Persistent Myths and the Latest Submarine Tall Tales

September 23, 2009 - LONDON - NYT — Brown to Offer to Cut British Nuclear Subs - Prime Minister Gordon Brown will use a speech at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday to offer the possibility of Britain’s reducing its fleet of ballistic nuclear missile submarines as part of a new global pact on nuclear weapons, aides to Mr. Brown said on Wednesday.

ACTUALLY: Opportunity for potential cost savings contributes to U.K.'s nuclear arms downsizing offer.

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September 23, 2009 - New London, CT - Navy strategy changing along with Arctic conditions PREDICTION [Rear Admiral Titley]: — Virtually all of the sea ice in the Arctic will melt during the summer in 25 to 30 years, said Rear Adm. David W. Titley, the Navy's senior oceanographer, who leads the task force. The ice will then “come back with a vengeance” in the winter, said Titley, who cautioned that he did not have a high degree of confidence in this estimate because of the dynamic Arctic climate.

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September 23, 2009 - Molten Eagle - Navy's Latest 5-Year Plan Cuts 1 Sub THIS IS WHY: Internal training and certifications to bring Grumman inspectors and welders up-to-speed on "minor" disciplines like subsafe quality and actually performing inspections will delay production by one boat in the next 5 years, anyway. Why should the Navy not use a potentially embarassing production slip to its fiscal advantage?

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Prediction: Iran and Hugo Chavez's Venezuela have less than 24 months of status quo remaining before surges in internally-sourced, civil unrest.

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Submarines are always silent and strange.