Posts Tagged ‘United States’
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Not too often you see regular military fighter jets above San Francisco these days, you know, just flying around on some mission as opposed to performing an airshow. Last time for me seeing something like that was when a pair of U.S. Air Force F-15’s roared low and fast over the Western Addition about a half-decade ago.
Here’s the view from Haight Ashbury yesterday, through the Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees. Don’t bother looking at the misfocused photo ’cause you probably won’t be able to see them, but KPIX / CBS5 has some footage from Oakland International Airport yesterday. There they are lined up next to the King Airs and whatnot at OAK.
Speaking of airshows, remember this alarmist headline from a few years back: “Blue Angel Kills Thousands in SF crash”
Of course, no spectator has died at an airshow in San Francisco ever, I don’t think. And actually, no airshow accident has killed or injured a spectator in America in the past half-century or so that writer Tim Redmond has been alive. (Let’s not talk about Russia or Ukraine – spectators die all the time in those places.)
And of course, a crash like that one in San Diego wouldn’t kill anybody in San Francisco because the Blue Angels would react differently to a sudden loss of power. And if there were a crash for other reasons, it would be simply unpossible for that to kill “thousands.”
Anyway, if you ever want to say that you don’t like the Blue Angels, it’ll be up to you to just say that you don’t like the Blue Angels or, instead, to make a blog post going, “Blue Angel Kills Thousands in SF crash.”
Your choice.
Anyway again, this “Military Aircraft operation” might have brought a nuclear aircraft carrier to the waters of the Farallones, who knows.
Look to the skies! They are ever changing.
Suit and tie comes up to me
His face red
Like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colours of a royal flush
And he’s peeling off those dollars bills
Slapping them down, one hundred, two hundred,
And I can see those fighter planes
And I can see the fighter planes
Across the mud huts as the children sleep
Through the alleys of a quiet city street
Up the staircase to the first floor
We turn the key and slowly unlock the door
A man breathes deep into saxophone
Through the walls we hear the city groan
Outside is America
Outside is America
Tags: 1000's, 18, ab, accident, air show, aircraft, airplane, airport, arishow, attack, Bay, bay guardian, Blue Angel, Blue Angel.Blue Angels, blue angels, carrier, cd, crash, cvn, f-18, f/a, f18, fa-18, fighter, guardian, haight Ashbury, hornet, international, KPIX, military, newspaper, nuclear, oak, Oakland, pilot, San Francisco, SFO, super hornet, thousands, tim redmond, TV, u.s. navy, United States, usmc. marines
Posted in aircraft, military | 3 Comments »
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Remember back in the day, back when Bay Areans could espy the straight-outta-Redwood-City $200-million Sea Shadow stealth ship bobbing about in San Francisco Bay? Check this video from down Fun Diego way over at Telstar Logistics to see this baby in action.
Say it aloud: Super-Secret Sea Shadow Stealth Ship, Super-Secret Sea Shadow Stealth Ship, Super-Secret Sea Shadow Stealth Ship! This project was so secret that it didn’t make the Bay Area newspapers, excepting for 1999 when this boat was identified as an airplane three times by the San Francisco Examiner.*
This is what she looked like, coming out in the daytime when she was no longer so very supr sekrt:
Guess what, the U.S. Navy wants to give her away for free! The problem is that there are no takers as of yet, so the ex Sea Shadow just sits around in the mothballed Ghost Fleet of the East Bay. Check out these recent photos from Amy Heiden. Pretty boss, huh?
Now the first time the Navy tried to give away this historic boat, in 2006, they had all sorts of rules. Then they tried again in 2009 with more flexible rules. But the problem is that you can’t just take the Shadow, you also have to take the Hughes Mining Barge (HMB-1), a floating drydock boat that was developed as part of Project Jennifer. (That was the semi-successful, top-secret effort mounted by the Central Intelligence Agency to salvage the remains of the Soviet submarine K-129 from the ocean floor.)
Here’s a shot of them together, ignore the two conventional warships in the background:
But wait, there’s more. Here’s how the Sea Shadow is laid out on the inside:
The bridge of Grant Imahara’s future evil lair. (Boy, talk about a glass cockpit, huh?)
And here’s how she looks from the outside:
You want. Why don’t you start up a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and take these things off of the Navy’s hands? Otherwise an important piece of Bay Area military history (and film history what with it inspiring the bad guys’ floating lair in Tomorrow Never Dies) is a gonna get scrapped.
Here’s what came next, after the Shadow got mothballed – it’s the all-aluminum Sea Fighter, as seen back in 2006:
via Telstar Logistics
The point being is that the aging Sea Shadow is the ur-ship, the JetFire of the stealth boat world. Won’t you save her?
O.K., first things first. Check out the owner’s manuals and start writing your business plan. (And, oh yes, while you’re at it, scrape up some cash. Lots and lots and lots o’ cash.)
Happy sailing!
The Navy’s announcement, after the jump.
*From 1999: “The combined Navy-Marine exercise included overflights of the Bay Area by the Sea Shadow, the Navy equivalent of the stealth bomber.” No, this thing can’t fly, it just floats. Veteran SF Chronicle writer Henry K. Lee got that right but others did not. Nevertheless, SFGate.com, San Francisco’s online newspaper, remains an invaluable resource.
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Tags: (HMB-1, 007, adopt, Amy Heiden, Bay, bay area, Central Intelligence Agency, chronicle, Contra Costa, county, donate, east bay, ex, ex sea shadow, Examiner, fighter, fleet, fsf-1, g row, ghost, Golden Gate Bridge, Henry K. Lee, Hughes Mining Barge, ix-529, james bond, Lockheed, marines, mothball, National Defense Reserve Fleet, navy, newspaper, Project Jennifer, radar, redwood city, San Francisco, san francisoc's online newspaper, san francsico, Sea Fighter, sea shadow, secret, ship, stealth, suisun, susuin, Tomorrow Never Dies, u.s. navy, United States
Posted in bay area, vessels | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
Does that headline make enough sense? It means that if you are a member of the military (yes, including even the touchy touchy Coast Guard), or a firefighter, or a peace officer, or a teacher, then you can get into San Francisco’s awesome California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park for free over the next month-and-a half:
“From February 1 through March 15, 2010, the Academy will offer free admission to military personnel, firefighters, police officers, and teachers, in honor of their service to our communities and country. To participate, individuals must show proof of occupation and a valid ID at the ticket window. This discount applies to one individual admission only and cannot be combined with other offers.”
Just think, your camera could soon be recording the most-photographed fish in the world:
This temporary program will save you $24.99.
See you there, hero.
Tags: 1, 15, 15th, 1st, 2010, admission, air force, airman, airmen, army, cal academy, calacademy, California Academy of Sciences, Coast Guard, college, educators, elementary, fabruary, feb, fighter, fire, free, get in free, golden gate park, hero, heroes, High, instructors, junior, man, mar, march, Marine, marines, member, military, navy, officer, peace, police, professors, sailor, salute, San Francisco, school, servicemember, SFPD, soldier, teacher's, tickets, U.S., United States, university, wOMAN
Posted in museums | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
The final game of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup filled the Rose Bowl to capacity – so much so, it still ranks as the most-watched women’s sporting event in human history. But, upon further review, the “victory” recorded by Team USA needs to have an asterix next to it. Why’s that?
Well, YouTube, in Its Wisdom, just referred me to this video from ABC that somebody uploaded a few years back – check out 2:15 when Team China lost the match because the American goalkeeper launched herself yards past the goal line before the ball was touched during the penalty-kick tiebreaker.
Should the American goalie have been penalized? Of course. Was she? No. There’s your asterix right there.
Leaving aside the issue of handing out asterixeses to 16-year-old gymnasts who weren’t yet 16-years-old, all we can do is look forward next month’s Vancouver Olympics. That’s where a ridiculous new figure skating scoring system (which itself is a knee-jerk reaction to the scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City) promises a fresh new flurry of asterixii.
Oh well.
Anyway, due to unquestionable YouTube evidence, and on behalf of America, sorry about 1999.
Better late than never…
Tags: 1999, America, apology, asterix, Brandi Chastain, Briana Scurry, cheating, China, chinese, fifa, football, goalie, Mia Hamm, rose bowl, rules, soccer, sports, team, United States, usa, women's, world cup
Posted in sports | No Comments »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Well there’s a whole lot I don’t know about this incident involving a purported cocaine smuggler killed on January 19th, 2010 somewhere in the “Eastern Pacific Ocean.” But, apparently, this smuggler and his boat weren’t too far away from Guatemala City because that’s where he ended up dying after the Coast Guard shot at his engine with a massive rifle mounted on a helicopter.
Feel free to read the account below – it was just released from the 11th District HQ in Alameda, They’re looking into the theory that the purported smuggler died due to “engine fragment or shrapnel injuries.”
Did this shooting get any coverage in Guatemala? No se. Did this shooting get much coverage in any English language publication? Not that I can see. Do the Coasties have video of all this? Oh yes, I’m sure. Does the Coast Guard even know this guy’s name? Maybe not, they haven’t released it, anyway.
Here’s your 21st century Coast Guard – a machine gun for warning shots…
…and when you ignore that, a massive rifle to take out your engine block, presumably a Barrett M82 .50 cal.
I don’t have a photo of one of those helicopter-mounted rifles, but how would you like .50 caliber rifle bullets like these sailing by your head from a chopper one at time?
Click to see the ammo - it’s the most powerful commonly available cartridge not considered a destructive device under the National Firearms Act. So don’t be surprised when the unarmored engine block of your “go-fast” boat blows up after you pretend not to hear all the warnings you’ve just been given:
Last year, the Alameda-based “maritime security cutter” USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750), which is like a destroyer, basically, bigger and badder than anything else the Coast Guard has ever had in warm waters, was on a maritime security mission in the same area. So I suppose this is how the smallest branch of the military is spending part of its time these days, just hanging out near Central America looking for drug boats and submarines. It’s like Miami Vice, West Coast or something.
And that’s it.
Maybe the Coasties will issue a more-detailed report sometime.
Read all about it, after the jump
(more…)
Tags: 11th, 50, 750, Alameda, amercia, barrett, Bertholf, boat, caliber, california, central, chopper, City, Coast Guard, cocaine, colombia, dead, district, dolphin, drugs, guatemala, helicopter, killed, m82, machine gun, maritime security cutter, ocean, pacific, rifle, ship, smuggler, south, United States, USCGC, WMSL
Posted in vessels | 2 Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
This is it – years of competition betwixt the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the SF Weekly will culminate at a free-for-all tomorrow morning in the Thunderdome that is the recording studio of KQED-FM.
KQED Forum host Michael Krasney will play the role of Aunty Entity (seeing as how Tina Turner is unavailable). Expect the bout to begin at 9:00 AM, Friday, January 8th, 2010 on 88.5 FM and online.
It’s on - Friday, Friday, Friday!
Two Alt-Weeklies Enter, One Alt-Weekly Leaves
UPDATE: On It Goes…
Tags: +3, 2010, 885.fm, 8th, alt weekly, Aunty Entity, bay area, bay guardian, benjamin, Benjamin Wachs, beyond, big, blog, City, debate, editor, Eskenazi, fm, forum, gavin newsom, iii, january, Joe, Joe Eskenazi, kqed, kqed-fm, krasney, mad max, Mayor, Michael, Michael Krasney, mike, newspaper, One Alt-Weekly Leaves, one man enter, one man leaves, politics, radio, redmond, San Francisco, sf weekly, sfbg, snitch, thunderdome, tim redmond, Tina Turner, Two Alt-Weeklies Enter, United States, Wachs, weekly, worst-run, wrter
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, January 4th, 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, I need not remind you that we’re in the throes of the Great Recession of 2008-20xx, but check it - the U.S. Census is hiring right now in the 415.
Now some poor melon farmers up in Oregon are going to be getting just $12 per hour. But you, you magnificent creature, you know The City like the back of your hand so you’re going to be getting 22 bones/hr. from Uncle Sucker starting in a few months, for a few months. What’s that? You don’t want to be knocking on doors pestering people? Well, the Feds are also looking for clerical workers, you know indoor work as opposed to “field work.” It’s totally wide open.
What’s that, you’re not a citizen? Well, that’s not going to help you, but it’s not a deal-breaker neither.
Here’s what you do, you call up (415) 680-2020 and tell them your name, phone number and zip code. They’ll then tell you where to go for the next test, like tomorrow, Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 7:00PM.
The test is easy-peasy. Check it.
So, view the gritty nitty and start dialing – your temporary appointment with the Feds is about to begin!
Meet your new boss, Robert M. Groves, seated betwixt Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and City Attorney Dennis Herrera at a meeting last year.
How will you spend all the money you’re going to earn?
Tags: (415), 22, census, federal, jobs, per hour, San Francisco, temporary, U.S., United States
Posted in employment | No Comments »
Monday, January 4th, 2010
Can you envision the Feds thinking about the best way to get word out about the 2010 Census – can’t you just see them all coming up with the same meme at the same time:
“OMG, OMG, Bus Tour!”*
That was the plan for early this morning, having the Great Census Bus, a prime mover of the Portrait of America Regional Census Road Tour, roll across the Golden Gate Bridge at 4:00AM and then meander to Civic Center by noon for speeches and a “Census Fair” under the dome of City Hall. Bonus: “surprise celebrity guests” will be on the scene.
O.K. fine.
Now here’s the Good the Bad and the Ugly of your 2010 Census.
The Good: Everybody will get the same ten questions this go around – the “long form” is gone. Why? Cause the Govmint randomly asking 17% of respondents how many bathrooms they have, well that pissed people off and that hurt the compliance rate. (My grandmother, for one, was hopping mad about being compelled to complete her long form ten years back. Pourquoi moi? Pourquoi moi? Je ne sais pas pourquoi. Pourquoi pas, Grand-Mère?)
The Bad: You can’t use the Internet to fulfill your obligation. Oddly enough, they let you go online in 2000, but they won’t for 2010. Pourquoi? Encore, pourquoi pas? The World Wide Web might make things easier on you, but the Feds don’t want to deal with iPhoned-up poindexters such as yourself.
The Ugly: The information you give could be used to round you up when some government agency feels like it. That’s unlikely to be a big concern for you for a bunch of reasons, but the Census Bureau has a bad record of fessing up about the times they messed up in the past. Hey, let’s review right now.
Here’s 2020 Van Ness back in the day, back in 1942 when census data was used to round up Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans (ask about our “just one drop of Japanese blood” policy!) living in the area.
Your Census Bureau at Work. Next stop: a horse stable or an “alien reception facility” in the high desert about 11 hours from here. (OMG, OMG, Bus Tour!)
The same place today, for comparison:
Now, the Boys at the Census had a defense for their failures during WWII (detailed here, from about 20 years ago), but it turns out they were lying about that. Scientific American has the deets.
I guess I wasn’t too impressed with this dog and pony show from last year. Actually, that meeting had to do with sending out letters informing people about the census in languages other than English, which is fine, as the Feds eventually decided, but IMO the Bureau should be upfront about their issues with privacy.
Just saying.
Anyway, a census requirement is burned into the Constitution, so brace yourselves for March 2010, when the forms go out.
(And thank Gaia you’re not a census worker doing Caucasian Outreach in some place like western Montana. Based upon my short stop at a Chevron near the Idaho Panhandle back in the aughts, well, representing the Feds could be a very challenging gig, is all I can say.)
“On behalf of the San Francisco’s office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs and the Complete Count Committee, I would like to invite our community to attend the SF 2010 Census Kickoff Rally and Information Fair on Monday January 4th from 12 noon to 2:00 PM at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco.
Program highlights are drum jam opening performance by local performers on City Hall steps, remarks by the Mayor and members of the Board of Supervisors and some surprise celebrity guests.
The importance of this rally is to start the United States 2010 Census. This count happens every ten years and it is important for our community to be counted accurately so it can obtain proper allocation of the federal, state and local resources.
On Monday January 4th, the Portrait of America Road Tour bus will start at 4:00 AM at Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, filmed by national media, and drive through San Francisco neighborhoods, arriving at City Hall at Noon for the rally. The Road Tour will continue its travel across America to collect images and stories from thousands of people across the country, explaining why the census will make a difference to their community.”
*Or vehicle tour, we’ll see when it gets here – somebody from Census 2010 told me they were going to use buses, but that was a while back…
Tags: 1, 2010, april, census, City Hall, data, FBI, federal bureau of investigation, gavin newsom, Golden Gate Bridge, interment, Japanese, kickoff, outreach, Portrait of America, Portrait of America Road Tour, privacy, road, San Francisco, supervisors, tour, United States
Posted in government | No Comments »
Friday, November 13th, 2009
These flags have been like this for months now, so feel free to draw your own conclusions about what the San Francisco Housing Authority thinks about California and America.
But I guess the SFHA has other things to worry about these days.
Click to expand:
Tags: America, california, flag, Housing Authority, mcallister, San Francisco, San Francisco Housing Authority, SFHA, street, United States
Posted in streets | Comments Off
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
The news of the day from the Associated Press: “Coast Guard scoops up oil in San Francisco Bay“
Except that the smallest branch of the United States military doesn’t actually scoop up spilled oil in San Francisco Bay - there’s a whole industry dedicated to doing that. And if you listen to the Coast Guard, they’ll tell you that, ad nauseum. Oh well.
The Coasties are handling this spill better than that one from the Cosco Busan. Hurray! That’s good practice for The Big Oil Spill in our future:
The Pacific Responder and the Ocean Liberty, along with smaller vessels, are out there right now, between San Francisco and the tip of Alameda Island that’s, oddly enough, also part of the City of San Francisco.
Anyway, the USCG don’t scoop up oil.
And keep up the good work, 11th District. Just try to resist the urge to lie to us for no reason, and you’ll do fine.
Carry on…
Tags: "Coast Guard Scoops, 9, anchorage, ap, associated press, Bay, bay area, cleanup, Coast Guard, Coast Guard Scoops Up Oil in San Francisco Bay, district 11, Dubai Star, error, flagged, oil, Panamanian, San Francisco, spill, U.S., United States, up, USCG
Posted in vessels | 1 Comment »
