May 15th, 2012
He just keeps getting awesomer.
Update: Galley Friend G.R. has some very interesting thoughts about the different effects of piracy on the music and film industries over at National Review. Worth your valuable time.
Update 2: Per Galley Friend P.G., here’s G.R. over at the Atlantic, too.
3 commentsIn Praise of Mitt Romney
May 15th, 2012
He really lends himself well to Auto-Tuning.
Also, he likes lakes.
3 commentsGreat News!
May 14th, 2012
John Hinderaker reports that “the left is getting clobbered on Twitter.”
If only Republicans could duplicate this dominance on Instagram and Foursquare, then the election would be in the bag already!
3 commentsThe Philosoraptor Takes on the Juiceboxers
May 14th, 2012
Pursuant to this item. Passed along from a friend:
Make it so . . .
May 14th, 2012
A proposal–from tech to budget to timelines–on how to build a real USS Enterprise. Using currently available technology.
Warning: This is the hardest-core Nerd Porn I’ve ever seen. People on TheForce.net message boards are probably looking at this and saying, Get a life, dude.
Eppur si muove . . .
0 commentsDeep Thoughts, by the Juicebox Mafia
May 11th, 2012
Do we think presidential assassinations would be a common occurrence if there were no Secret Service?
— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) May 11, 2012
And here I thought yesterday’s entry had set a record that would stand for weeks. It’s going to be awesome in 15 years when these two guys are running the Washington Post and the New York Times.
5 commentsAcculturated.com
May 11th, 2012
Last year I contributed an essay to Templeton’s anthology Acculturated. But I’ve been remiss in not noting that Templeton has continued the project by standing up a Acculturated.com, edited by Emily Smith. Lots of good stuff over there, and it’s updated daily.
0 commentsIs the Death Star “Worth It”?
May 10th, 2012
Galley Friend B.D. sends along this colloquy on the economic and socio-political costs/benefits of the “Death Star.” (Remember, “Death Star” is just the pejorative used by the Rebel MSM. It’s really a “Defense Star.”) I have a vested interest in this, of course.
So here is Gregory Koger’s thesis:
[T]he Death Star is a bit misunderstood. It is primarily a tool of domestic politics rather than warfare, and should be compared to alternative means of suppressing the population of a galaxy. Second, as a weapon of war, it should be compared to alternative uses of scarce defense resources. Understood properly, the Death Star is not worth it.
And ultimately, the case he makes is awfully persuasive. Read the whole thing, but just as a teaser, here’s his short-list of defense improvements the Empire could make using the money earmarked for the Death Star:
The Emperor should not expect, therefore, that a single super-weapon will vanquish all foes. As Seth Masket notes, the same money could be used to make some much-needed, lower-risk investments in the Imperial military. Some examples:
3 comments1) Information Security. Wouldn’t it be nice if some too-dumb-to-talk 30-year-old bucket of bolts couldn’t hack into the DS’s computer system in a few seconds? I would think so.
2) Troop Transportation. How does the U.S. military get around in the desert? Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles. How do elite scouts of the future get around? On overgrown lizards. It’s just embarrassing.
3) More robots, please. I get it: The “Clone Wars” featured Republic clones vs. the robot armies of the separatists, and the clones won. Still, though, some of those robots would be really useful in tactical situations, perhaps guided by clones on the ground.
4) More probe droids, please. After the Yavin debacle, the Empire sent out probe droids to scan remote systems. Why not keep a few loitering on every planet on a permanent basis? Then it would be lot harder for any rebellion to hide.
5) Practice, Practice, Practice. An entire legion of the Emperor’s best troops was defeated by a village of teddy bears fighting with sticks and stones. It’s just embarrassing. Clearly they needed better training in tactics, marksmanship and hand-to-paw combat.
