One Obvious Problem with an Armed Populace
posted on March 27th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
As you may have heard, an armed airline pilot discharged his pistol inside the cockpit while the plane was in the air on Saturday. He was apparently attempting to stow it when it discharged. As a gun owner, I recognize that it would take countless hours of training and ongoing practice to be able to use my gun effectively in any sort of self-defense scenario. I’m not willing to put in that much effort, so my Walther P-22 stays locked up when I’m not actually target shooting. I’m also nervous about airline pilots carrying guns; it’s very difficult to prevent a determined team of attackers from disarming a single target, so I typically follow the “never carry a weapon that I wouldn’t want an attacker to take away from me” rule. These concerns are only slightly mitigated by the reality that most airline pilots are former military pilots; when they were in the military, perhaps they practiced with their sidearms frequently, and perhaps even practiced the tactical skills necessary to use a gun effectively in a stressful situation. But have they been getting that kind of practice in lately?
Peter Biddle, putting it much more simply than I ever could, notes that “trust is not transitive”. The best part:
We can assume that a trained pilot, when facing piloty thingies, will act like a trained pilot. WE CANNOT ASSUME THAT A TRAINED PILOT WILL ACT LIKE A TRAINED LION-TAMER WHEN FACING A WILD LION.
If I were to walk around with a loaded gun, even one I’d fired 10,000 rounds through, I’d be an accident waiting to happen. What steps are being followed to make sure airline pilots are not?
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Solar Thermal: Weapon of Choice in the War Against Coal?
posted on March 27th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
Clean Technica just posted a great article clearly explaining why solar thermal power is an important part of the new energy equation. Perhaps the most common coal mindset complaint about anything solar is the idea that you might have no power on a cloudy day, or at night. The article points out two important factors:
- Every day during summer, natural gas and oil powered plants come online for the day to meet the tremendous demand of the nation’s air conditioners, and then shut down again at night. All kinds of solar solutions, including photovoltaic and solar thermal, can be used to help meet this peak power.
- Unlike photovoltaic cells, which turn sunlight directly into electrical current, solar thermal plants focus sunlight to create heat, and use the heat to spin turbines, just like almost every other conventional power plant. And as the Thermos people can tell you, it’s a lot easier to store heat than it is to store electricity.
Solar thermal builder Ausra claims that 90% of America’s energy needs could be met with Solar Thermal; I think that sounds a bit ambitious, but it’s becoming very clear that solar thermal energy can and should take a leading roll in the decades to come.
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The Evolution of Florida: 1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back
posted on March 26th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
The Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun-Sentinel are reporting that Republican lawmakers in the Florida State Senate are attempting to undo, or at least roll back, the progress made last month when Florida’s science education standards were amended to include Evolution for the first time ever. The new “academic freedom” bills, SB 2962and HB 1483, would allow teachers to discuss the “glaring weakness” of evolution, claims proponent and noted dumbfuck John Stemberger.
Here we go again.
Evolution is a “Theory” in the same way that Gravity is a “Theory.” To scientists, the word “Theory” means “something that can be tested and verified with experiments.” Evolution has a mountain of experimental and observational data supporting it. College students all over the world have repeatedly observed micro-evolution in fruit flies. Human DNA shows that different traits evolved in different regions of the world throughout human history. Motherfucking Dinosaurs. There is no evidence at all in favor of Intelligent Design, and science class should be about evidence. Any assertion that evolution isn’t true is simply ignorance.
I grew up in Florida. I am a product of 12 years of Florida public school education, and proud of it. Not even the rampant election shenanigans of the last 8 years has been sufficient to stop defending my home state. But things like this just make us look stupid. As the holder of a Florida State High School Diploma, I demand that the house and senate of Florida not devalue my diploma with this unforgivable ignorance.
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Justice John G. Roberts: A Nation Unto Himself
posted on March 26th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
It’s extremely gratifying to see a Supreme Court ruling in which the majority decision claims to be reining in the extraordinary executive powers that El Presidente has claimed for himself. Which makes it all the more upsetting when that ruling turns out to be a bucket of horse shit.
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posted on March 24th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
Adam Nagourney has written a column in the New York Times describing Senator Clinton’s “stay alive scenario” for the remaining 10 state primaries. He argues that huge wins (not just wins) in Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico would bring to the forefront Obama’s perceived difficulties with working class whites and latinos of all stripes. This would cause a massive slide in the general election polls, and could force the Democratic superdelegates to intercede at the convention and broker a nomination for Clinton, even if, as is likely, Clinton is trailing in pledged delegates, states won, and popular votes at the time.
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Yup, I’m Playing the Race Card.
posted on March 21st, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
If you’re still not satisfied with Barack Obama’s explanation as to why he has condemned Rev. Wright’s statements but won’t sever all ties with him, then you’re a racist. The rant continues…
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posted on March 17th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
Wired’s Threat Level blog is reporting that the gubmint is developing a program to detect terrorists in “virtual worlds and large-scale online games”; as revealed in a larger report on data mining from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The rant continues…
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Sexual Hypocrisy is the Kinkiest Kind of Hypocrisy
posted on March 15th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
And no, I’m not joining in the chorus of people calling Spitzer a hypocrite. I’m calling everyone else a hypocrite. The rant continues…
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An Open Letter to the Staff and Supporters of Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama
posted on March 13th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
Stop it.
Just stop.
We all know she’s a woman. We all know a woman has never been elected President before. We all know he’s black. We all know a black man has never been elected President before. You guys don’t have to keep bringing it up. And you don’t have to get mad at the other side when they bring it up. And you don’t have to get mad at the other other side when they call you out for bringing it up. And you don’t have to get mad at the other other other side when they accuse you of distorting your response when you condemned them for bringing it up. We get it. Nobody’s calling anyone a sexist or a racist. We all agree this contest is polarized by race and gender. The rant continues…
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“Yes Mr. Jobs. Thank you, Mr. Jobs.”
posted on March 10th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
Okay, Apple Fanboyz. Defend your boy Steve Jobs.
Apple’s pioneering spirit in the field of product lock-in has brought us many innovations in inflexibility for the customer in the name of perceived convenience. But as the details of Apple’s new SDK for the iPhone begin to appear in PCWorld, Wired, and elsewhere, it becomes clear that Apple has brought lock-in to a new and exciting level. The rant continues…
