Farnam Street Knowledge

- Compounding Knowledge

- The Anatomy of a Great Decision. An interesting look at the Marshall Plan.

SpaceX's Starlink

Last week SpaceX successfully deployed another 60 Starlink satellites.

Astronomers are not happy with Starlink because the satellites and the reflected light off them hinders their efforts from Earth based telescopes. If the full 12,000 satellites are deployed the light pollution and clutter may render many telescopes useless. This is something to watch because the argument that "the night sky belongs to everyone" not just to Elon Musk (or Jeff Bezos) will resonate with many. 

And if astronomers are upset with just the 60 satellites that have already been launched - how do you think they'll feel about the other 51,763 that are planned by Elon Musk and others:

SpaceNews recently reported that Elon Musk and his low-orbit space venture Starlink have filed with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to launch an additional 30,000 broadband satellites in addition to the 11,927 now in the planning stages. This looks like a land grab and Musk is hoping to grab valuable orbital satellite paths to keep them away from competitors.

The new requests consist of 20 filings requesting to deploy 1,500 satellites each in 20 different orbital bands around the earth. These filings are laying down the gauntlet for other planned satellite providers like OneWeb that has plans for 1,910 satellites, Kuiper (Jeff Bezos) with plans for 3,326 satellites and Samsung with plans for 4,600 satellites.

I agree that this is a "land grab." Most of these satellites will be visible to the naked eye.

This is worrisome. And this doesn't even take into consideration that many of these satellites will end up as space junk. I'm a big fan of Elon Musk but I've long been skeptical of Starlink. And now the unintended consequences (that some would argue were known problems) seem to be adding up.

Best War Movies Ever Made

The release of the highly acclaimed movie 1917 has spurred a number of new lists of the best war movies ever made.

Mental Floss has their list of The 25 Greatest War Movies of All-Time. There's a number of films on the list that I haven't seen like their #2 choice La Grande Illusion (1937),  Twelve O'Clock High (1949) and The Battle of Algiers (1966). I'd also disagree with a lot of their rankings (MASH doesn't hold up for me) but to each their own. And how does Paths of Glory (1957) not even make the list?

Vulture also has their list of The 50 Best War Movies Ever Made. I'd also highly disagree with their rankings. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) ranked 20th? That's crap. That movie should be in the top 5 on any list easily. And by Vulture's reasoning The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) should qualify but is not on the list though it's much better than some of their picks. Same goes for the movie 300 (2006).

How does The Battle of Midway (1942) or Tora Tora Tora (1970) not make either list? Seems like an anti-Navy bias. 

I did my own Top 5 List of the best war movies over a decade ago. I would have to heavily revise my list today. May do that sometime soon but not until after I've seen 1917.   

As an aside one movie I've had on my list to see because it came highly recommended in a couple books is John Huston's The Battle of San Pietro. The movie didn't make any of the lists (probably because it's categorized as a documentary) but I thought it worthy of mention. 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Funny but often too true

- This is great news for the workers, the UAW, GM and for Ford. Wonder why this story has been underplayed in the media?

- China's manufacturing exodus set to continue in 2020, despite prospect of trade war deal. The de-coupling continues!

- Speaking of China - how they target liberal democracies

- Israel has developed a new laser based missile defense system.

- Steve McQueen's iconic 1968 Mustang from the movie Bullitt has sold at auction for $3.74 million

Einstein at the Grand Canyon

Albert Einstein and his wife Elsa at the Grand Canyon in 1931. Just thought it was a cool photo.

Via

Neil Peart

Neil Peart has passed away at age 67 from brain cancer. If you wanted to say that Peart was the greatest drummer in rock history you'd get no argument from me.

EDIT: Neil's bandmates in Rush have issued a statement on his passing.

Netflix has an excellent documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. Great insight into the band but also the tragedy Neil Peart has dealt with.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Tesla surpassed 2019 goals delivering 367,500 electric vehicles in the year.

- Cool - NASA will try out an instrument designed to make oxygen on Mars.

- Wow - Tim Ferriss rips the mask off of Silicon Valley

- Analysis - probably true!

- Analysis - also true!

- Scientists turn nuclear waste into diamond batteries that could operate for thousands of years. This could be the future of energy production.

- Heh Heh - how to write "Hello" in Mandarin

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Russian arms manufacturers must be really ticked off at how inaccurate the Iranian missiles were. Not to mention how their ground to air missile system was used to shoot down a civilian airliner. Not great advertisements for future sales. Buy American!... A little adult Jeopardy! humor... "Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it." - Swedish proverb... My preferred adverbs are "Rhythmically" and "Sexily." Please respect my choices... Heh Heh... Revolution also means "to come back around." Maybe there'll be a revolution in Iran where they come back around to the secular, modern, successful nation they were pre-1979... Going to have business cards made up - Chris Lynch, Natural Philosopher - because why not?...

Farnam Street Knowledge

- Habits vs Goals: A look at the benefits of a systematic approach. "Nothing will change your future trajectory like your habits."

- Is Vulnerability a Choice?

- Farnam Street's Recommended Reading 2019. I've only read two of the books on the list. There must be a word for developing a phobia of not having enough time to read all the books you want to read. That's my real FOMO.

Dave Chappelle 2019 Mark Twain Prize Acceptance

Dave Chappelle is the best!

Buck Henry

Hollywood and comedy legend Buck Henry has passed away aged 89.

He is probably best known as the writer of the screenplay for The Graduate and for his comedic appearances on the first few seasons of Saturday Night Live. Younger folks probably know him for playing the father of Tina Fey's Liz Lemon character on 30 Rock.

Henry also wrote the screenplay for the movie Catch-22 based upon the Joseph Heller novel of the same name. Henry also had a memorable role in the movie as Colonel Korn.

Along with Mel Brooks - Henry created the TV show Get Smart starring Don Adams who passed away in 2005 (as an aside it is little known but Don Adams was a US Marine who served on Guadalcanal).

Buck Henry was one of a kind. He will be missed.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- ABC's next live musical will be Young Frankenstein. I just want to know if it will be broadcast in black and white.

- VDH on Iran. I particularly liked the phrase "doctrine of strategic realism."

- 5 tips on giving a better presentation

- While the US is experiencing an economic boom under Trump - "Canada is on an economic road to nowhere" under Trudeau. Funny how you never hear Hollywood-types threatening to move to Canada anymore.

- Heh Heh - Man driving alone in carpool lane informs officer his preferred pronoun is "They"

- Margaret Thatcher: The woman who saved Great Britain. Always bugged me that President Obama did not attend her funeral.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The NBA trade I'd like to see is Boston sending Daniel Theis and Milwaukee's 2020 1st round pick to Phoenix for Aron Baynes. It works money wise and I think the 1st round pick gives the Suns the incentive to make the move. The Celtics know that Baynes is a fit for the team and it helps them where they are weakest - against strong centers in the East like Joel Embid and Giannis... Knuffle Bunny - kids book or female self-pleasuring device? Surprise it's a kids book... John Henry has become the most unlikable sports owner in Boston. That's quite an accomplishment for a guy who broke the curse and whose team last won it all two years ago... No matter what happens in the 2020 election I'd love to see Norm MacDonald and Andrew Yang make a series of "on the road" movies together. Like the old Hope and Crosby flicks. Or maybe a re-make of the Odd Couple. Netflix make this happen... Meanwhile in Iran... What are the chances that Paul Krugman's password was "password"?... "Subordinating your ego is the ultimate form of self-confidence" quote that caught my fancy from a recent Jocko Willink podcast...

Charlie Munger's Book List

Here's a list of 39 books recommended by Charlie Munger. Of the books on the list:

- I've read 5
- 3 are sitting on my bookshelves as yet unread by me
- And 2 are on my Wish List

Have an idea that I'm going to add many more books from the list to my Wish List  (although to be honest my wish list of books is getting out of hand).

Smartphone Disrespect

Excellent advice.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

This may sound morbid but I was wondering if former NBA Commissioner David Stern would be included in the Oscars In Memoriam tribute. But I was surprised to find that although Stern has a lengthy IMDB page it was all for documentaries. I was sure Stern would have appeared in a few movies as himself... Speaking of morbid - convinced that if Donald Trump was able to go back in time to kill baby Hitler that Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi would end up charging him with infanticide... Sportswriters please take note - I will NOT be participating in this year's NBA Dunk Contest. I repeat - I will NOT be participating... I would like to put together a Taylor Swift cover band fronted by an Elvis impersonator. I would call the band Generic Ebola... So this week President Trump kills Soleimani and Joe Biden proposed banning all plastic bags. That seems to sum up the political situation in this country pretty well... And speaking of the death of Soleimani - here's a good review of the past 40-years of America dealing with Iran.

The Wonderful Weirdness of Water

Love science shorts like this (especially if they're narrated by Neil Gaiman).

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Interesting look at the repercussions of Soleimani's death

-  IBM and Microsoft - how to lose a monopoly. Interesting perspective for folks (like me) alarmed by Google and Facebook. HT Stephen Landry

- Heh Heh - Iran declines to sign Colin Kaepernick after viewing his workout video.

- Interesting - Stanford researchers develop a particle accelerator that fits on a chip. The design was via a form of AI and the first application for the particle accelerator on a chip is to fight cancer.

- When "Einstein 2.0" met "Freud's successor". Going to add this book to my wish list.

Patriots Thoughts

The Patriots lost a very winnable game on Saturday. A game they only had to play because they lost another very winnable game the week before against the Dolphins. That loss cost the team a first round bye.

I fully expected New England to win Saturday night (by more than 5 if you get what I'm saying). They had the better QB, the better head coach, the better defense and they had home field advantage. But this is why they play the games. It was not meant to be. There was just something off with this team the final third of the season.

Now the speculation has started about whether Tom Brady has played his final game in a Patriots uniform. That well may be but I'd expect that the only way that's true is if the 42-year old Brady decides to retire. He is 42-years old, he has accomplished more than any other player in NFL history and he's about to lose Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator. Don't underestimate the importance of that last factor.

Of course the impact of McDaniels leaving for a head coaching job elsewhere could be softened if Bill Belichick announced that he's he assuming the play calling duties next season. That would eliminate the need for an old dog like Brady having to learn new tricks from a new offensive coordinator.

Brady finished the season with over 4,000 passing yards, 24 TD's and just 8 interceptions. Those are good but not great numbers but keep in mind the offensive line was banged up, he lost his fullback and his receivers were literally learning on the job. There's no better alternative out there for the 2020 season. And the team knows that.

Brady watched his hero Joe Montana finish his career in Kansas City and I don't think he'd want to end his own career in a similar fashion - especially given that Montana was traded an Brady controls his own destiny. Brady could probably get a few more million playing elsewhere but that would be offset by the tarnish his reputation would take and how that could effect his off the field endorsement brand.

If I had to bet I'd say if Tom Brady plays next season it will be for the Patriots. Then again my bets haven't been that great lately. The only sure thing is that I'll be avoiding Boston sports talk radio  for the next few weeks.

Truth