Dave Foster

I remember spending a day with a Polish cavalry regiment at their headquarters outside Warsaw, and one saw the most marvelous demonstrations of horsemanship. But somehow, I knew enough about military affairs to realize how sad that was. This was an old-fashioned army. ~ British Observer of the Polish Army in the 1930s Polish cavalry … Continue reading “The Pentagon’s Days of Future Past”

Autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems shall be designed to allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force. ~ Department of Defense Directive 3000.9 (May 8, 2017) Suppose you knew that I was manufacturing gun powder. And rifle barrels, trigger mechanisms, and sighting equipment. And I was open … Continue reading “Of Course the Pentagon Is Pursuing Autonomous Killer Robots”

In a culture like ours, long accustomed to splitting and dividing all things as a means of control, it is sometimes a bit of a shock to be reminded that, in operational and practical fact, the medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium – … Continue reading “Our National Bird: The Medium Is the Message”