Argument: The Rebels Had a Really Stupid Strategy to Blow up the Death Star

The Battle of Yavin is the event Star Wars fans most commonly think of as the destruction of the first Death Star at the end of Episode IV. The Rebels concocted a risky plan to take out a much more powerful force. It was, through skill, courage, and a lot of luck, successful. The Empire faced a major setback in its plans as a result.
Hooray! And Jordan Freiman of Death and Taxes magazine joins you in the celebration. But he also argues that the Rebel Alliance demonstrated extraordinary stupidity in its battle plan.
The crux of his argument is that the famous trench run, which was modeled after a real-life bombing campaign by the Royal Air Force during World War II, was completely unnecessary. As Spock commented upon Khan's tactics in the Battle of the Mutara Nebula, it demonstrated two-dimensional thinking. Instead of flying down a long and dangerous trench toward the Death Star, the Rebel fighters should have flown directly at it, perpendicular to point of impact. Frieman explains:

Just because the exhaust port is at the end of the trench, that doesn’t mean you have to use the trench to get there. You have spaceships! And the exhaust port is facing upward! You even show it facing upward in your little diagram. Why not just fly straight down towards it? Flying through the trench makes everything more difficult. You have no room to maneuver and, more importantly, rather than hitting the port with a straight shot, you now have to angle the proton torpedoes to go straight and then curve down. That’s so much more difficult!
Also, you know how everyone groans when he says “the shaft is ray shielded, so you’ll have to use proton torpedoes.”? Why is everyone groaning? How would you even hit that thing with a laser if you’re approaching it from the side? USE YOUR HEADS!

If I remember correctly, the point of the trench run was to get so close to the surface of the Death Star that the space station's anti-ship weapons could not be brought to bear against it. The trench run began at the point closest to the Rebel fleet. Flying directly toward the exhaust port would have required the X-wing squadron to be exposed for a much longer time

Dinosaur Puke Mystery Deepens

Dinosaur Puke Fossil Mystery Deepens

An unusual skeleton discovered in fossilized dinosaur yak might not be the creature we thought it was after all.

The World According to Orangutans

The World According to Orangutans

These often solitary great apes with soulful eyes can look like philosopher-kings.

Hairy Beasts

Top 10 Hairy Beasts

Having a bad hair day? It’s probably nothing compared to what these incredibly hairy animals experience 24/7.

Roadside cesarean saved dead doe's fawn

A baby muntjac deer has made a miraculous recovery after a man performed a roadside cesarean to remove it from its dead mother’s womb. The animal was saved by the actions of an undercover animal welfare investigator who came across the body of a doe while driving near Cromer, Norfolk, in the early hours of Wednesday. He had initially intended to drag the dead animal to the side of the road, but as he got closer he noticed that something was moving inside it.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous because of his job, said: “Its stomach was really extended and something was thrashing about inside, so I ran back to grab my pocket knife and performed an emergency cesarean. When I got it out, I held it by its back legs to gently shake it like you do with a lamb and then cleared its airway. It is a miracle in itself that it was not injured when its mother was hit.”
He immediately took the tiny female fawn to the home of Wendy Valentine, who is the founder of Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Frettenham, near Norwich, where he works. Ms Valentine said: “You have to be very quick because once the mother dies the baby also dies very quickly, so the deer must have only just been hit. When it first came in I was not sure the little deer was going to make it. But I am glad it has just about pulled through.”
The pair dried off the animal with a hairdryer before feeding her with a special mixture called colostrum to help boost her immune system. The animal is now on the road to recovery and is being looked after by the investigator who saved it. He said: “It is perhaps something you will never come across again in your lifetime and I am just thankful that I knew what to do. I feel really proud of myself to be honest.” When it is old enough, it will be released with other deer looked after by Hillside Animal Sanctuary.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1315		Swiss soldiers ambush and slaughter invading Austrians in the battle of Morgarten.
1533		The explorer Francisco Pizarro enters Cuzco, Peru.
1626		The Pilgrim Fathers, who have settled in New Plymouth, buy out their London investors.
1777		The Articles of Confederation, instituting perpetual union of the United States of America, are adopted by Congress.
1805		Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their party reach the mouth of the Columbia River, completing their trek to the Pacific.
1806		Explorer Zebulon Pike discovers the Colorado Peak that bears his name, despite the fact that he didn’t climb it.
1864		Union Major General William T. Sherman’s troops set fires that destroy much of Atlanta’s industrial district prior to beginning Sherman’s March to the Sea.
1881		The American Federation of Labor is founded.
1909		M. Metrot takes off in a Voisin biplane from Algiers, making the first manned flight in Africa.
1917		Kerensky flees and Bolsheviks take command in Moscow.
1920		Forty-one nations open the first League of Nations session in Geneva..
1922		It is announced that Dr. Alexis Carrel has discovered white corpuscles.
1930		General strikes and riots paralyze Madrid, Spain.
1937		Eighteen lawsuits are brought against the Tennessee Valley Authority, calling for its dissolution.
1942		An American fleet defeats a Japanese naval force in a clash off Guadalcanal.
1946		The 17th Paris Air Show opens at the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysees. It is the first show of this kind since World War II.
1952		Newark Airport in New Jersey reopens after closing earlier in the year because of an increase in accidents.
1957		Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev asserts Soviet superiority in missiles, challenging the United States to a rocket-range shooting match.
1960		The first submarine with nuclear missiles, USS George Washington, takes to sea from Charleston, South Carolina.
1962		Cuba threatens to down U.S. planes on reconnaissance flights over its territory.
1963		Argentina voids all foreign oil contracts.
1965		In the second day of combat, regiments of the 1st Cavalry Division battle on Landing Zones X-Ray against North Vietnamese forces in the Ia Drang Valley.
1969		A quarter of a million anti-Vietnam War demonstrators march in Washington, D.C.
1976		A Syrian peace force takes control of Beirut, Lebanon.
1984		Baby Fae dies 20 days after receiving a baboon heart transplant in Loma Linda, California.
1985		Anglo-Irish Agreement signed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald.
1988		Palestinian National Council proclaims an independent State of Palestine.
1990		People’s Republic of Bulgaria replaced by a new republican government.
2007		Cyclone Sidr strikes Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people.

Non Sequitur

Cop who unplugged body-cam before killing teen girl gets his job back

Albuquerque police officer Jeremy Dear was ordered to wear a body-camera after many of the city's residents complained about their encounters with him. Afterward, he routinely failed to plug in the camera. His camera was not running when he shot and killed a 19-year-old girl in 2014.
Dear was fired after the incident, but the Albuquerque personnel board gave him back his job this week, in a 3-2 vote, after Dear's lawyer argued that the city's body-cam policy was inconsistently applied.
The Albuquerque police have been singled out by the Department of Justice for "a pattern of excessive force" and the department has now agreed to require its entire force to wear body-cams.

The city's personnel board, while reinstating Dear, agreed that his punishment should be a 90-day suspension. The city is appealing the decision to the local courts and does not take force until court action is concluded.

Cop—fired for having lapel cam turned off a lot—reinstated to force 

Almost Half of America’s Workers Make Less Than $15 An Hour

Almost Half of America’s Workers Make Less Than $15 An Hour

The Big Struggle Is the Financial Elite vs. Everyone Else

Robert Reich: The Big Struggle Is the Financial Elite vs. Everyone Else

Every argument against automatic voter registration, debunked

Every argument against automatic voter registration, debunked

There simply isn’t a good case to be made against the policy.

Colorado will vote next year on single-payer health care system

Colorado will vote next year on single-payer health care system — and insurers are already freaking out

First legalized marijuana, now universal health care?

Supreme Court Takes Up Major Test Of Anti-Choice Delusions' Strategy

The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear Whole Women’s Health v. Cole next term. The case, which deals with abortion restrictions that Texas passed in 2013, represents a major test of the anti-choice movement’s long-term strategy of cutting off abortion access through inc... MORE

Fake Pregnancy Centers Will Say Some Ridiculous Things To Trick Women Away From Abortion

“Women who have abortions are more likely to abuse their other children."

'Christians' unwittingly allowed Satanists to ambush Missouri’s anti-abortion laws

'Christians' unwittingly allowed Satanists to ambush Missouri’s anti-abortion laws — here’s how

Religio-wingnut 'christians' who have been pushing ideologically-driven policies may have created their own demise without realizing it.

Shoe

Americans Are Dieting More, Getting Fatter

Federal health officials announced today that 38 percent of American adults are now obese.

What The Hell Does the Word 'Natural' Mean on Foods?

WTH Does the Word 'Natural' Mean on Foods?

The FDA just decided that's an excellent question.

5 Meals That Changed History

Sometimes momentous things happen over lunch, or a casual dinner, especially when the right minds meet for a meal.

1. FOSTERING THE FDA
American food in the late 19th century was not very safe for eating. Syrups contained morphine. Canned peas glowed neon green. Chemical additives like borax (now ant bait) and copper sulfate (now a pesticide) were common. Dr. Harvey Wiley wanted them off America’s tables, but every bill he introduced was killed by powerful food lobbies. So in 1902, Wiley hired 12 volunteers to eat meals laced with common additives. Called “the Poison Squad,” the men were paid with three doctored meals a day. The results spurred the country’s first food-regulation laws in 1906. As for Wiley? He became the father of the FDA.
2. A CAPITAL AFFAIR

(n June 1790, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton bumped into each other outside of George Washington’s New York City home. The two chatted and decided to have dinner sometime. But Jefferson had an agenda, extending an invitation to one of Hamilton’s rivals, James Madison. Madison had been fighting to relocate America’s capital to the Potomac River. Meanwhile, Hamilton wanted to transfer state debts into federal hands—a move that would establish America’s credit. The dinner triggered a historic compromise: The federal government assumed the state debts, and Washington, D.C., became America’s capital.
3. A SWEET ENDING

Don’t tell mom, but sometimes forgetting to wash your hands before a meal is a good thing. In 1879, Ira Remsen and Constantin Fahlberg, chemists at a Johns Hopkins lab, took a break to eat. Fahlberg had been researching coal tar derivatives and, eager to catch a bite, forgot to wash his hands. Midway through his meal, Fahlberg noticed that his food was unusually sweet. Returning to the lab, he realized the taste was produced by an oxidized chemical, an artificial sweetener he later named saccharin. The sweet stuff boomed as sugar supplies dried up during both world wars. Today, artificial sweeteners are a $2 billion industry.
4. OPEN SESAME!

Oscar the Grouch might seem out of place at a posh Manhattan dinner party, but that’s where his home, Sesame Street, got its start. In 1966, television producer Joan Cooney hosted a dinner party at her New York apartment and invited Lloyd Morrisett, a well-connected exec at the Carnegie Foundation. Morrisett talked about all the junk his three-year-old daughter watched on TV. She was so addicted, she’d wake up early just to tune in to the morning test patterns! The dinner party brainstormed, wondering how to use TV’s addicting qualities for good. Within three years, that grouchy green monster was changing the way kids learn.
5. A MOVING LUNCH

In 1994, Pixar was not the beloved animation studio it is today. Their first film, Toy Story, wasn’t even out yet, but the studio’s team was already wondering what it should do next. During a lunch meeting at the Hidden City Café in Richmond, California, Pixar’s animators and directors brainstormed ideas and scribbled character designs onto napkins. The doodles would bloom into four beloved features: A Bug’s Life; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; and WALL-E. A decade of projects was set after just one lunch meeting!

Pastafarian wins the religious right to wear spaghetti colander in MA state ID picture

Pastafarian wins the religious right to wear spaghetti colander in MA state ID picture

A member of the atheist spoof religion Cult of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has won the right to wear a spaghetti colander on her head.

Nun disciplined after DUI arrest

A Philadelphia nun and Catholic school teacher was placed on administrative leave by the archdiocese on Wednesday after images surfaced of her failing a sobriety test.
Sister Kimberly Miller, IHM, is a faculty member at Little Flower High School for Girls in Philadelphia. On Nov. 7, Miller was allegedly driving a Ford F150 pick-up truck at around 3am when the truck backed into a Meineke Auto Shop in Turnersville, New Jersey, smashing the shop’s front door.
Police stopped the pick-up a short distance away. A passer-by captured video as an officer led the nun through a field sobriety test. Miller was later charged with driving under the influence. Sister Kimberly, a beloved teacher at Little Flower, leads a popular literary festival at the school.
Archdiocese spokesman Kenneth A. Gavin offered few details about the disciplinary action. “This action was taken following a matter that took place outside of school last Saturday morning,” Gavin said. “School families have been informed of this development and arrangements have been made to provide coverage for her classes."

Man accused of stealing toilet paper and vacuum cleaner attempted to stab police dog

A 37-year-old man accused of stealing toilet paper and a vacuum cleaner from an office in Milwaukie, Oregon, was stopped by a deputy's K9. Clackamas County Sheriff's deputies responded to the office at around 2:30am on Tuesday.

They say a suspect was spotted inside the office trying to hide, after allegedly throwing items over a nearby fence. Deputies say the suspect wouldn't come out of the building, so they sent in K9 Kilo to try to find him.
A struggled ensued between Kilo and the suspect, who attempted to stab the dog several times with a large samurai-styled knife. Deputies quickly disarmed the suspect, identified as 37-year-old TImothy Allen Nelson, and arrested him for burglary, attempted assault of police animal, interference with police animal and resisting arrest.
Officials say he attempted to steal a vacuum cleaner, DVDs and toilet paper. Nelson was on parole for burglary at the time. Kilo, who has began service in 2009 was unharmed in the incident. Nelson sustained a bite on the arm and was treated at a local hospital before being taken to the Clackamas County jail.

Jetpack Pilot Takes A Test Flight Around The Statue Of Liberty

Back in the day we were told the Future would include jetpacks for all, but then the Future became our Present Day and we began to realize there would be no jetpacks after all, only Segway scooters and Uber rides.

Those who can't help but feel like there's something missing from our 21st century lives will definitely have that feel confirmed by this high flying video from JetPack Aviation.

(YouTube Link)

JetPack Aviation CEO David Mayman wants to show us what our futuristic lives are missing- the JB-9 JetPack, which he calls "the first true jetpack".

David's trip across the Hudson River look like a very fun ride, but he must have some crazy high level security clearance to be able to fly the JB-9 so close to the Statue Of Liberty!

Link Dump

Personal Memories of Filming The Polar Express (and Working with Tom Hanks). Eddie Deezen’s adventures in motion-capture.
Victor Frankenstein hits theaters November 25. James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe discuss their roles, and why their first scene together is madness. 
After Spectre, The Only Way to Save James Bond Is to Kill Him. He doesn’t quite belong in the modern world.
Why the Trend of Adoption Crowdfunding Makes Me So Uncomfortable. (via Metafilter)
Here's What Kurt Vonnegut Can Teach You About Life. Simple advice from a man who had it figured out.
A Ridiculously Photogenic Baby Koala Sits For Her First Photoshoot. The squee is strong with this one.
Is this the worst New York City Apartment Listing? “We have one golden rule, and the one rule is that no one else can tell anyone else to be quiet."
11/13/15, was an Odd Day. It was the final Odd Day we'll see this century.
The life and times of Strider Wolf. A 6-year-old is dealing with more than any child should ever have to.
Seriously sad saleswoman, Sue Sullivan’s situation sparks serendipitous submission; saves sublimely spicy sauced sandwiches. Shop shipping starts. Snoos share shines. 

Ziggy

Man Made Holes

7 of the Earth's Biggest Man Made Holes

Here are some spots on the planet where humans have really dug in.

Deforestation and Drought

Amazon Deforestation Could Cause Extreme Droughts

Cutting down wide swaths of forests could reduce rainfall in South America dramatically by 2050. 

El Derecho

Midwest Derecho Spurs Damaging Winds, Tornadoes

The Midwest saw thunderstorms, severe winds and tornadoes in a rare derecho event this week.

Liquid Rainbow

Dazzling Liquid Rainbow Flows Through Colombia

The Caribbean’s crystal clear waters and white sands don’t have anything on Colombia’s mind-blowing Cano Cristales.

Old Water

Earth's Water was Present During Planetary Birth

Analysis of water samples from Earth’s deep mantle suggest that the planet’s water has been present since Earth’s formation, a finding that has implications for other rocky bodies in the solar system and planets beyond as well.

Psychedelic Dwarf

Psychedelic Dwarf: Why Pluto Was Turned Into Pop Art

Is this an Andy Warhol interpretation of Pluto?
Actually, it's a beautiful example of when scientific data can imitate art.

Four Masked Bandits Caught in the Act

There was a disturbance at an art gallery that led to an investigation. Four intruders were apprehended. A Facebook post by the Newport (Oregon) Police Department takes the burglary report to the next level.

Four masked bandits burglarized Inscapes Gallery on SW Bay Blvd recently. Officers responded to a report of suspicious activity after midnight and cornered the suspects immediately upon entering the business. The suspects, known only by their street names of ‘Home Dog’, ‘Da Nails’, ‘Squeaky Feets’, and ‘2-Toes Todd’, attempted to elude officers on scene. After a brief scuffle, all suspects were captured without further incident or injuries.
‘Squeaky Feets’ told officers they had no intention of taking anything from the gallery; they were only trying to straighten a few pieces of art on the wall. Tell it to the judge, ‘Feets’. Tell it to the judge.

“Squeaky Feets” found fame from the caper, and now has his own Facebook page.

Animal News

Animals Suddenly Protected in Peru Paradise: Photos

Life just got better for some 3,000 species of plants and animals that gained protection after a 3.3-million-acre park was approved.

Monarch Butterfly Population May Quadruple in Mexico

Actions taken by the United States, Mexico and Canada to protect the migratory species are having a positive effect.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

We wish to express our sympathy with the people of France who have experienced to horror of the demented lunatics who attacked their lives and to express our disgust at the domestic lunatics here attempting to turn this horrific event into their own demented political delusion 
Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.

Well, it could be ...!

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 205 countries around the world daily.   

  
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Today in History

1501		Arthur Tudor of England marries Katherine of Aragon.
1812		As Napoleon Bonaparte’s army retreats form Moscow, temperatures drop to 20 degrees below zero.
1851		Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick is published in New York.
1882		Billy Clairborne, a survivor of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, loses his life in a shoot-out with Buckskin Frank Leslie.
1908		Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light.
1910		Lieutenant Eugene Ely, U.S. Navy, becomes the first man to take off in an airplane from the deck of a ship. He flew from the ship Birmingham at Hampton Roads to Norfolk.
1921		The Cherokee Indians ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review their claim to 1 million acres of land in Texas.
1922		The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) begins the first daily radio broadcasts from Marconi House.
1930		Right-wing militarists in Japan attempt to assassinate Premier Hamagushi.
1935		Manuel Luis Quezon is sworn in as the first Filipino president, as the Commonwealth of the Philippines is inaugurated.
1940		German bombers devastate Coventry in Great Britain, killing 1,000 in the worst air raid of the war.
1951		The United States and Yugoslavia sign a military aid pact.
1951		French paratroopers capture Hoa Binh, Vietnam.
1960		New Orleans integrates two all-white schools.
1960		President Dwight Eisenhower orders U.S. naval units into the Caribbean after Guatemala and Nicaragua charge Castro with starting uprisings.
1961		President Kennedy increases the number of American advisors in Vietnam from 1,000 to 16,000.
1963		Iceland gets a new island when a volcano pushes its way up out of the sea five miles off the southern coast.
1963		Greece frees hundreds who were jailed in the Communist uprising of 1944-1950.
1965		The U.S. First Cavalry Division battles with the North Vietnamese Army in the Ia Drang Valley, the first ground combat for American troops.
1968		Yale University announces its plan to go co-ed.
1969		The United States launches Apollo 12, the second mission to the Moon, from Cape Kennedy.
1979		US President Jimmy Carter freezes all Iranian assets in the United States in response to Iranian militants holding more than 50 Americans hostage.
1982		Lech Walesa, leader of Poland’s outlawed Solidarity movement, is released by communist authorities after 11 months confinement; he would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and be elected Poland’s president in 1990.
1984		The Space Shuttle Discovery‘s crew rescues a second satellite.
1990		Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany sign a treaty officially making the Oder-Neisse line the border between their countries.
1995		Budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress forces temporary closure of national parks and museums; federal agencies forced to operate with skeleton staff.
2001		Northern Alliance fighters take control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.
2008		First G-20 economic summit convenes, in Washington, DC.
2012		Israel launches Operation Pillar of Defense against the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.