This is an update to my post, To Kill or Not to Kill?, from Aug. 12: News just broke that a jury took less than two hours to recommend the death penalty for Maj. Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13…
Longer Reads
The Privacy of Rooftops
C-SPAN’s Washington Journal broadcast an excellent program on the “Domestic Use of Drones” coinciding with AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems 2013, a trade show in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. On display were the latest in…
To Kill or Not to Kill?
Every time I get comfortable with the idea of abolishing the death penalty—an expensive, flawed practice that kills an unknown number of innocent people—along comes someone who commits a crime so heinous and who is so obviously guilty beyond doubt…
Can Twitter Rescue Diplomatic Bombast?
In 1960, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave a speech at the United Nations, where he banged his shoe and declared, “We will bury you!” Although later deemed a mistranslation of what was closer in meaning to a vow that communism…
The Fire Inside
Book Review: AND SO IT GOES: KURT VONNEGUT: A LIFE by Charles J. Shields Henry Holt and Co., 2011 Many biographies include in their titles the phrase, “a life.” When it comes to Kurt Vonnegut, what a life it…
The Helicopter’s Unrealized Potential
Book Review: How the Helicopter Changed Modern Warfare by Walter J. Boyne Pelican Publishing Co., 2011 This book is a must-read for anyone interested in flying machines and particularly for those who like military history. For everyone attending the…