Saturday, August 28, 2004

Lunar power

The moon doesn't get enough credit. It gives us light at night when we need it, it doesn't burn anybody, and it even provides power as noted here.

It comes in pints?

That's where you'll find this item about side effects of Viagra.

Oh, and read the comments and decide for yourself whether Ken Summers is being defensive...

German Spiked Helmet Evolution

Being an engineer, I'm a form-follows-function kind of guy. Which means that things like the old fashioned spiked helmets once worn by Prussian soldiers were kind of a mystery. Why spend the money on some expensive ornament for the top of the helmet? And if it wasn't an ornament, just what good was it?

What am I rambling about? This - German Spiked Helmet Evolution.

Stolen from The Corner.

Friday, August 27, 2004

Dump Dick Durbin

Once merely a lovely sentiment, now it's a blog.

Somebody throw this silly arch-partisan hack out of office. IMO the country would be better served if his seat were vacant.

It's good for you

Yeah, yeah, few things are as annoying as an Objectivist who's had too much of the Kool-Aid. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't read Atlas Shrugged. IMO your education simply isn't complete until you've read it. If nothing else, you'll miss a lot of references to it in blogs, and few fates could be more ignominious than that.

It's a long book, and parts of it drag. But you can get an idea of what it's about starting here.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Prediction

Karma demands the following.

Terrorists will attack an NBA playoff or all-star game in the next year. Several players will suffer grievous injury at best.

Which ones will be hurt? The ones who are staying home from this year's Olympics because of "security concerns".

It's their off season, which grows ever shorter. It's a chance to get injured, which is a very real concern. And although it's really hard to beat the prestige of an Olympic medal, they're not compensated for playing to my knowledge. And Kobe Bryant has some legal troubles to deal with. So it's not as if there's no understandable reason why an athlete might beg off.

But really now - do they think the security in Athens is worse than what they'd have on average at NBA games here in the US?

But he went through the proper channels

An example of justice Iranian style.

Monday, August 23, 2004

Yucca Mountain and John Kerry

As discussed by the inimitable Jonah Goldberg on NRO.

The point that keeps getting obscured is that whatever objections may be raised to Yucca Mountain, 1) it's better than anyplace else we're using now for the same purpose, and 2) we're not likely to find better. To bitch about nuclear waste *and* Yucca Mountain's use for disposal is about as clear-cut an example of the best being the enemy of the good that you're likely to see.

That's assuming that you believe antinukers are motivated by genuine informed concerns. At best this does not account for all of them. Many of the rest simply want to cause the US nuclear power industry to die of constipation, and they figure that this is the way to make it happen.

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Capital Dancesport Championships this weekend

It's at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, VA this Thursday through Saturday. It starts on Thursday as noted here, culminating in Saturday night's show of pros competing in International and American styles.

It's not a cheap ticket, but it's a good show. I'll be around all three days - come by and see us!