I had promised that on August 27, 2010, I would write an in-depth article how Scott Johnson had saved the world. I had not the time to do so until today. Nevertheless, I hope that his name, Scott Johnson, will be in every household and recited by every schoolboy in the future as the man who saved us from nuclear holocaust.
I had the nuclear codes on August 26, 2010 and it would have been used had not Scott intervened. He said, "Why brood and hate, just because of some unavoidable personal misfortune? You are given the awesome responsibility to preserve life at all costs unless human life is unnecessary in the modal sense." By that he meant that if at a point in time, destruction and anguish and suffering is unimaginable, then it would be time to euthanize the human race.
Such a condition would occur if the oppressed will stay forever oppressed without ever having hope of redemption. And I would necessarily have to be one of those so oppressed that I would know without any shadow of doubt that it is worse than living hell. And furthermore, the decision is not conscious. I would be so busy slaving away satisfying 99 demanding customers and the 100th one demands to know the time. I would also have no watch. And so I would reply, "And from me you wish to know the time?"
Of course, such an incident never happened and we are alive today. Therefore, whether this is antecedent or posterior logic, the upshot is that Scott saved the day --- I did not push the button. And the rooster crows, the sun rises, and so a million lights of the city go dim and taxis begin to stir. Joe and Molly are going to work!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
We Own Our Own Block --- China's Ability in the South China Sea
China is able to take back the South China Sea with Aces in the Hole -- asymmetrical weapons
 |  |  |
Poll Topic
This topic has been sticky by szh at 2010-9-26 12:11. 
| PLA's aces in the hole for recapturing South China SeaChinese Navy owns powerful anti-missile weapons.  Sources say Flying Leopard 3000 Naval (FL-3000N) has become the ace in the hole of Chinese Navy to counter missiles. FL-3000N is developed from TY-90 missile. The diameter of the missile is enlarged by a third, but the most important design difference in the new system is in its guidance system. The FL-3000N missile utilizes a combined guidance system that incorporates both passive radio frequency (RF) guidance and imaging infrared (ImIR) guidance. There are a pair of horn like protrusions mounted on the ImIR seeker at the tip of the missile, and these two protrusions are the passive RF seeker. An optional ImIR only guidance is also available and the missile is a fire and forget weapon.  The fire control system (FCS) of FL-3000N can simultaneously control two launchers, and can be integrated into other FCS on board ships. Alternatively, FL-3000N is also capable being directly controlled by other FCS on board ships. The system is usually fully automatic without human intervention, but manual operation can be inserted when needed. Chinese Navy owns combating ability of defeating a group of five US aircraft carriers.  Sources say when US Navy command in Japan formally announced the deployment of USS Washington aircraft carrier in the Yokosuka base, China was reported to have finished the preliminary deployment of its underwater surveillance system, which enables China to conduct 24-hour surveillance on US submarines. This capability is thought by US experts to be necessary to defeat a group of over five US aircraft carriers. Chinese Navy has drafted asymmetric strategies of the 21st century and can launch unclear deterrence to US nuclear carriers deployed in the West Pacific. China also builds 093/094 nuclear-powered submarines, from which China learns experience of building new type of nuclear reactors. China owns cruise missiles capable of launching long-range attacks.  The maximum range of China’s C602 sea-based/land-based long-range cruise missiles could exceed 500 kilometers without MR limitation, which is similar to the range of Tomahawk G. Meanwhile, China owns Red Bird missiles. The newest variant of Red Bird missile is HN3 with a range of 3,000 kilometers. Another variant of Red Bird Missile HN2000 tail end supersonic stealth cruise missile is under development. China owns combating ability of launching attack on F-22 stealth fighters.  The coordination of UAVs and China’s fourth generation stealth fighters could destroy F-22 fighters. China’s supersonic and super maneuverable J-14 stealth fighter can launch over-the-Horizon (OTH) attacks. China owns advanced laser weapon – a kind of destructive laser weapon with high power, which is capable of destroying satellites instantly.  China owns DongFeng (DF) strategic missiles, which is capable of attacking the US territory. According to foreign sources, DF-21D has become US carrier killer.  Which of PLA's aces in the hole is more powerful? |
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Saturday, September 25, 2010
What the Emperor might learn
The Average Inner-city Dweller faces a more daunting mission than the Emperor with his brave contingent who crossed the Tiber and conquered the known world...
Koon Woon
In my little room the emperor removes
his robe and we chat
about the mechanics of winning
an election.
“I came, I saw, I conquered,” he said.
While the moon is out above the dilapidated
warehouse, he asks me the profundity
of going to the moon and back
to the same ghetto room.
If it pleases your majesty, I said,
the gods make the ghettoes.
“I am King,” said the emperor, “I shall
have no gods.”
And he shook, nearly spilling the Oolong tea.
When he had calmed down enough, I dropped
two lumps of sugar in his cup.
He then marvelled at my calculus book and integration
theory and digital watch.
“Had I one of those,” he said, “I would have timed
my crossing the Rubicon at eighteen,
and what barbarian woman would not give herself
for that!”
He yawns imperially over
my utensils, books, and the cot
and asks me to cross the Rubicon with him
and I nod while doing tax equations for his majesty
because the hour is late.
He is delighted with the hot chocolate
that I made on the hot plate
and after making a rough estimate of the roaches
on the wall, he sleeps on my cot
as a sovereign would.
I rattled my typewriter like a machine
gun all night, partly because it was my
habit, and partly to protect my friend
the emperor, for though he had crossed
the Rubicon with the bravest of men,
he had yet to sleep a single night
in the ghetto.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Poem about Chinatown -- not the ID
Nobody gives a shit about us
The high walls I cannot scale
( with apologies to Tu Fu )
Desolate in my Chinatown morning,
among the scraps and people sleeping in urine
doorways, I ache from the politics of the heart.
Pigeons flock together in Hing Hay Park,
no children to greet them.
I walk for my sanity, since alone in my room
before dawn, the mind constructs improbable things.
The city is humming for profits
and I wait for the porridge place to open.
A bowl of sampan porridge
adorned with a clump of watercress.
These Chinese and I are one, scattered
in the four corners of the globe.
I only have enough to pay for one bowl
and so sorry, my friend, I must dine alone.
Koon Woon
2012 18th Ave. South
Seattle, WA 98144-4324
August 5, 2005
(206) 329 - 5566
Real Change is phony change
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Ain't that the truth! Ain't that the pits!
Koon,
Katie
--
Kathleen Porch
Development Manager
Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project
Help set the table! Join Real Change on September 30th, 7:00AM, at Fisher Pavilion in the Seattle Center for our 16th Annual Breakfast and 50th Birthday Roast of Founding Director Timothy Harris. Hosted by Seattle Comedienne Nancy Guppy and featuring a motley crew of roasters including former City Council President Peter Steinbrueck, Jon Gould, Joe Martin and more. Talk to me about registering as a Table Captain or guest. Email: register@realchangenews.org
p. (206) 441-3247 x201
www.realchangenews.org
I check email periodically between 8AM-5PM Monday-Friday.
Ain't that the truth! Ain't that the pits!
Koon,
Thank you for your offer to read a poem at the event. However after checking with Tim, we have to decline as the program is very full and we do not have the capacity to add anymore speakers.
On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 10:37 PM, <nooknoow@aol.com> wrote:
Tim,
Do you think I can read a poem to the audience at the Breakfast?
Best wishes,
Koon
-----Original Message-----
From: Timothy Harris, Real Change <director@realchangenews.org>
To: nooknoow <nooknoow@aol.com>
Sent: Thu, Sep 23, 2010 9:52 pm
Subject: McGinn is in: Register now for your free Real Change breakfast ticket.
Dear Koon,Believe it or not, there are still hot spots available at the 16th Annual Real Change breakfast, just a week away!
It's turning out to be the place to be September 30th- Mayor Mike McGinn is joining in as a special guest speaker. And the guest list is getting longer and longer. Confirmed guests include Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Pete Holmes, City Attorney, Larry Gossett from the King County Council; and City Council Members Nick Licata, Tim Burgess, Mike O'Brien and many other local heavy lifters.We never figured on the Real Change breakfast guest list reading like a Who's Who guide to Seattle political power but we could not be more pleased to attract broadbased, grassroots support for our work. We want you to join in and register today. Send a quick email to register@realchangenews.org in order to save your seat. How much you ask? No ticket price in advance. Simply register now and show up prepared to make a personally significant investment in Real Change during our special ask. We need 500 friends in the room to reach our goal of $100,000.More details:
Thursday, September 30thFisher Pavilion at Seattle Center7AM - Check-in and Networking7:30AM - ProgramThe breakfast, which will take place my 50th Birthday, will gather a handful of our oldest friends to recall highlights of our 16-year history as they roast me over medium-hot coals. These include:Nancy Guppy (emcee), comedienne, "Almost Live"Joe Martin, Social Worker, Pike Place Medical CenterPeter Steinbrueck, former Seattle City CouncilmemberLinda Weedman, King County Housing AuthorityEd McClain, 15-year U-District Real Change vendorJon Gould, Deputy Director, Children's Alliance
Vendors of the Year Mike Hall (Vendor at Elliot Bay Books) and Susan McRoy (Vendor at Madison Market) will be honored and celebrated as the 2010 Vendors of the year. Finally, Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata will be honored as our 2010 Change Agent for his courageous, progressive, leadership for social justice on the City Council.Concluding the event will be guests who are so special and so surprize, my staff isn't even letting me in on the secret. All in all, it will be a lot of fun. It would mean a lot if your would join us. Remember, email register@realchangenews.org now to save your seat.Thank you for your support and I hope to see you there.Timothy Harris
Executive Director
Real ChangeIf you no longer wish to receive these emails, simply click on the following link: Unsubscribe![]()
--
Kathleen Porch
Development Manager
Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project
p. (206) 441-3247 x201
www.realchangenews.org
I check email periodically between 8AM-5PM Monday-Friday.
Monday, September 20, 2010
The End of Surface Battleship Power
Missiles will render surface battleships obsolete --- its implication is clear for the US Navy
| | | |
Poll Topic
This topic has been sticky by szh at 2010-9-20 11:03.
| Future sea war will unfold between subs only?The era of surface warships will end?  Improved Nimitz class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier For centuries, battleships ruled the seas. Whoever had the biggest, baddest battleships with the most powerful cannons controlled valuable shipping lines and thus dominated much of the world. This was true throughout the centuries of the sailing ship, the brief era of the steamship, and finally the epoch of the diesel-powered ship. Just as manned aircraft suddenly rendered once-mighty battleships obsolete, we are now on the cusp of a new era in which all surface warfare ships will become obsolete. It has not happened yet, but the handwriting is clearly on the wall. Soon they will become indefensible. Why? Because ships are expensive and manned, while missiles are cheap and unmanned. Also, satellites are rapidly making every inch of the Earth viewable with the click of a mouse. In the near future, there will be literally nowhere to hide. Ships: Expensive and Manned Ships are expensive, and they take years to build. Consider the current Gerald R. Ford–class supercarrier under construction. It is going to cost somewhere around $9 billion and take 5 years to construct. Once launched, at any given time it will have around 100 aircraft on board. At a conservative estimate of $50 million per aircraft, that makes the carrier worth another $5 billion. More important than the equipment is the manpower. It will take about 3,000 Sailors and pilots to man the ship and the planes. So, adding it all up, we will have an asset worth about $14 billion floating around in the middle of the ocean with thousands of American lives on board.  Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship Or let's consider one of the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ships used to bring Marines ashore. Each one costs around $2 billion and can carry 30 helicopters. In the future, they will carry the F–35 Lightning jets that can be modified for vertical takeoff. Each ship carries almost 2,000 Marines and a crew of about 1,000 Sailors and officers. So here again we see a multibillion-dollar platform out at sea with thousands of American Servicemembers aboard. Either of the above would clearly be a juicy target for an enemy nation or a terrorist organization. Missiles: Cheap and Unmanned A variety of antiship and ballistic missiles are available in the $1-million-each neighborhood. More primitive ones are much cheaper. Using $1 million as a round figure means that we could buy 2,000 missiles for $2 billion. Along with being cheap, another key point is that missiles are unmanned—so we do not have to spend years training someone how to fly them. And we need not worry about pilots being killed or captured. If a few dozen or a hundred of them miss the target and plunge into the ocean, it is not a problem. Adding up these factors, what other conclusion can we arrive at than that missiles can be purchased (or manufactured) in such vast quantities that a barrage of them could destroy any ship on the high seas, no matter how big or how technologically advanced. Satellites Change Everything Some may say: "But missiles have been around for decades. If this danger is so great, why hasn't this already happened?" One reason is simple. As big as aircraft carriers are, they still can be hard to find out in the oceans. During World War II, for instance, the range of a Hellcat fighter jet was about 1,000 miles. This meant the carrier group had reconnaissance capability out to about 500 miles in any direction. Today, satellites have changed all this. Soon every inch of the Earth's oceans will be visible by satellite. It will be a simple matter to find the exact grid coordinates of any ship anywhere in the world, punch the data into a missile silo, and launch a barrage of missiles to the precise location of the ship or fleet. Countermeasures Won't Work The simple truth is that countermeasures will work, but only for a while. US Navy has sophisticated countermeasures that include the Aegis antiballistic missile system, radar, and final protective lines of fire. These are all good systems, and effective at engaging individual incoming missiles. The problem is that they can be overwhelmed or confused by a massive barrage of incoming rounds. And even when they do work as planned, they only work while they have ammunition. In other words, the Achilles' heel of every ship-borne system is that it is only effective as long as it has rounds to fire, which take up room on a ship and demand a lot of fuel to haul. So the farther we go from home base, the more expensive resupply becomes and the longer it takes. On the other hand, a land-based missile system can keep firing rounds indefinitely. In other words, all any nation has to do to destroy one of US most valuable military assets—our capital ships—is to keep firing missiles (no matter how cheap or inferior they are) until the ship runs out of the rounds needed to defend itself. The Solution?  Los Angeles class nuclear-powered attack submarine The solution is submarines. No matter how many satellites are in the sky, they cannot see below the ocean's surface. Nuclear-powered submarines can stay submerged for months on end. We need to exploit this capability and develop whole new classes of submarines, such as aircraft carriers, troop carriers, and cargo submarines. Some of these suggestions may sound far-fetched. But during World War II, Japan actually built and deployed submarines with aircraft on board that were on their way across the Pacific to blow up the Panama Canal when the war ended. If it was possible to build such a submarine 60 years ago, why can we not do something similar or even better today? Regarding assault ships, why can we not build submarines as troop carriers, then have them surface so Marines can deploy the last few hundred yards by inflatable raft or other small boats? Cargo submarines could also be designed that open up for loading containerized shipping units or tactical vehicles. This cargo could be offloaded at piers using cranes, similar to how many surface ships are now loaded. Such submarines could be the only resupply line for heavy equipment if an enemy country or terrorist organization has eliminated our surface warships and is focusing now on our military cargo ships. (From JFQ) Will future sea war unfold between subs only? |
Friday, September 17, 2010
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Changming Yuan is the most published China poet in the world. He has work out from Goldfish Press -- Kinship. Kinship --- poetry by Changm...
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THREE POEMS BY KOON WOON
