Russian Stealth Fighter

Well, it appears like Russia has finally developed a Steath fighter jet - something equivalent to the F-22 used by the U.S. Now that this has happened, U.S. policymakers and other assorted bureaucrats are worried that Russia may sell the plane to Venezuela, Iran, Syria, and other unfriendly countries. This topless woman may know the solution to that problem but so do I. Why not develop stealth missiles capable of knocking down stealth fighters?

Solar powered plane

Well, well - someone thought about building a plane powered by sunlight. Solar Impulse is a Swiss company which has just finished its prototype of a plane that will make its maiden voyage in the Spring of 2010. It is built to also fly at night. Figure that one out. Being the very first one, it will be able to carry a single person only - the pilot. It remnds me of the Wright brothers' first test flight. It weighs about 3,500 pounds but its wing span equals that of a big jet plane. I suspect it will glide much of the time. A round-the-world trip is planned for 2012. Now all they have to figure out is how to get it to carry 300 passengers. This topless woman would probably be brave enough to get on it.

Toyota

Did you hear? Toyota posted a profit in its most recent financial quarter of $242 million. It made the news because Toyota has recently been losing money - since about a year ago, in fact. Prior to the Great Recession, Toyota had never, ever had a negative quarter. It was simply expected that it would post a profit year after year after year. That's why this is news. Imagine Walt Disney all of a sudden deciding not to license the sale of Mickey Mouse merchandise. That would be unheard of. However, it probably makes absolutely no difference to this topless woman - she's on vacation in Bermuda.

Goblins and goblets

This blog is about nothing - just like that show - remember? It's the last day of the month and there's little to report. Kids will be out on the street asking for sweets. That much I know. I might work on a new painting but maybe not. I don't have to. Blogger is acting funny. I used to be able to paste stuff on here and now I have to actually write it on the little space provided!! Right here. It is not nearly as efficient. The topless woman at left looks quite pensive. Maybe she has finished all her chores for the month, too. I have to go play now - a concert, that is. Tomorrow is a new month with new beginnings for all. Enjoy. Bye bye.

The end

This is from another story in Yahoo! News: "There is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010," Panarin told dozens of students, professors and diplomats Tuesday at the Diplomatic Academy. Panarin didn't give many specifics on what underlies his analysis, mostly citing newspapers, magazines and other open sources. He also noted he had been predicting the demise of the world's wealthiest country for more than a decade now. But he said the recent economic turmoil in the U.S. and other "social and cultural phenomena" led him to nail down a specific timeframe for "The End" — when the United States will break up into six autonomous regions and Alaska will revert to Russian control. Panarin argued that Americans are in moral decline, saying their great psychological stress is evident from school shootings, the size of the prison population and the number of gay men. Turning to economic woes, he cited the slide in major stock indexes, the decline in U.S. gross domestic product and Washington's bailout of banking giant Citigroup as evidence that American dominance of global markets has collapsed. "I was there recently and things are far from good," he said. "What's happened is the collapse of the American dream." Panarin insisted he didn't wish for a U.S. collapse, but he predicted Russia and China would emerge from the economic turmoil stronger and said the two nations should work together, even to create a new currency to replace the U.S. dollar.” What to do??? Who is Panarin anyway???

Unemployment

Someone once said that when prices go up, inflation results. Yes, thanks for telling me. Now, we see jobs being cut and job losses mounting ever higher so unemployment is rising. Hmmm - what to do? The trouble with unemployment is that it produces nothing. It's like sitting in front of a TV - it produces absolutely nothing. Now, don't get me wrong, being unemployed is not all bad - people still get something while unemployed, namely, unemployment benefits. If people had savings to fall back on, there would be no crisis - savings plus benefits would be the same as having a salaried job, although without insurance benefits. However, receiving unemployment compensation while producing nothing is just not logical. It helps nobody. Only the government would do something like that.

When pigs fly

It has been said that if man had been meant to fly, God would have given him wings. It is true, of course. I have never seen a man fly. That doesn't mean that he can't travel inside an airplane, where it's nice and cozy. That's not what one would call real flying, though. Even if you skydive, that's not flying either. That's falling through the sky.

Spanish pride

This is a lovely photo of a Spanish market. I borrowed it from a photo site. I hope they don't see it here and then sue me for using it. I asked permission but they never responded. What should I have done? If we ever meet and they make demands, I'll have to take it down. Oh well. Just try to identify some of the goods for sale here. It's impossible. I remember my dad used to take me to the market in Juarez almost every weekend. There was incredible variety and everyone tried to sell you something. He would almost always have a shrimp cocktail and I would get a lemonade made from green limes.

Aeroflot Flight 821

By now, you've heard of the crash of Aeroflot Flight 821 in Perm, Russia. The story I read said the plane didn't hit any homes when it crashed. We don't know exactly who was on board. Some years ago, a famous conductor was flying to Dallas from Mexico City in a small private plane. He was flying the plane himself. The plane developed some technical difficulty along the way and it crashed in some secluded area far from anything. He was traveling with his girlfriend. I suspected foul play. I suspect foul play here too. Who really knows why planes suddenly develop engine trouble just after they have been thoroughly checked? The scenario makes no sense. Of course, I could be way off in my suspicions too. Russian and Eastern European planes have a pretty bad safety record. Fly American Airlines, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, or Southwest Airlines next time.