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‘Agility’ is the ability of the F-22 pilot to point and shoot with his
aircraft, pirouetting, and facing the enemy with his weapons at all
speeds. The F-22 pilot can maintain control of the aircraft at speeds as
low as that of a Piper Cub or at very high supersonic speeds. Because of
the F-22’s sophisticated aero-design and high thrust-to-weight ratio, it
can easily outmaneuver all current and projected threat aircraft, both
at medium and high altitudes.

The F/AA-22
Raptor. Coming in 2005 to
an air campaign near you. The descriptions of the technology are exquisite,
including the stealth section, because of phrases like “the pilot’s head,
complete with helmet, is a major source of radar return”
and paragraphs like the following:

On board antennas and radar systems are a major potential source of high
radar visibility for two reasons. One is that it is obviously difficult to
hide something that is designed to transmit with very high efficiency, so the
so called in band radar cross section is liable to be significant. The other
is that even if this problem is solved satisfactorily, the energy emitted by
these systems can normally be readily detected. The work being done to reduce
these signatures cannot be described here.

“He was only a grad student. Still, the paperwork to get a replacement
was hideous.” Praesodymium.
(Yes, this came up in conversation today.)

Wet weather + Bay Area traffic == total disaster. (In the clipped
image from bayinsider.com, red
dots mean slow or stopped traffic, and blue exclamation-mark triangles
mean accidents.)

“In deciding to announce the plan today, the administration is
essentially short-circuiting the debate over whether the systems works,
just as withdrawing from the treaty skirted the question of whether the
United States could legally do so. Putting the system in place would
also allow Mr. Bush to fulfill his campaign pledge to field the
beginnings of antimissile system by the end of his first term.”

OK, if you’re surprised that it
may not be safe to blog about your job, you’re a fool. (You’ll note
that I only post references to published press releases around here.)

By the way, if you’re interested in putting together a short run of an
album, the Internet
can help (courtesy The
Walkingbirds, which I discovered thanks to the Fray‘s Fray Day 5 CD info).

Salon: The
shelf goes ever on and on. “Please, we beg of you, don’t allow
yourself to be tempted into the hideous netherworld of collectible
figurines.” (Codswallop!)