Captain Avatar to the Bridge, and Bring Your Sunglasses

Bombardier actually submitted this to us before the McQuarrie obituary, but it wasn't as time-sensitive so it got bumped.

Hey kids (and dads)! Now you can build your very own Gauss Rifle at home! They had me at "shatter-prone ceramic magnets."

Now via Balloon Juice comes word that the US Navy has begun testing a combat version.

It's only a matter of time:

Frigates vs. Pirates: Different Sea, Same Result

The young US Navy won renown battling pirates in the Mediterranean 200 years ago, and continued that tradition today off Somalia, this time without spotting them a frigate.

My favorite part of the article, quoting British pirate expert "Jolly"* Roger Middleton:

[Pirates] might not always make rational decisions, and they often attack things that are bigger than they should... It's also quite possible that they don't have a full understanding of the targets they are attacking. Perhaps they just see a big ship they think is a worth a lot of money.

Considering the $64 million unit construction cost and the theoretical ransom the capture of such a ship might entail, they weren't entirely incorrect, although they overlooked the part about the guns, highly-trained crews etc.

*You KNOW that's what they call him.

In Lard's Way

The Washington Post reports that a longstanding US Naval Academy tradition may be going by the boards, essentially being pre-empted by safety concerns.

Some of you may be surprised to learn that I think it would be a shame for this to stop. However, I have always been a staunch advocate of a strong navy and a certain number of bizarre customs and rituals can be justified for reasons of building esprit de corps, provided of course that they break no laws.

JJV and I will now form line ahead and engage the enemy more closely in comments.