The Off Topic Topic

[Malthus]

I've been quite ill myself! Yesterday I was vomiting and defecating involuntarily- which in practice meant outside of a toilet, and wearing clothing.

Fortunately, I recently found a pure maiden willing to look after my needs while being tutored in Southern culture, and she dutifully dabbed my buttocks, swabbing away feces and seeing to it my ill health was endured in the best possible conditions.

How romantic.

It's a good thing she's being tutored in Southern culture, and not Germanic culture. 

[Ed Anger]

I've been quite ill myself! Yesterday I was vomiting and defecating involuntarily- which in practice meant outside of a toilet, and wearing clothing.

Fortunately, I recently found a pure maiden willing to look after my needs while being tutored in Southern culture, and she dutifully dabbed my buttocks, swabbing away feces and seeing to it my ill health was endured in the best possible conditions.

How romantic.

Reminded me of a time when an unpure Hoosier wiped my ass for 9 months. Luxury.

[Valmy]

France

The French are too cool for school.

Oh and 18% of Great Britain is going to be visited by three spirits.

[Ed Anger]

Their morale is in the shitter right now.

[Valmy]

Their morale is in the shitter right now.

Electing Hollande will do that.  I figured it was probably related to their shitty political/economic situation.

[alfred russel]

I've been quite ill myself! Yesterday I was vomiting and defecating involuntarily- which in practice meant outside of a toilet, and wearing clothing.

Fortunately, I recently found a pure maiden willing to look after my needs while being tutored in Southern culture, and she dutifully dabbed my buttocks, swabbing away feces and seeing to it my ill health was endured in the best possible conditions.

Lettow, this girl is a keeper.

[CountDeMoney]

Their morale is in the shitter right now.

Electing Hollande will do that.  I figured it was probably related to their shitty political/economic situation.

Niggas, puhleeze.  The French have been down on Christmas since Guy de Maupassant.

[Valmy]

Their morale is in the shitter right now.

Electing Hollande will do that.  I figured it was probably related to their shitty political/economic situation.

Niggas, puhleeze.  The French have been down on Christmas since Guy de Maupassant.

Generally the French have never let something like 19th century literature get in the way of a Holiday.

[Syt]

Paging CdM, Ide et al.

http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/12/hong-kongs-troubling-shortage-of-men/281942/

Hong Kong's Troubling Shortage of Men

Due to a growing gender imbalance, the territory's women have undergone drastic measures—from love coaches to liposuction—to meet a suitable partner

China's just-loosened one-child policy has warped the country's gender ratio over the past 34 years to the extent that by 2020 there may be almost 24 million men unable to find a partner. But in the special administrative region of Hong Kong, a jurisdiction not subject to the mainland's laws, the landscape is startlingly different. The territory's 2011 census revealed that there were 209,000 women living alone, a figure that is rapidly rising. It's believed that one in five Hong Kong women born today will remain single for the rest of their lives.

Phoebe, 24 and a newly qualified lawyer, is already feeling pressure to find a life partner in the next couple of years.

"Most of my single girl friends are all panicking about finding their other half now because men have a tendency to favor younger girls," she explains. "Asian men seem to be attracted to girls around 25 rather than girls over 30, so if we don't find the right man soon, our chances of meeting a future partner will get slimmer."

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, I read that this morning, Syt.

Sorry, but even the most ridiculously desperate professional careerist in Hong Kong is going to go for George Costanza. 

[Syt]

Don't knock it. mono can play matchmaker. In twenty years it'll be the stuff for a hit comedy movie.

[Valmy]

Phoebe, 24 and a newly qualified lawyer, is already feeling pressure to find a life partner in the next couple of years.

"Most of my single girl friends are all panicking about finding their other half now because men have a tendency to favor younger girls," she explains. "Asian men seem to be attracted to girls around 25 rather than girls over 30, so if we don't find the right man soon, our chances of meeting a future partner will get slimmer."

Ok first of all: Phoebe?  Not Xi Xia Xia or whatever?

Secondly what is she complaining about?  She is 24.  She has a whole two years left.

[CountDeMoney]

And what's with the "double eyelid" surgical bullshit all about?  What kind of freak show Tiger Penis Soup nonsense is that?

Kittykat eyes is kittykat eyes.  Leave 'em alone, I say.  *harumph*

[CountDeMoney]

The Warthog lives on a bit longer. 

Northrop Grumman awarded A-10 support contract
Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

Northrop Grumman was recently awarded two work orders worth nearly USD24 million to help sustain the US Air Force's (USAF's) fleet of Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support (CAS) aircraft.

The contracts were awarded in mid-November as part of the A-10 Thunderbolt Life Cycle Program Support (TLPS) programme. Under TLPS, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, can compete for A-10 work orders, the first three of which were awarded to Lockheed Martin in late 2009.

Under the terms of the first, Northrop Grumman and its teammates will support the A-10 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP) Modernisation Program on tasks required to keep the aircraft viable through to 2028 and beyond. This contract spans four years.

The second work order covers the ASIP Legacy V effort, and will see the company undertake damage tolerance analysis, materials testing, probabilistic and risk analysis, and stress and thermal analysis. This contract lasts for two years.
ANALYSIS

News that Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract to maintain the A-10 out to beyond 2028 will be welcomed by many, US lawmakers among them, who feared that the USAF was looking to scrap the its fleet of approximately 355 A-10A/C aircraft.

In the current fiscal climate, the USAF had indicated that it wanted to divest itself of the single-purpose A-10 entirely, and to pass its CAS role onto the other multirole platforms, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

While the F-35A will undoubtedly prove to be a highly capable air-to-ground attack aircraft, it lacks the payload (both in terms of variety and number of weapons carried), time on station, low-level accuracy, and even the psychological effect of the highly lethal and feared A-10. In particular, it will lack the A-10's iconic GAU-8 Avenger 30 mm Gatling-gun, and while the F-35A will have an internal 25 mm Gatling-gun, it will only carry 250 rounds compared to the 1,700 carried by the A-10.

In light of this, US senators have been pressing the USAF to reconsider its position regarding the early retirement of the A-10. However, what the Northrop Grumman TLPS contract and the ongoing Boeing-led wing replacement programme show is that despite soundings to the contrary coming from elements within the USAF hierarchy, the service as a whole does see a continued role for the A-10 post-Afghanistan.

The A-10 was originally designed for the battlefields of Europe, where its purpose was to destroy Soviet armour. The USAF's original plans to scrap the aircraft at the end of the Cold War have repeatedly been thwarted by unforeseen conflicts (the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq), where the A-10 has consistently proven itself to be the platform of choice for those engaged in the fighting.

[lustindarkness]

The Warthog lives on a bit longer. 

Northrop Grumman awarded A-10 support contract
Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

Northrop Grumman was recently awarded two work orders worth nearly USD24 million to help sustain the US Air Force's (USAF's) fleet of Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support (CAS) aircraft.

The contracts were awarded in mid-November as part of the A-10 Thunderbolt Life Cycle Program Support (TLPS) programme. Under TLPS, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, can compete for A-10 work orders, the first three of which were awarded to Lockheed Martin in late 2009.

Under the terms of the first, Northrop Grumman and its teammates will support the A-10 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP) Modernisation Program on tasks required to keep the aircraft viable through to 2028 and beyond. This contract spans four years.

The second work order covers the ASIP Legacy V effort, and will see the company undertake damage tolerance analysis, materials testing, probabilistic and risk analysis, and stress and thermal analysis. This contract lasts for two years.
ANALYSIS

News that Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract to maintain the A-10 out to beyond 2028 will be welcomed by many, US lawmakers among them, who feared that the USAF was looking to scrap the its fleet of approximately 355 A-10A/C aircraft.

In the current fiscal climate, the USAF had indicated that it wanted to divest itself of the single-purpose A-10 entirely, and to pass its CAS role onto the other multirole platforms, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

While the F-35A will undoubtedly prove to be a highly capable air-to-ground attack aircraft, it lacks the payload (both in terms of variety and number of weapons carried), time on station, low-level accuracy, and even the psychological effect of the highly lethal and feared A-10. In particular, it will lack the A-10's iconic GAU-8 Avenger 30 mm Gatling-gun, and while the F-35A will have an internal 25 mm Gatling-gun, it will only carry 250 rounds compared to the 1,700 carried by the A-10.

In light of this, US senators have been pressing the USAF to reconsider its position regarding the early retirement of the A-10. However, what the Northrop Grumman TLPS contract and the ongoing Boeing-led wing replacement programme show is that despite soundings to the contrary coming from elements within the USAF hierarchy, the service as a whole does see a continued role for the A-10 post-Afghanistan.

The A-10 was originally designed for the battlefields of Europe, where its purpose was to destroy Soviet armour. The USAF's original plans to scrap the aircraft at the end of the Cold War have repeatedly been thwarted by unforeseen conflicts (the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq), where the A-10 has consistently proven itself to be the platform of choice for those engaged in the fighting.