JSF Costs the UK Navy - "Soaring cost of our new carriers doubles to 10billion after equipment bungle" | Mail Online

The Brits are one of the nations that is buying the JSF being built by Lockheed and Northrop Grumman.

In order to accommodate the JSF fighter, an aircraft carrier originally designed for the Harrier jump jet had to be modified with catapults and traps, doubling the original estimated cost.

See the ink:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381725/Soaring-cost-new-carriers-doubles-10billion-equipment-bungle.html

I am sure that with clever and tricky analysis, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed can show that in the "long run" the UK navy will save money, and not spend more money than they would have if they had gone with the Harrier jump jets instead of the JSF.

We Don't Need No Badasses

Recently I put up a blog post consisting of nothing more than the words "EPIC badass" and a link to some newspaper in Nepal about an incident of epic badassery in India:

A Gurkha soldier, who fought 40 train robbers, to be felicitated in the Republic Day of India

Both Nepal and India are considered "third world" by many Americans, so their standards of what's "good and right" are different than Americans, right?

In America, we are told by the police not to fight criminals, but to be good witnesses by observing and reporting.

All this gurkha did was to standup single-handed against 40 train robbers when they started to strip a girl of her clothing to rape her. Her mom and dad asked for help (evidently they did not want their daughter raped), and this gurkha soldier fought the train robbers, killing three and injuring eight.

ON THE OTHER HAND, we recently had an incident in America (Maryland) at a McDonalds.

A transgender woman was stomped and beaten for several minutes until she went into convulsions.

See Video Shows Woman Being Beaten At Baltimore Co. McDonald’s.

Evidently what's "good and right" in America is to videotape somebody getting stomped and beaten, and then posting the video on your Facebook account where it can then go viral.

Doesn't matter that the videographer was an employee of McDonalds; he was laughing hysterically while doing the video, and even warned the attackers that the police was being called after people saw the victim go into convulsions. He was observing and reporting.

The only thing remotely resembling a badass was the older woman who tried to stop the attack and got punched in the face for her trouble.

McDonalds is doing major damage-control and P.R., as their employees just did the American thing, to "observe and report". The McDonalds employee observed and reported by posting the video on his Facebook account.

We don't need no badassery in America.

Video: Supersonic F/A-18C Hornet bursts into flame on aircraft carrier flight deck | ZDNet

Great video!

EXCELLENT example of why the US Navy prefers a twin engine aircraft - if one engine breaks, the pilot still has the second engine with which to fly back to home base.

"Home base" is usually an aircraft carrier, and the alternative, the waters of the ocean, is a BAD place to land.

An engine breaks and catches fire. The pilot brings theF/A-18C back to the carrier where the deck crew very promptly handles the fire.

Check this out:

http://m.zdnet.com/blog/government/video-supersonic-fa-18c-hornet-bursts-into-flame-on-aircraft-carrier-flight-deck/10276?tag=nl.e620

Northrop Grumman's Naval Death Star

Good news for Northrop Grumman stockholders!

See the Motley Fool's take on Northrop Grumman's Star Wars weapon developed for the US Navy -

Northrop Grumman's Naval Death Star - The Motley Fool

Northrop Grumman-Built STSS Demonstrators Prove They Can Track Ballistic Missiles From 'Birth-to-Death'

Northrop Grumman does more Star Wars stuff for the American military. 

See

Northrop Grumman-Built STSS Demonstrators Prove They Can Track Ballistic Missiles From 'Birth-to-Death' - GlobeNewswire

U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman Accomplish Goals for At-Sea Demonstration of Maritime Laser

Northrop Grumman has developed Star Wars capability for the navy. 

Photo Release -- U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman Accomplish Goals for At-Sea Demonstration of Maritime Laser - GlobeNewswire