The shuttle Discovery has lifted off
More station news: The shuttle Discovery has lifted off on its last mission.
More station news: The shuttle Discovery has lifted off on its last mission.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
The shuttle Discovery has lifted off
Europe’s Kepler cargo vehicle has docked with ISS
Europe’s Kepler cargo vehicle has docked with ISS.
Europe’s Kepler cargo vehicle has docked with ISS.
Watch Discovery’s launch today from your virtual yacht on your Playstation 3 game machine
Virtual meets reality: Watch Discovery’s launch today from your virtual yacht on your Playstation 3 game machine.
Virtual meets reality: Watch Discovery’s launch today from your virtual yacht on your Playstation 3 game machine.
More on New Zealand quake
More on the New Zealand earthquake: Curfew imposed as death toll climbs to 75.
More on the New Zealand earthquake: Curfew imposed as death toll climbs to 75.
E.P.A. Scales Back Emission Rules
O joy. The EPA today issued revised, scaled back regulations for commercial-grade boilers and incinerators.
O joy. The EPA today issued revised, scaled back regulations for commercial-grade boilers and incinerators.
“Hell yeah, shut down the government if you have to.”
The European Kepler freighter is set to dock with the space station tonight
The automatic docking of the European Kepler freighter to the space station is now set for 10:47 pm (Eastern) tonight.
The automatic docking of the European Kepler freighter to the space station is now set for 10:47 pm (Eastern) tonight.
Glory launch postponed until early Friday
Glory launch postponed until early Friday.
Glory launch postponed until early Friday.
SNL A very British movie
An evening pause: For anyone who likes to watch modern British movies, whether on public television or in the theater.
Indiana attorney general fires deputy over ‘live ammunition’ tweets aimed at Wisconsin protestors
The right response to violent rhetoric: The Indiana attorney general has fired his deputy for suggesting that the police use “live ammunition” on the Wisconsin union protesters.
The right response to violent rhetoric: The Indiana attorney general has fired his deputy for suggesting that the police use “live ammunition” on the Wisconsin union protesters.
Scientists Steer Car With the Power of Thought
What could go wrong? Scientists have developed technology allowing someone to steer a car by thought alone. Key quote:
“In our test runs, a driver equipped with EEG sensors was able to control the car with no problem — there was only a slight delay between the envisaged commands and the response of the car,” said Prof. Raúl Rojas, who heads the AutoNOMOS project at Freie Universität Berlin.
What could go wrong? Scientists have developed technology allowing someone to steer a car by thought alone. Key quote:
“In our test runs, a driver equipped with EEG sensors was able to control the car with no problem — there was only a slight delay between the envisaged commands and the response of the car,” said Prof. Raúl Rojas, who heads the AutoNOMOS project at Freie Universität Berlin.
Gingrich questioned about his extramartial affairs
Gingrich was pressed yesterday about his extramartial affairs by a forum audience member.
Gingrich was pressed yesterday about his extramartial affairs by a forum audience member.
“Thunder-thighs” dinosaur discovered
A new dinosaur, dubbed “thunder-thighs” because of its powerful leg muscles, has been discovered in Utah.
A new dinosaur, dubbed “thunder-thighs” because of its powerful leg muscles, has been discovered in Utah.
Why the Democrats might be making the wrong assumptions about a government shutdown
Why the Democrats might be making the wrong assumptions about a government shutdown. Key quote:
In many ways, 1995 was the last year of the old media world. It was the year before the launch of FOX News and the year before the Internet exploded into American life. The three broadcast television networks and the major newspapers still had a stranglehold on political news in 1995. Shaping the public narrative would be much harder for Democrats in today’s more diffuse and more balanced media world.
Why the Democrats might be making the wrong assumptions about a government shutdown. Key quote:
In many ways, 1995 was the last year of the old media world. It was the year before the launch of FOX News and the year before the Internet exploded into American life. The three broadcast television networks and the major newspapers still had a stranglehold on political news in 1995. Shaping the public narrative would be much harder for Democrats in today’s more diffuse and more balanced media world.
State reviewing complaints over doctors’ excuse notes to protesters
Wisconsin has begun reviewing complaints over doctors who were issuing fake sick notes to union protesters.
Wisconsin has begun reviewing complaints over doctors who were issuing fake sick notes to union protesters.
Dem Congressman tells unions that they “need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody”
Why have I been highlighting recent examples of liberal “incivility” and calls to violence? Ed Morrissey at hotair explains it all in this piece about a Democratic Congressman who yesterday told union supporters that they “need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody.”
It isn’t that these vicious statements are only being made by the left. I have never said that. It’s that the press is only willing to condemn the right for it, while leftwing violent rhetoric is either ignored or made light of.
Vicious and violent statements by anyone are wrong, and should never be defended or excused. Ever.
Why have I been highlighting recent examples of liberal “incivility” and calls to violence? Ed Morrissey at hotair explains it all in this piece about a Democratic Congressman who yesterday told union supporters that they “need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody.”
It isn’t that these vicious statements are only being made by the left. I have never said that. It’s that the press is only willing to condemn the right for it, while leftwing violent rhetoric is either ignored or made light of.
Vicious and violent statements by anyone are wrong, and should never be defended or excused. Ever.
Clinton-appointed judge says Commerce Clause covers ‘mental activity’
A Clinton-appointed DC judge, in ruling that Obamacare is constitutional, also declared that the commerce clause allows the federal government to regulate “mental activity”.
A Clinton-appointed DC judge, in ruling that Obamacare is constitutional, also declared that the commerce clause allows the federal government to regulate “mental activity”.
Does dark energy and dark matter exist, or is it our theories of gravity?
The uncertainty of science: New evidence suggests that rather than postulate the existence of dark energy and dark matter, scientists need simply to revise their theories of gravity.
The uncertainty of science: New evidence suggests that rather than postulate the existence of dark energy and dark matter, scientists need simply to revise their theories of gravity.
Glory in the sky
‘The Heretic’: A Play About Global Warming Skepticism
Is there a crack in the monolith? A play about the persecution of a scientist who expresses skepticism about global warming is running in London, with favorable reviews!
Is there a crack in the monolith? A play about the persecution of a scientist who expresses skepticism about global warming is running in London, with favorable reviews!
Christians sue Dearborn officials and police who arrested them for preaching to Muslims
The Christians whom Dearborn officials and police had falsely arrested for preaching to Muslims have now sued. You can see the video of the arrests here.
The Christians whom Dearborn officials and police had falsely arrested for preaching to Muslims have now sued. You can see the video of the arrests here.
Miracle on ice, February 22, 1980
An evening pause: Thirty-one years ago, February 22, 1980, Lake Placid, New York, the winter Olympics: The USA hockey team beats the Soviet Union 4 to 3 to set up their gold medal victory.
Police arrest 11-year-old over ‘inappropriate’ stick figure drawing
Madness: Police arrest an 11-year-old over an “inappropriate” stick figure drawing.
Madness: Police arrest an 11-year-old over an “inappropriate” stick figure drawing.
Death Toll From Quake In New Zealand May Top 200
The death toll from the earthquake yesterday in New Zealand may top 200.
The death toll from the earthquake yesterday in New Zealand may top 200.
Armed TSA agent gets through TSA airport body scanner
And the TSA exists for what reason again? In a test, a TSA agent with a handgun slipped past TSA security at Dallas-Fort Worth airport, despite being scanned by the enhanced-image body scanner.
And the TSA exists for what reason again? In a test, a TSA agent with a handgun slipped past TSA security at Dallas-Fort Worth airport, despite being scanned by the enhanced-image body scanner.
The high priests of science and how they bar the door to skeptics
The high priests of science and how they bar the door to skeptics. A paper is published in Nature claiming that Antarctica is warming as predicted by global warming advocates.
The indefatigable Steve McIntyre started to scrutinize [this paper] along with Nicholas Lewis. They found several flaws: Steig et al had used too few data sequences to speak for an entire continent, and had processed the data in a very questionable way. But when they wanted to correct him, in another journal, they quickly ran into an inconvenient truth about global warming: the high priests do not like refutation. To have their critique (initial submission here [pdf], final version here [pdf]) of Steig’s work published, they needed to assuage the many demands of an anonymous ‘Reviewer A’ – whom they later found out to be Steig himself. [emphasis mine]
It is unconscionable for any science journal to have allowed Steig, the author of the paper under attack, to act one of the anonymous reviewers. But hey, what do I know? I’m only a simple science writer.
The high priests of science and how they bar the door to skeptics. A paper is published in Nature claiming that Antarctica is warming as predicted by global warming advocates.
The indefatigable Steve McIntyre started to scrutinize [this paper] along with Nicholas Lewis. They found several flaws: Steig et al had used too few data sequences to speak for an entire continent, and had processed the data in a very questionable way. But when they wanted to correct him, in another journal, they quickly ran into an inconvenient truth about global warming: the high priests do not like refutation. To have their critique (initial submission here [pdf], final version here [pdf]) of Steig’s work published, they needed to assuage the many demands of an anonymous ‘Reviewer A’ – whom they later found out to be Steig himself. [emphasis mine]
It is unconscionable for any science journal to have allowed Steig, the author of the paper under attack, to act one of the anonymous reviewers. But hey, what do I know? I’m only a simple science writer.
The Massive February 15, 2011 X Flare on the Sun
An evening pause: On February 15, 2011, the Sun emitted its strongest flare in four years. Though the Sun continues to act relatively wimpy as it ramps up towards solar maximum, this flare was spectacular, mostly because we now have some amazing instruments in space to image and study it. This video does an excellent job explaining what was happening, as it happened. Watch, and enjoy.
And note, as powerful as this flare was, and despite the fact that it was pointed right at the Earth, it represented a relatively minor threat to our technological society, despite what some doomsayers might be claiming. A very active Sun can cause us problems, especially with power systems and electrical grids, but based on past experience during previous solar maximums, most power companies have taken careful steps to protect themselves from this risk. And with the Sun as weakly active as it is, the risks are further reduced. The doomsayers are simply shilling for more government research dollars.
How leftwing journalists lie
Oink! The Washington editor for Bloomberg today demonstrated to all the dishonest way liberal journalists like to cover the budget debates in Congress.
In an opinion piece for Bloomberg, editor Albert Hunt says that the Republican cuts to the budget threaten the American lead in science. According to him, “House Republicans want to cut NIH funding for the current year by more than $1 billion, to $29.5 billion.” Because of this cut would “future advances in areas like brain science are especially threatened.”
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The blunder in Wisconsin
Did Obama and the Democrats blunder in Wisconsin? This man thinks so:
The Wisconsin political blitzkrieg on Gov. Walker was not a spontaneous eruption. It is now clear that it was a highly organized operation planned in Washington, D.C., to unleash a national counterattack on the gains made by Republicans and Tea Party activists. Getting [Organizing for America] and the president to act in close coordination was itself no small feat. The plan included busing in thousands of government employees, arranging for Democratic lawmakers to flee to an adjoining state, flying speakers and political organizers into Madison, organizing thousands to leave their jobs in public safety and in classrooms, and staging rallies inside and outside the statehouse. They even enticed sympathetic doctors to draft bogus doctor excuses for government workers.
It all worked like a charm. Except that it struck all the wrong notes and portrayed all the wrong images. There is nothing more unseemly that to see a president serve as healer in Tucson and a political hack in Madison.
Did Obama and the Democrats blunder in Wisconsin? This man thinks so:
The Wisconsin political blitzkrieg on Gov. Walker was not a spontaneous eruption. It is now clear that it was a highly organized operation planned in Washington, D.C., to unleash a national counterattack on the gains made by Republicans and Tea Party activists. Getting [Organizing for America] and the president to act in close coordination was itself no small feat. The plan included busing in thousands of government employees, arranging for Democratic lawmakers to flee to an adjoining state, flying speakers and political organizers into Madison, organizing thousands to leave their jobs in public safety and in classrooms, and staging rallies inside and outside the statehouse. They even enticed sympathetic doctors to draft bogus doctor excuses for government workers.
It all worked like a charm. Except that it struck all the wrong notes and portrayed all the wrong images. There is nothing more unseemly that to see a president serve as healer in Tucson and a political hack in Madison.
The Worst Generation’s war in Wisconsin
The worst generation’s war in Wisconsin.
In the past 10 years, says the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds, taxpayers paid more than $8 billion for state workers’ health care coverage, while the workers put in only $398 million. And from 2000 to 2009, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, taxpayers spent about $12.6 billion on public employee pensions while the employees contributed only $8 million. [emphasis in original]
The worst generation’s war in Wisconsin.
In the past 10 years, says the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds, taxpayers paid more than $8 billion for state workers’ health care coverage, while the workers put in only $398 million. And from 2000 to 2009, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, taxpayers spent about $12.6 billion on public employee pensions while the employees contributed only $8 million. [emphasis in original]