SPACE AGENCIES set two courses.
Archive for August, 2011
August 31, 2011
IN THE MAIL: From David Drake & John Lambshead, Into the Hinterlands.
NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: First direct measurement of force generated by an individual synthetic molecular machine.
PERSONALLY, I BLAME RACISM: Why Is Darryl Hannah protesting against Ethical Oil at the White House?
It turns out that President Obama much-exalted “green” jobs initiative is having a hard time getting off the ground in large part due to the federal government’s own extensive regime of regulatory red tape. Investor’s Business Daily reports that a number of internal reports have shown that certain federal regulations, many of them championed by labor and environmental groups, are thwarting efforts at the state level to create these “clean tech” jobs. (Ironically, these groups are some of the biggest supporters of Obama’s green agenda.)
Oft evil will shall evil mar.
RELIGIOUS BURIAL PRACTICES: “A green alternative to cremation… dissolving the body in heated alkaline water.”
IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, NICK SCHULZ reviews Sonia Arrison’s new book, 100 Plus: How The Coming Age Of Longevity Will Change Everything, From Careers and Relationships to Family and Faith.
EUGENE VOLOKH: $60,000 Damages for Blogging the Truth About Someone, Intending to Get the Person Fired. “I’m told that an appeal is forthcoming, and I hope the decision is reversed on appeal.”
NOW OUT: Michael Totten’s new book, In the Wake of the Surge. If you like his work, show your support and buy a copy!
BRYAN PRESTON ON THE GIBSON RAIDS: Is It Really That Simple?
NO WONDER THEY CAN’T FIND KHADDAFY!
EMAIL OF THE DAY:
I work for Karen Anderson, Poul Anderson’s widow, as assistant, chief cook, bottle washer, computer geek and, lately, Kindle content creator. We are going to be trying to get Poul’s entire backlist up as I get them converted, and the first one – “Call Me Joe” – went live over the weekend. That’s the one that contains the immortal line “I’ve yet to see any problem, however complicated, which when you looked at it the right way didn’t become still more complicated.” This edition has the original Kelly Freas Cover from Astounding in 1957 and all four of Kelly’s interior illustrations, and is authorized by the estates of both.
A Poul Anderson story you probably haven’t read, for 99 cents? Sounds like a deal to me.
UH OH: NASA fears leaving space station unmanned. “The possible first-ever evacuation of the International Space Station, if a Russian spacecraft is not launched in November, would risk the loss of the orbiting lab, a NASA official has warned.” Hmm. If the ISS goes all Skylab on us, it’ll just be another Jimmy Carter parallel. . . .
MICKEY KAUS: Alan Krueger’s Union Heresy.
JERRY POURNELLE: DESPAIR IS A SIN: “I do not warn you of a future you cannot avoid. On the other hand I have for forty years warned that we are approaching a precipice, and yet we continue to move toward it. Sometimes I get discouraged.”
MORE ON Warren Buffett’s Tax Hypocrisy.
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: New Warning Bells In Operation Fast And Furious Probe.
A bruised and battered veteran of the U.S. Civil Service explained how the government silences whistleblowers and other uncooperative employees: “They give you a big promotion, a fancy title and a new office, but no staff and nothing to do. Then they tell you to watch the flagpole in front of headquarters and, if that flag moves, you come tell us immediately. After that, you’re never heard from again.” Whistleblowers in the Washington bureaucracy come in all ideological stripes, but the one thing they almost invariably have in common is being subjected to this treatment. Some stick to their guns and alert the public to a problem in government, but most are bored into submission.
Kenneth Melson, the now former acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at the center of the Operation Fast and Furious scandal, appears to be getting the treatment now.
It does look suspicious.
HIGHER EDUCATION POLITICS: Fund Raising for Iowa State’s Harkin Institute Draws Criticism. “According to the Associated Press, the donations include $150,000 from MidAmerican Energy and $100,000 from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, both of which lobby the U.S. Senate. But the initial donations have fallen short of what the university said last spring it expected to receive for the Harkin Institute for Public Policy, which will house Senator Harkin’s papers and conduct research. Meanwhile, Iowa Republicans have criticized the notion of honoring a politician while he is still in office, and questioned whether research at institute would be biased.” So, possibly corrupt, but certainly disappointing. Quite appropriate for Harkin’s legacy. . . .
BANG: New Mexico Governor Gets Perfect Score On Her Concealed-Carry Permit. “New Mexico’s pistol-packin’ governor is a sure shot. Gov. Susana Martinez received perfect scores on recertification for her concealed-carry permit over the weekend in Las Cruces. She scored 100 percent with both .38- and .45-caliber handguns, her staff said.”
INCIVILITY: Obama Targets GOP For Fall Offensive. “In this new age of civility and decorum, isn’t such military jargon sending the wrong message to the children? Well, I guess all that goes out the window when your approval rating is 38% and fading fast.”
RENEWABLE ENERGY: Highly publicized solar project delay a disappointment. “Prior also speculated Solar Trust may have been unable to nail down financing for the project, even with the $2.1 billion federal loan guarantee the company received, also in April. The company would have had to raise at least $800 million, he said.”
VIDEO: Ethical Oil. “Why would those enviros rather bankroll Saudi Arabia’s oppression of women than allow the pipeline to run through the United States?”