tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post8048040291794259188..comments2024-03-28T18:18:37.133-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Space-Launch Mass Drivers and von Neumann machines: Science meets Science FictionDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71888192701551629812012-03-26T21:55:33.089-07:002012-03-26T21:55:33.089-07:00I don't know what interrogation methods you ex...I don't know what interrogation methods you expect from a slave owner.<br /><br />I didn't libel the leftists. I said, "We can already see when the far left opposed torture, and when they chose not to."<br /><br />If you want to say you saw them oppose it all the time, then go right ahead. I posted a link (multiple times) of "anti-war" leftists marching beside supporters of Al-Sadr. I didn't see anyone here willing to defend those leftists.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27104460072275170352012-03-26T20:40:43.343-07:002012-03-26T20:40:43.343-07:00I stand with George Washington and the 8th Amendme...I stand with George Washington and the 8th Amendment.<br /><br />I have no idea about, and care even less, about labels like "leftist" and so forth, but @RandyB's libeling of those who do is pitiable, but mostly pointless.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88343660250114175912012-03-26T05:46:30.732-07:002012-03-26T05:46:30.732-07:00I've already posted a link on the CIA's in...I've already posted a link on the CIA's interrogation policy under Truman and Eisenhower (probably a couple of threads downward).<br /><br />As for actual leftists and far leftists, that's up to you to figure out where you chose to stand.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11694010084077785742012-03-25T22:12:43.494-07:002012-03-25T22:12:43.494-07:00@RandyB's fighting ghosts: far-leftists ... no...@RandyB's fighting ghosts: far-leftists ... not Dr. Brin or any of the actual leftists here on Contrary Brin, but the lurkers in the shadows who think Eisenhower waterboarded prisoners.<br /><br />I feel great pity for him.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9649626306485846982012-03-25T19:37:36.904-07:002012-03-25T19:37:36.904-07:00Can't resist noticing, I guess you think Truma...Can't resist noticing, I guess you think Truman and Eisenhower should have gone to Spandau, too.<br /><br />History will sort them out just fine.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14829699378356734732012-03-25T18:28:07.130-07:002012-03-25T18:28:07.130-07:00Fortunately for President Bush, he'll be judge...Fortunately for President Bush, he'll be judged by history.<br /><br />It wasn't all that long ago that people were saying bad things about President Bush's policy of indefinite detention for some unlawful combatants (just kidding, they're still saying it), and yet President Obama carries on the same policy. And the Supreme Court supports it. I think history will recognize that.<br /><br />Bush's critics will be judged by history, too. We can already see when the far left opposed torture, and when they chose not to.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31104980271183979312012-03-25T11:42:56.716-07:002012-03-25T11:42:56.716-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14654394645614191612012-03-25T06:40:29.016-07:002012-03-25T06:40:29.016-07:00Rewinn,
By his own admission, David Brin is a lib...Rewinn,<br /><br />By his own admission, David Brin is a liberal, not a leftist.<br /><br /><br />I said the admonition against faking evidence is for lurkers. You never know how many lurkers there are here. Modifying blog posts years later has been done a number of times by bloggers who don't know any better.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22776996042588331672012-03-24T22:47:38.679-07:002012-03-24T22:47:38.679-07:00Now @RandyB is saying that leftists don't very...Now @RandyB is saying that leftists don't very often universally condemn all torture by all persons. <br /><br />Too bad he has never read a blog called "Contrary Brin"!<br /><br />===<br /><br />P.S. I LOL'd at the admonition against faking evidence, then I felt pity.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9270323171465584392012-03-24T07:18:52.086-07:002012-03-24T07:18:52.086-07:00Rewinn,
The LaRouches show up at normal conservat...Rewinn,<br /><br />The LaRouches show up at normal conservative demonstrations, like tea party events, because the law gives them the right to be there. But they're not invited.<br /><br />There are even pictures online of demonstrators who follow them around with signs to disavow them. The reason we know about them is because conservatives express disapproval, and blog about it. They are on the record.<br /><br />This doesn't happen with left-wing events. In fact, radical Islamists have been invited as speakers.<br /><br />I will amend my remarks to say that, if you see a left-wing blogger expressing disapproval, then you can say that person might also oppose torture regardless of who does it -- depending on how and when they say it. But if it happens, it doesn't happen very often.<br /><br /><br />BTW: If any lurker gets the idea of retroactively posting something, forget it. It's probably been archived elsewhere, and we'll see when they really posted it.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47574324437507663382012-03-23T17:21:07.569-07:002012-03-23T17:21:07.569-07:00The best thing about @RandyB's tarring every d...The best thing about @RandyB's tarring every demonstrator with supporting XXX if one person in the crowd supports XXX is that, almost without exception, LaRouches are in every demonstration supporting or opposing everything.<br /><br />By this logic, all humanity (at least within the United States) is universally supportive of each other. What a positive message!rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55961941479852510612012-03-23T13:33:59.296-07:002012-03-23T13:33:59.296-07:00Hank write to me at davidbrin@sbcglobal.net
==
...Hank write to me at davidbrin@sbcglobal.net<br /><br />==<br /><br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37386183219333938582012-03-23T13:31:04.770-07:002012-03-23T13:31:04.770-07:00> VOYA (the magazine for young
> adult libr...> VOYA (the magazine for young <br />> adult librarians)<br /><br />Could you provide that as a text file? The "VOYA" interface is dizzyingly unusable. Yes, I'm old. Your article is apparently on page 450 out of a total 104 pages, and I see no way to get to it. I can make the page zoom into my face and back easily enough. Motion sickness cue...Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65057661925938049232012-03-23T12:27:50.069-07:002012-03-23T12:27:50.069-07:00Let me add that the quickest way to end the horrif...Let me add that the quickest way to end the horrific slaughter and starvation of tens of millions in Asia during WWII was to persuade Japan to stop the war. <br /><br />After Midway they knew it was hopeless. Their obstinacy killed vast numbers and cutting the convoys carrying fuel etc to Japan was even more important at ending the obstinacy than the Atom Bomb.<br /><br />===<br /><br />onward......David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48579507641666014902012-03-23T12:03:38.120-07:002012-03-23T12:03:38.120-07:00Duncan,
"It is noticeable (by those of us th...Duncan,<br /><br /><i>"It is noticeable (by those of us that are not Americans)that America has a history of disparaging dubious practices and then performing them with vigor when the opportunity arises<br />- Unrestricted submarine warfare<br />Evil when the Germans do it - perfectly OK in the Pacific against the Japanese"</i><br /><br />Yes and no. As much as I'd expect hypocrisy regarding two of America's progressive presidents, it's not really the same thing.<br /><br />Submarines were still new in 1917. Unrestricted submarine warfare was seen in the same light as all naval warfare. That was no longer true by 1941. The U.S. was fighting by the rules as they'd already evolved.<br /><br />I could come up with better examples of hypocrisy, but that doesn't mean all transgressions are equal.<br /><br />For example, <a href="http://pjmedia.com/blog/live-from-dnc-its-zombietime-day-1/" rel="nofollow">here's a link of photos from the "anti-war" movement</a> that I've posted before. The second-to-last picture shows supporters of Muqtada Al-Sadr marching among them, which means that they support some truly horrific methods of torture.<br /><br />Does that mean everyone else in that "anti-war" demonstration supports, or at least condones, torture? No, not the photographer, and not the cops who were assigned to be there. But everyone else? Yes.<br /><br />So, if people on two sides are accused of supporting torture, one has to ask, are the methods of "torture" equal? The answer to that should be obvious.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61392972941028122182012-03-23T11:22:11.162-07:002012-03-23T11:22:11.162-07:00Ian said: “It's also a bit rich to complain ab...Ian said: “It's also a bit rich to complain about Chinese incompetence, conservatism ,corruption etc when the most competent and honest Chinese officials were regularly targeted by the Western Powers and forced from office.”<br /><br />Sorry, there is a pure counter-example. The Meiji government in Japan. They faced almost identical situations and internal conservatism. The brilliant Meiji emperor (who was portrayed as a silly little dope in that horrifically awful Last Samurai movie) achieved everything that China failed to do. Blaming western meddling has a bit of accuracy... and boils down to rationalization. The Qing ruling caste ruined China. Period.<br />Hypnos: “Well I’d probably choose 1960s California!”<br /><br />Hm... well that is exactly where I was... And it was no picnic. My father was 30 feet from Robert Kennedy when he was shot. Riots and skyrocketing crime. Okay, if you had long, flowing blond hair you could whip like a snake and a rich patter of counter-culture nostrums, you could get laid a lot. If you could see the lady through the smog. <br />“I am only questioning the idea that this comfort is a result of an objective superiority of Western society in terms of moral values, rather than the result of improved ability at conquest and plunder. I also question the universality of this model in the face of declining resources and growing environmental impacts.”<br /><br />Obviously <br />(1) I prefer your ideologically-propeled, counter-factual nostrums over those promulgated on the right. Yours represent the kind of self-criticism that may help us to continue to overcome our many faults. <br /><br />A process of error-correction that is THE absolute proof that you are wrong in every way... and that the west does indeed, have a huge moral and intellectual advantage over every other human society. YOU and the millions who feel the way you do are that proof.<br /><br />2) Nevertheless... it is utter, utter malarkey.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69641394848784992622012-03-23T11:21:51.919-07:002012-03-23T11:21:51.919-07:00Ian is correct that Pax Brittanica was fairly typi...Ian is correct that Pax Brittanica was fairly typical, in setting up mercantilist trade patterns that favored the capital’s industries. So did Pax Romona, Pax Sinica. All empires did this and Ghandi was right to complain. It always laid seeds for disaster when the periphery would finally rebel. <br /><br />(Though Pax Brittanica was improved by high-minded hypocrisy... they betrayed their high notions of being fair and noble, more often than not. But that very hypocrisy made them easier for Ghandi and others to leverage and Ghandi himself admitted it.)<br /><br />Pax Americana has been different in many ways. It had its egregious hypocrisies and betrayals of principle. But the ratio was better. For example. CHINA never in its entire history had a better foreign friend than the U.S. was, from 1845 till 1945. A century during which the U.S. earnestly and repeatedly strove to get others to take their hands off China. This needs to be repeated over and over, especially to the modern Beijing leadership. They never had a better friend, ever.<br /><br />As for those trade patterns, George Marshall made Pax Americana the first to impose ANTI mercantilist trade flows that benefitied farflung poor countries instead of home labor. It was a far-seeing program of staggering importance that uplifted half the world’s population into some semblence of a middle class.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84830343916596223012012-03-23T11:11:13.642-07:002012-03-23T11:11:13.642-07:00I'd say the spike in prices was predatory in n...I'd say the spike in prices was predatory in nature. It was meant to take advantage of those who do have to drive to polling stations, and take advantage of them if they needed gas. Considering the impracticality of a wide-scaled conspiracy by independent gas station owners, it was most likely a couple stations raised their prices and then the rest jumped on the bandwagon thinking there might be a spike in oil prices. The next day, prices started dropping and everyone rushed to drop prices so not to be abandoned by customers.<br /><br />Rob H., who watches gas prices following each other like murmurations of starlings in the skyAcacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1013458498532909682012-03-23T10:27:18.304-07:002012-03-23T10:27:18.304-07:00Paul451:
Do you guys get fuel price spikes on the...Paul451:<br /><i><br />Do you guys get fuel price spikes on the last day before or after a long weekend? <br /></i><br /><br />Of course, but that's usually a jump in prices. It's rare that the price then FALLS back as quickly as it went up. It's unprecedented (in my experience) to go up AND back down that much within a 24 hour period.<br /><br /><i><br />Could it have been the same thing: historical knowledge that there'll be a surge in purchases on primary days because of the increase in people driving to polling stations? (And this was just the first year you noticed.) <br /></i><br /><br />I live in a densely-packed urban area. I'd like to say most people walk to their polling place. Realizing that some people drive even on very short trips, I'd still have to say that driving to the polling place wouldn't require any more gasoline than driving to the grocery store. For me, it's an insignificant blip compared to my daily commute.<br /><br />I understand you and I are both engaging in "what if?" speculation rather than proven theories. In such thought experiments, the end result is not proof, but plausibility. "Which theory explains the known facts most plausibly?" I can't say for sure that the price spike had anything to do with election day (and I can't explain who would gain from such a move). But I don't think you've yet suggested an alternative theory that is any more plausible than mine.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22553746400914247142012-03-23T10:11:01.976-07:002012-03-23T10:11:01.976-07:00A few days late... but...
LarryHart,
"It was...A few days late... but...<br /><br />LarryHart,<br /><i>"It was a quarter a gallon higher JUST on the day of the Illinois primary elections. Could that have been done on purpose for some reason?"</i><br /><br />Do you guys get fuel price spikes on the last day before or after a long weekend? Could it have been the same thing: historical knowledge that there'll be a surge in purchases on primary days because of the increase in people driving to polling stations? (And this was just the first year you noticed.) Just suggesting a possible apolitical explanation.<br /><br />(roperist enderat: Lowest ever polling Presidential candidate (1848))Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-46602698897135821982012-03-23T06:49:02.146-07:002012-03-23T06:49:02.146-07:00The Brits are currently working on a Single-Stage-...The Brits are currently working on a Single-Stage-to-Orbit craft, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_Engines_Skylon" rel="nofollow">the Skylon</a>, which in theory could potentially lower satellite costs from the current £15,000/kg to £650/kg (to borrow statistics from Wikipedia). I suspect this is actually cheaper than Elon Musk's system, though a problem with the Skylon is that it isn't intended for more than low orbit (and by that I mean lower than even the Space Shuttle). <br /><br />The benefit would be as a ferry. You establish through rockets a refueling center, establish several space tugs, and rendezvous the Skylon with the tugs to deliver astronauts and less durable supplies to orbit while using rockets and mass drivers for the heavy lifting.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74380517941116898212012-03-23T06:36:57.708-07:002012-03-23T06:36:57.708-07:00To switch topics AGAIN:
The online version of New...To switch topics AGAIN:<br /><br />The online version of New Scientist has this article behind a pay-wall but here's the gist:<br /><br />A female chimp called Natasha displays human-like social intelligence. (Unfortunately the print version of the article is quite short and disappointingly vague about what that means.)<br /><br />One interesting point the article makes is that while chimps display a number of characteristics we think of as "human" they seem to be incapable of combining them as we do.<br /><br />So, for example, they possess the ability to learn and also display the capacity to employ a theory of mind, but they seem incapable of combining the two in order to teach others.<br /><br />(There was also an interesting piece last week about tool use in brown bears.The amusing bit: we know brown bears are highly intelligent, but we don;t know HOW intelligent because there are very few behavioral studies on them in the wild because let's face it, they're scary as hell and ave been known to eat researchers who get too close.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60537704374557086052012-03-23T06:20:59.128-07:002012-03-23T06:20:59.128-07:00“But I also know history really really well. And i...“But I also know history really really well. And if you can name a past culture you would actually prefer to this one, I would love to hear it... and make you defend your choice.”<br /><br />Well I’d probably choose 1960s California!<br /><br />Contemporary Western society is superior to all that preceded it in terms of material comfort, mostly as a result of exploiting fossil fuels. I’m not denying that. I am only questioning the idea that this comfort is a result of an objective superiority of Western society in terms of moral values, rather than the result of improved ability at conquest and plunder. I also question the universality of this model in the face of declining resources and growing environmental impacts.<br /><br />The example you make of colonies wanting Western manufactured good is actually the tell-tale sign of material exploitation. Colonies had their local industries destroyed and were reduced to exporting raw materials at a pittance and importing manufactured goods at high prices, to the benefits of the empire they belonged to. A similar relationship existed between the US South and Britain at first and the US North after that. As a result the South remains underdeveloped to this day. <br /><br />It is quite evident from the data that the trick to industrial development is protectionism. That is how all Western nations but Britain (which got there first and didn’t need it) developed. And that is the avenue that was denied to developing nations – to the point of forcibly removing their governments and substituting them with compliant, if brutal, dictatorships – because, as it is indeed happening now, it would have deprived the imperial West of a reliable source of wealth.<br /><br />Duncan, <br />The Romans made massive profits from imperial conquest. Their entire economy was based on slaves (acquired from wars) and agricultural land (acquired from wars). The bread subsidy to the Roman population depended on wealth extraction from colonies. The Roman Empire got into trouble when it ran into the “limits to growth” of its time. Barren wastelands in Scotland and Ireland, utterly not worth conquering. Unconquerable German tribes across the Rhine. The Sahara desert to the south. And the Parthian Empire to the east. What you get is a boxed in empire with no further wealth to plunder, that slowly starts consuming itself until it collapses. And that’s the path we are beating for ourselves now. Just substitute oil for slaves. <br /><br />Ian makes my case much better than I am doing. Industrial development was actively PREVENTED by Western powers in their colonies, as it would have undermined the source of their wealth.<br /><br />Dependency theory is very much alive and kicking.Hypnoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01409179274970587232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9256971653237381292012-03-23T06:20:08.835-07:002012-03-23T06:20:08.835-07:00“The fastest growing middle classes are all in dev...“The fastest growing middle classes are all in developing nations. Especially those financed by the greatest foreign aid program the world ever saw: Walmart.”<br />Not really. Those middle classes are growing fast in countries that are rival powers to the West much like Germany and America were to the British empire in the late 19th century. America was the biggest trade partner of Britain, and that still didn’t change its status as a challenger. To make a telling comparison (lifted wholesale from John Michael Greer’s blog) 19th century America had no respect for copyright, much like China, stealing technologies and intellectual property from Britain all the time. Quite revealing is the encyclopedia Britannica, which was copied wholesale except for the entry of free trade, which was changed into an apology of protectionism, which is what America nascent industries needed.<br />Walmart has nothing to do with growth in the middle classes of emerging economies. In fact, those middle classes are growing just as the Western ones are shrinking – and there is a direct link there. The wealth we used to take out is now staying put, and we are suffering the consequences. <br /><br />“Prove this. Almost every time it has been promulgated, it was later disproved. “Or take the "gentle" bushmen or !Kung people. They ARE gentle... day to day. But one fellow actually asked: do you know someone who was murdered, or who killed another? It calculated out to Detroit on Saturday night.”<br />I don’t believe in the myth of the noble savage. Violence has a role in every human society. But the !Kung present a good example of gender equality, with defined but flexible social roles (women generally gathered but could become hunters) and liberal divorce traditions (women could divorce their husband whenever they so wished).<br /><br />On Roman racism: it is quite an historical consensus that Romans had little or no concept of biological race. They despised white but barbaric Germans much more than black but civilized Egyptians and Ethiopians. Skin colour does not future prominently in Roman texts, and Roman citizens of African descent rose to high roles in Roman society. Septimius Severus, a Libyan, became emperor.Hypnoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01409179274970587232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76745528033050629962012-03-23T06:04:24.018-07:002012-03-23T06:04:24.018-07:00To switch topics:
Has anyone done work on a hybri...To switch topics:<br /><br />Has anyone done work on a hybrid Mass Driver system that accelerates a vehicle to, say, Mach 3 or Mach 4 before it uses on-board engines for the rest of the trip to orbit?<br /><br />Compared to a Maglev system capable of accelerating something all the way to orbital velocity, the cost and complexity of such a system would be greatly reduced.<br /><br />Clearly the cost savings wouldn't be as great and you'd be introducing a whole other set of potential failure modes but it might be worth considfering as a transitional step/proof of concept.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.com