Stephen Leary's Blog, page 18

What Will We Do With The Moon?

http://blog.stephenleary.com/2014/03/...

What Will We Do With The Moon?

Colonization of the moon has been proposed recently by countries such as France, Russia, Japan, and the United States.

But what will we use the moon for? What is its ultimate role in serving the people of the earth? A safe hiding place in case earth should become uninhabitable?

My initial impulse was to believe it will eventually be used as a dumping ground for getting rid of things we don't really want on earth:

Garbage dumpRadioactive waste dumpCemeteryJail

I no longer see any of these in th...

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: The Xinjiang Theory

Terrorism seems the likeliest explanation for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 at this time. The obvious target is China.

Most of the 239 people on board were Chinese. Only a few were US citizens. This was a flight from Malaysia to Beijing. The US is not the target of the attack.

Of the 227 passengers, 153 were Chinese. The attack was directed either at Malaysia or China.

Malaysia would be an odd choice of attack for an Islamist group. That nation has been in the news recen...

The Gareth Williams Spy in a Bag Case

Gareth Williams was an employee of GCHQ, a British intelligence agency, when he was found dead in his apartment August 23, 2010.

His corpse was found locked inside a large sports bag placed in his bathtub. Hence the phrase "Spy in a Bag" used prominently in the news media.

It is still unknown how he died, whether as an accident, a hit by a foreign intelligence agency, organized crime, or a sex game gone wrong.

Police believe it was an accident, while the coroner found that his death was likel...

How to Get Comfortable While Writing

Comfort while writing is essential, otherwise, how can you produce your best work?

The ideal position for writing depends entirely on the writer. Comfort for one is agony to another. I may prefer a leather executive chair while you want to recline on your sofa. But you need to find what is necessary to be comfortable. Otherwise how can you expect to ever challenge J.K. Rowling or Stephen King?

The home works for many. But it is a living hell for others. Do you need to get away somewhere?

You...

20 Reasons to Take a One-Way Trip to Mars

The Mars One mission to colonize Mars will start blasting off with human crews in 2024. The trip is one-way. They're not coming back to Earth.

1,058 applicants have made it to the next round which will include rigorous simulations of space flight.

Why would someone want to leave earth forever? Here are 20 reasons for anyone thinking about taking the Mars plunge:

Nothing else to do. 23% of applicants are unemployed.The wife. Some of the finalists are married.Think of the publicity. A reality s...

Why Are We Afraid of Great Leaders?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation, and the lackluster response from western leaders, must induce all of us to question the suitability of the leaders who rule our countries.

Vladimir Putin ignores Russia's deep problems while invading and threatening his neighbors, causing alarm throughout the world. European statesmen and President Obama make threatening noises but seem impotent during this latest international crisis.

Think of the zeal of millions of voters who rushed to t...

5 Creepy Kinds of Starbucks People

I see it all in the Washington DC area. At least no shootings yet, but that's more a McDonalds thing.

I could have made a list of 10 instead of just 5 without breaking a sweat, but that leaves plenty for a sequel down the road.

1. People Who Bring In Their Non-service Dogs
Always arriving with a phony, toothy smileOften pretending it's a service dog when it clearly isn'tAlways pretending others actually want their barking, crapping dog in the cafe

2. Mothers with Screaming Babies
Sit at communa...

NYT's Nervous Breakdown Over @GSElevator's Book Deal

The Twitter account @GSElevator was recently revealed to be someone by the name of John Lefevre.

The New York Times has breathlessly informed us of this guy's true identity and that he never worked for Goldman Sachs, despite committing the cardinal sin of telling an NYT reporter he did.

The NYT has now published, yes, an editorial about @GSElevator and his six-figure book deal with Simon & Schuster.

The problem? NYT says Lefevre is a "liar" with no credibility. That's their stated issue with...

Stephen Leary Refused to Return Our Repeated Phone Calls

It's a commonplace in the mainstream newspaper media. Somewhere in the last few paragraphs of hundreds of news article:

He did not return our repeated phone callsHe declined to commentHe did not return phone calls seeking commentHe did not respond to a text message seeking commentHe did not return an email seeking commentI don't see much of these:

He did not respond to our Twitter message seeking commentHe did not respond to our Facebook friend requestHe ignored our LinkedIn friend requestWe l...