January 2011
9 posts
“The Pentagon presently spends more in constant dollars than it did at any time during the Cold War — this despite the absence of anything remotely approximating what national security experts like to call a “peer competitor.” Evil Empire? It exists only in the fevered imaginations of those who quiver at the prospect of China adding a rust-bucket Russian aircraft carrier to its fleet or who take seriously the ravings of radical Islamists promising from deep inside their caves to unite the Umma in a new caliphate. What are Americans getting for their money? Sadly, not much. Despite extraordinary expenditures (not to mention exertions and sacrifices by U.S. forces), the return on investment is, to be generous, unimpressive. The chief lesson to emerge from the battlefields of the post-9/11 era is this: the Pentagon possesses next to no ability to translate “military supremacy” into meaningful victory.”
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Andrew Bacevich (via azspot)
Check out Andrew Bacevich’s “The Tyranny of Defense, Inc” on the military-industrial complex from the most recent issue of The Atlantic.
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Weird reading this after watching Starship Troopers last night. I wonder if the Pentagon is funding SETI to find an enemy we can really rally against.
(via jedsundwall)
Play
tranquilizing a Scot(t)
- [Scotty volunteers to be a test subject for Spock's improvised tranquillizer grenade]
- Scotty: [picks up glass of bourbon] It's to kill the pain. [empties glass]
- Spock: But this is painless.
- Scotty: [gulps] Well, you should have warned me sooner, Mr. Spock. Fire away!
- [Spock activates the grenade, but Scotty shows no reaction to the escaping gas]
- McCoy: It should have worked! Did you inhale the gas, Scotty?
- Scotty: Aye! Deeply!
- McCoy: Do you still feel all right?
- Scotty: Never felt better!
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Interview with Chris Radcliff | Jed Sundwall →
jed.io
Jed’s a sweetheart:
As a part of my efforts to show the world what a great city San Diego is, I asked Chris Radcliff to talk to me about his work with the San Diego Space Society, the Space Travelers Emporium, and the wildly successful SpaceUp. He also teaches me what the word unqualified means, we wear out the word awesome, and there’s some talk about drinking coffee in zero gravity.
I have to admit that reading the interview got me fired up, though. Space really is awesome.
