Category Archives: Technology and Society

Business, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society

MGM Resorts

28 Comments

The first lawsuit has been filed against them for the Vegas shooting. There will be more, and they’ll have to settle. Three days of “Do Not Disturb” and no attention paid to all that luggage going in and none coming out does appear to me to be negligent. Particularly since it seems to have been a comped room. I think the real lesson here isn’t about gun control, but better security in high locations near entertainment and event venues.

[Friday-afternoon update]

Karl Denninger is unhappy and unimpressed with the Vegas authorities. To put it mildly.

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Technology and Society

Harvey Weinstein Destroyed Hollywood

7 Comments

Now what?

What does this all mean? Hollywood is worse than you thought it was, even than I thought it was. And I worked there for years, observing things close up. These people — led by Weinstein as the local Henry VIII, now decamped for Europe for an Anthony Weiner-style rehab — have solidified themselves as some of the biggest hypocritical fakes in recorded history, deceiving themselves even more, if that’s possible, than they deceive the rest of us.

Can you imagine how it’s going to be watching this year’s Oscars as they coop up awards while making political pronouncements on whatever cause strikes their superficially conventional (but personally sick) fancies, especially if those causes express veiled contempt for the morals of those clods in flyover country who are supposed to be their audience?

Speaking as a member of the Academy since the 1980s, I won’t be watching. It’s over for me, especially since Joan Rivers is no longer with us to lend a certain amused cynicism to the vulgar orgy of self-congratulation. And I suspect I won’t be alone. Hollywood has become the new NFL. People will soon be turning it off.

As he says it’s an opportunity for conservative investors. Which they’ll miss.

[Thursday-morning update]

More thoughts from Allahpundit:

Middle America has always suspected the movie industry of being a den of perverts, cutthroats, and sociopaths. Now here’s Weinstein apparently proving it’s worse than everyone thought. And as more comes out on others, it may get worse still.

Yep.

Business, Economics, History, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Space, Technology and Society, War Commentary

The Old Space Age Began

11 Comments

Today is the 60th anniversary of Sputnik. I have some thoughts over at The Weekly Standard. I’ll have more later today at PJMedia.

[Update a couple minutes later]

Henry Spencer reminds me that upon the successful launch, Korolev supposedly said “The road to the stars is now open.” A little premature, I think…

[Update a while later]

For a detailed history of the program, go read Asif Siddiqi over at The Space Review (it’s part one, the second part will appear next Monday).

[Update a couple minutes later, after going through the Siddiqi piece]

This is excellent. It is likely now the best available history of its development.

[Update a few minutes later]

Anatoly Zak reminds us that Sputnik wasn’t about the satellite; it was about the rocket.

[Update a while later]

More from Siddiqi on recent translations. Kind of amazing how much we still don’t know about space history six decades later.

[Update a while later]

How dreams of space-faring zombies resulted in Sputnik. Well, sort of.

[Update late morning]

Here‘s Chris Gebhart’s take.

[Afternoon update]

My (other) take is now up over at PJMedia. As usual, most comments are ignorant and/or idiotic.

[Update a week later]

Part 2 of Siddiqi’s new history is up now.

[Bumped]

Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Technology and Society

Hitler And Weinstein

8 Comments

As far as I can tell, Hitler hasn’t found out about Weinstein yet. Let’s try a little crowdsourcing to do the video. I’ll kick it off.

At the beginning, they’re talking about how the war against Trump is going, but they’re having problems raising enough campaign funds. Hitler tells then not to worry, Weinstein will come through after his next blockbuster film. They have to tell him that Weinstein has stepped down after being accused of sexual harassment and assault. So who does he ask to step out of the room for the rant?

In the scene where the one woman is comforting another, she can say something like “Don’t worry, there are still plenty of casting-couch scumbags in Hollywood who will give you a part. You might not even have to watch them shower or take in the @ss.”

[Wednesday-morning update]

OK, this is sort of what I had in mind, but I think there are other possible variants.

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

The Risk Of Spaceflight

A few months ago I did a phone interview with Sarah Scoles. She finally wrote the piece based in part on it, over at The Atlantic. (Note, Apollo 1 astros died of asphyxiation, not from the fire itself, Columbia happened 17 years after Challenger, not 36, and it was the co-pilot who died on the VG test flight. I’ll blame her editor, since she clearly gets the last two right later in the piece. I assume they’ll fix it at least on line.)

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Technology and Society

Bump Stocks

89 Comments

They’re not worth banning, but no one really cares about them that much:

Bump stocks, says Mr. Valone, “are an amusement, because they don’t under normal circumstances turn an AR-15 or another rifle into a killing machine, because you can’t hit anything with it. Only when you are presented 400 yards away with a field of uninterrupted humanity would something like that even be effective.”

Hard cases make for bad law.