Month: October 2011

An underappreciated challenge of interstellar travel:

If the human race ever travel to other star systems, the journey could take generations. … With ideas such as light-speed travel or 'suspended animation' still a glint in a science fiction writer's eye, reproduction in space might be essential … But scientists are not sure it is even possible. 'Giving birth in zero gravity is going to be hell because gravity helps you,' said biologist Athena Andreadis of the University of Massachussetts, 'You rely on the weight of the baby. Sex is very difficult in zero gravity, because you have no traction and you keep bumping against the walls.' 

Joshua Foust criticizes the Administration's inability to say what victory is or how to measure if we're close:

[Obama's team] defines victory in the war as absence: Afghanistan is a success if X does not happen. It is an impossible goal, as a single act could lead to defeat. By President Obama’s defnition of  victory, success means al Qaeda can never use Afghanistan or Pakistan to threaten the United States. This then means the war is either already won, or it will never be won — al Qaeda does not have a safe haven in Afghanistan and is “on the ropes,” or, alternatively, we must stay there forever to make sure it never has a safe haven in Afghanistan or Pakistan. This is strategic incoherence at its most stark.

Paul Rogers neatly explains why the Surge has failed at the specific objective of producing a negotiated settlement. Image above from Pew's latest report. Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans were "asked what single word best describes their experience in those countries. Size of the word is proportional to the number of times it was volunteered."

Dan Blumenthal attempts to debunk 10 "unicorns" about Chinese foreign policy. Among them:

China is America's banker. America cannot anger its banker. In fact, China is more like a depositor. It deposits money in U.S. Treasurys because its economy does not allow investors to put money elsewhere. There is nothing else it can do with its surpluses unless it changes its financial system radically … It makes a pittance on its deposits. If the United States starts to bring down its debts and deficits, China will have even fewer options. China is desperate for U.S. investment, U.S. Treasurys, and the U.S. market. The balance of leverage leans toward the United States

Arthur Kroeber made related points last month:

China holds just 8% of outstanding US Treasury debt; American individuals and institutions hold 69%. China holds just 1% of all US financial assets (including corporate bonds and equities); US investors hold 87%. Chinese commercial banks lend almost nothing to American firms and consumers – the large majority of that finance comes from American banks. America’s banker is America, not China.

Today on the Dish, Andrew gave a eulogy for Steve Jobs, who lived fearlessly and was the only man in America who "knew what the hell was going on" (thoughts on how Jobs changed the world here). Andrew admitted to being stunningly wrong about Palin, he confronted his future in Trig-blogging, and the Palinistas reloaded. Andrew's retraction from yesterday's post on the Palin news here.  

GOP voters and institutions refused to grow up, the anti-Romney right became restless as the field crystallized, and we debated whether the former governor's success can be attributed to luck or skill. Laura Ingraham broadcasted an unhinged indictment of Obama and affirmative action, Cain's schedule revealed the true nature of his presidential ambitions, and Chait and Matt Welch duked it out over libertarian dogma. The global economy braced for election season, and Bank of America's new fees are annoying but out in the open.

Andrew discussed Obama's record on Israel, we lingered on Pinker's incredible study of violence, and Ken Ballen shared insights into the disarming earnestness of terrorists. Americans and our veterans grew weary of the neocon agenda, and drones are appealing as a better way to kill, but we still need more information. Adam Chandler connected Israel's tent protests to Occupy Wall Street. 

Readers continued to discuss the gender wage and education gap, and Andrew went another round on atheism and Biblical literalism. SlutWalk was crowded out by the occupiers, whose 99% slogan confounds. Sesame Street broached the issue of hunger and poverty, movie subsidies proved indefensible, and medicine doesn't mix well with protest movements and politics. A brand consultant claimed that our brains are in love with iPhones, and a conflicted owner gave his up. Implants can serve a critical purpose, big men cry, and it's better not to risk actually liking your opponents by meeting them. Alyssa wondered what outlandish rape scenes accomplish, and the virtual classroom asks a bit too much.

Tweet of the day here, chart of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

– M.A.

(Photo: A man uses his iPhone to take a photo of flowers, signs, apples and candles sitting outside the Apple Store on 5th Avenue on October 6, 2011 in New York City. The shrine has been created in rememberance of Steve Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple Inc., who died on October 5, 2011. By Andrew Burton/Getty Images.)

Adam Chandler compares the Occupy Wall Street movement to Israel's #j14 tent protests:

Taking a lap through Zuccotti Park, you’ll hear snippets of conversations about the environment, gay rights, police brutality, the Iraq War, Afghanistan, the drone program, tax cuts, foreign aid, and more. But the single overarching theme of the protests has been corporate greed. It is this one-note song of economic inequality that has so far allowed a collection of students, the unemployed, activists, anarchists, immigrants, and union members to form a coalition. They say they represent the 99 percent; the wealthiest 1 percent, they point out, controls 40 percent of the country’s wealth. Similarly, by avoiding divisive political issues such as settlements, the status of Jerusalem, the future of the West Bank, policy toward Iran, and financial subsidies for the ultra-Orthodox, and focusing on one issue—the untenable cost of living—J14 was able to unite Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Christians, Druze, gays, the religious, the secular, the left-wing, and the right-wing in common cause. In its final rally on Sept. 3, 2011, 400,000 people participated—roughly 6 percent of the country’s population.

Marc Tracy expands on Chandler's thoughts with some on-the-ground reporting.

(Photo: Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement rally before marching through Lower Manhattan on October 5, 2011 in New York City. By Mario Tama/Getty Images.)

"[A]nyone who thinks Gov. Palin or any of us 'cultists' are going to go away has another thing coming — in fact, a reinvigorated Palin movement is already coalescing. The people who would have been the core supporters of a Palin campaign are now the biggest and most powerful bloc of free agents in the 2012 primary, and I’m practically salivating at the idea of watching the establishment candidates trek up to Wasilla to genuflect and beg for an endorsement," – "Palinista" Adam Brickley. Politicalprof checks in on other Palin fans and compiles fawning comments on Sarah's facebook announcement.

Appropriately.

Via Gulliver, who uses it to explain why the "don't cut defense" crowd is so offbase.

Amitai Etzioni sees the advantages of drones:

Indeed, if kill we must, drones have a major advantage over bombers, missiles and Special Forces: drones can linger for hours over their target before they take it out. This unique attribute allows the military to sort out whether it found the right target and whether the resulting collateral damage is tolerable. There is even time for lawyers to review troublesome cases.

Benjamin Friedman thinks he misses an essential point:

The trouble with Etzioni’s commentary is that it ignores critics of drone strikes that see the alterative as doing nothing, or at least doing something non-lethal. In that case, the question is whether the humanitarian toll and blowback is worth the benefit of the killing, not whether there is a better way to kill. I say we in the public lack the ability to make that judgment and should oppose the strikes until we have better information.

 

People wait in line to receive free milk from the Milk from the Heart program which makes weekly deliveries to Washington Heights and 12 other locations in Manhattan and the Bronx on October 6, 2011 in New York City. As the economy throughout the nation struggles, prices on many food staples have continued to rise. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, milk prices throughout the Northeast are 19 percent higher than two years ago with the average price of a gallon of milk now at $4. The Milk from the Heart program gives individuals in need two free quarts of milk and hands out about 14,000 quarts a month. The program, which has witnessed a steady increase in participants, is financed partly by private donors and is part of the non-profit Homes for the Homeless. By Spencer Platt/Getty Images.