Floridians, the Ruski's are coming

[gran398]

Another example of shining foreign policy

http://news.msn.com/world/russia-plunge ... xploration

[GoneFission]

Another example of shining foreign policy

http://news.msn.com/world/russia-plunge ... xploration

??, ?????????? ??? ??? ????????!

[wingtime]

?? ?? ??????

[gran398]

Wish Ronnie was still with us. He'd show 'em a thing or two....real quick.

Commies in "security" vessels 40 miles offshore?

Time to bone up.

[seabob4]

Cuba, and it's "policies", are nothing new.  Throughout Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, Bush, Clinton...Cuba has always been there.  But none of those guys wanted to deal with them.  And now Russia steps in to make a buck, and we have a problem with that???  Capitalists have a problem with that?

Now, about the environment.  I worked in aerospace for quite some time (14 years) as some of you may know.  See this bad boy here?



Apache AH-64 Attack Helo.  Very feared piece of military hardware.  See the nosepiece on her?  That's the TADS/PNVS system that not only enables total night vision flying, but also is the fire control for the Hellfire missiles that reside in those pods under her short stubby wings.  Well, I built hundreds of the airframes that house the TADS system (we called them mooses).  They are cast aluminum.  Now castings are made in foundries.  Foundries are very heavy polluters, and many, many shut down because they couldn't meet US air quality standards (I know, one of my uncles used to run one).  So where did we go to get our castings?  Canada, right next door to us!!!  All the cast parts in not only the TADS system and the Hellfire rockets but also the Patriot missile came from Canada!!  Their pollution standards were much lower than ours, so the parts could be cast at a reasonable cost.  Do any of you think the pollution put out by those Canadian foundries some how comes to a dead halt when it hit the Canadian/US border?  And this is US military hardware!!!

So let's not talk about what some other country might be doing in areas very close to us, when we ourselves have been doing it right on our very own borders, for many, many years.  And Scotty?  If Ronnie were really a man, he would have taken care of business when he was in office...

[seabob4]

A little better view...



You can more clearly see her Hellfire's stacked 2 on top of 2 under the stubbies...

[Capt. Bob]

So let's not talk about what some other country might be doing in areas very close to us, when we ourselves have been doing it right on our very own borders, for many, many years.

Well, well SB.
Something entirely removed from the boating industry that we agree on. 8)


I think I felt the Earth move.

[seabob4]

Nah, Bob, you just farted...  

[seabob4]

A "tar sands" oil refinery in Alberta/Manatoba/Saskatchewan...



God knows what's going into the water and the air that drifts/flows right down across our border, and we all know that the majority of rivers in the northern hemisphere flow N to S (our very own St. Johns is one of the exceptions).

So who's the real culprit?  Me thinks we ought to look a little closer to home than Russia and Cuba...

[bondobill]

Well Bob.....If I had to  choose between Russia or Canada for a Allie... I would take Canada...at least for the time being they aint got nukes
My concern is.... as Socialist as my "Left Coast" is, we will probably welcome the Russians with open arms :(

http://freebeacon.com/national-security ... nia-coast/

[seabob4]

Oh Lord, Bill, the rooskie's have been doing this stuff forever...

Personally, I would have loved if the old Soviet Union stayed our "enemy".  That's what kept the defense contracting business thriving.  When the Soviet Union went belly up, employment at our plant (Lockheed-Martin in Orlando) went from a high of around 12,500 down to 3500 a few short years later.  Not to mention the closing of dozens of plants (particularly the northeast) as the big contractors gobbled up the smaller ones (to get some business under existing contracts) and moved the newly bought production to their own existing facilities.  2 of our biggest acquisitions were General Dynamics's rocket division and a big chunk of GE's Aerospace division.  The number of plants closed in New York state, the Boston area, and the rest of New England was astounding as the production of those 2 companies was shifted to our facilities.  Even though it meant more work for us (at least for a while), one just had to feel for those people that lost their jobs...

As for our Canadian friends, I have very close and personal experiences with the Canadian army, as I did 1 month of TDY at CFB Montreal helping the units install and interface a system we built for them, CF-LLADS (Canadian Forces-Low Level Air Defense System, love the military acronyms!!).  A great bunch of guys from all over Canada, although staying in Montreal, it was like America during the day, France at night!  So it's not like I'm siding with anyone in this matter.

The biggest fear in regards to oil exploration and subsequent drilling in the straits of Florida between the US and Cuba is the possibility of spills/leaks/blow outs and whether the drilling practices of the Russian oil companies are up to snuff in comparison to our methods used in the gulf (somewhat suspect there... ) and the methods used in the North Sea.  Obviously, being basically in the middle of the Gulf Stream, the implications of a spill are VERY concerning to not only Floridians, but to seafood providers all the way up to the Grand Banks.  

The Mexicans have been drilling offshore for quite some time now with pretty good success (yes, they have had their issues), I would think the Russians have a bit better technology than our south of the border neighbors...

[gran398]

First off, it is heartwarming to see the Bobs' bromance rekindled!

Bob, as the article states, the likelihood of finding petroleum there in economically recoverable quantities is slim. 700 million dollars has already been spent to no avail.

Putin the former KGB chief has plenty of oil. He's licking his chops to establish a permanent naval presence on our shores under the pretext of exploration. Just as the Japanese whaling industry, it's "research".

He has been emboldened by easy success in Crimea and Ukraine. And Russian bombers are testing California airspace on a near-daily basis. I agree with Prince Charlie...he's a chest-thumping Hitler.

And Ronnie? Voted the most popular president in the last 50 years. I don't know which to love more....Ronnie, John Wayne, or Apple Pie

[seabob4]

Scotty, yeah, sometimes Bob and I do agree on some things...rarely, but not unheard of...

As far as the Russians go (and Putin), those here "in-the-know" military-wise know that we (the US) can absolutely CRUSH any one, any time, any where, and do it quickly, with little or no loss of American lives.  However, it's just not PC to either 1) talk about the capability, or 2) display the capability.  But in reality, if we WANTED to, we could obliterate the entire Russian naval fleet in a couple days.  Yes, our military is that powerful, trust me on that one...

As far as Ronnie's popularity, I wonder how the Air Traffic Controllers, both past and present, voted in that poll?

[gran398]

You gotta several good points there SB

[wingtime]

I miss Ronnie.  At least he was a patriot and a man of honor and integrity.  Remember all those prisoners Iran had when Mr Peanut was in office?  Remember what happened the day Ronnie was sworn in?  They let them go!  I'm downright ashamed of the well wimp (putting it nicely) we have in office now.