White House statement: Bin Laden DEAD

[Evildead666]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=21552

dailytech has a piccy of the tail of the chopper, looks just like what DR showed.

[Dr Mordrid]

The below pic is a low-noise blade. In a stealth chopper imagine a more aggressive profile extending closer to the hub, and made of low-observable composites. This profile drastically reduces blade-vortex interaction noise.

[Evildead666]

The tailfins in the pic on dailytech look to be thinner at the centre of the rotor, and wider at the tip. Then again they aren't used for thrust.

[cjolley]

The tailfins in the pic on dailytech look to be thinner at the centre of the rotor, and wider at the tip.

That probably allows them to be effective at lower RPMs

[UtwigMU]

No body, no picture, no film. He was probably dead long time ago, only now a need to boost ratings has arisen.

[cjolley]

No body, no picture, no film. He was probably dead long time ago, only now a need to boost ratings has arisen.

That makes no sense at all.
Right now is about the most useless time in the US political cycle anyone could pick to wag the dog.
Too late to establish good will, too soon to affect the election much.

[Dr Mordrid]

Another "participant" in the op: the RQ-170 Sentinel, AKA "The Beast of Kandahar", said to operate at >50,000 feet and with totally black capabilities. Wingspan estimated at ~90 feet. Not just another Predator.

[UtwigMU]

It's probably laying ground for exit out of Afghanistan, since with Osama caught there "mission" is accomplished and USA is already entangled in North Africa, Iraq and either they are planning to tangle elsewhere or no one is buying treasuries to finance budget deficit.

Attached is the picture I took somewhere in ex Soviet Union. The monument to fallen is the result of sending soldiers to Afghanistan and what benefit do ex Soviet republics now have from it?

[cjolley]

It's probably laying ground for exit out of Afghanistan...

There is no chance whatsoever that any American president will leave Afghanistan to the Taliban. Been there done that, didn't work out too well.

[UtwigMU]

In a couple of decades USA will have as much say in Asia as does India in South America. It's like India will never leave Bolivia to non-hindus. Britain has also left south Asia to other influences and they still live on and are doing rather OK, Russia has let Soviet republics under other influences and it's not the end of the World for them.

You guys are in debt by 93% of GDP and rising. Greece was bailed out at 110%. Once the USD looses reserve currency status (which is happening now), it's the end of free ride.

[Umfriend]

A couple of decades is a long time. But yes, at some time perhaps, India or China may take over. Not even sure we should not want that to happen.

[Dr Mordrid]

You really think that as long as Iran is a threat we're going to give up a position of advantage, specifically having major US forces on both sides of them? You think that was a convenient accident?

[cjolley]

You think that was a convenient accident?

Yes

You really think that as long as Iran is a threat we're going to give up a position of advantage...

No

[UtwigMU]

It's not a question of wanting to give up, it's the question of being financially able to. It's like some suburban family doesn't want to give up SUV and home but once foreclosure hits they have to. It's like Russia wasn't so thrilled about giving influence in 1989 but they could no longer afford it.

It's like I'd really like to have strong Slovenian forces on both sides of Andorra with their evil evil leader possessing WMD but well, it's not realistic. Or like maybe some Brazilians would really like their ice hockey to take off.

Once dollar looses reserve currency (which is going on now) you will have to export things other than US treasuries to pay for debt and you guys are not manufacturing that much anymore. At that point paying as much for army as the rest of the World will no longer be possible. I think there's still chance to turn this around and libertarian thought that made USA the awesome country that it was is still strong.

[cjolley]

LOL

http://articles.boston.com/2011-02-06/bostonglobe/29344173_1_manufacturing-output-black-dress-decline

...
There’s just one problem with all the gloom and doom about American manufacturing. It’s wrong.
Americans make more “stuff’’ than any other nation on earth, and by a wide margin. According to the United Nations’ comprehensive database of international economic data, America’s manufacturing output in 2009 (expressed in constant 2005 dollars) was $2.15 trillion. That surpassed China’s output of $1.48 trillion by nearly 46 percent. China’s industries may be booming, but the United States still accounted for 20 percent of the world’s manufacturing output in 2009 — only a hair below its 1990 share of 21 percent.

“The decline, demise, and death of America’s manufacturing sector has been greatly exaggerated,’’ says economist Mark Perry, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “America still makes a ton of stuff, and we make more of it now than ever before in history.’’ In fact, Americans manufactured more goods in 2009 than the Japanese, Germans, British, and Italians — combined.
...
Perceptions also feed the gloom and doom. In its story on Americans’ economic anxiety, National Journal quotes a Florida teacher who says, “It seems like everything I pick up says ‘Made in China’ on it.’’ To someone shopping for toys, shoes, or sporting equipment, it often can seem that way. But that’s because Chinese factories tend to specialize in low-tech, labor-intensive goods — items that typically don’t require the more advanced and sophisticated manufacturing capabilities of modern American plants.

A vast amount of “stuff’’ is still made in the USA, albeit not the inexpensive consumer goods that fill the shelves in Target or Walgreens. American factories make fighter jets and air conditioners, automobiles and pharmaceuticals, industrial lathes and semiconductors. Not the sort of things on your weekly shopping list? Maybe not. But that doesn’t change economic reality. They may have “clos[ed] down the textile mill across the railroad tracks.’’ But America’s manufacturing glory is far from a thing of the past.