the buzz log

Pirates, quiver in your skiffs. Put down your rocket launchers and run. The USS Freedom has just landed. Or launched. Whatever, just be afraid.

The high-seas bandits' advantage had long been in their nimbleness in a huge ocean. Now, however, the United States Navy is touting the USS Freedom, the lead mothership in its class of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS, and littoral means coastal).

Specifically designed for the "Global War on Terrorism," the 378-foot craft aims at pirates and oh so much more. According to a fact sheet, Freedom can also defy "asymmetric 'anti-access threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface crafts." So seafaring villains thinking of trading in the crafts for submersible diesels, forget about it.

The rip-roaring Freedom has been called the Navy's corvette, but it runs on Rolls-Royce MT turbines, as pictured here. Other Freedom factoids:

• 3,000 tons
• 45 knots (52 mph)
• Staffs smaller crews (Blue and Gold crews, 40 members each)
• Has a helicopter launch pad
• Feels like a submarine.
• Can discharge manned or unmanned boats attached to its sides. Yeah, kind of like Transformers...but not really.
• Packs Raytheon RAM missiles, guns, and decoy launching systems

Its success isn't just the boat itself, but a faster shipbuilding process (by about half) and lower materials cost. That may have helped stave off 300 planned or considered layoffs for Marinette Marine: The shipyard that built Freedom received a contract for a second LCS ship.

When it's not cruising around Somalia or any other dangerous waters, USS Freedom will be hanging in San Diego. So beware, beach bums... Dude, don't even think about boarding without an invite.

Filed under: Military, Government

As part of our continuing series, "A Searching Portrait: Barack Obama's 100 Days," here are the people, economic obsessions, and animated spats that dominated February 2009 searches. (Check here for January 2009)

Approval, threats, and cartoon protests
Days into the Obama administration, and political junkies already look for  "obama approval ratings." Pleased citizens craftily learn "how to make hope poster barack obama," but a disgruntled handful pursue "impeach obama" options. On Valentine's Day, a First Couple date at Table 52 heartens the romantics. The feel-good vibe, however, turns ugly with the controversy over the New York Post chimp cartoon, which bcomes the most-searched subject in February, after the stimulus package.

Obama gets set for his State of the Union address, but a looming oratorical threat comes in the form of Bobby Jindal...until the Louisiana governor gets a critical slapdown. Good thing for Jindal, some are distracted by "joe biden's forehead."

Come join the party...or not
The Indonesian "barack obama lookalike" delights a few before attention returns to more serious matters. Among the many staffers to come through the Search box, Tom Daschle falls by the wayside, but Pentecostal pastor Joshua Dubois secures a position with possibly the longest-titled department yet: the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. After much wrangling, Tim Geithner makes his public debut as Treasury Secretary, but after hearing the speech, people would rather know... where's the dog?

Democrats (especially Dianne Feinstein) chide Obama about proper political protocol, and Leon Panetta gets sworn in as CIA director. Then, Senator Judd Gregg changes his mind about being Secretary of Commerce... Thank goodness for Hillary Clinton and her first Asia visit as secretary of state.

Stimulating news
At last a stimulus plan is unveiled, but be careful for what you wish. People try to sift through the package and magic "billion dollar stimulus grants." As one eye turns to a frenetic Dow Jones, the other is kept on "recovery.org" and details about the "first time homebuyer credit," "economic stimulus package tax rebates," "mortgage relief plan" and much more. Speaking of handouts, here comes the "gm bailout."

Check in for March and April concerns on mortgages, NCAA brackets, and overseas etiquette of bows and handshakes. 

Filed under: Politics, Government, Presidents, Barack Obama

OK, amateur sleuths: Get out your magnifying glass and your Sherlock Holmes hats. The case of the plane-jumping hijacker from 1971 has been opened up to the public, and there are some new leads, thanks to a comic book. You too can be an armchair FBI agent and try to solve the case.

Here's the story: Once upon a time, a man calling himself Dan 'D.B.' Cooper hijacked a plane going from Portland to Seattle, demanded money and parachutes, and then jumped out en route, never to be heard from again. The FBI has long since diverted its attention away from Cooper, but the myth of the outrageous (and if he didn't die, successful) outlaw act has gained a mythic status in the Pacific Northwest.

Now the fun part: the FBI has put citizen sleuths on the case. Turns out, comic book fans have never lost interest in the story, and one reason is a French comic about an air force pilot popular at the time of the event. His name: Dan Cooper. The FBI came across the comic book forum and agreed that this is a major break in the case. See where this is headed?

The forum connected local FBI agents to citizen sleuths who are using gadgets like electron microscopes to track down clues to the perp and his original path. You can check out the FBI's case here. We're not sure, but we think this means the FBI should be reading more comics.

Filed under: Crime, Government