Space policy experts mull regulating lunar and asteroid mining

You know that asteroid and lunar mining has become respectable when panels of experts start to mull over the question of how to regulate it. A Wednesday article in ZME Science reported on how the question was raised at the annual convention of Canada’s Institute of Mining. The problem is that few people have hitherto thought of how private business in space should be regulated and how private property should be defined and defended

Mining The Sky: Untold Riches From The Asteroids, Comets, And Planets (Helix Book)

The Man from Mars: The Asteroid Mining Caper

The Last Moonwalker and Other Stories

Reese Witherspoon to star in astronaut drama based on the Lisa Nowak story

The Hollywood Reporter revealed Tuesday that Reese Witherspoon has been cast into the leading role of a new drama called “The Pale Blue Dot” in which she plays a female astronaut whose life spirals out of control after returning from a space mission. She begins an affair with a fellow astronaut and soon finds herself in a love triangle. The story seems to be not so loosely based on the incident in which real life astronaut Lisa Nowak who drove nonstop between Houston and Orlando wearing an adult diaper and disguised in a trench coat and sunglasses to confront a love rival, whereupon she assaulted her with pepper spray. She was later sentenced to probation and was separated from the Navy at a reduced rank.

Out There: The In-Depth Story of the Astronaut Love Triangle Case that Shocked America

Obama and Senate Democrats in civil war over free trade agreement

Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have given President Obama fast track authority to approve trade agreements with a number of Pacific Rim countries according to a Tuesday story in the Washington Examiner. The president reacted with fury against members of his own party, which led in turn to fury in kind from the Left and mockery from the Right. The vote represented nothing less than a failure of President Obama to enact one of the last priorities of his presidency and a weakening of his power and prestige.

Free Trade Under Fire: Third Edition

Black Angel (1980 short film)

NASA is listening for Howling Zombies in Space

An X Prize competition for NASA's 'impossible' EM Drive?

The story of the EM Drive, the prototype of a propulsion unit invented by a British scientist named Roger Shawyer and currently being tested by NASA’s Eagleworks Lab at the Johnson Spaceflight Center, has created considerable excitement and controversy in the media. Reactions have ranged from “NASA may have created a warp drive” to “the EM Drive is poppycock.” A proposal has cropped up at the NASASpaceflight.com site where a great deal of discussion has taken place concerning the EM Drive to create an X Prize competition to take development of the technology to the next level.

X Prize CEO Peter Diamandis on jackpots for innovation

Muslim comedian Dean Obeidallah starts 'Draw Your Favorite Islamophobe Contest'

According to a Monday story on Mediaite, Palestinian-Italian comedian and political commentator Dean Obeidallah has proposed a reaction to Pamela Geller’s Draw Mohammed Contest that does not involve automatic weapons or high explosives. He has proposed a "Draw Your Favorite Islamophobe Contest." He suggests Pamela Geller as a subject or, perhaps, “an elected official like Republican Oklahoma State Rep. John Bennett who has called for cutting American Muslims out of our country like a ‘cancer.’” He also suggests any Fox News Host or, perhaps, a member of ISIS, who have, after all, given Islam a bad name.

The Muslims Are Coming!

Elon Musk touts Dragon launched on Falcon Heavy for planetary missions

According to a Monday story on NASASpaceflight.com. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is starting to tout the use of the Dragon V2 as a lander to deliver instrument packages on the surfaces of other worlds. Dragon would be able to use the Draco engines that were designed to give it a pad abort capability to make soft landings on the moon, Mars, and perhaps the moons of the Outer Planets such as Europa, orbiting Jupiter, and Titan, orbiting Saturn. For planets with an atmosphere, a parachute would be added. For planets without an atmosphere, more propellant would be added for the Draco rockets. The Dragon would be launched to destinations throughout the Solar System on the Falcon Heavy.

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

The Man from Mars: The Asteroid Mining Caper

The usual suspects fall for the 'Ted Cruz wants vets to sell cookies' story

The latest kerfuffle surrounding Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a candidate for president of the United States, concerned a website calling itself USA Today that claimed over the weekend that Cruz suggested that veterans should finance their benefits by selling cookies, just like the Girl Scouts. For a brief moment, this story set the Internet ablaze, with actor James Morrison and others expressing their outrage. The problem is, as Right Scoop pointed out on Sunday, the story was false and was meant to be satirical.

For Love of Country: What Our Veterans Can Teach Us About Citizenship, Heroism, and Sacrifice

Girl Scout Thin Mints Cookies (4 Boxes)

Report: Obama's account of the Bin Laden raid a lie

Seymour Hersh, the investigative journalist who, among other things, exposed the My Lai Massacre, claimed in a Sunday article in the London Review of Books that the narrative President Obama gave about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden is a lie. Three possibilities exist on the basis of past experiences. Either Obama has been lying, Hersh is lying, or both are to some extent. Either scenario is plausible.

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden

Dark Hunt (The Vampire Gabriella Book 2)

White reporter demands to know how authentically Cuban Ted Cruz is

Mark Halperin of Bloomberg interviewed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a candidate for president of the United States, recently and endeavored to find out how authentically Cuban he is. This line of questioning has not, so far as is known, been directed at any other presidential candidate. Barack Obama’s blackness has not been called into question, nor has Hillary Clinton’s womanhood. Ruben Navarrette, writing on Saturday for the San Jose Mercury News, was appalled, to say the least. Halperin asked Cruz what kind of Cuban food he liked, if he listened to Cuban music and was invited to address Bernie Sanders en Espanol.

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

Double Down: Game Change 2012

Scottish nationalists heap abuse on J. K. Rowling and then wish they hadn't

The recent elections in Great Britain were a triumph for the Conservative Party, which won an outright majority for the first time in a number of years. But the results were also a victory for the Scottish National Party, which took over 50 seats in the new Parliament on the heels of the defeat of the Scottish Independence referendum last year. The SNP is feeling a little cocky and is warning Prime Minister David Cameron that they need to be listened to or else. However, as Entertainment Weekly noted on Friday, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is having to listen to far too much from SNP supporters on Twitter (warning, contains bad language.)

Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination

Texas may pass pot legalization bill sponsored by Christian right tea partier

Yahoo News reported on Thursday that a bill that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana has passed the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Despite the fact that a bill legalizing pot use in the Lone Star State faces an uphill climb, that it passed a committee at all, with two Republicans and three Democrats voting in favor, is seen as a major victory in a deep red state still dominated by social conservatives.

Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible

What if Harry Potter had been born in Texas?

One of the great tragedies of the “Harry Potter” series is that it took place in Great Britain, which among other things has unenlightened laws where it comes to private ownership of firearms. If the books and the subsequent movies had taken place in Texas, things would have taken a different turn.

Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7)

In 'The Big Bang Theory' long term relationships are on the brink

n “The Commitment Determination,” the episode of “The Big Bang Theory” that aired on Thursday, not one but two related cliffhangers occurred. Both of them had to do with relationships four of the characters have been experiencing, one of them very dysfunctional, the other seemingly happy, but as we find out one that has a snake in the garden that is, not so wisely, revealed at the very moment that a happy conclusion to eight years of on again off again romance.

The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Aristotle, Locke

Pamela Geller makes Geraldo Rivera feel dirty

Of all of Pamela Geller’s critics in the media, Geraldo Rivera is the most fascinating. Mediaite reported on Friday that Rivera appeared on the Fox News morning show “Fox and Friends” and let Geller have it. He compared her to the Aryan Nation and the KKK. He said every time he saw her he felt like taking a shower. The irony is that if Rivera were still doing tabloid TV, Geller would have been a frequent guest. Rivera often had lunatics of every stripe on his show to perform for the entertainment of his audience.

His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in The U.S.

Scientists Invent Invisibility Emulator to Study the Psychology of Vanishing

The Left has found a new reason to hate the space program

Space Blogger Rand Simberg noted on Friday in Pajamas Media that the Left has discovered a new reason to hate efforts to colonize the high frontier of space. Whereas what Simberg called “social justice warriors” used to oppose NASA’s space program because it diverted funding from social welfare program, they now oppose all efforts, government or private, to expand the human race beyond the Earth because, apparently, it is inherently evil. One called such efforts “White Colonialism Interstellar Manifest Destiny B—s--.”

The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Settlement (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)

John Culberson told NASA's Europa Clipper mission may include a lander

The Houston Chronicle reported on Friday that Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas ventured to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to be briefed on the latest concepts for a probe to Europa. Culberson, as the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that funds NASA is very enthusiastic about exploring the icy moon of Jupiter. In return, NASA scientists were eager to impart to the congressman how this mission might take place.

Europa (Space Science Series)

David Cameron's Conservatives win the British elections, defeating the pollsters

Going into the British elections that took place on Thursday, the conventional wisdom (indeed fear) was that no major party would be able to form a government, thus setting up a constitutional crisis. The exit polls showed David Cameron’s Conservative Party winning the most seats in Parliament but needed a coalition to form a government. But, the actual election results, according to Sky News, suggests that the Tories will have an absolute majority and will need no coalition partner.

House of Cards

Natalie Portman trashes Netanyahu, reveals nervousness of being Jewish in Paris

Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman is best known for her role as Luke Skywaker’s and Princess Leia’s mother in the first three episodes of the “Star Wars” franchise. She has been in a lot of other films and even won a best actress Academy Award for her role as a troubled ballet dancer in the film “Black Swan." Wednesday, the Hollywood Reporter published a wide-ranging interview with her. As is customary for any celebrity, she was asked her opinion on political and social issues.

Black Swan [Blu-ray]

Star Wars Trilogy Episodes I-III (Blu-ray + DVD)

NASA's Mars claims met with skepticism

Space.com reported on Wednesday that NASA Administrator Charles Bolden delivered a speech at the Humans 2 Mars Conference in Washington and said, in so many words, remain calm, all is well concerning the space agency’s road map to go to Mars. Others, however, are not so sure. Science fiction author Andrew Weir, whose novel “The Martian” is due to become a major motion picture later this year, suggested that humans may get to Mars in the 2050s and not in the 2030s as NASA asserts. NASA Watch’s Keith Cowing offered what amounted to a rant comparing the relatively quick time the space agency got men to the moon to the glacial pace of the humans to Mars program.

The Man from Mars: The Asteroid Mining Caper

The Last Moonwalker and Other Stories

Iran won't cheat on nuclear deal, but just in case Obama favors missile defense

A Wednesday report on CNN concerning a missile defense deal with Gulf Arab states is raising eyebrows in both Washington and capitals in the Middle East. One the one hand, the Obama administration is assuring one and all that its nuclear deal with Iran will prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon. On the other hand, it seems to be admitting that it could be wrong about that, and its proposing to help the Gulf Arab States to build a missile defense system.

Ballistic Missile Defense: Past and Future

I know a number of people who might be alive today if loading cancer vaccines into silicon microparticles was available in a clinical setting,

I think we'll have peace in the Middle East before we have peace between GMOs and organic food nuts. But it is a fascinating thing to aspire to.

Children of Apollo: The Space Race Gambit

Children of Apollo: The Hard Road to the Stars

Children of Apollo: The First Woman on the Moon

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft passes crew escape system test

According to a Wednesday story in Wired, SpaceX successfully tested the crew escape system for its Dragon V2 spacecraft, which is designed to take astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit. At 9 a.m. EST the Dragon fired its Draco rockets to propel the spacecraft roughly 5.000 feet into the air from a pad at Cape Canaveral. Then the Dragon separated from a trunk stage and deployed parachutes. The Dragon safely splashed down in the nearby Atlantic Ocean. The Dragon contained a dummy astronaut and a suite of sensors to analyze data from the brief flight.

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

ISIS wants Pam Geller dead, and the media doesn't like her either

One can measure how powerful a person is by the nature of his or her enemies. That being said, Pamela Geller, who organized the Mohammed cartoon event in Garland, Texas, must be the most powerful person on the planet. She is not only disdained by the mainstream media, which is actually miffed that she did not offer an apology for almost being machine gunned along with 200 or so free speech advocates as Hot Air reported on Tuesday, but now ISIS wants to kill her. Say this about Sarah Palin, at least she has not gotten on a jihadi death list. This is what happens when you embarrass terrorists and their enablers in the media by blaspheming the prophet of Islam and living to tell about it.

Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance

Hillary Clinton offers full amnesty to illegal aliens in bid for Hispanic vote

The Washington Examiner reported on Tuesday that Hillary Clinton took the opportunity of Cinco de Mayo to promise a full path to citizenship, in effect amnesty, to all 12 to 14 million illegal immigrants now residing in the United States. If Republicans in Congress balk at the idea of an immigration reform bill that includes this amnesty provision, she will explore executive orders to push the matter as soon as possible. Hot Air suggests that the promise is a naked play for the Hispanic vote, considered a key Democratic constituency.

Illegals: The Unacceptable Cost of America's Failure to Control Its Borders

Could Andrew Weir's book 'The Martian' save NASA and our space future?

The Washington Post suggested on Tuesday that an author named Andrew Weir has single handedly saved NASA and the American space program. Weir is the author of a science fiction novel entitled “The Martian,” which depicts the struggles of an American astronaut to survive after having been accidentally abandoned on Mars. The novel has proven to be wildly successful and is due to become a major motion picture directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon in November, 2015.

The Martian

The media is blaming the victims for what almost happened in Garland, Texas

In the wake of the terrorist attack on a Mohammed cartoon drawing contest in Garland, Texas, cut short by the quick reaction of police who had been hired to guard the event, the mainstream media is reacting by blaming the almost victim. According to a Tuesday story in Hot Air, MSNBC host Chris Matthews had some special invective directed at event organizer Pamela Geller. Breitbart adds that CNN had a similar stance.

Freedom or Submission: On the Dangers of Islamic Extremism & American Complacency

'Avengers' director Joss Whedon chased off twitter by radical feminists

According to a Monday story in Breitbart, filmmaker, and TV producer Joss Whedon has been obliged to cancel his Twitter account. The reason appears to be a harsh feminist backlash against a couple of scenes in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” that seemed to go against Whedon’s reputation as a feminist artist who depicts strong women characters. This incident in turn has elicited a great deal of snark coming from conservative commentators such as Robert Stacy McCain who suggested, rather sarcastically, “The era of white cis male heteropatriarchal movie-making is over!”

Marvel's The Avengers

Shop Amazon - Mother's Day Gifts

Contest proposed to name NASA's Space Launch System, exploration program

According to a Sunday story in Spaceflight Now, a provision in the NASA authorization bill now winding its way through Congress would order the space agency to find names for the Space Launch System and the overall exploration program. The names would be chosen by a contest among students in elementary and secondary schools, a method that has been used in the past to name other NASA spacecraft, such as the Mars Curiosity rover.

Space Launch System (SLS): America's Next Manned Rocket for NASA Deep Space Exploration to the Moon, Asteroids, Mars - Rocket Plans, Ground Facilities, Tests, Saturn V Comparisons, Configurations

NASA Planning to Continue Earth Land Imaging Survey

Carly Fiorina, Dr. Ben Carson announce for the presidency as outsiders

Monday, two people who have never held political officer before, have declared their candidacy for president. One, Carly Fiorina, is touting her executive experience. The other. Dr. Ben Carson, points to his life experience as well as a set of common sense ideas. Both of them drip with disdain for the “political class,” which is to say not just Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, but anyone who has held political office. The message is that the professional politicians of both parties have messed things up, so it is time to let some new people from outside politics have a go at managing the United States.

Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership Journey

One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future

ISIS claims responsibility for terrorist attack in Garland, Texas, an act of war

Terrorism came to the small town of Garland, Texas, northeast of Dallas, when two gunmen drove up to a free speech event Sunday evening and open fired on police who were present as security according to Breitbart. In the exchange of gunfire, one police officer named Bruce Joiner was wounded in the ankle and the terrorists were shot dead. The terrorists have not been identified as of this writing, but the UK Daily Mail reports that ISIS, the terrorist army that has overrun northern Iraq and Syria, has claimed responsibility. If that is the case, then ISIS will have attempted to carry out its off repeated threat to attack the American homeland and has committed an act of war.

Marked for Death: Islam's War Against the West and Me

Neil deGrasse Tyson says the first trillionaire will be an asteroid miner

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the celebrity astrophysicist and media personality, is no stranger to controversy. He raised considerable hackles a couple of years ago when he stated that commercial space companies would not lead civilization into space. Only governments, with the resources to fund expensive space missions, would be able to blaze the trail. However, Tyson is not a foe of commercial space by any means, despite what some of his critics have suggested. According to a Sunday article on the NBC News site, he stated that asteroid mining will create the first trillionaire. It is an insight he has made before, but bears repeating.

Mining The Sky: Untold Riches From The Asteroids, Comets, And Planets (Helix Book)

The Man from Mars: The Asteroid Mining Caper

Sarah Palin's claim Obama is 'flirting with the Devil' in Iran causes outrage

Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor, former vice presidential candidate, media personality, and more powerful female politician on the planet, took to her Facebook page on Saturday and gave President Obama the back of her hand concerning his desire to strike a nuclear deal with Iran. She concluded that the president is “flirting with the Devil.” The assessment brought forth rage and outrage from some in the mainstream media.

Israel Strikes

Space settlements, the moon, and NASA reform subjects of proposed legislation

While partisan fights have started to rage in Congress over NASA funding, pitting Earth science against space exploration, a number of House members have introduced legislation seeking to reform how the space agency does business. The latest, as reported by Space News on Friday, is a bill offered by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher R-California to amend the original legislation that created NASA to mandate that one of its goals be to facilitate the development and settlement of space. This bill follows one by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Florida that seeks to mandate that NASA return astronauts to the moon by 2023. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas would reform how the space agency selects its administrator and handles its budget.

Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space

Prosecutorial overreach alleged about charges against Baltimore police officers

When Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore City State’s Attorney, threw the book Friday at six police officers who were alleged to have been involved in the death of Freddie Grey, much rejoicing occurred in the streets of Baltimore which has convulsed with riot and anarchy for the past several days. But if a slew of legal and law enforcement officers are correct, those who want the blood of those officers, three white, three black, and one of them a woman, had better be prepared for disappointment. The consensus that is rising is that Mosby, a young, inexperienced, but ambitious public official levied the charges more to appease the mob than to seek justice.

'If I had a Son': Race, Guns, and the Railroading of George Zimmerman

In 'The Big Bang Theory' science and religion have the mother of all battles

Thursday night’s episode of “The Big Bang Theory” featured a classic clash of science vs. religious faith. In the science corner, we have Beverly Hofstadter, Leonard’s cold, emasculating mother. In the religious faith corner, we have Mary Cooper, Sheldon’s warm, wise, but long-suffering mom. Whatever the merits of which “bearded Jewish guy” deserves consideration, it looked as if religion won the argument based on personality points.

The Big Bang Theory Bazinga! Men's T-shirt Tee, Red, Large

Michael Moore embraces the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms

No crisis is too horrific that some of the usual suspects will be attempt to take advantage of them. Al Sharpton is a prime example of this sordid phenomenon. Add to the mix, film maker Michael Moore, whom Hot Air’s Mary Katherine Ham noted on Thursday, tweeted a number of demands. One of those demands seem to embrace the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms and the principle that it empowers people to provide their own protection.

Michael Moore Hates America

Inventor of the 'impossible' EM Drive Roger Shawyer is feeling vindicated

According to a Thursday story in the International Business Times, no one is more satisfied or feeling more vindicated about the recent test in a vacuum by NASA of the “impossible” EM Drive than the device’s inventor, British scientist Roger Shawyer. He is placing the world’s aerospace industry on notice that everything is about to change. Shawyer is also working on a new generation of the EM Drive, which he says will by orders of magnitude more powerful than the current one. He is hinting that he has backers, whom he refuses to name thus far.

You Call This the Future?: The Greatest Inventions Sci-Fi Imagined and Science Promised

Who are the political winners and losers coming out of the Baltimore riots?

The embers left behind by the Baltimore riots have barely started to cool, and pundits are already casting a glance at who the political winners and losers. Politico on Friday suggested an obvious candidate for a loser, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has talked about outreach to African Americans, is also mentioned as a loser though likely only marginally.

Lost Baltimore