“the Obama camp looks ominously like a cult of personality that tolerates no dissent.”
“The Obama camp looks ominously like a cult of personality that tolerates no dissent.”
From a black, a Democrat, and a former Congressman.
Year: 2012
Obama only gets 58 percent of the vote in the Kentucky primary today, with “uncommitted” getting 42 percent.
What does this tell us? “Uncommitted” got 42 percent of the vote against Barack Obama in the Kentucky primary today,
Update: Meanwhile, in Arkansas, Obama is only getting 59 percent of the vote against a relatively unknown Democrat candidate.
“I think it was a missed opportunity of tremendous proportions that the Republicans didn’t embrace what they said they believed in during those times.”
The speaker is a Republican, and he is talking correctly about the first four years of the Bush Jr. presidency.
Olivia Newton John – Don’t Cry For Me Argentina
An evening pause:
Based on new calculations, an astronomer has proposed the existence of an unseen planet four times the size of Earth lurking in the outer reaches of the solar system.
Based on new calculations, an astronomer has proposed the existence of an unseen planet four times the size of Earth lurking in the outer reaches of the solar system.
Iran is expected to launch its first maneuverable satellite tomorrow.
Iran is expected to launch its first maneuverable satellite tomorrow.
Killer microbes from the edge of space?
Killer microbes from the edge of space? One organization wants to know.
A conservative blogger and his family have been forced into hiding for revealing the criminal past of a leftwing activist.
Leftwing civility: A conservative blogger and his family have been forced into hiding for revealing the criminal past of a leftwing activist.
R.I.P. Eugene Polley, inventor of the television remote control..
R.I.P. Eugene Polley, inventor of the television remote control.
A rocket launch pushes Congress towards free enterprise
Several key elected officials who have generally been hostile to commercial space have commented positively to the successful launch of the Dragon capsule last night.
First, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) released this short statement:
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The Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee have approved raising the airline security fees to fund the TSA.
Tone deaf: The Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee have approved raising airline security fees in order to fund the TSA.
The world’s tallest tower opened to tourists today in Tokyo.
The world’s tallest tower opened to tourists today in Tokyo.
“If the quality of the Administration’s economic analysis hadn’t already proven to be nearly worthless the discrepancy here would be stunning.”
The discrepancy refers to a claim made by the Obama administration about one benefit of Obamacare, compared to the reality of what has actually happened.
It is time to repeal this disaster of a law. We should also fire the politicians who foisted it on us.
Russia is considering ending its joint commercial program with the Ukraine and Kazakhstan to launch satellites using its Dnepr rocket.
Russia is considering ending its joint commercial program with the Ukraine and Kazakhstan to launch satellites using its Dnepr rocket.
There are several reasons this decision might happen. One, the Russian government under Putin might now be shifting away from capitalism after two decades of financial success. And if so, that will be to the United States’ advantage. Two, they might have decided that the Dnepr system can’t compete on the market, and it is wiser not to throw good money after bad.
Either way, the abandonment of Dnepr will be bad for Kazakhstan and the Ukraine, and suggests that when the Russians finally get their Vostochny spaceport operational, on their own soil, they will abandon Baikonur in Kazakhstan forever.
One step closer to a robust competitive space industry
Not surprisingly, last night’s successful launch of Falcon 9 has produced a large number of news articles. Rather than list them all, go to spacetoday.net for the links.
However, I think Clark Lindsey, in describing Elon Musk’s reaction to the successful launch, captured the most important aspect of last night’s success:
» Read more
Falcon 9 has cleared the tower
Falcon 9 has cleared the tower and is “looking good.”
First stage has completed its job and has been released. The second stage is firing as planned.
Dragon has separated from the second stage and is now in orbit. Now comes the real test of this mission: Can Dragon maneuver and rendezvous with ISS?
The best moment for the entire launch sequence was when Dragon’s solar arrays deployed. The camera link was still working, so that everyone could see it. When the arrays locked open, there was a gigantic roar from the crowd of people watching at SpaceX’s mission control. Dragon was in orbit and operational!
The countdown has begun
Tonight’s Falcon 9 launch: The countdown has begun, and the weather conditions have improved.
SpaceX will begin its own webcast at 3 am (Eastern), which is midnight here in Arizona.
An aside: The ashes of actor James Doohan, who played Scotty on the 1960s television show Star Trek, will be among 308 other cremated remains launched into space by Falcon 9 tonight. As one commenter for the above article noted quite appropriately,
You haven’t really covered any of the important questions here.
i.e. Are there enough dilithium crystals in the engine room to get Scotty up there? And are they using photon torpedoes to blast him out into space? And when they launch, will someone say, “Take her out, Mr. Sulu. Warp factor one.”?
Godspeed, Scotty old bean.
Bee Gees – I Started a Joke
An evening pause: In honor of the passing of Robin Gibbs on May 20. This performance was recorded live at Festival Hall in Melbourne, Australia in 1971.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has published another spectacular oblique image of Tycho crater.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has published another spectacular oblique image of Tycho crater.
If you look closely at the slope of the mountain, you can see an avalanche trail at its center and the debris piled up at the mountain’s base.
See the first oblique image, released in June 2011, here. The two images look at the crater from opposite directions.
An eco-terrorist was arrested in Great Britain on Sunday for breaking into an agricultural research facility and trying to destroy a test crop of genetically modified wheat.
Attack of the ignorant: A protester was arrested in Great Britain on Sunday for breaking into an agricultural research facility and trying to destroy a test crop of genetically modified wheat.