The fact that there even is a debate about this sickens me. It’s one thing to impose security theater on air travel, making it even more terrible with no real increase in safety. I can accept that; I am outvoted by the masses who do in fact prefer to trade in liberty for the perception [...]
(Preface: I am neither an official Pentagon source nor an official spokesman for the Army. I am a US Army UH-60 pilot otherwise entirely dissociated from this event; these are my personal opinions.) A video was posted recently by WikiLeaks. It’s gun camera footage from an Apache engagement on 12 July 2007. The video begins [...]
Just saw the film. In fairness, it’s been years since I’ve seen any other film in the franchise, and over a decade since I’ve seen any of the TV shows. Still, this isn’t the Trek I remember; it’s the saturday morning cartoon version. It’s brightly colored, fast paced, full of nonstop action. It was written [...]
I like this article, by Joel Johnson of Gizmodo: I don’t want to die on an airplane. I don’t want to die in my home while eating an organic bagel infested with parasites that lay eggs on my liver. I don’t want to die from starvation or bad water or a thousand other things that [...]
Most of what I have to say is simple repetition of others. Still, this much at least is original: while the new restrictions remain in effect, I will not fly commercial air in the US. I will not succumb to an atmosphere of paranoia in which I am required to keep my hands visible, my [...]
Civilian Commercial: Seoul Incheon: not actually very remarkable. It’s a big modern airport very much like many other big modern airports. It’s not ideally designed: it requires walking maybe 1500 meters from one end to the other, for military arrivals at least. Still, its linear design means it is at least simple. Also, free internet [...]
My first contact with the program triggered all my phishing alerts: an unexpected email purporting to be from a trusted source asked for personal information. I’d have rejected it out of hand, but I do expect to fly as a passenger on commercial air soon and I’d rather not be turned back at the gate [...]
Let’s not even mention the modern notion of a copyright pirate for a moment. That’s a distraction, a reduction of the word. A pirate is a desperate person who attacks ships either to capture their inherent worth or to ransom them and their crews. It’s cropping up again, off Somalia. This most recent batch has [...]
The House of Representatives voted down the proposed bailout today. This I approve! There was substantial opposition to the bill among just about everybody I know, and it’s good to see politicians obeying the will of the people every once in a while. I can’t rule out the possibility that a bailout of some kind [...]
My little brother recently wrote about an article which argues that western culture has gone too far in accepting and promoting diversity, and the acceptance of other cultures. On the one hand, I am forced to agree with this guy on some points: not all worldviews have equal merit, and some are simply better than [...]