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Pre-vacation post
Apr. 15th, 2009 09:13 amI am going on a vacation tomorrow (a cruise, actually, first one on a non-gray ship). I hear nowadays that these new-fangled ships have satellite Internet (back in my day, we used telex and liked it) but I'm not taking the laptop or surfing the 'Net. So, here's some random thoughts for your reading pleasure.
Regarding yesterday's entry, I should be a bit more clear. I'm not worried about actual mutinies on armed merchant ships, but I do think that, for a lot of ships, crew cohesion is so low that expecting them to fight together is unrealistic.
Speaking of pirates, I see that another US-flagged ship, the Liberty Sun, was attacked by pirates. In this case, they successfully repelled boarders. We've not seen the end of this piracy mess by a long shot.
There has been much to-do in the news lately about "Tea Parties." These protests are getting a lot of press, although they seem to lack a coherent message. Well, this fellow says that the folks who attend the parties are nuts. Based on my "discussions" with the folks at Rand Simberg's blog I'd have to agree.
Isn't a little sacrifice for the good of the country the patriotic thing to do? Or is patriotism limited to putting little yellow ribbons (made in China) on the back of our SUVs? Is it patriotic to fund a war on a tax cut, and tell people to respond to a crisis by going shopping?
Lastly, President Obama held an "Econ 101" class yesterday. For anybody who's confused about why he's doing what he's doing with the economy, go read the whole thing. It's a bit long, but detailed and in clear English.
Regarding yesterday's entry, I should be a bit more clear. I'm not worried about actual mutinies on armed merchant ships, but I do think that, for a lot of ships, crew cohesion is so low that expecting them to fight together is unrealistic.
Speaking of pirates, I see that another US-flagged ship, the Liberty Sun, was attacked by pirates. In this case, they successfully repelled boarders. We've not seen the end of this piracy mess by a long shot.
There has been much to-do in the news lately about "Tea Parties." These protests are getting a lot of press, although they seem to lack a coherent message. Well, this fellow says that the folks who attend the parties are nuts. Based on my "discussions" with the folks at Rand Simberg's blog I'd have to agree.
Isn't a little sacrifice for the good of the country the patriotic thing to do? Or is patriotism limited to putting little yellow ribbons (made in China) on the back of our SUVs? Is it patriotic to fund a war on a tax cut, and tell people to respond to a crisis by going shopping?
Lastly, President Obama held an "Econ 101" class yesterday. For anybody who's confused about why he's doing what he's doing with the economy, go read the whole thing. It's a bit long, but detailed and in clear English.
