Hard Cases Make Bad Algorithms, a Prologue

by David Ryan · December 3, 2012

David Ryan

David Ryan is a boat builder and USCG licensed master captain. He is the owner of Sailing Montauk and skipper of Montauk''s charter sailing catamaran MON TIKI You can follow him on Twitter @CaptDavidRyan

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James K
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December 3, 2012 at 12:36 pm
It’s hard to go wrong with the Wrath of Kahn, although I never got the point of the Kobayashi Maru – why prepare your officers for death in battle, when its something they’ll have to do once at the most? And no matter how they do it, they’ll end up dead shortly thereafter?Report
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- greginak in reply to James K
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  December 3, 2012 at 12:41 pm
  Well they still need to preform well in the face of impending death. A captain might be able to save some of his crew or his/her ship while staring death in the face or even through his/her own death.Report
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- BlaiseP in reply to James K
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  December 3, 2012 at 3:22 pm
  Thing is, when officers order troops to advance into fire, they can only lead by example. It’s by no means certain who’s going to live or die. You can win or lose wars, or reach some stalemate but there’s no winning or losing in such engagements. It’s about who stays and who leaves, who has the drop on whom, which risks are worth taking and which result only in fruitless sacrifices. And there’s luck involved, both good and bad. For every D-Day Landing there’s a Hurtgen Forest.Report
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- North in reply to James K
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  December 3, 2012 at 3:47 pm
  I’m with Greginak. How you deal with the no win situation is important. There’re bad outcomes and there’re less bad outcomes. Being able to salvage the less bad out of the no win scenario without succumbing to despair or berserking would be an enormous asset for an officer on a star ship.Report
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- Nob Akimoto in reply to James K
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  December 3, 2012 at 4:36 pm
  The Kobayashi Maru scenario isn’t necessarily fatal. Rather it’s a test that deals with a situation that’s impossible to solve without violating one of several conditions.
  There’s some references to how other members of the Enterprise crew handle it. For example, Sulu decides not to violate the Neutral Zone and instead writes a personalized letter to the family members of the crew and passengers of the Kobayashi Maru.
  And contra 2009’s Star Trek, IIRC Kirk originally cheated by making it so the Klingons would fear and respect his name, thereby letting him and the freighter go without firing a shot.Report
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- Steve S. in reply to James K
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  December 4, 2012 at 3:11 pm
  It’s a plot device, in that it sets us up for the revelation of Kirk’s cheating death In the KM scenario, and later on when he can’t cheat at Spock’s death (though they eventually cheated that, too, with another weaselly plot device). I realize I’m treading on thin ice by suggesting that a piece of the Star Trek canon should best be understood as mere dramatic artifice.Report
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James B Franks
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December 3, 2012 at 2:56 pm
The purpose behind the scenario is not to prepare you for death, it is a test of character. What will you do and why do you do it?Report
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- greginak in reply to James B Franks
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  December 3, 2012 at 3:00 pm
  That was not what i was taught at Star Fleet Academy. You must have been in a later class.Report
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Cadet Kirk
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says:
December 3, 2012 at 3:06 pm
What will you do and why do you do it?
1.) Cheat.
2.) To win.
3.) Duh.
Now, where’s that green chick with the Romulan Ale?! WOOOOOO!Report
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Ten Second News

Two Rudy Giuliani Associates Arrested

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Two Rudy Giuliani Associates Arrested

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[caption id="attachment_319944" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Amazinggena via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

The plot thickens...

Two Soviet-born donors to a pro-Trump fundraising committee who helped Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate Democrat Joe Biden were arrested late Wednesday on criminal charges stemming from their alleged efforts to funnel foreign money into U.S. elections and influence U.S. politics on behalf of at least one Ukrainian politician.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Florida businessmen, made a brief appearance in federal court in Virginia Thursday, dressed in T-shirts. Both men are U.S. citizens born in former Soviet republics. They were arrested at Dulles Airport on Wednesday while awaiting an international flight with one-way tickets, according to people familiar with the matter, a day before one of them was scheduled to testify before House committees.
Mr. Giuliani said in an interview Thursday that Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were headed to Vienna on Wednesday evening for reasons related to their business. He declined to elaborate on those reasons. He said the two men had also left the country about two weeks ago and had traveled to Vienna between three and six times in the last two months. He said he had been scheduled to meet with the two when they returned to Washington within days.
A federal prosecutor told a judge the government remains concerned that the men will flee. Attorneys on both sides said they would reach an agreement about the conditions of their bail and would return to the judge later Thursday or Friday.
In a 21-page indictment unsealed Thursday, federal prosecutors in Manhattan alleged Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were engaged in political activities in the U.S. on behalf of one or more Ukrainian government officials—including a lobbying campaign, targeted at a Republican congressman, to remove the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv. President Trump ordered the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, removed from her post in May, the Journal has reported.

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Trump sends letter to Congress: There Is No Try

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Trump sends letter to Congress: There Is No Try

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[caption id="attachment_184907" align="aligncenter" width="599"] Public Domain
White-house-1941[/caption]

CNN reports:

In the White House's letter to congressional Democrats, President Donald Trump's lawyers say the President and his administration won't cooperate in an ongoing impeachment inquiry, arguing the proceedings amount to an illegitimate effort to overturn the 2016 election results.

You can read the letter at the link.

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Jury Finds Amber Guyger Guilty

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Jury Finds Amber Guyger Guilty

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A jury has found Amber Guyger guilty of the murder of Botham Jean. Last year, Guyger had entered Jean's apartment after allegedly confusing it for her own. She then shot Jean to death after believing him to be an intruder. This would have been an open-and-shut case in almost every imaginable scenario with one very notable exception: Guyger was an officer with the Dallas Police Department.

At every turn, she enjoyed a measure of extended decency rarely if ever offered to other murder suspects. This included initial police concern for Guyger's well-being, a subsequent footdrag to arrest Guyger for Jean's killing, an investigation that seemed more focused on scapegoating Jean than it did proving Guyger's guilt, and police testimony that Guyger was justified in having killed Jean.

Despite this, as well as a pitched defense that claimed Jean's murder was nothing more than a "series of horrible mistakes," the jury convicted Guyger of the most serious charge levied against her. Guyger faces 5 to 99 years in prison.

It is exceedingly rare that police officers are punished for their conduct, no matter how egregious. This is a very good start.

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Nancy Pelosi Makes “Official Impeachment Inquiry” Announcement

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Nancy Pelosi Makes “Official Impeachment Inquiry” Announcement

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[caption id="attachment_320143" align="aligncenter" width="750"] (Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen)[/caption]

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made a statement about starting an "Official Impeachment Inquiry:"

PELOSI calls Trump strongarming Ukraine into investigating Biden "a breach of his constitutional responsibilities," says moves to block release of whistleblower report are "a violation of law."
"I'm announcing the House is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry." pic.twitter.com/ItAMrl4Yhn
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 24, 2019

NPR:

After months of expressing caution on a push for impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump Tuesday.
"The president must be held accountable," Pelosi said. "No one is above the law."
The landmark move comes after controversy over a phone call Trump had with the newly elected Ukranian leader in July and reporting that the president pressured him to investigate political rival, Joe Biden.
"The actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonorable fact of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections," Pelosi said. "Therefore, today, I am announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I am directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella of impeachment inquiry."
Trump earlier Tuesday called the allegations against him "ridiculous" and a "witch hunt." He contended he did nothing wrong and is promising to release a transcript of the call Wednesday.

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Trial of Botham Jean’s Killer Begins

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Trial of Botham Jean’s Killer Begins

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The murder trial has begun for Amber Guyger, the Dallas police officer who entered Botham Jean’s apartment and shot him dead.

Guyger, charged with murder, claims she mistakenly thought Jean’s apartment was hers and that Jean was an intruder. She says she shot him in self-defense as he advanced on her. But prosecutors say Guyger missed several indicators that she was in the wrong place.

From CNN:

The fourth floor of the garage where she parked after her 13.5-hour shift was open air, unlike her parking area on the third floor, Jason Hermus, a prosecutor with the district attorney's office, told jurors.
She failed to notice a skylight, a neighbor's decorative planter, Jean's red doormat and differences in the hallways, Hermus said.

The defense is expected to present evidence that other residents of the complex have also gone to the wrong apartment. It is anticipated Guyger will testify in her own defense.

Prosecutors reject Guyger’s claim of self defense, saying trajectory evidence shows Jean was hit either while getting up from a seated position or while on his knees.

Jurors have been sequestered for the trial, which is expected to take two weeks.

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