Edgewise

One of the All-Time Great "Thought Experiments"

This must have come from Galileo, I guess. In any case, it is to show that heavy objects don’t fall faster than lighter objects.

Imagine three identical bricks falling—at the same speed, obviously. Two of the bricks have adhesive on their sides.

As they fall, these two bricks happen to touch, and the adhesive joins them together.

Does this double-weight object suddenly begin to fall faster than the third brick?

Mass Confusion over "ASST"

I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets confused by the terribly ambiguous abbreviation “ASST.” I mean, all you have to do is take one look at:

ASST VEGETABLES

and

ASST DA’s

Don’t you often find yourself reading them:

Assistant Vegetables

and

Assorted DA’s

Please, sign-makers, a little clarity wouldn’t hurt.

A Four Star Officer Is Something to Be

“[Vice Adm.] Olson, 55, has been the command’s deputy chief since August 2003. If confirmed by the full Senate, he would receive a fourth star and…”

I can totally relate. I once won a Gold Star for getting all the words right on a Spelling Test. It was a terrific motivator. And it still works with adults!

"Enemy Combatant" vs. "Unlawful Enemy Combatant"--A Technicality?

The Guantanamo prisoners were found by pre-trial tribunals to be “enemy combatants,” but not necessarily “unlawful enemy combatants.” US officials have characterized this as a “technicality,” and the press has bought in to that.

Shockingly, even Sen. Levin’s proposed revamp “would make the commissions act’s definition of ‘unlawful enemy combatant’ the same as it is in the review tribunals, effectively eliminating the problem identified at Guantanamo on Monday.” (Boston Globe) Just run them through again.

(I am, as usual, disclaiming legal expertise here, but…)

We were at war in Afghanistan, fighting primarily the Taliban army, the only army that nation had. If a tribunal finds you an enemy combatant, what they have found is you were an enemy soldier.

A captured enemy soldier is a Prisoner of War. To be deprived of the rights of a POW (including no interrogation beyond “name, rank, and serial number”), you must be found an “unlawful combatant,”not a technicality. There are many criteria never considered before. For example:

—Were you wearing a uniform? (Do “black pajamas” pass muster?)

—Were you part of a military command structure? (Has any evidence been brought on this?)

—Did you show yourself as a soldier? (Keeping in mind that Army snipers and mine-setters obviously count as soldiers.)

Any revamped tribunals must adhere to Geneva standards.

And, politically, everyone has to realize that fighting against American soldiers in war—or even chauffeuring Al Qaeda leaders or attending their training camps—does not, in itself, make you a terrorist.

Apocalypse from the Moment of Conception

US charges 4 men in plot to blow up JFK airport, Boston Globe, 6/3/07

“[T]he alleged plot was never close to fruition. The FBI had been tracking the alleged plot since 2006, and a member of the group was an FBI informant. In addition, the suspects lacked both the expertise and equipment [explosives, for example] necessary to turn their aspiration into a reality…”

DKo: It was barely a gleam in the eye. But this is the Bush administration’s Article of Faith: Every horrendous aspiration has, from the very moment of its conception, the right to treated as full-grown, real life threat. I mean, it’s not like they just hype something up whenever things have been too quiet. Is it?

“Roslynn Mauskop, the US attorney in Brooklyn, described the arrests as a major victory that broke up ‘one of the most chilling plots imaginable…’”

DKo: This person needs to read some Edger Allen Poe.