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xocetaceans's Journal
xocetaceans's Journal
June 17, 2016
Here is a link to that interview...
in Der Spiegel:
Ex-US Intelligence Chief on Islamic State's Rise: 'We Were Too Dumb'
Interview Conducted By Matthias Gebauer and Holger Stark
Without the Iraq war, Islamic State wouldn't exist today, former US special forces chief Mike Flynn openly admits. In an interview, he explains IS' rise to become a professional force and how the Americans allowed its future leader to slip out of their hands.
Michael Flynn, 56, served in the United States Army for more than 30 years, most recently as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he was the nation's highest-ranking military intelligence officer. Previously, he served as assistant director of national intelligence inside the Obama administration. From 2004 to 2007, he was stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, where, as commander of the US special forces, he hunted top al-Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the predecessors to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who today heads the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq. After Flynn's team located Zarqawi's whereabouts, the US killed the terrorist in an air strike in June 2006.
In an interview, Flynn explains the rise of the Islamic State and how the blinding emotions of 9/11 led the United States in the wrong direction strategically.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In recent weeks, Islamic State not only conducted the attacks in Paris, but also in Lebanon and against a Russian airplane over the Sinai Peninsula. What has caused the organization to shift its tactics and to now operate internationally?
...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/former-us-intelligence-chief-discusses-development-of-is-a-1065131.html
Interview Conducted By Matthias Gebauer and Holger Stark
Without the Iraq war, Islamic State wouldn't exist today, former US special forces chief Mike Flynn openly admits. In an interview, he explains IS' rise to become a professional force and how the Americans allowed its future leader to slip out of their hands.
Michael Flynn, 56, served in the United States Army for more than 30 years, most recently as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he was the nation's highest-ranking military intelligence officer. Previously, he served as assistant director of national intelligence inside the Obama administration. From 2004 to 2007, he was stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, where, as commander of the US special forces, he hunted top al-Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the predecessors to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who today heads the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq. After Flynn's team located Zarqawi's whereabouts, the US killed the terrorist in an air strike in June 2006.
In an interview, Flynn explains the rise of the Islamic State and how the blinding emotions of 9/11 led the United States in the wrong direction strategically.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In recent weeks, Islamic State not only conducted the attacks in Paris, but also in Lebanon and against a Russian airplane over the Sinai Peninsula. What has caused the organization to shift its tactics and to now operate internationally?
...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/former-us-intelligence-chief-discusses-development-of-is-a-1065131.html
June 15, 2016
Also, here is the first link that I consulted regarding the above post by Lucretius:
It has the interlinear Greek translation needed to find what Lucretius mentioned. From there it was off to Perseus to see what they would claim that the Greek translation would be...etc.
I think that the question that I asked of Lucretius is not an easy one, so I don't fault Lucretius for not replying immediately.
P.S. May Mr. Dixie have fun with the above links, but if the original link that I provided was especially interesting, please first take a look at the Semitic Roots Appendix of the online version of the American Heritage Dictionary (https://ahdictionary.com/word/semitic.html). One can understand the meanings of a lot of commonly given Biblical names by reading it.
Have a nice day!
You are welcome.
I find languages very intriguing and like to try to understand the origins and meanings of words. If that link is one that you think Mr. Dixie will like, here are some more that I have found to be both interesting and useful:
William Whitaker's Words at Notre Dame - Latin <--> English:
http://archives.nd.edu/words.html
The Perseus Digital Library at Tufts - Greek, Roman, Arabic, Germanic, etc.:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
The Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary - Old English:
http://ebeowulf.uky.edu/BT/bosworth.htm
Beolingus - German <--> English, German <--> Spanish, and German <--> Portuguese:
http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/
UT Austin Linguistics Research Center:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/
http://archives.nd.edu/words.html
The Perseus Digital Library at Tufts - Greek, Roman, Arabic, Germanic, etc.:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
The Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary - Old English:
http://ebeowulf.uky.edu/BT/bosworth.htm
Beolingus - German <--> English, German <--> Spanish, and German <--> Portuguese:
http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/
UT Austin Linguistics Research Center:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/
Also, here is the first link that I consulted regarding the above post by Lucretius:
It has the interlinear Greek translation needed to find what Lucretius mentioned. From there it was off to Perseus to see what they would claim that the Greek translation would be...etc.
I think that the question that I asked of Lucretius is not an easy one, so I don't fault Lucretius for not replying immediately.
P.S. May Mr. Dixie have fun with the above links, but if the original link that I provided was especially interesting, please first take a look at the Semitic Roots Appendix of the online version of the American Heritage Dictionary (https://ahdictionary.com/word/semitic.html). One can understand the meanings of a lot of commonly given Biblical names by reading it.
Have a nice day!
June 10, 2016
It is interesting how little would need to be modified for this to be an up-to-date ridiculing of Donald Trump...
From 2011: How Dummies Bankrupt A Brand
It is interesting how little would need to be modified for this to be an up-to-date ridiculing of Donald Trump...
May 24, 2016
Here is Physical Review Fluids' homepage on the internet:
It looks like the first issue will be available online without cost to the reader through the end of 2016.
Here is the abstract of a paper on the formation of vortex rings:
Fluid mechanics is an interesting topic.
Does anyone know any good comprehensive texts for the field - ones that may be trying to update/replace Batchelor's book on the subject?
That is post number 3003: it seems like now is a good time for a break until after the election or so...à bientôt!
A New APS Journal Begins -- Editorial: Introducing Physical Review Fluids
PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS 1, 010001 (2016)
Editorial: Introducing Physical Review Fluids
Welcome to the first issue of Physical Review Fluids (PRFluids), the newest journal
published by the American Physical Society (APS). The field of fluid mechanics is
vibrant, international, and dynamic, with many interdisciplinary applications across
all areas of the physical and biological sciences, as well as engineering. PRFluids
aims to serve these diverse communities by publishing the very highest quality
research in all aspects of fluid mechanics. We are delighted with the very strong
response PRFluids has received, as evidenced by the high quality of the papers
published in this first issue, which are authored by intellectual leaders in the field.
John Kim and Gary Leal, founding Editors of PRFluids, are joined by an outstanding
team of Associate Editors and Editorial Board members, each of whom are
accomplished leading researchers in their fields. PRFluids is the latest addition
to the renowned Physical Review (Phys. Rev.) family of journals, and it is created
with the same commitment to excellence, timeliness, and service. We look forward
to engaging a broad readership that extends beyond the usual fluid mechanics
community.
PRFluids will publish papers both in the classical areas of fluid mechanics, and
also in the newer areas of the subject, such as flow problems involving complex
fluids, bio-fluid mechanics, and micro- and nano-fluid dynamics. The scope of the
journal will be reviewed regularly to ensure that it continues to serve the needs of
the community and captures the most interesting papers in the field.
...
The launch of PRFluids marks an exciting new initiative in fluid mechanics
publishing, and we are confident that it will quickly establish itself as the premier
journal in the field. However, the ultimate success of PRFluids depends upon the
quality of the submissions we receive. We call on all fluid mechanics researchers
to submit their best work to this journal and encourage their colleagues to do the
same. We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Published 2 May 2016
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.010001
http://journals.aps.org/prfluids/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.010001
Editorial: Introducing Physical Review Fluids
Welcome to the first issue of Physical Review Fluids (PRFluids), the newest journal
published by the American Physical Society (APS). The field of fluid mechanics is
vibrant, international, and dynamic, with many interdisciplinary applications across
all areas of the physical and biological sciences, as well as engineering. PRFluids
aims to serve these diverse communities by publishing the very highest quality
research in all aspects of fluid mechanics. We are delighted with the very strong
response PRFluids has received, as evidenced by the high quality of the papers
published in this first issue, which are authored by intellectual leaders in the field.
John Kim and Gary Leal, founding Editors of PRFluids, are joined by an outstanding
team of Associate Editors and Editorial Board members, each of whom are
accomplished leading researchers in their fields. PRFluids is the latest addition
to the renowned Physical Review (Phys. Rev.) family of journals, and it is created
with the same commitment to excellence, timeliness, and service. We look forward
to engaging a broad readership that extends beyond the usual fluid mechanics
community.
PRFluids will publish papers both in the classical areas of fluid mechanics, and
also in the newer areas of the subject, such as flow problems involving complex
fluids, bio-fluid mechanics, and micro- and nano-fluid dynamics. The scope of the
journal will be reviewed regularly to ensure that it continues to serve the needs of
the community and captures the most interesting papers in the field.
...
The launch of PRFluids marks an exciting new initiative in fluid mechanics
publishing, and we are confident that it will quickly establish itself as the premier
journal in the field. However, the ultimate success of PRFluids depends upon the
quality of the submissions we receive. We call on all fluid mechanics researchers
to submit their best work to this journal and encourage their colleagues to do the
same. We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Published 2 May 2016
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.010001
http://journals.aps.org/prfluids/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.010001
Here is Physical Review Fluids' homepage on the internet:
It looks like the first issue will be available online without cost to the reader through the end of 2016.
Here is the abstract of a paper on the formation of vortex rings:
RAPID COMMUNICATIONS[hr]
PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS 1, 012501(R) (2016)
Pressure evolution in the shear layer of forming vortex rings
Kristy Schlueter-Kuck*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
John O. Dabiri
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
(Received 10 February 2016; published 2 May 2016)
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.012501
http://journals.aps.org/prfluids/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.012501
PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS 1, 012501(R) (2016)
Pressure evolution in the shear layer of forming vortex rings
Kristy Schlueter-Kuck*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
John O. Dabiri
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
(Received 10 February 2016; published 2 May 2016)
This study investigated the relationship between the pinch-off of axisymmetric vortex
rings and the evolution of pressure in the shear layer being entrained into the vortex
rings. A piston-cylinder apparatus was used to generate the vortex rings, and five cases
of constant piston acceleration over distances ranging from zero (impulsive start) to eight
piston diameters were investigated. It was determined that increasing the distance over
which the piston accelerated increased the dimensionless formation time at which the
vortex ring pinches off, consistent with previous observations. A limiting value of vortex
ring formation number of approximately seven is approached when the piston is accelerated
over more than six piston diameters. For each case, the evolution of pressure in the shear
layer was calculated based on PIV measurements of the velocity field and spatial integration
of the corresponding pressure gradients using a recently developed algorithm. Plots of the
shear layer pressure in X-T diagrams aided in identifying key features of the pressure
associated with the evolution of vortex rings, including a high-pressure region that forms
behind the leading ring. By extrapolating the motion of this high-pressure region back to
the nozzle exit plane in the X-T diagram, its time of first appearance can be estimated. It is
found that the appearance of the extrapolated local pressure maximum in the shear layer at
the nozzle exit plane coincides with vortex ring pinch-off, as conventionally quantified by
the vortex ring formation number.
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.012501
http://journals.aps.org/prfluids/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.012501
Fluid mechanics is an interesting topic.
Does anyone know any good comprehensive texts for the field - ones that may be trying to update/replace Batchelor's book on the subject?
That is post number 3003: it seems like now is a good time for a break until after the election or so...à bientôt!
May 12, 2016
That is such a good quotation. Thanks for posting it!
In my opinion, it is always worth seeing it in context:
I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked
By Upton Sinclair
...
What Acting-Governor Merriam really thinks about
old age pensions is proved by his actions. He has been
acting for six months, and what has he done? Our law
(108)
[hr]
provides a pension for needy persons over seventy years
of age, and fewer than twenty thousand persons are
getting less than twenty dollars per month each; about
eighty thousand more have proved their right to the
pension, but there is no money for them. Has Merriam
moved a finger to get that money, as ordered by the
law of the State? He called a special session of the
Legislature to pass certain fiscal measures; but no word
about money for old age pensions.
...
Acting Governor Merriam got the extra votes which
he needed, and now he is Governor-Elect, and the grin
is on his face, and on the faces of all the politicians
who worked for him, and of all the big business gentle-
men who put up his millions of dollars. The poor de-
luded old people can take their petitions to Congress
and to President Roosevelt, and cherish their dream of
two hundred dollars a month until they die.
The newspapers said it would be that way with our
fifty dollars a month pension. They would challenge
me to say where I was going to get that money, and
when I answered they did not publish what I said. Im-
possible for any editor of a commercial newspaper to
understand the difference between a profit system in a
state of collapse, driving the State and everybody in it
to bankruptcy, and a system of production for use in
process of growth, providing security and plenty for all.
I used to say to our audiences: "It is difficult to get a
man to understand something, when his salary depends
upon his not understanding it!"
...
(109)
[hr]
https://books.google.com/books?id=OqqpXJy-fRwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=109&f=false
By Upton Sinclair
...
What Acting-Governor Merriam really thinks about
old age pensions is proved by his actions. He has been
acting for six months, and what has he done? Our law
(108)
[hr]
provides a pension for needy persons over seventy years
of age, and fewer than twenty thousand persons are
getting less than twenty dollars per month each; about
eighty thousand more have proved their right to the
pension, but there is no money for them. Has Merriam
moved a finger to get that money, as ordered by the
law of the State? He called a special session of the
Legislature to pass certain fiscal measures; but no word
about money for old age pensions.
...
Acting Governor Merriam got the extra votes which
he needed, and now he is Governor-Elect, and the grin
is on his face, and on the faces of all the politicians
who worked for him, and of all the big business gentle-
men who put up his millions of dollars. The poor de-
luded old people can take their petitions to Congress
and to President Roosevelt, and cherish their dream of
two hundred dollars a month until they die.
The newspapers said it would be that way with our
fifty dollars a month pension. They would challenge
me to say where I was going to get that money, and
when I answered they did not publish what I said. Im-
possible for any editor of a commercial newspaper to
understand the difference between a profit system in a
state of collapse, driving the State and everybody in it
to bankruptcy, and a system of production for use in
process of growth, providing security and plenty for all.
I used to say to our audiences: "It is difficult to get a
man to understand something, when his salary depends
upon his not understanding it!"
...
(109)
[hr]
https://books.google.com/books?id=OqqpXJy-fRwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=109&f=false
May 8, 2016
"Or...maybe not." seems to be the course that has been and will be chosen by this and
probably future Administrations.
It seems that stating that "We tortured some folks..." will be the extent of the required penance.
The CIA Waterboarded the Wrong Man 83 Times in 1 Month
None of the allegations against Abu Zubaydeh turned out to be true. That didnt stop the CIA from torturing him for years.
By Rebecca Gordon
April 25, 2016
...
The new Obama administration replied with a 109-page brief filed in the US District Court in the District of Columbia, which is legally designated to hear the habeas cases of Guantánamo detainees.
The bulk of that brief came down to a government argument that was curious indeed, given the years of bragging about Zubaydahs central role in Al Qaedas activities. It claimed that there was no reason to turn over any exculpatory documents demonstrating that he was not a member of Al Qaeda, or that he had no involvement in 9/11 or any other terrorist activitybecause the government was no longer claiming that any of those things were true.
The governments lawyers went on to claim, bizarrely enough, that the Bush administration had never contended that [Zubaydah] had any personal involvement in planning or executing the attacks of September 11, 2001. They added that the Government also has not contended in this proceeding that, at the time of his capture, [Zubaydah] had knowledge of any specific impending terrorist operationsan especially curious claim, since the prevention of such future attacks was how the CIA justified its torture of Zubaydah in the first place. Far from believing that he was if not the number two, very close to the number two person in Al Qaeda, as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had once claimed, the Government has not contended in this proceeding that [Zubaydah] was a member of al-Qaida or otherwise formally identified with al-Qaida.
...
Seven years after the initial filing of Zubaydahs habeas petition, the DC District Court has yet to rule on it. Given the courts average 751-day turnaround time on such petitions, this is an extraordinary length of time. Here, justice delayed is truly justice denied.
...
http://www.thenation.com/article/the-cia-waterboarded-the-wrong-man-83-times-in-1-month/
None of the allegations against Abu Zubaydeh turned out to be true. That didnt stop the CIA from torturing him for years.
By Rebecca Gordon
April 25, 2016
...
The new Obama administration replied with a 109-page brief filed in the US District Court in the District of Columbia, which is legally designated to hear the habeas cases of Guantánamo detainees.
The bulk of that brief came down to a government argument that was curious indeed, given the years of bragging about Zubaydahs central role in Al Qaedas activities. It claimed that there was no reason to turn over any exculpatory documents demonstrating that he was not a member of Al Qaeda, or that he had no involvement in 9/11 or any other terrorist activitybecause the government was no longer claiming that any of those things were true.
The governments lawyers went on to claim, bizarrely enough, that the Bush administration had never contended that [Zubaydah] had any personal involvement in planning or executing the attacks of September 11, 2001. They added that the Government also has not contended in this proceeding that, at the time of his capture, [Zubaydah] had knowledge of any specific impending terrorist operationsan especially curious claim, since the prevention of such future attacks was how the CIA justified its torture of Zubaydah in the first place. Far from believing that he was if not the number two, very close to the number two person in Al Qaeda, as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had once claimed, the Government has not contended in this proceeding that [Zubaydah] was a member of al-Qaida or otherwise formally identified with al-Qaida.
...
Seven years after the initial filing of Zubaydahs habeas petition, the DC District Court has yet to rule on it. Given the courts average 751-day turnaround time on such petitions, this is an extraordinary length of time. Here, justice delayed is truly justice denied.
...
http://www.thenation.com/article/the-cia-waterboarded-the-wrong-man-83-times-in-1-month/
May 7, 2016
Clinton has 1,705 pledged delegates and Sanders has 1,420 pledged delegates...
2026 are needed for a majority.
April 7, 2016
Interesting article...
Ballistic performance of composite metal foams
Matias Garcia-Avilaa(a), Marc Portanovab(b), Afsaneh Rabieia(a)
(a) Advanced Materials Research Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA
(b) Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), U.S. Army Research, Development & Engineering Center, Fort Eustis, USA
Available online 29 January 2015
Abstract
The application of advance materials to manufacture hard armor systems has led to high performance ballistic protection. Due to its light-weight and high impact energy absorption capabilities, composite metal foams have shown good potential for applications as ballistic armor. A high-performance light-weight composite armor system has been manufactured using boron carbide ceramics as the strike face, composite metal foam processed by powder metallurgy technique as a bullet kinetic energy absorber interlayer, and aluminum 7075 or Kevlar panels as backplates with a total armor thickness less than 25 mm. The ballistic tolerance of this novel composite armor system has been evaluated against the 7.62 × 51 mm M80 and 7.62 × 63 mm M2 armor piercing projectiles according to U.S. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standard 0101.06. The results showed that composite metal foams absorbed approximately 6070% of the total kinetic energy of the projectile effectively and stopped both types of projectiles with less depth of penetration and backplate deformation than that specified in the NIJ 0101.06 standard guidelines. Finite element analysis was performed using Abaqus/Explicit to study the failure mechanisms and energy absorption of the armor system. The results showed close agreement between experimental and analytical results.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822315000434
Matias Garcia-Avilaa(a), Marc Portanovab(b), Afsaneh Rabieia(a)
(a) Advanced Materials Research Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA
(b) Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), U.S. Army Research, Development & Engineering Center, Fort Eustis, USA
Available online 29 January 2015
Abstract
The application of advance materials to manufacture hard armor systems has led to high performance ballistic protection. Due to its light-weight and high impact energy absorption capabilities, composite metal foams have shown good potential for applications as ballistic armor. A high-performance light-weight composite armor system has been manufactured using boron carbide ceramics as the strike face, composite metal foam processed by powder metallurgy technique as a bullet kinetic energy absorber interlayer, and aluminum 7075 or Kevlar panels as backplates with a total armor thickness less than 25 mm. The ballistic tolerance of this novel composite armor system has been evaluated against the 7.62 × 51 mm M80 and 7.62 × 63 mm M2 armor piercing projectiles according to U.S. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standard 0101.06. The results showed that composite metal foams absorbed approximately 6070% of the total kinetic energy of the projectile effectively and stopped both types of projectiles with less depth of penetration and backplate deformation than that specified in the NIJ 0101.06 standard guidelines. Finite element analysis was performed using Abaqus/Explicit to study the failure mechanisms and energy absorption of the armor system. The results showed close agreement between experimental and analytical results.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822315000434
April 2, 2016
@11:04 - "Ok. If you see the person, David Hall, tell him he's not leaving jail either. Alright?"
That is a classic line.
[]
March 28, 2016
The 13th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq was just last Sunday....
I am surprised that so little was said on DU regarding this topic. Maybe I just missed the threads.
Sen. Hill. Clinton: "I am the Senator from New York. I will never put my people's security at risk."
At 14:23 in the video:
The 13th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq was just last Sunday....
I am surprised that so little was said on DU regarding this topic. Maybe I just missed the threads.
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