Octopodial Chrome

Michael Lopp writes about Nerd Attention Deficit Disorder---not our inability to pay attention, but our need to pay attention to multiple data sources at one time.

The science-fiction Jerry Pournelle (generally considered fairly right-wing) has an excellent article on drug laws and federalism.

Robert Farley believes that we should abolish the Air Force. I’m roughly inclined to agree, although there could perhaps be unanticipated pitfalls. The in-depth discussion is highly interesting.

Arguments against the Air Force

• The Air Force is not well-suited to fighting counterinsurgency wars
• Every armed service has its own air wing already
• Air power does not win wars the way sea and ground power do; strategic bombing did not win World War II, Korea or Vietnam
• The Air Force is most effective when supporting the Army, yet hates that role
• An Air Force co-equal with the Army and Navy tends to argue for an air power solution to every problem
• Most nations have Air Forces

Arguments for the Air Force

• It’s hubris to think that we’ll only be fighting counterinsurgency wars in the future
• Air power won in Kosovo
• The Air Force can correct its course without being rolled back into the Army
• The Air Force has excellent satellite and technical capabilities
• Eliminating the Air Force would be a hassle

All in all, it makes sense to me to bring the Air Force back into the Army and perhaps consider a Space Force to control satellites, ICBMs and the weaponisation of space (orbital artillery: God’s own smite button). But I don’t know that it’s really that big of a deal, so long as the Army is allowed to operate fixed-wing aircraft for close-air support.

Apparently our ultra-paranoid anti-tourism measures are having an effect: we have had a 17% decline in tourist travel, costing us $94 billion in lost revenue and losing 200,000 jobs. Gosh, thanks guys.

Here’s Mark Shuttleworth’s nightmare account. Due to once travelling on a plane whose operator hadn’t signed the visa-waiver treaty, he was questioned, fingerprinted, physically examined and had his visa waiver access terminated forever. From now on he must fill out the visa form for those with a criminal record, despite not actually doing anything wrong.

People, this is twisted.

The recently-released realtor sales figures are deliberately misleading; housing sales fell 22.7% year-over-year and prices fell 4.2%. Housing is crashing; the media and the realtors’ association want to conceal that fact—but the numbers speak for themselves.

How much road space is required for transport by car, bus and bicycle? The results are unsurprising, but once again indicate why public or human-powered transport is so very much more reasonable than private automobiles. Not too that this is a picture in Münster, German, so the cars pictured are rinky-dinky Euro-cars, not real American cars.

Chris Kavanaugh and an archæology team were stranded on an island within view of a metropolis without water or supplies; with luck and skill they managed to survive.