Aegis Combat System The Aegis Combat System is an integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin. It uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets. Initially used by the United States Navy, Aegis is now used also by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Spanish Navy, Royal Norwegian Navy, and Republic of Korea Navy. Etymology[edit] The word "Aegis" is a reference that dates back to Greek mythology, with connotations of a protective shield, as the Aegis was the buckler (shield) of Athena. Overview[edit] The diagram of the Aegis Combat System (Baseline 2-6). The Aegis Combat System (ACS) is an advanced command and control (command and decision, or C&D, in Aegis parlance), and weapon control system (WCS) that uses powerful computers and radars to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets. The computer-based command-and-decision element is the core of the Aegis Combat System.
9 Emails Wall Street Hoped You'd Never See It's 2013, and Wall Street still doesn't seem to understand that emails and privacy typically don't mix well. Last week, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against S&P accusing the ratings agency of knowingly increasing its ratings on the mortgage investments that helped launch the U.S. into the 2008 financial crisis. In numerous internal emails released with the lawsuit, S&P analysts made claims suggesting that they were very aware of how little quality control was valued at S&P. This is far from the first time that Wall Street workers have incriminated themselves with emails they assumed no one other than the recipient would ever see. Here is our roundup of 9 of the most incriminating things traders have allegedly said via email: Loading Slideshow Also on HuffPost:
I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on | Heather Linebaugh Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper program – aka drones – I wish I could ask them a few questions. I'd start with: "How many women and children have you seen incinerated by a Hellfire missile?" And: "How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?" Or even more pointedly: "How many soldiers have you seen die on the side of a road in Afghanistan because our ever-so-accurate UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] were unable to detect an IED [improvised explosive device] that awaited their convoy?" Few of these politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue of what actually goes on. I, on the other hand, have seen these awful sights first hand. I knew the names of some of the young soldiers I saw bleed to death on the side of a road.
Ticonderoga class cruiser History[edit] Shoot down of Iran Air Flight 655[edit] Interception of United States satellite USA-193[edit] Possible early retirement[edit] Due to Budget Control Act of 2011 requirements to cut the Defense Budget for FY2013 and subsequent years, plans are being considered to decommission some of the Ticonderoga-class cruisers.[7] For the U.S. Because of these retirements, the U.S. By October 2012, the U.S. Design[edit] The Ticonderoga-class cruiser's design was based on that of the Spruance-class destroyer.[1] The Ticonderoga–class introduced a new generation of guided missile warships based on the AEGIS phased array radar that is capable of simultaneously scanning for threats, tracking targets, and guiding missiles to interception. Operations research was used to study manpower requirements on the Ticonderoga class. Vertical Launching System[edit] In addition to the added radar capability, the Ticonderoga-class ships subsequently built after the USS Thomas S. Upgrades[edit] See also[edit]
Royal Bank of Scotland Settles Case on Rigging Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesLanny Breuer of the Justice Department’s criminal division said on Wednesday that the investigation of banks was not finished. A campaign to root out financial fraud secured a victory on Wednesday, as authorities took aim at the Royal Bank of Scotland for its role in an interest rate manipulation scheme that has emboldened prosecutors and consumed the banking industry. American and British authorities struck a combined $612 million settlement with the bank, the latest case to emerge from the global investigation into rate-rigging. The Justice Department dealt another blow to the bank, forcing its Japanese unit to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing. The penalty for the subsidiary, a hub of rate manipulation, underscores a recent shift in the way federal authorities punish financial wrongdoing. The R.B.S. case echoed an earlier action taken against a UBS subsidiary, which similarly pleaded guilty to felony wire fraud as part of a larger settlement.
NSA surveillance and third-party trackers: How cookies help government spies. Photo by Lili Warren/AFP/Getty Images Snooping on the Internet is tricky. The network is diffuse, global, and packed with potential targets. There’s no central system for identifying or locating individuals, so it’s hard to keep track of who is online and what they’re up to. What’s a spy agency to do? One option is to plant a unique tag on every computer and smartphone, stamp every Internet message with the sender’s tag, and then capture the tagged traffic. Luckily (for the spies) there’s an easier way: free ride on the private sector, which does its own pervasive tagging and monitoring. That’s precisely what the National Security Agency has been up to, as confirmed most recently by a front-page story in Wednesday’s Washington Post.Other countries’ spy agencies are probably doing the same thing. Companies track users for many reasons, such as to remember a login, to target ads, or to learn how users navigate. Which companies are keeping tabs on you? But technical security is not enough.
HMS Hood (51) HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. Commissioned in 1920, she was named after the 18th-century Admiral Samuel Hood. One of four Admiral-class battlecruisers ordered in mid-1916, Hood had serious design limitations, though her design was drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction. Profile drawing of Hood as she was in 1921, in Atlantic Fleet dark grey Hood's secondary armament was a dozen 50-calibre BL 5.5-inch Mk I guns, each with 200 rounds.[4] They were shipped on shielded single pivot mounts fitted along the upper deck and the forward shelter deck. The original anti-aircraft armament consisted of four QF 4-inch Mk V guns on single mounts. Two quadruple mountings for the 0.5-inch Vickers Mk III machine gun were added in 1933 with two more mountings added in 1937.[17] These mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to a maximum of +70°. Aerial view of Hood in 1924.
New Questions Raised Over a Bank of America Settlement It has been a regular refrain at Bank of America. Last month, Brian T. Moynihan, the bank’s chief executive, told Bloomberg television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that carrying Countrywide was like climbing a mountain with “a 250-pound backpack.” But according to new documents filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan late on Friday, questionable practices by the bank’s loan servicing unit have continued well after the Countrywide acquisition; they paint a picture of a bank that continued to put its own interests ahead of investors as it modified troubled mortgages. The documents were submitted by three , in Boston, Chicago and Indianapolis, and Triaxx, an investment vehicle that bought mortgage securities. The filing raises new questions about whether a judge will approve the settlement. Lawrence Grayson, a spokesman for Bank of America, denied the bank was putting its own interests ahead of investors.
The NSA might know everything but it is not all powerful Given how similar they sound and how easy it is to imagine one leading to the other, confusing omniscience (having total knowledge) with omnipotence (having total power) is easy enough. It’s a reasonable supposition that, before the Snowden revelations hit, America’s spymasters had made just that mistake. If the drip-drip-drip of Snowden’s mother of all leaks — which began in May and clearly won’t stop for months to come — has taught us anything, however, it should be this: omniscience is not omnipotence. At least on the global political scene today, they may bear remarkably little relation to each other. Let’s begin by positing this: There’s never been anything quite like it. It’s visibly changed attitudes around the world toward the U.S. — strikingly for the worse, even if this hasn’t fully sunk in here yet. So where to start, almost half a year into an unfolding crisis of surveillance that shows no signs of ending? Omniscience Omnipotence A First-Place Line-Up and a Last-Place Finish
Blue-water navy A blue-water navy is a maritime force capable of operating across the deep waters of open oceans.[1] A term used in the United Kingdom to describe such a force is a navy possessing maritime expeditionary capabilities.[2] While definitions of what actually constitutes such a force vary, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise sea control at wide ranges. The Defense Security Service of the United States has defined the blue-water navy as, "a maritime force capable of sustained operation across the deep waters of open oceans. A blue-water navy allows a country to project power far from the home country and usually includes one or more aircraft carriers. Smaller blue-water navies are able to dispatch fewer vessels abroad for shorter periods of time."[3] [edit] Blue-water capability means that a fleet is able to operate on the high seas far from its home base. The term blue-water navy should not be confused with the capability of an individual ship. [edit] Blue-water navy France[edit]
Bill Moyers and Matt Taibbi: Everyone Pays If the Banksters Don't Go to Jail February 1, 2013 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. From Bill Moyers.com: Journalist Matt Taibbi assesses the Obama Administration’s approach to holding banks accountable for their behavior, and early indications are not promising. Full transcript appears below the video: BILL MOYERS: I t’s time to talk with journalist Matt Taibbi. You're working on a story right now that'll come out in a couple of weeks on the HSBC settlement. MATT TAIBBI: Well, the HSBC settlement was a really shocking kind of new low in the history of the too big to fail issue. BILL MOYERS: Drug cartels? MATT TAIBBI: Drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico. BILL MOYERS: $1.9 billion, a lot of money. MATT TAIBBI: It's a lot of money. BILL MOYERS: Lenny Breuer also forced the Swiss bank UBS, as you know, to pay a big fine in the LIBOR, the price fixing conspiracy. MATT TAIBBI: This is the, I think the biggest financial scandal of all time. MATT TAIBBI: I did.
Exclusive: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer Capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. William S. Lind, in the book "America Can Win" (p. 90), defines a capital ship. He states that “These characteristics define a capital ship: if the capital ships are beaten, the navy is beaten. There is usually no formal criterion for the classification, but it is a useful concept in naval strategy; for example, it permits comparisons between relative naval strengths in a theatre of operations without the need for considering specific details of tonnage or gun diameters. A notable example of this is the Mahanian doctrine, which was applied in the planning of the defence of Singapore in World War II, where the Royal Navy had to decide the allocation of their battleships and battlecruisers between the Atlantic and Pacific theatres.