Random links of the hour
UF has a short and cute debunking of BSA’s methods for calculating world piracy levels.
I did not know that there is a gun on board every Soyuz spaceship. It has three barrels — two for shotgun ammunition and flares, one for rifle rounds — and apparently is very well-balanced. I suppose that if one misses the landing spot and ends up in the middle of the taiga, a firearm could come in useful…
Finally, PBS did a documentary on the use of private contractors (including, basically, mercenaries) by US and British forces in Iraq. If current trends hold, the US Army, or at least the non-special-forces part of it, is in danger of being outsourced sometime around 2050.