Paradox Point

                Neither Warfare nor Justice                Written during the Obama administration                   What shall we call the bin Laden slaying? For it seems to be neither warfare nor justice.                One of my friends called it "expediency", which sounds about right, and it fits Barack Obama to a T. Or you could euphemize it as "irregular warfare".                Another of my friends said "he needed killing." This too sounds about right, and it fits Osama bin Laden to a T. Or you could euphemize it as "justified homicide".                So what you call Obama's killing of Osama depends on if you have ...

  Ding! Ding! American Showdown!!! In this corner! Leo XIV, American Pope, The Woke Pope, Imitator of Christ! Versus! In that corner! Donald Trump, American President, The MAGA Menace, Imitator of the Anti-Christ! Let the tweeting begin!

           Telepresence Model of FTL             Space colonization by humans, rather than robots, is a negative-profit venture. Maybe you can con some cultists, and force some convicts, to live in a tin can forever: but it’ll be cheaper to put those losers on Antarctica. Meanwhile robots will do the exploring and mining. Robots are made for space; we’re made for this paradise planet. Telepresence is the best spacesuit! I speculate that the main use for FTL communication will be to control telepresence robots. Put on the gloves and goggles, and you are there! FTL itself is for sending the robots there, and manufactured products back. The Telepresence Model of FTL Exploration is that it is done entirely by telepresence. Humans stay on Earth. They send the telepresence robots by FTL to a distant star system: humans on Earth put on goggles and gloves, and see though the robot’s cameras, and move things ...

TANSTAAFL Decoded   TANSTAAFL stands for “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch”. This sound-bite, popularized by Heinlein in “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress”, has some serious problems. For one thing, almost half of it is filler. “Such Thing As A”: those four words, out of nine, add nothing. They aren’t needed, even for grammar. Without them it reads “There Ain’t No Free Lunch”, which says the same in 5/9ths of the words. ******* From the personal log of the leader of an Expedition into the Heinlein Desert: Word 1, “Such”. We have entered the Heinlein Desert. The landscape is bleak and supplies are low. Word 2, “Thing”. We are out of food and low on water. Word 3, “As”. Water gone. Morale low. Conditions desperate. Word 4, “A”. Most of us dead. A curse on the Heinlein Desert. ******* And even if we bypass the Heinlein Desert, “there ain’t no free lunch” has a double negative in it. Now, I ain’t against “ain’t”: it’s a wonderfully warm word, which deserves g...

           Sinatra Effect             There’s something that I call the “Sinatra Effect”. I once saw a video clip of Frank Sinatra when he was young and cute and charming and appealing. This astonished me, for my whole life I only knew Sinatra as old and ugly and bitter and scary. This disconnect is what I call the Sinatra Effect.           Likewise, I never knew “conservatives” as conserving the use of government power; nor as prudent rational traditionalists. On the contrary! They may still be running on that reputation, but most people now alive never knew them like that. Thus, a Sinatra Effect.           In general the Sinatra Effect afflicts anyone or anything that outlives its appeal. For instance, Bill Cosby and Woody Allen.               ...

Starfleet Regulations       Prime Directive: The Universe shall not interfere with Starfleet.   Prime Excuse: The aliens made me do it.   Motto: To boldly go where angels fear to tread.   Dress Code: Red shirts die!   Foreign Policy: Let’s you and them fight.   Domestic Policy: You will be tolerated. Resistance is futile.   Technical Problem: Technobabble pollutes subspace.   Secret Weapon: Beam me outta here!   Secret Shame: Transporters replicate redshirts.