatering of cacti is the single biggest cause of plant loss." Well, glad I got that covered.

Let's see

Not a fan of intervention in Libya, because I think it's a campaign the Arab-NATO alliance can't afford to lose once we get involved and then it will inevitably escalate into a clusterfuck. It will be interesting though because the UK and France are going to take the lead on this one. And we all know the UK forces are on collapse, so I guess France. Whoo!

France spends a lot on its military and will almost certainly send in the FS Charles de Gaulle (R91). Italy has dispatched the Giuseppe Garibaldi (551). [1] Gosh, France and Italy! Okay, let's see what they got. There's a lot of honour to be reclaimed here. [2]

Canada is sending over 6 Hornets. Those are CF-18s, totally different, they got a "C" in front. And cockpits on their bellies. This is good, if all the other NATO countries pitch in a few fighters like this, there will be a good number available for constant CAPs.

USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is still chillin' in the Red Sea. I think America will have to move it; they are taking their sweet time though. USS Florida (SSGN-728) did just sail into Naples though.

Hmm...

The thing you got to know about these guided missile subs is that they can carry about an entire surface group's worth of Tomahawks with them. [3]

Someone is thinking ahead...

Update: Obama has told Congress that US fighters will not be involved. Looks like Enterprise will not be recalled. Administration sucks at communicating. W/e, we don't need any more fighters, tankers will definitely be in demand though.

Update 2: American (mostly American) and British subs and destroyers have lobbed 110+ cruise missiles into Libya. Charles de Gaulle should be sailing from Toulon right about now. Our planes have landed in Sicily with the Danes. The operation is finally rolling now.

Update 3: Harriers from Kearsage have done...stuff. Enterprise might be going to relieve USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70); Carl Vinson is with the 5th fleet right now, not even close.

1. I know these French and Italian ship identifiers are useless for identifying what kind of ships they are, but I feel I have to add it for consistency; they are catapult and ski-jump carriers respectively. Ski-jumps only have a small complement of fixed-wing aircraft though (10ish), so the reliance is going to be mostly on Italian airfields and the nukes. Plural assuming Enterprise ever gets there.

2. Obvious joke is obvious. It had to be made.

3. On destroyers and cruisers alike, obviously only a small number of cells are made available for TLAMs; a majority are probably filled with anti-air.

Japan: Tsundere for America

A picture is a worth a thousand words. I guess what I have is an encyclopaedia on the tsunami right here.

The Big Picture is one of the best photoblogs on the internet. They always have high quality shots of current events. I never noticed how depressing all their titles were before though:
Massive Earthquake Hits
Aftermath
Vast Devestation
Tragedy Deepens
Continuing Crisis
Hopes Fade (Seriously guys??)

Oh no! Not Mio!
The Struggle to Recover (More optimism! Oh boy...)
R3
Aftermath

This is probably the most uplifting one. You know how Okinawa has been trying to kick the Americans out for years? Guess how much goodwill a fleet of circling Seahawks carrying relief brings? Answer: A lot.
Operation Tomodachi


Heartwarming.

Nukes again

Of course the situation in Japan is still developing, maybe for the worst, but I am going to stand by my man:

Whether my unwavering trust in my fellow engineers of 50 years ago who designed and build [sic] the plant, or my complete trust and admiration of my fellow engineers who are currently operating the reactors makes me a level-headed guy or right-out stupid is also hotly debated. Most people hope for the former, but some opt for the latter.

I have faith in all of you, engineers. Don't let us down.

Acronyms

I like it when acronyms stay as just acronyms; no need to get clever with them.

AEUG - The prettiest acronym I know, I wonder if someone's taken it on their license plate already.

BASF - Also very pretty; got to support the industry. Elle oh elle.

I think at one point they tried having AEGIS as a backronym. Guess it was stupid, now it's just Aegis.

Throwing numbers in is interesting too. Maybe not aesthetically, it's fun to say though.

Going nukes

Here's the thing, Fukushima I-1 is one of the oldest reactors in service with TEPCO, built to withstand 8.2 earthquakes. It survived an earthquake 5 times the intensity, followed by a tsunami and ultimately failed because the backup backup generators shipped in by the military had the wrong power sockets.

And nobody died.

Nobody will die.

By all means this should be indicative of how safe nuclear power is. But that's not what the public is going to take away from this. For instance, Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) wants to impose a moratorium on further building any plants in the United States. I wasn't aware that the midland United States was tsunami central; just, keep these things away from Cali.

I guess expecting the media, as stupid as they are, to get nuclear reactors right was a doomed prospect from the beginning. Not that TEPCO did much to help, I heard the press conferences on the NHK being described as, "shit from the source".

Okay.

Hey, Mr. Lieberman! Mr. Lieberman! You live in Connecticut right? That's where Electric Boat is; how do you feel about the nukes getting built in your backyard right now? 774s don't sail on lollipops and sunshine, you know.

Playing it straight

Canada's administrative divisions are pretty straightforward: 10 provinces, 3 territories, all with a capital and one more for the country.

And that is a bit unusual.

America has got Washington DC as a separate entity from the other states. Then they got little oddities like Puerto Rico.

The United Kingdom is made of four countries, which is peculiar enough.

Germany has their city-states like Berlin and Hamburg.

China has certain cities (like Shenzhen and Shanghai) designated as "special economic zones", Hong Kong and hot potatoes like Tibet. I'm not even going to touch Taiwan.

Japan has designated cities (like Sendai and Osaka[1]), and Tokyo itself is a prefecture. Former Tokyo city is subdivided into wards that would all be considered cities unto themselves anywhere else.

I don't know much about France, I expected to turn up something funny about their arrondissements but got nothing. You can amuse yourself by repeating the name though. Arrondissements. Arrondissements. Arrondissements.

1. Lol, Osaka.

Your parents must be soo hood, Oleksi

The hottest fires don't actually make the hardest steel; the trick is fast quenching of γ-iron to under the martensitic transition temperature. Admittedly, the truth is quite poor as a tagline.

Thanks, internet

Someone has kindly provided ASCII art illustrating the difference with a tsunami:

●[４m Wave]
　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　波
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　波
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　波波 　　　　　　　　●
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　波波波　　　　　　　　　人
波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

●[４m Tsunami]
　　←[Extending offshore for miles]

　　　　　　　　　　ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ‥　　　　　　　　　

波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波
波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波　　
波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波 　　　　　　　　 Σ　●
波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波　　　　　　　　　　　人
波波波波波波波波波波波波波波波－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

Peter Wu says
gogogogo
wait are the waves made of waves?
lol, yeah I think they are

crobert says
no it's made of mud and cars and buildings and other shit it swallows

Peter Wu says
no I meant in the ascii

crobert says
lol yes
there's a version where it's made with
waves and mud and cars and buildings and fire

Hey America!

The 2nd Amendment was never intended as a provision for self-defense.

Can you be less retarded about gun control?

Ampharos to be done in approximately never

Who the hell teaches Rollout to Shuckle anyways?

Koreans have invented the worst chopsticks in the world

1) They are flat. In a bad way. They're just annoying to hold and manipulate.

2) They are metal. I.e. they conduct heat. That would be bad if there were a culture out there that likes to serve food in scaldingly hot stone bowls. Good thing this culture doesn't exist and is certainly not the same culture that invented those ridiculous chopsticks.

Data Synchronization

I've long given up on it: too many platforms, too many operating systems. What I've ended up doing is designating devices for particular functions and never using anything else for that.

Blackberry: Contacts -> Backed up on desktop
Macbook: Music -> Backed up on desktop
Desktop: -> Everything else, backed up on external

I also assume everything on the cloud is backed up on the cloud. Photobucket, my magical girl image collection rests in your hands.

There might be an easier way, I don't know. I haven't seen anyone with multiple computers do better.

Different Strokes

12:50
Peter ] ] ] ] ]
get a ps3
and play
catherine

12:50
crobert
i stopped becoming interested
after i realized there's no demon summoning
and it's just a half naked dude climing up blocks

12:50
Peter ] ] ] ] ]
yo
that's when I became interested

Clarification

That is not a dig at our maritime forces. The Single Halifax Class Vessel has done excellent work in Somalia and Haiti.

More that as dictated by logistics our response to anything is largely uniform.

Sure gives our generals less to think about.

On Libya and airplanes

Enforcing a no-fly zone in Libya is a bit like moving all the furniture from your living room into your basement. Nobody doubts that it can be done, but it'll take strenuous effort. Especially that 50 inch internal projection TV from 2002.

There's a good rundown of all the problems here so I won't bother listing them.

I don't know where the 5th Fleet order of battle can be sourced but based on all the talk about USS Enterprise (CVN-65), I assume that there are no other carriers that are surge available for the region on short notice.

And Enterprise had just sailed through to the wrong side of the Suez just a couple of weeks ago, where plans are for it to hold station.

Two amphibs (LPD-15 and LHD-3, Ponce and Kearsage respectively) are being surged but that's just sensible in case there's need for a forcible NEO; the area is going to be swimming with these things from all nations.

Other than that, Spain could possibly divert Príncipe de Asturias (R-11), a ski-jump carrier.

So it looks like the chances of NATO/American intervention are slim.

In other news HMCS Charlottetown is going to be deploying in that region. Typical. I predict that, for now and the next 10 years, Canadian naval response to the greatest crisis in the world at any given time will be the deployment of a single Halifax class vessel!

Trials and tribulations of used car shopping

After getting reared by an SUV and scrapping the Accord, I found a newer Maxima with lower mileage for $1800 more than the insurance reimbursement.

Turns out what I thought was a great deal has a couple of flaws.

Passenger window is gimped.

Okay, whatever. Easy fix, the internet tells me.

Rear ABS sensor has salt corrosion.

Ooops! Goodbye VDC, traction, ABS!

Well that has to be fixed, no question. On the brighter side, the car drives well; the shifts are virtually unnoticeable, which is a step up from the Honda.

Still, Great-Deal had just turned into Okay-Deal post-purchase.

And what the hell was the previous owner doing, ricing the vehicle instead of fixing a bad ABS sensor?

"It's okay, I know how to pump the brakes"

Because that is totally the same, right?

My mother had comforting words.

"Look at this stack of papers you removed from the old glove compartment, it's every time your father took it to service without telling me; they're all like $400 and $500 each!"

Damn! No wonder that Accord worked flawlessly.

Damn enivros... [Part II]

"What time did you get in today?"
"Hey! I got in early today! 7:50!"
"I'm surprised, why?"
"I slept in and couldn't bus it in time so I drove"
*facepalm*