Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
The funniest review of the screed written by Gail Collins, effete New York liberal and New York Times columnist, to the effect that Texas is trying to take over the world, is oddly enough in the Washington Post. My favorite part is at the end:
The good news, as I mentioned, is that Collins doesn’t know everything. Our plan to replace the Statue of Liberty with one of Sam Houston remains a tightly guarded secret, as is the bill we are drafting to make gun racks mandatory for all new vehicles. She remains blissfully unaware of the long-planned effort to move the nation’s capital to Austin, nor does she even begin to grasp the impact of salsa’s displacement of ketchup as the national condiment.
She is also unaware of our plot to move the manned space program from Florida to Brownsville, with the cooperation of SpaceX's Elon Musk
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
I don't think it is particularly bad news that the reboot of "Starship Troopers" will be "less violent." It could hardly be more. The exciting bit is that there will be jump suits.
Also it should be hoped that the new version would adhere more to Heinlein's actual vision of a future society and not a "fascist future" in the Eurotrash version that was produced in the 1990s.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Mohammed Morsi, the first elected president of Egypt and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group, was once a NASA engineer. I guess NASA has always had a mission to make Muslims feel good about themselves.
Of course not all Muslims involved with space travel have quite the approach President Elect Morsi has to the world.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
A Chinese respond to the charge they want to annex the moon.
It then features an interview with Shao Yongling, a senior colonel from the PLA's Second Artillery Command College, who explains that "sour grapes" is the reason for the article. "Because of some economic problems," America's moon landing "could be delayed indefinitely;" that China will reach the moon soon, therefore, is "very provocative to Americans.” One expects her to deny China's desire to control the moon, but she never does.
SPACE SHUTTLE & THE NEW PIONEERS - A Real-Life Adventure! A Kickstarter project for your consideration.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Jake Tapper, a real journalist, takes the measure of Aaron Sorkin's cable show about fake journalists, weighs it in the balance, and finds it wanting.
This is where Sorkin’s high-minded critique falls flat. McAvoy sanctimoniously laments the deterioration of public discourse and the news media’s complicity in it. But if that is the problem, his subsequent actions reveal a commitment to a uniformly partisan solution. McAvoy—and, by extension, Sorkin—preach political selflessness, but they practice pure partisanship; they extol the Fourth Estate’s democratic duty, but they believe that responsibility consists mostly of criticizing Republicans. This is done through the oldest trick in the book for a Hollywood liberal: by having McAvoy be a “sane Republican” who looks at his party with sadness and anger.By "sane Republican" Sorkin means "liberal Democrat."
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Shenzhou 9 Sparks Renewed Debate on Space Race with China
For a slightly different and flawed view, Why Americans Don’t Need Another Space Race
Monday, June 18, 2012
I usually don't watch Rizzoli and Isles as there are too few hours in the day to follow yet another cop show, even one with such cute characters. But for some reason I saw the anti-fracking episode last week, which was obviously written by someone who slept through Earth Science class in middle school and did not know any petroleum engineers.
In a post about space policy brought on by the convergence of a number of space related news stories, the launch of the Shenzhou 9, the landing of the X-37B, and the successful flight of the Dragon, Jazz Shaw offers the following maddening statement:
What I don’t get is the idea of going to the moon. It’s been done, and every reason I hear for going back always rings rather hollow.Aside from the statement "It's already been done" being a rather stupid reason not to do it again, Shaw does not relate what are the reasons for going back to the moon that sound "hollow" to him and why they sound that way. It is not so much an attempt to advance an argument as it is to shut one down, saying, in effect, "Nothing you say will convince me, so just shut up about it."
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Paul Spudis celebrates the late great Chesley Bonestell
An oblique panorama of the floor of Tycho, the prominent rayed crater on the lunar near side, shows its magnificent, rugged central peak rising out of the inky darkness of the early lunar morning. That description sounds familiar, doesn’t it? In fact, when I first saw the new Tycho oblique, I seemed to recall a specific Bonestell painting that was very similar to it. It was one that Bonestell did for an early 1960’s book, Rocket to the Moon. The distant peak in Bonestell’s painting eerily foreshadows the dramatic LROC image by 50 years. Chesley Bonestell’s Moon lives! Fresh, uneroded features there are as sharp and dramatic as he portrayed them half a century ago. As lunar features slowly erode under constant sandblasting by micrometeorites and downslope movement of debris, they become smooth and rounded. The Apennine mountains at the Apollo 15 landing site are smooth because they formed almost 4 billion years ago, in the early dawn of lunar evolution. In contrast, the central peaks of Tycho were thrust up a mere 100 million years ago, a blink of the eye in lunar geologic terms.One wonders what would have happened if the proposed Apollo mission to Tycho had taken place. It happened, in the way of mentioning, in Children of Apollo. Might make a good story set in the same universe.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Apparently among the people King Joffrey had killed in "Game of Thrones" was none other than George W. Bush whose head is shown on a stake along the walls of King's Landing in episode 10 of the first season. This is not, the show's producers maintain, a political statement ( I have my doubts here.) They just had W's head laying around and decided to use it.
Eddard Stark was bad enough. Another reason Joffrey needs to be pulled apart with horses.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Season Five of 'Mad Men' Tried to Jump the Shark
Season Five of "Mad Men" has ended on a somewhat uncertain note, sometime in the spring of 1967. The last episode ended with Don Draper being tempted at a bar to the tune of the theme from "You Only Live Twice."
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Saturday, June 09, 2012
Those insidious Israelis have struck at the Iranians where their live, by producing their own caviar.
Friday, June 08, 2012
While I was at the Air Force Academy graduation of my now nephew by marriage, there was a half hour or so hiatus between the end of the ceremony and the Thunderbirds air show. I remember wondering at the time, what could keep a squadron of super fast F 16s.
Now, thanks to Gateway Pundit, we know why.
Confound that man!
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Losers in Walker Wisconsin Recall Election Need to Get a Grip
The mature way to deal with a political defeat is, after perhaps a period of heavy drinking, is to analyze the reasons for that defeat and, with lessons learned, plot the next victory. The unions and their liberal supporters have decided to go in another direction.
Compare Planets and Compare Comets and Asteroids look like a couple of good quick reference astronomy sites.
Ray Bradbury, RIP.
Much more anon.
Addendum: Ray Bradbury, Prophet of the Age of Space, Has Died
More from i09
Also, Bradbury was mad at Obama for scrapping the return to the moon. On the other hand, he didn't like ebooks.
Much more anon.
Addendum: Ray Bradbury, Prophet of the Age of Space, Has Died
More from i09
Also, Bradbury was mad at Obama for scrapping the return to the moon. On the other hand, he didn't like ebooks.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Rand Simberg has published a a particularly unhinged demand of Mitt Romney. In effect that in order to prove that his Mormon faith will not affect his judgment, Rand demands that he propose the cancellation of the Space Launch System, the heavy lift rocket for which all hopes of future American space exploration rest. One supposes that, following this logic, if Romney follows the likely advice that he is getting from his space brain trust, which includes space exploration and heavy lift supporters Mike Griffin and Scott Pace, that he will be considered a captive of the LDS Church since that decision supports Utah company ATK.