Postblogging Technology, November 1949, II: Atom Bombs, Radars and GREEN MACE

In November of 1949 we saw a bit of an "AA" renaissance. Wartime AA chief, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Pile (Bart)'s book-length version of his war's end communique, Ack-Ack; and American technocrat Vannevar Bush's Modern Arms and Free Men manage to make it into the back pages (sort of) of the periodicals we follow.

Our apologies to whatever second-rate archaeological dreck or wartime reminiscence that Time and Flight, respectively, would otherwise have covered. Thanks to that forebearance, we know that Pile was robustly enthusiastic about AA in the new nuclear age, whilst Vannevar Bush thought that it was actually now possible to defend against the nuclear terror weapon. While we're a long way from the Reagan-era high flowering of Star Wars, that day is perhaps peeping over the horizon. 

So it seems like a good week to stop and contemplate ABM, a sort of recurrent fever or  species of social contagion, not entirely unlike other moral and other panics that periodically infect us. 

This isn't to say that such things are entirely futile. Runaway cold virii sell a lot of garlic, ginger and onions, the green grocer knows, and vast schemes of antiballistic defence may produce electronic (and other) spin-offs.

Postblogging Technology, November 1949, II:

R_. C_.,
The Alexander Young Hotel,
Oahu,
Hawaii.

Dear Father:

Hopefully this reaches you before you leave Hawaii. Not that it is terribly critical. We welcomed Mrs. C. and Fat Chow's plane last Friday, and reclaimed their children from the Wongs. Heartwarming. I don't even mind being the only driver, on account of  the Wong's old Ford needing a new everything and Reggie's Jeep not being exactly suitable for toddlers. It's almost enough to make me think that James has a point about "practical" cars. 

On second thought, pish-posh. Dinner at the Tang Garden which has moved to the old Perfumed Garden's space across the street from the Benevolent Association, now that they've moved uptown. This meant that Wong Lee felt that he could join us. (Why, yes, I did get that lecture about being more careful myself. So glad you thought to ask!)

Sorry. But I've been hearing a lot of that kind of thing this "Horror Week," which, right now, I am putting behind me as we plan a Thanksgiving fit for our conquering heroes. I don't know. Does creating an American pipeline for Tibetan gold count as "conquering?" Well,, I don't care. As criminal enterprises go, it's a lot better than some of the business we could be involved in! 

Yours Sincerely,
Ronnie.

A Technological, Agricultural, Financial and Entertainment Appendix to Postblogging Technology, November 1949, I: Ranking Postwar Economic Policy

*

So. Oscars night. I'm pretty much a third-person spectator, since I haven't seen any of the nominated movies. I was prepared in advance for a travesty, as 1917 beat Parasite for Best Picture. Needless to say, it didn't happen that way, but the argument for 1917 in advance --that it was British/-- rang a little bit off when I was simultaneously reading the wall-to-wall coverage of the Rank Organisation's disastrous 1949. The dolorous refrain of "the government has no place in business" resonates to the Newsweek reader, at least, with its marquee economic educator/analyst carrying on a rotomontade on the gold standard. We'll get a tiny taste of Henry Hazlitt's ongoing goldbuggery  next week, but it won't really do his literally months-long freak out justice. 

The common theme here, which gets to food and turbojets to round out the post, is that, after 70 years, this stuff hasn't aged very well. Perhaps and this is just me spitballing here, maybe, just maybe, government does have a place in the boardrooms of the nation?

Postblogging Technology, November 1949, I: After the Atomic Monopoly

R_. C_.,
79 Av de Harmonia,
Macao

Dear Father:

I'm so glad that you were able to come to an arrangement with the Incarnate Deity and General Chennault, who probably thinks he is, too. Incarnate enlightened teacher. Whatever. I'm also glad to hear that all that gold they have up there in Tibet won't have to just reach the world through Pakistan anymore. And needless to say, the dacoits are going to very pleased with their red envelopes this year! 

Now, as for the matter of keeping Chennault and the Soongs apart, I can offer you no guarantees that will last even as long as it takes you to cruise all leisurely across the Pacific. Are you sure you can't fly? I understand that the air palls after the trip from Shigatse to Kai Tak. I can only imagine! But if Mrs. C. can fly, can't you? 

However you choose to make the crossing, we'll greet you warmly and show you the sights of our Bohemian city. Or, you know, tag along with your expense account. Reggie may not be a student anymore, but he is still a subaltern! 

Sincerely, 

Ronnie

A Meta-Technological Appendix to Postblogging Technology, October 1949: The End of the Great Siege, I: Politics and Productivity

Sir Stafford and the Egyptian sterling balance

I have a formal portrait of Grand Admiral Dönitz kicking around somewhere just for this post, but now that the time has come, I much prefer General Gordon. Egypt's £402 million in sterling holdings (as of 1945.) 

Okay, that was facetious. Sir Stafford didn't throw himself on a spear. He went off to a spa in Switzerland for treatment of his colitis, and stayed there until he died of cancer in 1952. Severe colitis seems to have had a disproportionate effect on mid-century policy makers, and a search of the literature turned it up as one symptom of cocaine abuse. I wouldn't have been looking if I didn't have a nasty, suspicious mind, but what can I say? In any case, the deeper irony might be that Cripps should have adopted Gordon's solution. It's hard to see how staying in Egypt over the protests of the Egyptians and at great cost to the sterling balance benefitted anyone, and it certainly didn't benefit the Egyptians, who saw their trapped and alienated balance eroded by inflation and, of course, devaluation.

Postblogging Technology, October 1949, II: Revolt of the Admirals

This where I remind everyone that Admiral Air Power here lost two carrier battles before Leyte Gulf.

R_.C_.,
Ngar Monastery,
Shigatse,
Tibet

Dear Father:

This letter finds you with a package of more important material, but will come . You'll find a briefing about the Koumintang position in northern Burma, and the current state of play in Formosa. It is too late for me to be the bearer of news of the fall of Canton and the government there. The key question is whether the weight of American support goes west or east. I can't comment, but I do forward the results of our conversation with Chan Sheng Mei. My sense is that west-side boosters are nursing something of a serpent in the bosom, as Chennault is likely to go with Chiang, and thus Formosa, in the end. The remaining question is whether there is money to be made in the interim, and there I can only tell you that as far as we can tell from here, the lamas have some pull in Washington. So far so good, if  you can win the Panchen Lama over. 

As for us, a distinct slack in the British business as devaluation goes through. I think the smart money sees it as the last for a generation, so that's definitely a blow for the silver trade. Perhaps our British partners can try making some movies for a change! 

Yours Sincerely,
Ronnie

Postblogging Technology, October 1949, I: The Missing Jetliners of 1951

The street outside my place at 8am on Wednesday morning isn't dark because Vancouver is so dark in the winter. It's dark because it's still snowing. In fairness to all of the scapegoats I am blaming for not finishing the second installment of October techblogging this week, it is on me for not managing my time better as much as it is on the weather for shutting down UBC campus on Wednesday. I most specifically do not want to blame Flightglobal International, which supported its online archives for a very long and, I am sure, unprofitable period, or my schedule writer at work, who faced, and faces extraordinary and ongoing challenges. 

Also at fault, my own decision to succumb to snow week and write something interesting but unchallenging. 

First, let's meet the winner of the postwar race to replace the DC-3.

By Towpilot - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1511430