February 22, 2011
Why there will be no Yotsuba@! Anime
To my utter astonishment it has turned out that Bleach is a Yotsuba@! sequel!
You see, Yotsuba@! died of a head injury many years ago. Oh, and she went to hell.
Seriously, no one wants to watch a show about Yotsuba@! that's gonna end that way.
The sequel on the other hand, while it has its share of surprises, is quite... uplifting.
This post has been brought to you by the #3.
You see, Yotsuba@! died of a head injury many years ago. Oh, and she went to hell.
Seriously, no one wants to watch a show about Yotsuba@! that's gonna end that way.
The sequel on the other hand, while it has its share of surprises, is quite... uplifting.
This post has been brought to you by the #3.
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February 21, 2011
No one knew
...what it was that happened to Benny that day.
now it has been revealed.
Bad End
Poor Benny.
now it has been revealed.
Bad End
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February 17, 2011
TRANSFORMATIONAL!
This takes 'Optimal Manning' to a whole new level.
I'm sure nothing whatsoever can go wrong.
Nothing at all...
I'm sure nothing whatsoever can go wrong.
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February 16, 2011
Utewarerumono
Funimation has re-released Utewarerumono in a Super Amazing Value Edition. As a result I now own this unpronounceable title, and a few weeks ago I watched it.
Perhaps most remarkable of all, Hakuoro is a very likable, ethical, AND SMART person. This rare combination of traits is found in most of the shows other protagonists as well. The men in the cast are generally strong, ethical adults and as such are the antithesis of the nebbish whiny brats or hotheaded punks that seem to be the norm of late (well, there is a hotheaded teen punk, but he's a foil and he advances the plot). This is not to say that the leading women are overshadowed by the guys...they more than hold their own.
To wit...
Do NOT make fun of the trenchcoat
*****
A man awakens in a hut, in what appears to be a medieval village, wearing a mask he cannot remove, with no memory of his past, and finds himself being tended to by an old woman and her two granddaughters, who, to his astonishment, are equipped with dog ears and tails. And there are new rules to learn!
The story progresses very fast but logically, and our masked hero ( who the women name Hakuoro) and his growing band of allies encounter and
must overcome a steady stream of
increasingly difficult challenges, all the while trying to find out who
he is (and why he is tailless).
This show is remarkable in a number of respects. First, this show is a fantasy adventure done
straight. Utewarerumono has above average production values and
very engaging characters. In contrast to the fantastic elements such as magical beasts and exotic races, the relationships, motivations and even the tactics are realistic. The world is very well realized.
Perhaps most remarkable of all, Hakuoro is a very likable, ethical, AND SMART person. This rare combination of traits is found in most of the shows other protagonists as well. The men in the cast are generally strong, ethical adults and as such are the antithesis of the nebbish whiny brats or hotheaded punks that seem to be the norm of late (well, there is a hotheaded teen punk, but he's a foil and he advances the plot). This is not to say that the leading women are overshadowed by the guys...they more than hold their own.
To wit...
Do NOT make fun of the trenchcoat
It's just refreshing to see a show where the men are men and not jackwagons or wimps.
The show is exceedingly well paced and has a very humanistic streak. It doesn't pull its punches (characters die) but it is at times a downright inspiring show.
Utewarerumono contains 19 episodes of the some of the most satisfying adventure anime I have ever seen.
Unfortunately it is a 26 episode series.
GAINAX call your office...Mary Sue broke in and stole one of your endings.
The last 7 episodes of this show form a bone crushingly painful cascade of stupidity wrapped in schizophrenia and bound together with a truly impressive level of contempt for the audience.
I cannot type enough swear words do justice to the ending of this show. Frankly about the time the mechs show up (yes...the mechs) I had real difficulty following it. The story got disjointed nonsensical and downright hateful.
...but wait there is more...
It tried to weave together 2 separate, out of order, quite dystopic flashbacks into the story.
Here is a semi-coherent overview of the flashbacks which I knicked from the Wikipedia entry.
If you did not read that , you are likely still sane.
Note that that only covers the flashback portions of the plot...the "present" plot has the previously wise cast becoming mind numbingly stupid...before the whole insipid mess just collapses under its own incoherence.
I know these writers can write...they wrote the first 19 episodes, so unless they switched writing teams 3/4s of the way through
this isn't likely incompetence. I think it could be sadism.
Or perhaps this was made for the American market and this is one of those cruel jokes they play on foreigners...like natto.
Which, come to think of it, brings us back to sadism.
ahem...
I'm going to refrain from recommending this series...but if anyone's interested I have a complete set right here.
The show is exceedingly well paced and has a very humanistic streak. It doesn't pull its punches (characters die) but it is at times a downright inspiring show.
Utewarerumono contains 19 episodes of the some of the most satisfying adventure anime I have ever seen.
Unfortunately it is a 26 episode series.
This is just episode 20 child. There is more fail coming than your young mind can possibly imagine.
GAINAX call your office...Mary Sue broke in and stole one of your endings.
The last 7 episodes of this show form a bone crushingly painful cascade of stupidity wrapped in schizophrenia and bound together with a truly impressive level of contempt for the audience.
I cannot type enough swear words do justice to the ending of this show. Frankly about the time the mechs show up (yes...the mechs) I had real difficulty following it. The story got disjointed nonsensical and downright hateful.
...but wait there is more...
It tried to weave together 2 separate, out of order, quite dystopic flashbacks into the story.
Here is a semi-coherent overview of the flashbacks which I knicked from the Wikipedia entry.
If you did not read that , you are likely still sane.
Note that that only covers the flashback portions of the plot...the "present" plot has the previously wise cast becoming mind numbingly stupid...before the whole insipid mess just collapses under its own incoherence.
I know these writers can write...they wrote the first 19 episodes, so unless they switched writing teams 3/4s of the way through
this isn't likely incompetence. I think it could be sadism.
Or perhaps this was made for the American market and this is one of those cruel jokes they play on foreigners...like natto.
Which, come to think of it, brings us back to sadism.
ahem...
I'm going to refrain from recommending this series...but if anyone's interested I have a complete set right here.
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February 15, 2011
Two Things I Would Not Have Thought to Combine
While I wrack my school and illness addled brain for content, d.merril has combined Tezuka and Pez to good effect.
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February 14, 2011
Space News
Via Rand Simberg comes news of a particularly intriguing study for a spacecraft .
The Nautilus-X MMSEV is on one level a flight of fancy given current budget constraints and launch cycle times, but it is really interesting in that it leverages a lot of existing and very near term technologies and builds on a rational development of the current commercial systems. The full powerpoint is here.
The design is a habitation module with a variety of well thought out facilities for scientific research and a variable gravity deck. The whole design uses largely off the shelf or soon to be off the shelf components being developed by space industry. Bigelow's inflatable modules are the most obvious of the available parts but the big gravity deck is claimed to be a straightforward development of spin stabilized comsat technology and of course the sensor pallets manipulator arms and EVA packs are all the orphans of the soon to be ended Space Shuttle program. Even light craft for landing on an asteroid or the moon are a mature technology given that the LEM worked.
The whole thing is to be attached to a propulsion module. In the illustrations that module is NASAs perpetually around the corner VASIMR system. However, if, as is proposed, the vehicle were set up at a Lagrange point, it would already be beyond the Van Allen belts, so the big problem with conventional ion engines ( that their slow acceleration would keep them in the radiation belts a dangerously long time) is rendered moot. The design can travel to the moon as well as near earth asteroids like Cruithne. There are long term expansions of the design for exploration as far afield as Mars, the main belt and beyond, but those are even farther beyond our budget horizon. I suspect it could form the design basis for a cycler.
Clark Lindsey points out in the article that as ambitious as it is it dovetails nicely with a lot of technologies needed for and planned by comercial space companies, such as a Lagrange point fuel depot. If that infrastructure is developed privately, or in response to prizes, then this sort of design becomes tenable without too much effort. It is already designed with commercial lifters and spacecraft in mind, eliminating the need for NASA to spend taxpayer dollars on money holes like Orion/Ares.
Clark Lindsay has more:
Emphasis mine. That last inspires much skepticism, but in fairness, Orion was not only a cost plus contract but it was designed with maximum pork in mind.
The cost is estimated at 3.7 billion and the time at 64 months. 3.7 billion additional spent is of course taking the current budget 3.7 billion in the wrong direction, but if we take the take it from the 19 billion in the current NASA budget (just, you know, can the Muslim outreach
) We might still cut the NASA budget by a considerable amount if we focus on astronomy and this while leaving the development of new boosters to Space-X and others.
This could potentially be part a net savings, albeit in NASA which doesn't actually show up visually on a pie graph of the US budget.
Additionally, opening up the vast mineral reserves of the asteroids is an investment in the future in exactly the same way that high speed AmTrack isn't. Visiting near earth asteroids to learn how to deflect them in the event of an incoming Tunguska is in keeping with the defence function of the government, (analogous to flood control in this case), so it is not entirely beyond the realm of possibility that something like this might see the light of day in the current environment...just bloody unlikely.
The stimulus bill has poisoned that well for some time but this sort of thing does warrant some attention in the near future, assuming we get our fiscal house in order.
All this talk of asteroids and comets....where are the comets coming from? Tyche possibly. We've covered this before but Tyche (which seems more likely to exist than Nemesis ) is in the news again.
More here. There is growing evidence that a big gas giant or brown dwarf is in our solar systems Oort cloud.
Finally this scientiffical type post would not be complete (or worthwhile) without paying all due respect and homage to one of those who made it possible: a member of the Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes.
The Nautilus-X MMSEV is on one level a flight of fancy given current budget constraints and launch cycle times, but it is really interesting in that it leverages a lot of existing and very near term technologies and builds on a rational development of the current commercial systems. The full powerpoint is here.
The design is a habitation module with a variety of well thought out facilities for scientific research and a variable gravity deck. The whole design uses largely off the shelf or soon to be off the shelf components being developed by space industry. Bigelow's inflatable modules are the most obvious of the available parts but the big gravity deck is claimed to be a straightforward development of spin stabilized comsat technology and of course the sensor pallets manipulator arms and EVA packs are all the orphans of the soon to be ended Space Shuttle program. Even light craft for landing on an asteroid or the moon are a mature technology given that the LEM worked.
Clark Lindsey points out in the article that as ambitious as it is it dovetails nicely with a lot of technologies needed for and planned by comercial space companies, such as a Lagrange point fuel depot. If that infrastructure is developed privately, or in response to prizes, then this sort of design becomes tenable without too much effort. It is already designed with commercial lifters and spacecraft in mind, eliminating the need for NASA to spend taxpayer dollars on money holes like Orion/Ares.
Clark Lindsay has more:
/-- It illustrates how the use of Bigelow style expandable modules provides for great flexibility in design and in the means of delivery.
/-- It takes direct advantage of the tremendous experience in assembling structures in space that NASA has gained in the past decade. NASA knows how to do this.
/-- It would work very well with fuel depots.
/-- The contrast is striking - Constellation would have had small, single-use, expensive systems in operation perhaps by 2030. MMSEV would be a honest-to-goodness space cruiser in operation by 2020.
/-- The first pass at the design cost and schedule finds it cheaper than the Orion capsule alone.
Emphasis mine. That last inspires much skepticism, but in fairness, Orion was not only a cost plus contract but it was designed with maximum pork in mind.
The cost is estimated at 3.7 billion and the time at 64 months. 3.7 billion additional spent is of course taking the current budget 3.7 billion in the wrong direction, but if we take the take it from the 19 billion in the current NASA budget (just, you know, can the Muslim outreach
) We might still cut the NASA budget by a considerable amount if we focus on astronomy and this while leaving the development of new boosters to Space-X and others. This could potentially be part a net savings, albeit in NASA which doesn't actually show up visually on a pie graph of the US budget.
Additionally, opening up the vast mineral reserves of the asteroids is an investment in the future in exactly the same way that high speed AmTrack isn't. Visiting near earth asteroids to learn how to deflect them in the event of an incoming Tunguska is in keeping with the defence function of the government, (analogous to flood control in this case), so it is not entirely beyond the realm of possibility that something like this might see the light of day in the current environment...just bloody unlikely.
The stimulus bill has poisoned that well for some time but this sort of thing does warrant some attention in the near future, assuming we get our fiscal house in order.
**********
In the meantime, Bill Whittle has further words on the issues with cost-plus contracts and pork as well as how to avoid them...which dovetails into a good overview of current commercial space activities.
Watch it, it's only 10 minutes and Whittle covers a lot. ***********
Regards that mention of asteroid defense mentioned earlier, deconstructs a rather disingenuous leftie meme about tea partiers, strict constitutionalists and space defence. Namely the rather idiotic notion that because there was no means to deflect asteroids or comets in 1789 it must be considered unconstitutional by conservatives and libertarians. **********
While we are on the subject of guarding against things from space it seems timely to visit this proposal to replace NASA and much of the USAF's involvement in space with a non-DOD affiliated organization under military discipline modeled on the US Coast Guard. PDF here I think this has a lot of merit. Certainly the civil service model is sub optimal and in any event some branch of government would eventually be necessary for safety inspections and rescues in space. It makes sense that it be a limited gendarmerie along the lines of the USCG (probably operated out of the DOT) that can handle the job while being non-unionizeable and able to deal with things like debris mitigation both directly and through enforcement. The USCG gets along well with the public and does scientific work as well so this might be a good fit that would avoid wasteful duplication down the road. **********
All this talk of asteroids and comets....where are the comets coming from? Tyche possibly. We've covered this before but Tyche (which seems more likely to exist than Nemesis ) is in the news again.
More here. There is growing evidence that a big gas giant or brown dwarf is in our solar systems Oort cloud.
Finally this scientiffical type post would not be complete (or worthwhile) without paying all due respect and homage to one of those who made it possible: a member of the Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes.
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In Which I Pariah-fy Myself
I have long had a great deal of respect for Allan West, ( R, FL-22).
Below is video of him giving a superb speech at the close of CEPAC 2011. The speech itself is quite good, but that is not why I'm commenting on it. It is after all being widely shown throughout the rightosphere.
I'm commenting because this clip, which I got via Cdr. Salamander, has footage I had previously missed...Footage that bothers me.
West's speech begins about 8 and a half minutes in, but it is what happens prior that I find disturbing. Specifically, West is introduced by a military service member in uniform who proceeds to make a very short but quite partisan statement at a completely partisan function...I remind you that he is in uniform.
I like West a lot, but this is a no-no.
A big no-no.
It is not acceptable for the military to get involved in politics in any way. That is how republics die. I would expect West, who is a history buff ought to know that. He is certainly aware of Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 (and for the USCG, the Hatch Act).
It is inevitable that when one party is the one that spat on our military and still treats them with barely disguised contempt, that many in the military lean the other way...when out of uniform and off duty. It is not in any way acceptable for them to be expressing that as military members in uniform.
As I mentioned during the McChrystal fiasco, we have many republics to the south of us in this hemisphere.Most had the military get involved in politics in some way.That did not turn out well.
This is disturbing. But not as disturbing as the fact that I've not heard ANYONE comment on this, which bothers me rather more than the indiscretion itself.
UPDATE: Over at Cdr Salamander's, people are commenting on this impropriety. I note that they all seem to be current or former military.
UPDATE 2:The video has been removed by the user. A slightly shorter version with the 8 minute introduction removed can be seen here . It contains the bit relevant to my concern as well as the otherwise excellent speech. The full C-SPAN vid with intro is available on C-Span for now here
Below is video of him giving a superb speech at the close of CEPAC 2011. The speech itself is quite good, but that is not why I'm commenting on it. It is after all being widely shown throughout the rightosphere.
I'm commenting because this clip, which I got via Cdr. Salamander, has footage I had previously missed...Footage that bothers me.
West's speech begins about 8 and a half minutes in, but it is what happens prior that I find disturbing. Specifically, West is introduced by a military service member in uniform who proceeds to make a very short but quite partisan statement at a completely partisan function...I remind you that he is in uniform.
I like West a lot, but this is a no-no.
A big no-no.
It is not acceptable for the military to get involved in politics in any way. That is how republics die. I would expect West, who is a history buff ought to know that. He is certainly aware of Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 (and for the USCG, the Hatch Act).
It is inevitable that when one party is the one that spat on our military and still treats them with barely disguised contempt, that many in the military lean the other way...when out of uniform and off duty. It is not in any way acceptable for them to be expressing that as military members in uniform.
As I mentioned during the McChrystal fiasco, we have many republics to the south of us in this hemisphere.Most had the military get involved in politics in some way.That did not turn out well.
This is disturbing. But not as disturbing as the fact that I've not heard ANYONE comment on this, which bothers me rather more than the indiscretion itself.
UPDATE: Over at Cdr Salamander's, people are commenting on this impropriety. I note that they all seem to be current or former military.
UPDATE 2:The video has been removed by the user. A slightly shorter version with the 8 minute introduction removed can be seen here . It contains the bit relevant to my concern as well as the otherwise excellent speech. The full C-SPAN vid with intro is available on C-Span for now here
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Worrisome Rumors
I agree with Instapundit. One would think this from the Daily Mail would be bigger news. As it is the best coverage seems to be in the UK at the moment.
‘So, specifically, you're looking for the dirty bomb? You're looking for the nuclear device?’ asked Mr Blacher.
‘Correct. Weapons of mass effect,’ said Mr Hallor.
‘You ever found one?’ asked Mr Blacher.
‘Not at this location,’ Mr Hallor said.
‘But they have found them?’ asked Mr Blacher.
‘Yes,’ said Mr Hallor.
While it is no surprise to me that someone has tried to sneak something really bad into the U.S. it would seem that this would get some more US coverage.
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February 13, 2011
Save the Turtles!
Oh noes! Star Turtle Village is 4 ninjas short of the number needed to
maintain our elemental decompressor! We need space turtle ninjas!
...What?
You don't wear black or blue pajamas and adventure?
You don't have experience in space?
You aren't a turtle?
Well, fear not 'cause we aren't picky!
We have a crackerjack apprenticeship program headed up by a highly respected...ummm...dolphin..ninja...biker...ummm...
You don't have experience in space?
You aren't a turtle?
Well, fear not 'cause we aren't picky!
We have a crackerjack apprenticeship program headed up by a highly respected...ummm...dolphin..ninja...biker...ummm...
...actually...we don't know WHAT the hell he is but he's very good at his job so you can learn your ninja trade right here!
Since we are classy SPACE ninjas (with a fashionable Turtle motif) we take care of our members. We have a Ramen shop, a Burger Ninja and a Pizza Witch in our food court and if that doesn't impress you we've got SCIENCE!tm, and a Party House with a fully stocked Juice Bar. We even get to beat up on undead zombjas periodically 'cause we are just that bad ass.
Click on the banner above to start your ninja career today and not only will you be able to tell your grandkids that you saved an entire village from being elementally undecompressed....you'll even know what the heck that means!
Just remember to keep all kunai stowed and all hands and feet onboard the elephants.
Please note that this week's announcements are sponsored by:
Since we are classy SPACE ninjas (with a fashionable Turtle motif) we take care of our members. We have a Ramen shop, a Burger Ninja and a Pizza Witch in our food court and if that doesn't impress you we've got SCIENCE!tm, and a Party House with a fully stocked Juice Bar. We even get to beat up on undead zombjas periodically 'cause we are just that bad ass.
Click on the banner above to start your ninja career today and not only will you be able to tell your grandkids that you saved an entire village from being elementally undecompressed....you'll even know what the heck that means!
Just remember to keep all kunai stowed and all hands and feet onboard the elephants.
Please note that this week's announcements are sponsored by:
Ankh-Morpork Assassin's Guild:
Inhumation with a contemporary touch.
Inhumation with a contemporary touch.
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February 07, 2011
Clothes are Expensive All Over
I go through clothes, particularly pants, pretty fast at work so I am always looking for a cheap alternative.
I saw a couple of kids at school wearing Zongshans. This was unremarkable in itself as this is a college campus and some idiocy is always going on, but it occurred to me that Zongshans are work outfits and the kids, being college students, might have picked them up really cheap.
Alas no...~200 bucks is the cheapest I found, ...they don't look terribly durable..and one would still need to go at them with scissors so as to not look too much like a mass murderer.
Damn commies.
Of course this means that those kids likely aren't using these as cheap attire....but as a none too cheap statement.
Damn commies.
I saw a couple of kids at school wearing Zongshans. This was unremarkable in itself as this is a college campus and some idiocy is always going on, but it occurred to me that Zongshans are work outfits and the kids, being college students, might have picked them up really cheap.
Alas no...~200 bucks is the cheapest I found, ...they don't look terribly durable..and one would still need to go at them with scissors so as to not look too much like a mass murderer.
Damn commies.
Of course this means that those kids likely aren't using these as cheap attire....but as a none too cheap statement.
Damn commies.
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February 03, 2011
Year of the Rabbit!
Happy Chinese new year!
...What?
Hey! A jackrabbit counts!
...What?
Hey! A jackrabbit counts!
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February 02, 2011
WE'RE SAVED!
Rejoice!
Uh Oh...
Uh Oh...
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January 31, 2011
Of course you never know with bloggers
...but I'd always thought Anne Althouse was taller.
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January 30, 2011
Wow
I was curious how they were going to do that Vocaloid tour.
The answer appears to be "Quite well indeed."
The answer appears to be "Quite well indeed."
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Interesting Finds and Linky Luv
Steven Den Beste has just watched Havoc in Heaven and seemed to like it.
Actual footage of his reaction taken by one of our crack team of espionage beavers
I would normally be unlikely to give a magical girl show a second thought. However Ubu indicates that Puella Magi Madoka Magica seems to going into some very interesting (and dark) places.
Don is asking the hard questions.
Beta Waffle is back! Has been for some time...but I'm slow in noticing these things.
( For example, a few months ago I was surprised to see DVDs of Linebarrels of Iron for sale. I had no idea the show actually existed. I had thought that LOI was a joke strip by Beta Waffle parodying Anime cliche's...Actually, it was a show composed of Anime cliches that Beta Waffle was mocking/reviewing. )
Actual footage of his reaction taken by one of our crack team of espionage beavers
Wonderduck had a rather different reaction to Rio Rainbow Gate...but it seems to have driven him over the edge, so everything's OK now.
Don is asking the hard questions.
Beta Waffle is back! Has been for some time...but I'm slow in noticing these things.
( For example, a few months ago I was surprised to see DVDs of Linebarrels of Iron for sale. I had no idea the show actually existed. I had thought that LOI was a joke strip by Beta Waffle parodying Anime cliche's...Actually, it was a show composed of Anime cliches that Beta Waffle was mocking/reviewing. )
Note: Frau Bow image is unrelated to the content of this post. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
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Things Fall Apart...
The situation in Cairo is very worrisome.
While some seem very happy that there is a populist revolt going on, I do not share their optimism.
Mubarak is indeed brutal and oppresses people. Like the Shah of Iran, many of the people he is oppressing desperately need to be oppressed for the good of humanity. Like the Shah, if Mubarak falls, he is likely to be replaced by a pretty radical anti-US anti-Israel group of Islamists, in this case tied to the Muslim brotherhood.
There is a lot of criticizing of the president on his handling of this situation, but we don't know what intel he is privy to, what conversations he's had or what is being done behind the scenes. What we CAN be sure of is that the US doesn't have much sway over the situation right now and any pressure we are perceived as applying will likely make the situation worse. I don't envy the President tonight. He may indeed be out of his depth, he may indeed have a blinkered worldview, but he is now faced with a situation that has the potential to become very bad indeed, and there is very little he can do.
This has the potential to be a very big international crisis, if Mubarak falls the odds are things in the middle east will go very far south with alarming rapidity.
Egypt controls the Suez canal (not, as some have suggested, the Panama Canal) and having a Sunni version of the Iranian mullocracy control that waterway has very real implications for world trade.
Having Egypt, which shares a boarder with Israel go all Jihadi is a very bad thing.
The news services are following this pretty well but there were a couple of opinion pieces I thought merited linkage.
The mustache of justice has thoughts here.
Cdr. Salamander has a long post here.
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter has a piece in Human events (via Cubachi, who has additional video)
Stratfor has extensive analysis here.
While some seem very happy that there is a populist revolt going on, I do not share their optimism.
Mubarak is indeed brutal and oppresses people. Like the Shah of Iran, many of the people he is oppressing desperately need to be oppressed for the good of humanity. Like the Shah, if Mubarak falls, he is likely to be replaced by a pretty radical anti-US anti-Israel group of Islamists, in this case tied to the Muslim brotherhood.
There is a lot of criticizing of the president on his handling of this situation, but we don't know what intel he is privy to, what conversations he's had or what is being done behind the scenes. What we CAN be sure of is that the US doesn't have much sway over the situation right now and any pressure we are perceived as applying will likely make the situation worse. I don't envy the President tonight. He may indeed be out of his depth, he may indeed have a blinkered worldview, but he is now faced with a situation that has the potential to become very bad indeed, and there is very little he can do.
This has the potential to be a very big international crisis, if Mubarak falls the odds are things in the middle east will go very far south with alarming rapidity.
Egypt controls the Suez canal (not, as some have suggested, the Panama Canal) and having a Sunni version of the Iranian mullocracy control that waterway has very real implications for world trade.
Having Egypt, which shares a boarder with Israel go all Jihadi is a very bad thing.
The news services are following this pretty well but there were a couple of opinion pieces I thought merited linkage.
The mustache of justice has thoughts here.
Cdr. Salamander has a long post here.
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter has a piece in Human events (via Cubachi, who has additional video)
Stratfor has extensive analysis here.
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Marketing Note
If one is attempting to convince potential customers that one should be paid by said individuals to write their dissertations, then typing...
On the other hand, It might work. People who hire out their papers, let alone dissertations, are wastes of skin better utilized by burn victims...much like comment spammers
Your blog is really helps for my search and i really like it.. Thanks a lot..... may not be the best way to inspire confidence in ones product quality.
On the other hand, It might work. People who hire out their papers, let alone dissertations, are wastes of skin better utilized by burn victims...much like comment spammers
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January 27, 2011
Holocaust Rememberance Day
There are wicked people in this world. Whether attired in sheets, keffiyeh, jackboots or jaunty berets they will not be dissuaded from their evil by harsh language, kind words, tribute or solemn promises of peace in our time. Force is the only language these monsters understand. The real lesson of the worlds history since the Shoa is that all too often the good do nothing ensuring evils occur. This leaves the oppressed groups, whomever they may be, to their own devices.
It is widely believed that something like the above could never happen here. I certainly don't think it's at all likely.
However, it was not that long ago that strange fruit adorned southern trees, and only a little longer ago that the 5 Civilized Tribes got their answer to their request for congressional representation.
It should be remembered that Germany was one of the foremost leaders of science, reason and art yet they went mad. The Khmer Rouge were beatniks in Parisian colleges before they came to power and Robespierre was at first an idealistic humanist who was going to bring justice to all...
History can turn on a dime.
One of the lessons of the Holocaust is that granting a monopoly of power to a government is a dangerous gamble indeed, for governments are necessarily composed in large part of the sorts of people who seek and crave power over others.
We have in this country checks, balances and the first, second and fourth amendments. We can take some comfort in these as they greatly increase the likelihood that we will never see the likes of the above here.
But likelihood is not certainty, and never is a very long time.
Today is the day we remember one of the most unspeakable horrors of our time.
The founders of this nation could not have imagined the sheer magnitude of the unspeakable evil that befell the Jews of Europe. However, knowledge of far lesser horrors that a government can wreak on an unarmed populace was one of the reasons this country has its second amendment. As it was, all the Jews of Warsaw and Bialstock were only able to cobble together about a hundred weapons of various types between them when they realized that the unimaginable was happening to them. They fought like tigers, but with so few weapons the odds were impossible.
Since this atrocity was stopped, people have periodically, with great solemnity declared that this type of horror will NEVER AGAIN be allowed to stand. Since 1945, we have seen in no particular order Rwanda, Maos horrors, the Khmer Rouge, and many other examples of the unspeakable evil in the hearts of some of our fellow men. This includes The leader of Iran who talks openly about finishing the job that Hitler started as soon as he has a nuke to do it...while the rest of the world acts with all the decisiveness of Chamberlain and Daladier. Thus, at this point admonitions about "Never again!" are poor comedy.
Since this atrocity was stopped, people have periodically, with great solemnity declared that this type of horror will NEVER AGAIN be allowed to stand. Since 1945, we have seen in no particular order Rwanda, Maos horrors, the Khmer Rouge, and many other examples of the unspeakable evil in the hearts of some of our fellow men. This includes The leader of Iran who talks openly about finishing the job that Hitler started as soon as he has a nuke to do it...while the rest of the world acts with all the decisiveness of Chamberlain and Daladier. Thus, at this point admonitions about "Never again!" are poor comedy.
There are wicked people in this world. Whether attired in sheets, keffiyeh, jackboots or jaunty berets they will not be dissuaded from their evil by harsh language, kind words, tribute or solemn promises of peace in our time. Force is the only language these monsters understand. The real lesson of the worlds history since the Shoa is that all too often the good do nothing ensuring evils occur. This leaves the oppressed groups, whomever they may be, to their own devices.
It is widely believed that something like the above could never happen here. I certainly don't think it's at all likely.
However, it was not that long ago that strange fruit adorned southern trees, and only a little longer ago that the 5 Civilized Tribes got their answer to their request for congressional representation.
It should be remembered that Germany was one of the foremost leaders of science, reason and art yet they went mad. The Khmer Rouge were beatniks in Parisian colleges before they came to power and Robespierre was at first an idealistic humanist who was going to bring justice to all...
History can turn on a dime.
One of the lessons of the Holocaust is that granting a monopoly of power to a government is a dangerous gamble indeed, for governments are necessarily composed in large part of the sorts of people who seek and crave power over others.
We have in this country checks, balances and the first, second and fourth amendments. We can take some comfort in these as they greatly increase the likelihood that we will never see the likes of the above here.
But likelihood is not certainty, and never is a very long time.
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January 17, 2011
A Simple Bit of Math
I don't post as much uninformed blather on policy ideas as I used to because:
1: There are others who do it better.
2: The topic depresses me because there are few options open to us and all are varying levels of grim.
3: There are those few people who can make informed posts on policy.
CDR Salamander is one of the latter and he has a math lesson for us all.
He goes on.
It's short.
Read the whole thing.
In the late 19th early 20th century when other developing countries were going deep into debt for short term gain, Japan had a pretty simple defense strategy.
"Rich nation=strong army"
This was the slogan of all mainstream political parties there for something like 40 years. Men of great substance and ability like Eiichi Shibusawa were encouraged to be entrepreneurs and helped to bring Japan into the modern era.
Around the turn of the century Argentina developed a rather different policy... which I'll paraphrase with all due malice as "hope and change".
Argentina had many advantages over Japan, being an established republic that was on a par with the USA and only a little behind Europe technologically.
Argentina has never recovered.
Japan became a world power and was quite successful until they went off their trolley in the '30s.
I see many parallels between then and now.
I do not like them.
The options we have now, as I said earlier, are quite limited. They will grow more limited as time passes. We MAY have until 2013-14 to regain steering, and turn the ship of state away from the iceberg we are approaching. We are so close and our inertia is so great that we will suffer damage regardless, but as time passes our ability to meaningfully change course, even if we regain full helm control is steadily reduced, until oblivion is inevitable no mater what, so time is of the essence.
Of course, right now we don't have the bridge and have control of only one engine room....so the only thing we can realistically do in the next two years is reduce our speed.
That and review our counter flooding procedures.
1: There are others who do it better.
2: The topic depresses me because there are few options open to us and all are varying levels of grim.
3: There are those few people who can make informed posts on policy.
CDR Salamander is one of the latter and he has a math lesson for us all.
Jack made a good point last week over at USNIBlog,Something’s gotta give. In 2009, the U.S. spent $187 billion (more than China’s defense budget) paying off interest on government debt.
He goes on.
It's short.
Read the whole thing.
In the late 19th early 20th century when other developing countries were going deep into debt for short term gain, Japan had a pretty simple defense strategy.
"Rich nation=strong army"
This was the slogan of all mainstream political parties there for something like 40 years. Men of great substance and ability like Eiichi Shibusawa were encouraged to be entrepreneurs and helped to bring Japan into the modern era.
Around the turn of the century Argentina developed a rather different policy... which I'll paraphrase with all due malice as "hope and change".
Argentina had many advantages over Japan, being an established republic that was on a par with the USA and only a little behind Europe technologically.
Argentina has never recovered.
Japan became a world power and was quite successful until they went off their trolley in the '30s.
I see many parallels between then and now.
The options we have now, as I said earlier, are quite limited. They will grow more limited as time passes. We MAY have until 2013-14 to regain steering, and turn the ship of state away from the iceberg we are approaching. We are so close and our inertia is so great that we will suffer damage regardless, but as time passes our ability to meaningfully change course, even if we regain full helm control is steadily reduced, until oblivion is inevitable no mater what, so time is of the essence.
Of course, right now we don't have the bridge and have control of only one engine room....so the only thing we can realistically do in the next two years is reduce our speed.
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January 14, 2011
In Belarus
...fox shoots YOU!
"The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw,"
Actual footage of the fox, who does not look contrite.
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