Yellow Ribbons

Cue Angelic Choir

Northrup Grumman has released this image of their new airship they call a Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle, being built for the U.S. Army. It's a football field in size and will be built and deployed within 18 months. Northrup has a contract to build "up to 3" of these for $517 million. It will fly at 20,000 feet and enable troops on the ground to pretty much see everything. A very wordy press release full of business speak/military jargon is here.

Given that they went with such a ridiculous artist's rendering, conveying glory, dominion, power and majesty, both now and forever, Amen, I've helped them turn this into an ad.(Click image for the huge.)

I Think Eisenhower Warned About This

The "military-industrial complex" that is.

So, I'm following a link from the always funny Public School Intelligentsia over to the Washington Post's political blog, when my visit is interrupted by a GIANT TROOP-CARRIER HELICOPTER FLYING ACROSS THE SCREEN. It eventually lands in the banner ad you see at right in this screenshot, and is then boarded by brave men of our armed forces, carrying a wounded comrade. I'm sure Boeing paid huge money for this ad (as they do for their :60s on most major news networks) and a newspaper can use all the money it can get these days.

Still, it strikes me as oddly pro....something.

Here's Eisenhower's prescient warning, from his farewell address to the nation.



Crossposted to Radio Free Babylon.